Rome

Despite the fact that I was elated that Godric and I had finally confessed our love for one another, there was still the small matter of keeping it hidden from everyone else. It was imperative that no one discovered our secret as the consequences would be severe for both myself and my beloved Godric. However, this did not mean that we would keep ourselves away from each other entirely. We would wait until after dark before sneaking out successfully under the cover of darkness and escaping to our sanctuary within the ruins that we now called our own. We would lie there and watch the stars, talking about whatever it was that was on our minds at the time or thoughts that had been waiting to be shared with each other from the day.

'Godric?' I murmured softly and at his 'Hmmm?' that I took as a reply, continued. 'Do you like it here?'

'Being with you here is absolute bliss,' he answered.

I bit my lip and pulled myself together enough to say, 'No, not here, now. I meant, here in Rome.'

It took him a few deliberated seconds before he gave me an answer. 'I am fed and well. That is all I can ask for. And my brother is safe and in your sister's good care.'

I nodded. 'And if you could, would you go ... ?'

'Home?' he finished for me. 'Possibly. But there is nothing for me there anymore. Nothing but graves and memories of bloodshed.'

'You must have ... other memories. Good recollections of your family, your home ... '

I drifted off and he thought on my words for a few moments before his voice, sweet as honey and soft as velvet, spoke into my ear and sent a shiver down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

'I remember ... good times. My mother singing me to sleep as a child and then to my brother. My father teaching me the ways of the land. The celebrations throughout the year. The roaring fire of a winter and the cool breeze of a summer.'

'They sound wonderful,' I agreed.

'Maybe one day, we can make some good memories of our own,' he said to me before his lips touched mine and all conversation was forgotten for the time being.

The next night, I had awoken from my day's slumber to discover that Pam was nowhere to be found. I made plans to see Eric and Sookie that night, but I decided to try and find out more about these necromancers that had cursed my brother. Witches, in all honesty, neither trusted nor got along with vampires so the two species usually kept to themselves. However, a powerful necromancer with enough magic to cause a thousand year old vampire to lose all of his memories was a force to be reckoned with and I only prayed that there was some way to prevent this witch from harming any one else.

I decided to call upon one of my old acquaintances and picked up my mobile phone – a device I did not entirely like but used out of necessity and fast communication. I punched in a familiar number and put the phone to my ear, whispering to myself for the receiver to pick up hurriedly. After three tones, the phone was picked up and a male voice answered which I was not expecting.

'Onyx's phone,' he answered gruffly as though he had just been interrupted in doing something and wanted the phone call over as soon as possible.

'Hello,' I said graciously. 'Is Onyx there, please?'

'Yeah, yeah, may I ask who's calling?'

I smiled to myself and answered. 'Tell her that her niece is calling.'

'All right then,' he asked confusedly and I heard him pass on the message, asking to my amusement if she had any nieces at all.

A quick exchange of hands and a breath later, a female voice responded with a delicate 'Hello?'

'Hey, Auntie Onyx,' I chuckled.

I heard her sigh and I imagined her to roll her eyes in the exaggerated way that I remembered fondly. 'God, Aurora, how did I know?'

'I couldn't resist. '97, Bon Jovi concert. You told the backstage crew I was your niece for them to let me in – '

' – and you glamoured the entire backstage crew into letting us meet the band,' she recalled fondly. 'Wow, that makes me feel old. Not you, of course. You are old.'

'Ouch,' I laughed. 'Listen, Onyx, I was calling to ask a favour.'

'I hate this,' she grumbled. 'You vamps and your favours. I have to ask ... Does it involve my blood in any way?'

'No, of course not. And you know that I drink Tru Blood.'

'Mostly,' she said. 'And when has every vampire said that? It doesn't mean I trust them ... '

'You trust me, don't you?' I asked cautiously.

'Of course I do,' she murmured sincerely. 'You know that, Aurora.'

I smiled and recalled my first meeting with Onyx. She had been only a child of eight when I was first introduced to her, hiding behind her mother's legs and peeking out only to take a glance at me, the big bad vampire, before crying out in fear and asking to be taken away. I hadn't blamed her. Witch families often passed down horror stories of vampires and other supernatural creatures so I assumed that her family had informed her of the scary being with fangs and the ability to drink blood. Quite horrifying for a young child, but witches bring their children up in the ways of magic and they must be tough and strong from birth.

I had been a friend of the Raine family for many years; if my mind allowed me, I could remember my first meeting with Sarah Raine back in the seventeenth century, the beginning of my alliance with the family. I had protected her from others of my kind and had promised on her deathbed as an elderly woman that I would be there to protect her family if ever they required the assistance of a vampire. Over the years, I had never really been asked to do many things, but to them, I was an ally, a powerful confidante. Some of them did not trust me, but not the youngest of the family, twenty-eight year old Onyx. She counted me as a friend and we had been in correspondence since she was about eighteen.

'So what's the favour, Aurora?' she asked, bringing me out of my memories.

'What do you know of ... necromancers?' I asked slowly.

Onyx cursed and returned to me with a new tone in her voice. 'They are bad news, honey. Bad as in bad. Do not get involved with them. They are dangerous.' After a short silence, she groaned, realising now what my favour would include. 'Oh Goddess, are you serious? Necromancers, Aurora!'

'I've not got involved with them. My brother has. And he's in deep trouble, Onyx, and I need your help.'

'Holy ... ' she muttered. 'How deep are we talking about here?'

'They've erased his memories. He didn't recognize me, didn't know who I was.'

'Oh my,' Onyx said. 'Now that's powerful magic. Vampire memories? That's some deep stuff, Aurora.'

'Could you fix him?' I asked, desperately.

She snorted. 'Me? God, no. I'm sorry, sweetie, but I'm still learning myself. It takes years to learn how to even cast the spell in the first place, let alone reverse it. I'm sorry.'

'Maybe one of your aunts, your grandmother ... '

'No,' she said firmly. 'You know their view. Besides you, they don't trust vampires at all. I can barely get them to even tolerate them without one of them trying to turn them into a toad.'

I laughed but it died too quickly to be considered real humour. Onyx tutted, sensing my distress, and sighed heavily.

'Look, you're my friend and you're a friend of the family. I can pull some strings and see if anyone knows anything about necromancy. I'll pool my information and call you as soon as.'

I was elated. 'Thank you, Onyx! You have no idea – '

'I think I do,' she laughed to herself.

Something bleeped on my phone and I cursed to myself. 'Sorry, Onyx. There's another call waiting.'

'You go on ahead,' she said. 'I'll call you as soon as I find anything.'

'Thank you, Onyx,' I sighed and pressed a button to answer the waiting call. 'Hello?'

'Where the hell are you?' Pam drawled on the other line.

'I'm at home,' I said shortly. 'Why?'

'I need you to come to Fangtasia. You have to earn your keep.'

'And do what? Sit around and wait for humans to fawn over me and beg me to feed from them, taking them away from their so-called pathetic and meaningless existence?'

There was a pause and then she answered in a mockingly perky voice. 'Yeah, that sounds just about right. Now, get yourself over here, pronto. We need to make it seem as though nothing is wrong.'

I nodded mutely and hung up, knowing that my niece would understand that I was on my way to Eric's bar. We had to keep up appearances. No one could know about what had happened to Eric, or even worse could befall the Viking.

Rome

Godric and I walked back to the villa just before dawn approached and the golden rays of the morning sun revealed to the world our secret. We were silent now, barely breathing as we entered the house on our tiptoes and stood by the fountain in the open atrium, bathing in the sound of the trickling water and the chirp of the crickets. Godric's arms found their way around my body and I was once more entranced by his beautiful eyes that easily captured my gaze within seconds.

'And now the dawn,' he said sadly. 'Now we must go back to our own lives, you the beautiful daughter I can never have ... '

' ... and you,' I countered, grinning, 'the young man who has captured my heart. And what lives are we to lead without each other?'

Godric sighed, 'We are truly living a lie. I cannot endure another moment of looking at you, day after day, knowing that I could hold you in my arms and kiss your lips – ' he pressed his lips to mine as he had done so many times this evening ' – like this.'

'One day,' I promised. 'We will be together, for always.'

'That would mean defying your father,' he pointed out. 'It would mean your reputation ruined and your good name cast to the wind.'

'I do not care!' I almost cried out in protestation. 'I care not for my name nor any other name they may throw at me! The only name I care about is Godric ... '

'In that case, Aurora is the only word this tongue ever wishes to speak,' he whispered and proceeded to run his tongue over my bottom lip, biting it softly and ensuring that I moaned a little with pleasure.

I had had enough teasing and brought my lips to his, knowing that only fiery passion could ensure. Our tongues fought for dominance and the heat of the moment was near an inferno. All I could sense and think of was Godric, my Godric. All I wanted was him. He was all I could ever want, ever ask for in any lifetime the gods could grant me.

'What are you doing?' a voice hissed from the darkness.

Godric and I broke apart and turned to see the face of the discoverer of our love, shaking and stunned beyond belief.

I arrived at Fangtasia, having put aside some time to adjust my outfit to cater to the needs of the Fangtasia patrons. I was wearing a blood red dress that reached my knees and contrasted effectively with my alabaster skin; I chose black heels and a black leather jacket to complete the look before using my preferred mode of transport – flying – to reach Fangtasia. I admit that it was a little amusing to see the patrons watch me in awe as I made my descent perfectly on stilettos and walked into the club, no entry details required, gawping and gossiping.

The music was thudding and vibrating, bouncing off every corner of the room. I scanned the room before I found my niece who was dressed all in black with a leather jacket that looked similar to my own but showcased some rather questionable studs and spikes. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she acknowledged me with a nod, not taking her eyes off her customers.

'What do I have to do?' I asked her, watching the eyes of some of the human men wander off their date and latch onto me in a leering way.

'You don't have to do anything,' she said, rolling her eyes. 'You just stand or sit and look pretty damn powerful. The fangbangers go crazy for power.'

I scoffed. 'These fangbangers irritate me. They have a human life and they want to give it to us on a silver platter.'

Pam raised an eyebrow. 'You know, you're pretty righteous for a thousand year old vampire.'

'So was Godric,' I murmured.

'He may have been towards the end, but Eric told me some of the antics he got up to in his early decades ... '

My head snapped up and I faced Pam with a glare. 'Godric was good, but he ... he had no control over his urges, not at first ... Neither one of us did ... '

As I was absorbed in memories, Pam found someone who was far more interesting than I was – a young man who walked up to her with a fierce determination that was being secretly undermined by his fear of what could happen to him at the hands of my niece. I heard his name mentioned as Lafayette, but by then, they had disappeared into the crowd and out of my sight.

I drew a long breath and knew that I had a job to do. I found being at the actual bar itself could get claustrophobic as fangbangers tried to corner you left, right and centre, so I looked around the room for a suitable place to settle myself so I could avoid the majority of the vampire fans. I spotted Eric's empty seat and, grinning to myself, within a flash, I was seated there as though it had been there for me. Several whispers spread across the bar as every fangbanger in the room spotted the vampire girl on the throne before returning to their evening of spoils as they divulged in the night that they longed for. I pitied them more than anything. The phrase 'be careful what you wished for' came to mind for so many of these humans who then found themselves living what they had once dreamed and hating every second of it.

'Aurora?' called a voice I recognized instantly. I stiffened and saw the boy, the human boy, I had met what felt like eons ago. He was standing in front of my throne and bowed in a joking way towards me before straightening up and grinning at me in that perfectly human way.

'Leo,' I greeted him, smiling now myself, even though I knew that the smile could only be an act even for his sake as my main thoughts turned now to my brother and his poor state. I should be helping Eric, I thought to myself. But what could I do? What could I do against necromancers? I, a thousand old year old blood drinking immortal, was powerless, a feeling I had felt only a few times in my lifetime. I despised that feeling.