Chapter 15
Bash
My girl is mind-blowing. I am absolutely in love with her and I couldn’t hold it in if I tried. I don’t know if telling her I love her was the right choice or not, but it’s out there now and I simply couldn’t hold back. After what happened on the ride there, I’m overwhelmed with how I feel. What she said in the bar, about sex meaning something to her, makes that incredible act of service feel an awful lot like love. The sun is forcing me to rest too soon. I just want to be near her. Maybe now that she is off on Mondays, we can spend the night and the day together. Even knowing that she is changing her schedule seems like she is making a sacrifice for me—I know how important working and taking care of her grand-mere are to her.
Approaching my door, ready to succumb to sleep, I find a note tacked to it.
Sebastien,
Come meet me when you rise.
-Mother
I roll my eyes. This could either be very good orvery bad. My money is on bad.
“Mother.” I incline my head as I walk into her office at moon-rise.
“Sebastien.” Ok, still upset with me then. “Thank you for coming. You were out all night last night,again,so I assume you were with that woman. How long do we have to wait for you to get over her? Get her out of your system?”
“Mother, I advise you now to get used to her. She isn’t going anywhere as long as she wants to keep coming around. Please listen to me. Elina is what I’ve been looking for.”
She gasps and looks at me in shock. “Bash, do you intend to offer her theLegame di Sangue? A fragile, aging human. Have you discussed her turning?”
“Again, the dramatics, mother. You have got to be the most dramatic thousand year old vampire I have ever encountered. We have not discussed thelegamebeyond me telling her what it is and why it’s necessary to continue the bloodline. I do not know her feelings on it. I don’t believe, at this time, she intends to turn.” I watch her look at me doubtfully as I try to explain. “It's only been a few weeks, and humans are easily spooked. She isn’t ready for these discussions yet. Would I offer her thelegame? In an instant. Would she accept it? I’m not sure. Rightnow, she believes its entire purpose is to sire the next bloodline children. I haven’t explained the rest. She isn’t ready.” I can tell she isn’t satisfied with my answer.
“Theproblem,Bash, is while you wait for her to ‘get ready’, she is aging. You don’t have a decade or a century to convince her. She is young now, but she won’t be for long. Time moves differently for us. A year for her is a long time. A year for us is nothing. Bash, I want nothing more than for you to be happy, but you can’t be running all over Ville de Sang with a mortal woman who isn’t going to stay with you for eternity.”
“Why can’t I, Mother? Even if she decides she never wants thelegame. That she never wants to turn. If she wants to stay with me the way she is, then, in less than 100 years she will be dust in the wind. Why do you begrudge me even 50 years of happiness? You want me to bind to someone else in 50 years? Fine. I’ll say the words—I’ll spill the blood. But I will never love another the way I love Elina.”
“Fifty years.” She concedes. “Take your time with your human. And in fifty years, you’ll kneel before me, a man in mourning, and accept who I choose. And I will tell you I told you so. Go get something to drink before you head out tonight. I haven’t seen you feed in days. Unless-”
“No unless. I’m not feeding on her. Good night, Mother.”
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I send Jack a quick text, inviting him to meet me at the bar.
Walking into the bar, a half hour later, her head snaps up as soon as I am visible. A look of obvious relief on her face.Did you think I wasn’t coming, Tesoro?I smile at her and get a bright one in return. Just like that, the tension from the meeting with my mother eases. She is my center, my home, my sun. Sitting at the bar, a whiskey appears in front of me immediately.
“You’re late, Prince.”
“Sorry, Beautiful. Had to visit my mother.” I roll my eyes ather and she laughs. Studying her face, I notice her eyes are red and a little swollen, like she has been crying for a long time. “What's wrong, Elina? What happened?”
“It’s nothing,” she tells me while tears well up in her eyes.
“Tequila!” Sarah shoves a shot glass in her hand, holding the other herself, and they both drink them back, quickly. Oh, well isn’t this a revelation.
“Well, well. Drinking on the job, Elina? That’s dangerous.” She laughs tearfully. I don’t mention the tears. I drink my whiskey and watch in amusement as she gets tipsy while trying, mostly successfully, to tend to a full bar on a Tuesday night.
“What’s up, Bash?” Jack says as he takes the empty stool next to me. “Hey, little black cat,” he says to Elina, leaning across the bar to kiss her on the cheek. “And Sunshine, good to see you,” to Sarah.
“Hey, Jack,” Sarah looks at him indulgently.
He leans over, saying, “What are we doing?”
“Elina’s drinking…a lot,” I whisper.
“Now listen, King Bash.” She uses a shot glass to gesticulate to me—its contents sloshing over the sides as she continues to wave it—the words and actions causing Jack to snort out a laugh at her. “I like you a lot. So, no going off with a pretty bronze vampire. K? K.” A pretty bronze vampire?Talia.
“You’re the only one for me, pretty girl. Even drunk.”
