by Maria Arnt
Blinking rapidly, Beatrice turned to face her. “Your Master let you go into a public restroom, unaccompanied?”
Tanya nodded.
“And he was teaching you to feed without killing?”
Tanya shrugged. “Well I don’t think he’d care either way, but he knows I don’t want to, so yeah, he’s kind of been helping with that.”
“I am confused.” Beatrice sat on a tombstone, looking very tired. “Did he not explain to you that most changelings kill almost exclusively for the first few years? Didn’t you know that before he changed you?”
“I didn’t know anything before he changed me,” Tanya said bitterly. “He didn’t ask first. He’s not in the habit of asking.”
Beatrice still looked a little confused, but she also gave her a pained, sympathetic smile. “I’m afraid we have much in common then.” She sighed. “I wish I had somewhere I could take you for the day, but right now you would need total darkness.”
“You don’t?”
She lifted her narrow shoulders and let them fall in an elegant shrug. “It’s not pleasant, but indirect sunlight won’t kill me. But then I’m almost one hundred and eighty-three.”
Tanya frowned. “Shouldn’t you be emancipated by now?”
Beatrice looked away, off into the darkness. “Yes, well. I’m not.”
There was an awkward silence, and then the elder vampire took a long, deep breath as if coming back to herself. “Speaking purely hypothetically, if you were to return to your Master tonight, would he punish you?”
Sighing, Tanya turned away. She knew they weren’t speaking hypothetically. “Oh, he’ll make me pay for it.”
“Will he beat you?”
Tanya looked back sharply at her new-found friend. “No! He might be a little rough in training, but he’s never just come out and hit me. I’d kick his ass if he tried it! Or at least I’d try,” she grumbled the last.
Beatrice seemed immensely relieved. “Do you have a way to contact him?”
Closing her eyes, Tanya mourned her short-lived freedom. She knew Beatrice was right, really. But did she have to be so damn practical about it? She went back and retrieved her purse, which she’d dropped behind the mausoleum. Fishing out her phone, she was surprised to see an inordinate amount of missed calls and texts from “Professor Walker.” Apparently, Seth had put his number in her phone.
Walking back, she flipped through the texts. They varied between panicked and irate but tended more towards the former. The last few had been begging her to let him know she was all right. She stared down at the phone, filled with dread and regret. She just couldn’t call him.
Gently, Beatrice pulled the phone from her hands. Tanya plopped down on the ground next to her, leaning her head against the tombstone Beatrice was sitting on. After a moment, Beatrice’s hand came to rest on top of her head, gently stroking her hair.
“Tatiana?!” She could clearly hear Seth’s unstrung voice come over the phone.
“Please forgive me, Master Seth, this is Beatrice of House Adler. Tanya is here with me,” Beatrice rattled off quickly.
There was a moment’s pause. “Is she alright?”
Beatrice glanced down at her, smiling a little. “She’s fine. She’s had a bit of a tussle, and she’s made a mess of herself, but she came out on top and healed herself up.”
“Where are you?” He didn’t sound very reassured.
“St. Luke’s Cemetery, on Pulaski,” she answered.
“I’ll be right there. Thank you, Beatrice.”
Beatrice slipped off the tombstone and held a hand out to help Tanya up. “Come on, then. Let’s get you home.” Her voice was sad, and she honestly seemed to understand the turmoil Tanya was currently feeling.
Sighing, Tanya reached up and took it. “Yeah, okay.”
22
Seth slowed his vehicle as he spotted the cemetery to his left. A petite vampire, dressed all in black, waved discretely as he passed. He didn’t see Tatiana, but he quickly executed a U-turn and illegally parked his car. As he got out, Tatiana leaped down out of a tree which overhung the iron railing.
She was covered in blood.
Tsking, Seth lifted her chin, checking to make sure she was all right. At least some of the blood had clearly come from her nose, but as Beatrice had mentioned on the phone, it had healed completely. “Look at you,” he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped at her face.
She snatched it out of his hand and began working on the mess herself. She seemed sullen and offered no explanation, confirming his suspicion that she had attempted to run away.
“Beatrice I owe you a boon,” he said cheerfully, turning to the girl. She looked exceptionally malnourished, and he wondered what on earth Michael Adler was thinking, starving her like that.
She curtsied low, in the traditional manner, and he held out a hand. She took it briefly but did not kiss it. She knew her manners.
“It was nothing,” Beatrice insisted. “She paid it for you in advance. I should be going anyway.”
“No, Beatrice, come stay with us,” Tatiana suggested quickly. Seth wondered if her generosity was born of true charity or a wish not to be alone with him.
Beatrice shook her head. “I wouldn’t want to impose, or get Master Seth involved,” she ducked her head.
“Involved in what?” Seth asked, curious.
“Her Master sent this awful dude to force her to come back. He was pulling out his junk when I found them. So I killed him,” Tatiana explained in her blunt fashion.
Glossing over her success in executing a kill—it would be counterintuitive to praise her now—he turned to Beatrice. “Is this true?”
Clasping her hands together, Beatrice stared at the ground. “It wouldn’t be the first time, Master Seth.” It didn’t sound as if she imagined it would be the last, either.
“Then I insist you come as well.” He put a hand on her shoulder.
She looked up, surprised. “But Master Michael...”
“Will answer to me for your mistreatment,” he replied darkly.
Beatrice frowned, probably trying to recall her pedigree, and then her eyes widened. “You’re...”
“That Seth, yes,” he smiled a little. It was always nice to be recognized.
Immediately, she took his hand and knelt over it, pressing her forehead to it fervently. “I am honored to be in your presence, O Master of Masters,” she recited.
“What the...?” Tatiana stood up from where she had been leaning against the car.
“No need to stand on ceremony,” Seth said lightly, pulled Beatrice back to her feet, and then opened the car door for her.
She blinked, uncertain, and looked to Tatiana.
“C’mon,” Tatiana gestured for her to get in. “Before the cops come and I have to explain all this blood.”
Beatrice slid gracefully into the back seat, and Tatiana made to climb in after. Seth stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” he breathed. “I thought that I had lost you forever.”
She paused, and he was surprised she didn’t protest. Perhaps he had let a little too much of his desperation show because she just nodded and then got in the car. It would have to do.
The ride home was filled with the two girls’ chatting. Or rather, Tatiana telling Beatrice her entire life story, such as it was. Beatrice spoke little and revealed even less about herself, but she listened eagerly and was very sympathetic. It was clear that they were fast friends. If Beatrice seemed a little unsettled by Tatiana’s choice to devote her life to killing vampires, the younger girl took it merely as squeamishness. Seth suspected something more—one did not reach Beatrice’s age with any amount of squeamishness intact.
Somehow Tatiana managed to drag out the process of getting Beatrice settled in the apartment for the rest of the night. Seth knew she was stalling, afraid of the repercussions of her disobedience. But for now, he was content to let her stew in her anxiety. He intended to be merciful, and only give her a ster
n lecture, but she would only appreciate such leniency after she’d had the opportunity to imagine the worst in lurid detail.
Beatrice, for her part, was an unimposing house guest. She took the smallest of the bedrooms, right next to Tatiana’s. When Tatiana asked if she’d like any decorations for the sparse room, she asked only for a small crucifix she could hang on the wall. Seth promised to get her one and had since been mentally rifling through his collection of artifacts for something she wouldn’t find too gaudy.
At last, Tatiana’s chattering began to be punctuated by frequent yawns. She seemed determined to stay awake as long as possible, but it was a battle she was destined to lose. She was already curled up in her corner of the couch, opposite her new friend.
“Tanya, you should go to bed,” Beatrice suggested kindly. “The sun will be up very soon, and one of us will have to carry you up,” she teased.
Tatiana shot Seth a dark look, clearly implying that he shouldn’t get any ideas. “Aren’t you tired?” she asked Beatrice around yet another yawn.
“Not yet. I often stay up a few hours after sunrise, if I can avoid the light,” she explained.
Sighing, the younger vampire stood from the couch and stretched. “You have no idea how jealous I am. Well, Goodnight. Good... day? What exactly do you guys say to each other?” she laughed.
“Sleep well,” Beatrice offered, along with a smile.
“Guard against cracks,” Seth quoted.
“What?” Tatiana turned to him, her face scrunched up.
“I believe the human equivalent is ‘don’t let the bedbugs bite.’ Although a crack which let in light would be considerably more damaging,” he reasoned.
She shook her head and made her way up the stairs.
Once she had closed the door, there was a tangible shift in the mood. Beatrice had the manners and training not to look him full in the face, but she still studied him carefully for a long moment.
“I apologize on her behalf for her lack of manners,” Seth offered to break the silence.
To his surprise, she smiled. “Oh, she’s young. And human girls these days don’t put much stock in manners. She’s remarkably forthright, and I like that.”
“That is perhaps the most charitable word for it,” Seth agreed, settling back in his chair. “But I do feel responsible for her.” He glanced up at the balcony, still anxious from her attempted escape.
“As well you should,” she said warmly. He suspected she liked him better for it. After another long pause, she finally spoke up. “As much as I appreciate your offer of asylum, Master Seth, if I am to live under your protection there is something I must know.”
Seth was fairly certain he knew where this conversation was leading. “Ask away.” He spread his hands, palm-up.
“Tanya implied that you have taken advantage of her in the past,” she said bluntly.
He sighed. “I turned her without asking her permission first,” he admitted. “I wish I could have done it another way, but I could not foresee any acceptable alternatives.” He spoke very quietly, in case Tatiana was still awake.
“Thank you for being honest with me,” she smiled, “but I already knew about that. From what she said, I am worried that you compromised her... well, not her virtue....” Her cheeks took on a faint pink hue, which stood out sharply against her pale complexion.
“Ah, I see.” He ran a hand through his hair, mulling over his least favorite mistake. “I made an error in judgment, in her first week. I was eager that she accept me, and as such failed to recognize that she was in a sensory trance. She misinterpreted it as control, and while I proved to her that was not the case, she still resents it greatly.”
She pressed her lips together, thinking. “So it was not your intention to force her?”
“Gods, no,” he said bitterly. “She constantly defies my expectations. I’m at something of a loss to manage her, as a result.”
Beatrice hesitated. “Surely you must see what a difficult position you’ve put her in?”
A spark of indignation arose in him, out of old habit. But even though this newcomer barely knew either of them, he was desperate for some insight into Tatiana’s thoughts. “Indulge me,” he nearly ordered.
She took her time thinking of the right way to explain it, so he picked up his mug of tea and sipped while he waited.
“The fact that you are her Master colors your every interaction,” she began.
“Naturally,” he agreed with a tip of the head.
“So if you gained that position of authority without her consent, any time you exercise it, even involuntarily, as when her natural urges compel her towards you, it is an extension of that violation to her.” She reasoned slowly. It was clear she was prepared for an emotional outburst to follow.
But for Seth, it was only a confirmation of what he already suspected. “Did you know it’s not actually possible to turn someone against their will?” he countered.
She stiffened, clearly disagreeing. As he thought, she had some similar experience to Tatiana. “I’m not sure I agree with that.”
“Can you honestly say, when you were turned, that you refused it?” Seth had yet to meet a vampire who could answer in the positive.
Her gaze immediately dropped to her lap. “I was not properly informed of what precisely I was agreeing to,” she argued bitterly.
That surprised him. He had thought she had later changed her mind about being a vampire. “What did Michael tell you would happen?” he asked, voice soft.
She seemed to shrink before his eyes, curling into herself, as if she could hide in the folds of the leather couch. “That I would become an angel, like him.” Her voice was nearly inaudible, even for him.
Belatedly, Seth recalled that there had been just such a scandal in the first half of the 19th century. A Master vampire out of Lillith’s line had gone around revealing himself to humans, claiming to be an angel. He would win their trust and then commit some rather flagrant blasphemy before killing his victims, usually in churches. As most of the European Masters in power at the time were devoutly Catholic, they took offense and threatened said Master, who had fled to the Americas.
He had not known that Michael Adler was the Master in question, or that any changelings had resulted from his perverse amusements. “I see. How terrible for you,” he murmured softly.
She hitched a little sigh. “It was prideful of me to want to be more than what I was created. But I am serving my penance, as best I can.”
Considering what Tatiana had said about how the two of them had met, he would judge she had more than served for her sins, but it wasn’t his place to say so. That was between her and her god.
“What did you tell Tanya?” she asked.
Grimacing, he realized his half-truth wasn’t much better. “That I could make her stronger, so she could kill more vampires.”
To his surprise, Beatrice chuckled, relaxing. “And she wanted that?”
“Very much so,” he set his empty mug down on the side table. “But she wasn’t very happy with how I went about it, which I expected, of course.”
“So why not ask?” Beatrice frowned, clearly unable to fathom his choice.
“She might have said no,” he reasoned, but pressed on when it seemed she would object, “Or she might have said yes. In which case she could easily have become very dependent on me. I wanted her to maintain her independence, her strength.”
Beatrice thought that over for a long moment.
“Anyway, it’s gone not at all as expected, and I haven’t the slightest idea how to make reparations,” he said testily.
“Would you do it differently, if you had the chance?” she asked.
“Yes. Although I don’t know what I could have done differently. Obviously, I chose the wrong course of action,” he reasoned. He wasn’t too proud to admit his mistakes.
She nodded and visibly relaxed. “Then that’s all I needed to know.”
Seth leaned forward. “You will stay with us
, then?”
“If it is permissible?” she asked. “I didn’t mean to assume.”
“Of course. In truth, I need you as much as you need shelter. Tatiana needs a friend, someone who she can trust, who can guide her through these first few years. And it cannot be me,” he explained.
“No, I don’t think that’s really an option.” She gave him a weary smile.
“And maybe,” he felt the corners of his mouth tip up a little, though he fought to hide the smile, “you could impart some sense of etiquette on my wild girl?” He raised his eyebrows.
That made her laugh. “Master Seth, I may try to be a pious woman, but I am no saint. I cannot perform miracles,” she teased. “But I am happy to earn my keep.”
“Then it’s settled.” Seth stood, and offered Beatrice a hand. “And you leave Master Michael to me, understand?”
Shuddering, she took his hand and stood. “Thank you, I believe I shall.” Beatrice curtsied deeply and then hesitated.
“Is there something else?”
“If you don’t mind my impertinence, I would suggest you go easy on Tanya. She ran without thinking. She had no plan, no idea of what she would do beyond fleeing. I understand she was unattended at the time,” she said meekly.
He bristled all the same. “I’ll take it under consideration,” he answered diplomatically. Never mind that had been his plan all along, it rankled to be reminded of his fault in the matter. He watched as Beatrice left for the solace of her new room, and decided sleep was perhaps a good idea. He was exhausted from his search for Tatiana and sensed he would need his strength in the coming nights.
23
Tanya turned and paced back across her bedroom floor, the phone held tight against her face. Her throat was tight, and her heart hammered in her chest. She hadn’t been this upset since she’d made a run for it two weeks ago
“I just don’t understand why you can’t come home. It’s been months! And this is Thanksgiving...” her mother’s voice was at maximum manipulation.
“I know Mom, I just, I don’t know how I can make it work!” she huffed. Her mother was in full-on guilt trip mode, which was made worse by the fact that Tanya really did want to go home, she just couldn’t.