Davina (Davy Harwood #3)(86)

I was a vampire.

Lucas told me when he killed me, the thread jumped out of me. It hadn’t been in enough time for Lucan’s spell to do whatever it had intended to do. It went straight to the nearest thread-holder, Lily. Talia’s little girl was the newest and according to a prophecy that I never knew about, she was the last thread-holder. Tracey explained that Lily would always be the thread-holder. She doubted anyone would try to separate the thread again, not after word spread far and wide how powerful The Immortal had been.

I felt horrible. I felt Talia’s second death. I felt all of my sisters’ second deaths, but in the moment I hadn’t realized what the impending doom was that I was feeling. I had been selfish. I had been so happy to be in Lucas’s arms again, for real, but Tracey reassured me that Lily isn’t a normal thread-holder. Apparently she was still able to see her other sisters, Talia too. Because she grew up among the Mori, who had their own magic, her body wasn’t normal. I was thankful to hear the sisters still lived on another plane, but I wouldn’t see Saren again or hear her annoying voice in my head.

It was done. All of it. Even Lucan.

When she became the thread, Lily saw Jiyama’s death. She told the Mori leader that Lucan killed her and where he had deposited the body. Any assistance Lucan got from the Mori was done. Apparently, there had been suspicion, but there was proof now. One of their own saw it. Lucan was hauled into their prison while Lucas and the rest of us were treated as guests. Tracey laughed. The Mori were never going to harm any of us, but they were following what Lucan had promised—that they still needed to complete what they had originally set to do, which is to destroy the thread. They weren’t aware of Lucan’s secret plan of putting the thread into himself. They were ashamed once they found out the truth. Kates was set free, as well. It was realized that Lucan forced her to turn on us. When the others discovered the torture she endured from Lucan, she was welcomed back, but I knew it would be a long time till she was trusted.

I was in bed waiting for Lucas to come back. He went to see his brother, one last time, and we were leaving for home the next day. Lucan was going to be executed at the same time, but Lucas didn’t want to stay for it. He knew it would happen. That was good enough for him. All the killing had been too much. He had kissed me and told me, “I just want to get home. I want to get you home. Finally.”

Home.

I never thought I would be going home again. That night, the first night that I woke as a vampire, Lucas made love to me. I cried the whole time because I never thought I would be in his arms again. I never thought I would have a second chance at life.

The opening to our tent lifted, and Roane slipped inside. I sat up and smiled. “Goddess.” I shook my head. “I will never get used to seeing you. I’ll never take it for granted. I will never,” I paused as he came over, a grin teasing the corners of his lips and I laid back. He started to fall on top of me, but switched to rest beside me. One of his elbows propped him up and his eyes traced all over me, from my eyes, forehead, cheeks, and to my lips. He lingered there. “I will never take it for granted myself.” He leaned down and touched his lips to mine.

I sighed, happily. It was like coming home. I caught the side of his face and whispered, “Have I told you how much I love you?”

He nodded, moving his lips over mine. “Say it again. I like hearing it.”

“I love you.”

His eyes darkened, and he shifted so he was lying on top of me. “And again.” His mouth dipped to my throat.

An ache was forming between my legs. I knew he would soon be there, filling me, making me feel whole again, and I sighed as his lips moved up my jawline to find my mouth again. “I love you.”

“And again.” He kissed me. Long. Lingering. And so damn lovingly.

“I love you.” I would never stop telling him, just like he had done the same to me the night before.

After he was inside of me, after we were moving together, after we reminded each other that we could still touch one another, he lifted his head and gazed down. “You mentioned last night that you wanted a new name?”

I laughed, arching my back and pressing against him. “Is now the right time for this?”

He smiled down at me. “I want to know what name to call you when I make you scream tonight.”

“Oh my God.” I laughed, but then sobered up. “Davina.”

“Davina?”

I nodded. It was my full name, one that I hated, but I was different. I was changed. I was no longer the happy and giddy college girl, only hoping to deal with being empathic. I would find that girl again, but it would be a while. It might be a long while, but it felt right. My hands splayed out over the side of his face. I looked up into his depths as he gazed down to mine. I murmured, “It’s a new life for me. I’m no longer Davy. She died when The Immortal took hold of me, but I can still be Davina. That’s my name.”