Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 66

I guess love is the most important thing in life as well as the afterlife, after all.

Although I am still not sure about the whole marriage business. Eliot is trying to convince me that it's a great thing and that we should give it a shot, but I am still unsure about it.

After all, what does a piece of paper have to do with love?

The paper will yellow and fall apart, while love itself will stay eternal. Thus, I see no point in following those odd and senseless conventions.

It has been a year since our final showdown, and things have been quiet, too quiet perhaps.

I don't know what I expected from living in the mountains, but it's definitely not this feeling of boredom.

Don't get me wrong, the time I have spent with Eliot has been amazing, but he is still mortal and needs his beauty sleep. Thus, I spend most of my nights dreaming of my glory days when I could hunt freely and not care too much about other people's feelings.

What helps me is hunting for the animals in these parts. It keeps my senses sharp and my darling well-fed.

He insists that I could feed on animal blood, but I thoroughly dislike it. After drinking human blood for centuries, after having tried Healer blood, animal blood just doesn't cut it for me.

Still, things are much better than they ever were for me. I have found something I didn't know I needed, love and companionship.

Eliot is as great as I thought he would be, even more so, and I am enjoying every second of our lives together. However, I worry about the future. A Healer and a vampire in a relationship will probably cause some trouble, but I guess we will face it when we have to and not a moment sooner.

"Are you ready for today?" Eliot asks, coming up to me with his hair tousled from sleep.

"Hm, are you sure we even want to meet up with those idiots?" I say, feeling weird.

I worry that things might have changed between us that one year was enough to erase the connection I had with my friends. Thus, not going, not risking getting hurt sounds like a better option to me.

"Helen, don't be ridiculous, you missed them, and you know it," Eliot says.

That's true, but what if they didn't miss me?

"One year is not a long time in vampire terms," I say stubbornly.

"Maybe not, but if I've learned one thing about you in all this time we've spent together is that under that Ice Queen routine, there is one of the gentlest hearts I've ever known hiding," Eliot says.

"You do remember that I've killed people in cold blood and enjoyed it?" I ask, finding his statement odd.

How can he even think someone with so much blood on their hands can have a gentle heart? Besides, my heart is still dead even though it's alive enough to feel love for him.

"That's not you, it's your predatory instinct, and though it's a part of you, it's not all there is to you. Vampires are far more complicated than that. You can be the most vicious predator the world has ever seen but also the gentlest lover and a friend," Eliot says.

His words made me recall all the evenings we spent indoors, showing each other how much we truly cared for each other. If I were human, all those images of passion and tenderness would have made me blush.

"Now, tell me what's really bothering you," Eliot says, gently stroking my cheek making my skin tingle.

His touch is so tender and caring that I can't stop myself from spilling my guts.