The next several days were difficult.
After her first 'death' Ryvian's bad luck seemed to explode.
Not a day would go by where she didn't have a near death experience or an injury.
Heavy bookshelves would topple over randomly as she walked next to them, tree branches would fall and narrowly miss her, a rattlesnake almost bit her, and she almost choked to death on her dinner.
Arkonus was there to protect her through it all. His vampiric strength and speed making it an easy task.
"If this is how Achilees lived every day of their lives I now understand why they died out, even with being semi-immortal" Rivian said as Arkonus caught another toppling bookshelf.
He placed the books back onto the shelves and then patted her head.
"Well they didn't have a vampire watching over them. I'll make sure nothing happens to you" he assured her with a smile.
Arkonus had started to look pale and he had bags under his eyes again.
Ryvian reached up and pinched his cheek.
"You still haven't been eating have you?" She asked, glaring at him.
He pulled away from her hand and rubbed his now red cheek.
"It's the same situation as before I lost control with you" he said sadly "although maybe even worse now that the universe wants you dead"
Ryvian frowned.
He's starving and it's my fault…
"Get your coat, we're going to the city" she said suddenly as she began walking towards the front doors.
"Wait, what?" He said, following closely behind her.
"Well you can't just keep starving yourself. So let's go to the city and find you a homeless person" She said as if it was the simplest solution.
"But the city and surrounding areas is crawling with hunters right now" he said grabbing her arm so she would stop and look at him.
"Then take my blood" Ryvian said, staring him down.
He looked confused and worried by her sudden conviction.
"The last time I took your blood you died" he said carefully. "I don't think I could handle seeing you like that again"
Ryvian sighed and placed his hand on her chest so he could feel her heart beating.
"I came back didn't I? Plus that was only because you hadn't eaten in almost 2 weeks" she said.
And I also want to feel that feeling again.
She thought to herself.
His face twisted in confusion and indecision.
He moved his hand from her chest to her cheek.
"I'm struggling with the idea of it because I don't want to hurt you." He said as he stroked her cheek "and because you mean so much more to me than just a bloodletter"
Ryvian blushed and looked down.
"I like the feeling" she mumbled.
"What?" He said, still looking confused.
"I like the feeling" she said a little louder, her face becoming bright red. "I want you to bite me again.."
Arkonus looked taken aback and surprised.
"Most people don't like the sensation…" he said, trailing off. "I wonder if Dorimier took that into account too"
As they went up to the library to sit down and drink coffee Arkonus seemed lost in thought.
"What does it feel like to you?" He asked as he sipped his coffee and caught a book that tumbled off a shelf and almost hit Ryvian in the head.
Ryvian wiggled uncomfortably, embarrassed to answer.
"It's hard to explain. It kind of felt like every cell in my body was vibrating, but it felt amazing." She said fiddling anxiously with her coffee cup. "The only point that hurt was right in the beginning as your fangs cut me and right at the end when you went too far"
Arkonus looked dejected and guilty after hearing the last part.
Ryvian had made him promise not to apologize for it anymore but he wanted to apologize until his voice was sore.
"I'm still not sure about it." He said cautiously. "I know even if I did end up taking too much you would come back, but like I said before, I don't want to hurt you"
"No matter your decision, we need to figure out a solution for you." Ryvian said as she searched the shelves for a new book.
Another book fell from a shelf and Arkonus caught it, now standing behind her.
"You know I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you. Since when do you take care of me?" He said, smiling down at her.
She looked up at him and smirked.
"And who decided that?" She asked.
Ryvian looked in the mirror as she was getting ready for bed and touched the blacker than black ring around her neck.
Her life had changed so much in such a short amount of time.
About a month ago she had been dying in an alleyway wishing for death, and now here she was a semi-immortal being living in a vampires estate.
A gentle knock came at her door and she told whoever it was to come in.
Arkonus entered the room wearing nothing but pajama pants.
Caught off guard Ryvian couldn't help but to stare.
"You okay?" She asked as she approached him.
He nodded, looking almost defeated.
"I decided to accept your offer" he said "I tried to think of another solution but the only other solution I could think of was taking from the servants, but when they decided to work here they did so under the promise I would never make them into bloodletters"
He sighed.
"And I'm not willing to break that promise to them"
Ryvian nodded and hugged him around his bare waist.
"I'm proud of you for not breaking your promise to the servants" she said looking up at him.
His whole body melted into hers as he hugged her shoulders.
"Thank you" he said softly, his breath sending shivers down Ryvians back.
He gently kissed her neck, and unable to hold back any longer, he slowly bit into her soft skin.
Ryvian gasped as the pain and then pleasure hit her.
This was exactly how she had felt before and exactly what she had wanted to feel again.
She whimpered softly into Arkonus's neck.
Much too soon for her liking he let go.
But instead of telling her goodnight and walking away, he stared into her eyes, his own eyes still bright red.
And gently kissed her lips.
The taste of her own blood and the feeling of his lips against hers sent shivers down her spine.
She kissed him back, her hands getting lost in his hair.
Arkonus pulled back slowly, his eyes staring down at her lips.
"I need to leave." He said softly, but not moving any farther away from her.
"I want you to stay" Ryvian said, her heart fluttering against her chest and her face flushed red.
He let out a groan as he kissed her again, much harder and more intense than before and then threw her onto the bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryvian woke the next morning wrapped up tightly in Arkonus's arms.
She blushed furiously as she remembered the night before.
She carefully removed herself from his arms and walked to her mirror.
Her jaw dropped as she saw just how many bite marks her body was covered in.
She gently felt across the bumpy skin on the one on her arm and smiled.
"Is this the same situation as when humans like getting hickies?" Arkonus said from behind her.
She spun around and saw him sitting up in bed looking like a half-naked god.
His black hair lay in messy trusses across his shoulders, his bare torso was perfectly toned, and his arms were muscular in all the right places.
She couldn't help but stare.
She snapped herself out of it as he raised his arms up and motioned for her to come.
She ran to him and happily curled into his embrace.
He ran his hand along her arm gently.
"I'm sorry if I was too rough with you" he said worriedly.
Ryvian shook her head and buried her face into his chest.
"No, you were perfect" she said, embarrassed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Months went by without an incident beyond a few bruises and of course bite marks, but peace only lasts so long…
A letter soon arrived at the estate with a fancy wax seal.
Arkonus's face fell as one of the servants handed it to him.
Ryvian who was already sitting in his lap was carefully watching his expression.
"Is that from the royals?" She asked.
He nodded. Staring down at the dark purple wax seal.
"It's directly from Lord Hagren" he said, his voice becoming serious.
He ripped open the letter and began to read.
Ryvian tried her best to read it as well but the cursive was way too loopy for her to make sense of it.
Arkonus sighed in frustration as he finished reading.
"What did it say" Ryvian asked.
"It's another summons, but it's a battle strategy summons" he said rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "They want me to fight in their little war with the hunters"
Ryvians heart sank and she straddled his lap, giving him a concerned look.
"Can you deny the summons?" She asked
He shook his head.
"If I denied the summons they would label me a deserter to the vampire race and I would be killed" he said sadly "and they must be getting desperate if they are summoning me to fight"
Ryvian frowned and caressed his cheek.
"I don't want to see you get hurt" she said. "Or worse…"
Arkonus leaned his head into her touch and looked saddened.
"I'm more worried about you" he said gently "I can't leave you here because of your bad luck, but I don't want to take you with me into the battlefield either"
She quickly realized how bad of a situation it was for them both.
She sighed and laid her head against his chest.
"If I'm going to be in danger anyway I would much rather be in danger while I am with you" she whispered.
He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her in a tight and comforting hug.
"I feel the same way Ryv, but shelves falling on you is a little different from silver tipped arrows, daggers, and swords." He said, rubbing her back.
Ryvian shrugged but smiled a little at the nickname he had given her.
"But the ending is the same…" she said.
Arkonus paused, thinking, and then sighed.
"You're right. I know you're right. It just feels so wrong bringing my girl into a dangerous area" he said, frustration filling his voice again.
She wiggled happily at being referred to as "his girl" and at having been given her way.
The next day they dressed their best and packed up for a 3 night stay at the Royal meeting house.
Ryvian had carefully covered the black ring around her neck with a thick ribbon that matched her short ruffled black dress.
Arkonus had warned her that if the other vampires saw her mark and realized it was the mark of an Achilees they would try to claim her as their own or even worse, they would continue Dorimier's experiments on her and try to create more Achilees.
The entire drive to the Meeting house Arkonus was on high alert.
It had began downpouring just as they left and the road was barely visible.
He had already had to dodge two large tree branches falling in front of them.
"The universe really does want you dead" he said, gritting his teeth as he avoided another tree branch.
"Sorry" Ryvian said, gripping the cars '"oh shit" handle'. "How much farther before we get there?"
"Only 2 more miles to go" he said.
The whole time they had been driving Arkonus had only been going 15mph, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.
"Why are you so nervous?" Ryvian asked.
He glanced over at her with a disbelieving look.
"Because I have no idea if 'car crash' counts as an Achilees' weakness" he said as he swerved to avoid a large pothole.
"I mean we're going pretty slow, I doubt we will get in a car accident bad enough for me to die" she said, but even she didn't believe her own words.
Not even 5 minutes after she had said that another car going way too fast, coming from the opposite way, appeared out of nowhere.
"Shit-" Arkonus said as the other car swerved and slammed into the front of their car.
The force made their car roll three times before coming to a screeching halt on it's roof.
Even Arkonus had been taken off guard and had been unable to react. His ears were ringing from the sound of the impact and the screeching metal.
His leg was crushed under the bent dashboard and his airbag hadn't gone off.
Quickly he turned to check on Ryvian.
His stomach dropped as he realized she wasn't in the car anymore.
He looked out through the broken window on his side and saw her bloodied body lying in the middle of the road, rain ruthlessly pouring down on her.
"Ryvian! Ryv!" He yelled desperately trying to free his broken leg. Getting angry he used his vampiric strength to bend the dashboard back.
He ripped off his seatbelt and crawled through the broken window.
He limped to Ryvian, fearing the worst.
Ryvian was still breathing but her breaths were labored and she was in obvious pain.
Her body was bent in odd angles and two of her ribs were sticking out of her chest.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Arkonus.
"It hurts" she sobbed.
"I know, I know, we're gonna fix you up okay" he said moving her wet hair from her bruised face.
Ryvian shook her head slowly.
"Please make it stop hurting" she begged him, her eyes telling him everything he needed to know.
"No, no I can't, what if you don't come back?" He said, but he already knew with her injuries she couldn't be saved, and even if she could her body would be too broken.
"Please" she begged.
Arkonus nodded, steeling himself for what he had to do.
He gently grabbed Ryvians head in his hands, and with a swift movement, he snapped her neck.
Her eyes remained open and glossed over, the same as her last 'death' and her heart came to a slow thudding stop.
Arkonus sat next to her body in the middle of the road, his broken leg slowly beginning to heal.
He stared intently at Ryvian's chest, waiting for it to move again.
It had been only 15 minutes since the crash but his heart sank with every moment she didn't wake up.
Once his leg was fully healed he got to his feet and made his way to the vehicle that had hit them.
The front of the vehicle was smashed to pieces but when he looked inside there was no sign of any passengers.
He looked around carefully, listening, and smelling for any sign of anyone else but the rain made it impossible to tell if anyone else had been there.
Frustration at the world filled him and he punched the side of the car, bending the metal with a loud crunch.
He growled angrily and put his head in his hands.
Why does this have to happen to Ryvian. Hasn't she suffered enough?
He thought to himself.
Suddenly he heard coughing from behind him.
He spun around to see Ryvian slowly sitting up.
He ran to her and dropped to his knees next to her.
He checked her up and down carefully, inspecting her for any injuries that hadn't healed and then grabbed her into a tight bear hug.
"I was afraid I had lost you" He cried into her shoulder, his tears mixing with the rain that now had soaked them both to the bone.
Ryvian was silent, but hugged him back tightly.
Arkonus pulled back to look at her.
"Ryv?" He asked her.
Her expression was bleak, not quite holding the same light it used to.
She smiled at him weakly, it not quite reaching her eyes..
"I'm okay, I'm just still processing everything" She reassured him, as she slowly started to stand up.
Arkonus helped her up, rubbing her cold wet shoulders.
"We need to find shelter soon, before you get hypothermia." He said, looking around.
Ryvian nodded and shivered.
Arkonus sighed as he realized there was only one place close enough to walk to.
He looked Ryvian up and down, taking in her blood soaked and torn clothing, and the fact that her injuries had all healed.
How were they going to explain this to the others without revealing what Ryvian was.
He couldn't say the blood wasn't hers, they would be able to smell that it was.
He sighed again as they began walking down the road in the direction they had originally been traveling.
They might have to reveal her secret.
Ryvian leaned into Arkonus as they walked, knowing she wouldn't get any warmth from him, but craving the comfort he provided.
She shivered again, but not from the cold.
She kept remembering the pain and sensations she had felt from the car crash.
The way her ribs had snapped and had ripped through her skin.
The way her leg had twisted in an unnatural position.
She felt sick to her stomach just remembering it.
Was this how her life would be forever?
Dying a painful death over and over again?
She had thought that everything would be fine as long as Arkonus was by her side protecting her, but even he couldn't protect her from everything.