The Healing Souls

What the Council Said

[Dennis]

When I woke in the afternoon, I was in the center of the bed with Sybil, very different positions from when we went to sleep, and our fingers were laced together. I kissed the back of her hand and set it down gently before getting up. Franny wasn’t in the bed like she normally was and I was a little worried.

I quickly showered and changed into my suit for the night. When I went out into the living room, I found her sleeping on her cushion. She was never asleep when I woke up. I went into the kitchen to find Tyler preparing my blood for the evening.

“Why is Franny sleeping on her cushion? The door to my room was open,” I said.

“Mistress Talia played with her until she was too exhausted to play anymore. When she went to sleep, Mistress Talia took her rest in a guestroom. She said something about needing to be here when you and Sybil woke up,” he replied.

“No one else was here when you woke up?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I didn’t even know who she was until she introduced herself. She stayed awake almost all day and even went outside a few times. I didn’t realize vampires could do that.”

“Only the very old and powerful ones. Remember that, Tyler. No matter how small and delicate Mistress Talia looks, she is one of the most deadly creatures alive,” I warned.

“Yes, Master.”

I finished my blood and went to my office. Franny was still sleeping. I was happy that she had a good time. I rarely had time to wear her out with playing.

Once in my office, I found it difficult to focus. In two hours, Sybil would wake and, presumably, so would Mistress Talia. I desperately tried to distract myself with work but couldn’t manage to focus. My mind wandered to the Vampire High Council, the governing body of vampires.

They all had their specialties and all were feared by vampires everywhere. All were sired by the first vampires to exist and had been around for thousands of years. Mistress Talia was considered one of the friendliest. That didn’t take away from the deadliness of her power, though.

What had she revealed to the other masters while I took my rest? I never wished to know something so badly as I wanted to know that. If she determined that I was manipulating Sybil, they would take her away from me. If not, would they permit me to soul bond with her?

The stress was not helping, neither were all of the possibilities that swirled around in my head. There was only one time where my mind gave me a good outcome with everything I ever dreamed of. It was buried under the thoughts of being locked in Master Marius’ dungeon.

As I sat with my head in my hands, I heard a knock at the door. I looked at the clock. I had missed Sybil’s waking. Going to the door, I opened it and found her standing outside the door dressed in a dress that Tyler had bought for her. It was lovely and she looked beautiful.

“Why weren’t you in bed when I woke?” she asked.

“After you went to sleep last night, the members of the High Council showed up. They were here to investigate your claims of regaining your memories while you slept. Mistress Talia, who is known as the Traveler, can enter the dream realm. She entered your mind while you rested. I had to take my rest before the answer came back, but she is still here. We are waiting on her to wake,” I told her.

We stood there in silence for a few moments, both lost in our own thoughts, when suddenly Franny appeared at our feet. She looked up at us with her big brown eyes, tail wagging excitedly.

“Look who finally woke up.” I knelt down and scratched her behind her ears. “I heard you made a new friend, Franny. Did you have fun today?”

She barked and licked my face. Sybil smiled down at us while I hugged and petted my dog. I was happy to see both my girls up. It helped calm me.

As we waited for Mistress Talia to wake up, Sybil and I sat on the couch with Franny. I couldn’t help but steal glances at her. She had a way of calming me down as no one else could.

“What do you think she found in my memories?” Sybil asked, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know,” I replied truthfully. “But I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together.”

Sybil smiled at me, and I felt my heart swell. Despite all the danger and uncertainty that came with being a vampire, being with her made it all worth it.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mistress Talia entered the office. She looked at Sybil and me holding hands on the couch. I didn’t let go of Sybil’s hand, though. If this were the last time I got to touch her, I wouldn’t give it up until I absolutely had to.

She gave me a small smile. “Sybil, I’m Talia, the Traveler. You can call me Mistress Talia. Did your sire tell you why I came here?”

“Yes, ma’am. You were here to see if I was really remembering my past life,” Sybil replied.

“Very good.”

“What did you determine, Mistress Talia?” I asked.

Mistress Talia paused for a moment, her eyes scanning both Sybil and me before she spoke. “I entered her mind and found that her memories are indeed returning. However, they are coming one day at a time, not months’ worth each day like a normal vampire. There is much that she still does not remember.”

“And my request?” Sybil asked. “Can I be with Dennis?”

“You reported to Master Nightshade that you were visited by the goddess in a dream and told you did not have a Solus Amor. We are aware of your request to soul bond with Dennis Lyons. Dennis, what are your feelings on this?”

I looked at Mistress Talia, then to Sybil. She smiled at me and squeezed my hand. I felt my fear of the little vampire wash away. Sybil was making me stronger.

“I want nothing more than to soul bond with Sybil,” I replied with conviction. “She’s not my Solus Amor, but I love her more than anything in this world.”

“Then it is settled,” Mistress Talia said. “You have our permission to soul bond with each other, should you both choose to do so.”

Sybil and I looked at each other, and we both knew what we wanted. We leaned in and kissed each other with a passion that left us both breathless. I felt our connection strengthen as we kissed, and I knew that this was the start of something beautiful.

“There are a few things we did need to stipulate, though. If you’re finished showing your love for each other....” Mistress Talia smirked.

“What is it?” I asked.

“You must be bonded by the end of the year. We want to test your dream influencing ability on a vampire. Nothing in your file says if it works on one of your own kind. Neither you nor Sybil are permitted to sire another vampire for one hundred years. At that point, she will have several abilities that she would inherit from your blood and we would know what kind of vampires you create,” she replied.

Sybil and I looked at each other, both feeling slightly overwhelmed by the stipulations. But we knew that we were in this together, and we were willing to do whatever it took to be with each other.

“We understand,” Sybil said firmly. “We will be bonded by the end of the year, and we won’t sire any other vampires for one hundred years.”

“Good,” Mistress Talia nodded. “Do either of you have any questions?”

“What did you see that convinced you Sybil was truly having memories and not normal dreams or manipulations?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s all very technical. It has a lot to do with how the dream characters interacted with me and how Sybil interacted with me while in the dream. I can’t tell you everything. I wouldn’t want you to think you can get away with doing it to others if you get bored later in life.” She waved off the question. “Now, I will be heading out. I want to go tell Victor and Echo what we decided. You know how much Echo loves Sybil and you.”

I stood and bowed to her. “Thank you, Mistress Talia. You have blessed us with your ruling and I am very grateful for it.”

She chuckled. “It was not only my decision. All of the council agreed with it. You two have our blessing and protection. We do not give either of them lightly. I expect you will be giving Victor regular updates. And remember to be careful, for the first year after death, female vampires are still fertile. Though, if an accident happens, an accident happens....”

With that, she left the office. Was she giving us her blessing to have a child? Sybil and I looked at each other, both with a mix of excitement and hesitation. The thought of starting a family was something we had never considered before.

“Do... do you want a child, Dennis?” Sybil asked softly.

“I don’t know. I never thought it would be a possibility, so I never imagined life with a child. What about you, Sybil? You remember your life before you died... at least a little.... Did you ever consider having children with me?”

She was quiet for a while. If she didn’t want a child, I didn’t need one. Tyler might not be ready for one, and Franny was enough like a child for me that I didn’t need anything more. Just having Sybil in my life was enough for me.

“I never thought of it. The chances of having a relationship and a baby were dwindling for me. I remember thinking of the younger people who worked with me as my children. They called me ‘mom’ and everything. Maybe we just let what’s going to happen, happen?”

“Leave it up to fate? That doesn’t sound like you, Sybil,” I replied.

“I think fate gave me you. Maybe this is the time to rely on fate more. What do you think, Dennis? We can be safe or we can be reckless. It’s up to you.”

With a smile, I kissed her. I had never been reckless before, but Sybil made me want to be. She changed how I looked at the world and I saw just how careful I had been over the years.

I pulled away from the kiss, looking into her eyes. “Let’s be reckless,” I said. “Let’s see where fate takes us.”

Sybil smiled and wrapped her arms around me. “I like the sound of that,” she said.

We spent the rest of the night planning our bonding ceremony. Tyler was excited about the good news from the council. As my human servant, he wanted me to be happy and successful. We didn’t tell him about our decision to let fate have a hand in our family planning. That was private and would remain so until something happened to make it public.

I pulled out a book on vampire ceremonies. A soul bonding was an exchange of bites, but I wanted to give Sybil more than that. If she remembered part of her life, then I knew she would want a ceremony where she could invite her friends and family from her life.

The ceremony itself would be short and sweet - we exchange vows, drink each other’s blood, and seal our bond with a kiss. Sybil wanted to make it as close to a wedding as possible if she was going to have friends and family. I would book one of my clubs with a kitchen for the ceremony and reception. It was easy enough.

Echo had recipes for blood foods, so we could feed the living and the dead who attended. I balked at Sybil’s insistence that we invite the High Council, but her boldness had given us this chance. Perhaps they weren’t expecting us to do it as a wedding ceremony, but inviting them would be better than them finding out we did it that way and didn’t invite them.

As I sat with Sybil and Tyler, pouring over the details of the bonding ceremony, my mind wandered to thoughts of our future. I had never allowed myself to dream of such things before, but Sybil had changed that. I silently thanked Carmen, as well.

If she hadn’t told me to stay with Sybil, then I never would have had this. It seemed I owed Rock and Carmen a gift as well. I would offer them any of the venues I owned for their own wedding. That would provide more than enough space for whomever they were planning to invite.

They would also have invitations to our ceremony. They were part of the reason we were in this position. I couldn’t neglect to invite them now that we were truly going to start our lives together.