Hans nodded. “That’s quite something. It really is.”
I chanced a smile, loving how his face looked in the orange glow of the passing streetlights through the window.
“Yeah, well. If I so much as hear the wordpatienceone more time, I’ll be doing it again.”
He laughed a little. “I’ll try to hold back from saying it.”
“Please do. It drives me mad.”
He squeezed my knee. “I’ve gathered that much.”
So, here we were, on the journey. My journey into the realms of thetransitionas Hans called it. I was going to die a mortal death and become a vampire, and I had no idea how that would truly feel – losing the life in the body you’ve always known.
“Not fantastic,” Hans said. “As I’ve told you, the body fights, even when the soul doesn’t want it to.”
“Mine can fight all it likes, I still want to be a vampire.”
I got another smirk from him.
“We’ve most definitely ascertained that.”
Even under the nerves and the tension of earlier, I was alive with excitement for what lay ahead. I felt the calling getting stronger with every mile we travelled. Who’d have ever thought that the place I’d run away from like a scared little puppy would be the place my soul would once again call home?
That’s what it felt like as the limo passed theWelcome to Herefordshiresign. Home.
I was seeing the place through totally different eyes as we passed Ross on Wye and began the final stretch. I’d been avoiding the ocean ofwhere, what, why, howquestions throughout the journey, because right now I didn’t want to talk in words, I wanted to talk in feelings. Hans’ feelings were strong enough that they touched my spirit. He was giving me love, and support and commitment without speaking out loud.
The silence was becoming a lovely thing. Self-assured and unassuming. Natural.
“Nearly there,” the driver told us as we hit the turning for Garway.
I looked up at the beautiful, huge stone manor at the top of Garway hill, and I should’ve known it. I’d looked at it plenty of times as a girl when I was in the church grounds, but I’d never stepped a foot on the private gravel lane that led up to it.
“Edwin lives there, doesn’t he?” I asked Hans, but it was rhetorical. Now I was getting used to my new heightened instincts, things were becoming clear.
I could feel the essence of life at the top of the hill, and I recognised the same presence as I felt in the blood house. Yes, it was Edwin’s house. Hans’ silent nod just confirmed I was right.
Edwin opened the door to the manor himself, swinging it open wide. He was genuinely pleased to see us, I could tell that from the huge smile on his face. His long, dark hair was tied back this time, and he was in a plain back suit, but he still had a ruffled white shirt underneath. I guessed they were a staple of his. He looked fantastic for it.
He pulled Hans into his arms, and I got a taste of the familiarity between them.
“Good to see you!” he said, and then he turned his attention to me. “Hello, Katherine.”
He kissed my hand, and invited us in with a sweep of an arm. I stepped inside and the décor was similar to the blood house. Almost identical. The huge, sparkling chandeliers and the plush, deep-red rug over mosaic floor tiles.
“Yes,” he said. “I was the designer. The London blood house was a creation of mine.”
“A great achievement,” Hans said, casting his friend a smile.
“Why, thank you. I’d hope you would think so, given that you’ve enjoyed it plenty.” Another familiar look passed between them, but I didn’t feel threatened by their closeness. Not in the slightest.
“Come,” Edwin said and led the way through to a dining room.
The table was huge but there was only one person sitting at it. He must have been two years older than me, max. And he was human. I could feel it. He was a lovely looking guy with a ruffle of dark brown hair, dressed casually in a long-sleeved t-shirt, quite at odds with the suits that Edwin and Hans were wearing.
“Hi,” he said, and gave me a wave. His t-shirt slipped far enough up his arm that I could see the bite marks. “I’m Daniel.”
“Hi, I’m Katherine,” I said back.