Love & Loss

Chapter 78

Xander's POV:

~Present Time~

"Khloe?!"

The word left me before I even had the time to process what I was seeing.

The overall shock of it all left me speechless after that as I looked her over.

There sitting in a small bed was the familiar redhead.

Or at least what looked like her.

The girl before me was paler, her skin blanching even compared to mine.

The scent I got from her was different than the usual one, not to mention that the usual cheery disposition wasn't there.

Instead, the entirety of her looked physically drained, her limbs trembling and the entire upper body looking like it was only sitting up because of the hold my mother had beside her.

The thought briefly crossed my mind that somehow this was a different girl, but then recognition took over her eyes as she lifted her head to see me.

"Xander!" Her voice was strained and hushed, but the relief in it was still evident.

And I knew that voice, that was all it took for me to know for sure that it was her.

I didn't waste one more second before speeding to her and taking her into my arms.

I can't even begin to explain the kind of relief this brought me.

And I could feel a bit more of hers as she wrapped her arms around me as well.

She was here. She was alive.

Holy shit she was alive!

It took a few more seconds before I realized that her skin was freezing.

I was about to start asking questions, but the tension that came to her body in the blink of an aye, and the sudden claws I found in my back quickly changed my thought process.

I felt a different hand grab the back of my shirt and hastily pull me back and away from her a couple steps, a quick head turn telling me that it was my father.

Again, my questions got delayed as I looked back towards Khloe.

There was when I saw that the claws I had felt were real.

She looked down at the edges of her fingers, wide-eyed in distress with her mouth slightly agape.

"I-I'm sorry," She got out, "I just.. I don't-" She cut herself off, pressing a hand on her head.

My mother gently took her hands, softly explaining how to retract them.

And while she spoke, within her mouth I saw fangs.

That's where it finally clicked in my brain.

"She's a vampire," I spoke in awe, taking a small step back just from the surprise of it all.

"Well, almost," My mother began, "She has one more stage left, but that is the final result."

Holy shit.

My own parents turned her.

Oh God this changed so much within my own life.

Doe was going to love this.

It was at this point I realized that my questions could wait and that I needed to do just one thing,

I need to tell Nico.

I hadn't even realized that I said my last thought out loud until I turned to do so, and my father stopped me with a hand on my chest with a simple word.

"No."

The way he said it wasn't exactly stern, but final nonetheless.

He brought me to the other side of the room as I began to speak again.

"No? What do you mean no? Nico's down there and he's-, "I stopped myself, quieting my voice for the last part, "He's suffering down there and last I heard you killed her!"

"I know," My father began, the guilt evident in his voice, " Look, I can explain everything to you later, but Nico can't come anywhere near her during this process."

"So what? Just tell him she's alive, I'm sure he'd..." I trailed off, ultimately knowing that if Nico heard that news, he'd do absolutely everything to confirm it with his own eyes.

"Even if he would manage to stay away from her, there's still," He paused his hushed words for a moment, glancing at Khloe right past my shoulders, "We haven't told her this, but there's still a chance that this could fail, and she could die."

I think he read the shock, confusion, and anger on my face and continued explaining.

"Her body is under a lot of stress right now, and knowing that this could go wrong would only add to the stress that she's under. She's already gone through the first two stages, and everything's gone well so far, but the recorded shifts we've read about have only failed during the third. During the blood-moon-like phase, she'll have to go through. The wings, the bloodlust, the feral-like takeover... Sometimes it's too much and the last of their human side ends up killing them."

There were so many emotions running through me right now, still lingering happiness, a sympathetic ache in my chest for both Nico and Khloe, and unexplainable anger at this whole thing.

At how this situation could have been handled so much better.

Still, I took a deep breath, trying to keep my cool.

I'm sure Nico will have a few choice words about this whole thing as well, and I'll be happy to join him when the time comes

"Do you think she'll make it?" I asked.

He looked back over at her again.

"I think she will. She looks small, but she's done nothing but surprise me. With the assistance of your mother, and with you if you would, I'm sure it'll be fine. But there's still a chance that..." He didn't finish his sentence, but started a new one instead, "I don't know exactly what connectin the two of you have, but I've noticed that just you being her has alleviated her."

I thought for a moment in silence, turning to look back at her.

Nico needed her. She had to make this.

"Fine. I'll do whatever you need me to do. Is the third stage starting soon? Is that why you summoned me?"

"Not exactly," He began, " She just barely finished the second one, and her first bloodthirst just barely kicked in."

We began walking back over towards them, and that's when I began to see that everything I saw from her prior were symptoms of heavy bloodthirst.

The fatigue, the paleness.

And that explained her sudden outburst when I was so close to her.

They looked so weird coming from her.

My mother must have somehow been using her pheromone to keep Khloe from biting her.

She spoke up, "She needs it from a live source, and we don't want to get any humans or other vampires involved. We can only assume that she'll be living off of Nico's royal blood for a while, and we have no idea if our blood will be overpowering, so the only other royal blood that were sure would be safe, is yours."

"Wait, what?" The look on Khloe's face told me that this was the first she was hearing about this plan as well, followed by a hint of embarrassment.

Meanwhile, I was already rolling up my sleeve.

If anything I owe her this.

A bite for a bite I guess.

That and I would do anything to make sure that makes it through this.

Then I'll know how to do this when I need it done.

I can take care of her in Nico's absence.

"Say no more."