Page 28 of To Save a Vampire
A smile spreads over her tired face. She removes the meat from the fire, using a small boulder for a table. She starts tearing off chunks and passing it out to all of us. Ripper dances around at her feet until she gives him a large piece, which he quickly snatches from her hand and eats in nearly one choking bite. Then he’s right back to his dance.
She laughs, the sound startling and shortly lived, but enough to spread happiness to Ky. His lips turn up at the sound of her laughter, and they smile at each other over the fire.
After everyone has food, she sits down next to me, her shoulder brushing against mine. Ky and Asher are across from us, and we’re all silent as we savor each bit of the hot food. The warm, fresh food has a strange effect on my body. My energy returns; I almost feel it filling my limbs. My mind and mood are also less sluggish and dejected after just a few bites.
My mother finishes her food and drinks a few sips of water. Patiently. I can almost sense her thinking next to me. Her nearness suddenly feels strained. She decided to take a seat next to me for a reason. I eat slower now, a nervous feeling fluttering thickly in my stomach.
I feel her eyes on me and chance a glance out of the corner of my eye. She looks sad. And tired, of course. I hear her take a deep breath and, like a yawn, I find myself mimicking her. Is she nervous as well? Why would she be nervous? I’ve never seen my strong, confident mother like this.
“I did put in an extension request for your education and your union. Your education was quickly approved, but I never received anything back on your union,” she says in a hushed tone, her gaze locked on the small fire. “I know this is all strange and rushed but …” She pauses, her eyes glistening in the firelight, her beautiful features waking up in her tired face.
“It’s worth it, I promise, Fallon. I’d never do anything to hurt you. Sometimes I don’t know how to talk to you or how to explain the things I do. I’m not the best person—I’ve made mistakes—but what we’re doing here isn’t one of them. Getting you out of that camp is all I think about. I promise. You’re the most important thing in my life.” Her breath shakes as she fights her emotions, taking small breaths until a mask of composure rests in her eyes.
A heaviness pushes down on me and I shudder a breath in the silence. I pull at the bit of food I have left, my hunger no longer apparent to me. I know my mother’s not perfect, but she’s my mother nonetheless. Her faults are never something I see when I look at her. Her confidence and intelligence are what she leads with and are what I admire most about her. But she has regrets, I know she does. I’m not one of them, but our life might be. Our life at camp. The life she could have had, we could have had. We can’t change it. But we can help someone else change theirs.
I look across the flames to Asher. He’s focused on the rocks near his feet. His brows are low and his jaw locked, a determined look on his face.
“I know, mom,” I say as I toss my remaining dinner to Ripper.
She smiles at me, and I force myself to meet her eyes as I stand to leave. Thin lines appear around sparkling green eyes, dark circles fill in below them. But her eyes hold love and something more … worry, maybe.
She stands as well, wrapping her arms around me, holding me tightly to her chest. My hands brush against her thin back. She pulls away to look down at me, her hand still draped around me before she slowly pulls away and starts to make her shabby bed of blankets.
I make myself a pallet next to the wall of the cliff, feeling safer lying with my back against the cold overhang.
The thin blanket does nothing to provide comfort against the rocks beneath me. It’s similar to the cave floor but lacks the familiar coziness I associate with my safe haven. Ripper curls up at my feet and has no complaints about the sharp rocks pushing into his body.
Ky douses the flames with bottles of water, causing white smoke to screen my view of the rushing river. The sound of flowing water calms me and nearly lulls me to sleep. I close my eyes, and I hear all of them getting ready to sleep, as well. After a few moments, the footsteps stop and silence settles in against the sound of the rushing water. My heavy eyes refuse to open again and my breathing becomes even, sleep pulling me closer and closer.
Something warm brushes against my feet, and Ripper gives a low, agitated growl. My eyes flash open, ready to fight off the gray skinned creature from the woods, but only Asher fills my vision. He sits beside my legs, his shadowed back to me. His arms rest on his knees as he looks out at the way we came. The Crimson Sword hangs loosely in his hand between his legs.
He glances over his shoulder at me. His lips part and then close.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he finally whispers, before turning back to monitor the darkness in front of him. His eyes roam the perimeter like his vision can see things I cannot. “I just didn’t like you over here in the dark alone.”
My body hums back to life. Like his presence is recharging me and sleep isn’t even an option now. He glances back at me again, a smile touching his lips when our eyes meet.
“You should really get some sleep. I don’t think Ky will let me carry you if you fall behind tomorrow,” he says sarcastically.
The thought of Asher carrying me anywhere sends a frenzied fluttering feeling through my chest. I also smile at how quickly Ky and my mother would reject the notion.
My eyes roam over his arms that are corded in muscle, his handsome features shadowed in the moonlight. It’s like a picture ready to paint—the white of his shirt, the rushing water behind him, the crystal of the sword reflecting the pale light onto his face and against the uneven wall of the cliff, and the darkness of the world settling in around him.
He catches me staring again and shakes his head at me. I blush, thankful for the dim lighting.
“You don’t need sleep?” I ask in a small voice.
He shakes his head without looking at me. “Not as much as you. Hardly any at all, really. The physical appearance of a human with the attributes of a vampire.”
It occurs to me I’ve never seen an older hybrid. Most of the ones locked within the compound die … unnatural deaths. Will Asher live forever, out here in the wild, away from the testing of the compound?
“Will you age?”
He breathes out a short laugh.
“Your society should really educate you on other races. It’s unsafe not to know what is out there and what they’re capable of.”
He’s right. I know better than to trust the wisdom of our elders, the lies they tell to keep us within our villages.
