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Chapter Sixteen
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2021-08-31 03:12:29The star filled night reminded me of a quilt my friend Linda kept over her bed. Its deep navy background created the perfect palate for the brilliant white and gold stars that were too many to count. Linda’s quilt didn’t twinkle with life like the night sky did, but that was the only difference. Whoever crafted that quilt did a fine job of capturing the essence of a starry night.
As we approached the circle, the apprehension I’d been nursing about the ruse Helen and I were playing rose within me. This was not any ordinary group of people. This was a group of people who had magical abilities. Grant it some had stronger abilities than others, but they all had them to some level. I had no desire to anger any of them and find out who knew what.
Lady Helen seemed oblivious to the risks we were taking as she walked boldly into the center of the circle. Or perhaps she just didn’t care. She held her hands up in the air and silence swep
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My conversation with Elizabeth proved enlightening and fascinating. She admitted to me that she loved a vampire named Patrick. She was actually discussing becoming a vampire as well, but agreed to wait a few more years so that she and Patrick would be more compatible in age when it happened. It seemed Patrick was much older than she when he was turned and felt self-conscious about the age difference their bodies displayed. That, in itself, I found fascinating. Unfortunately, she told me, just like there are good and bad people, there are good and bad vampires. This was something I knew firsthand. It seemed Patrick was on the side of right when he came up against wrong and he didn’t survive. Since no one was aware of their relationship or the fact that Patrick was a vampire, Elizabeth was forced to mourn in silence. Our conversation was her first opportunity to speak her pain.I held her close while she wept for her lost lo
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They moved me to a cage all my own. Although still completely exposed to the elements, I was at least spared the aroma and company of the other captives. One of the things I truly had difficulty adjusting to was the poor hygiene habits of the underprivileged, of which I found myself amongst more often than I cared to admit.Minutes turned into hours as I waited impatiently for Lady Vivian to come riding up on her white stallion and release me from my prison. I spent my time looking into the future as best I could. It was my first attempt since I’d traveled back in time. Prior to my meeting Lady Helen, I wouldn’t have been able to do it, but she’d done something to balance me out and enhance my skills. I was actually more powerful than I thought I could ever be; certainly more powerful than I’d been in the future.Vivian returned angrier than ever. She’d tried to see Duncan, but was sent away without being rece
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Duncan arrived at the encampment with the dawn. He was furious with Vivian; as well he should be. When I managed to calm him down enough to be cohesive, I filled him in on the conversation I’d had with Helen. He listened intently without one interruption. When I’d finished, he paced the floor of the little cottage with his hands behind his back and his head held low in thought.“I have often thought back on the night I was attacked and wondered about it. Nothing added up. Vivian was angry with me, true, but it made no sense for her to damn me to a soulless eternal life. I witnessed her work her wiles on men who felt it wise to seek female companionship elsewhere. She was amazing at it and always accomplished what she set out to do. My rejection of her was given only once. For her to give up so easily just did not seem something she would do. I expected more from her,” he said.“Helen and I believe
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I was grateful for the refreshing night’s sleep when I entered the breakfast room and came face to face with my doppelganger. I suppose, technically, I was her doppelganger since she was born first. I wasn’t really sure how that worked. It really didn’t matter at the moment. What did matter was that we were completely alone and the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.“You have returned, I see,” she said as she walked to the buffet to help herself to a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, boiled ham, roasted venison, and a thick and juicy raspberry pastry.My eyes went from her plate to her waist and then back again, as I pondered over how an appetite such as that managed to maintain a figure like the one she sported. Her diet resembled the Atkins Diet or possibly the South Beach Diet. I vowed to check both of them out when I got back to the future. In the meantime, I helped myself to a cup of
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Duncan and his father had business with the tenants on the estate to tend to and weren’t expected home for a few days. He’d met me for mid-morning tea to explain how trouble was brewing between tenants on the far end of the estate and the estate manager requested their assistance. The explanation of what type of trouble wasn’t volunteered, and I never bothered to ask. My mind was still whirling from my meeting with the very handsome Lord Rufus and I was finding matters of the estate difficult to focus on. Plus, did it really matter in the scope of things what happened to the estate? After all, Duncan and I would be finding a way back to the future soon and all that went on in the eighteenth century would be insignificant. All I remembered was that the estate consisted of two thousand acres and they had to go to the very far end of it. At best it was a one-day ride, but usually two.Although I longed to take dinner in my room, Lo
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After some lighter conversation about why her brother felt the need to visit Lady Jane at such an hour and why he chose the balcony to enter rather than the door, Elizabeth reluctantly made her excuses. It was time for her to tend to the needs of Lady Margaret and she dared not be late. She cast me a worried look and made her leave.I pondered briefly over why Elizabeth would be concerned about leaving me alone with her brother. After all, hadn’t she been the one to introduce us and assure me that he wouldn’t harm me? The look she shot me was clearly a look of worry or concern. Things just weren’t making sense.An uncomfortable silence spread through the chamber while I debated if I should ask the dangerously alluring Lord Rufus to leave or invite him to stay and converse with me a bit longer. There were still many questions that I had for him about the time traveling he was doing. If Duncan and I were to get back to the future, we needed
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“You need to leave,” I huffed as I nervously paced the room.My mind darted in all directions. I didn’t want to die and become a vampire. I didn’t want to give birth to a vampire baby. More importantly, I didn’t want to have to tell Duncan that I’d been unfaithful with another vampire and I was carrying that vampire’s child.“I can’t lose him,” I murmured.“I am right here, my love. You shant lose me. There is nothing to fear. I will remain by your side the entire time,” Rufus cooed as he hopped out of bed and moved next to me.My psyche kicked in and I heard loud and clear that I needed to avoid looking into his eyes. Perhaps the myth of them glamoring their victims wasn’t a myth after all? I wished I’d gotten that message about an hour earlier. I growled at my own lack of capabilities. He put his fingers beneath my ch
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Dawn had barely broken when Elizabeth summoned Garth to my chambers and, after swearing him to secrecy, had him assist us in moving the wardrobe far enough away from the tapestry to allow us to slip behind it. We decided it was best to travel with Garth along. Now we not only had to worry about Vivian and her crazy abductions, but we needed a watchful eye for Lord Rufus as well.Although neither of us was eager to bring Garth into our confidence, we were forced to divulge a bit of information to him concerning Lord Rufus’ obsession with me in order to get him to cooperate. Even though he now realized I wasn’t Lady Margaret, I’d won him over during the time he thought I was and his loyalty to me was astounding. Although I’d paid it little attention, I was now extremely grateful for it.Elizabeth informed Garth of our early morning rendezvous and had asked him to make certain we had horses waiting for us at the opening of the tun
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It was a week since I’d convinced Duncan to speed up my recovery by giving me some of his blood. He’d hesitated for fear of Rosalie’s concern of my turning vampire would occur, but he eventually gave in. I really didn’t need his blood to heal. I was healing well without it, but I didn’t tell him that. When I had Duncan’s blood flowing through my veins all of my senses were heightened and my powers more acute. I needed all the advantage I could get for what I was about to do.I’d managed to connect with Elizabeth’s spirit. She wasn’t as easy to summon as Isabelle’s, but I eventually managed. My heart ached as she told me how Lady Margaret learned of her association with me and arranged to have her killed. She laughed at the irony of how she’d feared losing her life to her vampire brother instead of her human mistress. The danger of being in Rufus’ company was so blatantl
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Isabelle stood next to me while we watched Lady Helen enter the tent and then flee back out of it shouting for help. Duncan cradled my limp body in his arms and rocked me back and forth. He was clearly at a loss of what to do.Rosalie rushed into the tent with Lady Helen close at her heels. She inspected my eyes and my breathing and announced I was still alive, but just barely. She rambled in outraged Spanish and Isabelle translated it to me. Apparently she was repremanding my almost dead body for being foolish enough to donate blood when the miscarriage took more than it should to begin with. She claimed I had barely enough blood flowing in my veins to support me after such an ordeal, let alone revive a vampire. I’m pretty sure she called me stupid, although Isabelle woundn’t own up to it if she did.I listened while they debated what to do. I was so close to death that if Duncan revived me with his blood the
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I held tight while her dragon carried us swiftly back to her encampment. During the flight, she filled me in on what happened during my absence.Duncan went into a rage, declaring his regrets about allowing us to convince him to let me go into the cave in his stead. This information was of no surprise to me. Even so, I was sorry to hear it.Lady Margaret was brought before the coven and her powers were bound. She was then handed over to the Earl of Winter Spring to do with as he will. The fact that she’d tried to kill his only heir and caused him to become vampire didn’t sit well with the earl. Although it was a crime punishable by death, he sent her to the dungeon instead. A kind man by nature, he couldn’t bring himself to hang the girl he’d accepted as his ward and helped raise.I’d lost track of the time and learned they’d been looking for me for the better part of a month. Rosalie actually complemen
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It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop on the grass twenty feet below. I was sure of it. This type of silence was abnormal and concerned me. I’d been locked in my room since Rufus discovered me at the cave, with only the information Elizabeth was able to share with me to tell me what was happening in the outside world. She’d yet to come to my room, so I waited impatiently.She was late.It was near noon before a strange serving woman brought my food to me. Since I was ravenous from not eating since the night before, combined with being pregnant with vampire child, I dove into my fare with very little thought as to why Elizabeth still hadn’t come to my room or why this strange serving woman was bringing me food.I failed to monitor my food intake and was soon feeling ill from gorging myself with a trencher made of fresh, crusty bread that was filled with perfectly seasoned mutton stew. I’d left nothing behi
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I was angry.I was angry at Duncan because he hadn’t mated with me vampire style to assure I’d be considered his.I was angry at Rufus because he had mated with me so many times since he’d brought me from the cave to his estate that I’d lost count.I was angry with Elizabeth because she wandered in and out of the room to tend to my needs, yet didn’t believe she could help me escape.I was angry with Rosalie for not being strong enough to battle and win against a dozen vampire witches by remote.I was angry with Isabelle for dying.I was angry with myself for stupidly being the catalyst for all of this by going back in time.In short, I was just angry.On top of that, my entire body ached.I was never as grateful to have Duncan’s vampire blood in me as I was when Rufus bedded me with such fury that I wondered if I’d survive. I’m sure, my body having only re
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I did my best to hide my nervousness as I walked into the mouth of the cave that felt more like the lion’s den. Elizabeth saw to it that I was dressed from head to toe in Margaret’s wardrobe. Her feet were slightly smaller than mine and the shoes pinched, but Rosalie was adamant that every article of clothing on my body have the vibration of the high priestess only. Vampires could smell and hear so much better than people. They had a sense of simply knowing that astounded the witches. Even with the precautions we were taking, there was still a good possibility one of them might discover the ruse for what it was.Capturing Lady Margaret was a relatively simple task. Duncan’s father simply sent her a request to meet in the family’s private library. Not realizing he was aware of her true nature, she walked right into the trap. Elizabeth confided that she worried what might happen, should Lady Margaret be exonerated by the coven, bu
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I was blissfully displaying my gorgeous engagement ring to anyone with a pair of eyes willing to admire it when Isabelle finally raised the question of what to do about both Lady Margaret and Lord Rufus.According to vampire law, Lord Rufus was first to impregnate me and therefore was my official husband. Since it was rare for a vampire to find a mortal he or she wanted to mate with, this was a law that was supported and held sacred by every vampire on the planet. Every vampire except Duncan, that is. Duncan stayed away from other vampires as much as possible while integrating with mortals on a daily basis in an attempt to lessen his vampirism. Even so, just because he seldom associated with them, it was still necessary to abide by the laws put forth for vampires; which was why he’d agonized so heavily over what to do about me. My only saving grace was the fact that I’d aborted the child before Rufus learned of his actual success. He only had his
For Love of a Vampire Chapter Thirty
Duncan resembled a waxed doll when they laid him on the cot in the back of Rosalie’s enormous tent. I searched for signs of life. His chest showed signs of shallow breaths being taken. Shallow breaths meant he still had life. I’d take that for now.He needed to feed immediately and it had to be human blood. Knowing how he felt about drinking the blood of humans, I asked if there was another way to save him. There wasn’t.This was my fault. If I hadn’t come back into the past, Duncan would be safe in the future, as would Isabelle. My foolish, thoughtless actions caused the death of a dear friend, and possibly the death of the one true love of my life. It didn’t matter that he was no longer in love with me. Through him, I’d experienced a love I never thought possible and I would always remember that.I took a deep breath and looked around. Rosalie had put the word out f
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I was excused to explore the camp while Rosalie sat with Helen and picked her brain of everything she knew about Margaret. It felt good to wander freely without fear of being abducted by crazy Vivian or now… Lord Rufus. I considered petitioning to be able to stay at the camp permanently once the danger for Duncan was removed. Since Duncan and I were no more and I was stuck in the past, it seemed like a great place to live out my days. I’d be able to interact with Isabelle as if she was flesh and not a semi-transparent apparition and I could continue my studies. It seemed like a plan.I stopped at the center market and chatted with the merchants selling their wares. Many of them came to the camp from nearby farms. Some were alive and traveled back and forth through dimensions, while others were in spirit and this was their home. I lost count of how many times I was warned not to leave the parameter of the encampment where Rosalie&rsqu
