Shades of Red

by T L Christianson

  I felt like it’d been a long time since someone cared for me.

  Kissing my forehead, he held me tightly and my eyes filled, overflowing the rims. I cried for Amy, and for me. I cried for all the pain in the world that I’d suffered and witnessed. I wept for Emilie and Sten.

  And he just held me, because what else were you supposed to do with a weeping woman?

  That thought shook me out of my misery, and I sucked in a deep breath before pulling the neck of my shirt up to wipe my face.

  Get your shit together! I told myself.

  Embarrassed that I’d let myself get so pathetic, I held my head up.

  My Viking watched me with a strange look in his eyes; was it amusement?

  I punched him softly in the arm with a right hook.

  “You’d better not fucking laugh at me, you bastard, after making me cry like a broken sprinkler!”

  He shook his head, and his mouth turned up on one corner. “I’m not amused that you were crying. I’m amused that it freaked you out.”

  I gave him a sarcastic smile, replying, “I only cry when you’re around.”

  Then he leaned in and whispered. “Because when I make love to you, you can’t help it.”

  I rolled my eyes and began walking back toward my office. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Then I flipped him the bird. Immature, yes, but it earned me an incredulous laugh from him.

  Back in New York, I paced that damn waiting room, hovering around Aurev’s assistant to look out the window.

  Ms. Smith returned to her desk and raised one arched eyebrow. “If you do not sit down, I’m going to tie you down,” came her stern warning.

  I froze and wandered over to the antique furniture, choosing the sturdier looking chair this time. I’d known Ms. Smith as long as I’d known Aurev but had no idea what her first name was.

  I eyed her perfectly coiffed, long, red hair that was pulled up into a high ponytail where it curved down around one shoulder like a snake.

  Drumming my knees, I tapped my toes to an inaudible beat earning me a disapproving look from the redhead, so I stopped and let out a sigh.

  When Ms. Smith cleared her throat loudly, I looked up from my reverie. I’d been tapping my fingernails against the table.

  Pausing, I screwed up my lips. “What time is it?” I asked.

  She pressed her lips together. “You haven’t been here for very long, Sarah. Mr. Vatia will see you when he’s available.”

  After waiting what felt like ages… all of an hour, Ms. Smith motioned me to go in. It made me wonder, did he text her? Or did they have some creepy telepathic thing?

  I paused just inside the room before one of the guards closed the office door behind me. Maybe, Ms. Smith was just a power freak and told people to go in arbitrarily.

  With that thought I laughed, my heels clicking on the hardwood floor, then sinking into the plush carpet around my boss’s desk.

  Oh yeah, I’d dressed up. I wore a cream-colored silk blouse with black wool slacks, which I regretted.

  Wool + warm fall + New York = bad.

  But this was my fancy outfit. When I worked in the lab, I usually wore scrubs. All other times I went for faded jeans or yoga pants and a t-shirt. I thought of my worn-out Nirvana t-shirt that I’d had since Med School and wished I was wearing it now. God, I hated the heat.

  “Why is it that you always enter my office so tightly wound?” Aurev typed something into his computer before looking up at me.

  I bit my lip and took my usual seat across from his desk in silence.

  “Hmmm…” He leaned back in his chair and took a sip from a black mug that was embellished with the Chronos Corp symbol. “So, David, huh?”

  I deflated like a popped balloon and shook my head. “I can never surprise you, can I?”

  “My dear, if anyone could surprise me, I’d be dead by now.”

  That wasn’t an answer, but I shook it off. “So, yeah, we’ve located David, Amy’s partner.” Partner in crime? Partner in life? I wasn’t sure what kind of partner he was exactly, but the thought of Amy touching his smelly, gross old body made me want to gag.

  I watched Aurev take a deep breath. “I’ll authorize the use of one of the company jets… Again. Just this last time.”

  Smiling, I looked up at him from beneath my lashes. “Thank you. I think she’ll be more cooperative with him around.”

  “Either way, she’ll still need to face the tribunal. Her crimes need to be answered for.” He tilted his head sideways and watched me. “I’ve heard that you care for Khama’at. I applaud you for befriending her but make no mistake, she is deadly.”

  “I know,” I answered. “She’s also a pain in the ass.”

  “I don’t want you getting too attached. She’s not a pet, you can’t keep her forever.”

  “Okay,” I responded flippantly. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll be okay…” I thought of Owen and my kids.

  “Also, you have already gotten involved with the soldier, I see.”

  I cringed. “You heard about that?”

  He nodded, steepling his fingers.

  “Umm, there’s something else too. Owen is trying to keep the kids from me. I…”

  Aurev cut me off, shaking his head. “I’m not going to intervene.” I opened my mouth to protest when he held up one hand to stop me. “You need to make your peace with him and your children slowly. Tread carefully.”

  “What does that even mean?” I asked him.

  “You left. Did you write? Did you call? Did you send gifts?”

  “I… I couldn’t. It was too painful. I was too depressed. I thought…”

  “You thought that you could put them away like dolls and pull them out again when you wanted to play. It doesn’t work like that.”

  My cheeks flushed as anger filled me. “No,” I gasped. “No.” I licked my lips and blinked my eyes. “You know better than anyone how much I wanted those children. How much I sacrificed. I didn’t just give them up!” My breath came quickly, and I felt my fangs begin to slide out.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to calm myself so that I could at least have a conversation without being an out of control bloodsucker.

  When Aurev’s hand touched my shoulder, I jumped, then looked up into his dark eyes.

  “Why do you have to be so cruel?” I asked him.

  He sat beside me and held one of my hands. “I’m being honest.”

  I examined his open expression.

  Was it true?

  I questioned myself and my actions. I’d had great excuses, but were they good enough?

  I’d left my babies. Out of shame, out of guilt, out of fear or God knows what, I had abandoned them.

  No.

  I refused to believe this. I refused to think that I’d been wrong about making a clean cut until I could come back.

  “At the time, when I left, I thought I’d only be gone a few days, but days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Then, months turned into years.” My head pounded and my eyes hurt. I shook my head, and whispered, “It was too hard to think about them when I couldn’t be there.”

  Aurev gave me that old man pat on my back and watched me. “You’ll figure this out. What a mess.” He stood and walked to the wall of windows that made up two sides of his large office. “What about the cravings? You’re still doing well?”

  I nodded at his back. “I’m not drinking live anymore. It’s just too much of a temptation.”

  “But you will.” He turned around toward me, “And you’ll be okay.”

  I admired the swirling pattern on his large glossy wood desk and knew it was time to go.

  He’d given me permission to get David, and I got advice that I didn’t agree with and hadn’t needed.

  Standing, I pursed my lips. “Thanks for the plane to get David.”

  He nodded and tapped his ring on the desk. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear concerning Owen. In time, you’ll agree with me. Maybe not today…” He trailed of
f.

  “Yeah, maybe.” I made my way toward the door.

  “Good luck in Ohio… and with the kids and Owen.”

  “Thanks,” I told him before leaving.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Karsten and I stood on the side of a rural road in Ohio. I held my cell phone to the sky, searching for a signal, while he cursed. As Moroi, we had perfect recall, but neither of us knew anything about Ohio, let alone had we looked at a map.

  “We should’ve bought a map.” He told me, looking through the trunk of our rental car.

  “I have no data here! My maps app won’t load!” I told him.

  Closing the trunk, he opened the driver’s side door. “Let’s go further down–I saw a sign for a shop.”

  After passing one horse-drawn buggy, we came across a small Amish shop. It was a two-story house that had been converted.

  We were off the beaten path and knew that they must not get many tourists this way.

  Entering, a bell tinkled above our heads and a woman appeared from a door behind the counter. She was Moroi and startled slightly when recognizing that we were the same.

  A mask of hospitality slid over her features as she smoothed her white apron and ran her hands over the edge of her cap.

  Karsten addressed her in German, and she replied and nodded. I watched as he pulled up the photo on his phone of David and showed it to her.

  Her eyes flashed with fear and distrust, and she took a step back. Then my Viking fired out a rapid string of words, and I caught “Chronos Corp” and “New York.”

  The Amish woman wasn’t happy but spoke for a while giving him either an explanation, an excuse, or directions. She said David’s name a few times. My frustration grew, and I fought off the desire to elbow Karsten in the ribs.

  In the meantime, I examined the baked goods that were displayed and wrapped in plastic on the table. I selected a slice of peach pie and picked it up.

  When there was a pause in their conversation, I said, “How much for this?”

  Her lips formed a thin line before she told me, “Just take it and please don’t come back.”

  I looked up at my companion, and he motioned with his head to the door.

  On the porch, I unwrapped my pie slice and took a bite, asking with a full mouth, “What was that all about? I thought they were supposed to be hiding David, not just giving him up.”

  He sighed. “The Amish Moroi like to be left alone. I told her that we knew David was here and that it would only be a matter of time before others came looking for him. Others that would cause trouble and bring attention to their community.”

  “So?” I asked, “What did she say? Did she tell you where to go?”

  “Yeah. We did take the right road, it just changes names in the next town. He is on the Byler farm.” He opened his mouth for a bite, and I stuffed a large portion of pie in with my plastic fork.

  “Hey, hey!” He protested through his full mouth.

  I laughed and ran toward the car as he threw crumbs of the overflowing piece of pie at me.

  Our laughter died down as the road narrowed.

  I began to wonder about my Viking’s past. I knew he was a few hundred years old. It made me wonder if I’d be a different person after living a few hundred years. With the boom of the human population, more and more Moroi were allowed to be made. Aurev said that under the Global Council no more than 3% of the entire population could be Moroi. This law was strictly enforced, and I’d observed it with my own eyes. If I ever saw GC soldiers, I would run, hide or both. They meant that someone was going to die.

  Karsten had been a GC soldier. Had I seen him before?

  The GC also hunted down troublemakers and murderers of Moroi. Amy fit into both those categories.

  Did the GC know Chronos had her?

  I wondered if those hitmen had been GC.

  I shivered, and it had nothing to do with the temperature.

  GC also killed makers who abandoned their offspring.

  Like Emilie’s maker.

  Who she says is Sten.

  I reached out and held Karsten’s hand. He looked over at me and smiled.

  “We should just leave…” I told him. “Travel…blend in and not report to any clan.”

  He gave me a strange look. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just tired of everything. I’m tired of working for Chronos. I’m tired of being watched all the time.”

  He narrowed his eyes, still watching the road. “What about your kids?”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what to think.”

  Our eyes met, and he reached over and rubbed my neck. “There’s still time.” Then he looked back at the road. “But, you need to be there.”

  “I didn’t need to be there when Aurev sent me.”

  “Maybe he knew it was time you went back?” Bringing my hand to his mouth, he kissed my fingers.

  I looked out into the distance. “Aurev Vatia, puppet master extraordinaire.”

  “He’s the oldest vampire I’ve ever met… until Amy. There are legends back in Denmark about old Moroi.”

  “Yeah? I’ve heard rumors about Aurev for years. That he can tell the future. That he’s psychic. That he can read minds.”

  “It’s all bullshit, I’m sure,” I said with a smirk.

  “Then how does he do it? He is always one step ahead of everybody. He can’t have the largest clan, but he has built a very successful one.”

  I licked my lips. “He’s just smart. He watches and listens to people. He takes a personal interest in his clan… even those outside of his clan.”

  “He is a Renaissance man.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe.” Then I pointed, “Oh there it is!”

  He pulled the car onto the gravel driveway and headed toward the barn. When he turned off the engine, a large man in dark pants, white shirt, suspenders, and a hat came out of the building.

  The Amish man scratched his beard and called to us. “What’s your business here?”

  “Stay here.” Karsten unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. It had begun to rain, and the windows were fogging up. I wiped the glass to clear it as the rain began to pelt a faster rhythm.

  “Oh for the love of…” I trailed off, cursing my American education of learning English and Spanish only. I could clearly hear the two men, but they were speaking some stupid dialect of German.

  Feeling paranoid, I pulled out my small handgun from my purse and flicked the safety off.

  After several moments, when I relaxed and felt for the souls around me, I realized that most of them were Moroi. There were two Moroi and two humans in the barn with Sten. Two humans at the house and one Moroi.

  I turned on the engine to defog the windows.

  Feeling impatience begin to prickle up my chest, I looked around. Why does Karsten just go off and leave me? This is my deal. We can work together. I’m a good partner. I’m good with a gun and everything!

  I was staring intently at the partially open barn door where he’d disappeared to when I heard a sound behind the car.

  There, holding an umbrella, stood an older woman hovering near my car. Our eyes met, and she motioned for me to come to the house.

  I sighed and put the safety back on my gun and tucked it into the waistband of my jeans. Pulling my t-shirt over the bulk, I exited the car.

  Yes, I was probably being paranoid.

  Yes, this little old human woman looked like she’d never hurt a fly.

  Yes, I was bringing my GD gun.

  I followed the brick-lined path to the wrap around porch.

  Standing at the door, I knocked, and the old woman welcomed me in. A younger human woman stood kneading bread.

  “We saw you outside.” Her blue eyes bored into my own, and she raised her eyebrows. Did she know I was a Moroi?

  The older woman gave me a towel to dry off with. After patting down my clothes the best I could, I laid it on a chair and sat.

  �
��We figured you came for David.” The older woman said, her accent strong.

  I nodded and accepted the cup of tea she offered. “Yes, his…” What was Amy to him? “Friend is worried.”

  “We heard she was his master,” said the younger. “He has begun to study our ways and wants to join us.”

  I bit my lower lip. Can’t I just have one thing go my way?

  “Do you know how he got changed? The last time I saw him, he was human.”

  The younger woman slammed the large dough ball onto the table to knead the dough. “One of our brothers in Texas found him, and he had transitioned already. He wanted to live in peace, so they sent him here.”

  “So, he doesn’t want to leave?” I asked skeptically.

  They both nodded, and I wondered where the third person, the Moroi, was.

  I couldn’t believe that we’d come all this way and David didn’t want to go back with us.

  I sipped my tea and talked about the weather and other mundane topics politely.

  Meanwhile, my gun was gouging me in my stomach the whole time but outwardly I ignored it.

  When I asked if I could use their toilet, I was relieved to find a regular bathroom and not an outhouse.

  Inside, I took out the gun and struggled with where to put it. If I put it back in the front of my pants, it would dig into my belly again. I looked at my poor belly button and red skin where it sat before.

  If I put it in the back of my pants, it could fall out. I imagined the faces of my hostesses, in shock and up in arms to kick me out.

  I finally settled on putting it back into the front of my pants. I was determined to stand now. It made me wish I had a holster.

  When I strolled back into the kitchen, Karsten, the Amish Moroi man and the now young and Moroi David stood near the doorway.

  “David?” I asked, and he nodded.

  I could tell that he hadn’t quite gotten used to being young and spry again. He still walked like the old man he used to be.

  Did I do anything like that? I wasn’t that old, but I hadn’t been young when I’d been changed.

  The Amish Moroi spoke. “David has decided to stay with us.”