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Charlie’s b*dy ached as she slowly came to. Her first thought was that Millard had given her something. Was he moving her? Then her memories started flooding back. She had escaped. Vidar had come for her. The thought made her open her eyes. The daylight stung, but not as bad as it had done on the plane. Something was different, but Charlie could only focus on finding Vidar. It only took her a second. He was sitting on the edge of the bed she was laying in, holding her hand and watching her. As their eyes met, he smiled and caressed her cheek.
“Hello there. You gave me quite a scare, lilla lo,” he said.
“What happened?” she asked. Her throat felt dry and scratchy. Vidar took something from at table and held a glass of water with a straw to her lips. She sipped on the water.
“What is the last thing you remember?” he asked.
“You coming towards me, catching me, pain,” she told him. His smile dimmed a little, but it was only for a moment.
“You changed, transformed,” he explained. Charlie looked at him for a moment. Her brain felt. empty, like it had stopped computing.
“I–I’m not human anymore?” she asked.
“No, my love. You are all vampire now,” he told Her. Charlie waited for the shock and the regret to wash over her. But they never did. She remembered how certain she had been that she never wanted to leave Vidar again, that she always wanted to be by his side. That hadn’t changed. When Vidar and the others had talked about how sure she had to be in order to change. That she needed to feel it with every fibre of her being. She hadn’t understood, now she did. She smiled up at him.
“I don’t have a craving for raw meat,” she told him. He looked surprised, and then he chuckled.
“I’m happy to hear it. No need to kill?” he asked, amused.
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“Just one person,” she told him honestly.
“Well, I would say that is perfectly normal,” Caine said, as he stepped out from the shadows. Charlie smiled
at him.
“We will deal with Millard when you have recovered,” Vidar told her, and k*ssed her hand.
“So, what does this mean?” Charlie asked.
“It means I will get the immense pleasure of spending the rest of a very long life with you. You’ll need to take supplements in the form of small capsules, one a day. It means we need to teach you to control your new abilities and think of a game plan for how you want to handle your family,” Vidar told her. She loved him for being honest and not sugar coating things.
“I have new abilities?” she asked.
“You do. What time of day would you say it is?” he asked. The bright sunlight was seeping in from cracks in the drawn curtains.
“Somewhere between three and five in the afternoon?” she asked.
“It’s almost midnight,” Caine said. Charlie stared at him.
“Is it the midsummer sun?” she asked. Vidar smiled at her.
“We aren’t far enough north for that, and it’s a little late in the year.” Vidar looked confident and calm. Caine had gone up to the window and drew apart the curtains. It was bright as day, but she could see the waning moon and the stars in the sky.
“Well, would you look at that,” she said. She heard soft footsteps outside the closed door to the room. They felt familiar. There was a soft knock on the door.
“Enter,” Vidar called without hesitation. It meant he knew who was knocking, and they didn’t pose a threat. Charlie knew Vidar would be even more vigilant for her after what had happened to her. She didn’t mind. Not for now. The door opened and Jun walked in with a tray of food. When he met her eyes, he smiled. It took Charlie off guard. She had never seen him smile like that before.
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“Charlie, you are awake. Thank the forefathers,” he said, putting the tray on the small table.
“Jun, it’s nice to see you too,” she told him. His smile turned serious, and he walked to the side of the bed where Vidar wasn’t siting and he got down on one knee and bowed his head. “Jun?” Charlie asked.
“Maiden, it pains me to admit that I brought a traitor into your closest circle. It was a person I trusted, but I should have known better than to blindly let her close to you. I hand myself over to your will. I will accept the punishment you see fit,” he told her. Charlie was stunned. She was assuming this was regarding Min. She remembered her telling Loyd how to get. Charlie out of the car and she remembered Vidar telling her she had shot Caine. That is what truly made her angry.
“What has happened to Min?” she asked Vidar and wished she could speak with him in private.
“We dealt with her,” he told her. He then leaned in close to her to whisper in her ear. “I sent her to Jun’s wife. It was the worst punishment I could think of,” he let her know. Charlie. almost smiled.
“Jun, please stand,” she asked, and he did. “The betrayal was just as much toward you and the clan as it was to me. I don’t blame you for Min’s actions. I suspect you are the one with the deepest wound from them. But if you wish for a punishment, I shall give you one. I expect you to call your wife within twenty–four hours and I want you to apologise to her and, if she is willing, have a conversation with her,” Charlie told him. Jun’s eyes, which had been trained on the floor, shot up and met hers. He looked at her for a moment as if he had a hard time processing what she had told him.
“Yes, Charlie. I will do so. If you excuse me,” he finally said. Charlie nodded, and he left the room. Maybe to try to find the courage to do as she had asked. Vidar glanced at Caine and they both chuckled.
“Remind me to never end up needing to ask for a punishment from you, Charlie. You are a strict mistress,” Caine said. Vidar continued to chuckle and placed a k*ss on her hand.
“How about you try to sit up and have some food?” Vidar suggested.
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“I like the idea. I feel much better,” she told him.
“I will go and prepare… things,” Caine said. He nodded towards Charlie and then he stepped out of the room. Charlie was about to ask Vidar what Caine needed to prepare, but changed her mind. She had a vague idea, and she didn’t need to know any more. Vidar helped her to sit up in bed and then brought the tray Jun had put on the table. There were cheeses, fruit and cured meet as well as strange looking fish.
“It’s pickled,” Vidar told her as he saw her eying it. “Think of it like sushi with a tang,” he added. She shrugged. Charlie liked sushi, so she guessed she could at least taste it. When she did, it was different, but not bad. As she munched, happy to eat something that didn’t come from a tin, she tried to collect her thoughts. They were zooming in all different kinds of directions.
“Do you want to ask questions, or do want me to try an explain things, or do you prefer to just set it aside for now and we deal with it tomorrow?” Vidar asked. Charlie smiled at him. Ever her protector.
“Nothing has changed between the two of us.” It wasn’t a question from her, but it had been one of her greatest fears and she was relieved their bond hadn’t broken.
“Nothing has changed,” he agreed. He picked up her hand and placed it in the middle of his chest. “You are still here, and it’s where you’ll always be,” he told her. Charlie felt herself smile even bigger. The only place I will ever need, she thought. She reached for some more cheese when she noticed Vidar was looking at her in an odd way.
“What?” she asked as she popped a cube of cheese in her mouth. Maybe it was her canned food diet of lately, but she could swear everything tasted more, like all the flavours had been enhanced.
“What did you just think?” he asked her.
“What I was thinking? Eh, there is a lot going on up there at the moment. Could you be more specific?” she asked.
“Did you just think the only place you needed to be was inside my heart?” he asked her, still holding her hand to his chest. It was Charlie’s time to freeze. How did he know that? She
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nodded.
‘I know because I could hear it.‘ It was Vidar’s voice, but it wasn’t spoken. It just appeared in her mind.
‘You can read my mind?” she asked without words.
‘I don’t think so, I don’t know what you are thinking exactly, but I can pick up
aimed at me,‘ his explanation rang true. It was the same with her.
‘Is it a mate thing? Or a vampire thing?” she asked.
‘No, I have never heard of this ability. I think it’s a Charlie thing. I think it’s your maiden gift,” he told her.
‘I like it. It will be much easier to gossip if no one can hear what we say,‘ she told him and he chuckled out loud. ‘Is it only you and 17‘ she then asked.
‘I don’t know, lilla lo. We will have to try to find out.‘ She nodded and continued eating.
“Time for you to get some sleep,” Vidar said as they had emptied the tray of food and water.
“Will you stay?” Charlie asked. She had never been scared to sleep on her own, there had been times where she had slept better knowing she was all alone in her apartment.
“I will not leave you, never again Charlie,” he told her. She smiled.
“You will need to go back to work one day. I will settle with having you with me until we get back home.” He shook his head as he helped her under the covers. She felt fully recovered and actually felt better than ever before. But she understood his need to fuss, so she let him. Vidar took off his shirt and pants and joined her in bed. When he drew her into his arms and Charlie found that perfect spot on his chest, she sighed. This was right. No matter what was going on around them, this was where she would always feel at home.
“Are you okay with me changing? I’m sorry I didn’t discuss it with you beforehand. It wasn’t a conscious decision,” she told him.
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“I love you no matter what choices you make. I have to say I love the idea of spending centuries by your side, maybe start a family at some point, if the gods are willing,” he told her and k*ssed her hair. She hummed. She liked the idea as well. Charlie thought she would have a hard time falling asleep. It hadn’t been long since she woke up. But with Vidar’s heart beat and his warmth, she found it easy to get lulled back to sleep.