Evelyn jerked her head back as her mouth fell open.
“Immortal?” Grace gasped. “But such a thing is not possible.”
Elliot took a step towards her, and Grace took a step back. “Alexander speaks the truth.”
“You mean you cannot die?” Evelyn’s eyes were almost bulging from their sockets. She snatched her hands from his grasp as Grace came to stand at her side.
“We do not age, Evelyn.” Alexander gave a heavy sigh. “Therefore, we will not die unless we are caught by the sun, starved of blood, lose our head.”
Leo expected to see tears flowing; he had expected to hear sorrowful wails echoing through the chamber, and he held his breath in anticipation.
Evelyn thrust her hands on her hips. “You mean to tell me when I am wrinkled and haggard you will still look like this?” She waved an irate hand down his body and then stamped her foot.
Alexander inclined his head.
“And neither of you thought it was important enough to tell us.” She hooked arms with Grace.
“We did not want to hurt you,” Elliot said solemnly as he came to stand at Alexander’s shoulder. “Please say something, Grace.”
Grace shook her head. “I can understand why you didn’t tell us. But I don’t know how I can be happy, knowing one day I will be gone, and you will still be young, free to marry again.”
“That will never be the case,” Elliot replied. “We have made a pact. As you draw your last breath so will we.”
Evelyn stared at him and then looked at Alexander. “A pact? Then perhaps Grace and I will make a pact. Perhaps we will ask Ivana to turn us too. Then we will never be apart.”
Ivana sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry. But I could not do it. Please do not ask it of me.”
“Damn right she won’t do it,” Alexander roared.
“But why?” Evelyn implored. “Don’t you want to live with me forever? Don’t you want to love me for all eternity?”
“I will love you for all eternity. There will never be anyone else for me.” Alexander closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again, Leo could see his pain. “This is not living, Evelyn. Everything about it is unnatural. There is still hope for us. I am convinced we have lived a life together before, and we will do so again. But not like this.”
Ivana clutched Leo’s arm and put her head on his shoulder. A dark cloud descended. With it came the reality of how difficult it was to live with their terrible affliction.
Elliot held his hand out to Grace and whispered, “Just let me love you.”
She stared at it for a moment before running into his arms.
Leo and Ivana watched as both couples embraced, muttered endearments, soothed their souls. Nothing could break the bond of true love. He believed that now. In his meditative mood, he glanced out through the window; slivers of orange tinged the dark grey sky. Time was both a blessing and a curse. In an hour, the sun would edge up over the horizon, and they would be relegated to the shadows once more. Finding the cure seemed more important than ever, but all he wanted to do was curl up in bed with Ivana and forget the rest of the world existed.
“We must head down to the lower levels before sunrise.” Leo straightened as he took Ivana’s hand.
“We can still search the Great Hall, the crypt, and the dungeons,” Ivana informed them.
“Regardless of what we do or do not discover, know that fate binds us all together.” Leo thought it best to be realistic. “Sometimes failure reaps unexpected rewards.”
Elliot narrowed his gaze as a smirk played on his lips. “When did you become a man of great sentiment?”
Leo shrugged. “As you know, love has a way of rousing emotion even in the most cold-hearted rakes.”
They spent an hour scouring the Great Hall: tapping on wooden panels, peering behind paintings in search of hidden doors. Once Leo was satisfied there were no other places to look, they moved to the crypt.
The underground chamber consisted of a series of aisles divided by limestone pillars, each one flaring up to the vaulted ceiling. The stone’s golden hue illuminated what would have ordinarily been a dark room. Leo noticed the arched rece
ss to his left, admired the highly-colourful painting of a celestial scene decorating the stonework. As he stepped into the centre of the room, he saw that each wall had a similar recess, all embellished in the same artistic way.
“My, it’s so cold down here.” Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest and shivered visibly.