Free Eternity The Beginning by Felicity Heaton Page B

to the forefront and forcing him to consider what she was asking of him. Could he do that, like the man had done to him? Could he make her one like him? Her eyes were wild, her voice laced with desperation. He could smell the panic as it mixed in with her scent, intoxicating him.
    “Make me one, too.”

    He pushed away from the temptation she’d offered him and found the strength to shake his head.

    “No, sweet sister. I could not condemn you to a life as a creature of darkness. Even if I had the heart to, I do not know how.”

    She frowned, her eyes silently pleading him. “You must remember what he said or did to you to make you this way. If you are truly one of them, then you must have the power to change me too.”

    “We cannot know that. I am new to this life. I do not know the laws or ways. I may kill you.”

    “Then you will have to kill yourself and we shall still be together in the afterlife.” She moved away from him and looked around the room. Her eyes fixed on something beside the fire. “If you will not change me, I will kill myself and force you to do it.”

    His stomach flipped and twisted. “No!”

    He caught hold of her and his demonic visage emerged.
    Before he had a second to consider what he was doing, he’d bitten down on her neck and was drawing great gulps of blood from her. She writhed in his arms and instinct made him hold her tighter. He tried to remember 6
    Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton
    what the man had done to him, knowing that he was
    fast running out of time. Her heartbeat began to slow and she became weak in his arms. He released her neck and bit into his wrist. The blood bloomed and ran down his arm. He stared at the trail of red and then at Ineru’s ashen face where she rested limp in his arms. He
    couldn’t live without her.

    Bringing his wrist to her mouth, he pressed it against her lips.

    “Drink from me, take what I am offering you,” he said and listened to her heart slowing. “You have to drink now, Ineru.”

    She opened her mouth the tiniest amount and her
    tongue poked out, small and pink. It brushed against the cut and became red. He watched it disappear into her mouth. She licked her lips drowsily and then drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

    He growled in pain when she bit into his wrist, her hands coming up to hold it against her mouth. She drank deep, drawing his blood from him and making desire like he’d never felt before race through his veins. He held her tightly when she finally succumbed to sleep and carried her to her bed, gently laying her down on it.

    He stared at her and then at his wrist. In the darkness, he could see the blood staining it. He could smell it. It called to him, begging him to lick it clean. He lowered his head and raised his arm at the same time, letting them meet in the middle. Wrapping his lips around the wound, he closed his eyes and licked it, savouring the taste of his own blood.

    He opened his eyes and looked at Ineru.
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    Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

    Now he had to wait. Her death had abated his hunger. It had taken him a full day to awake from his own death.
    By tomorrow night, he would know if he had been
    successful.

    Then eternity would be theirs for the taking.

    Sitting down by the fire, he licked his lips clean while he stared blankly at the flames. They created patterns in front of his eyes. His focus remained with his thoughts for a few minutes and then he looked down at his
    bloodied wrist. The blood was black in the dim light but the sight of it still made him feel sick. What had he done? In the heat of the moment, he’d known exactly how to make her like him. It had been instinct.

    He glanced at Ineru where she lay on the bed and his stomach lurched. His teeth itched with the taste of her blood. It lingered in his mouth, taunting him, tempting him. How could he have granted her wish so easily, condemning her to a life as a shadow?

    His stomach twisted again. He pressed his hand