Ten

Our days went on like this. Time passed.

Daire hunted and built Cedar’s room. Cedar and I practiced everything Daire taught us and I started to tend the house. 

“Lucrezia get up.” I rubbed sleep from my eyes. Daire was holding his hand out to me. I gladly took it. He lifted me to my feet. He opened the door and we walked together. A beautiful horse was connected to a small carriage. I had never seen both before. The horse was black with a white stripe down their back. The carriage was black metal. I spun around smiling. Daire’s eyebrow wiggled. I laughed. 

“What do you think, love? Shall we go to the city today?” He pulled me into him, his huge body enveloped mine. I looked up at him and we shared an intimate kiss. His mouth tasted like soft cinnamon. 

“Can we take a quick ride before we go?” He kissed me again. 

“Of course, love.” He held his hand out for me.

“My lady.” He said as I stepped on the carriage. I giggled. He ran around the carriage. His big warm body settled in beside me. The carriage moved slowly. I watched as he steered the carriage with precision. I was watching him. His jaw tightened then he looked over at me. He smiled 

“The other night when you felt that jolt. I want you to know that wasn’t me or my telepathy. I felt it as well. I think you are my Soul-Tie. Some call it mates. Others refer to it as destined or true love. That jolt you felt was the bond connecting. It’s weird because humans normally don’t have mates and they definitely don’t have mates that aren’t human. I need to do some research. I am going to go to the library. While I'm there you can shop. Buy some new clothes, things we need in the house, and whatever else we can carry on the carriage.”  I sat with the information. Soul-Tie. It was a foreign concept, but it did feel right. I had never felt this way before with anyone. He was safe. He meant everything he said.

“I want to know everything. I want to know what a Soul-Tie is.” I leaned into him and snaked my arms around his chest. I buried my face into his arm. Warm cinnamon flooded my nostrils. I revealed it every second. 

Cedar and I walked around Grimsfell. It was a beautiful city. It had cobblestone streets. Soft glowing lights twinkled along every building. All of the buildings were a wash of soft colors that complimented the winter landscape around us. Every shop we entered was softly lit with candles. The shops had a variety of clothing.

I had never chosen clothes for myself before. I had always worn my mother’s hand-me-downs. Even the dress I currently had on belonged to her. I entered a small pink shop with fluffy woven clothes in the display window. A plump woman stood behind the counter. I realized she was human right away. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Welcome to Bree’s Crochet. Let me know if you need anything.” I nodded my head in acknowledgement. She had all kinds of things from clothes to blankets. I browsed not really knowing what I should buy. Cedar ran over with a stuffed Wyvern toy. I smiled. 

“Can I get this Luc.” He shoved the thing in my face. I told him he could but he was supposed to be looking for clothes from himself. He made a face and then went off on the task. I shook my head. He was becoming more confident by the day and that made my heart ache. He was finally getting to be a child. 

I chose a few pieces of clothing, a beautiful tightly crocheted dress with little white flowers on it, a big warm sweater, and a two piece set with a flowy shirt and pants. Cedar found a single shirt. We took everything up to the counter. The nice woman started to ring everything up. 

“It’s nice to see a familiar here.” She said still casually ringing the clothes up.

“Same.” I didn’t feel like she was being unfriendly. So, I gave another smile. 

“That will be 6.50.” I looked down to count the money. “Are you a donor for a vampire here in the city?” The question caught me off guard. I stopped counting and looked up. Her smile didn’t falter but I felt unnerved. I shook my head and handed her the money. She gave me my change. I rushed out of the shop. To be honest I didn’t know the answer to the question. I had given Daire blood but did that make me his donor? I was unsure if a donor was only for blood or something more. I knew Daire and I were something more. I pondered the question as we shopped. He had only drank my blood the one time. How many times did vampires need blood? Were these reasonable questions or were they lewd?

“Luc, I’m hungry.” Cedar tugged on the skirt of my dress. I looked down at his cute face. 

“Okay, let’s go find something.” We wondered until we found an adorable coffee shop. We could sit outside and that was just fine with me.  We ordered fun cakes and pretty drinks. Cedar was chatting about his archery when suddenly he went completely quiet. I looked up from the drink I was swirling in the cup. He was staring through me.

I looked behind me and there stood Cadogen. 

My heart started to race. Had he followed us. Why was he here? I stood up quickly. 

“Cedar, You stay here and wait for Daire okay.” He didn’t answer me but he did shake his head.

Slowly I made my way up to Cadogen. He patiently waited for me. 

Before I could speak he put his hand up.

“I’m sorry for the way Esmeray treated you. She is a conduit and sometimes she is jumped by energy and spirits. I understand how scary that must have been. I know the answers you and Daire seek. The gala was pushed back. So, If you truly want to know I could tell you for a bargain of course.” His blue eyes were tinged in red. He hadn’t fed recently. How…? He had followed me. How long has he known where I was? He smiled a knowing smile. 

I gulped.