by Sophie Stern
“You don’t think I’m a coward.”
The other two vampires are still watching us, keeping their eyes on us and this brilliant dance between us. He’s right when he says that they deserve to die. I don’t doubt that. If the Eagleton citizens have actually been hunting vampires all of this time, well, there’s not too much I can do about that, is there?
But I have my own mission, and it doesn’t involve letting Benjamin walk all over me.
“I don’t think you’re a coward,” he finally says. “I do think you’re an idiot. Brave, but dumb.”
“Then bite me and prove it,” I say. I have to shoot my shot. I have to go for it. I want to be a vampire. I want to live forever, and I want to be strong. If half of the things I’ve heard about vampires are true, then I want it. I’m in. I know that the vampires heard me, but they don’t speak. Not right away.
The room falls silent, and I worry for a second that I played my card too soon. They don’t need to know that’s what I want: to live forever, to be immortal. They don’t need to know that I don’t mind drinking blood or not having any friends because I’m going to live forever.
They don’t need to know that.
Because I know that vampires are strong, and fierce, and they’re incredible. Monsters or not, they’re incredible beings, and I want to be one. I’m tired of always feeling sad, and lonely, and isolated. I want to have the strength to overcome those feelings.
Benjamin is very quiet, and then he steps forward.
One.
Two.
Three.
Three steps and he’s in front of me. Three steps and he’s staring me down, trying to scare me. Well, it won’t work. I grew up in Eagleton. I grew up in a place with secrets. I lived in a town where nobody liked me and everyone was happy to let me know.
I’m not afraid of him.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying.”
“I won’t turn you.”
“You said you wanted me to be your mate, didn’t you? Prove it. Turn me. Let me live forever.”
“I’ll do nothing of the sort,” he says.
“Why? Scared?”
I’m taunting him. I’m playing with fire, but I don’t even care. I know perfectly well that this is a dangerous game, but I don’t care. If they’re going to kill me, then I just hope they make it fast, but if they’re going to keep me alive, then I want it to be on my terms, and I want to be a vampire.
“A vampire mate is never turned,” Eli says, interrupting.
“She is only kept,” Matthew adds.
“Why?”
“Her role is to be the beloved companion of her mates until she is old and grey.”
“And then what? She just dies?”
Matthew nods.
Eli nods.
Benjamin just looks at me.
“I don’t want to die,” I mutter so quietly that I’m not sure they hear me. That’s not fair at all. A kept woman? I’m supposed to be kept and coddled until the day I die naturally from being old?
That sounds terrible, but I can already tell from the looks on their faces that they aren’t interested in negotiating this. They aren’t interested in talking with me about this anymore. Nope. Right now, they’re ready to move on.
Fine.
I speak a little more clearly.
“But if you’re going to kill the Eagleton citizens, then I want to watch.”
They exchange looks. What else were they going to do? Lock me in the room? No thanks. This isn’t going to be a Beauty-and-the-Beast sort of situation where I’m just locked away, trapped and unable to escape. I may not remember much about my childhood before moving to Eagleton, but Edna was an avid reader, and she loved to tell me tales.
She told me stories of princesses locked in towers and women who fought monsters, and one thing was always certain: timid girls never won.
It was always the brave girls, the ones who, as Benjamin put it, were a little bit stupid, that survived.
I don’t mind being slightly dumb if it means I get what I want.
“I can handle it.”
“It’s not what you expect,” Eli says.
“I’m a little bored with your comments about my expectations,” I tell him. “Especially when you haven’t bothered to ask me what my expectations are. Besides, if you’re going to keep me around for the next fifty years or so, I’d like to know what I’m getting into.”
Finally, Benjamin reaches out and grabs my wrist.
“For dragon’s sake,” he says. “Let’s fucking go.”
Chapter 6
BY THE TIME WE GET outside, the Eagleton residents have been unloaded from the carts they were stored in, but they’re all still tied up. I see plenty of faces I recognize and a few I don’t really know or remember. One thing is for certain, though: they all look strangely calm. I stand with my three men, and I look at what’s happening.
“Why aren’t they fighting?” I ask Benjamin.
“They’re under a sort of glamour,” he tells me.
“That’s the mind-control thing?”
“Basically. Blood tastes better, sweeter, when it isn’t scared.”
“Is that true?”
I would have thought the opposite was the truth. I would have guessed that vampire food tastes best when it’s afraid.
Benjamin looks at me calmly, rationally, and finally tells me.
“Blood tastes sour when the victim is afraid.”
“These aren’t victims,” I whisper. “They know what they did. They were wrong. Horrible. Evil. They aren’t the victims here.”
He looks at me sharply.
“I won’t turn you,” he says. “If you’re trying to suck up to me to get me to turn you, you should know that I won’t.”
“I’m not sucking up. They don’t deserve to live. I didn’t...”
How can I express this to him? I had no idea that there were hunters in my town. I literally did not know. It’s a horrible feeling to know that people I loved and considered to me my friends are nothing more than liars.
“I didn’t know what they were doing,” I finally say.
“You know now.”
“And I never want to see them again.”
“Good. You won’t.”
Benjamin has a firm grip on my wrist. I think he’s afraid that if he lets go, I’m going to run around wildly and try to save everyone. I’m not really sure why they all think I’m their chosen mate, especially when Benjamin obviously isn’t really into the idea, but I’m willing to stand still and let them do their thing. I’m not about to run away. I certainly won’t put myself into harm’s way.
Eli whistles loudly and suddenly, there are vampires practically pouring out of the castle and out of the woods. They’re wearing black leather corsets, black pants, and long dresses. A few people are wearing jeans and t-shirts, similar to what we wear in Eagleton. Fashion may not be an important element of life in Eagleton, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Suddenly, I feel ashamed. How many times did teenagers in the town go off on a trip or an adventure and come back with clothes like this? I think I’m going to be sick as I realize that everything Eli, Benjamin, and Matthew have told me is true.
The people of Eagleton really have done horrible things. They really have murdered and killed. They’ve torn apart the world and they haven’t cared at all who they’ve hurt along the way.
But I hate knowing this.
I hate knowing that they’ve been causing this chaos.
Matthew seems to be the one who notices me recoil.
“You aren’t scared of the vampires,” he says. “What are you afraid of?”
“The clothes,” I whisper. Should I admit this? I want them to trust me so that they’ll turn me, right? I want that so very much. I don’t really want to admit that my city was as horrible as they believe it was, though.
It’s time, though.
It’s time to
admit it.
“What about the clothes?”
“When the teenagers would go off on their travels...”
My voice trails off, but I realize I need to get it together. I can’t let this be my legacy. I can’t be weak and cowardly. I need to be brave. Benjamin thinks I am. I can be brave.
“They often came back with new clothes,” I finish drily.
“You think they killed vamps.”
“I do now.”
“They may have. We’ve had many problems with our people being hunted. Eagleton is the last settlement in this area.”
“Matthew, let me ask you something.”
“Yes.”
“Do you drink blood?”
Is that another myth?
Is that just something people say about vampires?
I want to know.
He hesitates for a minute, but finally nods.
“Then what will you do when the last human dies?”
“Plenty of creatures have blood, little warrior.”
So he’s taken Benjamin’s nickname for me. Why are they calling me that? I don’t really understand. I like it, yes, but I don’t understand it.
“It doesn’t have to be human blood?”
“No.”
“Does it taste better?”
“Sometimes.”
“What about now?” I whisper. The vampires are starting to circle the humans. Eli is talking to them, but I can’t really hear what he’s saying. Not when Matthew is this close to me. He’s the only one I haven’t kissed, I realize suddenly, and I desperately feel that urge to reach up and just touch him.
Benjamin is still holding my wrist, but now Matthew is close on my other side. They say they want me to be their mate. Do they want...
Do they want to share me together?
And how do I feel about that?
I’ve never really had the chance to be with anyone, and I certainly never thought I’d be with three someone’s all at once, but now that he’s this close, my judgment is starting to feel cloudy, and even though I realize that somewhere in front of me, the vampires are picking the humans they want to eat, I’m just looking up at Matthew.
“Matthew,” I whisper.
But I don’t have to do anything else because he brings his lips to mine, and he kisses me gently, tenderly, sweetly.
He kisses me until all of the humans have been taken away, and when I open my eyes again, it’s only the four of us still standing here.
“Well,” Eli says, looking at me. “That went well.”
“What went well?”
“Convincing you that you’re our mate.”
“Did you think it was going to be difficult to make me believe you?” I ask carefully. I suppose that maybe they were preparing for some sort of fighting, some sort of argument, but the truth is that I don’t have any argument to offer.
“It does seem like a bit of a stretch,” Benjamin says.
“Not when you grew up like I did.”
“You’ll have to tell us more about that,” Eli says. “Over supper, perhaps?”
I blush. Are they seriously asking me on a date? All three of them? On a real, proper date? There’s another thing I’ve never experienced before, and it’s strange to me that this is how it’s happening for me.
I look up at him, and I have to ask if that’s what he means, because that’s what it sounds like.
“Are you asking me out?”
“I’ve already asked you to be our mate. Would a date be so far out of the question?”
“I’d love to,” I say, looking down at myself. “Although, I’m afraid I don’t have anything to wear.”
“Leave that to me,” a high-pitched voice says from beside me. A young woman appears. She’s obviously a vampire. She’s got the same bright, brilliantly-beautiful eyes that the men do, and she wipes a bit of blood from her face. Apparently, she just enjoyed eating her human.
“Who are you?” I whisper.
“This,” Eli says. “Is Abigail.”
“I’m his little sister,” she says with a grin. “And I’m your new best friend. Come on!”
She takes my hand and leads me away. I look over my shoulder as I’m being carted off, but the men look amused: not concerned. So they trust Abigail. That’s good. It means that I can trust her, too.
I’m a little surprised that Matthew, Eli, and Benjamin let Abigail take me out of their sight, but I’m also a little relieved. It feels like I’ve been under their watchful gaze for a million years even though it’s been about a day.
As soon as we’re out of earshot, she gives me a hug.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she tells me.
“You are?”
“Of course. Do you know how long it’s been since we had another girl in the castle?”
“I saw all sorts of girls when I walked in,” I point out, but she laughs and shakes her head.
“I mean a girl vampire.”
“But I’m not a vampire,” I say, blinking.
“What?” Abigail looks confused, and that makes me feel wildly terrible. Am I supposed to be a vampire? Are they supposed to have selected an immortal mate? Is there something wrong with me because I’m not any of those things?
“Am I supposed to be?”
“You’re their mate, right?” She asks, and she scrunches up her nose in a tiny little bunch.
“Yes. At least, that’s what they’ve told me.”
“Um, yeah, you’re supposed to be a vampire.”
“They said they won’t turn me. They said that vampire mates are supposed to be kept and not turned.”
Abigail rolls her eyes.
“Let me guess. They’re scared?”
“I don’t know about all that.”
She shakes her head.
“Whatever. Let’s just get you dressed for dinner. We can worry about my stupid brother and his friends later.”
She leads me off away from the space where the humans just died. We walk around the side of the castle and take a side entrance. Then we go inside. Abigail leads me up, up, up. She takes me upstairs into the castle and eventually, after a lot of twists and turns and moving, we reach what I think is her bedroom.
She stands in front of a large oak door and pushes it. The door swings open easily. There are two human girls in the room, and they seem to be folding laundry and tidying up.
“That’ll be all,” Abigail says.
The two humans nod and curtsey to her and then they take off. Abigail closes the door behind them and locks it. Then she turns to me.
“Good. We’re finally alone,” she grins.
The look of excitement on her face has me slightly concerned. Is she excited because she’s happy to be around another woman? Or is she excited because she wants to eat me? Who do I trust? What do I do now?
“You have to seriously chill out,” she finally says, shaking her head and laughing.
“What?”
“You look so scared! Come on. Didn’t the guys tell you anything?” She raises an eyebrow.
“Not really.”
I don’t know how much to say to Abigail. She might be Eli’s sister, but what if this is some sort of test of loyalty? Are they trying to figure out if I’ll stay true?
“Nothing?” She asks. “How did you get here? Was there a seduction?”
“Um...”
Okay, well now I just feel bad.
There was supposed to be a seduction?
And they were supposed to turn me?
I haven’t gotten any of that.
All I got was kidnapped and stolen away and my entire village just got eaten by vampires. Now I’m thinking that I must have done something wrong to these men. Otherwise, wouldn’t I have gotten all of those important things?
Abigail seems to sense my anxiety, because she comes over and takes my hand.
“Hey,” she says. “Whatever happened, you’re here now. You don’t need to worry.”
“I didn’t get a seducti
on,” I whisper.
“How did you get here?”
“They took my town, and they captured me.”
“Ah,” she nods knowingly. “So they couldn’t find it in themselves to kill you.”
“They said they scented me years ago, and that they knew then I was their mate.”
“It could be true,” she shrugs. “They don’t often talk to me about that sort of thing. Vampires are pretty private when it comes to their mates.”
“Why?”
They share women, don’t they?
So why would they be private about this other issue?
It seems like this is something they’d be more open about – not less. Abigail doesn’t seem concerned, though. If anything, she seems completely put-together and totally at ease.
“It’s just our way,” she finally says, and the way she says this makes me feel like she’s not giving anymore information about vampires and their “ways.”
I decide to take a different approach.
“How many people live in the castle?” I ask.
“Too many,” she rolls her eyes. “It’s Eli’s place, really, but Matthew and Benjamin...well, the three of them have been together forever.”
“Are they lovers?”
She chokes out a laugh and shakes her head.
“No way. They share women, but as far as I know, they aren’t together. They’re just...very close.”
“I saw a lot of vampires when it was time to...take away the Eagleton people.”
“Yeah, we have quite a few who live here. Eli is in charge. He decides who stays, who goes, and who does what. Everyone is expected to pull their weight around here.”
“That seems fair.”
“It’s usually fair.”
“What about the humans?”
She looks over at me.
“What about them?”
As we’re talking, Abigail moves toward a large wardrobe and pulls the doors open. She starts moving her hands over different kinds of fabric. I realize she has a huge collection of dresses in there, and she seems to be looking for a very specific one.
“How did they get here?”
“They were captured, mostly. Some of them came willingly,” she shrugs. She pulls out a red gown and holds it up. Then she shakes her head and put it back. “Mostly, they help around the castle. Sometimes they offer themselves up to be fed.”