My body lay rigid on the hard stone surface of the ledge below the window. The moonlight poured in through the small opening overhead, casting long shadows across the damp room. Slow drips of wax that fell along the last candle echoed through the room like a thousand waterfalls. The sound was deafening.

My eyes were closed but I could sense the movement of shadow across the room as the moon rose and set, night after night. An endless cycle that seemed to grow longer every day.

Echoes in the distance told me that the young girl was coming again, as she did every night, consistently, without fail. I lay there waiting, for what else could I do? I counted the footsteps as they grew louder until she finally stepped through the door with a fresh candle.

“Master, you must feed.” Her voice sounded forced, and I could feel her heartbeat pulsating in her chest. I could smell the coppery taste of her blood through her skin as it coursed through her body.

The muscles in my body clenched, and I forced my eyes open, painfully. The dim light from the moon nearly blinded me, and I shut them again.

“You know I cannot,” I said through clenched teeth. My voice was hoarse and raspy from two months of not consuming any liquid. I slowly opened my eyelids again and with every last ounce of energy, I turned my head towards the girl. “You must leave.”

The girl fell to her knees and bowed, tears streaming down her face. “Please, Master. You must feed. You can’t go on much longer in your state.”

The girl’s concern for my well-being was touching, but it meant nothing. She was but a mere human, having sworn herself to the coven as a concubine and blood donor. She was tied to my people through a strong force.

“Your concern is sweet,” I said through ragged breaths. “But you must leave now, beautiful girl. You’re not welcome here any longer.”

I heard the ruffle of her clothing as she moved to stand, but she collapsed again on the ground in a heap and sobbed even louder. “Please, Master. What will happen if you’re gone? What will happen to me? What will happen to your coven?”

I slowly turned my head back up to face the ceiling. My eyes followed the lines of the stone around me as I pondered the consequence of my end. “I know not.” I closed my eyes as exhaustion took me. I had been the head of this coven for over 200 years, and I hadn’t groomed anyone to take my place. I couldn’t think of one vampire that was fit enough to replace me, which made this whole situation that much more difficult.

The sobbing grew quieter as her tears dried, and I could sense her heart rate slowing. She slowly pushed herself up to a standing position and when I didn’t say anything further, she bowed and turned to leave.

I listened to the echo of her footsteps growing softer as she walked down the corridor, far away.

I thought about the humans that devoted themselves to us, and I thought about the vampires who I’d grown so close to these past few centuries. I didn’t know how much longer I had, nor what would happen to me. I’ve never known a vampire to go through what I was experiencing as the situation is unprecedented.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the sour scent of wolf consumed me. My teeth clenched, and an all-consuming anger coursed through my veins. I pushed the thought from my mind, and used every ounce of my remaining strength to not let the link take over my mind completely.

I could feel the heat of her body and smell the scent of her sweat. The hunger in me roiled, but the weakness quickly overtook it. It had been two months since I had blood, and my being slowly withered away in agony. It took all the strength I had at first not to feed, but I knew the effect it would have on her if I did. It was worth risking myself if it meant saving her.

My mind flared again as the link grew stronger, and I could feel the heat of their passion against my skin. I squeezed my eyes tighter as I willed myself to think of anything else. I ran my hands on the cold, damp stone surface of the ledge beneath me. I traced my fingers along the rough cut stone, and the crumbling mortar that held it together. I forced myself to breathe in the dampness of the room and listen to the slow dripping of the moisture as it fell down the stones from the window above. If I focused hard, I could even hear the hooting of an owl in the distance, and the faintest sound of a bird that flew by overhead.

I could hear her heartbeat and the sound of the birds suddenly disappeared. She moaned in pleasure and the taste of her lips was so sweet in my mind.

The pain I felt from their embrace was difficult to manage, but the knowledge that she was happy and satisfied was enough to get me through until the end. I forced myself to ignore the smell of the disgusting wolf, and focus solely on her sweet scent. I love the sound of her heartbeat consume me and the tastes of her lips filled my mind as I slowly wasted away.

I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t and I knew the end was near.

Had I known my fate would’ve ended so young, I would’ve done things differently. But it was all I could do to protect her. As hard as it was, it was worth it. As I felt my last of my life energy slowly fading away, I let the sound of her moans fill me and I took one last deep breath of her sweet scents of her body.

My eyes flew open suddenly in the hands grabbed into the duvet that I lay on. My breathing was heavy and I could feel my heartbeat loud in my chest. It took me a moment to orient myself, but I turned my head to the side and saw James’ beautiful body lying naked next to mine. This moon was bright in the night sky to the window, and I gazed out into the stars as the memory of my dream consumed me.

My body felt cold and clammy as though I was weak and starving. I ran my hands along my exposed skin and realized that those sensations didn’t belong to me. My body was warm and very much alive, and I breathed in the sweet smell of the pleasures of the night before. I let out a deep breath, and tried to focus on my own body.

My mind was silent for once.

But as I stared out the window at the moon, I realized just how strangely quiet my mind had gone. Even when it was most calm, I could sense Erik’s presence in my mind. That link that pulled me towards him and connected our minds. That link was weak and I couldn’t hear the chatter of his mind anymore. All I could feel was the strange sensation of weakness and cold, and the hunger subsided to something so barely reachable. The feeling of sadness consumed my own mind. As I stared out of the moon, I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to my link to Erik.

I turned to look at James as he lay beside me, his warm, comforting body rising and falling as he breathed deeply in his sleep. I ran my hand down his back and traced the lines of his muscles. I could smell the scent of our night together, a mixture of us, sweat vanilla, and something else. I ran my fingers through his hair as I watched him sleep, but I couldn’t help but think of the dream and what it meant.

My stomach growled and my craving for red meat flared again through my body, and I realized that my hunger hadn’t been because he was feeding, it was because he had been refraining from food for so long. My desperate need for red meat was really his starvation and lack of blood. If the dream was accurate then that meant he was starving himself because of me. Because he wanted to protect me.

I placed my hand against my stomach as it clenched into a knot of hunger. I couldn’t help but feel guilty for the angry thoughts toward him before. I thought about the passionate lovemaking James and I had made the night before, and even my escapades the week prior in the nightclub. Guilt coursed through me and I couldn’t help but feel like the most terrible person in the world. Erik had been dying in an effort to protect me, and I paid him back by forcing him to experience my sexual exploits with a species and his sworn enemy.

A tear streamed down my cheek as I thought back to my meeting with Erik, and everything started to make sense. I believed him now when he said he had no control over the link. I wasn’t the only one forced to be tied, for he was also tied to me. He refrained from feeding because of me. He was dying because of me.

Erik, are you there? I thought in my own mind. I rested my hand on James’ sleeping body, but it was Erik who consumed my thoughts now.

As I thought his name, a soft energy buzzed in my mind, and I felt that light, invisible string that connected the two of us and I gave it a mental tug.

A sudden deep sensation of torment and longing, desperation, and love coursed through me. I gasped as the overwhelming sensation took over my body, and I could feel Erik’s dying life energy flow through me.

My mind was consumed with guilt and I knew I had to do something. I had spent these past few months so angry and full of hate that I had let it consume my mind, so much that I hadn’t even considered the alternative. I had to do something and find a way to make it right. As much as I didn’t approve of his lifestyle as a vampire, what he had done to protect me had proven to me the kind of person that he was.

I moved to get out of the bed and go to him, to do everything in my power to make things right. To save him. But as I stood, I felt his life energy slowly slip away.

His voice came soft and ragged and painful in my mind, and an utter silence followed his words.

“You’re free.”