knew it. He let out a woeful sigh.
“Oh Angelina. My dearest love. Melinda grows more like you each day. She has your eyes. Your lips. Your compassion and strength... even your vulnerability.” His mouth curled into a sad smile. “And she most definitely has your stubbornness.”
William lowered his head.
“She is the reason I almost broke all my promises. I am … afraid...” his voice trailed off, shame weighting his words.
“Afraid my feelings for her will be my undoing. But she is young. An adult, but young, and naïve in so many ways. Sheltered. This is partly my own doing. She has suffered so much already and I cannot stand to see her in pain. In some ways her life has made her very… old. Wise. A caring soul. But she hasn’t lived enough to understand her own feelings. To understand love. And she deserves love. To have a normal life. A family. To carry on the Howard line. Something I cannot give her.”
For a moment, his heart ached so terribly he swore it had started beating again.
“I do not know how many generations of Howards I can watch come into this world, only to leave it, and me, behind. If I could bring myself to leave, I would. But I cannot. I tried. Last night I tried with every fiber of my being, but my feet would not obey my request. I have a duty to fulfill, a promise to keep, but more than that... even if I allowed myself to love Melinda, and she returned this love, it will end the same. She will be ripped from my life just as you were. They will all be taken from me, like you’ve all been taken. Whether by fulfilling duty, or old age. They will all succumb to death. Perhaps…”
He paused, a moment of disbelief fluttering through him.
“Perhaps it is time I consider my own. Perhaps my time here must also come to a determined end.”
He thought about how he would do it.
A stake to the heart? Purposely miss his dose of masking potion and burning up in the sunlight? And when? Now? Right away? Or after the current generation of Howards grew to a certain age, no longer needing his help. Perhaps if Jack Howard were found alive, maybe then? With the patriarch of the family returned, perhaps this would be the time for him to slip away and never return...
His thoughts returned to the night his beloved Angelina died.
When he’d been ready to slaughter every Deane on the battlefield, but stopped, knowing she’d never condone such behavior.
His suicidal thoughts sickened him, guilt filling his bloodless heart. How could he possibly think of leaving the Howards? They were his redemption. His penance. For all the despicable things he’d done before finding out there was another way to survive with what he’d become.
Was he such a coward, that he’d just take the easy way out?
No.
He could not add this blasphemy to his list of failures. He had no idea what waited him after this cursed life did finally end. But something inside told him he needed to stay. His time in this life was not yet finished.
He bounded off the ground stalking out of the mausoleum. Sudden determination eating away the gloom that had taken over.
He closed the heavy iron door.
“I will not repeat my mistakes,” he declared. “I will never love another human as I did you, Angelina. But as long as a Howard still lives and breathes in this world, I will keep my promise. They will not be forsaken. Especially at the hands of a Deane.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The picnic basket Riley packed had yet to be opened. It balanced precariously on a rock near their heads, blocking Melinda and Riley from view. They lay on a sand covered blanket facing each other, just inside a small cavern. Just the two of them, hidden away. It was, indeed, the perfect spot as Riley had claimed. Melinda had been on this beach years ago, but she didn’t recall the cavern.
Outside of their little picnic spot waves crashed onto the shore, seagulls squawked as they circled overhead searching for food, while distant voices echoed from people
“Oh Angelina. My dearest love. Melinda grows more like you each day. She has your eyes. Your lips. Your compassion and strength... even your vulnerability.” His mouth curled into a sad smile. “And she most definitely has your stubbornness.”
William lowered his head.
“She is the reason I almost broke all my promises. I am … afraid...” his voice trailed off, shame weighting his words.
“Afraid my feelings for her will be my undoing. But she is young. An adult, but young, and naïve in so many ways. Sheltered. This is partly my own doing. She has suffered so much already and I cannot stand to see her in pain. In some ways her life has made her very… old. Wise. A caring soul. But she hasn’t lived enough to understand her own feelings. To understand love. And she deserves love. To have a normal life. A family. To carry on the Howard line. Something I cannot give her.”
For a moment, his heart ached so terribly he swore it had started beating again.
“I do not know how many generations of Howards I can watch come into this world, only to leave it, and me, behind. If I could bring myself to leave, I would. But I cannot. I tried. Last night I tried with every fiber of my being, but my feet would not obey my request. I have a duty to fulfill, a promise to keep, but more than that... even if I allowed myself to love Melinda, and she returned this love, it will end the same. She will be ripped from my life just as you were. They will all be taken from me, like you’ve all been taken. Whether by fulfilling duty, or old age. They will all succumb to death. Perhaps…”
He paused, a moment of disbelief fluttering through him.
“Perhaps it is time I consider my own. Perhaps my time here must also come to a determined end.”
He thought about how he would do it.
A stake to the heart? Purposely miss his dose of masking potion and burning up in the sunlight? And when? Now? Right away? Or after the current generation of Howards grew to a certain age, no longer needing his help. Perhaps if Jack Howard were found alive, maybe then? With the patriarch of the family returned, perhaps this would be the time for him to slip away and never return...
His thoughts returned to the night his beloved Angelina died.
When he’d been ready to slaughter every Deane on the battlefield, but stopped, knowing she’d never condone such behavior.
His suicidal thoughts sickened him, guilt filling his bloodless heart. How could he possibly think of leaving the Howards? They were his redemption. His penance. For all the despicable things he’d done before finding out there was another way to survive with what he’d become.
Was he such a coward, that he’d just take the easy way out?
No.
He could not add this blasphemy to his list of failures. He had no idea what waited him after this cursed life did finally end. But something inside told him he needed to stay. His time in this life was not yet finished.
He bounded off the ground stalking out of the mausoleum. Sudden determination eating away the gloom that had taken over.
He closed the heavy iron door.
“I will not repeat my mistakes,” he declared. “I will never love another human as I did you, Angelina. But as long as a Howard still lives and breathes in this world, I will keep my promise. They will not be forsaken. Especially at the hands of a Deane.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The picnic basket Riley packed had yet to be opened. It balanced precariously on a rock near their heads, blocking Melinda and Riley from view. They lay on a sand covered blanket facing each other, just inside a small cavern. Just the two of them, hidden away. It was, indeed, the perfect spot as Riley had claimed. Melinda had been on this beach years ago, but she didn’t recall the cavern.
Outside of their little picnic spot waves crashed onto the shore, seagulls squawked as they circled overhead searching for food, while distant voices echoed from people
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