“Nothing. I just felt like it,” Arthur replied coyly. 

“You can feel like again, I wasn’t prepared,” Liam teased, closing his book.

“Better prepare yourself then,” Arthur said, lowering his voice even more. He slid his hand into the crook of Liam's neck, caressing his cheek with his thumb. Gently, he pulled Liam into a deep kiss, overflowing with all the feelings that were welling up in his chest. If he didn’t, he felt like he would burst. Letting this man into his life was the best thing he had done in many decades. Possibly even in his life. For once, he felt like life was worth all the torture. At least for now. The day Liam died, he just might choose to die with him. That moment scared Arthur to death, making his dead heart ache.

Liam pulled away to look into Arthur’s eyes before asking, “what are you thinking about? You look so sad.”

“Don’t worry, it is just useless thoughts,” Arthur assured, stroking Liam’s cheek with his thumb.

Caressing the hand holding his face, Liam’s brow furrowed. “What did we say about hiding things?” Liam chided. “Please tell me.”

Arthur closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. He really didn’t want to bring down the mood. He was so content just watching Liam, taking in the scenes and burning it into his mind forever. This guy really was too perceptive. “I was just loathing the day you grow old and pass. I will live for an eternity and that's really too long to live without you. Perhaps when you lay down to rest, I shall do the same.”

Liam’s eyes narrowed and his heart sank. He hadn’t even thought of differences in their life expectancies. His life would be but a sliver of time to Arthur. Filled with sorrow, Liam buried his head in Arthur’s chest, wrapping his arms tightly around the middle of his back. He felt that if he let go now, Arthur would just cease to exist. The thought of living without him made him shudder. He felt so selfish, getting to have his company for his entire life and then leaving him alone forever. 

But then, Liam recalled the whole reason he and his mother were in this mess to begin with. The grimoire. He had the answer. He could just cast the spell on himself and then he would never have to leave Arthur’s side. He gripped onto Arthur even tighter.

“There might be a way that neither of us have to experience that,” Liam spoke softly, muffled by the cloth between them. “Our family, they have a way to live forever.”

“I could never ask you to do that, for living an eternity isn’t something to be taken lightly. No person is meant to live so many life times. It really does start to chip away at your soul over time,” Arthur said solemnly. 

“Well, we have plenty of time to think about it, so don’t shut the idea down completely yet,” Liam practically begged.

“I will keep it in mind. But, like you said, we have plenty of time to decide. Let’s not make any hasty decisions,” Arthur implored, stroking the back of Liam’s head. “Let’s go to bed now, we can talk more about it later, okay?”

“Okay,” Liam agreed. He nestled himself back into Arthur’s arms, his back warmed by the fire. Arthur played with his hair until he was sound asleep.

Heather on the other hand, couldn’t stop pacing her room. She just knew nothing good would come of her son fraternizing with a damn vampyre. But what could she do? She could tell just by catching his eyes that she was no match for him, the killing intent she felt  was more than enough to make her feel weak in the knees. Everything about that man made her skin crawl. If only she could find a way to get him to leave her son alone. 

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She gripped the bedroom door with unnecessary strength and steeled her resolve. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. Sure, it could get her killed but something told her he wouldn’t do that infront of Liam. He was doing a good job upholding his image at the very least. Liam seemed to trust him unwaveringly and that pissed her off just as bad. 

She cracked open the door and listened. Everything was quiet, save the crackling of the fire. Liam must be asleep by now but she knew that bastard was probably still awake. Those things didn’t really need sleep anyway. She begged under her breath for the old wooden floor to keep its mouth shut as she crept down the hallway. If she was going to start an argument, she at least wanted the element of surprise. 

As she turned the corner, nothing was as she expected. For one, Liam was asleep with his face buried in that wretched vampyre’s grasp. Secondly, the scene seemed quite serene compared to the savage image in her mind. Books we scattered here and there, obvious signs that Liam had been studying diligently. Instead of the savage look that Arthur always casted her way, was a face of sorrow and affection. The killing intent she often felt bearing down on her was now replaced with the feeling of longing. She froze at the end of the hallway, her emotions fighting against themselves.

“You can come out,” Arthur announced in a low voice, afraid to wake up Liam.

Another moment passed before Heather was able to pull her hand from the wall. Passing the two bundled together,  she made her way to the chair next to the fireplace. The warmth of the flame seemed to calm her nerves but only just a bit. She had run over the millions of things she wanted to say to him. But now that he was in front of her, she was finding it to be a little more difficult. 

“You know, I still don’t trust you. What do you want with my son?” She prodded, hands clammy. She really was risking a lot challenging a vampyre. 

Arthur sat there in silence, still playing with Liam’s hair. He too wanted to know what he wanted out of Liam. He was pretty sure a partner. A life partner. But he couldn’t be so selfish. That was asking someone to accept a pain worse than death. 

“You know, Cheryl was the one that taught me that I could wield magic,” he started.

“Cheryl? As in my mother Cheryl?”

“Yes, it appears to be that very same one. At least, I’m pretty sure. There aren’t too many Golden Eyes out there, especially nowadays,” Arthur called to mind.  “When I was quite young, we used to live in this very same town. I was an orphan, living on the street. Your mother was so carefree, and befriended someone as lowly as myself.

“One day, she showed me how to grow flowers from the earth. I was captivated. I knew that magic was a thing but that was the first time I had witnessed it first hand. It was truly beautiful. A blanket of moss spread from the dirt around her hand, sprouting these beautiful white flowers. 

“After that we spent a lot of time together. She taught me that I too had the power to create something from nothing. Albeit, I was never able to create plants from nothing like she could, the most I could muster was a flame. But, I could grow any plant that I touched. All I needed was a piece to start with. 

“Eventually, she met a man, who I could only assume to be your father, and they left to travel together. He was also a powerful mage, so it was only fitting. I stayed to linger in our shabby town until I unfortunately met the man who turned me into this awful creature. It took me years to escape and I’ve lived quietly in these woods ever since. 

“I know what you probably think of my kind, and I feel the same way. I detest them. Savage beasts who feed off the lives of others. I despise them with every fiber of my being. That is why I vowed to never consume human blood again. I would stay hidden away, surviving off the little the forest animals provided for me. 

“That was until Liam came along. I had been doing fine but the amount of mana I used to try and stabilize his must've driven me into starvation. I had lost consciousness and when I came too, it was already too late. I had broken my vow. Thankfully, he is a Golden Eye. His blood is powerful and I was able to recover without harming him. I don’t plan on using him for my food source though. Now that his magic is stabilized for the most part, it won’t take much to balance him out when he needs it. 

“As for food, I will continue to feed as I have been until I can find a renewable food source. Preferably one I can create in my lab at home,” Arthur finally finished.

Heather’s resolve started to waiver at his story. It was hard to believe the words he strung. Everyone knew that vampyres were masters of persuasion. But, for some reason, it didn’t seem to be fake. Maybe she was being biased because her mother was involved, but that could have all been a lie too.

Suddenly she remembered a page from the grimoire. There was something in there that could keep her son from becoming a blood bag. Spotting the grimoire among the scattered books, she grabbed it to search for the page she thought of. After a few skims through, she found the blood fruit. 

“I need a drop of your blood,” she demanded more than asked.

“What for?” Arthur countered.

“There is something in this book I want to show you but I need to give it your blood in order for you to see its pages.”

“Isn’t that your grimoire though? Are you really sure you should be giving me access to that?”

Heather paused for a moment. She wasn’t so sure either. There was so much bloodshed over this damn book. Now she was just going to give the contents away? She brushed her fingers over the cover, replaying Arthur's story in her head. If what he said really was true, then he probably wasn't going to use this book for harm. And he was already going to live forever so it’s not like he needed that part either.

“I’m sure... I think. Just give me your damn blood before I change my mind,” she retorted, opening the back cover of the book. 

Arthur took one of his fangs to the crook of his wrist, opening the skin just enough to let some blood run free. Heather reached forward, gathering his blood on the pad of her thumb. As she pressed her thumb to the back page, she recited an incantation under her breath. Once the incantation was complete, Arthur was able to see several other fingerprints of blood before his, all with names scribbled below them, much like his own. 

Flipping back through the book, Heather stopped on the page she found previously. “This,” she started, handing the book to Arthur, “is what they call a blood fruit. It was said to be prevalent in times of war. It was often found growing over the top of mass graves, feeding off the blood that was soaking the earth below. Now that the times of massacres are pretty much over, it’s just a legend. Most don’t believe it ever existed. And if it did, it must be extinct by now. 

“There is a man named Harvey Lancaster who runs the convenience store in town. He is an alchemist and also kind of the info broker for our kind. If you speak with him, he might know where you could start your search. He won’t give you info for free though, make sure you bring him something to make the info worth it.”

“Thank you. I had no idea something like this existed,” Arthur said to Heather but also to himself. He never expected her to give him this kind of hope. If something like this really did exist then he needed to find it. 

“I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for my son. I don’t know why he’s so set on clinging to someone like you…But… If what you said really is true, then this should keep my son safe. If you ever hurt him, even if it kills me, I will take you down with me,” she affirmed, fire in her eyes. 

“You have my word that your son is the last person I wish to do harm to. I will give my all to protect him”

“Your word doesn’t mean much to me, but I will choose to trust you on this one thing. Remember what I said, that was a promise, not a threat,” she glared as she stood up. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Stopping after a few steps, she added, “and no funny business out here. Let him sleep,” then continued down the hallway to her room. 

After Arthur heard the door latch shut, he brushed the hair away from Liam’s face.

“I know you’re awake,” Arthur chided. “Go back to bed, it looks like we will have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Mmn,” Liam grunted as he tightened his grip around Arthur once again. Everything he just heard was a lot to take in. He was awake but he was thankful that Arthur didn’t want to talk about it right now, he needed time to process. 

Although, that night, Liam wasn’t going to get any rest. Instead he was going to be stricken with intense dreams once again.