"I love you, Daddy," I sob. "I don't care what you've done or what you will do in the future. I'll always love you."

"Thank you, Raynie," he says. "I love you, too. No matter what, you'll always be my baby girl."

"Dad?" I ask, as I pull away and lie back down on the bed. Sitting up takes way too much energy. "Will you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Tell me a story. Like you used to."

He smiles, his eyes crinkling, and I can definitely see the tears now. "Of course," he says, his voice quavering a bit. "Once upon a time, there lived two princesses-Sunshine and Rayne. ..."

33

THURSDAY, JUNE 14 (CONTINUED)

The Sacrifice

After Dad leaves I take a nap, feeling both emotionally and physically drained. But for the first time since I came down with the disease I sleep peacefully. No haunting nightmares. And I wake up feeling better. Yes, I will die, but I will die with much more peace than I had for most of my life.

A knock on the door. I say, "Come in."

It's Jareth.

"How was your dad?" he asks, sitting on the side of my bed. He presses a cold hand against my burning forehead. I close my eyes.

"Wonderful. I'll never be able to thank you enough for tracking him down."

"It was nothing. I'd do anything for you," he says sincerely.

I open my eyes. "Have you heard from the lab?"

He hangs his head. "Yes. Unfortunately they have not been able to come up with an antidote. At least not yet. If only they had more time." I sigh, resigning myself once more to my impending death. For some reason I had been keeping a small hope alive deep inside that they'd be able to save me in the nick of time, like it always happens in the movies. But I guess, in this case, it was not meant to be.

"Listen, Rayne, there is one possibility," Jareth says hesitantly.

"Huh?" I look up at him.

"I took a lock of your hair and had them test it. You and I are compatible."

"Compatible?"

"As blood mates. We have compatible DNA."

I stare at him, confused. "But what do you-?"

He swallows hard. "I could turn you. Then you would live. Well, not live exactly. Your body would die. But you would be immortal."

"But if you bite me, you'll get the disease. You'll become weak and lose all your vampire powers. Won't you?"

"Yes."

"But then... how...?"

Jareth takes my hand in his and pulls it up to his lips. He kisses it softly, his mouth caressing my sensitive skin. "I love you, Rayne," he murmurs. "You're the first person I've met since my family was killed that I have opened up to. The first person I've allowed myself to care for. You and I are a lot alike in that respect. We live shallow, empty, solo lives because we live in fear of getting too close to another. But together, I think we can do better than that."

He lowers my hand and looks into my eyes. "I want to be with you for eternity. I want to share everything with you."

I can't believe it. I can scarcely believe it. Jareth wants me! Little old screwed up and scarred me. And he wants to turn me into a vampire. My dream come true.

"But you didn't answer my question. What about the virus? Won't you catch it?"

He nods. "Yes. It's most likely that I will. But don't you see?" he cries. "I don't care. I'd rather be weak and powerless and with you than lose you. None of this world means a thing to me if you're not there to share it."

"Really?" Hot tears burn my cheeks and for once I let them fall, unchecked. "You really mean that?"

"With all my heart." He reaches over to stroke my sweaty forehead. "Please, Raynie, don't leave me. Say you will be mine forever."

"But I don't want you to lose your powers. ..."

He shakes his head, smiling down at me. "Will you stop arguing with me for once in your life and just do what I say?"

I grin. "Maybe."

"Then say you'll be mine. Say you'll let me take you as my blood mate. Say that you'll stay with me for eternity."

"If you're sure you want me."

"I'm very sure."

"Then okay." I laugh and realize suddenly I'm also crying. "What the heck, right?"

He leans down and finds my neck, his breath against my skin. I remember the first time he bit me in the Blood Bar. How good it felt. But the sensation is nothing compared to this intimate moment. What was once just physically appealing is now something more. There's love in his bite and as he releases the vampire blood into my veins his mind opens to me and I can feel all that he feels. Know all that he knows.

I can feel his pain. His hurt and loneliness. I understand his bitterness and his sorrow. But there's something else there now.

A radiant hope and joy that's more powerful than the hurt. A flash of soft, glowing light that envelops my body and steals away all my pain.

I pa.s.s out and when I wake up I'm feeling good enough to sit up in bed. I see Jareth still sitting by my bedside and I wonder how long I've been unconscious. He smiles at me.

"How are you feeling?" he asks.

"A lot better, actually," I say, surprised. I sit up in bed and don't feel dizzy.

"Good. It may take a few days for my blood to fully bond with your own."

"Yeah. I remember Sunny had a week before the transformation would have been completed."

"Of course, you won't gain any of the vampire powers. We're basically gimped pseudovamps now."

My thoughts sober at this. "I'm sorry you had to do that," I say. "I mean, I hate that I'm responsible for-"

"Are you kidding?" Jareth asks. "This is the best day of my life." He cups my face in his hands and kisses me softly on the mouth. "I love you, Rayne," he says. "And now I can have you for eternity."

"I love you, too, Jareth."

We kiss for a moment, then he pulls away. "Oh!" he cries. "I almost forgot!" He reaches down under the bed and pulls out a box. He lifts the lid.

Chocolate cake. Just like the one Dad was supposed to bring. "Happy vampire birthday, my dear," he says.

Did I mention how much I love this guy?

Epilogue

So that's my story. A few days later I'm good as new and out of bed. My mom is surprised by my miraculous recovery, but David is able to convince her not to look a gift horse in the mouth and bring in the doctors again. Which is good, considering I think they'd probably be pretty freaked out if they started testing me. Of course, in a few years, when I don't look any older than seventeen still, she and I are going to have to sit down and have a little chat.

That should be fun. Not.

Sunny and Magnus are overjoyed at my recovery and Mag doesn't even seem that p.i.s.sed that he's lost his best vampire general. He's got others in line, he says, and is much more interested in Jareth's and my happiness than in some military position.

Oh, and bonus-I've convinced Magnus to reexamine the coven's policy for letting outside vamps into the ranks. Frannie and Dana are definitely in. And many of their friends may soon get their membership cards in the mail as well.

My dad stays until I'm fully better and when he leaves, he tells me I'm welcome to visit him anytime and that he wants to be a part of our lives again. And this time I know he means it.

Oh, and one of the unexpected side benefits? I may not have vampire powers, but I also don't have a lot of their downsides.

For some reason the virus seems to have bonded with the melatonin in the skin and Jareth and I are able to face the sunlight without fear of burning to a crisp. This is an even bigger deal to Jareth, seeing as he hasn't caught a glimpse of the sun in nearly a thousand years.

And as for Jareth and me, well, we're just great. To think I actually had to lose my soul to find my soulmate. But hey, whatever works, right? And who really gives a care about vampire powers when we have each other? We have a blast just being together. And we make a point to share everything- even when it's difficult. No secrets between us, that's the only way this is going to work out.

Summer pa.s.ses without event and soon it's time for school to start again. Sadly, since I'm not allergic to the sun, I'm also not exempt from attending high school. But I guess that's okay. After all, I've got eternity. Might as well get myself educated.

So one September day I'm walking through Oakridge High, dressed in my goth best, making fun of the cheerleaders, ducking away from the teachers who I owe a.s.signments to, etc., etc. Your typical Raynie day. When all of a sudden I hear a Psst sound from the side corridor. I turn to look and see Mr. Teifert waving madly at me from down the hall.

"You must come with me," he says in an urgent voice.

I've technically retired from the slayer biz, by the way. The virus made me too weak to perform my duties. But Teifert says once a slayer, always a slayer and you never know when they might need me. And from the look on his face, I'm thinking this may be one of those times.

Great. And here I thought all I'd have to worry about this semester was Calculus.

"What's up, T?" I ask, as I approach him.

"Rayne, we have a problem, and we need your help."

"Of course you do." I sigh. "What is it this time?"

"It's Mike Stevens."

"Mike Stevens?" I scowl at the name of my captain-of-the-football-team nemesis. I'd almost managed to forget about him over the summer. "What about Mike Stevens?"

"He's missing."

"Uh, okay, T," I say. "Let's get something straight here. Mike Stevens missing doesn't necessarily qualify as a problem. I mean, have you met the guy? Some might say a missing Mike Stevens could be the best thing to happen to Oakridge in a long time."

"That's not all," Teifert says. "There's also something suddenly very odd about the cheerleaders."

"Odd about the cheerleaders?" I c.o.c.k my head. "You mean more odd than usual about a group of girls who wants to dance and kick up their legs while wearing short skirts in the middle of a New England November?"

"Yes. And, Rayne, this is going to sound weird, but..."

"Dude, after all I've been through, nothing's going to sound weird. Absolutely nothing in the known universe."

"The cheerleaders? They've been heard, uh . .. growling."

Huh. Then again . . . maybe I'm wrong.

To be continued . . .

[end]