Grey Eyes: Book One of the Forever Trilogy

Chapter Twenty Four

“When I die this time, what will you do?”

“Ana, this is my heaven.  Right now, these moments.  When your life as Ana is over, then I will have no reason to keep going.  Except, while you spend an eternity in bliss, I will have simply ceased to exist.  This has been a better fate than I deserved.”

The way he spoke about me, it soothed me down to my core.  The way in which he regarded himself, his decision just to let himself fade away once I was gone—that it was all he deserved— was heart wrenching.  But what could I do?  What could I say?  The only thing I had it in my power to do was to make this last lifetime special, but to ensure that, I would need to find out what could potentially tear us apart.  That was especially important now that I was getting memories.  I couldn’t end up like Aleksandra. 

I steered my questions away from that topic and back to where I might get some clues.  From what I had gathered so far, from his body language, it somehow involved his relationship with Daemon.

“Is Daemon still alive?” I asked.

“You’re very interested in Daemon, aren’t you?”

“Just curious.”

Skepticism flashed across his face, but faded.  His eyes took up that tortured expression again.  “He’s alive.”

My heartbeat quickened, but he seemed to be too deep into his own thoughts to have noticed.  I hated to see him like this, but it was for his own good.  Knowing what the “bad thing” was could only help me to avoid falling into the same trap.  “Does he know about how you’ve changed?”

“He does.”

“And he doesn’t care?” I asked.

“Not now that the war is over.  I think that he takes solace in the fact that I, and now Aiden, have left the vampire world behind.  That means two less vampires to challenge him.  Aiden is the general that defeated the witches, and I am the warrior whose feats in battle are held up as legendary by my kind.  As the more famous of “The Four,” we have considerable influence over “The First,” the large community of vampires that were the first to be turned.    If Daemon is king, and “The Four” his heirs, then “The First” would be our nobles.  Vampires turned later are considered lesser or “common” because the venom in their veins is so diluted.  Udric and Nathena, the other two vampires turned by Daemon, have used their status as members of the “The Four” to lead countless revolts against him.  They might be successful if not for the fact that they have to keep him alive.”

“And why is that?” I pressed.

He slid his arms away from me and leaned up in the bed.  “I think that’s enough “Daemon talk” for tonight.”  His tone was light, but I knew I was close to something.

I sat up too, shaking my head.  “We made a deal.”

“Did we?”

“If I don’t ask you about the bad thing, then you have to answer the rest of my questions.  You promised.”

“Oh, that deal.  Ana…”

I cut him off with a look. 

He studied my face. He had to know what I was up to, but he couldn’t really accuse me openly, that would be admitting that I was on to whatever he was hiding.  If I really was just asking out of curiosity’s sake, then his answering wouldn’t matter, I wouldn’t know that it meant anything.  Since he was backed into a corner, answering was the only option he had.

Finally, he did.  “Because all of our fates are tied to his.  We call him The Source because it’s believed that the magic that gives the venom its powers of preservation is drawn from the spell Merline cast to keep Daemon alive.  If his life ends, then the spell is broken.  Simply put, if he dies, we all do.”