“You’re a fool if you can’t see it. And the thing is, William, I don’t take you for a fool. Maybe when you were first turned, but now? Surely you must have learned a thing or two about love.”
William laughed again, more nervously this time. “Love? Who said anything about love?”
“You are a fool. Such a pity. You see William, witches only marry for love. That’s our one and only rule for a union such as this.”
William’s face grew serious as he stared at the witch across from him. He thought of Marie. Did she love him? Was it possible?
He shook his head. “No, there must be some kind of misunderstanding.”
“There is no understanding. And don’t worry. You want to die? She’s up to the task. It will break her spirt; I’m not saying it won’t, but she’ll come back from it. She’s a strong witch, and she is fully prepared to go through with what you wish.”
He nodded, his heart racing. Marie loved him? He wondered if it were true. How did the mother-witch know? Did Marie say something? He had to know.
“How can you be certain it’s love?” he asked, his forehead starting to perspire.
“I’ve known my daughter for all of her life, William. I know what’s in her heart, often times, before she does. But it was not the case this time. She already knew before she came to me. Love is the reason why she married you, William. And she is fully aware of it.”
“But I am going to make her a widow? Why’d she do it?” he asked, confused.
“For the same reason you married her, I presume. To remember what it was like to actually feel something for someone. Even if for a brief time.”
William shook his head. “I married her so that I could leave her my money, for no other reason.”
“Why don’t you keep telling yourself that, son,” the mother-witch said before getting up. She turned to him before walking out into the hallway. “The sun is going to rise within the hour. We’ll be done with some of the preparations before then, but there are things we need to wait for. You’ll both take the dispel potion when you roam around out there. You’ll be here a few days. Be careful when you leave here. We don’t want those other vampires onto us. Their leader, he’d come after her in a heartbeat. I am asking you as her mother, please keep her safe.”
William nodded. He knew their leader, Drake, would come after her, too. To have a witch in their coven? It didn’t get any better than that. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything,” he said, but they both knew he meant Marie.
The mother-witch smiled. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault. My daughter was in love with you a hundred years ago. She told me about the circus. William, I am sorry I had anything to do with your vampire life. It was not my intention.”
William nodded, accepting her apology.
Esme smiled. “You know, I have this memory of Marie waiting after each show I took her to. She wanted to meet you and shake your hand. We waited and waited every night, but you never emerged. The ringleader came out, the female acrobats. Even the elephant trainer. But she didn’t want to meet anyone except for you. I always wondered, where did you run off to after all of your performances?” she asked.
William ran a hand through his dark hair. “I just stayed behind in the circus tent and helped clean up. I wanted to go out and mingle with the crowd, but the owners needed the muscle to help.”
“It made for one disappointed little girl.”
“Seems I have a knack for disappointing her.”
The mother-witch, lingering by the open door, gave him a sad smile. “You don’t have to disappoint her this time. There are no circus owners to hold you back. There is only you. The choice, for once in your life, is yours and yours alone.”
“What are you saying?” he asked.
“William, just keep your heart and your mind open.”
She left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts, the book long forgotten. Marie’s smile popped into his head. His body responded to that image and he readjusted himself, unable to keep his erection from growing.
Forty-five minutes later, Marie entered the room, a grey backpack in her hand. “I think that’s it for tonight,” she said.
He got up, looking into her eyes, searching. For what he didn’t know.
Marie swallowed, but didn’t turn away. She thought about their night together thus far. The wedding, dancing and now this. It was almost as if the marriage and the dancing was a lifetime ago. Unable to face him anymore, she finally had to turn away.
William put two hands on each side of her waist. “Hey, thanks for all of this. Whatever you found out tonight, we don’t have to talk about it right now. It’s getting late and we’re running out of time,” he said, motioning towards the window, where the sun was threatening to arise behind a layer of dark clouds promising rain that morning.
Marie nodded. “We can stay here. My mom has a guestroom.”
William smiled and pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ears. “You know, I was thinking maybe we could get a nice hotel room. It is our wedding night after all,” he said, giving her a flirtatious smile.
Marie looked at him, his smile contagious.
William leaned in close to her ear and whispered. “I think a hotel would be far more appropriate for what I have in mind.”
Suddenly, there was both fear and excitement in Marie’s eyes. “William, is that safe?”
“You know, I’ve been asking myself that same question ever since I met you. I think I can perform without sinking my teeth in. I have some control after all of these years. Do you still have that knife?” he asked.
“No, but I can get one from my mom.”
“Good. You can keep the knife on the bedside table. If I get anywhere near your collarbone, you can use the knife against me. It will deter me, Marie. It won’t kill me, but I’m not immune from pain. I’ll be careful and I won’t go near your throat or collarbone area.” William leaned in a kissed her softly on the mouth. “You can trust me,” he said, placing a hand on her cheek.
She placed a hand over his hand. “Okay, but if I feel off at any point, or if I get a funny feeling about this, we stop.”
He nodded and took her hand. Before they left, they said goodbye to the mother-witch.
“Looks like we’re going to stay in a hotel,” Marie said to her mom.
“Well, make sure you take some dispel before you leave. Did you make enough?”
“I made plenty,” she said, taking some out of her bag. She handed a potion bottle to William. “One sip is all you need.”
She watched as he drank and then made a face. “Does everything you make have to taste so bad?”
“It’s not supposed to taste good,” she said, taking the bottle from him and taking a sip herself. She also made a face.
“See,” he said with a smile. “It’s awful.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, making him smile even more. “Oh, that is very becoming. A very nice look for you, indeed.”
They waited for the car from a car-sharing app to arrive and Esme walked her daughter and William to the door. It was still dark outside, and the rain had started to fall pretty heavily.