Chapter 21: Awakening

Two weeks after Yury left I was sitting on the foot of Antonio's bed knitting when he woke up and saw me. I smiled at him and slowly put down the needles. "Hey there," I said softly.

"Hey," he answered back weakly. Antonio had been waking up during the day for a few hours at a time but had never woken up at night. "How long have you been there?"

"Every night for the past two and a half weeks," I said.

"What happened?"

"You were glamoured into taking a bottle of pills while I was in a meeting," I told him truthfully. "It about ended your life."

"I don't remember doing that," he whispered.

"You were glamoured not to remember it. It is alright though," I soothed, "I found out who it was and they are not welcomed here again."

"That is good to hear," he smiled. He reached for my hand and I slid my body next to his and took his hand. "What happened with New York?"

I blinked at him and sighed. "We have a contract with New York."

"What does that mean?"

"I have agreed to meet with the King of New York for one week a year for the next five years till we go through the ceremony of signing a marriage contract." Antonio stiffened and took a sharp breath. "It's not till we meet our final death. The marriage contract is between two kingdoms for one hundred years. I have made arrangements of meeting him for only a certain amount of time and various other things. You have to understand, Antonio, vampires marry for power or security for only a certain time."

"Never for love?"

"Love can be seen as a sign of weakness. But some of us do marry for love, but it is still only a hundred year contract. It is longer than most human marriages. There is no divorce in vampire law, well there is, it is called the true death."

Antonio looked at me and thought it over. "Do you love the King of New York?"

"I have strong feelings for Yury. I won't deny it. I have known him far longer and we have an understanding of each other that comes from our friendship," I told him honestly.

"You don't feel that strong about me," he commented sadly.

"Antonio, I plan on making you my child. I care for you very much and I know that you will survive the passing of time; but I know that you will eventually want to be away from my side and explore the world on your own."

"I don't think that I would make a good vampire."

"Do you not want to be turned vampire anymore?"

"I need to think about it," he sighed as his eyes started to close.

"Very well. Sleep, Antonio," I whispered as I gave his cheek a kiss as his eyes closed. I stayed there and waited till he was in a deep sleep before I moved. I gathered up my knitting and left the room. Dawn was approaching in a few hours and I felt the need to talk to Yury.

I went into my room and changed into sweats and a tank top before picking up my phone and dialed Yury's number. I stood there looking at my phone and debated on pushing the call button when it rang. I looked at the number and smiled.

"Hey," I answered.

"Why hello," purred the familiar voice. "I was just thinking about you and decided that I would call and check in on things."

I sat down in the middle of my bed and sighed. "He woke up and talked to me tonight."

"That's good! Why do you sound depressed?"

"He asked about us," I said softly. There was no reply back for a breath. "I told him the truth. He was going to find out anyways so I figured that I could at least tell him about the contract."

"What did he have to say about that?" asked Yury.

"Not much, he wanted to think it over," I informed Yury. "He asked if I cared for you."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth. He is debating on whether or not he wants to be turned."

"I love you too, Mags." I held the phone away from me and looked at it in disbelief. "Mags?"

"Say that to my face, Yury," I challenged.

"Next time I see you I will," he said back.

"You seriously love me?"

"I have loved you since that first night. You are my deadly angel of the night."

"Well, fuck a zombie," I breathed.

"I'd rather fuck you."

"Well I am glad for that," I chuckled.

"Good. I am sending you something. It should be there next week."

"Yur-y!"

"Yes?"

"No."

"Too late. It has been ordered and you can't do anything about it."

"You are infuriating some times."

"You will like it," he argued.

"Not the point."

"I don't care. I just hope that it will bring a smile to your face," he said. "I hated to see you so depressed while I was there for those few days."

"Are you going to be here to make sure I smile?"

"I planned on it."

"Fine!" I growled.

Yury laughed, "I will see you soon, kärlek."

I hung up the phone and laid back on my pillow. I looked up at my ceiling and wondered what Yury was bringing me to make me smile. I continued to think until death took me.

Antonio continued to wake up during the day and he was getting stronger. Within a few days he was walking to my room and spending a few hours there. I could smell his scent when I woke up from death. By the time I went to his room he was already asleep for the night. I would sit in his room for a few hours while I wrote him a letter and left it for him to read.

I continued on with my duties and waited for the day that either Antonio would come talk to me or when Yury would show up. Quinn made sure that I took a night to myself and watched old movies with me for the entire night. I felt a little better and was in a more tolerable mood for the next night at court.

The next night I woke up and found a letter on my chest. I opened up the envelope and read the letter several times over before dropping it on the bed and going to my bathroom. I stepped into my shower and turned on the water. I didn't even remove my clothes before the water pelted me. I cried my dead heart out and was soon curled up in the fetal position with the water still hitting my back. I was crying so hard that I didn't hear the door open to my shower stall.

Sookie stepped inside and crouched down to rub my back. I looked up at her and tried to control my breathing. She wiped my tears away and smoothed my hair away from my face.

"H-he… he left," I sobbed.

"I know, Mags," she soothed. "I saw the letter." Sookie pulled me upright and stripped me out of my soaking clothes and turned the heat on the water up. "Eric canceled court tonight as soon as he felt your distress. Take as long as you need. We will be in your office."

She left and I felt a little better knowing that she could at least understand my hurt. I washed up and shut off the water. I stepped out and dried myself off with a towel Sookie had placed on my counter. I quickly dressed into my fighting clothes and pulled my hair back into a tight braid.

I stepped out of my bathroom and went to my office. Quinn was there and handed me a sheet of paper. I looked at it and nodded before I handed it back to him. He bowed and left. I turned to Eric and Sookie and tilted my head toward the door Quinn left through. We were quickly out the door and I was making my way out to my courtyard. Eric picked up Sookie and we took off towards the city limits.

When we landed Eric placed Sookie between us and we went into a large building. Sookie said nothing so I knew Eric had informed her that this was a small fighting pit left over from the from her great grandfather's time. Eric led Sookie to a seat and I turned to go down the stairs.

Quinn nodded to me as he opened the door to the pit for me. I stepped out and faced twenty other vampires that had broken a law that was punishable by death. The Magistrate had already seen them earlier this month and was just waiting for me to sign the punishment agreements.

I looked up and saw Yury come in and look at me. His face went blank as his eyes met mine. He quickly found Eric and Sookie and sat down next to them.

"What the hell happened?" he asked Eric. I watched as Eric looked at me and noticed my nod.

"Antonio left today," he said coldly. "She is working out her frustration."

"Twenty to one?" hissed Yury.

"Relax, Yury. They are all under two decades old as a vampire." Yury growled and looked back at me. I gave him a wink and turned to the young vampires and sent them an evil smile. The Magistrate was explaining the rules to the vampires and turned towards me with a bored look.

"Very well," he said dryly, "Let the fight begin." He left the ring and the bell rang.