Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 50

The fact that I am ready to defend the girl, and it's not because I think of her as my next meal, unnerves me.

I have always had my priorities straight. Food first and everything else is far lower on my list of things that have to be done. The fact that I am even considering deviating from my own guiding principle is odd, to say the least.

Can someone stagnate for centuries in their emotional development and then suddenly develop all these nuances of emotions? Is that what's happening to me? Am I learning how to feel emotions that are not different types of lust?

Even though my thoughts are a crazy mess, my focus never wavers from the approaching figure. After all, as a huntress, I've had to think through many things at the same time, and it never cost me my prey.

My fangs come out, and I crouch in a defensive pose in front of Olivia.

My surprise is too great to move even when I realize who it is.

Thus, he catches me standing there, attempting to protect his sister. Not something I wished him to ever know.

"Eliot, what are you doing here?" I ask through gritted teeth as I attempt to sound nonchalant.

"You just left. Did you think I would just let you go? Besides, I would never leave my sister. You need my help to protect her," he says.

It's a relief to hear that he is here for his sister and not for some false romantic notion about me and my feelings towards him.

"What do you mean to protect me? Don't you know that I am here to protect Helen, not the other way around?" Olivia states proudly.

"You didn't tell her?" Eliot asks, shocked.

"Of course not. It's not something your sister needed to know." I say, trying to sound as uncaring as possible.

"Helen, she deserves to know the truth about the situation, about dad," Eliot says.

"Well, I didn't want to meddle in your mortal affairs," I say indignantly, doing my best to hide my true intentions.

He doesn't need to know that I think that I owe him something. He will just take advantage of that. That's what men do, after all.

"What are you talking about? Eliot, tell me!" Olivia says, whining like a small child.

"Let's sit down," Eliot says, gesturing for Olivia to do so.

"This is none of my concern," I say as I leave.

Well, they think I am gone, but the truth is I am close enough to hear everything they have to say to each other. Don't get me wrong, I don't do so out of curiosity but as a precaution.

I can't just let the two mortal idiots argue without keeping guard in case someone actually comes to hunt us down, either me or Olivia.

"What is all this about? I've never seen you this serious," Olivia says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It's because I've never heard anything as serious as this. I...I honestly don't know where to start and how to say this." Eliot says.

"Is it that awful?" Olivia asks, her cheerfulness gone.

"Yes," Eliot says.

"Tell me bluntly, like ripping off a bandaid," Olivia says.

"Healers made a deal with vampires to sacrifice one Healer to them willingly to save the others. You were supposed to be next." Eliot says.

For a few moments, all I can hear is silence. It's as if even nature itself is shocked by the revelation.

"But... dad wouldn't... I mean, how could..." Olivia says.

"I thought the same but dad admitted the truth when I confronted him about what happened with Helen. He was against it, but he still did it. He still went along instead of fighting for every single Healer in his care." Eliot says.

"How long has this been going on?" Olivia asks, her voice shaking.

"As far as I can tell, for a very long time," Eliot says, his voice dripping with anger.

"I can't believe this. I need to go back. Who knows what the vampires will do to the others if they don't get me." Olivia says.

I don't understand her logic. She just found out that her own people were ready to sacrifice her, the same people who claimed to protect and heal all life, and she wants to go back to those monsters? Is she insane?

"You can't go back. You'll die a horrible death." Eliot says, barely controlling his voice.

"Then, what are we supposed to do?" Olivia asks.

"I don't know. Let's think about this rationally before we make any decisions." Eliot says.

"But what if we waste time thinking and our people die? Are you willing to carry their lives on your conscience?" Olivia asks.

"The vampires are still there. They will be able to protect them if something happens. We can't just hand you over. We have to think of an alternative." Eliot says.

"Fine, I need a moment alone," Olivia says as I hear her walking away from her.

I take that as my cue to join Eliot and what I see makes me wish that I was a better person. It would've been so much easier for me to say just the right words if I hadn't been so damaged, so broken.

A tear sparkles on his eyelash, and I can't stop myself from dashing to him and taking him in my embrace. The embrace is anything but gentle, yet after the initial shock wears off, Eliot's body relaxes against mine, and I can hear him sniffling.

Now, if it were anyone else, I would've called them weak but not Eliot, not now. His whole world is crashing down, and he deserves the right to grieve over its demise.

However, another problem that I face in this unusual situation is the most inappropriate feeling of lust, which seems to have become a center of my very core. I can no longer tell where my bloodlust begins, and desire for Eliot's body begins. It drives me insane.

Can't I offer some comfort to another being without it being tainted by baser emotions? Was that all I was capable of feeling?

Before I realize what I am doing, I break the hug and hold Eliot slightly away from me. Tears are now streaming down his face in groups, larger than any I've ever seen.

Without any conscious control, I start kissing away each and every one of them. I do it as if the brush of my lips could erase the pain of his heart. I wish things could be that simple.

One stray tear escapes me and finds its way to the corner of his lips. As I lower my lips on his lips, a fire starts raging inside me as he opens his mouth. He kisses me with a passion I wasn't aware that the fragile human bodies could possess.

"Make me forget... please... Helen," he begs under his breath.

Hearing his voice calling my name like that is exhilarating. And though I know I should stop, that he is vulnerable and doesn't know what he is saying, I don't want to stop.

Those five words from his soft lips are enough to make me forget about anything and anyone. Thus, I am ready to oblige his request. I already have a few ideas on how to do just that as I deepen the kiss, intoxicated by his delicious smell.