He brought his head back down, licking the bite mark he’d left on me, and this time, it was more pleasurable. I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around his neck and resting my hand on his head. “Let’s stop
this?”
Thinking I meant his tongue on my skin, he stopped and tried to move back again, but I held him to me.
“I mean, let’s stop trying to figure out what happened,” I whispered, staring up at the sky. “I don’t want to cause any more trouble than I already have. Can Sigbjørn figure out another way? To understand what is happening? You said you were fine not having your memories. I’m fine, too. Can’t we just start from here? Every time I look into this magic stuff, I somehow end up causing another issue. Can’t we just do whatever other vampire mates do?”
“You admit to being my mate now, no longer my intending?” he whispered, kissing my neck.
“I think I admitted that in other ways a while ago.”
He chuckled. “No more fighting me?”
“No more seriously fighting you.”
He moved, resting his forehead on top of mine.
Reaching up, I brushed the blood from his mouth. “So, what do you say? Can we be normal for a while?”
“Define normal.”
“Not disappearing, no magic. Nothing but Theseus and Druella, a boring vampire couple.”
He lifted his lips into a grin and nodded. “We can do that…until Father demands we stop doing that.”
“How long will that be?”
“Let’s not worry about it now. He’ll give us a break as I cannot bear anything at this moment.”
And just like that, I felt so much better.
Everything I had learned or heard before, I was going to forget. I would not go back to the library. I wasn’t going to do magic or wonder about magic.
Druella Monroe.
Druella Omeron.
Whoever was in the past didn’t matter. I was going to be Druella Thorbørn now.
Free us, the witch in my head called out.
No, I answered her.
And whatever had loosened before tightened once again.
* * *
We didn’t go back into the house, even though I was sure he’d be dead set on completing the mating ritual with me tonight. Instead, he said he wished to show me something beyond the art. And so, we ran through the treetops, hand in hand as if we were teenage lovers, moving at the speed of light. I was more than happy with it…running with him to who knew where—maybe the edge of the earth. The wind ripped through my hair, the scent of pine and fir trees filled my nose, and I jumped higher and forward, happy to be thinking of only this.
“Careful.” Theseus caught my hand arm when the tree branch broke, and I began to fall down the mountainside, pulling me up to where he stood at the thickest point of the tree at the very top. I looked over at the view only a few dozen feet in front of me. The ocean was dark and vast, spreading out in the night. The way the stars blanketed the sky and the waters crashed upon themselves made it feel as if we were alone.
“Have you ever swum with the whales?” he questioned me.
“No.” I grinned. “Is that something vampires do?”
He smiled back. “I do not know about all vampires, but I do. Not needing to breathe has its perks, for unlike the animals on land, sea creatures do not avoid us, and we can see what mortals struggle to do.”
“Do we just jump in?” I asked, looking over the cliff. As a human, I didn’t know how to swim well, so I avoided the water. But now, the idea of moving through the ocean sounded amazing to me. I didn’t have to fear drowning or any other animals. I was free.