That voice has always been bringing me back from ending it, a constant encouragement to hold on even when I didn’t want to. And to know with certainty it is Dominic that has been keeping me going, I understand what my father meant when he said Dominic was a better man than he gave him credit for. That he can’t repay what he gave for him, and neither could I.
His voice was sometimes the only thing that kept me alive and breathing until Kora came along. The voice that would talk to me while I hid away from the world, from myself. The voice that is the reason I’m still here.
“You can still heal him,” Dominic tells me, giving me hope. I look down at Jonah’s bleeding wrists. Ah, gross, I think, but snatch his arm up and run my tongue over the deep cuts. My tongue tingles as I run my tongue from his wrist to the crook of his elbow. I shudder as the blood fills my mouth.
Dominic’s voice laughs in my head at my reaction. “Well, you would suck at being a vampire.”
“Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste too bad. It’s just the thought that is making me cringe,” I tell him, and I feel my energy diminishing more as my body grows heavier. He laughs again when I move on to the next one, four lines mark up each arm, and by the time I am done, his blood coats my lips and face. I wipe my face on the tea towel and shiver.
I watch him with bated breath. Relief floods me when I notice the wounds closing. “Jonah, can you hear me?” I ask softly, but he stays stuck in this trance-like state.
“Now what?” I ask Kora and Dominic as I pull myself up onto the sofa beside Jonah. I lean heavily back on the sofa, suddenly exhausted like I just had my energy zapped out of me. My head slumps on the backrest as I watch him. What is going on? He said Kyan is trying to stay in this world? What exactly is happening with him?
“We wait,” Dominic answers, and I sigh. For a moment, I try to sit up, but I’m too far gone to even do that. Kora paces in my head, worried about Kyan.
“Can I ask you something?” I ask Dominic; now I can pinpoint him. It is just like having Kora in my head but also, at the same time, rather different. Like he is a fleeting entity that can only be conjured up at will.
“Anything,” he says.
“You’re not always in my head, right? You don’t like, see everything I do?” I ask. Gosh, that would be awkward, especially around bathroom breaks and showers. Oh god, please tell me he hasn’t seen me shave. Or what happened with Kyan?! My cheeks burn as I wait, horrified at the thought.
He laughs. “No, Marabella, only when strong emotion pulls me toward you, kind of like Kyan and Jonah. When Kaif gets out, he draws on his energy, and Jonah knows he needs help. Panic, fear, your sadness, any heightened emotion can drag me near. Let me come forward to help, giving you a friend.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, well that is good to know! God, I was about to have a heart attack.
“So you are like Jonah?” I ask, trying to understand.
“In a sense, I am your guardian. But I like to think you are much more than that,” Dominic murmurs.
“More?”
“Yes, I have watched you grow. You are as much my daughter as Kyan is my son, much more than a friend, Marabella.” His words shouldn’t have made me more emotional, but they do. For years, I believed he was just an imaginary friend, and that I was alone in this world, but knowing he was by my side all this time makes me suddenly not feel so lonely. Not everybody hates me, not everybody thinks I’m a burden.
However, another question comes to mind and I ask him. “Do you regret it? Regret leaving Kyan, I mean?”
“No, I don’t regret taking your place, Marabella, if that is what you are asking,” he answers without hesitation.
“No, I meant leaving Kyan. Maybe he would have been better off with you instead of me,” I tell him quietly.
“No parent should bury their child. That’s not how it is supposed to be. Even if you weren’t Kyan’s mate, I still would have taken a bullet for you. As a parent, I couldn’t fathom the thought of losing a child, and you are as much my child now as you are your parents,” Dominic explains.
“How can you speak to me, though, if you’re dead?” I ask.
“Nothing ever really dies, Marabella; there is more to death. We are told early on to fear death, but sometimes we just need to embrace it,” he says.
I am about to ask more when Jonah suddenly lurches forward. He coughs, and I grip his arms. “Are you alright? Is Kyan ok?” I ask, my heart thumping as I place a hand on his cheek. He grabs hold of my wrist and nods.
“I’m fine, and so is Kyan. At least I think he is, aside from a few issues.” He leans back, sighing heavily, but he doesn’t let go of my hand, holding it to his chest.
“What do you mean?” I ask, concerned.
“He just learned some home truths he should have faced years ago; he is alive though Mara,” he says when a shudder runs through him, and he groans. “Oh, for fuck sake, can I not catch a break tonight?” he growls when I see his eyes glaze over again, but I’m relieved that this time it’s the mind link. That much I can tell.
When his eyes return to normal, he scrubs a hand down his face and stands. He glances at the sofa that is drenched in his blood. He frowns, staring at it, and I speak.
“You were bleeding, or more like Kyan was doing something.”
“Yeah,” he says, looking at his wrists. “You cleaned me?”
“No, not exactly.” My face heats as I look anywhere but at him.
“You healed me,” he smiles, his voice dropping an octave before reaching down and gripping my hands. He tugs me to my feet to stand before him. My heart flutters as our eyes meet and I stare into those gorgeous blue-green eyes that remind me of the ocean.
“That would explain why you look so pale and tired,” Jonah says softly. His voice makes me blink and I bite my lip when he cups my face with both his hands. His thumbs rub gently across my cheeks, and I feel a tingle of comfort at his touch. I lean into his touch. His gaze dips to my lips, and he tilts my face up to kiss me. I reach my arms up, which feel like they weigh a ton, and wrap them around his neck and kiss him back.