The Pacts - Soul Nights Part 6

Mierna barely heard the last few words; they were as faint as Deborah's silhouette in front of her. But before she disappeared completely, she gave Mierna one last smile-and Mierna knew, once again, without knowing where the knowledge came from, why Deborah had taken the lead and talked to herwhile the others remained in the background.

She blinked. When her eyes opened again, she was back in Elden's bed; in Elden's arms.

He must have left the bed while she slept, because a bright fire now warmed and lit the room. She shifted a little, pulling away from his chest just enough to see his face. His eyes were open, and softened a little when they met hers.

"Warm enough?" he murmured.

"Yes. Thank you."

How strange to be talking to him, now, when moments ago she had been talking to someone who had been dead for two centuries-or had she? She needed to know if what she had experienced had been real, or a trick her mind had played on her. She needed to be sure that all these things she had come to know had been real.

"Deborah..." She said the name hesitantly, and flinched when Elden's expression hardened. Still, she couldn't stop now. "She was your first Childe, wasn't she? And your favorite until the day she died."

The shock clearly spelled out on Elden's face answered her before he did so in words. She could feel his body tense against hers.

"How did you know?"

Would he think she was insane, if she told him? Or would he believe her, and finally accept to sire her, as Deborah had all but promised he would? She had to take the chance.

"She ... she talked to me."

The shock disappeared, leaving in its wake a blank expression. Elden freed his arm from beneath Mierna's neck and rolled onto his back.

"She's dead, Mierna. It was a dream."

Sitting up so she could see his face as she spoke, Mierna tried to find the words to explain. She could barely believe herself what had happened, but she could believe even less that she had guessed who Deborah had been exactly without outside help.

"It was a dream, yes, but at the same time it wasn't. She said because of Souls Night ... well, she didn't explain, really. But she said things, things I couldn't know otherwise."

Elden sighed, and when he asked "Things like what?" he was clearly humoring her.

"Like ... she said they miss you too."

He closed his eyes at that, and she took the small gesture as meaning he wasn't convinced. She hurried to relay something else Deborah had told her.

"She said ... the Great Death won't happen again. And I won't die if you sire me." In a flash, his eyes opened again, pain burning in them. The next second, he was out of the bed and pacing in front of the fireplace.

"You think that by using her name you'll make me change my mind?" he asked, his voice as cold and lifeless as winter. "You should have more respect for the dead, Mierna, especially those who fought so that your ancestors could live."

"I do respect her," she protested. Her hands clenched on the blanket she was holding up to cover herself. "I respect all of them. That's why I won't stop fighting demons. Even if I didn't love you, I still wouldn't have accepted to marry Gorden. Don't you see this is all I ever wanted?"

"You don't know what you're saying. You don't know the consequences-"

"I know I could die every time I fight!" she interrupted, getting annoyed now that he couldn't see she was telling the truth. "I'm ready for it."

His demeanor changed instantly. He stopped pacing and turned to her. With his back to the flames, she couldn't distinguish his face. His voice, though, let her now how upset he was at the idea of her death.

"Don't say that," he pleaded.

"Why not? It's true. I am a Fighter and I will die a Fighter. I've known it since as long as I can remember."

"Don't say that," he repeated, and took a tentative step toward the bed.

"It's a matter of time," she insisted. "Nothing you can say will save me. But you can give me a longer time fighting if you make me a vampire."

A bit of strength returned to his voice. "No. I won't take the risk-"

It was the same argument again, but this time Mierna remembered something else Deborah had told her.

"Deborah said you had been about to take a new Childe when they all died. Haven't you waited long enough?"

She held her breath while waiting to see if he would believe her, this time. After remaining frozen for a little while, he returned to the bed and knelt next to her on the mattress, his hands closed in tight fists on his thighs.

"She ... she really talked to you?"

He sounded agitated, but now that she could see his face again, now that she could read his eyes, Mierna could recognize the hunger she had first witnessed almost a year earlier, when she had first offered him her blood. She had thought, then, and every time after that, that it was hunger for blood that consumed him. Now, however, she wondered if instead he wasn't yearning for contact and companionship. For someone to share blood with, yes, but also to teach, to hold, to care for. Someone to love without fearing death.

"She did," she replied very gently. She let go of the blanket she was holding to her chest and rested her right hand on top of one of Elden's fists. It uncurled slowly, and pulled at the cover even as Elden lay down next to her again.

"The time of the Pacts is over," he said, his voice shaking. Had they been fighting with swords, it would have been the last desperate attack of a fighter who knew he had lost.

"I know that. I'm not speaking for Riverside, only for myself. I want to fight. And I want to be with you.

And there's nothing you can say that will make me change my mind."

"Nothing I can say, maybe, but others might help you see things differently. I give you one year."

Her eyes widened. Did he mean- "In one year," he continued, his tone more a.s.sured now, "if you ask me again, I will turn you."

Mierna slid closer to him until their bodies were pressed together. "I won't change my mind, do it now."

The barest hint of a smile tugged at his lips. "No. One year."

She closed the distance between their lips for a quick, chaste kiss. When she pulled back, he tried to follow her for more. She grinned.

"You won't wait that long," she said, sure of herself.

"I've waited two hundred years," he pointed out as he slowly ran a hand over the side of her body. "One more is nothing."

Mierna shivered at his touch but fought herself to answer him. "And every day, I'll ask you to reconsider."

His smile was now frank and wide. "I'm sure you will,"

"I'll use all of my arguments to change your mind."

She punctuated her near promise with a light touch of a finger against his hardening c.o.c.k. Elden drew in a deep breath before leaning in closer to press a kiss her shoulder.

"I'm sure you will do that too. But if it comes to that, you'll learn that Childer follow where their Sire leads, not the other way around."

"Maybe. But it doesn't apply until you actually sire me."

He paused against her, pulled back, and she could see he looked dumbstruck. She laughed, then kissed him again. She was ready to bet that by the time the snows had come and gone, she would have changed his mind. Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him tight against her and hid her smile against his neck.

The End About the Author:

Kallysten is a French citizen whose most exciting accomplishment to date was to cross a few thousand miles and an ocean to pursue (and catch!) the love of her life. She has been writing for almost fifteen years, and always enjoyed sharing her stories and listening to the readers' reactions. After playing with science fiction, short stories, poetry and fanfiction, she is now trying her hand, heart and words at paranormal romance novels.

To see her other novels, visit: original.kallysten.net Other stories in The Pacts series available at Alinar Publishing: All Things Except Blood Vampire Eyrin lives in a world in which her kind seals pacts with humans and protects them from fearsome demons in exchange for blood. She is one of her clan's strongest fighters, until the night when she is gravely wounded, in both her flesh and spirit. Disfigured, she hides from all and refuses to feed.

Returning to the lair, her human lover Ian is shocked to discover her condition but resolute to show her she is still as beautiful in his eyes. He offers her blood and comfort, causing Eyrin to do the one thing forbidden to Childer-take his life.

When Ian awakens a vampire, sired not by her but by the clan's Master instead, Eyrin reluctantly takes on the task of teaching him about his new existence. But her guilt over killing him makes this responsibility a heavy burden for Eyrin, and the new relationship they forge is a far cry from the one they used to share.

Will Ian be able to reach out for her again, or will she keep her door and heart locked to him?

Her Last Words (November '07) Two centuries have pa.s.sed since the Master Vampire Gabrielle made the biggest mistake of her life. Two centuries since her plan backfired, resulting not in the destruction of demons as she had hoped, but instead in the slaughtering of countless humans and vampires that had been fighting against them. Two centuries also, since she pushed away her favorite Childe, without ever telling him why. Two centuries of fighting alone to protect the humans she has sworn to defend from demons. Two centuries of missing Erik.

When he finally reappears in her life, she thinks she has been offered a second chance. But she soon realizes that she will need to face her mistakes to reach him, and understand that silence can be more painful than words.

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