On the outside, Kelly and Marisa seemed perfectly happy with their vampire state and hopelessly in love with their husbands.
Vicki blew out a sigh. Did she love Antonio enough to take the step Marisa and Kelly had taken to be with the men they loved?
It was a thought that preyed on Vicki's mind long after the reception was over.
Did she want to be a vampire? Did she want to give up the sun and drink blood to survive? Did she want to give up all hope of having a family?
Did she want to spend the rest of her life without Antonio?
No!
Day after day, she weighed the pros and cons. And every night when she lay in bed, alone and lonely, she asked herself if she was making the right decision, a decision that, once made, could not be unmade. It wasn't like a bad haircut that would eventually grow out. It wasn't like picking out the wrong shade of lipstick or the wrong pair of shoes. This was a life-altering event. If she wasn't happy with the fit, she couldn't take it back.
In the eight days it took her to make up her mind, Vicki bought a disposable camera and had Bobbie Sue take her picture from every possible angle so that she wouldn't forget what she looked like when looking in a mirror was no longer possible. She had her eyebrows tattooed so that she would never have to mess with applying eyebrow pencil again. She indulged her passion for chocolate. She had always tanned quickly and she spent hours sunbathing in the nude until she was a nice golden shade of brown, all over. She got up early to watch the sun rise. She stopped in at the Curl and Dye for a trim and got a manicure and a pedicure while she was at it. She went to lunch with Bobbie Sue a couple of times, called her mother and her sister and told them she was going on a long vacation and not to worry if they didn't hear from her for a while.
She spent time with Mrs. Heath. The woman was amazing, Vicki thought. Now that she was no longer afraid to leave the house after dark, Mrs. Heath had become quite a gadabout. She played bingo at the church on Monday night, went to the monthly midnight sidewalk sales and the late movie, and sat out in her garden in the evening.
After eight days and nights of "should I or shouldn't I," Vickie called Gus and quit her job. She withdrew her savings from the bank. She called the utility companies and turned off the gas, water, electricity, and the phone. She didn't tell Bobbie Sue where she was going for fear that her friend might talk her out of it.
She closed up her house and then, without a backward glance, she hopped into her car and went in search of her vampire.
Chapter 38
Antonio prowled the empty rooms and lonely halls of the castle like a caged beast. He had done what was best for Victoria, that was the important thing. No matter that he felt as though his heart had been torn from his chest, or that he had given up his best reason for existing. He loved her with his whole being and because he loved her, he had let her go. In time, he would forget her.
He laughed harshly, humorlessly. Time. If there was one thing he had in abundance, it was time. And never had it passed so slowly. Every day without Victoria seemed like an eternity. He took no pleasure in rising, or in feeding. He had growled at Lady Kathryn so often she had gone into hiding, leaving him more alone than ever.
Alone and in darkness. Strange, he thought, he had lived for centuries cloaked in the shadows of the night, but he had never realized how dark his life was until the light of Victoria's love was no longer there to illuminate his heart and soul.
Victoria. Her scent filled every room in the castle. Her memory filled his every waking thought. He started to go after her a hundred times, but he always turned back. No matter how much he regretted letting her go, it was for the best.
He swore under his breath. Whose best? Not his! Never his.
Did she ever think of him?
Had she found someone else?
He slammed his fist against the wall. Pain vibrated up his arm. Blood oozed from his knuckles. He hit the wall again and again, breaking through paint, plaster and mortar.
He drew his arm back, ready to strike again, when he heard a knock at the front door.
Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder. Who would be coming to call at this hour of the night? He laughed humorlessly. Who would be coming to call on him at any hour?
He wrenched the door open, his angry words dying in his throat when he saw her standing there. He shook his head, unable to believe his eyes. He had dreamed of her, thought of her, yearned for her for so long, he was sure his lonely heart had conjured her image. An indrawn breath carried her scent to him.
Still unconvinced, he stroked her cheek. Soft feminine flesh, warm with life.
" Victoria?" She wore a pair of jeans that clung to her like a second skin, a black knit sweater, and a pair of fur-lined boots. Her hair fell over her shoulders in shimmering chestnut waves. In six hundred and twelve years, he had never seen anything more beautiful.
"Hello, Antonio."
"What are you doing here?" He drank in the sight of her. What difference did it make why she was here? She was here, and that was all that mattered. He thanked a generous Fate for allowing him to see her one more time.
"Are you going to invite me in?"
He stepped back. "You need no invitation. You will always be welcome in my home."
She crossed the threshold, and he followed her into the parlor. His hungry gaze moved over her, every fiber of his being yearning toward her. "Is something wrong?"
She turned to face him. "That depends on you."
He shook his head. "I do not understand."
"Do you love me, Antonio?"
"You know that I do."
"Then you know that I love you, too."
"We have been through this before."
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," she said, moving toward him.
He thought of a hundred reasons why he should send her away, but when he tried to put them into words, they no longer made sense.
"Will you share your life with me, Antonio?"
Unable to deny the urgings of his own heart any longer, he nodded. Right or wrong, he wanted her, all of her, for however long she was willing to put up with him and his unnatural lifestyle.
"I asked Ramsey to bring me across."
Her words slammed into him with the force of a stake through the heart. He stared at her, too stunned to speak. Opening his senses, he searched for some hint of supernatural power. To his relief, he found none.
Vicki shrugged. "He wouldn't do it."
"Why?" he asked incredulously. "Why on earth would you ask him to do such a thing?"
She looked at him as if he weren't too bright. "Because I want to be what you are, of course. Because it's the only way we can ever truly be together."