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“Aurelia. Aurelia, wake up.”
His voice was not heard. Upon placing his hand against the cool skin of her forehead, he could feel the last remnants of the enchantment. It would break soon on its own, but he needed her now. His fingers arced. Fighting against exhaustion, a sensation abandoned so long ago in the past that its return felt overwhelming, power flowed. A mist of dark shadow rolled off his fingertips. Her body floated down.
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“Of course it is me,” he scoffed as he rounded the corner where she hid, “The fact that you could not tell leaves me quite unamused.”
“Stab your fangs through your tongue and be silent. I cannot help that we have been asleep for far too long,” she retorted harshly before sending a wary glance down the unfamiliar road, “Although I wish a hopeless wish that you will tell me we have not.”
“We have been asleep for a thousand years at least, perhaps more,” he admitted while pulling her close, “I cannot believe Marlow meant for his enchantment to be so potent, but…he was desperate when he cast it.”
“I…I do not remember what happened- why we were sleeping.”
He paused to suppress irritation. It could not be helped. Only being one of them for a few centuries before their slumber, her weaker powers meant there would be gaps to fill.
“The Hunters had nearly exterminated us all,” he growled bitterly, “They destroyed our Fruit. The last remaining covens were in shambles.”
“Yes, I do know that much.” she huffed, rolling her eyes.
“Marlow, somehow favoring our continued existence over his own when the Hunters drew near, forced us into that enchanted slumber and sealed us behind that magicked door he knew only I would know how to open,” he pressed on, ignoring her, “And now here we are. Emerging from a dank hole to find the lands our coven kept for thousands of years tainted by settlements of humans evolved past the kind we once knew. A cemetery rests where our mansion once stood, although I suppose that is fitting in some manner.”
“And Marlow? What of him?”
“Gone. Just like all the others. I can feel it. We are the only two left of our coven. We might be the only two left of our kind.”
“If that’s so, then you are the Elder.”
“Of what? It is you and me alone in this foreign world,” he snapped, “And what are we? Not of pure blood, that’s for sure. We used to be humans. Marlow was powerful enough to make me truly immortal, but I do not have the power to grant the same to you. Death will find you one day. It is a mystery as to whether an heir will carry my gift or your curse.”
“No matter what, it is a start. Marlow chose you as his heir for a reason. He married us for a reason. He protected us and granted us a position here for a reason. You might not have the power to grant immortality yet, but you will. When you do, it will not matter that our people were reborn from those who used to be human. We will be as strong as we were before. We will take back our lands from these humans who rule it, and we will rule them.”
He burrowed his lips against hers to silence her. He hated her obstinate reassurance as much as he craved it. The mere touch of her skin on his sparked in him renewed strength, but she pulled away too soon.
“Eldon, I am hungry.”
“You are starving.” he corrected, feeling the lack of muscle and delightfully curving plumpness in just the right spots that used to be, “You are thin.”
“You are not.” she noted indignantly.
“I am stronger, my love. Such a sleep does not drain me like it does you,” he smiled a tilted grin, “Do not worry. I will find you sustenance.”
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