Page 58 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

Crimson

“Paige! Paige!”

My voice reverberates around me, like a disembodied echo. I clutch her desperately in my arms, looking down into her pale face. I reach for Oana’s dagger and I pull it out, tossing it aside with a clatter.

Behind me, I can hear Damien rush up the stairs. I catch a glimpse of Celine flying toward Oana out of my peripheral vision. But I don’t care.

“Paige,” I whisper, burying my face in her hair, listening for any hint of a heartbeat, the sound of a pulse, however faint…

But there’s nothing.

I bring my wrist to my mouth and bite down, hard. Thick blood gushes from my veins, and I put it to her mouth.

“Please, Paige,” I beg. “It can’t be too late…”

But my blood spills over her lips. She doesn’t swallow.

“No, no, no…”

I embrace her limp form in my arms, holding onto her lingering warmth.

She still smells like roses. Sweet, subtle, perfect…

She died to protect me. Because she loved me.

“I love you, too, Paige,” I tell her. I need to tell her, I need her to hear it.

“Paige, I…I always loved you. It was always you. You’re perfect, Paige.

Kind when I was cruel, gentle was I was hard…

strong when I was weak. You knew that we were meant for each other and you fought for us.

I never should have pushed you away. I was scared of losing you, but…

I was always meant to lose you. I should have told you when I had the chance, Paige. I’m…I’m sorry.”

I hold her close to me, brushing a kiss across her pale forehead.

“I love you, Paige. I’ll always love you.”

But it’s too late. There’s no flutter of her long eyelashes, no quiver of her soft lips…just stillness. The kind of stillness that only death brings.

Celine touches down beside me on the platform. “Crimson…” she says, her voice as soft as I’ve ever heard it. “Damien chased Oana out of the staircase. But we have to go back to the others…”

“No,” I hiss, pulling Paige’s body close to mine. “No, I’m not leaving her.”

“She’s…she’s gone, Crimson,” Celine says. “I’m sorry, I know you cared for her…”

“I can’t be without her,” I answer, my throat tight. My chest aches with an unbearable, hollow emptiness. “Celine, I can’t exist without her.”

“There’s nothing else you can do,” she says, worry in her violet eyes. She kneels down in the pool of blood on the other side of Paige’s body.

And I’m struck with a sudden, bold determination.

“There is something else I can do,” I tell her. My lips part as my fangs drop low over my chin.

Celine frowns, understanding what I mean. “I’ll help you,” she says.

It takes Celine and I a little while to drain Paige completely. While we’re working, Murad comes to find us. He almost shudders when he sees Paige’s body in my arms.

“What happened?” he asks.

“Oana killed her,” Celine answers.

“Allah allah,” he gasps, gazing down at us in shock. Then his nostrils flare when he sees what I’m doing. “Crimson, are you…?”

“Yes,” I answer coldly, putting a bloody wrist to Paige’s mouth.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

His brow creases. “Crimson, you know it only works one out of every ten times…”

“I know, Murad,” I snap, putting a bloody wrist to Paige’s mouth. Once again, my blood fills her lips, but it’s hard to tell if she ingests any of it.

Celine looks up at him. “What’s happening out there? Is Oana…?”

“She fled the hotel’s grounds,” Murad reports, although his eyes remained fixed on Paige’s unmoving face. “It looks like the rest of her allies have also fallen back, although we’re double-checking every front to make sure.”

I stand, taking Paige carefully in my arms. My earlier wounds have healed, with the help of Paige’s blood. My body may be strong and powerful, but this is the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt in my entire existence.

Murad and Celine follow me out of the stairwell and through the lobby. The vampires are recovering from the fight, finding loved ones and tallying the dead and deanimated. I pass through them like a ghost, heading for the courtyard outside.

The night is crisp and overcast, the stars hiding behind wispy, midnight blue clouds. Celine grabs several shovels and we find a quiet spot in the corner of the yard, under a large oak tree. I set Paige down carefully upon a bench.

Not speaking, the three of us each take a shovel and begin to dig.

Despite the somber atmosphere, I’m grateful to have them both by my side. It’s the first time I’ve had company while digging a grave.

Once it’s deep and wide enough, I take Paige’s body in my arms, holding her above the soft earth.

Her expression is so peaceful. I take it in, committing it to memory.

“She was my undoing,” I say, to nobody in particular.

The moon shows her face, hanging in the sky like a promise. Like a prophecy.

I jump into the grave. Tenderly, I place her down onto the earth. Her hair fans out behind her. She looks like an angel.

My angel.

With one final glance up at the moon, I kneel down beside her.

“What are you doing?” Celine says.

I don’t reply. Instead, I lie down, cradling Paige’s head in the crook of my arm. I remember how she cuddled up against me in my coffin, and a soft smile cracks my lips.

“Crimson, come back up,” Murad shouts, concern in his deep voice. “We have to bury her, otherwise she won’t turn.”

“I know,” I answer, as a wonderful peacefulness descends upon my bones. “And you’ll have to bury me, too.”

Celine and Murad exchange a horrified look.

“You can’t ask us to do that,” Murad says.

“Yes, I can,” I reply, pushing Paige’s hair back behind her ear. “If she doesn’t come back up, I’ll stay down here with her.”

Murad shakes his head. “This is madness…”

“Crimson, you won’t die,” Celine says, beseechingly. “Vampires can only be staked. You’ll stay down there, for eternity…”

“And this is where I want to be, for eternity,” I answer. “I’ll have her in my arms, forever.”

“I can’t do this,” Murad says. “Roslyn…”

“Murad,” I whisper, the wind carrying my voice to his ears. “I’ve existed long enough. Please, my friend…this is my last wish.”

Silence stretches out between us. Then I feel the soft kiss of earth upon my skin.

“Thank you,” I tell them, shutting my eyes as I feel the dawn begin to approach, pulling Paige closer to my chest.

“Good morning, Crimson,” Murad whispers.

“Good morning…”