“She died later that same winter. Pneumonia. I probably could have helped her.” He absentmindedly brought his hand to his chin, eyes swelling a bit. “But it was just easier for me to watch her go. She had no one. Her heart was broken, as mine was. Somehow, it seemed better to just let her go.”
Charlotte clung tightly to him in an effort to remind him she was still there. Valek stroked up and down her arm and kissed the top of her head.
“I am confident her angel sent you to me. The way I found you, all alone in the city. It was similar to the way I found Francis and in turn, my new life. It seemed as though she left you there for me.”
Perhaps, that was true, Charlotte thought. Human beings could be just as responsible for magical happenings as monsters. They just weren’t always aware of it. “Do you think maybe she is still watching over you, as you watched over her?” Charlotte mused. They had never spoken of guardian angels before. It was something she wanted to start believing in. Something she needed to believe in — especially now.
“Yes,” he said confidently. “And she’ll protect you. She will bring you back safely to me.”
Charlotte found herself extremely comforted by this. She closed her eyes and listened to the air go in and out of his hollow chest. The scar at the side of her neck began to burn again though, and she brought her fingers to it. She winced a little and sat up from Valek’s chest.
He frowned. “It bothers you still?”
Only the tips of his fangs behind his lips caught her eye as he spoke. She didn’t hear completely what he said. Dazed, her vision stayed on his lips, his hand lingering at her neck. She felt something in her throat tighten. Perhaps the Vampires did not have the only addiction in the house.
“Lottie?”
She removed her hand from her neck and with only the tips of her fingers, touched his lower lip. She stayed silent. The mark on her neck was blazing. Her mouth watered.
He wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulling it away slightly. “Charlotte.”
She heard him this time and looked at him. The scar didn’t stop burning. She tried to blink away her dizziness. She still could not remove her eyes from his mouth.
“What is it?” He placed a hand affectionately on one side of her face.
“Are you thirsty?” The question was made of air, as if someone had stolen her voice.
He squinted at her and tried to speak without revealing too much of his teeth. “I can’t. Remember?”
She was finally able to look away from him. Instead she fixed her gaze on her hands in her lap. “Right. How stupid of me.” She flinched when her scar raged again.
Valek put his hands on the sides of her neck “Charlotte, what’s the matter?” He brought his face lower to the scar.
The intense burning began to go away the closer he got. She cried softly. “I don’t know.”
But when he backed away, she cringed worse. “If you don’t tell me exactly what’s hurting, there is nothing I can do.” He kept his hand on her neck as if to extinguish the pain.
She pressed her chin down against her chest, the burning becoming so harsh. Her fist clenched her ear while the other grabbed at the collar of his shirt. “Bite me, Valek. Can you? Please?” The words were hard to get out through her clenched teeth.
He stared as her body balled up tighter. “Lottie, I’m not sure if….”
“Please, Valek! I want you to,” she cried, her nails digging further into her scalp.
He quickly lifted her chin, and at a loss, his front canines sank quickly into her artery. He already knew the minute the smell of her blood hit the air, he was going to pay so dearly for that.
Evangeline and Sarah immediately rushed into the room, satchels plummeting at their feet. Sarah gasped and the two rushed over. Valek quickly released Charlotte.
“Valek, what are you doing?” Sarah blanched, trying to become a barricade between them. Evangeline grabbed Charlotte under the arms and pulled her off him and onto the floor.
“No. It isn’t what you think.” He stood from the armchair, wiping the stains away from his chin.
Sarah handed him a handkerchief from her skirt pocket. “What is it, then?” She put her hands on her hips. “The smell could drive everyone down there to kill each other.”
“Sarah, listen to me. There is something medically wrong with her.” He pointed toward Charlotte, recovering on the floor. Her fevered eyes gazed dazedly at him as she leaned back against Evangeline. “She begged me.”
Sarah looked to Charlotte, the dark circles under her eyes. She bent to her knees to appraise the human girl. “What’s the matter, Charlotte?”
She whimpered quietly.
“Is it possible for humans to become addicted to the bite of a Vampire?” Evangeline asked.
“I’ve never heard of that before.” Valek helped Charlotte from the floor. He set her down, alone this time in the armchair. “Are you all right?”
Charlotte looked at him, embarrassed. The burning had finally stopped, however. Sarah was already busy pulling a thick volume off the highest shelf. A fifth generation Vampire Anatomy, as Charlotte recognized it, for she had the same one back at home.
“This thing is older than dirt,” Sarah mused as the spine thudded down on the coffee table. She waved the dust cloud out of the air and flipped pages.
Evangeline collapsed onto the wooden stool, folding one leg over the other. “Do you think that information is even still relevant, Sarah?”
“I don’t really see you coming up with any bright ideas,” Sarah spat, as one of her bony fingers skimmed a page. She found what she had been looking for. “Ah hah!”
“What?” Evangeline leaned over, her nose in the air.
“It says this sort of thing only happens very seldom.” She eyed Charlotte. “It dates back to the era of the first Vampire, Vlad Dracul. He was in love with a human woman. He fed on her once, and after that, her body craved it. It’s simply called, ‘fixation’. But what is unusual to me is it says it is normally paired with bloodlust. Meaning, if Charlotte is suffering from fixation, then Valek must also be suffering an addiction as well.” She looked at him. “And you’re not, are you?”
Valek looked at Charlotte, his mouth agape, but didn’t say anything.
Sarah continued. “This has a lot to do with that fate line on Charlotte’s palm, too. I think she must be fated to you for this to happen.”
“How is it cured?” Valek asked.
Sarah closed the book with a thump. “It isn’t. You must either fix her addiction or change her.” She got up to put the book away.
“What will happen if I do not?”
“Nothing. She’s going to crave it sometimes. If you let it go on too long without feeding from her, she’ll die. Her heart will give out.” She stretched on her toes and shoved the book against the back wall.
“That’s impossible. Every addiction has a cure,” he argued. “We can wean her off of it.”
Sarah flicked him a glance. “I told you. The cure is to change her.”
“Obstacles at every turn.” Valek rubbed the bridge of his nose and faced away.
“It won’t happen every night,” Sarah explained as she rejoined the group. “It’s a periodic occurrence.” She looked to Charlotte who was now using the limp Edwin as a security blanket again. “Oops…his eye is almost off. Let me fix that.” She searched around for a moment in her pockets. “Damn. My thread is upstairs.” She stuck her sewing needle in her teeth, reached up to pull a few strands of hair from her head, and began threading them through the eye of the needle.