Kristie Cook - Promise

"Why?"

"You and I, well, we don't need to be broadcasting we're together. Certain… people …don't need to know," he said cryptically. I stared at him, waiting for an explanation. "You'll find out soon. Tonight. Just wait for Sophia."

I groaned with frustration and impatience. Coffee grounds spilled everywhere as I sloppily scooped them out of the can and practically threw them into the filter basket. I took a deep breath to calm myself and thought of a question I could ask and not have to wait for the answer.

"So, what kind of medical training do you have, anyway?"

"Well, um, to be completely honest…pre-med and some med school."

I looked at him, confused. "How did you do all that already? You're only twenty, right?"

He grimaced. "Um, yeah, about that…"

"What?" I asked with trepidation, quickly realizing this wasn't such a safe topic after all.

"Well, uh…you know how Sophia doesn't age?"

"Yeah." I waited for him to finish, but he just looked at me with his eyebrows raised. "You…? No way! "

He smiled weakly and shrugged.

" Really? So how old are you?"

"Well, um…" I'd never heard so many "well, um's" come from Tristan, never seen him so uncomfortable. He really didn't want to tell me. "…I was, uh, born in 1743, but I don't like to think of it that way. I prefer to be somewhere between nineteen and twenty-four…for a very long time."

My mouth dropped as I held the coffee pot in mid-air. What the…? Then several things flew through my mind… his quick reflexes and uncanny physical abilities on the basketball court…his travels all over the world…he could heal…his strength…how he appeared in my kitchen when there was no reason the back door would be un locked…the fire in his eyes…Mom at the store, stressing how much blood there was…. I inhaled sharply. He sucked my blood!

"Oh! Oh, oh, oh !" The coffee pot shook in my hand and then I felt it slide through my fingers, but I was in too much shock to do anything but watch it fall. Just before it hit the floor, Tristan's hand darted down and caught it. I jumped back several feet. "Oh, holy crap ! You are a vampire!"

He looked at me and something flickered in his eyes.

"Alexis," he said as he set the pot on the counter, "don't be absurd."

" Absurd?! " I shrieked, backing away from him. "I know vampires. I read and watch and research and write about them all the time. And you have all the characteristics! Well, except the pale skin. And you can go out in the sun. And you don't have fangs or anything. But maybe those are just myths…."

"Alexis, are you listening to yourself?"

I stopped and stared at him. And then I realized what I said and knew he was right. It was quite absurd. But the whole night was completely absurd.

"Are you listening to your self?" I shot back. "All night long…all these things about you…. Or are you making them up, still thinking I have some fantasy to be with a vampire?"

He chuckled. "I promise you, that's not what I'm doing. Please stop thinking such nonsense."

"Well…" Frustration overwhelmed me. "I'm sorry! But this night is completely crazy! What with almost being killed and you and everything else…I mean, I'm totally freaked out! At this point, I'm not sure what to believe!"

"Do you know how you weren't killed?" he asked calmly.

"Yeah, I know…you yanked us off the ladders. That doesn't mean anything. If vampires really exist…well, if you are one, then I know you'd be a good one."

"I didn't yank you off the ladders. Not the way you're thinking, anyway. Last I checked, vampires couldn't do this." He flicked his hand and somehow I flew the eight or so feet between us and was suddenly in Tristan's arms. My breath caught and my heart stopped beating. " That's how you and Sophia didn't end up under the car."

"How…did you… do that?" I croaked.

"It's a special…ability," he said quietly.

"Don't let go of me," I whispered, "or I might pass out."

"Don't worry," he murmured, his lips right against my ear. "I like you right where you are."

"You're really not a vampire?" I asked, still whispering.

"Absolutely not. I'm much more dangerous." He lowered his mouth against my neck and sucked lightly. "But I can pretend to be one, if you ever want me to."

"Tristan…"

"Sorry. But you do taste quite delicious." He sucked again.

" Tristan ." I squirmed out of his arms. "You're distracting me."

"Good." He grinned. I rolled my eyes. "Then what would you like to do while we wait for Sophia?"

I returned to making the coffee, filling the pot with water.

"Tell me more, what you can tell me. Are you really that… old ?"

The smile disappeared and he didn't answer for several moments. "Yes, I am. But, like I said, I prefer not to think about it like that. You'll understand—I hope, anyway—by the time the night is over."

I could tell there was something ominous coming later. I hated having to wait for it, but I wanted complete answers, which I wouldn't get without Mom.

"Okay, then…" I poured the water into the coffee maker and turned it on while trying to think of a different subject. "So, uh…if you went to med school, how come you're not a doctor? Oh, wait. You probably are, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "No, I could never complete the program, since I didn't age through it."

I could actually understand that. "Oh, yeah, right. Mom's had similar…problems."

He looked at me for a long moment and then took my hands into his and gently pulled me closer to him. "Alexis, you're going to find out some things about me…about my past…that you won't like. It may be enough to make you detest me and never want to see me again."

I shook my head. "I highly doubt that."

"Don't decide yet. Hear it all out. But I need to tell you something, in case this is my last chance." He cupped his hands on each side of my face, holding me there so he could gaze directly into my eyes. "Alexis…you are my soul mate. I've loved you since the day you first sat next to me in that women's studies class. I didn't know it then, but I can't deny it now. Now that you're going to find out who I really am, you'll understand how incredibly amazing, but so unexpected this is. I didn't even know I could love anyone. But…I love you , ma lykita ."

I stared back into his eyes and, although I knew he wasn't who I thought he was—not normal , in other words—I still felt what I felt. So when he pressed his mouth against mine, I happily kissed him back. As he continued to kiss me, his hands slowly slid down my neck, over my shoulders and down my arms. I cringed as sharp pains shot through my forearms at his touch.

He abruptly pulled back and lifted my wrists in each of his hands, studying my arms.

"Ah, shit," he muttered.

I looked down to see what caught his attention. Two bumps on my left forearm and three more on my right, bigger than large mosquito bites, swelled under my skin. "What are they?"

"Glass. You healed with pieces of glass still in the wounds."

"What?" I knew he spoke real words, but I couldn't grasp the meaning. It just wasn't registering.

"Alexis…your skin grew around them."

I stared at my arms. That's a new one. I'd never thought of it being an issue before and now that I did—imagining the glass embedded under my skin—my stomach clenched.

" Ew ," I breathed, totally incapable of saying anything else, not able to take my eyes off the lumps in my skin.

"Where does Sophia keep her medical kit?" Tristan asked. He started throwing open and banging closed the kitchen cabinet doors.

"Um…in her bathroom, I think. Why?"

He took my hand and pulled me toward the hallway and Mom's bedroom.

"I need to see if she has a scalpel in there."

" What? " I stopped as if I'd run into an invisible brick wall, yanking him to a halt.