Sixty

I’ve been awake for some time already, thinking about my life and everything that had happened until this point. I didn’t like to dwell too much on it, but one thing I learnt in my long existence, life and death, are two parallels filled with mystery between them. No one would ever think cursed beings were real, one could live forever. If someone told me about it, I would hardly believe it and think of the person as a nutcase. Alexandra was dealing quite fine with all this absurd situation surrounding us for the last six centuries. I had to give her some credit. Since we met again, she has done nothing but to put up with my short temper and tyranny over her.
However, she accepted me back, no questions asked. I wasn’t stupid, and I understood what she was doing yesterday, and it worked well. I will grant her wish, but not because she seduced me to get what she wanted, but because she deserved it. She put her trust in my hands. Besides, she was the one who had the means to get some information I needed. Liz suffered in this life, because I wasn’t there, and I’m sure I was going to find my answers in this agency she worked for. I had a gut feeling everything was connected and matters would get ugly from now on.
The only real thing at this very moment was her body close to mine in this bed. The same one where it all started. I peeked at the dragons and I always felt protected by them. I was sure something was at play here since I got to know that both beds were the works of Anton. The same feeling, same peace, and it held many deep, beautiful, and sad memories. But the happiness we shared surpassed the bad ones.
Liz slept all entangled in me. Her head rested in the crook of my neck with her right arm across my chest and settled in the back of my neck, as her right leg was on top of mine. I knew it was already late morning by the shadows in the room, which made it even more ethereal. The steady sound of her breathing brought tranquility to my heart. I kissed the top of her head and she stirred; her lashes fluttering open.
“Morning, dragă.”
The magic in those lavenders never ceased to amaze me, but the way they glowed white a few days ago left me worried. I needed to discover what was going on. I’ve never experienced such phenomena in her last reincarnations, and my Liz had been a normal woman. No powers of any kind. Maybe it had something to do with the prophecy, and she was right. The entire situation was unusual, but I couldn’t let my guard down. I wasn’t about to lose her again.
“Grizzly…”
The way she moaned the silly nickname, still half asleep, sent little flames leaping on my skin and a mindless hunger consumed me, driving my body wild with the need for her. Alizandra always drove me crazy. Alessa and Alya were a little different. It was more subtle since she was too young. There was all the wait, and when she was older, I never had the chance to court her, even though the love was there. Death took her away again.
Besides, life changed me a lot. Who wouldn’t? I was still way too protective and domineering. A caveman, as Alex liked to say. I dwelled on my sins for too long and without her to drive my demons away was maddening. But all that roughness got polished over the centuries. I had time to learn, to get my emotions under control. I could still be cruel and callous to the core if there was a need, but I had to remind myself I wasn’t in the 1400s anymore.
There were a lot of details at odds. Once more, the prophecy came to my mind. She was the oldest of her past selves, troubled and set in avenging herself. My feelings for her were stronger than before, and the fear of losing her worse. Not that I’m complaining about this savage reaction to her, far from it, but there’s a lot going on this time and I need to have my mind clear of distractions. And my little devil was very distracting.
“Can we stay like this forever?” She planted a soft kiss on my neck, and I chuckled at her drowsy remark, enveloping her in my arms and bringing her closer to my chest.
“I wish we could, but…” Then she sat up awake, staring at me with mischief. “What do you have in mind, Liz?”
“Come on, I need to show you something. You’re gonna love it!” She kissed my cheek and hopped out of bed, all excited. “And Vlad, I can feel the hunger gnawing at your body.” Her lavenders chastised me.
“How do you know?” It puzzled me. She wasn’t supposed to know these things.
“I just know. Lately I’m able to feel all the surrounding emotions,” she said from the bathroom. “Come on, lazy man, get up!” She stood in front of me, her hands rested on her hips, broadcasting her impatience. “I’ll be in the kitchen, don’t take long.”
When I got in there, two bags of that nasty life-giving liquid were there waiting for me on the counter. Lord, I hate that shit! I’d much prefer to get fresh from the source. But she wouldn’t be okay with it, and there wasn’t anyone around for miles. If only I could live without it! Disgust showed on my face as I looked at the glass beside them. I couldn’t hide it. She noticed as guilt crept into her eyes. I hate this situation and I needed to police myself better in front of her.
“Please, don’t put yourself into such a strain to spare me. I’m not made of glass, and I don’t like being treated as one.” She held my gaze, meaning business. “I know you hate this crap. You can’t hide it from me. Besides, I was giving some thoughts. If I put this curse on you, I can break it. I just need to figure out how to do it.” The hard stare she addressed at told it was better I keep my mouth closed about this subject, so I did.
“Fine! What do you want to show me?” I asked, changing the subject as I walked to the counter, trying my best to act normal. I wasn’t about to argue with her, even though I didn’t know if it was possible to lift the curse. Her only answer was a very naughty smirk that made me gulp down that shit at once and discover what she was up to. “Done, now…?” She grabbed my hand, dragging me to the garage.
Behind a wall full of shelves and equipment, she pressed a hidden button and part of them moved, giving passage to stairs. It led down to some huge, high ceiling basement.
“What is all this?”
“It’s a shooting range built by Anton, don’t ask me how he did it. This room is soundproof, all the panels are wood and this booth here is big enough for two.” She walked with me to one door beside the stairs, opening it wide. There was a room full of guns, most of them I had no clue what they could do. “My toys!” The pride and self-satisfaction in her voice were hard to miss, and I couldn’t imagine Liz playing with those things, but I think I was in for a rude awakening.
“What kind of toys are those? Women are not supposed to handle these dangerous artifacts.” My blood boiled in my veins. “Why did Anton let you near them? He has a lot to explain!”
“Dad taught me how to shoot, old man! Please, quit with the macho stuff. Have you fired a gun before?”
“Liz…” A low, threatening growl left my lips. She rolled her eyes and gave her back to me, picking up two of them. “Yes, lots of time, but nothing compared to this arsenal.”
“Amazing, right?” She brought the guns to the desk by the booth, and I spent about an hour with Liz explaining to me their differences, mechanics, purposes, safety, how to shoot and where to shoot. Tedious stuff. But it impressed me with her knowledge of everything and the way she explained it to me, the discipline in every movement and handling such deadly weapons.
Putting her protective gears on, she held the pistol with total authority, aimed at the target, and fired a complete round of ammunition. She was so sure of herself that I was changing my mind about her dealing with this stuff. Liz turned to me with a very satisfied expression, pressing a button, bringing the target to us. I was aghast to see all the bullets had perforated the chest of the dummy, and I got to the conclusion my little devil was hot as hell holding a pistol. Over the centuries, my girl had become a badass woman.
“Do you still think I’m so defenseless? You don’t have a clue what you got yourself into, Grizzly.” She smirked, and I couldn’t agree more!