Chapter 440: Sunshine and Rainbows 2
"It did not take long for the blood to find your cheeks," Penelope giggled, pulling on the hands that were now covering his face. "Let me see. Let me see this new living Zagan who is experiencing embarrassment for the first time."
He groaned again, letting her pull his hands away to reveal the smile that broke brilliantly across his face. His sudden unencumbered joy and the way it seemed to light him from within stole her breath.
"Wow," she gasped, pinning his hands next to him and slowly climbing on top of him again. "Look at how beautiful you are when you smile."
"Is this normal? For females to call their males beautiful?" He asked, lifting his head to kiss her before falling back on the pillow.
"Like I care about normal," she scoffed, her hair falling around them, blocking them from the world. "What is this book you were trying to tell me about?" She asked softly, memorizing his face like this—the way he was open and vulnerable and drinking her in.
"I went back to Gray Vale. It is where the vampires are... where I am originally from. I was panicking and seeking answers, and the old caretaker of the atheneum there..."
"Atheneum?" Penelope interrupted.
"It is like a library. A very old library. The caretaker is called Nelo. I shared with him what had happened, and he gave me a book with no name. He said..." he trailed off, wondering what she would make of all he had learned.
"He said what?" She asked, threatening to distract him with the low, sensuous tone of her voice and the way she was focusing now on his lips.
"He said you are my mate," he whispered, dropping his eyes to her lips as well.
Penelope blinked and slowly let him go, sitting upright where his hands rose to follow her, tracing up along her sides and causing her to shiver. Penelope flashed back to Nedra standing in the doorway of her room, asking if she was Zagan’s mate. She had been right after all.
"What does that mean for us? Is that a good thing?" She asked, wetting her lips. The only reference she had regarding mates was of the lycan kind. And since alyko did not have mates, she never imagined that she would have one. "I mean, it must be a good thing. It has given you a heartbeat. It has brought us together."
"That is true," he said quietly, running his hands higher to gently palm her breasts. He never understood the allure of the female body other than to feed from. But everything about Penelope was delicious. Everything about her was alluring. The thunder in his chest started speeding up, and a crooked smile arrived on his face when he realized how obvious his attraction to her was if one were to simply eavesdrop on his heart.
Penelope ran her hands up his arms where they eventually arrived over his own that were enjoying exploring her. "You are red again," she said quietly.
"Must you call attention to it?" He chuckled.
"It is sweet," she smiled.
"And that is the first time I have ever been called sweet," he said, causing her to laugh softly with him.
"We are mates," she said aloud, testing how it sounded when she spoke it. "It feels true," she smiled. Indeed, something trilled deep inside of her at the words and reached out to entangle with him.
"I fear if any other vampire hears about it," he admitted, recalling Nelo’s warning.
"Why?" She frowned, playing with his hands in her own.
"It is rare, and it is a threat to my kind," he told her, clenching his jaw when he imagined how they would be hunted. If Nelo was right and if others discovered this, they would have trouble hiding from the royals who would seek to eliminate the threat.
"How can mates be a threat to any kind?" She asked, her eyebrows pinching together. He reached up to smooth the worry that furrowed there.
"It is complicated, but power is very important to the vampires. And the ability to create new vampires when very few can is..."
"Very powerful," she finished, dropping her hands to rest on his stomach.
"Yes," he sighed.
A clap of thunder broke a short distance away, startling both of them. Penelope froze, raising her eyes to the sky as Zagan lifted himself to his elbows. The shadow of a cloud made its way over the glittering windows of the lotus, edging out the sun.
"A storm?" She asked, glancing back to him in question. "There are storms here?"
"No," his voice dropped to a low husk. "Something is wrong."
They both got up from the bed, finding their clothes and pulling them on. Penelope kept glancing at the newly living Zagan, wondering how he would handle any danger that may come their way. Could he still fight like before? Was he as strong? Or was he now as fragile as a human? It felt ridiculous to worry for someone who she had wanted to eliminate, but now she felt that very worry start to rise in her throat like it was going to choke her.
"Come, we must find Nedra," he said, walking to her side and taking her hand. He considered asking her to stay at the lotus to wait in case there was danger, but he couldn’t part with her. They would be safer together.
"What does this mean?" Penelope asked Zagan who was now jumping from one tree to another with her secured on his back. The sky was nearly as black as night as they approached Nedra’s cottage.
"I am not sure, but it isn’t good," he told her, dropping to the ground in front of the home that Nedra had made for herself. "She is not here," he said as Penelope slid off of his back.
"How can you tell? We haven’t even gone in."
"There are no heartbeats inside," he told her.
"Your hearing is that good?" Her eyes went wide. "Well... what if she is inside, but she’s..."
"I don’t think that is the case, but we can check," he replied. He entered through the front door, walking through the living room and kitchen while Penelope ran up the stairs.
"Where else would she be?" Penelope asked as she came down the steps.
"The castle."
