Page 36 of Saved by the Vampire Goddess (Dark Wine Vampires #1)

Chapter thirty-six

Evelina

Minnesota Ark Prime—Shortly after Valroy's Departure

A ll righty. I didn’t expect him to stay. I really didn’t. Valroy loves his sister. Why shouldn’t he? She’s a sweet thing, and feisty, too. Not to mention he’s honorable. Even noble. Not like those jackholes I fell for who chose their selfish desires over me. And his sister is sixteen and just went through some awful, shitty stuff.

But even though I told him to go, the loss still hurts like hellfire. My lungs freeze, my throat tightens, and my heart’s trapped on Minnesota’s frozen tundra with no rescue in sight. Why’d I have to be so stupid as to fall for him? Unavailable men seem to be a theme in my life.

I find Lucy and Ricky in their dome along with the rest of the dogs and plop down on the grass next to them.

The predawn sky is gray, with a sprinkle of bright stars peeping through the gloom. Lucy and Ricky jump to their paws, tails wagging, sniffing and squirming, giving excited yips and whines. They shove wet rubber balls into my face until I pry the toys from their mouths and pitch them across the field. After a few rounds of fetch, they settle down. I wrap my arms around their necks, bury my face in their fur, and let the choking tears fall.

As dawn approaches, I push to my feet, give all the babies a few more pets each, then plod my way to the living room and plop on the couch. The moon won’t set again until this afternoon, so I’m awake and have time indoors to myself.

Before Valroy entered my life, I’d watch a movie, play the guitar, read a book, do maintenance on the snowmobile, cook and refrigerate food for the dogs, or sort and organize items I’d scavenged. But I’m not up for any of that. I can’t summon the energy to roll off the cushions.

Loneliness suffocates me like someone dropped a plastic dry-cleaning bag over my head. Having Valroy here gave me company I didn’t know I missed. I click my tongue to activate the comm and call up the virtual contact list. Dragging my finger in the air, I scroll through the list and land on someone who’s helped me in the past. I tap her number.

“Evelina, is that you?”

“Oh fer cute, who else would use my number?”

“It’s just been so long. Give me a minute to put the baby down. I just finished feeding Ciara, and she’s almost asleep.”

Crapola. Did I send a baby gift? Cerissa had her second child a few months ago. I heard the news through the grapevine. I’ll have to check my shipping log to see if I remembered to send something.

Sounds of cooing float through the comm, and my tear ducts fill again. Not that I’m the mommy type, but still, to never have the choice…

The cooing stops and a door softly closes. “I’m back.”

“Hey, if this isn’t a good time, we can talk tomorrow.”

“Now is perfect.” Cerissa flips on the video, and I can see her walking down a hallway, her long brown hair in a single braid and green eyes bright with happiness. “Henry is playing with David, and I’m going to find a comfy chair to relax in while we talk. What’s up?”

“Uh…”

“Did you and Gavin—”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. No, we did not.” That’s the problem with calling an old friend who knows your past and habits. She’ll guess right away it’s guy trouble—just the wrong guy. “I, uh, I rescued this dude from New Rome, kinda turned him when he almost died.”

Her eyes go wide as full moons. “You have a child?”

“Yeah.” Tears fall down my cheeks, and I swipe at them, cringing inside over crying in front of someone, even if she’s a friend. “Then Ingvar twisted our arms to force us to retrieve nuclear stuff—”

“Seriously? You were the ones who did that? Everyone’s talking about recovering the plutonium. Wait.” Cerissa slaps a hand over her mouth. “You made the vampire who went with you to New Rome?”

“Yeah. We kinda fell in love.” My voice cracks. “A bee stung him—”

“He was allergic? Why didn’t you call emergency services?”

I nearly laugh at how Cerissa is jumping ahead with that big brain of hers and finishing all my thoughts. “I did, but the antenna wasn’t working, and I didn’t know how else to save him.”

“So what’s wrong? Because I can tell something’s really wrong.”

“He left with Ingvar.”

“What? Your child left? Okay, back up and tell me the entire story.”

And I do. While the tears flow, I use a dishcloth to wipe them, and somehow I snuffle my way through the entire tale. When I get to the end of my sob story, I blow my nose. “Valroy left to settle his sister, and Ingvar said he can’t come back. That we can’t have two keepers at one ark.”

“Now that’s just silly. We need to get as much scavenging done before everything deteriorates from exposure to weather extremes. Ingvar knows that. Two people working together makes more sense. Unless Valroy doesn’t want to come back?”

“I don’t know, now. He said he loved me. But I kinda told him to leave, that it wouldn’t last. I didn’t mean it.”

“Oh, Evelina. You need to talk to him. Tell him how you really feel.”

“I don’t have his number. If he even has one yet.”

“All right.” A virtual keyboard appears in front of Cerissa, and she types out something I can’t see. “Let me make a few calls and find out where Ingvar took him. See what I can scope out. Is there anything else?”

I wipe the tears away again. “Yeah, there’s some stupid stuff going on in New Rome. They’re starving the poor.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it’s terrible.”

Cerissa gets that look in her eyes I’ve seen many times before. A woman on a mission. “Do you mind if I record our conversation?”

“Nah, go ahead.” Then I tell her the same things I told Ingvar, getting really worked up about the poverty once again. I just hate to see how oligarchs hog all the wealth.

“We have a hands-off policy with the mortal-only domes. But Ingvar’s taking that too far. We can’t just stand by when the resources we’ve provided to keep everyone in a dome alive are hoarded by the one-percenters. That’ll only lead to societal collapse.”

“Oh fer truth.”

“Hmm,” Cerissa murmurs. “Killing a dictator isn’t sufficient. A new one will take over.” She bites her lips together, an intense look in her eyes. “Change has to happen from within. Education and empathy are the keys.”

“I got no clue how their school system works, if they even have one for the poor.”

“I’m thinking ethics classes for the rich, too. And perhaps empathy therapy.”

“Yeah, they need it.” I finish drying my eyes and set the kitchen towel aside. “They have an ‘I’ve got mine, the rest of you are suckers’ mentality.”

“There must be a way—”

“Well, with the emperor dead, the empress might help. She seemed like a good sport. And Titus and Valroy don’t have heirs, so maybe they could convert their homes into schools or adult education centers or something.”

“I’ll turn your ideas into an action plan. Someone in Lux communications must oversee the temple antenna. Maybe we can send subtle hints to the priestess.”

“Since you’re recording, I got more for you. Valroy told me they concentrated wealth in a few hands—the emperor and his cronies. It’s all sheer luck who held pre-Collapse valuables when the domes fell. A lot of them stole from museums and such. Ya know, they didn’t even come by their money honestly.”

“Sounds like the affirmative action of generational wealth.”

“Huh?” Sometimes what Cerissa says flies right over my head.

“Sorry. I’m being sarcastic. The wealthy kids get a leg up over everyone. Their parents’ money gives them all the advantages, and not based on their own merit. They used to be called legacy admissions in college. The rich kids took a spot from someone better qualified because their parents donated tons of money or had attended the private university themselves.”

“Ain’t that the truth? Valroy told me stories about how food isn’t distributed fairly. Ernie the Second inherited his power and insisted the agricultural domes attached to New Rome focus on delicacies for his table rather than growing enough to feed everyone.”

“Education and food resources are two good places to start. Let me see if Diana can’t send a few guidelines to improve life inside New Rome.”

“Thanks, Cerissa.”

“Now go do something relaxing.”

“Yeah, fer sure. Easier said than done.”

“Come on. Take care of yourself. I’ll let you know when I have news on Valroy.”

I close the comm line and make my way back to the bedroom, where I collapse face down on the bed. The sheets smell of him, of our lust, of our falling in love. Smashing my face against the pillow, I cry some more.

I haven’t fed since returning from the whole escapade, and I’ve survived on way too much clone blood in the past forty-eight hours. With Valroy gone, there’s extra mortal blood in the fridge that’ll go bad if I don’t drink it soon. I don’t feel like getting up, but my stomach growls, churning and complaining. So I do the healthy thing and crawl out of bed.

While I heat dark wine for myself, I grill some elk steaks for the dogs. Sharing my problems with Cerissa made me feel better, but as the elk cooks, the scent reminds me of the first meal I made for Valroy.

How can I miss him this much when it’s only been a few hours since he left? Because I miss him something terrible. I miss the way he puffed up when he completed a task. I miss the way he kissed, like I was the center of his world in that moment. I miss his awe and wonder over the nature preserve. I even miss the way he got all uppity when I called him lord instead of dominus, which is such a stupid thing to miss.