Skipping class occasionally to watch the sunset.
Moving into an apartment off campus with a view of the mountains.
Finding the love of a man who’s crazy about you.
“How was class?” a voice says from behind me as I enter the living room of my apartment.
I spin around. “It was great. Got an A on my paper.” I wiggle my hips.
“Well, I would hope so. You spent three weeks just writing the damn thing.” Draven’s eyes smolder as they roam over my body. “I’ve missed you,” he says. “It’s been three hours since I last had you.”
I laugh. “You’re always ravenous,” I tell him. “And I love you.”
Draven wraps his arms around my waist, tugging me closer to him. “You know what else I’m ravenous for?”
I smile. “Let me guess… you want pizza again.”
“You must be psychic.” He leads me to the kitchen where a large pepperoni and mushroom pizza sits atop the granite countertop. “You just don’t understand. We never had pizza in the 18th century. All this time I’ve been missing this yummy amazingness.”
I laugh at Draven’s words. “Ever had blueberry pie?”
“No, never. Is it better than pizza?”
“It’s even better than sex.” I kiss his cheek, and he backs up.
“Whoa, there’s nothing better than that.” He scoops me into his arms, taking me over to the couch.
It’s been a remarkably busy three months since I killed Bogdan. Many people couldn’t understand how my power could kill another being, when it was meant to restore life to the undead, and the only thing I could come up with is that I was consumed with hate.
That emotion filled my heart, emanating outward, hurting everyone I loathed in its path. I’ve never felt hate to that degree, or that emotionally before, but Draven was dead in my arms, and I couldn’t breathe.
I held Draven, rocking him back and forth, for what felt like hours. Arthur, Viggo, even Lina, tried to get me to stop, to accept that Draven was really gone. But I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it.
Then, something magnificent happened. Something I can barely even explain myself. My true love saved him. Brought his cold-dead heart back to life.
“Do you ever miss it?” I ask Draven as he trails kisses down my neck.
“Miss what?” He looks up at me and tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“Being immortal. Not having your powers.” I take in the flush of color on his golden cheeks. “Not being a vampire?”
He stares into my eyes, and my heart swells like it does every time he stares at me. “Allison, you’re my life. Anywhere you are, I want to be. You brought me back to life. I forgot what it was like to feel this way. So alive. So full of breath. I don’t miss any of it.”
I grip each side of his face in my hands, moving us to where I’m straddling his lap. “Not even a little?” I want to make sure he has no regrets. It’d be easy to have someone turn him back, but after that night, he told his family he didn’t want to be a vampire anymore.
He wanted to live a full life with me.
Shortly after everything happened, Lina met a mortal man, and had me change her too. She was still so upset with her son that she said she wanted to live a mortal life with the love of her life. His name is Daniel, an accountant, and they’re sweet together. Looks like she’ll finally get to wear one of those wedding dresses she hoarded.
Viggo ended up staying behind, setting up the council Draven constructed. After a long debate, and many countless hours of anguish, Draven set his guilt and Simon free. Simon swore never to hurt another living soul, and now he works with Viggo.
Draven pulls me close. “Are you asking me if I miss the vampire sex?”
I blush as my body comes alive in his hands. “No,” I say with a light giggle.
“Are you saying I can’t satisfy you now?”
I give him a playful nudge on his shoulder. “Oh, my god. No, Draven. You’re perfect.”