The Eternal Kiss: Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire

“Okay.” Becky sat down, cradling her hands around her own mug in a futile effort to warm them. “I love you, Nana. Just so you know.”

Nana smiled.

“I know, little dove. I still know everything. I just can’t quite remember it all. It happens when Healers reach the age of sixty. I should have told you all these things long ago, but after Helene and Patrick died—” Nana closed her eyes for a moment.

She shook her head then smiled at Becky.

“While Syd’s here I’m able to use his power to clear my mind, but he won’t be here long enough for me to tell you all I need to,” Nana said urgently. “I’m sorry for not telling you these things before. Syd’s right. I’ve likely done more harm than good trying to protect you from your birthright with ignorance. I should have expected the war to start again. But the peace went on so long. I forget that mortal time means so little to Ethereals. Fifteen years is ages to us, but a heartbeat to them. Anyway, yes—you’re a Healer. You were born with the gift to channel power to your own use, to share your life’s force with those who are in need, and to heal those who are thought to be immortal. ‘Immortal’ does not mean ‘invulnerable,’ little dove. Your friend was bitten, very nearly lethally, by a hellhound who no doubt attacked Syd’s clan. Vampires are a delicacy to hellhounds because they have no soul. It was only Syd’s bite, the bite of a vampire, that saved Ryan. I don’t agree with it, but it saved your friend’s life.”

Becky tried to process everything her Nana was saying. It was like talking to someone else, someone completely different to the grandmother she had grown up with. Nana was a vampire Healer?

“So,” Becky said slowly. “We’re a family of … vampire Healers?”

Nana laughed quietly and took a sip of her tea.

“More or less,” Nana said after a moment. “Sometimes more, sometimes less. It’s not just vampires. We help the hellhounds, too. Specters, shades, demons, werewolves—”

“Werewolves? Demons?” Becky interrupted, incredulous. “Nana, come on! All those things aren’t real!”

“No?” Nana raised her eyebrows just like her old self. “Go upstairs. You’ll find a couple of vampires up there.”

Becky couldn’t argue with that.

“We observe neutrality,” Nana went on. “We don’t take sides. We have the gift of healing those who cannot heal themselves—those who need power and the force of life that comes from a living soul like ours. Unfortunately, by using our life force in this way, it’s depleted quickly. It gets used up by the time we reach sixty. If we reach sixty. A lot of us don’t.”

“You keep saying ‘us,’” Becky pointed out. “Are there more of ‘us’ then? Or just you and me?”

“There are very, very few,” Nana replied. “A great number were killed in the last war by the very beings we try to heal. Here, in a place of Healing, the ground is neutral—wars and battles stop here. Had the hellhound who bit Ryan tonight been in need himself, he would have been treated and sheltered just the same, right at the side of the one he harmed with no further hostility between them. Once they leave here, however … that’s another matter. You are safe here, and your Healer’s mark grants you certain clemencies both inside and outside the boundary, but you, like the Immortals, are not invulnerable.”

“So … now what?” Becky shrugged. “You’re not better, and you’re not going to get better. The only reason you’re okay right now is because that vampire guy is here. And there’s someone from my school upstairs who’s turning into a vampire himself. Are more of these guys going to show up? What did Syd mean when he said the ‘entry was closed’?”

“The mirror up there serves … served… as an entryway,” Nana said. “It was sealed after the last truce was declared. To put it in terms you can understand—I went out of business, so to speak. It seems now, however, I need to reopen. But I’m too old. Too slow. I can’t remember much. Sydney is a powerful Master vampire, the leader of a vampire clan, and he’s the only reason I’m able to manage at the moment. When he leaves … you’ll be … burdened with me again. An old woman who has lost her mind. I’m so sorry, Becky. You shouldn’t be wasting your youth like this. Maybe you should look into a home for me.”

“This is your home!” Becky protested. She went around the table to hug her Nana tightly. “You’re not going anywhere! You’re not a burden! You wouldn’t let them put me into a foster home, and I’m not going to let them do it to you either! If anything, I’ll chain Syd to the wall and he can just sit up there forever so you can be okay again!”

Nana gave Becky a squeeze.

“You know that can’t happen. Syd has responsibilities just like we do, and if you really want to look after me, Becky …”

“Yes, go on,” Becky prompted when Nana fell silent.

“I never wanted you to know,” Nana said again. “But I wouldn’t let them take you away, so I guess that means you’re going to be involved whether I want it or not. If you really want to look after me, Becky, you’re going to have to look after those I once did. If the war has started up again, and it looks like it has, Sydney and Ryan are just the first of those who will need our … your help.”

Becky’s eyes widened.

“My help?” she swallowed. “But … I’m not trained, you said. And you said once Syd leaves …”

“We’ll ask him to stay a bit, both he and Ryan, but not too long,” Nana said gently. “I drain too much energy now and can’t focus on my work. I’m not going to be much help. I can teach you—train you—if Syd is willing to help, but you’re going to have to learn mostly by yourself. It’s easy once you get the hang of it. I have books with my notes and things. All my herbs and special equipment. It will be a lot of work, and you’ll have to learn fast. But this is in your blood, and it is what you were born to do. I’m sorry I kept you from it for so long. I should have been teaching you since you were old enough to understand.”

“Is this why I always wanted to be a doctor?” Becky grinned.

Nana smirked.

“Very probably so,” she answered. “Now, let’s go check on Ryan. He should be over the worst by now.”

Becky nodded and rose to follow Nana upstairs.

The boy on the bed laid still and quiet. Syd still knelt by his side.

“He’s shed his mortal coil,” said Sydney.

Becky’s heart broke at the grief and anguish in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” she heard her Nana say softly. “Even if the entry had been unsealed—”

“I know,” Syd interrupted. “And I offer my apologies. But he’s like my brother, Martha. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“But it is. Now we must both accept and endure, not lament what should have been,” Martha replied in that same wise tone Becky had never heard her use before that night. “I need you to remove the seal. I don’t know if you’ve realized, but I’m not fit for much anymore.”

Sydney didn’t acknowledge her comment, but gestured a hand at the mirror. It glinted seven times in the candlelight then returned to normal.

“He’s going to need …” Sydney began, then trailed off, shaking his head. He looked helplessly up at Martha.

“I can’t,” Nana said quietly. “I’m not enough. I don’t have enough to sustain us both.”

Sydney nodded and looked back at the still form on the bed.

“But she does.”

Both Becky and Syd looked up at Nana’s words.

“I … do what?” Becky asked. She didn’t like the way they were looking at her.

“Oh please, Martha. For this kind of healing, it has to be her choice. She’s not even trained.” Sydney curled his lip. “You know that.”

“We can help her. If she’s willing. Becky … remember what we talked about downstairs? Well, now’s the time. If you want to help your friend and help me do what needs to be done, that is.”

“What needs to be done?” asked Becky, warily.

“You’ll have to feed Ryan”

“Oh, is that all?” Becky was relieved. “Okay. We have some leftover spaghetti …”

“Not feed him, you stupid girl,” Sydney snapped. “You