All Souls' Night - Renee Rose Page 0,194

brother. It should be her choice what happens to him, if she cares to decide.

I don’t know how she feels about him. Maybe she doesn’t even know. Time will only tell. And now she has a lot of it.

Clearly, she doesn’t want to think about him right now. “I want these clothes off. But I’ll save the brooch.” She gestures at her garments, stiff with dried blood and dirt. “I never want to see these again.”

“I understand. We’ll get new things.” I take her into my arms again. “Temi, life is going to be very different for you now. I’m here to help.”

“There was a moment.” She hesitates. “I was walking on this gorgeous curving path, and it was misty. I heard your voice. And I knew that I had the choice to go back to you, or to keep going on the path. And it was a nice path, Locke.” Her voice gets dreamy. “I couldn’t see where it led, but it gave me a good warm feeling.”

I’m quiet, listening.

She continues. “And my whole body wanted to go see what was around that corner. It was going to be amazing. But your voice came again. And I could see that life with you was going to be very strange and different. Like Abuela said. But then I decided—I was going to turn around. I wanted to see your eyes again.” She reaches up and touches my face. “Your face. And so I turned around, and then everything went insane. I was mad, Locke. I was an animal. And now I’m me again. I guess.” She purses her lips.

“The parts of you that matter are the same.” I grab her hand. “Your essence is still you.” My voice is fierce, as if I want to convince us both.

“I have another chance on this world.” She sounds surprised and pleased. “I came back. We can be together now.”

“For as long as we want.” I pull her close. “Forever.”

This is my dream come true. I wanted her with a fierce drive I couldn’t even admit to myself. I was afraid to commit to my feelings because she was human. Now that she’s a vampire, I can have her. We can be together, honestly and fully.

The future just became something I look forward to, not something to dread. With Temi, everything will be good.

“Forever sounds like a good start.” She leans into my body. And for a few more minutes, we sit there, just existing together.

Chapter 16

“Abuela? We’re here!”

I hover at the doorway, holding a bottle of her favorite hot sauce and some home-made macaroni salad, the kind she loves, with Best Food mayo, chunks of olive and cucumber, and the little curly noodles.

Beside me, Locke is watchful, alert, his eyes on me and the surroundings at all times.

“You don’t need to worry,” I whisper. “I’m not going to do anything crazy.”

He gives me a look. “Let’s hope so.”

Even with Theo’s blood to help me through the transition, I had a few iffy moments early on. There was the time I didn’t have blood soon enough to satisfy me, and I tore a hole in Locke’s house. Oh, and there was that other episode where I crushed his Porsche with my bare hands, at least the front end, because I was hangry.

But with his help, and the extra blood, I’ve been able to quiet those impulses when they come. And with Locke’s guidance, I’ve been able to embrace my inner vampire and enjoy being a creature of the night.

Abuela comes bustling over, her face beaming. “Come in, Temi. Antonio.” She throws open the door and I inhale the aroma of home—her cooking, her perfume, the scents of the house itself.

I throw my arms around her. “I missed you.”

“Sweet girl, mija, I missed you too. But you’re here now.”

We hug for a long time.

Locke took me to see her at the ER that first night, but only for a few minutes—I was still in the process of turning, and I was unstable. But at that time, Abuela whispered to me in Spanish that it was okay, to take my time, she’d be here. And I could see in her eyes that she understood.

And now I’m ready. I waited extra long, even as I did other things, to be sure that I was really Temi when I saw her again. I didn’t want to cause her pain by acting in ways that were strange or terrifying, even for a split second.

Seeing her and holding her