Steve continued, “Do you consent to my offer? Do you understand what it will mean?”
Aura, I could tell was struggling between getting as emotional as a giddy bride and her innate smart-assedness wanting to say something that would make me laugh. But she settled for honesty.
“I don’t know what this next life will be like. But as long as I’m with you, it will be everything I could ask for.”
To my horror, tears welled up in my eyes and I dug my nails into my palm. James was looking at me now and that beautiful bastard had the nerve to look sorrowful. Forcing my gaze from his, I watched as Steve carefully unbuttoned the first few buttons on her dress with his giant fingers, laying the thin fabric over to bare her neck. Kissing her smiling mouth, he said, “Forever, my Aura?”
“Yep,” she answered, and his teeth sliced through the thin skin of her throat and he drank.
I’d never seen this before. I’d been unconscious when James drained and Turned me. It took a while, I knew Steve was being careful to not hurt her, taking his time to keep her relaxed. But her eyes, staring up at the stars, finally closed and I bit down another sob.
This was her choice.
James stepped forward to take Steve’s coat as he ripped up his sleeve and bit into his wrist, carefully bringing it to Aura’s slack mouth. It was oddly beautiful, watching her chest rise and fall again, the color returning to her face and the new lifesblood giving her body strength. Picking her up, Steve carried her back into the cabin and put her down on their bed.
“She wanted you to be, uh ... here,” he said a little awkwardly, “to help her clean up.”
“I know,” I agreed, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, “she told me when she called me back. She did this for me, remember? I know she’s going to be so happy to see you again.”
Steve surprised me with a hug, squeezing hard enough that even my iron-hard ribs creaked a little. “Thank you.”
As he left, James was still standing there, his hand on the doorknob. “I’m sorry,” he said suddenly, looking into my eyes before turning away, “I’m sorry I didn’t give you this. I’m sorry I didn’t give you the choice. I am so truly sorry.” He shut the door before I could say anything in return.
“There you are, Sleeping Beauty,” I kissed Aura’s cool forehead. “Welcome back, little sister.” Her eyelids fluttered for a moment like a bird’s wings, then opened fully. She had the crimson gaze of a newborn, but behind the raw, bloody newness, it was still Aura.
“Hey…” she sighed.
“How do you feel?” I helped her sit upright, checking her responses. She was staring around the room, blinking, and then looked back at me.
“Do I have the crazy eyes?”
Laughing - no, I actually giggled - which was kind of creepy, since I don’t think I’ve done such a thing since I was Turned - I said, “Yeah. But you look adorable. Do you feel like getting up and taking a nice bath? I’ve got one of your favorite bath bombs ready.”
Aura was running her fingers down her skin, which was unpleasantly slick. Turning involved a lot of horrifying changes; flesh dissolves, flesh is reborn. It’s a messy process and even though I’d given her a sponge bath while waiting for her to wake up, I knew she would want all the slimy remnants of her human body gone.
“The eucalyptus ones? Yes, please.”
It felt good, helping her the way she’d done for me. Aura had barely known me then but had already treated me like family. Called me by my name. Like I was someone loved and cared for. She was clean, hair brushed and on fresh sheets, pillows fluffed, and settled around her when I called Steve into the room.
As I was tactfully closing the door, my last glimpse was of Aura’s whole face alight, arms held open and fingers making that hilarious little grabby hands thing she did when she was excited. It was beautiful, and I was so happy for them. There was no expiration date on their love for each other.
The smile was still on my face as I turned to find James standing there. His hair was sticking up in clumps and spikes and his stubble was back, his nice suit gone. I was still smiling. At him. Finally, I offered, "She looks wonderful. She's so happy."
His relief was palpable, and he nodded. "Good. That's ... good. She deserved to be this way." Had he always had that dark, almost bruised skin under his eyes? The blue of them was nearly obscured by how bloodshot they were. "You deserved that too. I am sorry I didn't give it to you."
I felt that goddamned sob that had been trying to rip out of me all night rising up my throat again, and I hurried down the hall before he could say anything else.
But because it was clear I was cursed, the night was not yet over.
I was sitting in my room on the third floor of the cabin, the one Aura jokingly called "the nest" because it was small but wonderfully cozy with a view that spanned half the mountain. It was on the opposite end of the house from the master bedroom one floor below. Steve had built this beautiful place with his own hands, it was solid. Thick walls, well-insulated from the cold and rain. But it may as well have been built of tissue paper when Aura made her first moan.
"Ohhhh... I've missed you."
Her breath hitched and I buried my face in my hands, knowing Steve was inside her, listening unwillingly to his low voice with my horribly acute vamp hearing, their bed creaking and the smooth slide of legs over and around each other. His groan of joy, being back inside her and the faint scent of his blood when her nails dug into his back.
Running my hands through my hair, I paced for a minute. "Open the windows. A little fresh air, yeah. That's good," I mumbled, "music? Music, maybe?"
I paced. I took a shower. Turned on some music and put in my earbuds. The smell of them together drifted through my open window, lush and erotic. I was so happy for them. Really. I also wished they would fucking stop because they were killing me.
