Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
However, he nodded. “And I did not even have a slipper to go by.”
Chapter 4
When I became a vampire, one of the hardest things I had to come to terms with was possibility. As a human, things were either real, fantasy, and sometimes, but rarely ever, unexplainable. Magic, vampires, superpowers, witches, all of that was fantasy—things people read for entertainment. But as a vampire, it was reality, and everything that I thought was impossible suddenly became possible. I had thought I’d been handling it relatively well. I now realized, I’d just been sticking my big toe into the supernatural pond; I hadn’t fully embraced the chaos yet. And I wasn’t sure if I was ready to start now.
“I don’t understand,” I released his wrist. “Actually, I do understand. You explained that quite well. What I mean is how? No, you explained that, too. Ugh, I don’t know how to speak right now. Give me a second.”
He did. A literal second.
“What you mean is—” His head was still far too close to mine—“how is this happening to you?”
“Exactly,” I replied, feeling my earlier desire to not back down from him waning a bit. However, when I pulled away to put distance between us, he leaned forward. I wasn’t sure what face I made, but it made him chuckle and move away.
“It is happening to you because it is meant to happen to you.”
“I’m the creator of my own destiny, thank you.”
“Oh, are you?” he questioned, amused, his accent slipping out even further. “Was becoming a vampire part of your plan?”
My mouth closed, and my eyes narrowed. I didn’t answer.
“I see. It just may be that you do not have as much control as you would like to think.”
Oh, so annoying. “So, you’re telling me, my destiny is to spend an eternity with you? I disagree.”
“And I disagree with your disagreement, so we shall have to come to a resolution. How long do you believe such a thing shall take, stubborn one? An eternity?” he asked with a wide smile.
“I am not stubborn; you are crazy,” I growled.
Theseus looked like he was trying not laugh. “What would your Mr. Darcy say? Yes, course, my dear?” he said the last bit with an English accent that sounded natural like he had spoken that way all his life.
“Are you finished teasing me?”
“I am not sure; I am quite enjoying it actually.”
I let out a deep unnecessary sigh, brushing my curls behind my ears before slowly speaking. “Theseus.”
“Yes, dear?” he said back.
I growled, and he pretended as if he didn’t hear it, still waiting. “You can’t just come across the sea, claim you’re my mate because your mother saw me in a vision, and expect me to jump into your arms. You don’t even know me. You should mate someone because you met them and fell in love and…”
“When did humans and witches come up with this idea of love?” he questioned curiously, his eyebrow raised. “That somehow you are to find your great love and not create your great love? With such short lives, how do they intend to do such a thing? When I was among them, marriage was arranged by family and elders. You grew to love the person who you were betrothed to.”
“Yes, I’m sure it was a grand time for the women who were married off to old fat men, oh the good ol’ days,” I said with sarcasm rolling off my tongue. I couldn’t even roll my eyes hard enough.
“That was not how it was most of the time. The books, arts, and plays that survived made it seem so, but it is not a true representation. If all that was left of your society was the work of your entertainment, what do you think future generations would say of your lives?”
I actually feared the answer to that. All I could see was literature and text and videos of reality T.V. stars being taught as a real history in a classroom one day, and that was a horror I didn’t want to see.
“History, as you will see, is often what survives and not what actually was,” he muttered a bit disappointed by it.
“Either way,” I said, trying to pull us back on track. “How can you be so sure about me?”
“I have seen the strength of my mother’s gift. I have seen you, and I have never before spoken so long with a woman about so much of nothing and everything.” The smile he had on his face was as if he’d never been happier in his life, and it left me a bit stunned for words.
“You said you needed my help to get out of my hair, but now I see, you were saying that just to get me to come with you. Do you really remember nothing for the last century or was that a trick, too?”