A Vampire's Life Book 6

Chapter 14

For the rest of the afternoon Zane could hear Ariella as she played the piano. It was like his heart was being ripped out, with every note she played he could hear her sadness. As he raked the leaves, he realised that her offer might have been a form of affection. She had asked him to turn and he couldn't even give her a straight answer. Zane watched as the keeper passed through the court yard, not stopping to look at him or berate him. Man on a mission he thought. His attention returned to the woman playing the piano, so sad in her thoughts that it resonated clearly. He thought of what sort of future they might have if he refused to turn, he might not be a slave once they were officially together, she would stay the same for an eternity and he would grow old, eventually dying. Then there was the alternative, turn, become a vampire and stay like this forever, become the thing that his people despised. But this wasn't about them, it was about him and about her. It was like someone had turned a switch on in his mind. Zane found clarity and a singular goal for his life. Ariella. Nothing more, nothing less. All of the other issues in his life were washed away, forgotten in a moment.

'I'll do it.'

She stopped playing and looked at him, his hands on the window sill, watching her.

'You'll do what?'

'I'll turn, for you.'

'Really?'

She was a little stunned at his sudden turnaround.

'Yes. I have thought about it, it is what I want, a lifetime with you.'

Ariella felt something stir inside of her, she let the feelings of happiness flow through her before the reality sunk in. His past, there were so many gaps, he hadn't relinquished very much information at all. The people he's hiding, the council will want to know about that. And then there was the sinking feeling that she just couldn't let go of, the wall. He had said it was to protect his people but it worried Ariella that it was more than that. She hadn't heard of humans being able to survive without some form of assistance from either a vampire or a rogue. But all of those issues paled in comparison to the life that was growing within. She had conceived a child to a human. It wasn't discouraged nor frowned upon, no one cared. Her concern laid with the fact that the child would be half human. Would the child be as frail as a human or would he or she have the robust nature of the vampires? Would she spend the next eighteen years fretting for the child every time it took a step, worrying about the runny nose that could turn into something far more dangerous? Ariella had no clue about the human's immunity to diseases now that their dynamic had changed. Farm bred humans were resilient to a lot of the diseases but Zane wasn't farm bred. Ariella prayed that the child was as resilient as a vampire, that this life within her had taken on more of her vampire side than his human side. Otherwise it was going to be a very long eighteen years before she could turn her little love into a full vampire. She inwardly sighed, her life was nothing but one drama after another.

'I will need to speak with my father, turning has to be done in a particular way.' she got up from the piano. 'Continue with your duties, I will come for you when I have finished with him.'

He watched her as she walked out of the room, the dress dragged on the floor behind her, she was her usual self, seemingly cold towards him, lacking in emotions.

'What have I told you about the windows slave?'

Zane flinched as the deep voice boomed behind him, his body tensed waiting for the bite of the whip but it never came.

'No more keeper.' Ariella said.

He turned to see the keepers hand in the air ready to whip him and Ariella stopping him.