Divine Descent

Chapter Thirty-One

The full moon shines down upon the brilliant profile of the ageless man at my side. The collected vampire treading beside me has only inhabited the earth a little more than 150 years. In comparison to the elder I know now, who has endured over 700 years of life, he is relatively newborn.

The vampire I sought years ago in the middle of Russian Siberia was graceful, quiet, definitely stoic, with little need for companionship. Here, in the early years of his existence, there's still wonder in his eyes, a hunger for the unknown. He's friendly, oozing charm.

"It's not usual for a maiden to wander into a site of infantrymen unaccompanied. Where's your escort? Did you arrive with someone?"

Elijah's always had the echo of an accent, but his thick drawl is strong in this time period, a staple of his homeland. It reminds me that I'm in strange company, even if his face is familiar.

"I'm on my own."

"Well, you'll forgive if I find that hard to believe. There's battle stirring, and the nearest road is miles away."

I smile, slowly. "Do you think I'm a spy then?"

"The thought has crossed my mind."

"I'm not a spy."

"So, I'm meant to imagine you wandered here on your own in search of...?"

"You." Taken aback, he blinks. "And I didn't wander. I just showed up right here, out of thin air."

After a moment hanging on my words, expecting me to take them back, he grimaces, chuckling. "You sound raving mad."

I'm enjoying fucking with him, far more than I should. "You should know more than most that there is a lot on this earth that seems impossible."

Even in near darkness, I watch his indefectible features lose their warmth. He slows to a stop, right in the midst of the chaos. This hard, rugged version of the man I love suspects I'm the enemy and I do nothing to convince him otherwise, entertaining this wicked scheme.

"What do you feel when you look at me?"

His gaze narrows. "What are you?"

"What?"

"You haven't a heartbeat, but you're no vampire. You smell sweet like nectar, unlike humans, or those of my kind. You're skin... it glows."

"Yours does too."

He takes my hand without asking, lifting it between us. "Not like this."

One year has passed, and with it, much of my morality. I once considered myself a somewhat-benevolent creature, especially when I had a thumping heart that guided me. I no longer keep with that façade. I am darkness, and I have no desire to mask that for him.

Making me even more of a liar, I shrink inwardly at his initial touch, unused to the electricity that streams through his fingertips, seeping deep into my flesh.

"And you're warm, feverish," he muses without tearing his eyes from my skin. Coming out of a trance-like daze, he releases my hand, instantly uncomfortable. "Tell me what you are."

"I don't think you'll believe me."

"Try me."

"You want to know? Really? Right here?"

He crosses his arms and his chest broadens, trapped in the stiff armor. "Right here."

I step up to him, unfazed. "I am the Mistress of the Darkness. I rule the night, and all it's creatures. I have no heartbeat, because I am immort—"