Bride of Blood:: First Kiss (18 page)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Hello, my dear,” she said.
 
Before Anton could answer, she pulled him close to her and kissed him again.
 
She laid back on her pillow.
 
Anton laid on top of her and kissed her deeply and then made love to her.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A while later Michelle looked out the window as Anton dressed himself.
 
Fresh clothes had been provided for him as Michelle discarded his old, torn ones.
 
The moonlight illuminated the room and seemed to rest on the dead girl sprawled out on the bed.
 
She was naked and her body was covered with bite marks.

Michelle had known all along that one day Anton would return to her.
 
She stepped into the moonlight and sighed.
 
She also knew about Anton’s unending quest to find Velara, and the very thought of it was breaking her heart.
 
She wrapped the sheet around her tighter and fought back the tears that were coming. But she made herself smile and refused to show Anton that she was sad.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anton walked up behind Michelle and wrapped his arms around her still naked shoulders.
 
He kissed the back of her neck and she seemed to purr in response.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I don’t think I will ever be able to find the words to thank you,” he said.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Michelle turned around and put her fingers on his lips.
 
“No thanks are necessary.
 
Finish your quest.
 
You will find the one you seek.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As much as Anton wanted to stay with Michelle, he knew that he had to leave.
 
His destiny was to find Velara.
 
Possible clues to her whereabouts would flood his dreams although he couldn’t interpret them clearly.
 
Dreams were usually few and far between for him, and he never paid them much mind in the past.
 
Still, he wondered about their meaning and if they were truly Velara trying to contact him.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Like Lady Bernadine herself, Michelle wasn’t too much help.
 
She didn’t know where Velara could be found since she hadn’t locked eyes with her for almost 100 years.
 
None of the other vampires she kept in touch with were any help either.
 
Part of Anton wondered if Velara had sworn them to silence.
 
Such a request was not unheard of in their order.
 
Since honor was of the utmost importance to them, none would have broken such a promise.
 
And since Michelle didn’t like Velara at all, she would not be bound to any promise.
 
Plus, Michelle was a terrible liar, and even if she knew where Velara could be found, she wouldn’t have been able to lie to him.
 
Still he did wonder.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Christina Michelle didn’t want to hold back her feelings anymore. She put her arms around Anton as he prepared to go.
 
“Forget about her, Anton,” she said, almost pleading.
 
I love you.
 
She doesn’t love you the way I do.
 
I would never leave you.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anton returned her embrace.
 
What she said had some degree of truth to it.
 
After Velara had left him, Michelle was there to pick up the pieces of his broken heart.
 
She never judged him or was unkind to him, and she did love him.
 
She had never taken another lover since Anton had left.
 
Her love for him ran deep.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I don’t give a damn about that past-life and soul-mate shit she says,” Michelle told him.
 
“It’s just her way of manipulating you.
 
There are no past lives, there is only this life.
 
It’s all fantasy.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Somehow, he believed her.
 
The mind worked in strange ways and he knew that Velara sometimes believed what she wanted to believe.
 
He had learned to do that from her, too.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I have to try, my love,” he said to her, kissing her hands.
 
“I have to know.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Fine,” she said with a sad sigh, “But I want your word, Anton, that if things don’t work out with her, you will come back to me.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He was silent for a few moments, remembering The Duke’s words again, but it would be hard to find someone as beautiful and as devoted to him as Christina Michelle.
 
In his long life he had neither seen nor loved anyone like her.
 
Still, he did love Velara and he believed that his destiny was truly with her.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I promise,” he said to her and then kissed her one last time.
 
He didn’t know if he really believed it or if she believed it.
 
It was what she needed to hear, and what he needed to say at that moment.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As Anton prepared to leave, he looked back at Christina Michelle one last time.
 
She was so beautiful.
 
Once he had believed that she might be the one, but he didn’t know. How could he know?
 
 
For the moment they had different paths, and one never knew what the future held, even for vampires.
 
He opened the door and walked out.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The slamming of the door sounded to Michelle like her breaking heart.
 
She sat on the floor, put her face in her hands and cried.
 
Tears of blood covered her hands and ran down her face.
 
She looked up and saw her reflection in the floor-to-wall mirrors in her foyer.
 
She stood up and took a good look at herself.
 
She wiped the blood from her face and sniffed.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Several moments later, she touched the glass and the reflection changed.
 
Standing behind her was Lady Bernadine.
 
She turned around, but the vampire queen wasn’t there.
 
She looked back into the mirror and saw Bernadine still there.
 
Bernadine reached up her hand and touched the glass from her side.
 
Michelle touched Bernadine’s hand and felt the positive energy flow to her.
 
Her mind was eased and she felt better.
 
Still, she missed Anton and thought about what would happen next.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She knew that Anton had killed the fledglings and that the war was on.
 
She also knew that her life could be lost, too, as any vampire that was not a member of The Order of the Dragon was a potential target.
 
Still, she was a Master Vampire and would able to take on most vampires of her own ranking and below.
 
She hid the fact from Anton, but she herself had killed one of Drago’s fledglings.
 
She was ready to fight if she was needed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She took her hand away from the glass and Lady Bernadine disappeared.
 
A thought suddenly came into her mind about how she could win both the war and have her man.
 
She walked back to her bedroom and picked up her cellphone.
 
She dialed the number of her long-distance familiar Allexxis.
 
She gave her a few orders and hung up the phone.
 
She smiled and looked out the window again at the large moon.

***

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After leaving Michelle, Anton contacted Chelsea who was very relieved to hear from him.
 
She wired him some money so that he could stay in the city before he decided what to do next.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She did report to him that Alexander had returned home.
 
He sent greetings to Alexander and told him that he would eventually return home.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I do have one more favor to ask of you,” Anton told Chelsea as they were nearing the end of their conversation.