Immortal Betrayed

the sequel to breath of the immortal

epilogue

Patia was taking a quiet stroll on the beach when she came upon a bottle floating close to the shore. Braving the cold, she dipped her feet in and picked it up. Inside was a small piece of paper that she quickly retrieved after uncorking the bottle. Reading the letter on the paper soon brought her to tears. She dropped the paper and the bottle in the sand and ran back to the hut where she found Lel whittling away on a piece of wood.

"Lel!" she shouted, out of breath and elated.

"Calm down and breathe, you'll hurt yourself! What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Nothing's wrong. Everything is perfect! My sister is alive!" she exclaimed, almost jumping into his arms.

"How do you know?"

"There was a letter in a bottle that floated close to shore!"

"A letter in a bottle?" he looked at her suspiciously.

"Yes! It was from Garridan!"

"Now I know you've gone crazy!" he mused, smiling at her.

"No, he said that he hoped this letter would find me and that he had news of my sister!"

"Do you have the letter?"

"Well, no, I dropped it in the sand when I ran back here," she pouted.

"Go back and get it and bring it here. I want to read it for myself."

Patia raced out of the hut and back down towards the same spot she thought she dropped the bottle and the letter. Unfortunately, there was no paper and no bottle. She thought she spotted something floating in the water, but it was too far away to make out or even get to without swimming, and her heart sank. She should have held onto the paper but the excitement of hearing about her sister caused her to drop it and now the tides had taken the evidence away.

Lel had followed her down the beach and finally had caught up with her. Wrapping his arms around her, he tried to comfort her, knowing full well she truly believed her sister was still alive. It had been one year since they had landed in this new place and although they frequently woke up with nightmares haunting their sleep, they both had lived a very secluded life with the rest of the clan. There were no more attacks from any unearthly creatures, no more bouts with the eternally dead, and certainly no more escapes from the wrath of Mother Nature herself. Lel never told Patia of the book, nor the spells that kept them both alive. He wanted nothing but the most normal life for both of them, since their life before had been anything but normal.

"I swear it was here!" she sobbed into the wind.

"I know sweetie, I know," he soothed, holding her tighter.

* * * * *

"Did you check on her before you laid down?" Didier asked, concern on his face.

"She's fast asleep. Stop worrying, she'll be ok," Tiana mused, smiling into the candlelight.

It had been a year since she had her talk with Garridan on the boat and secretly left the spot where they were setting up camp. No one knew where she had gone and it took longer than she had expected for anyone to come looking for her. But in the end Didier found her, using his unusual sense to come upon her in the woods. As angry with her for leaving as he was, she was just as angry at him for pretending like she was dead to him. He had tried to make her come back with him but she argued that if she truly was dead to him, there would be no reason for her to come back.

In the end that child brought them together. She did not come back with him that day but stayed away for several weeks. Her new powers had given her the ability to catch her own food and the woods near the beach provided plenty of sustenance for her, with deer and rabbits being the main source. She wanted to make him miserable for pretending like she was dead, but instead, she found herself wanting more and more to be closer to him, the fear of being alone finally consuming her in the woods. Knowing his child still grew inside her made it more imperative that she be near to him and that in itself was a reason for her return.

When she had finally returned, he took great care in making sure that that child, a girl, was born healthy and safe. She had never seen that side of him and it was almost as if they had silently forgiven each other. He even went so far as to name her Camilla after her father, which to her was even more of an honor. But something in his eyes never sat well with her and even after a year had passed since their boat struck land, she still wondered about the other side of him. She never knew where he went to feed at night and she never knew whether there was another woman waiting for him. He always came back tired and satisfied, but she often wondered if that satisfaction came from feeding the hunger to survive, or feeding the hunger of lust.

"Are you sure she's ok?" he asked again, interrupting her thoughts and making her smile up at him.

"She's fine. Now come to bed," she demanded.

He sat on the bed and took off his shoes. She leaned her body up and placed her hands on his shoulders, gently kissing the back of his neck and ears. He turned around and kissed her on the lips, but made no effort to touch her at all. Noticing this, she pulled back and looked at him with some concern. When his eyes glared red instead of gray, she knew the reason why. Pulling her hair away from her neck, she exposed the small vein pulsing through the skin, and when he bit down on it hard, she only winced once. He only drank from her for a moment and then began to kiss her neck and shoulders, caressing her body with his hands. The wound on her neck healed over as her eyes glowed a light red as well, and together they fell into their own eternal rhythm.

THE END

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