Page 69 of Killer of the Bells
The Cody tapped her chin in thought. “You will be far more inclined to bite people than most of us are, but you will learn to control it. Whether you drink their blood will be up to you, though you will enjoy it immensely if you do. These changes will come slowly, so you’ll have time to work on them.”
“What about, y— What about V-V-Vale?” Echo’s eyes were screwed shut, and I could see how hard it had been to give up the illusion that he was talking to me so he could ask a question about me.
“You’re doing so well, my love,” I purred in encouragement. “I’m so proud of how hard you’re working for us.”
“I never would have believed Vale could be this nice if I wasn’t witnessing it myself. Echo, you are magic incarnate. As for your question, Vale will still be a bloodthirsty bastard, but itwill be far easier for him to control than before. All the quirks of being what he is will be easier for him to deal with. That doesn’t mean he’ll be easy to live with. He’s an absolute mess in my opinion, and you have your work cut out for you.”
“W-Wraith,” Echo struggled to spit out. “What about him?”
“You were bonded to Vale, not Wraith. While the three of you now share the curse, since Vale is the conduit between you, Wraith will only see a small difference, much like you will only be mildly affected by the curse.”
Echo panted as he strained to ask another question.
“You can stop, my love,” I said. “You’ve already learned more than enough.” I was delighted to know Echo wouldn’t suffer like I did. Anything else was gravy.
“How… how long… will I… live?”
My throat turned to a solid block of ice at his question. I’d planned on never thinking about it for the rest of Echo’s life because I didn’t want to know.
“You’ll live as long as you can tolerate the two assholes you’ve stuck yourself to. The curse is immortal like the creature that died to create it, and anyone holding a piece of it will become so as well.”
I tucked the tidbit aboutthe creatureaway to ponder later. I knew so little about the curse. I knew that an ancient fae was the source of it, and that was only because Wraith talked in his sleep. However, all I cared about right then was that I was going to get to keep Echo for the rest of my life. Anything else could wait.
Echo relaxed completely and became a limp ragdoll in my arms. “Good,” he said sleepily, and then he seemed to slip into a light doze.
“You got lucky finding him, Vale. You’d better spend the rest of your life kissing the ground he walks on. If I ever hearotherwise, I’ll free him from you and Wraith, become his patron, and leave the two of you to rot for eternity.”
I wasn’t sure if The Cody was willing to allow me to speak to her again, so I only nodded and kissed Echo’s forehead. I’d been planning on doing that without her order, so it made no difference to me.
“I’ll be watching you,” The Cody said as a parting shot before stepping into the trees and vanishing.
I tapped Echo’s cheek and asked, “Are you still awake?”
“Mmmm…”
“That’s not an answer, sweetheart.”
“That was… so hard.”
“I know. I’m proud of you for managing it.” I traced his eyebrows with a fingertip. “Thank you for asking your last question. It meant more to me than you know.”
I hadn’t fully processed the answer, and I didn’t think I would be able to for some time. I’d never bothered to hope to find someone to be with, let alone to be able to find someone who would live as long as I would, so nothing inside me was able to interact with the revelation beyond sheer, blinding joy.
“We needed to know,” Echo whispered, opening his eyes. “Husbands should know that sort of thing about each other.”
“Husbands,” I laughed softly.
“Don’t think you can wiggle your way out of it, vampire boy. You heard The Cody. I love deeply, so you’re never getting away from me.”
“Thank god for that.” I scooped Echo off his feet and kissed him slowly and methodically so he knew I had no intention of ever trying. “I’d take you back home, but the bells will toll again soon, and they’re absolutely intolerable. You might be susceptible to them now, and I don’t want you to have to go through it if you don’t have to.”
“Thanks for that. What should we do then?”
“We could leave town until the bells are sorted. It shouldn’t take long now.”
“Why is that?”
“I…may have told the fae that I would burn them all alive if they allowed the bells to be broken. All I have to do is tell them they can break them, and it will be over,” I admitted sheepishly.
