Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (31 page)

Pushing her hair
off
her
face,
the
y
both rolled so that they were facing side to side.

“
Thank you.  I don’t know how you did that but thank you.”  She knew that he had to have gone into her bedroom again and went through her box to read her bucket list
.  She was not angry with him but more sad,
as
she knew he did it because he knew that she was dying. 

“
I am trying really hard to be brave
,
Aaron
, but am afraid I am
not doing a very good job.”

“
You are frightened of the feeding? 
I would never intentionally hurt you
,
Amira.  You know that
,
right?”

Nodding her
head,
she closed her
eyes,
not ready to see what he was willing to show her.

“Please look at
me.
”
He begged.

A solitary tear slid out from under her eyelash.  “
You’re
confusing
me.
”
She whispered.

“Please
,
Amira.  Please look at me.”

Opening them again, she looked deeply into his.  Gently gripping her behind her head, he slowly moved her face closer to his stopping when her lips were
a hairsbreadth
from his.

“I want to kiss you.  I know it is not right
, but I do
.”  Groaning
,
he buried his face in her neck.  Mesmerized by the pulse, he touched his lips to her skin feeling it beat
ing
steadily
.  She was no longer afraid
,
he was glad about that
.  Taking his tongue, he pressed it softly on the pulse.  As if on its own, her hand went up to
softly
touch his head.  Pulling back, they stared at each other for many minutes before Amira moved closer to him pressing her lips on his.  Shocked
,
he held his breath as she moved back
.  Unable
to
hold
out
anymore, he flipped her on her back pressing down on her as she opened her mouth allowing his tongue to move inside of her.  Groaning
,
it was a long time before he could pull away. 
Staring at her
lips,
he
knew that
h
e needed this over
and done with
before he did something he really would regret
.
  Lowering his head again, he grazed her lips before moving to her ear whispering a soft promise.  “I will try and not hurt you
too much
,
my sweet
,
Amira.”  Without giving her time to process his
words,
he drove his fangs into her neck.  The vampire in him roared to life as he heard her cry out.  Grabbing his hair, she tried to pull him away as pain shot
through
her
as
tears stream
ed
down her face.  Within moments
,
the venom started to take hold
,
and
her muscles relaxed enough for her fingers to
slid
e
down
weakly
,
clutching his shoulders
as he drank deeply from her.  Her blood tasted like honey.  Amira felt herself floating, no longer in pain.
  Knowing he was drinking to
o
long, he reluctantly pulled away
,
licking her wounds
and
sealing them closed. 
Staring down at her, he noticed that s
he had passed out.  Kissing her again on the lips
,
he stood then bent to lift her in his arms
carrying
her back to the
Manor
. 
Reaching the driveway, he was s
urprised
to see his
brother’s
car already home
.
Aaron
kissed
her again on the forehead
before kicking open the door to the
manor
.

Dragan looked up from organizing the syringes watching as his brother gently la
y
Amira down on
his
bed.

“How was it?”

“I did as you asked.  Let me
know
how it goes.”

Puzzled
,
he
watched
as a myriad of
expressions flash
ed
over Aaron
’
s face.  H
is brother
looked upset.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes of course.
Amira was a trooper.
I am going to go lay down, I am not feeling so well.”

Remembering how bad he felt after drinking her blood
,
he nodded in sympathy
.
“Of course
,
and
Aaron, thank you.”

Aaron looked one more time at Amira before stepping out of the room feeling his heart break as he did for a love he could never have.

The
laboratory
was cold, but Dragan was sweating.  He had quickly found the mutant cells and was able
to
identify Aaron’s
venom
’
s
unique signature.  There was
absolutely
no reaction between her blood and his venom.  Slamming his fist down on the counter, all of the equipment jumped.  This was so frustrating.  Sinking down on the couch, he bowed his head.
He needed to pray.  This time his
prayer was for wisdom, guidance
.  A
nything to give him hope, but as always
when he prayed
,
there was nothing
-
No voice, no angels appearing.

Covering his face, he cried
out.  His tears were for h
er and for him. 
He had only one test left to do
,
but he knew he had to be careful.  He had to feed on her again, but he knew that he could only take a small amount.  The anomaly grew in strength since the last time
,
and he knew that he was only making her death come closer by feeding and not finding a cure.

Deciding not to
give
up on his faith
,
he dropped to his knees and began
begging
as he had never done before.  Dragan begged for his life to be taken as a sacrifice for her, even if he was going to be thrown into the pits of hell
,
he would give up his dream of heaven
;
he
begged for anything to prevent her from dying.  Stilling
,
he
felt
warmth
surround
ing
him
while
tears streamed down his face at the comfort he felt in that embrace.  With gratitude, he thanked the one that renewed the hope in his heart.

Three angels stood next to Sebastian as he watched stunned at what took place in front of him.  Turning to the oldest of the three, and with tears brimming in his eyes, he tried to speak but nothing would come out.  The Angel placed his large hand on the young
spirits
shoulder
watching the tears fall.  “To be touched by the hand of God is indeed a gift that only few know of.  Understand this!  It is not only his faith that is saving him, but yours Sebastian.  There is a long way to go with many decisions as to which path to take, but there is still hope.”
 

Standing to his feet, Dragan hurried back to his room.  Staring at the empty bed, he searched for a sound of her voice in the house.  Catching her laughter, he hurried to the kitchen finding her sitting at the counter with many plates in front of her.

“Hi
,
Dragan!”

“Hey
,
Amira.”  Bending over the top of her head, he kissed her softly.  “What is going on?”

“Nothing
.
I was starving
,
and I was just telling Chef that when a person says that they are hungry, he doesn’t need to cook a seven course meal.”

Smiling he looked at her face.  She had recovered quickly from Aaron feeding off of her.  “
Good luck with that, Chef does the same with me. 
You look good.”

“I feel good.  Thanks for noticing.   How can I not with all of this delicious food
?
”  Picking up a strawberry
and
dipping it in
warm
chocolate, she took a bite
while looking up at him
.  “Have you talked to Aaron?”

“Just briefly.  I really should check on him
,
but I am in the middle of something really important right now
.  Amira, I need to speak to you in private, can you come to the office with me for a moment?”

“Uhm.  Guess so.”  She looked longingly at the food.

“
Please, Amira
.  It will not take long.”

Shrugging she waved her hand over the plates.  “Please do not remove one thing.  I will be back, this is too delicious to not finish.”

The chef blushed with pride.  “
I will k
eep it warm for you
,
Miss.”

Following Dragan to the office, she sat as he closed the door.

“I am sorry, and I know you aren’t going to want to hear this
,
but I need
to do one
more test.”

“
Really
?  Now?”

“Amira
,
it is important
!”

She sighed heavily. 
“It always is.”

“Please
don’t
be this way.”

“When?”

His face blanched…
”
Now?”

Staring up at him, she noted the exhaust
ion
on his face.  “Dragan, you need to sleep.”

“I can sleep later.  Please
,
Amira.”

Stepping into his arms, she pulled her hair to the side exposing her neck.  Looking down, he allowed his fangs to release noting
her
pulse beating hard.  Wrapping his arm around her neck, he held her in place.  Catching her eyes, he saw just a slight
hint
of fear registering in them.  Kissing her lightly on the lips, he turned quickly driving his fangs into her.  Moaning
,
she squirmed pushing against his hips
in an attempt to get away
.  Within
seconds,
he pulled away licking the wounds to seal them.

She looked up at him confused.  “That’s it?”

Laughing
,
he kissed her again before
lifting
the needle and
specimen
bottle
off
the desk.  “Not quite
,
my love, but you certainly are taking this in
your
stride.”

Several minutes later, he had her
comfortably
ensconced back into the kitchen, much to the Chef’s delight,
before
he ran
back
to the laboratory.

Hands shaking
,
he repeated the procedure
as
he had done over and over again for the past several weeks.

Making the sign of the cross, he
bent
over the microscope.  Heart leaping in his chest
,
he saw the venom attacking the
mutant
cells
fiercely
.
That was the answer!  Writing his observations down, it was many hours
before
he laid the pen to the table.  He would need to process everything and get Aaron’s advice and thoughts.
  For now, he was happy and very tired.

Aaron could feel the last of Amira’s blood die off in his veins.
  A small
headache
per
sisted
, but he knew from experience that that too would fade soon.  Walking through the house, he was grateful it was late
,
knowing everyone would be asleep.  Hearing a door close outside, he headed toward the
laboratory
knowing it was his brother.  He needed
to
know what was going on.  Dragan had tried to come earlier to talk, but he
could not
even pay attention with his
head
han
g
ing over the toilet bowl.