“Your bond?” Laurent frowned as she freed his other wrist and tossed the silver bracelet aside. “But your bond is dead—long dead. You and my mother haven’t been lovers for—” “Well over two hundred years,” she finished for him. “But it doesn’t matter. Even when a blood bond has died, there is still a glimmer—a very faint spark—especially when the person you were bonded to was very dear to you. I loved your mother more than my own life—even though we can no longer communicate through our link, I can still feel what she feels. It’s very faint—more like an echo of emotion than the real thing.
But it’s enough to let me know now that she doesn’t wish you dead.”
“I thank you for trying to save me then,” Laurent said dully. “But I think I would rather die. My beloved has severed our bond—I have no further reason to go on living.”
Celeste slapped him lightly across the cheek. “How can you speak such foolishness?
Your Coeur de Sang may yet live. You must go to him!”
“I…you…” Laurent blinked in surprise. “You believe in the legend of the Coeur de Sang? ”
“Of course I do—I was your mother’s Coeur de Sang. ”
“What? Are you certain?” Laurent could barely believe it. His own mother had found her Heart’s Blood? And then lost her? “I don’t understand,” he said as Celeste pulled him into the wide triple garage that served the main house.
“We were going to run away together. You see, she found me after she was already wed to your father. But…he discovered our plans and forced your mother to break our bond.” Tears glimmered in Celeste’s large eyes. “She was allowed to turn me and keep me with her as a companion and I have stayed with her all these years for the memory of our love. Our friendship now is but a pale echo of the burning passion we once had but it is still better than anything else I could have with another.”
“Forgive me. I-I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t.” Celeste swiped hastily at her eyes and then went to the pegboard where around six different sets of keys were hung. “Here.” She took down a set and threw it to him. “Take mine—it’s the silver Jaguar and it has the best tinting.”
Laurent snatched the keys out of the air easily. Now that the silver restraint bracelets were gone, his strength and reflexes were returning. But he still didn’t know how long he would last in the sun, despite the tinted windows in the Jaguar. He couldn’t help remembering his last foray into daylight and he hadn’t even been driving then.
“Hurry.” Celeste twisted her fingers together nervously. “I hear them coming.”
“Thank you.” Laurent nodded at her. “I gravely misjudged you.”
“That doesn’t matter. Go to your beloved—save him if you can. Heal what was broken.”
Laurent shook his head sadly. “I fear I cannot. Once broken the bond is gone forever. Nana told me so.”
Celeste frowned. “Your nurse is a very wise woman but even the wisest among us don’t know everything. There was a time when I thought your mother and I might have healed the rift between us, but she was too frightened of your father to try. Go and do what you can, Laurent. Where there is life, there is hope.”
“Maybe you are right.” Laurent unlocked the silver Jaguar and slid behind the wheel.
“I know I am.” Celeste gave him a last smile and then pressed the garage door opener. “Good luck, Laurent. Feel for the spark and let it lead you to your love.” Then, as the wide rectangular door opened and the deadly sunlight began creeping across the concrete floor, she ducked quickly out of the garage.
Feel for the spark. Laurent started the car, squinting against the blinding rays of the sun. Hanging from the rearview mirror he saw a pair of large, mirrored D&G
sunglasses he recognized as his mother’s. She probably left them here for the times she had to drive Celeste’s car instead of her own. Laurent put them on and put the car into drive just as the back door flew open again. He heard angry shouting that sounded like his father but he didn’t wait to see if he was right. Instead he hit the gas and flew blindly out onto the curving, white gravel drive.
Despite the tinted windows, the sun was cruelly bright and this time he had no coat with a hood to cover his face. Laurent could feel the ball of fire in the sky squeezing him like a giant fist, trying to wring him dry, but he tried not to think about it. Instead, he concentrated on Celeste’s last piece of advice. If she was right, he should still be able to feel an echo of Paul somewhere from the remnants of their bond. If, that was, he was still alive. Laurent hadn’t been able to feel him earlier but maybe the pain of the severed link had still been too intense. Or maybe Paul had been unconscious?