Chapter 264

Joseph’s POV

“4 years?!” Ruby exclaimed, terror on her face. “What about my career? What about New York? Oh, God! I’m going to be a monster. I’ll never be able to rejoin society!”

Tears rapidly fell out of Ruby’s eyes, and I knew Tessa wanted to go to her and comfort her friend. But I wasn’t going to let Tessa near her with how unstable Ruby was. She had just woken up earlier this morning and she still suffered from severe blood lust, even though it was currently being substituted with blood bags. The way Ruby kept looking at Tessa like she was a snack made my stomach uneasy.

I kept my hold on Tessa’s hand, despite the tension in her body.

“You aren’t a monster,” Carter assured her, keeping his tone low as he ran his fingers down the side of her face.

Throughout all the years I’ve known Carter, I have never seen him quite so tentative with a woman. But with Ruby, it was different. He truly did love her, and I had to admit, I was nice to see. It was because of him that she was able to be alive.

She continued to cry despite his arms around her and her face buried in his chest.

“This school is designed to ease you back into society without causing harm to others,” Carter explained. “It’s a 4-year program unless there are reasons they need to keep you longer.”

“What reasons would that be?” Ruby asked, peeking up at him through her tear-filled eyes. “How would I know if I needed to stay longer?”

“If they feel you still aren’t fully stable or you don’t have your humanity intact,” Carter shrugged. “But from this conversation alone and the fact that you haven’t tried to escape these chains to get to Tessa, I’d say you are already ahead of most.”

He was right; it was unusual for a new vampire to have this much control so early on after the initial change. Sure, she had a mishap when she first woke, but that was to be expected.

“My entire career is ruined,” she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

“It’s not ruined,” I assured her, drawing her attention back to me. “It’s just postponed. For right now, let’s just focus on getting you to that school and controlling your vampire side.”

Her eyes widened.

“We are going now?”

I looked at the window which was still covered in the tightly closed shades. I knew it was sundown without actually looking outside. I nodded as I turned my attention back to her.

“Yes,” I answered. “It’s sundown. It’s better if we get moving now. It takes about 30 minutes.”

“The school is that close to here?” She asked, her mouth gaping open. “Where any human can see it?”

I let out a low laugh and shook my head.

“It’s hidden by magic so only we can see it,” I explained. “I’ll explain more in the car. But that’s basically the gist of it.”

“I don’t have any of my stuff,” she murmured, staring down at her body. She was still naked with a blanket tucked around her. Carter made sure she was completely covered while we were talking to her. “I don’t even have clothes to wear.”

“I have some clothes in the lost and found you can wear,” the nurse said as she approached Ruby’s bedside. “It should get you through a couple of days. If I remember correctly, the school can get you some clothes as well.”

“That is correct,” Joseph said, nodding. “The school has around-the-clock staff that will get you everything you need.”

I could feel Ruby’s nerves as she processed all we were telling her.

“Did you all have to go to this school?” She finally asked, looking between Carter and me.

“The schooling system was still being produced when I became a vampire a few centuries ago,” I told her. “I learned most everything from Bernard who already had a couple thousand years’ experience under his belt.”

Her mouth fell open in shock.

“That man who got me the blood earlier?” She asked, her eyes wide. “He’s been alive for a couple of thousands of years?”

“Yes,” I answered. “He was the one who turned me. He’s very experienced.”

“He’s the Eldest,” Carter chimed in. “Which makes him the overseer of the tribe. He has a lot of crazy abilities that would blow your mind. But we shouldn’t get into that right now. I don’t want your mind to explode from all this information.”

“Did you have to go to this school?” Ruby asked him, sounding genuinely curious and not at all freaked out anymore.

Carter nodded.

“Yes. I had a lot of trouble controlling my bloodlust and nearly went insane,” Carter said, shaking his head at the memory. “I was there for almost 6 years.”

“6 years?!” She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

“Yeah, but I was troubled,” Carter told her sheepishly as he ran his fingers through his hair. “You aren’t like me.”

I looked at my watch and saw that it was nearing 8 pm. I told the school already that we were arriving at 8:30 pm. I didn’t want to pry Ruby away from everyone, but the school council won’t be happy she’s late.

“We have to get going,” I told him, cutting into their ongoing conversation. “I told them we’d be there at 8:30.”

Carter glanced at his watch and groaned.

“Okay, but I’m going with you to drop her off,” Carter said, keeping his protective arm around Ruby’s shoulders. She naturally leaned into him, chewing her lips as she thought about all we had told her and what her future was going to be like. I couldn’t blame her; this was all happening so fast.

“Me too,” Tessa said from beside me.

I glanced at her, my frown deep.

“No,” I told her with finality. She glanced up at me, frowning as well.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” She asked, her brows pinched together.

“I’m not having you in the car with her,” I told her, shaking my head. “I don’t trust her in the close compacity with you. It’s better that you stayed here with Bernard and Anna.”

“That’s not fair. She’s my best friend,” Tessa said, folding her arms across her chest. “I want to be with her until she’s dropped off.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not happening. I’m not going to put you in danger,” I stubbornly told her. “I almost lost you earlier and I won’t take that chance again.”

“It was because she had just woken up,” Tessa threw my words back at me as her eyes narrowed. “Even you said she wasn’t in the right frame of mind.”

“She’s still not,” I admitted. “It’s going to take a lot for her to be back to her old self and right now, your blood tempts her.”

I could tell Tessa was hurt by my words, and I didn’t want to hurt her. But it was true; Tessa’s blood was different because of what she was, and Ruby could smell it. Before Tessa could argue, Ruby spoke up.

“He’s right, Tess…” she whispered. “I can smell you so potently and all I can think about is ripping your throat out and drinking every last bit of your blood. I don’t want to hurt you. It’s better if you stayed here…”

Tears welled in Tessa’s eyes and my heart immediately shattered for her.

“I just got you back…” she whispered. “I lost you twice and now you are leaving again. It’s not fair…”

“Oh, Tessa. You will never lose me. We are sisters for life. I’m sorry for what I said the other day. I understand now that there are some things you couldn’t tell me. But I hope you’ll be able to talk to me about it all soon. But I love you and I’m not mad at you anymore.”

“I love you too, Ruby,” Tessa said between her tears. “We will see each other again soon and then we will have a much-needed girl’s night.”

Ruby laughed.

“Sounds good.”

I nodded for Carter to get Ruby ready as I tugged Tessa’s hand, motioning for her to follow me.

We went into the waiting room as Tessa cried quietly. But she had a smile on my face as she looked up at me.

“These are happy tears,” she said as if she could read my mind. “I’m happy that she’s okay. She’s alive, Joseph. I thought she was going to die, but she’s alive. It’s truly a miracle.”

Tessa stepped into my arms and nuzzled her face against my chest.

“If I hadn’t met you, Ruby would have died in that hospital. She would have still been on that train, and she would have crashed and died permanently. But because of you and your tribe, Ruby is alive and now she’s going to live for an eternity with the man she loves. I’m envious of that…”

I ran my fingers down the sides of her face, wiping the tears with my thumb in the process.

“Tess—”

“I know you said no already, and I know we keep talking about this. But Joseph, I don’t want to grow old without you and my best friend. I don’t want to watch the two people who I care the most about stay young and vibrant, while I age. I want to be there by your side all the time. I want to walk this earth with you for all of eternity…”

“Tessa, I’m not making you a bloodslave,” I said, trying to keep my tone calm and compassionate.

“I’m not asking you to make me a bloodslave, Joseph.”

“Then what are you asking?”

She took a deep breath and said, “I’m asking you to turn me into a vampire.”