Floss:But he hadn’t decided yet!
I gaze down at Damian’s fluttering eyelids and listen to his hoarse shallow breathing.
Me:I guess I made that decision for him. But you’re going to have to do it quickly. He’s fading fast.
Chapter 25
Elliott | Highlands, present day
There’s someone or something in the cell with me. In the corner. Glinting eyes are watching me. Drawing in a shaky breath, I call out into the darkness, ‘Who’s there?’ I try to sound as bold as I can, but the words catch in my throat.
Nails click on stone. The sound of licking.
Is it ... a cat? Has Alexander taken pity on me and thrust an emotional support pet in here to keep me company? But the dark shape moving towards me from the shadows is too large for a cat, even if I want to keep telling myself it is one.
‘Nice kitty,’ I choke out. ‘There, there. You won’t hurt me, will you?’
Nails click closer.
A squelching sound.
It’s almost upon me before I see what it is.
My blood runs cold, and I piss myself a little.
‘Ohhh nooo,’ I moan. I’m dead. I’m sooooodead.
It lunges for my neck.
***
It’s strange. In my final moments, when all the life is being sucked from my body, I sense that Sadie is here too. That she pushes Lucy off me and tackles her to the ground. I distinctly hear her yelling,Don’t worry, Elliott, I’ll save you this time!
But it must be only wishful thinking. Wanting her to hold me and revitalise me, bring me back from the brink. Because I know when someone is taking too much, and with all the blood Alexander’s been drawing, I’m at my limit faster than I would be.
Lucy’s mouth, suckling hard at my neck, is giving me the sweet kiss of death. I hover on a mossy stone ledge, about to fall into a deep dark well. Then a bloodied wrist is thrust at my lips.
‘Drink, Elliott,’ Lucy commands. Her thin pale face is inches from my own, nose and chin smeared with my blood and the tips of her white fangs protruding. ‘Drink now.’
I struggle to comprehend what’s happening. Am I not about to die? Am I being given a gift? This is what I’ve been waiting for, for forty years. But it’s not who I wanted it to be from!
Lucy frantically rubs her iron-tanged wrist over my mouth when I don’t respond. ‘Quickly!’ she urges.
I can feel myself fading fast, and I know I don’t have time to be precious about it. I want to be strong. I want to be a vampire.I want to tell Sadie how I feel about her.
Eagerly, I latch on to the wound in Lucy’s wrist and begin guzzling her blood.
‘That’s it, Elliott,’ she purrs, stroking my head. ‘Take your fill from me. Choose immortal life.’
I groan, unable to drink any more, and slump back against the wall. Lucy’s blood and venom sizzle like fire through my veins. It’s a feeling I know well and why I’m so addicted to Sadie, but she gives me only a taster to keep me hooked. This is more intense, like something is physiologically rearranging inside of me. ‘Now what?’ I gasp.
My beautiful, yet ghastly saviour smiles as she gently strokes my stubbled cheek. ‘Now we wait.’
Chapter 26
Sadie | London, 1758
Anya releases my wrists from the bonds (a relief as my arms were aching).Touch me, little one. I want your hands on my body.
