“You can fly,” I gasped.
“Not naturally,” he answered as he casually climbed inside. “It’s a spell.”
“Ah, I see.”
Slipping off his coat, he walked over to the bed and sat down. I swallowed hard and glanced at the door. Ethan was out inspecting the wreckage at Crimson, but I still couldn’t help being nervous that he was going to walk in on us at any second. He wasn’t too fond of Roman, and I didn’t know how he’d react if he found him here with me in our room.
Roman clasped his hands together and smiled at me.
“So,” he began. “Have you had enough time to consider my proposition?”
His proposition? Oh, right. What with everything that had been happening, I’d completely forgotten about the whole sorceress thing. Since he’d retrieved Emilia and Rebecca from Theodore, I technically did owe him. Then again, he still hadn’t used Emilia to take down the barrier, nor had he gotten Rita back.
“You know I’m pregnant, right?” I said, trying to distract him and buy myself more time.
“I do. I would say congratulations are in order, but that would probably be in bad taste.”
A shiver ran through me as I tried to push vivid thoughts of dying in childbirth out of my head.
“I also know that you’re planning on going after Theodore by yourself,” he continued. “Tut tut, Tegan. That’s a very bad idea. You have no chance of defeating him.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
He tapped his temple. “I know a lot. Too much, really.”
I exhaled and slumped down onto the bed beside him. “I’m just panicking, okay? If I survive my pregnancy, then I want to know that I’m bringing my child into a world that’s stable. In order to do that, Theodore has to die.”
“Well, I could help you with that, if you agree to my offer. There’s also something else I could add to the bargain. Something I’m sure you’d find very valuable given you’re in a romantic relationship with a vampire.”
My curiosity piqued. “Oh?”
“There’s a spell that would allow him to feed from you and only you. He’d no longer have to find random humans to take blood from, and you wouldn’t have to suffer the jealousy of thinking about him sinking his fangs into anyone else.”
Okay, so I was definitely interested. Practically, I knew Ethan had to feed, but personally, I didn’t enjoy the thought of him feeding from other people, other women in particular. I peered at Roman. “How does it work?”
“Since he is transformed, your blood doesn’t pose any further harm to him. In fact, drinking your blood is now the same as him drinking any other human’s blood. The power contained within has already been transferred. However, it is still unhealthy for you to be bitten so often, given your human half can become addicted to his bite. It also isn’t advisable to lose blood on such a regular basis. However, if I were to teach you this spell, it would allow you to use your magic to regenerate the blood you’ve lost, while also warding off the possibility of addiction.”
I stared at him. What he was offering was certainly appealing. If I was the only one Ethan fed from it would bring us even closer together, strengthen our already strong bond while allowing me to avoid the jealousy of him feeding from other women. But becoming a sorceress? I still wasn’t sure if I was powerful or clever enough for such an endeavour.
Pursing my lips, I stared down at my hands, searching for answers that weren’t there. “If I become a sorceress, would I still be me?”
Roman laughed. “Of course you would. The possession of magic comes with a choice. Take Theodore and me as an example. Theodore made the choice to use his magic for bad, while I chose to use mine to do good.”
“It’s that simple?”
“Most things are when it comes down to it.”
A million thoughts rushed through my head. Finally, I came to a decision. I mean, I was already in dire straits, all things considered. What else did I have to lose? I turned and held my hand out to Roman.
“Alright, Granddad, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
He took my hand into his immediately, and we shook on it, a beatific smile spreading across his face. “Marvellous.”
Standing up, I walked over to the closet and pulled out the backpack I’d stashed there last night. It contained a very sharp sword, which I took from Ethan’s weapons room hidden in the back of the basement, several litres of petrol, and a good old-fashioned packet of matches. Oh, yeah, and a zippo lighter just in case the matches happened to get wet. The sword was too big for the backpack and stuck out awkwardly at the top, so I took it out and strapped it across my back instead.