Hiding my tears from him, I ran to my car and sped out of the driveway. I wasn’t sure if Regan would be there when I got home or if he would be out until dawn, but I would be there waiting until he showed up.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
He was sitting in the chair in the living room when I got home. The lights were off, but I could smell him in the darkness. It only took a second for my eyes to adjust to the low light, and I made my way closer to him.
His hands were folded in his lap like normal, but he was slouched over instead of sitting up straight like I had seen a million times before. I tried to read his thoughts but was hit with a brick wall of nothing. The bond we once shared so strongly had vanished in the past few weeks. I knew it was all my fault and the guilt of it was weighing me down hard.
“You’re home early,” was all he said as I made my way closer to him.
“Yes. We need to talk.”
“I know.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. He had a hard time reading me too, but in that moment he seemed to know more than I was wanting him to. I knew what I came back to do but standing there, in front of him, I wasn’t sure I could go through with it. I did love Regan with all my heart. I had for a hundred years. He was the one I had given my everything to and the one person I had trusted. As odd as it seemed since he had to make me a monster to make me feel whole, he was the reason I hadn’t killed myself that night he walked into my sleepy little town. When he showed up in my house, I knew he was an angel that could save me from myself. When my mother had me believing I wasn’t worth the spit I would take for the man she had set me up with, Regan came in and showed me I was so much more. He was by my side but never the reason I was me. He only guided me and showed me how strong I could really be.
A single tear ran down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. I tried to bring up Dylan in my mind to get the courage I needed to face what had to be done, but all I got was a fuzzy image of him chased with a lifetime of memories of Regan.
“I know why you came back,” Regan said breaking up my thoughts.
“You do?”
“Yes. I’ve been waiting here for you.”
“I thought you went out before me.”
“I wanted you to think that so you would go. I knew you needed to see for yourself one last time what it was your heart wanted. I know what it is now, and I know you do too.”
“How could you possibly when I don’t?” I asked.
“But you do know, Alyssa. You have known for days now. You had to get up the courage to face me and do what it was you needed to. I saw it long before you.”
“I thought I knew, but now I’m not so sure,” I confessed.
“When you are with him, do you think about me?”
“Sometimes.”
“Not enough though. When you are with me, do you think about him?”
“Yes,” I admitted. Lying to him would do me no good since it was clear he was reading me at least a little. I had to tell him the whole truth if I would be able to do this with at least a little less guilt.
“It’s okay. When I met you I knew it wouldn’t be forever. You made me happy for the first time the day we met. The last hundred years have made me glad to be alive. If you aren’t here with me, I don’t want to live anyway, so go ahead and do what you came here to do.”
“You’re not even going to fight me or try to stop me?”
“What’s the point? I can’t make you love me the way I love you. Sometimes the best thing you can do is let the person go.”
“But you know what that means, right?”
“Yes. I know. I’ve been sitting here all night preparing for it. The only thing about this life I will miss is you. I’m ready to go.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to let you go, Regan.”
“It’s time, my love. It’s been time. I’ve lived for three hundred years. That’s more than most get, and I had a great time doing it. I made you and you are now ready to move on. I know what that means, and I welcome it.”
I heard the emotion in his voice as he tried to sound strong. Facing the possibility of death after all that time was hard on him too. The fact it would come from my hands hadn’t made it any easier for either of us.
“I know, Alyssa. I know it’s hard for you. Come here.”
I saw his arms outstretched in front of him and I ran to them. As he wrapped me tight, I thought back to all the times we’d had together, and I knew I would miss him so much. He kissed the top of my head before pushing me away from him. As his lips found mine, I felt my body respond the same as it always had. His responded too, but he pushed me away again before it went any farther.
“I wish I could have you one more time, but you aren’t mine anymore.”
“Regan, I...”
“I know, Alyssa. I know.”
He knelt down in front of me and arched his back making his throat accessible to me. I saw the tear fall from his right eye and land on the floor. As it hit with a small splash, my heart cracked.
“I don’t think I can do this,” I whispered.
“Yes, you can. Do what you came here for. It’s okay. I know you love him, and I don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t love me.”
“But I do love you.”
“I know.” He stood up again and came to me. Putting his hands on my face, he tilted it up so I could look at him. “You love me in your own way but not in the way I need anymore. It’s time for you to set us free.”
He reached behind him and grabbed the ancient sword he had displayed in every house we’d lived in. Taking it out of its sheath, he didn’t even look at it as he handed it over to me.
“You have to cut all the way through or it won’t work. I love you, Alyssa, and I will always be thankful for our time together.
“I love you too, Regan.”
With one last kiss, he knelt again and waited. I lifted the heavy sword as high as I could and came down hard on his throat. The sharp blade sliced right through his flesh and bone like it was tissue paper. I watched his head roll across the floor, stopping so his eyes were on me before his body slumped the rest of the way to the ground. My hands shook as I placed the weapon back on the mantle above the fireplace we used every night. Blood dripped down and streaked the once white finish of the marble he had put around the fireplace himself when we moved in.
“I’m so sorry, Regan. I will always love you.”
I looked at his lifeless body one last time before running out the front door. Without looking back at what I had, I ran straight to my future. I only had minutes before the sun would be up, and Dylan was waiting for me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Oh my god, Alyssa. Are you alright?” Dylan asked when he flung open his door and saw me covered in Regan’s blood.
My once vibrant brown hair now lay matted to my head as the blood began to dry and weigh it down. My already pale skin was almost translucent since the death of my maker. Without a mate to fill in for him, I was slowly beginning to vanish. If I couldn’t turn Dylan before the sun rose in the sky, I would join Regan in the grave.
“No,” I said as loud as I could. Even then he struggled to hear me.