“Thanks,” she said, sounding completely content with the world then almost immediately fell asleep. James sighed, trying to force himself to relax as he listened to her breath. He was so going to regret this in the morning.
Lily sat on the bed in the darkened room. She wasn’t sure how long she had been in there wallowing in depression and self-pity. She knew what last night meant. When Silvano forced Lily to exchange blood with him, a second time he may have well signed his victory. Her vampire was in control and her beast so silent and buried she might as well not even be there anymore. She had no choice, Lily thought sourly. She couldn’t let the vampire king make good on his threat of unleashing Bianca on Matt and all the other children in the house.
A pang of loss and despair washed over her remembering the events of the night. Her only saving grace was that James had refused her advances. He recognized her actions as a result of the vampire king’s blood was her only source of comfort. Squaring her shoulders, Lily stood up from the bed. That was enough, she demanded to herself. She was done with this useless wallowing. Silvano would be back in two days and she had a lot to get done.
Looking around the room for her clothes, Lily noticed the window. The curtains weren’t only drawn, but they’d been taped shut. James, she thought and stopped to stare at the window. He knew, he knew she’d wake up full vamp and he… protected her? The pain hit her hard in the chest. After all the shit she’d done to him he was still there, still trying to keep her safe. The pain in her chest swelled and transformed into something else, something foreign as her fingers brushed over the cloth of the curtains.
As if struck by lightning Lily snapped her hand back from the curtains as the truth finally broke through. He loved her. James loved her, like really loved her. It was so clear to her now. It was real and not some manipulation from any bonds or marks. Lily continued to stare at the curtains suddenly mortified.
“And here you are making sure I don’t burn in the morning sun like I deserve,” she said in a soft whisper, wishing things were different. Wishing that she could have the time to repay James for everything and try to let herself love him back. Tears blurred her vision and darkness filled her, threatening to take her under. Lily squared her shoulder and lifted her chin with determination.
No. She would not spend her last days as herself by crying and sobbing at how unfair the world was. No. She would go down fighting and there were things she needed to do before she became Silvano’s pet. Feeling more confident, she dressed and left the bedroom. “Finally, I thought you were going to sleep the day away,” James said with a light tone.
“Well vampires are nocturnal,” she replied with a similar tone. “Who did you get in a fight with,” she demanded once she noticed that he had a busted lip and a nasty cut on his left cheek. She glanced at his knuckles which sported bruising and cuts as well.
“It’s nothing,” he said with a shrug. “I suppose being all vampy means you can’t do breakfast right?”
She narrowed her eyes at him but after a moment decided to let it drop for now. “Right, no more food for me,” she replied almost wistfully.
“Don’t worry we’ll figure out how to get you back to normal, well as normal as you can get, soon enough,” he told her with a half-smile.
“You do that, but meanwhile I’m going to call Tony and see if he can help me find a lawyer that will meet with me today,” she explained and started the search for her phone, but James grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Why do you need to meet with a lawyer?” He asked confusion and worry on his face.
“I want to make sure things are taken care of. Like custody of A. J. for example. I don’t think anyone would fight you for it once I’m gone but better safe than sorry,” she replied and he suddenly looked as if he swallowed a lemon.
“When you’re gone?” He choked out then his stance grew rigid with a dark frown marring his face. “That’s not going to happen Lily. That leech won’t finish the blood bond,” he argued.
“Yes, he will James… I won’t resist when he’s near. I can feel it. Last night he coerced me into feeding him, but I don’t hate him. I’m actually excited about seeing that damned bloodsucker again. I want to hate him with every fiber of my body and I know I should, but damn it all to hell James I don’t!” She explained bitterly and by the horrified look on his face she saw that he understood the gravity of the situation.
“No! It’s not going to let it happen! Not this time. I won’t let this happen again,” he demanded with a rough growl of a voice. Lily was now confused.
“We still can try the mate bond,” He told her and she kept her expression neutral.
“That is something that once it’s done it’s done James,” she told him and he looked at her confused. “I made sure that the formulas and the actual serums Xavier made were destroyed before I gave his research to the Aequivalere. So once our the bond is made there is no going back.”
Now he looked at Lily with shocked surprise. “You destroyed them? Why?”
She shrugged before answering. “They’re as good as poison James. They caused nothing but suffering; to Lacy and to us. I don’t want anyone else to go through that. Look, you owe me nothing and I wouldn’t think less of you for not wanting to use the bond as an escape route, especially since we don’t know if it’ll work or not. I know the bond means-” James stopped her and jumped in with his own argument.
“We have nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work then, we are the same as now and the only meaning of the bond that matters to me is what we give it and Lily, keeping your will your own is more than enough for me.” Lily stuffed her hands in her jeans pockets not able to argue with that.
“Alright, if you’re sure. So what do we have to do,” she asked, careful not to get too hopeful. James laughed a dry laugh and rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.
“Well it can only be fully formed…” he started then still looking sheepish he gave a little shrug. “While having… you know sex.” If her heart were beating it would have skipped a couple of beats. She wasn’t sure how that made her feel. If she was utterly honest, she wasn’t opposed to it.
“Well duh, I should have figured that out. It is the mating bond after all,” she said with a forced laugh, trying to make light of it all. He grinned with a hint of relief. “So uh, when do we, you know, do this?”