The Vampire and the Orphan

Chapter Thirteen

Nathanial had guarded countless witches in his day. He always took his duty seriously, and he never lost a charge. He had close calls a few times before. He'd also had devious little witches run and hide from him, being too stubborn to be guarded.

Despite all that, he'd never been terrified for a charge. Not once. It simply wasn't an emotion he felt for them. But when he woke up and didn't feel Lettie anymore, he'd never been more scared.

He knew she'd gone into the void, they'd been practicing all week, and she knew her way in and out of it just fine. However, it didn't matter. He didn't know she was safe when he couldn't feel her. That struck fear in his cold hard chest as he'd never felt.

He didn't want to take his eyes off her when she appeared again. He nearly yelled at her for frightening him so much but luckily regained control before he did.

As she stood there safe and sound in front of him, telling him she belonged with him; he was overcome. Emotions he'd thought were long gone ripping through him, and all he could do was kiss her. Word failed him, but he had to show her what he felt, and he'd never felt so connected to anyone. He was just about to deepen the kiss when he heard the helicopter. Talk about terrible timing.

Once Lettie darted to the cave, he readied himself for whoever decided to raid that perfect moment.

He had an odd feeling... could it be Nyx, the vampire that trained him? Did he still use this place as a training ground? Lettie had ironically recently asked about him, but Nathanial thought finding him would be impossible.

Nathanial stood firm while waiting for the helicopter to land; if it was Nyx, he was not worried; if it was anyone else, he was. He should have told Lettie to make herself disappear if she needed to. Instead, he made her promise never to go in without him; he'd said that in a moment of panic and shouldn't have. She may need to use her power at any moment.

Case in point, now, he thought as the helicopter landed.

He stood still and watched as a huge man dressed in black with a hood up exited first. His feeling may have been right on. Was it him?  It sure looked like him. A petite woman wearing a hooded cloak exited next, and they walking started toward him. It was like Deja vu.

No way...her too? How?

"Impossible," Nathanial murmured as the one, and only Prue Graves came to stand before him. She dropped her hood, revealing her hair black as night as it cascaded down her shoulders. She had not aged a day. There was not even one wrinkle on her golden bronzed skin. Her amber eyes held a glimmer this time, unlike the desperation they'd stored back when he'd known her. 

The man lowered his hood next, and he recognized Nyx, the vampire that taught him to be the controlled machine he is today. Nyx was the opposite of Prue; he was nearly seven feet tall and husky. His icy blond hair was cut short, and his blue eyes were piercing against his pale skin.

He stood silently next to Prue; he had always been a man of very few words.

"So now you know. Greta was not the only rebel in my bloodline," Prue said as a smirk crossed her lips.

"You turned," Nathanial stated the obvious.

"You aren't that shocked."

"I used to think Greta was you reincarnated, Prue, but... how?" He asked with a tilt of the head; this was beyond forbidden. A witch turned into a vampire; this was breaking the rules of rules.

"Nyx helped," she offered with an amused look; she'd changed a lot from the witch he'd once known. She was always a strong-armed, bossy little thing, but she'd always been so serious in those days. She had to be; there were wars upon wars ongoing at the time.