An End of Night (A Shade of Vampire #16)(25)

“Of course, your Grace,” I said, bowing my head slightly. “We will be here waiting for your return.”

It felt like a heavy weight lifting off my shoulders as she disappeared from sight… to whatever destination it was she had in mind.

Chapter 18: Lilith

I stood at the edge of the pool that had served as my resting place for centuries. I removed my shoes and placed them on the floor. Then I dipped into the liquid for the second-to-last time. Submerging myself, I pushed myself deeper and deeper, passing along my portal. When my head surfaced above the fluid, I wiped the thick substance from my eyes and looked around the familiar room. It was almost identical to the one I had just exited from, but this chamber… it was sacred to me. Only two people had ever set foot inside. It had been that way for centuries, and it would remain that way forevermore after tonight.

I lifted myself out of the pool. The chamber was bare and empty but for a raised platform in the center upon which stood a bed lined with pure white linen. Curtains hung around it—closed, as I always left them when leaving this place.

Climbing out from the grime, I cast a charm to clean myself and changed into new clothes. A white gown that matched the bed linen.

My heart raced, as it did every time I approached this bed. I fingered the curtains nervously, as if doing this for the first time, and then pushed them aside all at once.

Even now an ache stirred within me on seeing the vampire lying there, eyes closed, breathing gently. He was in the same state now as he had been when I first took him in.

I moved closer, brushing my hand against his cool cheek. A part of me still felt guilt over keeping him here with me. When Rhys had come to me all those years ago, asking for permission to hunt down Magnus, I had refused to give it. But I had suspected at the time that Rhys would disobey me. I had been correct.

Once I’d discovered where Rhys had hidden Magnus, I had intended to wake and release the vampire immediately. I hadn’t planned to bring Magnus back to my sanctum. But on seeing him for the first time in so long, the thought of letting him go had been too much to bear, the idea of his presence so close to me too tempting. The pleasure I’d begun to derive from his company—albeit silent—had far outweighed the guilt I felt. So I’d kept him with me.

Of course, it wouldn’t be forever. I’d known that when I’d first laid him to rest down here and that had also made the guilt less crushing.

This would just be like one long dream in his immortal existence. A blip in time. And when the right moment arrived, he would wake up and continue the life he’d had before. Perhaps with a new lover.

I glanced back down at the black pool in disgust. Long thin handprints—from my wasted body—stained the edges of the pool as well as the ledge just beneath Magnus’ bed, from when I would prop myself up out of the liquid to watch him sleep.

There was no place for such darkness in here now. Not on our last night.

With a wave of my hand, I cleaned away any signs of grime from the floors and then transformed the black liquid in the pool into crystal-clear water. Discontented with the bare walls, I manifested hanging pots filled with luscious flowers and sweeping vines, and arranged them all around the room. I fixed softer lighting to the ceiling so that a haze of light emanated down, giving the illusion of early-morning sun trickling through nonexistent windows. Then I lined the floors with silk carpets and placed four pots of burning frankincense around the bed.

Once I was satisfied that the room was in a fit state for Magnus to wake up in, I approached the bed again and walked around it, stopping directly behind his head. I flattened my palms against his forehead, brushing back his dark hair and placing a kiss on his skin.

I moved my lips down the bridge of his nose, then reached his lips. My whole body shivered as I relished the feel of them. It was the first time that I had kissed him since the night I’d told him I could no longer be his. Although many things about my past blurred in my memory now, I would never forget that final meeting. The expression on his face, his anguish, and my helplessness to do anything about it still remained etched in my mind.

I kissed him harder.

I hadn’t had any choice then.

But tonight… Tonight would be different.

It would be my last night with Magnus, but in many ways also my first. The first night of my existence when I would not feel guilt for loving him. Because after the ritual, I would be no more anyway.

I placed my hands on his broad shoulders and ran them beneath his pale cotton shirt. The feel of his chest beneath my fingers made my body ache for him.

It’s time to wake up, my love.

Finally, it’s time to wake.

I dipped down again to kiss his lips and this time, I brought him to consciousness. His eyelids quivered, then shot wide open. My heart pounded as I stared down at him, deep into his blue eyes that I had not beheld for centuries. They had the same effect on me now as they’d had the first day I’d met him.

“Lilith?” He stared at me in shock.

My name coming from his lips was nectar to my ears.

“Yes,” I breathed. “It’s me.”

“Where am I?” he whispered.

“In a dream.”

Gripping his head, he sat up in bed. I walked around to the foot of the mattress, content with just watching him.

“A dream,” he muttered, still gazing at me as though he expected me to vanish at any moment. “This doesn’t feel like a dream.”