need for companionship from time to time, however brief. Now, with telephones, TV, the internet, communication is instantaneous and air travel can have us with others of our kind in a matter of hours. Back then you could go centuries believing you were the only one left.”
I finished off my orange juice and Alex pointed to it with a questioning raise of his brows. I shook my head. “I take it, Octavius never felt the need for alone time?”
“No. He never weaned himself from Elizabeth and she didn’t have the strength to turn him away. She became cruel with him, even physically abusive at times in trying to end his obsession with her. But even her unabashed hatred wouldn’t deter him. His attachment to her was turning her into someone, some thing, she couldn’t bear to be.”
“You sure?” I had to ask. Alex’s version was the exact opposite of Octavius’s. One of them was lying. I wanted to give Alex the benefit of the doubt, but that may have been my hormones talking.
His brows pinched tight. “Of course. The night we met, Elizabeth was trying to commit suicide in an attempt to ultimately, finally, escape him.”
“How?”
His lips sealed, and he glanced away. After a moment he sighed. “Guillotine. She couldn’t reach the lever though and when I asked her if she’d like my help, she cried yes, and then rushed into my arms sobbing.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t imagine the level of desperation that must’ve taken. “But if it was so easy to get lost back then, why didn’t she? I mean, why didn’t she just sneak off? I can’t believe in fifty years there wasn’t a single moment she couldn’t have slipped away without his notice.”
Alex’s gaze swung back to mine, a weariness I hadn’t noticed before darkened at the corners. “He would’ve found her. A vampire is always and forever able to locate their fount. Another safeguard for the fledgling.”
“Is your…sire still, y’know, walking the earth?”
Alex shook his head, staring at his tomato juice. “No. She succumbed to her loneliness before I could help her.”
Our table was on a raised level that ringed the nightclub along the wall. I watched as a couple sauntered toward the table nearest us on the lower level. The guy made eye contact with both Alex and me.
Alex nodded. “Todd,” he said.
Todd lifted his chin back at Alex—a very guy-type greeting. The woman he was with didn’t even glance our way, her long chocolate brown hair curtained around her face, brushing her slender waist. Her dark blue dress that wrapped tight around her body and tied at her side made her legs look like they went on forever. She struck me as pretty, too pretty for a guy like Todd. I have no idea what she was doing with him.
He wasn’t scary ugly or anything, but he had spiky platinum blond hair, little brown eyes and his head looked too small for his body. It was probably the overly broad shoulders. He looked like a weight lifter and the extra muscle was probably what made his head seem small. Or maybe it really was small. Who knows?
It didn’t matter. My mind was busy with other things. As they slid into the half-circle bench seat, my thoughts filled with images of a woman hounded, pushed beyond her limits, where her only escape was death.
I turned my focus back to Alex. “How’d you get her away from him?”
He shrugged. “Like you said. One night when Octavius was out, I had her gather her things from our villa in Paris and we left.”
“Did he come looking for you? Did he find you?”
“He found us.” Alex finished off his Bloody Mary mix and leaned back in his chair. “Elizabeth and I had moved to a small apartment outside of Naples. For nearly two months we lived in freedom, without someone constantly looking over our shoulders, controlling who we spoke to, where we went, how we interacted with humans. We’d even begun to believe Octavius wouldn’t follow, until one night we came home from an evening swim at the beach and found
I finished off my orange juice and Alex pointed to it with a questioning raise of his brows. I shook my head. “I take it, Octavius never felt the need for alone time?”
“No. He never weaned himself from Elizabeth and she didn’t have the strength to turn him away. She became cruel with him, even physically abusive at times in trying to end his obsession with her. But even her unabashed hatred wouldn’t deter him. His attachment to her was turning her into someone, some thing, she couldn’t bear to be.”
“You sure?” I had to ask. Alex’s version was the exact opposite of Octavius’s. One of them was lying. I wanted to give Alex the benefit of the doubt, but that may have been my hormones talking.
His brows pinched tight. “Of course. The night we met, Elizabeth was trying to commit suicide in an attempt to ultimately, finally, escape him.”
“How?”
His lips sealed, and he glanced away. After a moment he sighed. “Guillotine. She couldn’t reach the lever though and when I asked her if she’d like my help, she cried yes, and then rushed into my arms sobbing.”
“Oh.” I couldn’t imagine the level of desperation that must’ve taken. “But if it was so easy to get lost back then, why didn’t she? I mean, why didn’t she just sneak off? I can’t believe in fifty years there wasn’t a single moment she couldn’t have slipped away without his notice.”
Alex’s gaze swung back to mine, a weariness I hadn’t noticed before darkened at the corners. “He would’ve found her. A vampire is always and forever able to locate their fount. Another safeguard for the fledgling.”
“Is your…sire still, y’know, walking the earth?”
Alex shook his head, staring at his tomato juice. “No. She succumbed to her loneliness before I could help her.”
Our table was on a raised level that ringed the nightclub along the wall. I watched as a couple sauntered toward the table nearest us on the lower level. The guy made eye contact with both Alex and me.
Alex nodded. “Todd,” he said.
Todd lifted his chin back at Alex—a very guy-type greeting. The woman he was with didn’t even glance our way, her long chocolate brown hair curtained around her face, brushing her slender waist. Her dark blue dress that wrapped tight around her body and tied at her side made her legs look like they went on forever. She struck me as pretty, too pretty for a guy like Todd. I have no idea what she was doing with him.
He wasn’t scary ugly or anything, but he had spiky platinum blond hair, little brown eyes and his head looked too small for his body. It was probably the overly broad shoulders. He looked like a weight lifter and the extra muscle was probably what made his head seem small. Or maybe it really was small. Who knows?
It didn’t matter. My mind was busy with other things. As they slid into the half-circle bench seat, my thoughts filled with images of a woman hounded, pushed beyond her limits, where her only escape was death.
I turned my focus back to Alex. “How’d you get her away from him?”
He shrugged. “Like you said. One night when Octavius was out, I had her gather her things from our villa in Paris and we left.”
“Did he come looking for you? Did he find you?”
“He found us.” Alex finished off his Bloody Mary mix and leaned back in his chair. “Elizabeth and I had moved to a small apartment outside of Naples. For nearly two months we lived in freedom, without someone constantly looking over our shoulders, controlling who we spoke to, where we went, how we interacted with humans. We’d even begun to believe Octavius wouldn’t follow, until one night we came home from an evening swim at the beach and found
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