Promise Me Anthology (11 page)

* * * *

In the months that followed, Heather resumed
her affair with Devlin. But she was careful this time to hide her
desire for him. She made it a point to cancel one of her bi-monthly
visits with him that summer, citing her busy intern schedule. The
scheme seemed to work. Her bimonthly visits took place every other
Friday evening at his home instead of at a hotel.

But one thing still bothered Heather. Devlin
refused to talk of turning her. He also wouldn’t let her spend
entire Saturdays with him, insisting he needed to rest. Heather did
what he asked, hoping that by conceding to his wishes she would
earn more of his trust. That was the only way into his life
permanently, so he couldn’t ever shut her out again.

It was the following spring when the illness
came. At first, Heather just thought it was a spring cold, a
holdover from the fast fading winter. But as she grew more and more
lethargic, the symptoms became harder to push away...and impossible
to hide.

“You’ve lost weight,” Devlin said one night
gently, after making love. “Are you sleeping alright?”

“When I’m here, I sleep fine,” Heather
answered weakly.

“Tell me the truth,” Devlin said, an edge to
his words. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m tired more often,” Heather admitted.
“Sunlight makes me feel sick. So does food sometimes...” she
trailed off.

“Except rare meat?” Devlin supplied, his tone
distant.

“I’m vegetarian,” Heather said evasively.

“Not for much longer,” Devlin said hollowly,
sitting up. “Unless we take another hiatus.”

Fear blossomed in Heather. She couldn’t go
through another half a year without Dev. “Turn me.”

Devlin stared at her, then shook his head.
“You don’t know what you’re asking, Heather.” He got up from the
bed. “Maybe our break this time should be permanent.”

Something told Heather it was now or never.
She had only the next few moments to change his mind. “How can you
say that to me like it’s nothing? Like I’m nothing?”

“Could you be more of an idiot?” Devlin said
harshly, his eyes bleeding to red.

Heather, shocked by his casual cruelty, begun
hastily gathering her clothes and dressing. All she could feel was
hurt, and his next words fell on deaf ears

“It’s because I’m fond of you that I don’t
want to screw up your life. We had good times together, Heather.
But we’re nearing the end of our story. And unless you want this to
be a tragedy instead of a good memory, you and I have to end our
relationship.” He handed her purse to her. “I’ll have my man drive
you home.”

Heather didn’t answer him. When she was in
the backseat heading down the long gravel driveway, she burst into
tears.

She arrived home to her small apartment,
exhausted. Falling into bed, she fell asleep fully dressed. Near
midnight, she woke in fear, a hand over her mouth.

“Quiet,” a raspy voice said, “Or we’ll gag
you.” Heather kept still as another person began to bind her hands
and feet. She watched in fear as several more shadowy figures came
into her bedroom, wincing as the light was turned on. There were
five people: two women, and three men, the oldest appearing to be
the leader.

“This is her?” he stated.

One of the women nodded. “We tracked her
coming and going from Hayden three times now. And she’s been seen
out in the vampire’s company more than once in the past year.”

“You don’t have to bother,” Heather murmured.
“He’s breaking up with me. For good.”

The leader grabbed her by the hair, pulling
it back sharply so Heather cried out. “Because you’re getting sick.
Devlin doesn’t turn his thralls anymore, not since we began killing
his discards.”

Heather blinked back tears. “Please don’t
hurt me. Please.”

“Take her to the cabin and set the trap,” the
leader said. “Then send the note to Devlin to tell him to come
alone.”

* * * *

Dawn came, but Heather didn’t see it. She
remained blindfolded in a room as the hours passed. She dozed
intermittently, wondering if they would kill her before Devlin
could rescue her.
But would he?
He’d always come across as
an honorable person, even with his cruel words at their last
meeting. He said she’d never be alone again. Now that he was done
with her, was any of that still true?

The door opened. A man entered, cursing, then
sat beside her on the bed. Heather waited for her blindfold to be
removed. Instead, there came a sharp stabbing pain as a blade cut
across her left wrist. Heather struggled, blood trickling out
steadily to dampen the mattress beneath her.

The door opened. “You do her? He should be
here in a few moments.”

“Yes,” the man said in disgust, getting up.
“We could have let her go. We didn’t need to kill her.”

“She’s contaminated. Plus he’ll smell the
blood and go for her. It’s an advantage we need. Now come on.”

The man left, the door closing.

Heather struggled to sit up, woozy. With
maneuvering, she put pressure on the wound as best she could,
pressing down with her other wrist to staunch the blood.

Shots sounded, then a shriek of rage. There
was a male scream, then silence.

Heather felt herself drifting. She sagged
down on the bed.

The door burst open. Heather felt herself
being pulled upwards into a sitting position, the blindfold lifted.
To her disappointment, it was not Devlin, but instead the man in
black, his expression bitter.

“Can you walk?” he asked, his inflection
muddled with an odd hiss.

Heather swayed, then fell backward. The man
in black caught her, then lifted her in his arms. Muttering, he
carried her quickly from the room as she lapsed into
unconsciousness.

* * * *

“Just turn her,” a hissing voice said.

“We’ll drop her off at the hospital,” a
dispassionate voice said. “They’ll give her a transfusion.” It was
Devlin’s voice. But it was so cold. Heather opened her eyes. She
was sitting in the front seat of a SUV. Her slashed wrist had been
bandaged, but it was still bleeding slightly.

“Turn her,” the man in black said, facing
Devlin with a scowl. “She’s one of those that’s just going to be a
pain in the ass until you do.”

Devlin’s gaze flicked to Heather. “Leave us
alone for a few moments, Lash.”

The man in black walked away a short
distance, muttering under his breath. Then came the touch of
Devlin’s cool hand in hers as he leaned down beside her. “Where do
you want to go?” he asked gently.

“Why don’t you want me?” Heather murmured.
“I’ve tried to give you everything you wanted. You’ve got to know I
love you, that I want to be with you. I’d do anything for you.”

“You naïve girl,” Devlin said with sadness.
“I don’t want you because I don’t want anyone.” His expression was
bitter. “You see me only from your point of view, that I must have
suffered all the loneliness and hurt of the past two centuries only
to be waiting for you to come solve all my woes with your love. But
that’s fantasy, Heather. It always was.”

“Don’t you want to be happy?” Heather
managed, tears trickling down both cheeks.

“I exist for my own reasons,” Devlin said
coolly. “I don’t want your pity. You say you love me, but you have
no idea of what I really am, or what horrors I’m capable of. You
think forever is a romantic holiday we could spend together if you
were a vampire, too. The reality is that this is what you’d have to
look forward to: being hunted, alone, and often injured. And that’s
besides having a liquid diet that never varies.”

“Why didn’t you let me die?” Heather
whispered.

“Because those hunters hurt you because of
me. Now do you want to go to the hospital or not?”

“Will I die if I don’t?” Heather asked. “Or
will I turn?”

“You’ll die,” Devlin said tiredly. “But I’m
done trying to be persuasive. Lash is right about that being of no
further use. You want to turn, I’ll do it next week.” His voice
turned cool. “If you want to die, I’ll help with that, too, here
and now.”

His words had a chilling effect, shocking her
into awareness. “Hospital,” Heather said.

* * * *

Then had come tonight, a week later. With
several transfusions, Heather had felt almost as good as new. But
after so many delays, she half expected Devlin to back out, or not
show. But the vampire was waiting for her, clapping as she sat down
at her table.

“Did you change your mind?” he said
abruptly.

“No.”

“Very well,” Devlin said, offering his hand.
“Come.”

* * * *

The next evening, Heather’s eyes popped open.
At once, the vivid colors of her surroundings dazzled her. Then she
worried that someone was in the room with her, only realizing some
moments later that the person she was hearing was out in the
hallway. Her hearing and sight had amplified.
What else had
changed?

She stood, checked the time, then headed to
the bathroom. When she finished, she washed up and got dressed.
Emerging, she checked the clock again and did a double take. She’d
done everything in less than a minute flat. Her speed had also
increased.

What else?

Lifting the bed was easy, as if it were a bag
of groceries. As she set it down, Devlin came in. “How are you
feeling?”

Heather rushed to him, hugging him. “I feel
fantastic! You didn’t tell me how wonderful, how powerful I’d
be.”

“Because that is relative to humans,” Devlin
said with contempt. “And you must always be aware of that, because
it’s going to be very easy to crack bones if you shake someone’s
hand too hard, or hug a friend. But older vampires like myself will
also be much more powerful, Heather. Don’t let the power go to your
head. You have become a very small fish in a wide and deep
ocean.”

Heather nodded. “Will you teach me?”

“Tonight, briefly,” Devlin said, checking his
watch. “Then I have to feed. But I’ve set you up at the hospital to
work the night shift. There are several vampires that work there.
I’ll introduce you. They’ll arrange blood for you as needed, until
you make other arrangements.”

“Are we robbing the blood bank?” Heather
quipped.

Devlin gave her an aloof look. “You’ll be
working for me, after a fashion. So you won’t need to do any
thievery, young one.”

Anger flared up in her at his sudden
condescending attitude. “That’s correct, oh Vampire King,” Heather
said mockingly. “I’m here to serve.”

Devlin whipped around, then grasped her by
the throat, lifting her off her feet. Heather struggled, but to no
avail, fear coursing through her.

“That is wholly correct, that you are to
serve me,” he said icily. “Remember you wanted it this way, Bright
Eyes. You wouldn’t take no for an answer, even with all the reasons
I gave you.”

“Let me go!” Heather hissed, her own eyes
bleeding to red.

“I will do with you however I want, if you
put one foot out of line,” Devlin said darkly. “And bear in mind
that my discipline is usually harsh.” He shoved her back, making
her stumble.

“You bastard,” she screeched. “How could you
do this to me and walk away?”

“Because I don’t suffer fools,” Devlin said
frostily. “And I can see you are one, in spite of all your
learning. I wish you luck in your new life. Adieu.” He placed a
book on her table, then turned and walked away, followed by
Heather’s curses.

Heather spent the rest of the night reading
the paperback book, which purported to be a vampire handbook.
Devlin was listed as one of the authors. Angry as she was, Heather
wanted to know her rights.

But dawn had her halfway through and seeing
no help. She was not an oathed one—something like a vampire spouse
complete with signature jewelry to denote their station—nor was she
a Ruler—a vampire that oversaw a territory like a city, state, or
country—and vampires aside from those groups seemed to have few
rights. The book was more a list of what they were not allowed to
do, which was pretty much call attention to themselves in any
way.

There was a knock at the door. Heather knew
suddenly it was her brother.
She could smell his cologne
.
Heading to the window, she slipped out. She couldn’t let him know
what she’d become.

Heather wandered the night, wondering at how
vivid everything looked. Much as she felt wonderful, she also felt
empty and alone.
Who could she turn to?
She didn’t know any
other vampires except Devlin. Maybe the job at the hospital would
provide some relief. She would take Devlin’s offer, at least for
now.

* * * *

While Jason and the other orderlies at the
hospital were nice enough, they had all made it clear that Heather
was on her own. She’d hoped to learn the vampire ropes from them,
but they pretty much worked their shift and went home after. How
was that a fun way to spend forever? It felt to Heather like she
was back in school, except there would be no reprieve this time.
She hadn’t finished her nursing schooling, so had to make do with
janitorial work and medical technician duties. Even with her new
speed, there was no way to finish her degree and work her job in
the few hours that night lasted.

That first month Heather went faithfully to
her job each night out of fear—the other vampires had told her
stories of Devlin, and what it meant for vamps that crossed him.
But less than a month after she turned, Heather reached her limit.
Friday night she went to Hayden, remaining before the gates until
Devlin came out to see her.

“What is it?” he snapped.

“I want you,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed. “We are not oathed,
Heather. You can demand nothing of me.”

“But you always use sex as part of the
turning process,” Heather replied. “Jason swore to it. I demand
that right, to share that with you as vampire.”