Page 97 of Love Lives
That earned him another smile. "Much better."
Vlad was vaguely aware that the battle around them had halted as everyone stared at the ghost in their midst. The other vampires could likely make no more sense of this than he could. It wasn't every day you got to witness a full summoning.
"I don't have much time." There was a sad look on Atlus's face now. "I can't believe that you forgot me, but I can't blame you. Not really. I always knew that I was asking too much of you. That's why..." He trailed off, glanced at the dhampir by Vlad's feet. "Seven lifetimes…”
Vlad had no idea at all what he might mean by that.
The ghost shook his head. “Never mind that now. You have to remember the promise you made me, Cyril."
The name, the way Atlus said it, stirred something within Vlad's memory. He tried to ignore it, but the tugging was too strong.
The ghost moved forward, passing through Vlad's shields as if they didn't exist. Vlad had never been scared of ghosts, but this one he wanted to step away from. Not because he feared the specter, but because he feared what remembering their shared history might unleash within him. He couldn't quite grasp it yet, but he knew that it was huge, sensed it the way animals sensed an oncoming earthquake. Whatever Atlus wanted to tell him, it would shake the foundations of his world.
The ghost came closer still, until he was right in front of Vlad, and then he leaned forward to speak in to his ear. If Atlus had been tangible at all, their cheeks would have brushed. "Even if you don't believe in yourself, I do," the ghost said. "I love you, I trust you."
Vlad couldn't shake the feeling that he had heard those words before, a long time ago. He wanted to believe that this was all a trick. Something the dhampirs had set up to lure him into a trap, to make him stray from his mission... but he knew that wasn't true. This ghost, Atlus, Vlad had known him.
Vlad had loved him.
Back when he hadn't been Vlad but... what had Atlus called him? Cyril? That had been his name. He knew it with the same certainty that he knew Atlus wasn't lying to him.
"You have to end this," Atlus said. "It's almost over." His transparent shape was starting to fade out even more. Vlad reached a hand out to him, but it passed straight through.
"No," he found himself saying. "Don't go."Don't leave me a second time.The words were on the tip of his tongue but stayed there. His rational mind hadn't quite caught up to what his heart already knew.
Atlus gave him another smile. "You'll be okay. You'll all be okay. Finally."
Vlad stared at the ghost as he glowed brighter once more, then disappeared as if he'd never been there at all. He sank to his knees next to the dhampir on the ground, though he didn't pay Remy any attention. How could he? When his mind was reeling to catch up with everything that had just happened. He'd seen his lover again, if only briefly.
Because what he'd been doing was wrong.
Because he'd forgotten who he was.
He was... Remy's ancestor. The ancestor of all the dhampirs here. He and Atlus were responsible for their appearance in the world. He laughed to himself, a hollow sound, as he realized he'd very nearly killed his own creation.
Next to him, Remy stirred, blinking his eyes open at Vlad. "What...?" he muttered, then slowly, he sat up and looked around himself.
And then the expression on his face transformed into one of horror.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Somehow,Vlad hadn't killed me. But I had no time to be happy about that. A mere ten feet away from me, Aldrich was lying face-down on the ground, motionless.
That female vampire sat by his side, poking him.
I scrambled to get up and rushed to Aldrich, not caring that the other vampire might still pose a threat. She looked at me, but I paid her no mind as I turned Aldrich around. His eyes were closed and he was still not moving. Not even his chest. He wasn't breathing.
Did vampires have to breathe?
Maybe he didn't have to breathe. Maybe he was just...
I couldn't come up with a good explanation for his state, no matter how hard I reached. Not when I already knew what had happened. What must have happened. The summoning crystals lay on the ground next to him. He must have used them.
That was why Vlad hadn't killed me.
Why Vlad was telling that female vampire to leave me alone now. Not that I cared about any of that. Their words barely even reached my ears.
"Get up," I told Aldrich. "You can't just die like that. You're avampire." But that was exactlywhyhe was dead, wasn't it?
