The Illusion (Book Two in The Illusion of Certainty Series)

Beneath The Fire

I woke up in a bed, which was weird because I could have sworn I was going to die. Did I die? Again? I looked around and saw that the curtains were open, moonlight lighting up the room. I found Michael sleeping next to me in the bed. Max and Luke were nowhere to be found.

There was something nagging at my brain about Max, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember what it was. I looked down at my arm and found a long pink scar snaking from my wrist to my elbow. I sat up and ran my hands through my hair, my head pounding and everything else aching. Memories pounded my mind: pain, blood, and Michael. I looked down at him. I drank from him but yet I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I was still alive, still a Slayer.

I reached down and traced his cheek bone. My touch caused him to shiver and his eyes opened. He looked up at me, a smile blossoming across his face. He yawned and sat up. He nuzzled my face and I shivered.

“How are you feeling?”

“Everything hurts…what happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I remember passing out.”

“Anything else?”

I drew back from him and looked him in the eyes. “I drank from you.”

He nodded. “Quite a bit actually.”

“Then how—how am I still…”

“Human? We’ll get to that in a second. What else do you remember?”

I thought. Nothing else came to mind. That one fact kept pulsing through my mind.

“Nothing else…” I whispered.

He nodded cupping my cheek. There was nothing. I couldn’t feel anything, how he was feeling. I couldn’t hear his thoughts. Blind panic took me over.

“It’s ok. Don’t panic. The bond isn’t gone…it’s just a little fried.”

“Fried?”

“It’s all very complicated. Blood exchange is only encouraged when the receiver of Vampire blood is being changed. You ingested a lot and it fried the bond temporarily. When it comes back, it will be stronger.”

“Stronger?” I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that.

“You’ll be able to call to me when you need me. We won’t need touch anymore in order to speak in each other’s thoughts. Blocking will be a bit harder, however. The pull you feel sometimes when I’m around will be stronger as well.”

I nodded and looked at the clock on the nightstand. My eyes grew wide when I read the time. 3 a.m.

“I’m missing half the day?”

“Calm down, Georgiana. It’s normal. You lost a lot of blood. You were asleep for a while but that’s ok. You’re fine now. You needed a blood transfusion so don’t be upset if you feel dizzy or tired. It’s ok, I promise.”

He kissed me on the cheek and then got out of bed. He crossed the room to where a pitcher of water sat waiting on a table. He poured a glass and grabbed something out of the drawer. He handed me the water and opened the package for me, it looked like cookies.

“You need the sugar,” he said handing them to me.

I drank the water, finding I was very thirsty. I handed him the glass back and started on the cookies. I stopped when I started to feel nauseous. I handed them back to Michael. He smiled and tossed the cookies on the bedside table. He sat down next to me and took my hand.