Page 48 of Kentucky Nights
My heart cracks a little knowing that piece of information. “So you’ve done this a lot then?”
“Every morning for many, many years.”
“You still love her, then? You’re in love with her?” A lump of sadness parks itself in my throat and stomach. I figured any feelings that were growing for Kentucky would be useless. Kentucky has lived so many lives and has probably loved triple the amount of women. “Where is she? Does she know I’m here? I’m not trying to?—”
“—No. No. Nothing like that. I would never do that to anyone. I pride myself on being a good man, an honorable one. You don’t have to worry about that with me.” He comes over, placing the picture on the coffee table, and hands me the necklace. Opening the locket, he shows me the pictures hidden in the two ovals.
“There’s something you need to know about me before I get into this story. I never wanted to be a vampire. I never wanted to live an extended life. I’m a traditionalist in that sense, I suppose. You are born, you live, you work, you try to do right, you admit your wrongs, and when you die, hopefully you die with beauty and no regrets. I was happy with that mindset. All I wanted to do was be a cowboy, have a wife, maybe a few kids, and just…” he blows out a big breath. “… I don’t know. Be happy until Death finally came for me.”
I scoot my legs under me, turning my body towards Kentucky. “I don’t understand. You said Lorcan took your maker to Purgatory? What happened? Did you not like your maker? And I’m assuming your maker means this person turned you into a vampire? ‘Made you’ in a way?”
Kentucky nods with a forced smile. “I met my maker, Audrey?—”
“Audrey? Not Daphne?” I point to the frame, showing the woman I thought we were talking about.
“In order to get to the story of Daphne, I have to tell you about Audrey. I’m bad with dates, intentionally. I don’t pay attention to time. Time means nothing to me. Sometime in the 1800s, I met Audrey, and she was a breath of fresh air at that time when she came to town. I had never met a woman like her. She was so carefree, so wild in comparison to me, so full of life, that I really thought I had found the love of my life.”
His hand lands on my knee, giving it a good squeeze. “I’m not saying this to hurt you.”
I forgot he can smell what I’m feeling. “Don’t worry about my emotions. I know you have had lives and loves. Plus, I’m not anything to you. You don’t owe me an explanation.”
His eyes flash red as anger stitches across his face. “Don’t ever say that. Don’t ever say you aren’t anything to me when you…you’re everything.”
We stare at one another as I wait for him to spill the secret he hasn’t been telling me. I know it has to do with him needing the four days he asked for. I don’t know why, but I will figure it out.
Curiosity always reveals the truth, which is why I will never stop being curious.
He clears his throat, covering his mouth with his fist. “Well, one night, Audrey and I started talking about the future. She started talking about a thousand years together. It confused me. I thought she was joking around at first.”
I scoot closer to him, taking his hand in mine in hopes it brings him a small amount of peace to get through what he has to tell me.
“She revealed herself to me—her vampire nature—that is.”
“I gathered,” I tease, knocking him in the shoulder with my own.
“I told her I didn’t want a thousand years. I wanted my human life; anything extra wasn’t natural. I valued my humanity, and, in many ways, I still do. At least, I do my best to hold on to the amount I have left. She didn’t like that answer. She refused to be without me.”
“A thousand years? I thought vampires were immortal?”
Kentucky shakes his head, confusing me even more. “No, we naturally live longer. Audrey said unmated vampires live two hundred years. Vampires who choose to mate with someone they love can live for a thousand years, and then there are vampires who meet their fated mates. They live forever. They are the ones with immortality.”
“Wow.” I’m awestruck, speechless, and confused. “Wait. How old are you?”
“I’m not sure? I think I have another twenty years before I die. Anyway, she thought I was weak for having such human thoughts. She changed me. In order to be changed, I had to die with her blood in my system, and at the same time, I staked her.”
“That must have been terrible for you. To be something you never wanted to be.”
“It was. I readjusted my way of thinking. I decided to be alone until I died. One day, years later, I went to the feed store, and I met Daphne. I had mystified everyone in town into not thinking about my age so I could stay here. This is my home, and I wasn’t going to get pushed out because of who I was now. I had never met her before. She was new to town and Hank’s—the owner of the feed store—step-granddaughter. It was why I had never seen her before. He was going to train her to take over since he was aging. I fell in love with her in the best way I could. Even though she wasn’t my fated mate, I loved her anyway.”
“I like that you weren’t alone. You’re too good a man to be living a life by yourself. What was she like? Why didn’t she get turned? And if you can have a mate for a thousand years, whynot do that so you could be together?” Even speaking those words sends a searing hot blade through my heart. The idea of him with another woman is almost painful enough to send me to my knees.
“She didn’t want to live that long. I respected her decision. It wasn’t easy, but we made it work. I never bit her. She always gave me a few drops of her blood in my coffee, or I’d have blood bags, but I never fed from her. I wanted to save my bite for my mate, if I ever met her, and Daphne was okay with that. Plus, biting her would have mated us, and I wouldn’t lose control to go against her wishes like that. She lived a long, happy life. She’s buried by the tree right there, where all those roses are. Those were her favorite flowers. I was there with her to the very end. I held her wrinkled, aged hand, listened to her heartbeat slow, and she died with a smile on her face. It was one of the hardest moments I’ve ever experienced. She always said I was here for a reason because I was so kind, but I couldn’t disagree more.” He stops speaking, eyeing me as if he wants to say more.
“I’m so sorry, Kentucky. She sounded like a very good woman. I’m so sorry. I’m happy you found a person to spend a part of your life with. That is beautiful. You created memories in a time when you thought you wouldn’t.” I climb into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck, and bury my face into his shoulder. “I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.” I lean away, needing to see his handsome face. “And now what? You’re waiting to die?” There isn’t a part of me that can understand all the heartbreak and betrayal he has experienced.
So many years of being alone, being denied the life he dreamed about, losing what he has loved over and over again. The agony of that must be soul-numbing.
“Daphne kept me alive in hopes I’d find my fated mate; without that, death seems like the next peaceful step. Right out in the pasture, under the sunset, so I can see the colors in thesky one last time. I’d see all the stars, get lost in their beauty, and then, in one last exhale, I’ll fade to dust, allowing the wind to take me.”
