In those coming weeks a lot happened. There was never a question of what they had to do next. Purpose just sort of fell into place, and Ellie and Jack went about their days with a sense of direction, fixing up the castle and reclaiming the lost stone as a home for the both of them. Some things had more urgency about them and were resolved in hours: Jack helped Ellie heal her arm by letting her drink from him again. There was only so much vampire blood could do, but her broken bones were better inside of week.

The first few days were a treasure trove of discovery. Each room in the castle held ancient memories for Ellie. There was the grand library, the great hall, a sprawling kitchen that had to have housed a dozen staff at one time. There were also the rooms that were visually distinctive, but didn’t have an immediate purpose, like the room which was lined with blue topaz walls.

As well as repairing the castle, there was also the case of journeying back to Skarvast to let the other vampires know that all was well. Their friends would obviously be worried about them, but also have no way to find them either. Driving back to the village was no longer an option, it would take several days and there wasn’t enough fuel left. There was however another way that had only made itself apparent more recently.

“I’m not sure about this Jack,” Ellie said with trepidation in Jack’s arms. “What if you get tired?”

They were perched on the edge of the castle roof, looking over the hidden valley meadow. Jack’s broad black wings were spread out behind his back, and Ellie was wrapped safely in his arms. She’d watched him practice his newfound talent many times since his rediscovery, but never actually gone up into the air with him.

“I can’t see fatigue being a problem,” he said with reassurance. Driving up here might have taken days, but Jack reckoned his wings could get them back to Skarvast in a few hours. With his arms held tight around Ellie he jumped from the roof and they soared up into the cold valley air.

The first few minutes of that journey were the most terrifying for Ellie, holding on for dear life, screaming through excited laughter. They arrived only a few hours later, touching down on top of the temple roof, only to see the elder Kara stood there, already waiting for them.

“I see you discovered your secret,” the Elder said with sparkling eyes as Jack set Ellie down. “And I assume you found Snowstone?”

They brought the elder vampire up to speed on the last few days, including the mysterious departure of her tortured grandson, Kaleb. They reunited with Rourke and Natalie also, with Ellie and Natalie taking much joy in seeing each other once again.

“Oh, but we’ll have to come visit some time!” Natalie said excitedly that night over drinks in the Royal Oak. “I can’t believe you found the lost castle!”

“Heck of a trip getting up there though,” Rourke said. “I can’t imagine Jack can fly all of us on his back.” The group had a good laugh at the joke, and Jack had to admit he agreed with Rourke.

“There might be another way,” Kara pointed out. “Snowstone used to be on the portal network before it was lost. Each great settlement had a room made of topaz, the channeling stone. If it wasn’t damaged in the attack it could be activated once more. Snowstone was the hub for the network, and none of the portals have worked since then. There is a room like that here, and one at the Castle Belmont too, but they have not worked since Snowstone was lost. Have you seen such a room in your time there?”

Ellie was more than excited to recall that she had, thinking of the mysterious blue room on the top floor. With that, the garish prospect of being separated from their friends in the village was diminished, and Kara made the trip up north several weeks later to help restore the portal room. After some difficulty she re-established the connection and the lost castle of Snowstone was finally connected with the world once more.

“Watch in amazement!” the old woman boasted as she demonstrated her handy work. Jack and Ellie stood in the blue portal room, watching as the Elder danced between the portal door on the wall. “One second I’m in Snowstone, the next I’m back at Skarvast! It will take me some time to re-forge the connection with Castle Belmont, as I’ll have to travel down there in person, but this will definitely serve a purpose for now!”

The connection with the outside world was a comforting bonus for Ellie and Jack. By this point nearly a month had passed since they’d reclaimed the castle from the wild, and every day their restoration work was bringing the old castle back to its former glory. It would be many months until the lost home resembled the shining beacon of its past, but every day they got closer.

And with each new day their love seemed to grow tenfold, just as their lust did.

“I think you’ve worked hard enough,” Jack said one day, sneaking up behind Ellie and hugging from her behind while she painted walls in the grand hall. He smothered her with kisses. She burst into giggles, turning in his arms to face him.

“Stop! What if someone comes in?”

“Everyone’s gone back to the village. It’s just the lord and lady in the house now. And you know what that means.”

She certainly did. He leaned forward and kissed her, making her world turn with dizzying euphoria. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around him, finding herself quickly embroiled in the heat of their endless passion.

They somehow made their way to the bedroom, stripping off clothes and kissing every inch of one another’s bodies. She fell onto the mattress on all fours, smiling and biting her lower lip while he fell in place behind her. His hands curled around her hips and he slid inside, gliding all the way in.

Sex was a daily thing for them now, beginning and ending their days almost ritualistically. Their mutual appetite for each other was insatiable and lust was always a pin drop away, spurred on by a silent look or a mere teasing sentence. In the halls, on the tables, up against walls, every conceivable position on the bed.

He took her everywhere he could, and she more than welcomed it.

“Jack, yes, Jack!” Ellie pushed back onto his cock, scrunching up bedding in her hands as she did so. He rallied into her hard, spanking her ass and burying his cock deep. They came together, rolled about between the sheets like teenage lovers and did it all again, with her riding him from the top. Each time was a maddening crescendo of passion, but there was one time in particular that was different from the rest.

It was nearly two months after they’d found the castle. They lay in the dark on the bed, with Ellie on top of Jack. Their love was slow and tender this time, her hands planted firmly on his chest, both groaning their mutual satisfaction as she rolled her hips up and down his shaft.

There was something different this time, though neither of them could say what it was. There was a heat in the room, and a fire in their bodies that was alien and insatiable. She rode him with her head dropped against the nook of his shoulder. He thrust up into her with powerful strokes, his hands on her hips. It was then she felt the brush of something soft over her back, and she opened her eyes to see his wings were spread from his back, curving around behind her back, holding her against him in a cocoon of love.

“Jack, what’s—” Happening is what she wanted to say, but she simply paused and went with it. His wings cradled her against his body, and she found it incredibly arousing. It was completely new to them both, but it almost felt as if they knew what was happening.

It had something to do with breeding.

They’d had sex daily for nearly two months now without any protection, but there was no sign of pregnancy. Neither Ellie or Jack were overly concerned, but they had asked the elder at one point. “It will happen in time, do not worry. You will know it when you see it.”

As his wings cradled her there against him, they both silently seemed to know that this was it. They picked up their speed together, their intensity building as they stared into each other’s eyes. Ellie felt the urge to present her neck to him, and she did so without fear.

His cock speared her over and over, his wings sheathed around her back, she lowered down to those fangs and gasped through a smile, panting as his teeth touched her throat. He bit down gently and drank, his hands squeezing her ass tight, spreading her legs wide while they fucked.

Just enough to form a bond, his mind told her.

I know, she answered back. She understood somehow. Intuitively, they both did. Their bodies were joining as one as they always did, but this time they were forming the connection. Human and vampire were becoming one. Making love to Jack, making love to Wraith, making love to both halves of the vampire that was her lover.

Wings cradling her, cock filling her, teeth drinking just enough to entwine their blood forever. He burst inside of her, filling her with the warmth of life, prompting a reaction inside her body that would turn into something unique and beautiful many months down the line.

She held herself deep against him, knowing a miracle had just occurred.

Alive, in love, a life growing inside of her.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too.”

She was the vampire’s captive, and she always would be.