Page 109 of Vampire's Choice
Ruth’s question brought Elisa to a full stop. She pivoted, came back around the island and took Ruth’s hands, pulling her onto a stool. Elisa faced her on the one next to it. Her blue eyes were somber, and she didn’t immediately reply. No instant reassurances. It put an ache in Ruth’s throat and dropped her stomach into her knees.
“He fears for you,” Elisa said. “Deeply. Because he knows the vampire world. You should be asking him this yourself. His answer would bring ease to you both. But disappointed?”
Elisa’s gaze brightened, bringing sunlight back to Ruth’s heart, something her mother had always been able to do. She’d said that when she was nine. We don’t need to see it. Mum gives us the sun, Adan.
“Never. You are him, Ruth, in so many ways. You carve your own path, no matter the obstacles.”
Ruth gripped her mother’s hands tighter. “I have to be sure. Are we talking about more than my…physical differences, with other vampires my age?”
Elisa’s gaze softened. “We’re talking about your desire to surrender to a Master worthy of the gift.”
Ruth instinctively looked around her. “It’s safe to say it here, just the two of us,” Elisa assured her. “I wish you lived in a world where you didn’t have to be that cautious. But maybe if it was handed to you, it wouldn’t have the same value. Earning that gift, the ability to be who you are, openly, is important.”
“So, even that, he’s…okay with it?” The age-old desire for a parent’s approval. Even when the “child” was over eighty years old.
“He fears what dangers that may bring to you. But when he looks at you and Adan, he knows you’re exactly as God intended you to be. He’s also glad he can’t get gray hair, because his ‘would look like rain-pregnant clouds all the time.’ Unquote.”
Elisa sat back and patted her knee. “So tell me about your angel incubus. Or incubus angel.”
“The proper order depends on the day,” Ruth admitted wryly. “He’s scary, Etsi. And wonderful. Wild like lashing rain and tornadoes and earthquakes that reshape the ground. He’s fought his own darkness and won, even though he still deals with the distrust of those around him.”
“Perhaps that’s why he’s met you. When you have someone who can reflect who you truly are by what they’re willing to give you, it can change your world—and the world’s view of you—in good ways.”
Ruth paused. “Is Da…in your head right now? Hearing this conversation?”
Elisa’s expression went soft. “Aye. I feel him when he’s there, even if he doesn’t say anything.”
“Having a third mark, it helps a lot of things, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does. If it’s the right third mark.”
“They think I should mark him.”
Elisa’s brows rose to her hairline. “Do they think that it will take? And why do they want you to do that?”
“They don’t know. As to why…” Ruth explained the other side of her job, the more-than-a-security-detail things, with Clara, and the visit to Lady Kaela. When she was done, she was glad Mal was in Elisa’s head, so she wouldn’t have to explain that twice. She’d thought about skipping the attack by the two vampires, rationalizing that Adan might have already told them. Or would tell them. Then she realized it might help Merc’s case with her father, so added it in.
Elisa immediately rose and put her arms around her. Ruth told herself she didn’t need the reassurance, but the strength of her mother’s embrace was a balm to the part of Ruth still a little raw over the experience.
When she drew back, Elisa dropped her voice to a humorous stage whisper, since they both knew Mal could hear her. “Well played, adding pieces to Merc’s side of the board.”
“I guess I wanted to offer definitive proof of what Marcellus and the others think. That Merc can protect me in the vampire world. But if I decide to do the marking, it won’t be because of that. I’m not going to let fear make the decision for me.”
“I’d expect nothing less of you. What is worrying your head about it?”
“I don’t know what the shape of it will be. It won’t be a traditional relationship like yours and Da’s. He may not be with me all the time. He has other responsibilities. And we haven’t known one another for long. Lady Yvette says that really doesn’t matter, not when it comes to vampires and servants. When I look at you and Da, and other pairings, like Lady Lyssa and Jacob, or Cai and Rand, all the different ones we’ve met here who are…really close, most didn’t know one another for long. It was circumstances that pointed them toward the binding.”
“Yes.” Memories crowded in behind Elisa’s eyes, good and far more painful ones. Though mostly good.
“I guess if it turns out to be a mistake, he’d just go back to his life and me to mine. The vampire world has no hold on him. There aren’t any repercussions, like a human servant a vampire wants to cut loose. Or who wants to be cut loose.”
“Hmph.”
Ruth snorted. “You’re getting better at Da’s cryptic grunt. The one that has all the ‘I am Groot’ meanings.”
Her mother understood the Guardians of the Galaxy reference, because Elisa liked movies and music. Though he would deny it, Ruth and Adan were sure that was why Mal had such a good generator for the house. He’d given Elisa her first record player in the 1950s. Over the years, he’d upgraded accordingly so she could enjoy each new decade of music—and then cinema.
Reliable wi-fi was a no-go on the island, thanks to all the magic in play, which suited Mal just fine. In his opinion, Cerberus had vomited cell phones straight up from the Underworld. Adan and Ruth had them; they just didn’t work well on the island, if at all.