Nicholas

He sat back on his heels and watched Gideon die.

Briefly he felt a pang of sadness that he'd never again hear Gideon's heart beating faster when Nicholas pressed their bodies together, or the way he caught his breath when Nicholas kissed his throat.

He hadn't enjoyed killing him.

The terror in Gideon's eyes, the way his heart had tripped into a frantic pounding, the tears he hadn't been able to hold back – Nicholas hated that he was responsible for that. He hated how much he'd had to hurt Gideon.

But there was no other way.

He pulled Gideon's body further up the bed and settled his head on a pillow, so he'd be comfortable when he woke up.

Then he waited.

An hour passed, then two, and still Gideon didn't move. The bite marks on his neck didn't heal.

And Nicholas started to get scared.

He'd been a vampire long enough that he understand how the process worked – and that it sometimes didn't. To become a vampire, a person must first be drained of their blood. Then they had to drink the blood of a vampire so they could awake to a new life as a vampire themselves.

But sometimes it didn't work.

Sometimes a person just stayed dead and no one knew why.

Nicholas had been so confident that that wouldn't happen – confident enough that he'd risked Gideon's life.

What if he'd been wrong?

A fist closed around his heart.

Gideon had reminded him what it meant to be human. He was warm and kind and alive, and he'd chased away the grim weight of the years that hung on Nicholas. For so long he'd been alone, feeling increasingly cut off from humanity, his heart growing cold and hard. Gideon had changed everything, and Nicholas couldn't bear to lose him.

"Come back to me," he whispered, stroking Gideon's face.

A tiny smear of Nicholas's blood still coloured Gideon's lip, and Nicholas kissed it away.

"Please," he whispered. "Please don't leave me."

Still, Gideon didn't move.

Nicholas lay beside him on the bed, one hand on Gideon's chest, over the place where his heart would never again beat, and waited for Gideon to come back.

Half an hour later, Gideon's hand twitched.

Nicholas bolted upright. "Gideon?" he said.

The bite marks on Gideon's neck were gone, healed over, and Nicholas let out a shaky laugh.

"That's it," he whispered as Gideon's eyelids flickered. "Come back."

Gideon opened his eyes. At first he stared at Nicholas like he didn't recognise him, then clarity sharpened his gaze. "What happened?" he murmured.

"You're waking up to a new life," Nicholas told him.

"You . . . what did you do to me?" Anger sparked red in Gideon's eyes. "You tried to kill me."

He tried to sit up and Nicholas held him down. Gideon had a vampire's strength now, but Nicholas was still a lot stronger. A few hundred years would do that to a man.

"How do you feel?" Nicholas asked.

Gideon started to reply, then his whole body jerked and he let out a low groan.

"You're hungry? Good, that's good," Nicholas said, stroking Gideon's hair.

Gideon's eyes were fluttering again, the dark welcoming him back under, but as he slipped into consciousness, Nicholas wasn't afraid anymore.

Gideon had woken up.

He would be alright.

Nicholas needed to get him fresh blood, help him through the turn, however long that would take, and then, when Gideon was strong enough, they could finally begin a new life together.

Gideon

He couldn't seem to fight his way out of the darkness.

His body felt different somehow, in a way that he couldn't explain, and there was a constant ache in his stomach, a painful emptiness that gnawed at him. Sometimes he was aware of Nicholas's voice, and sometimes there were other voices – women's voices. He didn't recognise them.

Always, the female voices were followed by something warm and delicious trickling down Gideon's throat, easing the ache inside.

And then finally, the ache stopped.

Gideon opened his eyes.

The room took shape around him – still Nicholas's small rented room. How long had he been lying here?

"Gideon?" A rustle of movement, and then Nicholas was kneeling beside him, holding his hand.

Gideon stared back at him, trying to piece together everything that had happened. His memories were fractured, confused – hadn't Nicholas tried to kill him?

He jerked away, scrambling to the other side of the bed. Nicholas held up one hand, as if Gideon was a wounded animal he was trying to calm.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Gideon had no idea how to answer that. Physically he felt strong – stronger than ever before. But something fundamental had changed. He just wasn't sure what.

"What happened?" he said. A memory slipped into place – Nicholas biting him, drinking his blood, his eyes glowing red, and he recoiled. "What are you?"

"I'm a vampire," Nicholas said.

The word meant nothing to Gideon. "I don't understand."

"I died once, and then I came back as something more than human."

Gideon shook his head, anger forming a hard knot in his chest. Was Nicholas mocking him?

"What happened to me?" he said.

"You're a vampire too," Nicholas said.

"What does that mean?" Gideon snarled, and felt a suddenly sting in his mouth. He put a hand to his mouth and found that long, sharp teeth had descended from his gums. One of them pricked his finger, and a red blood of blood welled up. Instinctively he licked it away, and before his eyes, the tiny cut healed over.

"To put it simply, you're dead," Nicholas said.

"You killed me," Gideon said flatly.

Nicholas winced. "I suppose if you put it like that . . ."

"Is there another way to put it?"

Nicholas's gaze dropped to the bed. "Perhaps not."

"How can I be dead?" Gideon asked.

Nicholas took Gideon's hand, guiding to his own chest. "Do you feel that?" he asked.

"Feel what?"

Nicholas smiled, a little sadly. "Exactly. Your heart isn't beating, Gideon. It will never beat again."

Gideon started to argue, then froze, pressing his hand hard against his chest. What Nicholas was saying was so ridiculous, so insane, and yet . . . Gideon no longer had a heartbeat. Nothing in his chest moved at all.

"Your heart doesn't beat. You don't need to breathe. Human food and drink will no longer sustain you," Nicholas explained.

"You told me that beer would be my last," Gideon said. "I thought you meant my last of the day, but you meant my last forever, didn't you?"

Nicholas nodded. "Vampires can only survive on blood. Human blood is best, though we can make do with animal blood if necessary."

"I have to drink blood to survive?" Gideon felt sick. He remembered the delicious, warm liquid that flowed down his throat when he was lost in the dark. "I've already done it, haven't I?"

"Yes. You needed fresh blood to help you through the turn."

"I killed someone?"

"Of course not. You don't have to kill a person to drink their blood."

"That's what you did to me," Gideon snapped.

Nicholas looked chagrined. "That was different. I had to drain your blood and then feed you my own in order to turn you into a vampire."

Gideon's rage reached boiling point, and he leaped off the bed. "What gave you the right? You took my life and you turned me into . . . into this? Why?"

Nicholas had gone very still. "You agreed. I asked if you wanted an entirely new life, and you said yes."

"You didn't tell me what I was getting into," Gideon shouted. "I didn't agree to this."

Nicholas's blank mask cracked, and hurt flashed through. "Whatever it takes, you said."

Gideon stared at him, trying to get control of his raging emotions.

"Can't you see how good this is?" Nicholas said, climbing off the bed and approaching him. "You're completely free of your old life, in every way. You have strength beyond anything any human can dream of. You're immune to disease and sickness. You'll never grow old, and you'll never die."

"What?" Gideon whispered.

Nicholas came a little closer. "Gideon, the year is 1841. I was born in 1412."

Gideon shook his head, closing his eyes. "That's impossible."

Nicholas touched his face. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy."

Gideon opened his eyes and scowled at Nicholas. "You lied to me. You told me you could give me a new life but you never told me what that really meant. You tricked me. I trusted you – how could you do that to me?"

"But we can be together now," Nicholas said.

He touched Gideon's face again, and Gideon knocked his hands away. "Don't," he snarled. He couldn't bear it.

This room was too small; the walls seemed to crowd in on him, and he couldn't breathe. A desperate laugh lodged in his throat. Nicholas had said that he didn't need to breathe anymore, but that couldn't be right. He'd seen Nicholas breathe . . . hadn't he?

"Gideon –"

"Shut up." Shoving Nicholas out of the way, Gideon stalked over the door and flung it open.

"Where are you going?" Nicholas said.

Gideon had no idea.

He just needed to get away.

Part 3/5