CHAPTER 1: The Whisper of Eternity

"Beautiful."

Mina looked up from the bundle of dark crimson roses, for which she used her charm and impressive haggling skills to buy from the vendor for just three pounds a dozen, to the dark rugged figure standing in front of her. His steely gaze was too powerful to ignore, and his breathtaking smile was just too much for her to bear. This tall, mysterious but terribly handsome man was surely an unexpected sight on this cold gloomy day in London. Mina blinked at him, not sure exactly what he meant with that comment of his. A very bold man, this one.

The dark one cleared his throat and opened his mouth once again. Once again, Mina found herself mesmerized, this time, by that cool husky voice of his.

"The flowers, milady." He added, once again followed by a smile that left Mina breathless.

"Milady." Mina repeated, amused by the term he used to call her. She couldn't stop herself from asking where he came from. He looked too tall, too rugged, too handsome to be considered as a typical Englishman. And, judging from the way he dressed, the manner in which he carried himself, he looked like he just came out of a story book. He seemed to be… of noble blood. That possibility became even more plausible when he said that he came from a faraway place.

Mina nodded, slightly satisfied with his answer. Time to go. She didn't want to waste her time and his on such trivialities. After all, her mother taught her not to talk to strangers. And this dark one was a stranger. A tall, rugged, handsome and aristocratic stranger at that.

"Well, good night." Mina walked past him, catching a whiff of his spicy cologne. It was a sexy, very masculine fragrance, and even the fragrance of the roses weren't able to mask his scent. It was intoxicating.

"'Why think separately of this life and the next, when one is born from the last…'" The dark one said, loud enough for just the two of them to hear. Did he just recite lines from Mina's favorite poem? How he even knew, she had no idea. Mina couldn't believe what she just heard. She turned to face him again, her sapphire gaze glued to his. There really was no use trying to resist his charms. He had her at Rumi.

"I'm Mina." She said, holding her gaze steadily with his.

"Vlad." He said huskily. The dark one gently took hold of her hand and lifted her fingers to his lips for a gallant kiss. In silence, they turned away from the busy market place in the midst of London's hustle and bustle and walked back to Mina's place. Finally, with another chaste kiss to Mina's hand and a devilish smile, Vlad left Mina in front of her house while she stared at his back as he slowly disappeared from her sight.

"Vlad." His name came out as a whisper from Mina's lips, and with it, the promise of another chance meeting with her dark one.

She couldn't sleep.

Mina tossed and turned on her queen-size bed, feeling helpless and at the same time annoyed that it was taking so long for her to fall asleep. Finally giving up the fight, she kicked the covers and yanked her robe draped on the edge of her bed. She padded across her bedroom and stood in front of the large French window before giving it a gentle push. The cool evening breeze sent the flimsy white curtains billowing at her feet, and all of a sudden, she was filled with a gentle calm. Just what she needed on a cool and magical evening such as this one.

She leaned her arms on the railings of her bedroom window, inhaled the wonderful fragrance of the jasmine that grew quietly on the corner of her small bedroom terrace, and gave out a sigh. She knew for a fact that there was more to her fitful sleep than just overdoing the caffeine; she blamed the dark handsome one for her discomfort.

Why did he have to be so handsome? So gallant? So mysterious? Despite her lack of experience when it comes to men and matters of the heart, she knew in her heart and in her gut that during this afternoon's chance meeting with Vlad, they immediately made a connection. Sure, he was too handsome for his own good—too charming, even. Of course, she wouldn't admit that to him—but of course, she had to be logical. What were the odds that they would be able to see each other again, even if they knew each other's names? Hoping for something more than a chance meeting with him was simply pushing her luck too far. Still, if only…

Mina sighed and shook her head vigorously.

"Stop it, Mina. Stop it!" She told herself as she backed away from the railings. And yet, she found herself smiling once again, because she remembered something about him that made him utterly irresistible in her eyes.

"He recited poetry." My kind of guy. She told herself. As an English teacher, nothing could shake her core except for poetry and literature. And blood roses, too.

Gently plucking a blossom from her jasmine bush, she slowly brought the blossom to her nostrils and inhaled the sweet fragrance. Part of her was now convinced that what happened between Vlad and her was no chance meeting. She sensed that somehow, it was the celestial workings of fate and destiny that brought them together. Perhaps…

It was Mina's last thought before she went back inside her bedroom, leaving the windows open and the breeze to cool her bedroom tonight. The faint trace of jasmine in the air made her sleepy as she lay underneath the covers. She let her thoughts drift to her dark one before sleep finally enveloped her in its warm embrace.

Of course, Mina was unaware that right across her apartment, clothed in darkness, with the moonbeams lighting his path, the dark one was perched on one of the boughs of an ancient oak, watching over her, guarding her, waiting for her to fall asleep so he could whisper her name.

He finally found her. After years of enduring the pain of losing Mirena, his wife, he was once again given the strength to live and tolerate eternity because he found her. In this lifetime, though, they call her Mina. Still, he knew it was Mirena living inside her. How else would she be able to recognize the beautiful excerpt from their wedding vows?

As he watched her earlier this evening, looking up at the stars, surrounded by billowy curtains and jasmine blossoms, he knew that she was thinking about him, just as he was thinking about her.

He made a silent vow that he will make her fall in love with him, to stoke the fires of their love once more, to continue where they left off six hundred years ago. And he would protect her as eternity permits. Vlad smiled. It was a sound plan.

"Mina." Her name was a sweet whisper from Vlad's lips, a promise of yearning, protection, and perhaps even love.

Mine.