Aris Rising: The Court of Vampires: AN INFINITY DIARIES NOVEL (10 page)

Aris’ tale that she was his beloved from a past century had been difficult for her to accept, yet through her sessions with Bonnie, it became more and more a possibility her mind could not deny. If she honestly believed her own theory of past life regression, it was most definitely more than a possibility. She knew Aris believed it without any doubts.

“Sarah?” He leaned toward her. “Where were you just now?”

The sincere questioning look on his face caused her to laugh as she reached to pat his hand. He turned his wrist to interlace her fingers with his. The heat from his hand warmed her. His eyes locked on hers and she could see little reflections of the dancing firelight in the black circles of the iris. Sarah felt his other worldliness, the inherent seduction in the gaze of an Immortal.

Moving even closer, he kissed her tenderly. His lips barely brushed hers. They were softer than she remembered. He rested his full mouth on hers and the feel of his breath, a breath he breathed just for her, was warm and sweet on her skin. She hungered for more of him and without thinking she reached to wrap her arms around his neck.

His hands grasped her wrists with the greatest of care as he stopped her from holding him. He placed her hands in her lap and kissed her sweetly on the forehead. “Don’t get up. I’ll show myself out.” He looked down at her in the glow of the firelight. “You are so beautiful.” He slid into his jacket as he walked to the door. She heard a soft click as he closed it behind him.

Sarah drew her legs close to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees. She was silent a moment
then spoke softly to no one except herself. “Absolutely. No doubt about it. My feelings for him are getting out of hand. Where can this possibly go?”

She leaned back on the sofa and thought of the two men in her life. When DeMarco left the country she thought she would get over him, but he had already been gone a few weeks and she still felt heat when she remembered his kisses. His attention to her was so much more demanding than Aris. Of course, she and DeMarco could actually have a sexual relationship --something she could never have with Aris while she was human. Her decision was made long ago, she would never give up her human life to become an Immortal. So a sexual relationship with the vampire was impossible. Her dreams had made her aware that she wanted and needed to be intimate. It had been way too long since she had felt more than a dream man in her bed.

T
he children’s furniture store was exploding with plastic elves, reindeer and an enormous red and white Santa Claus ho, ho, ho-ing and moving its arms up and down. Sarah supposed the decorations were to make the shoppers feel festive enough not to mind spending more on an infant’s crib than on their own beds.

“So,” Colleen questioned, “are you ready to finally admit what I’ve known all along?”

Sarah held a tiny pair of jeans to show them to her friend. “How about these? They’re as unisex as you can get.” The prospective mother and father chose not to know the sex of their unborn child so all of the tiny clothes they bought would fit both boys and girls.

“Sarah, answer my question. What’s up with Carlos? Even Bob said it’s obvious you two are nuts about each other.”

“C.” Sarah lifted her palm toward her friend in an attempt to quiet her inquiring mind.

“Don’t do that to me Sarah. It’s clearly apparent. Why can’t you just admit that you care about him? And don’t give me that age crap. I don’t buy it.”

Sarah paused, keeping her thoughts to herself.
“If you knew the
real age difference, you most certainly wouldn’t buy it.”

When she spoke, it was the truth. “I honestly don’t know what is going on between us. You keep asking me and I keep telling you, I have no idea where it’s going. The only thing I’m sure of is that we really enjoy spending time together.”

“What in the world do the two of you talk about?”

Sarah laid the little pair of jeans on the counter as she thought, “
If you only knew C. If you only knew
.” But there was no way to explain Aris’ true nature to her friend.

Colleen guided the shopping cart as the two women moved toward the checkout counter. “So?”

“We talk about all kinds of things. What do you and Bob talk about?”

Colleen laughed. “For the past couple of months, nothing but little Eggbert in here.” She patted her round stomach. “What about the Italian doctor? Is he still in Italy?”

“Yeah.”

“When is he coming back?”

“After the New Year.” They crossed the store in silence.

“Is that all you’ve got to say? ‘After the New Year?’ I’d like a little more info if you don’t mind.”

Sarah sighed. “There isn’t any more info, C. He calls. We chat. He’s coming back to the states. We’ll see each other again. That’s all. We’re just friends.”

“Hon, as a good looking woman who is in the prime of her life, it’s time for you to find a man who is just a little bit more than a friend, don’t you think? You better use what you’ve got before nobody wants it anymore. If you know what I mean.”

Sarah shook her head and laughed at her friend’s words as they got in line, but she knew that Colleen was more right than she cared to admit.

#

Sarah placed her keys and purse on the small table by the door. She removed her coat then sifted through the day’s mail. A few bills, some advertisements and some holiday cards. She opened an envelope that she knew was from Colleen and Bob. It was a wonderful photograph of the two of them in Santa Claus hats and fake, cottony white beards. Sarah laughed out loud at the silly looks on their faces.

The next card she picked up had a strange looking stamp on it. She noticed it was international mail and her heart skipped a beat. It was from DeMarco. With him so far away, it had been relatively easy to keep him out of her mind, to pretend her feelings for him were just a fantasy, to concentrate on Aris. Yet, now that she held a message from him in her hand, read his greeting written in his own handwriting, he was once again very real to her. Suddenly she missed him. Missed their conversation, the gray on his temples, the way he held her hands in his. Knowing he would return excited her. “No, I won’t go there. I’ll think about him later. After the holidays. Now, I’ll just focus on Aris and our strange friendship.”

She slid the card back into the envelope and placed it at the bottom of the stack of mail.

T
he hour’s drive from the city to her mother’s home in the northwest suburbs was uneventful. A light snow fell as they left her parking garage, but by the time they reached their destination the flurries had stopped completely.

The outside of the house and all the trees in the yard were decorated with twinkling white lights. It was still late afternoon but the gray cloudy sky created the perfect contrast as they blinked on and off. Aris carried a stack of colorfully wrapped packages as they hurried up the walk. Sarah slid her hand under his arm when she nearly slipped on a hidden piece of ice on the sidewalk.

As they stepped onto the porch, the door opened in welcome. The smells of Christmas dinner cooking and the warmth of the house enveloped them. “Merry Christmas.” Sarah’s mother drew them out of the cold into the entrance hall. She hugged and kissed her daughter. “I’m so glad you could join us, Carlos.” She took the packages from him, placed them on a nearby table and shook his hand. “It’s good to see you again. Please, come in.”

The dinner was intimate. An old friend of the family and a couple that lived down the block were the only guests other than Aris. They laughed and joked as they sat around the dining room
table after dinner, enjoying the conversation and each other’s company.

“John has a gallery, Carlos.” Delores Hagan patted John Marshal’s hand as it rested on the table. “Sarah mentioned that you sketch and you are quite good at it. Perhaps you might show some of your work to John.”

“Why, yes. I’m always looking for new artists to showcase.” At middle age, the gallery owner was tall, handsome and had a head full of thick gray hair. “Stop by and see me and bring some of your work.” He reached into his suit pocket, withdrew a business card and handed it across the table to Aris. “We’re having a winter finale at the gallery. I can’t promise, but let’s see if you have anything we might display.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you.” He tucked the card in his shirt pocket. “I’ll telephone you this week to set an appointment.”

As he spoke, Sarah’s grandmother brought in a flaming Christmas pudding. “Dessert anyone?”

#

“He really is a lovely young man, Sarah. It’s hard to believe he’s a criminal. But don’t you think he’s a bit young for you?” Sarah and her mother rinsed the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher.

“First of all, he isn’t a criminal. He made some mistakes when he was younger but that is all behind him now. And the age difference? I hadn’t thought about it,” she lied. “Besides, we’re just friends. That’s all.”

“I find that hard to believe. I saw how he looks at you.” Mrs. Hagan added the dishwashing liquid, shut the door of the appliance, and pushed a button to turn it on. “And how you look at him. I’m not making any judgments, Sarah. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

The sound of a piano echoed from the living room as Sarah’s
grandmother played Christmas carols. Soon voices were singing about decking the halls.

“Don’t worry, Mother. I’m not going to get hurt.” She dried her hands. “Come on, let’s go sing with them.” She took her mother’s hand to lead her out of the kitchen as the dishwasher hummed along with the song.

#

“You spoke of my sketches to your mother?” He drove through the falling snow. The wipers made a steady clicking sound as they erased the tiny wet marks made by the flakes as they landed on the windshield. The heat of the defroster warmed the glass and the flurries melted instantly as they touched it.

“Well, yes.” Sarah was a little embarrassed and she wasn’t sure why. “I told her about them before. I guess she remembered.” She turned to look at him. His handsome profile was outlined by the lights of the oncoming cars. “You can still draw, can’t you?”

“Of course. It was my influence that inspired the sketches Carlos created. It is a natural talent I inherited from my human mother. She was quite the artist and I watched several other well-known painters through the years.” He grew silent as he reflected on his human life with his human family so many, many centuries past. Christmas carols played softly on the radio. Sarah hummed along.

Aris remembered his vampire life at the court of Henry VIII. His sketches had been prized by Anne Boleyn. After his trial in the Catacombs, his vampire home, the death of his human body and the banishment of his essence, during the years he floated though time and space as consciousness only, he witnessed many of the great masters as they created some of the most treasured paintings in the world. He watched and he learned. Monet. Da Vinci. Picasso. So many great artists. His present artwork was a combination of so many of the masters’ talents.

Aris exited the tollway just as the snowplows were beginning
their tedious work. The accumulation in the city was so much greater than it had been in the surrounding area where Sarah’s mother and grandmother lived.

“The weather people said there is going to be at least four inches falling tonight. I’m glad tomorrow is Saturday and I don’t have to go anywhere.” She leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes.

“Sarah, I heard your mother mention your birthday next month. May I spend the day with you?”

“I hadn’t planned on even celebrating this year.” She understood that each year as she grew older, this man beside her would remain the same. Each year as her hair grew white and her skin grew wrinkled, he would still be young and vibrant. She detested thoughts of an aging body and mind. “Birthdays just aren’t that important anymore.”

“Yours is to me. Your birthday in this life has made it possible for me to find you, to share some of the things with you that were taken away from us in our past life together. Cardinal Wolsey took you from me in Henry’s court. He separated us and sent you to your death.” Anger touched his voice as he finished his sentence.

“I don’t know about any of that, I’m just glad that you’re here now and that I have gotten to know you.” She reached to gently place her hand on his.

He held his tongue. The promise he made to himself weeks ago kept him from proclaiming his affection, his desire to have her with him. She would have to be the one to instigate the conversation. She would have to be the one to speak of love. He had waited hundreds of years and he would continue to wait.

“Aris, tell me more about the Catacombs and the Immortals, about your friend Sebastian.” She was afraid to ask herself why but she wanted to know more about Sebastian and Emily, the vampire and the human who mated.

“I suppose you could say Sebastian was the closest to a true friend I ever had. He and Richard.

“Sebastian is brilliant and kind. He is the first Immortal created by Queen Akira. When Akira and Khansu came to earth with the star voyagers, they had no intention to colonize. They came solely for research. But when it was decided that the voyagers should return to their own world, Akira and Khansu decided to stay. They decided to make earth their home.

“The star voyagers were blood drinkers. On their home planet, colonies of feeding stock were bred for their blood. I don’t know how to say this, Sarah, but the stock was humanoid by nature. Mutes. The minds of children, but humanoid. They were well cared for and allowed their freedom. The society’s system was much like your barter system here on earth. The stock was fed, clothed and given places for shelter. Each time they were bled, they healed stronger than they were before the bleeding. The bleeding was painless, even pleasurable to some. The stock had a life expectancy of about a quarter-century and then they expired. But while they lived, they lived contented lives.