I wake up stiff, with a very sore neck and a very dry mouth. I lick my lips with my sandpaper tongue and reach up to feel for any wounds.
Firstly, I am not dead. That is a good sign.
Secondly, V.A. did a grand job of keeping my baby safe. She just kicked me, and it makes me smile. I wish CK was here to see it. I feel the vibration of her power and if anything, she is even stronger now. I get a sense of her true identity and it surprises me, but in a good way.
Thirdly, the bite wounds have healed completely. That must mean that it worked.
I sit up to see Remiel watching me evaluate myself and he smiles at me. A slow, beautiful, loving smile that makes me leap off the bed with my brand-new fangs extended. I want to feed from him, and it makes him slightly nervous. I can see it in his eyes.
“You have never let anyone feed from you,” I state.
“Never had the opportunity, remember?” he answers me quietly.
“Do you want me to feed from you?” I ask, knowing how it sounds, but not caring, since I am so elated to have my Vampire back, and so ravenously hungry for blood.
“Do you want to feed from me?” he asks uncertainly.
“Yes,” I say, and he tilts his head to the side, and extends his hand for me to take.
“Then feed, my dear charge,” he says with a smile that I can’t quite place. I want to say it is evil, but it doesn’t fit in with his careful attitude.
“Thank you,” I say to him sincerely and settle myself, still naked, on his lap.
“No need to thank me if you keep your word and bring me Delinda to see,” he says, looking me dead in the eye. All of his uncertainty has gone, and it sends a shiver down my spine.
“I promise,” I say before I take his shoulders and then sink my fangs into his neck. He groans softly as I suckle, and I am in paradise. The first feed from your sire is the most satisfying experience and, while it makes most of me vastly uncomfortable, the rest of me enjoys it immensely. I have missed the sticky sweetness of blood on my tongue and it sliding warmly down my throat.
I pull back and close my eyes in bliss. I can feel myself as a complete whole again. While the ritual with CK held me together, it was like sticking a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. This is completely different.
Permanent.
Undeniable.
Fate.
“What do you intend to do now that you are back to yourself again?” Remiel asks me, interrupting my happiness.
“Defeat my enemies,” I say briskly, climbing off his lap and Astralling on a gown.
“Am I your enemy, Aefre?” he asks me.
“You are my sire,” I answer.
He smiles a satisfied smile and sits back in his chair. “You know you aren’t supposed to leave me for very long,” he says with a slight chuckle.
“I think I’ll cope,” I say, dismissing his tease. This isn’t any normal turning. I have no desire to be in his presence every waking moment, I don’t feel in awe of him, or wish to do his bidding to keep him happy with me, and I certainly do not wish to jump his bones, all things that I felt when CK first turned me. I am a thousand-and-two-year-old Dragon-slash-Faerie-slash-Demon who just got re-turned into a Vampire. I am probably more powerful now than I was before, and godammit if I don’t feel it simmering under the surface. I revel in it. Come at me now and you will regret it.
“Well, you will know how to find me if you need me,” he says, standing up.
And that is that.
“Thank you,” I say again. “You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
“You could always stay and show that appreciation,” he says. “I believe it would be even more pleasurable than before, if that’s possible.”
“Maybe next time,” I say. “By the way, how long was I out?” I don’t expect it to have been that long.
“A little over five hours,” he says.