My Vampire and I Vol 3: Blood Resurrection by J. P. Bowie Page B

forever?”
“Forever? Nothing is forever, Darius.” I stepped back from his embrace. “You think that your love for me will last forever? What of all the others who have gone before me? Did you not swear to love them also, forever?”
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His face darkened again. “I am offering you what no other has been offered! Take care, Bernard, that my love for you does not evaporate and become hatred. I make a very bad enemy.”
     
“That I know. Marcus has told me—”
     
“Marcus…Marcus… Must I hear that name again from your lips?” He grabbed me by the arm and brought his face to mine, his eyes burning with power—
    power to make me his willing slave, to bend my mind to his will, and be forever his, until he tired of me and cast me aside like he had done with so many others. Exerting every ounce of strength I had in my mind and body, I fought him. He growled with anger as he felt my resistance. His eyes burned all the brighter, searing my brain with their intensity, making my mind collapse into uselessness. His vampire power, honed over hundreds of years, enhanced by the magic the Wizards had given him, was too much for me overcome. I fell into his arms, an unresisting vessel with which he could do anything he wished.
    “Now, Bernard,” he whispered against my ear. “Now you will be mine.” I don’t know where my ability to thwart him came from. Later, I would ask Marcus if he had somehow known of my plight and had entered my mind, giving me the strength to defy and challenge the spell Darius had cast over me. Marcus, of course, denied it, telling me it was all my own doing—but suddenly from deep inside myself I felt a power surge through my blood.
    “No!” I roared, breaking free of his embrace and his thrall. “I will not join your band of renegades, Darius. My allegiance, and my love, will always be with Marcus!” Darius stared at me hard and long, his face first a mask of disbelief then one of intense contempt. “So be it,” he snapped. “You have chosen, and I will not ask again.” For a moment, I thought he intended to summon his magic to kill me in the most painful way possible. I knew he could, and I would be powerless to prevent it. He knew it too, for I saw his eyes flicker with the intent, then he turned from me with a dismissive wave of his hand.
    “Go to your beloved friend then,” he rasped at me. “But know this, Bernard. I will never forget nor forgive what you have done here today. Should our paths ever cross again, I will not be so magnanimous. And when you do see Marcus again, tell him what you have cost him—a truce, perhaps a peace, with the Dark Forces. Tell him that, and see how he Blood Resurrection
regards you then!” And with that, as if to prove his powers were greater than any of ours, he disappeared from my sight in the blinking of an eye.
    I stood immobile for several minutes, my mind in chaos. Had I, by rejecting his offer, ruined any chance of peace between Marcus and Darius? Could I have changed the course of our vampire history? Only time will tell, I thought, calming myself then, came the thoughts I longed to hear in my head, strong and clear.
    Marcus.
Yes, Bernard. I was privy to your encounter with Darius. You chose wisely, my friend.
Forgive me, Marcus.
    There is nothing to forgive. You must not reproach yourself for any of this. Darius used his magic to bewitch you. Your own strength sawyou through, and you must knowthat he would never have kept his part of the bargain. A truce with me? He would never countenance it. He was lying, and you sawthrough his pretence.
    Where are you Marcus? I need you near me, now.
I am at our home in Toulon. Meet me there.
At once…
It never ceased to give my heart a small tug when he referred to his chateau as our home. It was just one of the reasons for which I loved him so much. For which, I still love him.
     
I have to admit to a momentary twinge of regret at the news of Darius’ death