Page 78 of Love Lives
"Don't even say that," Luke cut in. "I don't care what the prophecy says, I don't want vampires to vanish from the earth. Not all of them."
"That's what we're trying to prevent." My eyes fixed on the stone as well. If we could talk to this deity that Morgan had described, could we convince them to... do what? Could they take immortality away from some vampires but not all?
Was it even fair to ask that?
"I guess you can have some of my blood," Crimson said, before I could come to a conclusion.
"Perfect." Puck pointed at the stone. "If you could..."
"Bleed on it?" Crimson moved his wrist to his mouth and tore it open with his fangs. The sight made me wince a little, even though I knew the wound would close quickly. Droplets of blood fell onto the gem like red tear drops. They landed on the smooth stone, then slid down onto the table.
Nothing happened.
"I suppose we can rule out that, then," Puck said without a hint of regret in his voice.
"Rule out what?" Aldrich entered the room, a quizzical expression on his face.
"Vampire blood as a way to activate this stone." Puck picked the artifact up once more, turning it this way and that as if it would give up its secrets that way. "But don't worry, I have more ideas."
"You'd better. I risked my life trying to get that thing."
"Genius can't be rushed."
"That's too bad then, because we don't have a lot of time, in case you hadn't noticed."
"My, you're grumpy today." Puck turned away from Aldrich. "Go out and catch yourself some lunch and let the adults work."
"Oh, suddenly you don't consider me an adult? Funny, considering all the things--"
"Let him work," I spoke up before Aldrich could go into detail about all the clearly adult-rated things he'd done to... or with... Puck. Definitely not something I wanted to hear about.
"Fine." Aldrich slumped down on the couch. "Ruin my fun."
"Not the time to have fun."
"This is exactly the time to have fun," Aldrich disagreed. "We could all be dead tomorrow. Permanently dead."
His flat delivery of that line made me swallow hard, because while he was joking, he was also not, and we all knew that. It was just that he was the only one blunt enough to say it out loud.
"I don't intend to die so soon," Puck said. "Too many mysteries left uncovered. Like the mystery of this gem." He gave it to Luke. "Hold it to your heart, close your eyes, and think of the person you love most in the world."
"What?" Skepticism was etched deeply into my little brother's features.
"These artifacts all require a sacrifice, right? Blood, memories... maybe this one requires love," Puck explained in a tone of voice that suggested he was getting a little tired of people questioning his expertise instead of following his orders blindly. "If we can trust Morgan's research, this deity, or spirit, or whatever it might have been, wanted to be loved."
"But..." Luke pressed the stone to his chest, his gaze seeking out Crimson's. "If I have to sacrifice my love... does that mean I'll stop..."
"I don't believe that's going to happen," Crimson said. "And if you stop loving me, I'll just make you start again."
A small smile appeared on Luke's lips, the love he held for his boyfriend obvious in the way he looked at him. It kind of made me smile too. My little brother deserved every ounce of happiness he had found with Crimson, and I swore to myself I would do the best I could to let him hold on to that.
To get all of us out of this mess alive.
Following Puck's instructions, Luke closed his eyes, cradling the gem. I waited for it to light up, the way the Seeker Stone had, but nothing happened.
"Any more theories?" Aldrich asked the witch after a moment of silence.
Puck took the stone back from Luke. For a beat or two, he said nothing, then, "There is one more possibility, but I'm afraid there's no good, ethical way to test it."
