It was a week from the onset of Jenn’s transition before we saw any signs of it coming to an end. Sol and I were spent and exhausted because Jenn’s transition had been one of the most difficult we’d ever witnessed and participated in.
When she awakened on the seventh day and sat up on the bed, we all sighed in relief, even if it was far from over. She looked around lifted her nose to the air. “What is that delicious aroma?”
“It’s cruel for me to stay here,” Chansey said as she stared at Jenn.
Sol turned to Chansey and said, “It may be, but it’s necessary. This is part of the process and she has to learn control. If you leave, we are going to call in a Blood Swan. You’ve seen her through this far, so you might as well see her the rest of the way.”
Chansey was exhausted. The things she had seen and heard over the last week had taken their toll on her and I felt too much guilt to make her stay any longer. As I looked at her red eyes staring in Jenn’s direction, I wondered what I had done to my wife.
I reached for her arm and pulled her to me. “I am satisfied with what Chasney has seen and she has done what I asked of her. She is terribly exhausted, so call a Blood Swan. My wife needs rest because it’s been a long week.”
Chansey’s knees buckled and I lifted her into my arms to carry her to our bedroom. As I carried her up the staircase, I heard Jenn shaking the steel bars as she called out, “Don’t take her away. We can all share her.”
As I carried her to our bedroom, I realized this was my fault and I wondered if the things she saw had scarred her in any way. I hated myself for what I had done to her. She did all of this to please me, but it was too much for someone so good.
I pulled the covers back and laid her on her side of our bed. I pulled her shoes off and she was so exhausted she never opened her eyes to look at me. I pulled the covers up to her chin and looked at her beautiful face. Would she hate me after she woke up and had time to think about everything that happened this week?
When I woke up, it was very early. I was sitting in the chair at Chansey’s bedside and she was looking at me from where she laid in the bed. “What are you doing in that chair? Why didn’t you sleep in our bed with me?”
I sat up and rolled my neck. “I needed to think after I put you to bed and I wanted to watch you sleep. I miss doing that.”
She scooted over and lifted the covers to invite me to our bed. “You always got in the bed with me when you were watching me sleep before. You should have come to bed. I know you couldn’t have slept well in that chair.”
I didn’t, but I wasn’t sure I deserved to sleep too well. She continued holding the covers up. “Come. I want you next to me.”
I didn’t move from the chair. “I want to talk.”
She leaned forward and tugged on my arm. “I can feel what’s going on in your head and we can talk about it after you are next to me. Get in here now, Mr. Brennan.”
I slowly got out of the chair and slid in beside Chansey. She scooted up close to me and wrapped herself around me like a vine. “Now, explain to me what’s going on inside of your head because I don’t like the way it feels.”
I shut my eyes and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that of you. It was too much.”
She slowly rubbed her palm across my chest. “I’m glad I did it. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad the first stage is completed. I was so tired I don’t think I could have hung in too much longer, but I’m good now. I’m ready to finish this thing I started.”
There was no way I would expose her to this any further. “No, I don’t want you to and I shouldn’t have insisted you do it in the first place.”
She rose up to look at me and I saw something ignite in her eyes. “Is this your way of reneging?”
“No, I couldn’t do that to you after what you’ve been through this week.”
“Has it been tough to watch? Hell, yes. Do I want to quit now? Hell, no. I know it’s not what you want, but I will be a vampire one day because I’m going to be with you forever. I think I deserve to finish seeing this through. I need to see the struggle from the point Jenn is at to the point where you are now. You owe me that much.”
Yeah, I knew she was right. “You need rest first,” I conceded.
She sat up as she said, “I just slept.”
“No, it wasn’t enough.”
She closed her eyes and squinted them tightly as she grabbed her forehead with one hand and moved her other hand to the bed to steady herself.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I changed positions too quickly and got a little dizzy. That’s all.”
“I want you to lie back down for at least three more hours. You haven’t rested enough for what you’ve gone through this week. Will you do that for me?”
“Okay. I will give you three more hours because I’m still tired, but not a minute more.”
I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “That’s my girl.”
I laid with Chansey until she went to sleep and then I slid out of bed to go check on Sol and Jenn. He was sitting in the same chair he had occupied all week and he turned to look at me as I returned without Chansey.
“Is Chansey okay?”
“She’s fine, but I told her she needed to sleep a little longer. Husband’s orders, you know?”
“No, I wouldn’t know, but Chansey strikes me as one that wouldn’t be too keen on husband’s orders.”
“Ordinarily not, but she was too tired to argue. How are things going down here? Any improvement in Jenn?”
“I think so. She went to sleep as soon as the Blood Swan left because she was so exhausted. She’s been talking in her sleep for the last few hours.”
“What has she been saying?”
“I think she’s repeating things she said to Avery when they were held captive by Vincent. She keeps shushing someone and saying that everything will be okay.”
“Sounds just like a big sister to me. Avery is anxious to see her.”
“No, it’s too dangerous,” he insisted.
“I wasn’t suggesting we should allow it.”
Sol looked over at me as he rubbed his palms over his jeans. “I’m sorry. This situation just feels so much different. I mean...we have sisters here with us. One is a new dangerous vampire we are trying to reform and the other is so...”
I waited to hear how he would describe Avery, but words failed him. “Avery is so what? Human?”
He dropped his eyes to the floor. “Yeah. She’s so human. What are we going to do with her? She can’t go home. Vincent killed their family.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Vincent will be looking for her, so I guess she’ll stay here until Jenn is reformed.”
Sol ran his hand through his hair. “That could be weeks. Is it a good idea to keep a human here for that long?”
“I hope so. Otherwise, Chansey has to go,” I laughed.
“Chansey is different. She’s not all human.”
“She’s human the way it counts most,” I boasted, but regretted it the moment I said it.
“Yeah, you haven’t told me about that.”
So, he still wanted to know. “We haven’t really had the opportunity to talk much since we got back from our honeymoon.”
“I still want to know.”
“Okay. What do you want to know about it?”
“I don’t know,” He shrugged. “Nothing? Everything? I know it’s silly to ask. I feel like a teenage kid asking what base you got to on your first date with a chick.”
I leaned over and looked at my best friend. “Sol, I’ve knocked it out of the park and scored a home run. Lots of them.”
He laughed at my juvenile description. “I figured as much. So the vampire in you didn’t get in your way of being a human husband?”
“Well, since you’re asking...the bastard did resurface. It only happened once, but it was during the first time on our wedding night.”
“What do you mean he resurfaced?”
r /> “Apparently drinking from your Agápe while making love is a ritual to complete the bond between us, but I didn’t know that. It scared the hell out of me; I didn’t know what was happening. All of the sudden, I had this uncontrollable urge to drink from her and she begged me to because it’s what she wanted. I would never tell this to anyone else, but she wanted me to bite her so badly that I think she physically overpowered me.”
Sol died out laughing.
“I’m not kidding you. I tried to get off of her and she locked her legs around me and held me in place with her strength. She reached up behind my neck and pulled me down so hard that my incisors pierced her throat and when I smelled her Agápe scent, it was over with. There was no more holding back.
I admit that it was the best of both worlds. I was simultaneously feeling human and vampire pleasure at the same time. Now we share this incredible bond that I can’t describe. We’re closer than ever and we feel one another all of the time. It’s almost like I’m able to read her thoughts because I feel her emotions so strongly.”
He reached over and patted my back. “It sounds really incredible.”
I turned to look at him. “Are you sorry you asked?”
He looked so sincere. “No, I’m not. It makes me happy to see you happy.”
Sol was such a wonderful person when he wasn’t being an ass. He deserved so much more than to watch others be happy. Maybe with a little time, Jenn could be exactly what he needed to make him happy.
23 Force My Hand
Unfortunately, the remainder of Jenn’s transition over the next five weeks didn’t happen any easier than the beginning. It was without doubt the worst we’d ever seen. Nothing about her transition was normal and even Sebastian could offer no explanation.
Avery’s insistence to see Jenn during her transition did little good with Sol. He was completely unwavering when it came to refusing Avery a visit with her sister. In addition to their preexisting rigidity with one another the tension between them multiplied rampantly as a result of Sol’s inflexibility, but life in the compound seemed more relaxed tonight. Jenn joined us at dinner for the first time and things couldn’t have gone better. It felt like things were on the road to...normal.
I found myself unable to sleep and decided to return to work on the oil painting I had started of Chansey on our wedding day. My favorite inspirational music was playing softly on the surround sound speakers as I painted the irises of her eyes. I leaned forward to see if I had the color right when I caught sight of movement in the doorway.
I smelled Sol, but I quickly turned my head and saw him standing at my studio door watching me. “Am I interrupting?”
“No, not at all.”
He leaned casually against the door frame. “I didn’t knock because I didn’t want to disturb Chansey. She has seemed so tired lately, especially earlier tonight. She looked like she was going to fall over at any minute.”
So...it wasn’t my imagination since I wasn’t the only one that noticed. Her level of fatigue didn’t seem normal for a healthy, young human. “I’m afraid watching Jenn go through her transition took too much of a toll on Chansey.”
“It was tough on us, so I can only imagine what it did to Chansey, but she’ll be fine. It was a good decision on your part. I mean the part about insisting she understand what the transition is all about. She needed to see how bad it can be so she can make an informed decision when the time comes.”
I washed the paint off of my brush and laid it on the easel. “That’s what I’ve tried to tell myself, but I did all of this for me. I did it to scare the hell out of her so she would change her mind about wanting to be turned and now I have to ask myself if it was worth the toll it has taken on her mind and body. She has lived the past five weeks in chaos. That doesn’t seem like much of a start for a new marriage, does it?”
He shrugged and said, “You’re asking the wrong person. I have no idea what makes for a great start in a marriage, but I think a little rest should bring her around to her old self. Get her some vitamins or something. Human bodies love those things.”
I nodded, but couldn’t bring myself to agree because I wasn’t sure that rest or vitamins were going to fix what Chansey had seen and been through.
Sol crossed his arms and said, “I came in here because I need to talk to you. I’ve made an important decision about something and it includes you.”
I knew something was up; otherwise, I wouldn’t look up to find Sol standing in my doorway at one in the morning. I slowly spun around on my stool so I could face him. “Sure, what’ up?”
He looked so solemn and defeated. “It’s about Avery. I don’t think she will ever forget or forgive me for biting her. She is terrified of me; I see it in her eyes every time I enter the room. I’m forced to hear it in her shaking voice and racing heart whenever I’m around her. She finds no peace when I’m in her presence and she views me as a monster...like Vincent. I’ve been considering it for a while, but I have made my decision. I can no longer stand the constant reminder of what I did to her, so I have decided to leave since Jenn’s transition is complete.”
I shook my head in refusal. “No, you can’t leave. This is your home. This is your compound to run and Avery’s residence here is only temporary. I won’t do it. I won’t take this position from you.”
“I’ve already made the arrangements with Sebastian. I’m returning to New Orleans and Lairah is coming here with Sully to finish his mentoring. You will be the leader of this compound. You can do it.”
It wasn’t a matter of being able to do it. I didn’t want to do it. I had a new wife I needed to spend time with and I didn’t want to see my best friend leave. “This isn’t right,” I argued. “Avery should be the one to leave.”
A look of disgust came over his face as he looked away from me. “No! What I did to her was not her fault.”
There was only one person to blame for all of this mess. “It wasn’t your fault either. The fault belongs to that evil bastard, Vincent.”
He looked at me again and said, “If we sent Avery away, she would be in constant danger because Vincent wants her back; he won’t stop hunting her and she deserves protection. No one else is going to provide protection for her and even when I’m not here I know that I can count on you to protect her.”
Why would I need to protect her for Sol? This wasn’t making sense. “When will you go?”
He eased his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I’ll leave tomorrow night.”
Why was he allowing Avery to dictate his life? Was he doing it because he loved Jenn? That had to be the case. “I think I understand why you feel like you have to leave, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Chansey will be quite upset; she has grown to love you very much and she has become attached to you these past several weeks.”
“I have come to love her as a sister as well and I will miss both of you. The good news is that New Orleans isn’t that far from Savannah. We can visit one another whenever we want.”
“Does Avery know that you’re leaving?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t want to see the relief on her face when she learns the thing she fears most is leaving. You can tell her after I’m gone.”
Avery wasn’t going to be relieved by Sol’s departure; she was going to feel guilty for being the reason he left. He was running away and it felt like a mistake, even if he didn’t realize that was what he was doing. I wished I could make him see his error, but I couldn’t show him what he was unable to see.
≈ ≈ ≈
I was still in my studio painting when I heard Chansey scream. I streaked to her side and gently shook her awake. “Chansey, Love, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
She slowly opened her eyes and tears immediately rolled down her face. She quickly sat up and put her arms around me. “It was awful, Curry.”
I held her close as I stroked her hair. “Tell me about it, Love.”
She buried her face in my shoulder. “I don’t thi
nk I want to tell you about it.”
“Why not?” I asked as I continued to stroke her long hair.
She pulled away and looked at me. “Because it was about Jenn.”
I didn’t push her for more information; probably mostly out of my guilt. “Why don’t you try to go back to sleep?”
She buried her face in my shoulder again and shook her head. “I don’t want to. I’m afraid my nightmare will pick up where it left off.”
I rubbed my hand up and down her arm and then across her back. “Your muscles are so tense. Why don’t you take a hot bath? It might help you relax. What do you think?”
She thought it over a minute and nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”
I kissed the top of her head. “I think so, too. Wait here and I’ll get it ready for you.”
After I started a hot bubble bath for Chansey, I returned to our bed. “This is going to make you feel so much better,” I assured her as I pulled her by the hand to the bathroom.
After she fastened her hair into a knot on her head like a geisha, she shimmied out of her panties and slid them down her legs. I reached for the hem of her satin chemise and pulled it up over her head before I helped her into the large garden tub. I had seen too little of this beautiful body since the whole chaos with Jenn started, but I planned on making up for lost time once Chansey was her old self again.
She sat in the hot water and slid down into the tub, allowing the bubbles to cover her shoulders as she closed her eyes. The tendrils hanging from her neckline fell into the water and stuck to the skin on the back of her neck. “Do you want me to stay with you?”
Her head was resting against the back of the tub and without opening her eyes, she replied, “No, I think I just need a minute to myself. The warmth of the water feels really good and I think I want to just soak for a while.”
“Okay. Would you like to hear some music while you soak?”
She smiled. Music always made her smile. “Yeah, that would be great. Something soft and soothing. Would you put on my Chillax playlist?”
“Anything for you, Love.” I walked over to her iPod on the dock and scanned through her playlists. I found a playlist called Bump and Grind and made a mental note to investigate that one a little later.