Chapter 22

ROSE

The weather got cold in the winter. The lake froze over, and I taught Eleanor to ice-skate.

She would watch the snow falling from her tower balcony, and she would get up during the day and walk around outside, enjoying the snow glinting in the sun.

We’d go out at night together. She also quickly picked up some French with help from Selene and me.

When the summer came, Eleanor insisted she was going to die of heatstroke. She’d never been so hot, though it was only thirty degrees.

She kept the windows wide open as she slept, with a fan on her ceiling constantly squeaking as it sliced through the hot air.

Eleanor’s relationship with Selene grew tight as the twins drifted away from her until they were completely ignoring her.

Orion spent most of his time away on business trips or hunting in exotic places. James and Aric spent most of their time together going off, mischief in their eyes. They usually brought Eleanor along with them.

At first, I worried. Aric and James were extreme in everything they did, and I couldn’t imagine how Eleanor could fit in safely. But she always came home, beaming, laughing, and unharmed.

On Eleanor’s ninth birthday, it was snowing. The ground was covered in a thick layer of snow. The tree’s dark branches were weighted down. Even the sky was white and full of snowflakes.

Aric and James took Eleanor out riding in the early evening while Selene and I put our heads together to make a birthday cake.

We’d tried the year before but had ended up with a steaming sugary mess. This year, we decided we’d follow the recipe.

Demetrius leaned in the doorway, watching.

“You know, ten years ago, if anyone said I’d be here baking a birthday cake, I probably would have ripped their head off,” Selene mused.

“I guess raising a human child makes you have human experiences,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, it’s weird.” Selene quickly finished whipping her cream and held the bowl against her hip.

“Rose, I love Eleanor, you know that, but it’s really weird. Sometimes I don’t even consider humans as food. I don’t want to turn into a vegetarian.”

“You couldn’t. You need human blood,” Demetrius mumbled from the doorway.

“Isn’t this weird for you?” she pushed.

I shrugged. “Of course. It’s very weird, but it’s a new experience, and just because we love Eleanor doesn’t turn us into vegetarian humans.

“We’re still a pureblood vampire family. Our lives have changed a little, sure, but in a decade, it’ll go right back to the way it was before.”

“Orion thinks I’m going soft,” Selene admitted.

“You’re not. You’re just being a good aunt,” I answered.

Selene set the bowl down on the stone counter and poured the batter from my bowl into the cake pan.

“If it’s any reassurance, you’re both still murderous bloodthirsty purebloods with incredible beauty,” Demetrius smiled from the door frame.

Selene laughed, shaking her head slightly. “That did help. Though I won’t tell Orion you called me beautiful.”

Demetrius chuckled and entered the kitchen slowly. He leaned against the counter, gazing at me. “I think this cooking is interesting. You’re probably the only purebloods who cook birthday cakes,” he murmured.

I smiled back at him, tossing my hair back behind my shoulder. “Well, it’s a new skill. You never know when your life depends on baking a birthday cake!” I laughed.

While the cake was baking, Selene, Demetrius, and I went out hunting. I think it all made us feel better.

We cornered five drunk students balancing on the top of a bridge. They were so drunk that they didn’t even notice their numbers were dwindling.

We tossed their bodies in the lake. They crashed through the ice, sinking to the bottom.

“They’ll be found in a few days,” Demetrius muttered, wrapping his arm tightly around my waist and holding me against him.

“Yeah, we should get back in time for Eleanor to eat some cake then go to bed. She woke up pretty early tonight, in time to see the sun go down.” I smiled, breaking out into a run.

I heard Selene chuckling as she ran behind me.

When we got home, Eleanor was having a bath, and I could hear her splashing around happily.

Aric was in his music room. It was so loud. I was surprised Eleanor couldn’t hear it.

Orion and James were in the main living room, James reading while sipping on a baggie of blood and Orion, head down writing in one of his three hundred diaries.

Demetrius went out to put the horses back in their stables. Selene curled up next to her husband with a book. I made my way up the stairs slowly.

I could hear the twins in their room, the pages of their books turning rapidly.

I found my way to Eleanor’s bathroom. She was just getting out of the bathtub as I pushed the door open.

“Knock!” she ordered me after I was already handing her the blue towel.

I smiled. “Sorry, I will next time. Are you having a good night?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bathtub and pulling the plug.

Eleanor wrapped the towel around her body tightly and nodded, beaming.

“Aric and James took me riding, and we rode far, then James’s horse slipped and whoop, down he was covered in snow.”

She grinned. “That was when Aric threw the first snowball. I couldn’t just stand by! I threw some lovely balls. I even got one on the side of Aric’s face!” she giggled.

“Wow, that must have been fun.”

“Uh-huh. Until I got snow in my dress, that got me all wet and cold. So, Aric ran me home faster than the horses and said I should have a bath.” She shrugged her small shoulders.

“He’s a good brother.”

“The best,” she insisted. I smiled, stroking her damp, warm cheek.

“Why don’t you get dressed? We’ll be waiting for you in the dining room. I baked you a cake, and I think this year it’ll be edible!” I grinned. Her eyes widened, and she beamed back.

“Thanks.” She wrapped her small arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. I laughed and blew against her warm ear. She giggled, drawing back.

“Come, get dressed. We’ll be waiting.” I stood up, pushing my hair behind my ears.

“Will you get dressed up too? In one of your old dresses, I like them best.” She batted her lashes at me, grinning.

I smiled and nodded. “Of course. Let’s race.”

Her grin somehow widened, and she nodded vigorously. I watched as she raced past me, slipping on the sides of her towels.

She caught herself against the sink, then grinned at me before disappearing out of the bathroom. I heard her scrambling to her room.

I hurried downstairs into my room, chose a long dark blue medieval gown, and fitted it on, pulling my hair up into an elegant French twist. I moved back upstairs to the dining room.

Selene had set out the small cake we’d made and had started a large fire in the fireplace.

The twins were chatting with James on one of the sofas, and their laughter echoed in the room. Aric was showing Demetrius his new song on the small living room piano.

Orion hovered in the doorway, scowling.

When I heard Eleanor starting down the stairs, I ducked away, hiding behind the corner. She raced past without noticing me when she reached the living room. She screamed in delight for winning.

I grabbed her from behind and twirled her around. She shrieked with laughter and fought to get out of my arms again.

“Is that a cake?” she asked, rushing toward the table, her eyes wide.

“A chocolate cake,” Selene answered, stroking Eleanor’s hair. “You’d better like it,” she added, winking.

Eleanor giggled happily and pulled herself up onto the chair in front of the cake. She placed her hands on the table and waited patiently as Selene cut the cake.

Aric and James came to sit next to Eleanor, knocking her with their shoulders to each other playfully. Eleanor giggled, shrieking at them to stop.

The twins curled up in front of the fire, gazing over at the table with bored expressions.

Orion left the room rapidly just as Demetrius came to stand next to me, wrapping his arm tightly around my waist. I leaned against him, smiling.

“What size?” Selene asked, showing two pieces of cake that would have looked identical to Eleanor’s human eyes. She gave Selene a queer look and chose the biggest one.

As Eleanor started eating her cake, I heard the snow getting heavier. The flakes were louder as they cushioned into the layers of snow. Demetrius sat down in an armchair, pulling me onto his lap.

I curled up against him, watching Eleanor laughing. I let my senses dim, I concentrated on the snow, on the crackling fire, and my human daughter’s laughter as Aric and James smothered her with jokes.

I watched her closing her eyes as she blew out the candles Selene had put on the cake, her face illuminated with joy.

I realized, watching her laugh, that everything was simple for her. She loved us, and we loved her back. Everything was funny and good. She had nothing to regret, nothing to take back, no mistakes.

I realized, at that moment, that she was already nine years old. She was so small yet so big, and in nine more years, she’d have to leave.

She couldn’t stay with us. She deserved to have a human life.

I’d have to leave her and never come back. I’d hide her tracks so she couldn’t be found, so even I couldn’t find her, and she couldn’t find me.

In only nine years, I’d have to give her up and never come back to her. I wanted to be by her side all her life. I wanted to protect her, so she’d never be hurt, never have her heart broken.

I saw her eating her cake daintily, no spills, no crumbs, just like I’d taught her. Her posture was perfect, and she was chewing with her mouth shut, not speaking with her mouth full.

She acted as an elite pureblood vampire child, but she wasn’t. I found myself drenched in nostalgia, begging her in my mind to stop growing up. To never grow up and stay the same forever.

I knew that I could technically freeze her at her age, but the chances she’d survive the turn were slim, and forcing her to grow old in a nine-year-old body was cruel.

The snapping of a twig, heavy breathing from five large canines, and a familiar scent rushed into my mind all at the same time.

I leapt from Demetrius’s lap, my head spinning, just as there was a loud booming knock on the front door.

Everyone in the room stiffened except Eleanor, who looked around at us with wide, curious eyes.

Demetrius was the first to move. He rushed past me, his fingers tracing down my arm just as he left. I heard him opening the front door, and I felt the outside air rush into the castle.

The five dogs scrambled onto the cold marble floor, their claws screeching against the hard floor.

I heard the ancient pure-blood vampire step into the castle. I smelled the fresh blood in him. He chuckled.

“Demetrius, you’ve changed.” His voice seemed to echo in my head. My heart was almost beating.

I watched in horror as Eleanor got off her chair with her wide, curious eyes and started toward the entrance.

“Who is it?” she called in a small, amused voice.

I stepped forward to stop her, but my father-in-law got to her faster. She didn’t even see him coming.

Suddenly, she was in his arms, his arm tightly wound around her body, his fangs bared and eyes blazing crimson. He arched his neck closest to her exposed jugular.

“Stop.” I rapidly moved to his side, tearing his gaze from my daughter to me. His red eyes met mine. He had a wide smug smile plastered all over his handsome face.

I could feel my family stiffen behind me. I could see Demetrius standing behind his father, his eyes racing between mine and Eleanor.

Damon leaned back from Eleanor’s jugular, but he still held her tightly in his arms. Her face was turned away from me, but I could hear her heart racing and her breath sputtering.

I could tell she was very afraid, that she understood the danger she was in.

“So, this child is the reason for all this mess,” Damon mused, holding her at arm’s length. He forced her to look at him. I saw her eyes glimmering with tears, but she swallowed them back.

“Give her to me,” I ordered, holding my arms open.

Damon paused to look at me, then smiled a wicked, smug smile that sent a wild chill up my spine.

“What if I don’t want to? I’d like to taste the famous human pureblood.” He chuckled, licking his lips. Eleanor’s face scrunched up in fear, her tears trickling over.

“Stop it. Father, hand the child to me.” Demetrius stepped between us and yanked Eleanor out of his father’s arms.

Damon frowned at him but didn’t pull Eleanor back again. Instead, he ran one hand coolly through his thick auburn hair and smiled at us. I felt Aric flanking me, his breathing heavy.

“Not that the child matters, of course, she’ll be dead in a matter of years. It’s going through the government now. Adopting a human child is illegal in a pureblood family.”

His lips drew back over sharp fangs as he grinned widely at Eleanor. “Bye-bye, baby.”