Page 56 of Zomromcom

“I hope I have the power for this,” the witch muttered, and then everything got…weird.

Well, weirder.

Against Edie, Max abruptly turned stiff enough to snap a tendon, then jerked convulsively, as if he’d been struck by lightning. But it wasn’t even a cloudy night, so that didn’t make sense.

As he twitched and spasmed—was he okay?—the rage and clawing hunger in Edie’s belly faded, and faded some more, until it was entirely absent. Which was a relief, yes, but also odd and unexplainable.

At long last, Max finally relaxed again, his body limp. Good. He could use some rest after the long evening they’d all had.

Why everyone seemed to be crying, even Sabrina, Edie had absolutely no idea.

The reaper stood, smoothing out her pajamas. “Goodbye, Edie. I’ve been called to a different job, and I need to leave. I may or may not see you again, but if I do, I hope it’s not soon.”

And that was another odd thing.

Was Edie not dying anymore? And if she wasn’t, why not?

“But…” As Edie’s thoughts began to clear, sheer horror stopped her breath. “What the hells did he…”

No. No, he couldn’t have. He couldn’t have done this to her.

“Wait.” Desperately, she clutched at the hem of the reaper’s pajama pants. “Please tell me your next job isn’t Max.”

The woman’s smile was sad. “I can’t say. I’m sorry.”

Then the reaper vanished, and Edie seemed to be sobbing uncontrollably in Kip’s enormous, comforting arms, because she was back to herself again, not a zombie-in-progress or even especially injured, and she knew exactly what had just happened.

The person who loved her most in all the world had saved her. Had died for her.

He’d traded his life for hers, the same way her parents had, and she wasn’t certain she could survive it again.

Oh, honey , came Starla’s voice in her head, and Edie jerked in surprise. It’s okay .

But it wasn’t. They were doing something to his…to his body. Behind her. And she should watch, should help, should hold him one last time, but she couldn’t seem to slow the heaving gasps of grief that made her cough and shudder and curl in on herself.

“Don’t cry.” Sabrina’s voice cut through Edie’s sobs, its sharp wryness a cruelty. “I know it’s disappointing that he’s still around, but calm yourself.”

Choking on her own tears, Edie pushed away from Kip. “Wh-what?”

The witch rubbed trembling fingertips across her forehead, even as she smiled. “None of us knew this, but apparently giving up immortality is the equivalent of sacrificing a life.”

Probably because he gave up infinite mortal lifetimes , Starla murmured, and Edie twitched again at the brain-tickling sensation. Which is all very dramatic. I imagine he’ll get a lot of mileage out of that .

“Is he…” Slowly, hope was pushing back Edie’s despair, and she struggled to make sense of what was happening. “Sabrina, is he…”

She couldn’t look for herself. Not until she knew for certain.

“He’s alive but no longer immortal,” Sabrina told her, “which means he’ll eventually be the first-ever vampire with wrinkles and creaky joints and age spots. I’m really excited to watch that happen.”

“Bite your tongue, witch.” A pair of strong hands hauled Edie into a crushing embrace, and those were definitely Max’s hands.

That was definitely Max’s face buried in her neck, his self-satisfied voice vibrating into her skin, and his body so hard and fierce and…

hot?…behind hers. “As if I’ve never heard of retinol and Botox. ”

He carefully, tenderly turned her in his arms.

Frantic and fumbling, she unzipped his hoodie, shoved his tee out of the way, and scrabbled for bare skin. Her head butted against him as she dived down, searching for inarguable proof that she wasn’t imagining this. That he wasn’t gone.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump .

There it was. His heartbeat pounding against her ear.

It was still strong and steady, but significantly faster now. And that wasn’t the only change.

“You’re warm,” she breathed, then sniffled loudly. “And you tried to sacrifice yourself for me, you total asshole.”

In revenge, she rubbed her dripping nose back and forth on his skin.

“Technically, I did sacrifice myself for you. Endless lifetimes, gone.” His chest rumbled with his words. “I intend to hold this over you forever, darling.”

The implications of what he’d done to himself seeped into the puddle of utter joy and relief she’d become, and suddenly her face was crumpling again.

He wasn’t dead, thank heavens. But he would be, untold centuries earlier than necessary. Because of her.

“I’m—I’m so s-sorry.” She tried to pull away, to raise her knees and hunch her shoulders and become a miserable human ball, but his gentle hands kept patiently uncurling her, and he was still so strong . “Max, you shouldn’t have—”

“None of that, please.” His thumb nudged her chin. “Edie, my darling. I need to see those sweet eyes of yours again. Won’t you look at me?”

Sniffing uncontrollably, she mustered her courage, lifted her head, and met his gaze.

Faded denim, without a hint of darkness. Warm. Soft.

There was no anger there. No regret. Nothing but open adoration and a relief all-encompassing enough to match her own.

“There you are,” he murmured. “Such pretty brown doe eyes. Good. All that red didn’t suit you nearly as well, beloved. Now let’s take a look at your neck…”

“As if it never happened.” Sabrina sighed, then clambered to her feet with a groan. “I am so fucking tired. If I needed to light a godsdamn candle, I don’t think I’d have the juice to do it.”

After planting a kiss on the spot where Edie had apparently been bitten, he looked up at the witch. “Thank you, Sabrina. I owe you, and I have an excellent idea for how I can repay that debt.”

“We’ll talk later. Starla told everyone to give you two some privacy, including me.” She offered him a faint smile. “Besides, I need some time with my wife too.”

“And that’s precisely what we’ll be discussing,” he said, and her smile widened. “Find me when you’re ready.”

“I’m sorry,” Edie repeated as soon as he returned his attention to her. “I can’t even—”

His big, warm hands cupped her face. “Sweet Edie, this is nothing. I would have gladly died for you. And here I am, living with you, having given up nothing but endless centuries of isolation and an unmourned, detached death. This is an ending happier than any I could have envisioned, and I shouldn’t have teased you about it. ”

For such a cynical vampire, that perspective positively radiated optimism.

Naturally, she was suspicious. “Truly?”

“Truly.” The tip of his nose nudged hers. “I want nothing more than this. Nothing more than you. You’re mine, ma puce. Mine to protect. Mine to keep and cherish as long as I draw breath on this earth, and possibly after that too, if I have my way.”

“Hmmm.” Tenderly, she kissed the corner of his mouth. “Yours to love?”

She didn’t need the words, not when his actions spoke so clearly. But hearing it aloud would still be nice.

“It’s been centuries, Edie. I don’t remember what love feels like.

” After his thumb slid across her cheek one last time, he stretched to retrieve something from the ground behind him.

His mother’s pomander, which he pressed into Edie’s palm.

Then he covered her hand with his, closing her fingers more tightly around the silver sphere.

“But all of me is yours. Every atom. Every thought and hope and desire. And if I’m entirely yours, that must include my heart, no? ”

Strong emotion had brought out the slightest hint of an accent, and she adored it. Adored him.

She grinned at him. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Also, no one can exist as long as I have without doing the occasional favor. I have several extremely powerful creatures in my debt.” He nuzzled her temple as he spoke, sounding very smug. “So fear not, darling. You may yet get to bask in my glory for centuries to come.”

“What does that mean?” Propping herself up on her elbow sounded like a good idea until she actually did it, promptly became dizzy, and dropped down onto his chest again. “And precisely how long have you existed?”

He snorted, stroking a broad palm up and down her back. “Nice try. But I’m not telling you how old I am.”

“You’re so vain.”

“For good reason.” His muscles flexed beneath her, because he was a freaking show-off. “I’m perfection made flesh.”

Her fake retching sounds were quite convincing, if she did say so herself. And she did.

He added breezily, “I’m getting immortality for both of us, because I have no intention of getting wrinkled and withered, and I need you around to admire me. Forever.”

Okay. That was a discussion they could pursue later. Right now, her priority was puncturing that ginormous ego of his.

She kept her voice to a whisper, because their private bubble would pop soon enough. “No…one’s…”

When he covered her mouth with his in a sweetly ravenous kiss, she simply waited him out. As soon as his head lifted and she could think again, the song restarted.

“No one’s vain like Gaston—”

“This is not new information, human. In fact, mere moments ago—”

“—lacks all shame like Gaston!”

“Shame requires a sense of wrongdoing, and since I’ve never done anything wrong—”

“No one brags about how much you came like Gaston!”

Arching his brows, he held up six fingers.

She held up four, doing her damnedest to exude discontent and sexual frustration. “In his hand-knotted briefs he’s so—”

“Wait,” Kip interjected. “What’s this about hand-knotted briefs?”

Max sighed. “Dammit, Edie.”

***

Gwen’s head hurt like a mofo.

Two people were quietly talking nearby—including one with a deep, rumbly voice—and she wished they’d stop, because each word was a vicious spike hammered into her poor beleaguered skull.

For that matter, she wished she could open her eyes or move or do anything but lie on…

whatever she was lying on…and involuntarily eavesdrop on what seemed to be a very private discussion.