Chapter Five

Godric followed Sierra through the threshold of the subterranean level of his compound. He looked at her bare feet as she treaded across the white marble floor, a stark contrast to the soil and soft grass that she was used to. He found that for the first time in centuries, an anxious feeling crept into him, as if a plagued swarm of butterflies were feasting on the flesh inside his stomach. He wanted to please this girl who had swept her way into his life, and he wanted her to be comfortable and content with her new living arrangements. It would be a drastic lifestyle change for her if she made the decision he hoped she would.

He stood in the doorway watching her as she tentatively walked deeper into the room, her mouth agape in awe. He was vaguely aware of a distant storm that he knew she could not hear. “This is where you live?” she marveled as she took in her surroundings.

His intense eyes followed hers to an Egyptian mask hanging on the wall. The opulent item was priceless and probably belonged in a museum. “This is one of many places I go to rest for the day.”

She looked at him, an expression of electrified wonderment. “You have other such homes?”

He smirked, the corner of his mouth rising with a simpering visage. “When you have lived as long as I have you acquire various material items.” He took a step towards her, laying her bag of meager belongings on the table by the door. “But they are just things, superficial tokens and trinkets. I have learned in my many years that these…” he waved his hand coolly. “These things are not what it is important in life.” His eyes came to rest upon her, amplifying the hidden meaning behind his words.

“I wish to know more about you. I want to know everything,” she said with genuine regard.

“I’m afraid it would take many lifetimes to learn everything about me, min hjarta. I too wish to know more about you.”

She looked at him quizzically, her eyes full of contemplation. “Min hjarta, what does it mean?”

“I apologize. I’m afraid I have a bad habit of blending languages together,” he explained, his accent sounding even more exotic than usual. He put his hand on his chin in thought. Godric mused at just how many languages he had been exposed to and spoken over his lifetime and the vast measure of it astounded even him. “Min hjarta comes from the Old Norse tongue, Eric’s native language. I spoke it for many centuries after I turned him.”

“Eric?”

He chuckled. “Come, min hjarta,” he coaxed reaching for her. “Sit with me. I will explain the meaning to you and I will tell you about my son.”

Thus, they settled on the couch and talked for hours. He told her all about her future brother Eric, some of their adventures together, even the questionable ones. He told her how min hjarta roughly translated to my heart. He called her that because of the maker call she evoked in his heart and how through it she had made him feel alive again, how before he laid eyes on her his heart had been frozen and dead.

She told him about her friends Pearl and Mickey and how she was on a quest to learn more about humans so she could survive in this world among them. She explained to him that her mother was human and died when she was born and how her fae father had learned of her circumstance and crossed the portal to Earth to rescue her. She told him of the fond memories she had as a young child with her father. She was so young she couldn’t remember many, but she remembered how father would bring her candies and read her stories before bed. Once he took her on a picnic to the silver lake in the prairie, and they caught butterflies with nets and ate a human delicacy called chocolate pie. He had gotten the ingredients on an excursion when he went to Earth. She got very sick afterwards and wasn’t allowed to eat human food anymore.

Without going into too much detail, she told him of her struggles in the following years among the village.

“A full-blooded fairy reaches adulthood in two weeks. After that, they usually move into their own den and start their own family. But it had been many years, and I was still a child. There was a meeting among the elders, a legal hearing, and my father argued with the village leaders. I remember he was so angry. He told them that I was his daughter, and he would continue to raise me even if it took a hundred years for me to reach maturity.”

Godric stared at her, unmoving and expressionless. This was the moment he had both dreaded and hoped for since he first realized she had been through an unspeakable trauma. As if to intensify the moment, a torrential downpour sounded outside. It was accented by crackling thunder that illuminated the hallway with flashes of white light from the open door at the top of the stairs. He was grateful that she was in the safety of his compound rather than the drafty interior of her dwelling.

The moment had come and he had hoped that she would confide in him. He needed to know the struggles his future progeny had faced so he could better understand her and help her overcome them. Shedding one’s mortal plights was one of the first steps on the journey of immortality, an important step that he himself had been denied. Raw memories of slavery and injustice plagued him in his firsts few centuries until they eventually became distant memories. He dreaded this moment though because he knew how much it would make his blood boil, how her words had the potential of bringing ‘Death’ himself to the surface. He absentmindedly held her hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of it trying to soothe her.

She looked up at him as another crack of thunder echoed around them like a beating drum. It would seem even the heavens themselves grumbled in protest at what she was about to reveal. “But he was an important man you see. He represented our village on the Earth Fae Council and he was often sent to this realm for work. It required him to travel a great deal and the elders decided I had interfered with his duties enough already. It was decided that if he disobeyed their ruling then he would receive a stern punishment, perhaps even banishment. I was eight years old, and I didn’t really see my father much after that. The elders made sure he was always traveling.”

He looked down at her, his face brightly illuminated for one fleeting second from the rage of nature above, lighting up his already pale face and amplifying the severity that was already present in his grey-blue eyes.

“He tried to…”

“He should have tried harder,” Godric said through clenched teeth, his intense expression overpowering every inch of the room making the air thick and heavy. “If it were me, I would have ripped the village apart to save my child. Your father is as guilty as the leaders who made the decisions.”

“Perhaps, but he does not bare all the blame. I grew slowly; I learned slowly, everything about me is slow. I didn’t even read until I was four.”

He was a bit taken aback. “You could read when you were four?”

She nodded. “I practiced and practiced when no one was around because I wanted to prove I was not a half-wit.”

His brow furrowed angrily. “You Sierra, are no half-wit. You are not slow. Reading at four years old is an amazing accomplishment that very few could claim.”

She looked away in confusion and he quickly put his hand on her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “You are not slow. I have much to learn about you, but one thing is certain, you have a great deal of genius buried within that fascinating mind.” He realized his min hjarta had a very low opinion of herself, the result of an entire childhood of ridicule and abuse. He would invest a great amount of time helping her heal from the suffering that she had endured. This was a drastic contrast to his other child who had self-esteem in spades. He often had to humble the Viking in his early years when his ego became too inflated.

Her big eyes stared up at him with a glimmer of hope. Was it the first time someone had ever told her she was intelligent? The first time someone had ever paid her a compliment? “Soon min hjarta, your mortal life will be a distant memory. If you choose you will be born again to a life beyond your imaginings. I will never abandon or forsake you. Remember this moment; for this is the moment I pledge to you my eternal commitment.” He dared to move closer to her and put his arms around her. He slid her closer until she was against him and their lips nearly touched as his face hovered above hers. His chilly breath brushed her lips as he purred. “Walk this journey with me, Sierra. Say you will be mine.” His hand rose to tangle in her hair. “I want you, min hjarta. I want you to be mine. I can’t let you go now.”

His whispers were almost desperate, and he could hear the longing in his own words. She lit a burning flame in him, a flame he knew wasn’t something a maker was supposed to feel for his future progeny. These sort of emotions at such a fragile time were dangerous, and yet, he could not stop himself as he tightened his hold on her.

His lips drifted to her ear and softly brushed her lobe as he whispered. “Tell me you will be mine, Sierra.” He closed his eyes when the seductive tone in his voice reached his own ears. He was becoming lost in her and he vaguely realized he teetered on the precipice of oblivion now. That deep knowledge within him warned him to withdrawl, but he shut it away as he inhaled the scent of her neck, the blood pumping through the tender veins like a siren’s song. His fangs ached with wanting as his face moved closer. She trusted him fully now as she relaxed in his arms, relaxed in the feel of his embrace like a lamb content in the embrace of a deadly predator. Half opened eyes roved over her neck with dreamy anticipation. The voice within him grew louder in warning. His eyes closed tightly as he pierced his fangs into his tongue to get a grasp on himself.

He moved away, yet kept his arms around her. Looking down at her he smelled the aroma of her tears before he saw them. “Min hjarta?” He said sobering. “I apologize. It was not my intention to make you weep.”

She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. “No it is not that. It is just… just that your words have truly touched me.” She sniffed. “No one has ever spoken to me with such conviction nor held me in such esteem.”

“I know you desire time to make your decision,” he said softly, trying to block the knowledge that she nearly drove him feral with a maddening desire to make her his. “And you wish to spend time with me before you decide to take the next step, but perhaps you would be open to something that will possibly help you stave off your affliction.”

“What do you suggest?”

He took an uncertain breath. “Among my kind…” he chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment. “My child, I wish to… that is I would be honored if you would accept my offer to blood bond with me.” It was a perfectly normal and natural progression between progeny and maker in their situation he told himself. He ignored the churning need to have the taste of her blood on his lips as his flowed through her veins and he became a part of her.

“Blood bond?” He saw the confusion in her eyes and tried to explain.

“Tell me min hjarta, you said your kin taught you in a school. What did they teach you?”

She bit her bottom lip as she thought. “Well they taught me horticulture mostly, how to grow things. And they taught me how to use my magic. I also learned math, reading, and writing. There was a class on fairy history and one about the other fairy cultures, such as the Sky Fae, Water Fae, and Fire Fae.”

His eyebrows rose. “Perhaps there are things you can teach me my child.”

She smiled. “I also had lessons on Werewolves, witches, shapeshifters, vampires, and many other magic cultures and creatures.”

“And what did they teach you of vampires?”

“Mostly how dangerous they are. I learned a lot in history class how vampires hunted my people and drove them from Earth after we lost the war.”

Given the turbulent relationship between the fae and vampires in the nights of old, he was not at all surprised they had painted his kind as the villains. “It would seem that your history lessons were rather distorted. Though I was a newly turned vampire, I recall the war and the years preceding it.” He ran his hand through her hair. “It is true, some vampires exploited fairies, however, it was not as black and white as it appears you were told.”

“Vampires didn’t steal fairy younglings and make them blood slaves? They didn’t attack every fairy they encountered on the road?”

He bellowed with loud laughter that made her laugh too even though she knew not what he found so funny. It felt good to laugh so fully, it had been so long for him. “Most experienced fairies have the ability to kill a vampire, unless the vampire is very old.” He casually gestured to himself with a streak of arrogance that he rarely showed. “They lived in large villages with silver imbued stone walls. I, on more than one occasion, passed a fairy on the streets of a human town; they were either masking their scent or fouled it with some sort of disgusting plant they grew.”

“Garlic coral, the water fae grow it because many of them can’t mask their scent.”

“Of course, garlic coral.” He grinned, his fangs all showing. “But when I passed them I knew what they were, and I had no quarrel with them. I even conducted business with fairies occasionally, as did many vampires. Some of them were quite adept at acquiring things and curing menacing curses from witches and necromancers.”

“So you have never killed a fairy?” She asked, her eyes big. “Never killed them for their blood?”

He looked at her and closed his mouth while he thought carefully how to respond. “Min hjarta, you must know I have killed many of all kinds. Sometimes they deserved it and sometimes they did not. I have survived to my third millennium, one of the ten eldest vampires to walk the Earth. There is not much that I have not done or experienced. I have committed terrible deeds in my past, some of them I regret and some I do not.”

Her voice became quiet. “How do you get past it when you do something you regret?”

“It is not always easy.” He looked at the wall in distant thought. “There have been times my actions have haunted me for many years and before Eric I had no close blood kin. I was alone.” He looked back to her and circled his arms around her. “Blood kin are vital. You will be coming into this world with a maker who cares a great deal about you. And though Eric is brash at times, as you will soon learn, I know my child as well as he knows himself. He will cherish you.”

She hesitated before speaking and he already knew what she was going to ask. “What happened to your maker?”

“He met the true death when I was less than a century old,” he responded, expertly masking the resentment in his voice.

“That’s so tragic.”

He laughed sarcastically. “No, min hjarta. My maker lived outside of vampire society and didn’t follow the code. He was an outlaw in the vast outlaw lands of an untamed world, and he relished twisting me into a monster. The night of his death was the most fortunate night of my life. When he died, I lived alone for a very long time like a wildling. Eventually, I came across a vampire who introduced himself as my maker’s brother.” He chuckled under his breath. “I immediately tried to kill him, but he was too strong. As fate would have it, he was no fan of my maker. I traveled with him to the barbaric Gaelic lands far to the west where I joined his nest for a long time. It was there I helped him teach his young progeny Emre and min farbrodir, min uncle…” he nonchalantly corrected, “taught me about the code and of my own kind.” Godric’s accent was thick as he recounted the distant memory. “When the first sparks of Rome fanned the flames of its infant civilization we journeyed there to help establish one of the first orders of our society. If my maker had not met his true death I would have never became what I am today.”

“The code; that’s vampire law.”

“Very good, my child. I am surprised the fae taught you such things,” he looked at her proudly. “You already know more than I knew at your age. And I will teach you so much more and prepare you for immortality like no other has been. You will be perfect.”

“Well,” she said embarrassed. “I know it is a word for vampire law, but I know not what the laws are.”

“You will,” he grinned. “So they taught you the meaning of the code. I am surprised they did not teach you about the exchanging of blood—blood bonding. Though it is sacred and rare it is no secret among the supernatural community.”

“Oh, yes! I know about blood exchanges, but is that not so you can control the one you exchange with and make them your slave? That does not sound appealing.”

He frowned. “No,” he said slowly, his voice laced with disgust at what the fae had told her. “Blood bonding has nothing to do with control and everything to do with protection, trust, and union.” He sat silently for a moment in thought. Though he knew the fae taught her many inconsistencies about vampires and their history he realized he was faced with a great task reversing many years of misinformation. “If a vampire wanted a slave, unless he was very young and foolish, the last thing he would do is blood bond and make himself so vulnerable. A blood bond connects you to another person in a way that words cannot describe. The vampire is literally giving part of themselves to their bonded, to hurt their bonded is to hurt themselves.”

Her face was flushed and she looked down at her hands as she fidgeted with the hem of her dress. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to imply…”

He leaned forward and raised her chin so their gazes met. He stared deeply into her eyes. “You have done nothing wrong, Sierra. But the fae have misinformed you regarding this. Come here, min hjarta.” He pulled her into his lap until her head rested on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms protectively around her.

His eyes drooped half way closed in contentment when he felt her fingertips brushing his skin as she played with the Section Black necklace that hung around his neck.

“If we blood bonded you would be able to feel my emotions and I yours. We would know if the other person is near or far and even when they are approaching. Because the magic resides in the blood of the vampire and my blood would be inside you, I could literally track you to the exact spot you stand, no matter where you are on Earth. It would allow me to find you if you were ever in trouble or needed me and it works the other way around once you are turned, if you so choose.”

“So if you needed me I could find you anywhere?”

“Yes, once you’re turned” he nodded. “I can even call my child through the blood and you would be able to find my exact location. There are also other effects the blood has.” He looked over to the door where he could hear Twitch breathing in the shadows. “There are certain traits that are stronger in vampires that may… may stimulate certain aspects of your character to some extent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Such as, vampires…” He looked down at her, feeling a little awkward at verbally breaking the ice on this subject because he was uncertain what her reaction would be. “Vampires have a tendency to have high libidos,” he quickly went on to the next point. “Though you may not know it from their expression they are also extremely emotional underneath, it’s why we spend so much time and effort learning to mask our emotions. If we exchanged blood, those things would be heightened in you, which is a good thing because it’s a minor version of what you will feel when you’re turned. It will help prepare you to deal with the strong feelings you will have.” He cleared his throat. “It will make you crave sex more often than you may usually, which I will explain to you at a later date when you are ready, and the emotional aspect…” he stopped talking and mentally cursed himself for explaining it so insufficiently. He had never been timid talking about sex before, but it had been over a hundred years thanks to that damn curse and she was, well she was Sierra. Innocently pure and probably the most enticing woman he has ever hungered for.

Her eyebrow was raised as she looked up at him, her face dangerously close to his. “I may have lived in the wilds since the age of twelve,” she whispered, “but I know what sex is. The meaning is not foreign to me.”

Godric opened his mouth to speak but was saved when the phone started vibrating. “That would be Eric,” he said reaching under her and into his pocket.

“So you have captured her have you?” Eric immediately said without greeting.

“I would not describe it in that manner, but yes she is here with me.” He ran his hand through Sierra’s hair as she looked at him curiously.

“Is she naked now? Because you’re so horny even Pam is complaining.”

Godric growled half-heartedly and an evil idea came to him as his fangs glowed in the distant flashes of lightening. “She would have been had you not interrupted us.”

Eric laughed. “May I speak to her?”

“Why?” Godric asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

“Because I would like to say hello to my new little sister. There is nothing insidious about it,” he drawled.

Godric looked at Sierra as he began speaking to Eric in Old Norse. “Listen to my words well. She is young and innocent.”

“Mmmm,” Eric responded.

“Be wary, my child,” he said sharply, “if you displease me regarding this there will be consequences.”

Eric laughed nervously. “Of course.”

Satisfied, Godric handed the phone to Sierra who pressed it to her ear. He immediately knew Eric was up to no good when he couldn’t hear the Viking speaking on the other end. Eric had intentionally lowered his voice.

“Hello,” Sierra said. “Yes,” she laughed. “I would be honored to meet you as well… um, Eric.”

She looked over at Godric and smiled, before her smile faded in confusion and she looked down at her dress. “A white dress, why do you ask?”

Godric rolled his eyes and leaned forward to retrieve the phone but was evaded by Sierra who slightly turned away.

“You confuse me so. Why would I take it off?” she went on. “Ah.” “Underneath, why would I wear…” She stopped talking and listened.

“Godric has a raging hard on?” She said looking at Godric with concern. She studied his face curiously when she noticed his look of horror. “I do not understand.”

Godric quickly retrieved the phone and put it to his ear.”… and he will give you a delicious cream in return,” Eric said in a sultry voice managing to sound both seductive and innocent.

“Eric,” the older ancient deadpanned.

“Oh, master. You’re back. I was just telling my sister…”

“I know what you were telling her and I don’t think exploiting her innocence is wise. Remember what I said about consequences?”

“I guess you have a reason to come visit me sooner rather than later. Or shall I come there?”

Godric sighed. His ancient child was a bit old to misbehave just to see him. “It seems there are a few lessons I have yet to teach you.”

He finished the conversation and ended it before leaning back on the couch and putting his hands on his face in exasperation.

“I want to fuck you right now,” Sierra said scooting closer to him and putting her hand on his knee.

Godric froze before looking at her in shock. “What did you just say?”

“Eric said we should fuck because you suffer from a raging hard on and you would resist but I should not take no for an answer. He said he could feel it over the bond even now.”

Godric closed his eyes and shook his head, a forced smile on his face. “Sierra,” he said. “Do you even know the meaning of the words you speak?”

She shook her head and smiled. “I do not know what this fucking is, nor what a raging hard on is. But if it will help you I will fuck you this very moment unless of course you do not want to fuck me. If that is the case, I understand, but I assure you I can learn.”

Godric laughed nervously and took her hand. “Min hjarta, of course I want… I mean to say… ” he sighed then growled. “Eric would never miss an opportunity to embarrass me.”

She looked at him with pity. “Your affliction should not shame you. Perhaps I can examine your raging hard on and heal it. I am quite adept in the art of healing. Perhaps I can rub a salve to the ailing area or we can try the fucking that Eric suggested or perhaps both.”

He looked back to her and was sure if vampires could get red faced from blushing his face would be redder than blood. He could feel Eric guffawing through the bond and delighting in his maker’s embarrassment. “Eric is being crude. He speaks of sex, coupling intimately,” he said quickly. “And when he says raging hard on, well he is referring to my…” He sighed awkwardly. “He is referring to my aroused cock… my penis,” he cringed speaking such vulgarities in front of her.

Her eyes darted to the bulge between his legs and he stopped himself from fidgeting as he lay open and vulnerable to her. It was too late to hide it now and a dark thrill ran through him as she was no doubt discovering how attracted to her he was. And he, well he was confronted with that fact head on too and now there could be no more denial. She exhaled quickly and said in a high pitched voice. “Oh.” Her face flushed pink and she averted her eyes as she cleared her throat. “I have not heard these things referred to with such colorful words.”

They sat silent for a few moments, both of them staring forward with their hands folded in their laps, the awkwardness tangible in the air. He thought he heard a snicker come from the small shadow down the hall that had been eaves dropping on their entire conversation.

Finally she spoke. “I do not understand why the subject is so embarrassing for you.” She looked over at him and he was already staring back, blank faced with lips slightly parted. “Are vampires ashamed of such subjects?”

A relieved chuckle escaped him. “Of course not. I was only treading lightly because I did not realize…” His eyes swept over her with amazement. “I did not realize you would be so relaxed regarding the topic. Or that you would even know what sex is. You seemed embarrassed.”

“I was embarrassed that I did not know the meaning of Eric’s words.”

He nodded in understanding. “I have learned that females, especially mortal ones tend to be quite ashamed of their sexuality and I assumed you were the same. I wanted to tread lightly on what I thought would be a touchy subject for you.”

She laughed. “Ashamed? Truly?”

He smiled. “Truly.” He hoped that she would not find his kind depraved at the vast extent to which sex touched nearly every aspect of a vampires life, right down to feeding, so he was relieved to discover that the fae did not find the subject taboo as humans did.

“I have never heard of someone being ashamed of sex. And though I have never experienced it myself I have often dreamed of it with a male.”

Godric shifted uncomfortably. What male had she dreamed of sex with? He felt his lip curl up and tried to prevent the low growl that escaped his throat but it was too late. “Who is this male?” He growled irritably before he could stop the words from spilling out.

She looked over at him a little taken aback by his tone. “He is a male I first saw six months ago. He came and visited me in the park often and though we did not talk I have felt a deep connection to him since I first laid eyes on him.”

Godric looked away as he swam in an emotional torrent of jealously and possessiveness, unable to think clearly. “So there was not much talking was there?” He said in a low voice and cursed himself for not keeping tight control of his feelings. Though he had felt the maker call for her he had no claim on her heart. He himself had been rationalizing internally all night how such a relationship was dangerous for her well being given what he thought was her innocent nature on the subject.

“Godric?” She said, her voice seemed so far away as he tried to beat back the noxious feeling of disappointment. He had not realized just how much he had longed to possess her in every way. “You look ill.”

He stood up, his fangs aching as badly as his heart. He faced away from her to hide his face. “I am fine, min hjarta. Please forgive me.”

She stood and approached him. She spoke to his back. “I should not have told you how I have been watching you from a distance for six months. I knew it was wrong but I could not help myself. I am the one who is in need of forgiveness. And… and please f… forgive me for having those dreams of y… you.” He closed his eyes in icy realization. She had been talking of him and he had acted like a baby vampire. He smelled her tears. “I will go.”

He quickly turned and caught the tail-end of a flash as she teleported away and out of his compound.

“Fool!” He berated himself and zipped up the stairs, his instincts to protect her screaming at him to go after her. He knew where she had gone and it would take him several minutes to get there. And by the gods, if his min hjarta dreamed of him he would make her dreams come true.

Words: 5,401

Special Thank You: Thank you Suzymeinen for your beta magic!