The Way of Escape (22 page)

I weighed my words carefully, acutely aware that the vampires whirling around us could hear every word I said.

“I just feel like I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop since the moment I decided to become a vampire.”

“Well, your wait will be over soon enough. When you awaken at dusk, your life as you know it will be over, but I will give you all of the support that you’ll need to adapt to your new one.”

The bright ring of metal tapping on glass cut through the room just as the quartet stopped playing. When Augustus and I stopped dancing, we saw that Emmanuel was the source of the well-timed chime. The tuxedo-clad coven leader stood in front of the musicians with a glass of champagne in hand while slaves quickly served flutes filled with the bubbly beverage to everyone in the room. Manuel flashed me a quick smile and bowed slightly as he handed me my drink. I returned his grin and prayed that God would multiply the little joy he had within the hour by getting him off the island.

“Thank you for joining me for today’s much anticipated eclipse,” Emmanuel greeted once everyone had been given a drink. “In a few moments, we will all venture outside to enjoy the sun’s harmless rays and toast to the year ahead. However, as some of you know, we are also celebrating the addition of a new member to our coven. Lord Augustus and Clara, would you join me please?”

Augustus took my hand again and I tried to shake the skin-crawling discomfort the vampire’s predatory gazes caused as we walked to the front of the room. When we reached the grinning coven leader, he bowed to Augustus then kissed my hand. When he finally released me from his cold grip, I fought the urge to wipe my trembling hand on my dress.

“Clara will be joining our coven this evening with Lord Augustus as her sire, and this bond will usher in a newly strengthened alliance between our coven and The Vampire League.”

Emmanuel raised his glass.

“To Clara,” he toasted. “May you find greater joy in the darkness than you ever imagined in the light.”

“To Clara,” the vampires chorused before drinking their champagne as the three of us did the same.

“Now, please join me outside for the eclipse.”

Emmanuel turned to exit the room with the other vampires, but Augustus stopped him.

“Clara and I are going to enjoy the eclipse in private and then I’m going to turn her,” he said. “We will join you after sunset.”

“Will you be giving her first feeding,” Emmanuel asked.

“Of course.”

“Would you mind if I have the honor of the second?”

“Only if I’m present when she feeds,” Augustus answered after a moment of hesitation.

“Wait a second,” I interjected. “What about—”

“It will be good for the two of you to bond since you’ve gotten off to such a rocky start,” he interrupted gently. “As your maker, I am well within my rights to grant Emmanuel’s request.”

While I had enough disdain for Emmanuel to feign that brief protestation, I didn’t want to push my luck. Instead of continuing the faux argument, I simply crossed my arms and pressed my lips together firmly while the two men shook hands.

“I will see you after Clara awakens tonight. Enjoy the eclipse, Emmanuel.”

“And you as well, my lord. Have a good afternoon.”

As Emmanuel joined the others outside, I thanked God that I wouldn’t have to go through with what Augustus had just promised. I could barely stand to be in the coven leader’s presence let alone hold him close, bite his neck, and drink his blood. Heck … I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I would be drinking Augustus’ blood in the next few minutes.

“Shall we,” he asked.

I nodded and we left the room, closing the door behind us. Within the next few minutes, the slaves who had been left behind to freshen up the room and prepare for the next indoor phase of the eclipse celebration would begin their work. Manuel and the others would create crude Molotov cocktails with the high proof alcohol Emmanuel adored and other flammable liquids, douse the ballroom and the rest of the house with various fuels, and set the house on fire. As he and I walked through the house, we passed several slaves who were carrying a few of the coven’s soon to be unsalvageable fire extinguishers as well as containers filled with gasoline and oil.

Augustus and I hurried down to the basement and released Connor from his cell. My friend and I embraced for a barely a second before the vampire, who had deemed the other cells empty, urged us on.

“We need to leave
now.
The eclipse will reach totality in a few minutes.”

Heeding his warning, the three of us fled to the ground floor and quickly headed for the slaves’ entrance with Amy, who was in charge of overseeing the humans’ efforts that afternoon, trailing behind us. The brusque blonde cook quickly caught up with us just outside the door and delivered an update.

“The guys are ready to set the fire in a heartbeat. They have the stakes we made with them, so they’re going to grab whatever personal slaves they can before we leave.”

“Good,” Augustus said. “Have them start the blaze beginning in the inner rooms as soon as the eclipse reaches totality.”

Amy nodded and went back inside as Augustus reached down to scoop me into his arms. With his supernatural speed, he would get us to our hiding place in less than a minute, but the sound of Connor’s voice briefly distracted me from my impending travels.

“Good luck, Clara,” he said.

“You too.”

Before either of us could say another word, Augustus took off. The waffle I’d wolfed down threatened to make a reappearance as a dizzying blur of leaves, branches, and grass filled my swimming vision. Luckily, we stopped moving as soon as I had the sense to close my eyes.

Augustus immediately set me down and I watched him lift up the rock that would hide us from the sun’s deadly rays. As I gazed down at the shadowy pit and realized that my time as a human was up, I hugged myself and shivered despite the tropical temperature. In several hours, I would be putting on my new vampire self and navigating a world I had only recently come to know … and to despise.

The vampire joined me again and gently touched my arm, drawing my attention away from the sandy, leaf-lined pit.

“Are you ready?”

“Is anyone ever truly ready for something like this?”

He smiled and brushed a lock of hair that the wind had blown loose out of my face.

“No, but you’re more prepared that most.”

His green gaze shifted to my neck for a heartbeat.

“May I?”

I swallowed the stubborn lump in my throat, nodded, and closed my eyes as I tilted my head to the side. Much as he had the day before, Augustus enfolded me in his arms and I felt the sharp sting of his bite. Next, his lips gently caressed my skin and a strange, paralyzing mental fog settled over me as he drank. Time seemed to speed up and slow down all at once. I didn’t know whether a heartbeat or a minute had passed, but I still noticed when he finished drinking despite my dreamy haze.

When I opened my eyes a crack, I saw him pull the same knife he’d used to prick his finger days before from his sleeve. In a flurry of movement that my half-closed eyes could barely track, he removed his bowtie and unfastened the first few buttons of his crisp white shirt.

Augustus drew the blade across the base of his neck and the fog that clouded my mind immediately disappeared. The thirst that came roaring forth chased away the underlying fear that his feeding had only temporarily abated and gave way to electrifying, single-minded focus. I glanced up at Augustus for a moment and met his black eyes, knowing that mine no doubt looked equally unnerving and inhuman, but I was too transfixed to care. When the vampire gave me a nod of approval and bared his neck to me, I placed my mouth over the small cut.

My taste buds sang the instant his blood touched my tongue. The warm, bittersweet liquid was infinitely more gratifying than any meal or drink I’d ever consumed and that singular experience overrode all of my other senses. The sweet, tart scent of Augustus’ blood was so pungent that it cast out the sea’s salty aroma. The sensation of the warm, thick liquid pouring down my throat and his neck’s silky skin against my lips revitalized me from head to toe and diminished the coastal wind’s cool caress. My frenzied, irregular heartbeat drowned out the natural soundtrack of crashing waves and rustling leaves as it calmed to match his equally loud, more leisurely pulse.

Our hearts drummed in perfect harmony for a few precious beats, but mine continued to slow. I removed my lips from Augustus’ neck and rested my head on his shoulder, too pleasantly delirious and overwhelmed by what I’d just experienced to care about staining his perfectly white shirt with my makeup. Much as he had minutes before, the vampire picked me up and I could feel his concerned green gaze on me as he carried me over to our hiding place. My pulse and breathing dwindled considerably with every step he took and I found myself wondering if I would dream while my transformation took place or if impenetrable darkness would swallow my mind.

After Augustus placed me on the dugout’s leaf-covered floor, I heard him move the stone back in place above us, and the boulder shut out the faint odor of smoke and chorus of shrieks in the distance as well as the blinding light of the eclipse. Had I been fully alert, some level of claustrophobia probably would have kicked in, but serenity permeated every inch of my body and made panicking impossible. So, I simply enjoyed the feeling of Augustus’ arms around me.

I opened my eyes one last time, not even remembering when I’d closed them, to look at Augustus. The sun had scalded his face, but I was happy to see that the burns and blisters had already begun to heal. As I drifted into oblivion, I sent a prayer of half-formed thoughts to God, praying that I had done the right thing and that every human on the island would be safe and free when I awakened at dusk.

♦              ♦              ♦

Before I opened my eyes that evening, I knew that I wasn’t the same woman who had shut her eyes hours before … and the island wasn’t the same either. An acrimonious stench cut through the earthy scent of the soil and leaves around me. I almost turned up my nose at the odor, but my disgust turned to curiosity then hunger when I recognized blood’s bittersweet fragrance blended with the foul odor of burnt flesh. My body buzzed with anticipation and my eyes flew open in search the source of the delicious scent, and that mouthwatering craving intensified when I remembered that I wasn’t alone in the unexpectedly bright earthen coffin.

I lifted my head from Augustus’ chest and saw that he also was awake … and watching me with great curiosity. As I stared into his emerald eyes, I searched my heart and mind to discern what I felt for the man who had been the catalyst for my transformation. The physical attraction that I detected was no surprise to me nor was the warm affection I had for him. Fortunately, there was no burning desire for anything other than the warm liquid that flowed through his immortal veins. As I gazed at Augustus and took in the protectiveness, concern, and adoration that he felt for me, my thirst subsided and my mind cleared. After all, he was more than a blood source. He was my friend.

“How do you feel,” he asked.

“Like I could run a marathon.”

“Do you feel like yourself?”

Even without Augustus spelling it out, I knew that he was asking about the sire bond and my spiritual state. While I didn’t think the bond had affected me, I was unsure about the other matter. As a human, I hadn’t exactly felt the Holy Spirit swimming around inside me like a restless unborn child or heard a voice like the roar of many waters instructing me on a daily basis. I’d just experienced convictions and developed qualities that I knew didn’t come from my own heart or mind.

The fact that I don’t feel the sire bond is probably a sign that I still have it.

“Clara?”

“Sorry. I was just thinking. I feel pretty normal so far.”

“You don’t need to apologize. Few vampires awaken with the level of clarity you have right now. They’re usually too inundated by their desires for their maker and their thirst for blood to be coherent before they find satisfaction.”

“For humans or dhampirs?”

“Both, but we can discuss that later.”

Augustus briefly glanced at his cell phone.

“The helicopter will be here shortly. What do you say we enjoy the fresh air for a few minutes?”

“That sounds good to me.”

Augustus rolled the stone out of the way and I gasped when I saw the sky for the first time. Instead of being the same inky color I’d grown accustomed to, the night sky was a deep blueberry hue and vibrant pinpricks of light from countless stars broke up that gorgeous color. If I focused on a single star, I could see wisps of gold, pink, blue, white, or red surrounding them as well as smaller shimmering specks of light farther in the distance.

I’d always enjoyed looking up at the stars because seeing them reminded me of how fortunate I was. God was powerful enough to have created the heavens and the heavens of the heavens. Yet, he also took the time to form me in my mother’s womb and loved me even though my life was nothing but vapor compared to the existence of the universe. That humbling, reverent awe was magnified tenfold as I gawked at the stars with my newly sharpened, tearful eyes. When I realized that my first reaction upon seeing the world as a vampire was to think of God and his love for me, that awe turned into gratitude. I had been right about keeping my salvation … something I never should have questioned to begin with.