I went to the other door leading back to the hall and did the same, leaving with a light step and going back downstairs. One little misstep and I already knew something I didn’t care to know. Yet again.
When I got back downstairs, Samantha’s fiancé was still sitting at the bar and Nathaniel was still on the balcony with the Congressman. I grabbed another glass of white wine from the bar and went outside onto the balcony, sitting at the far corner where I could wait until Nathaniel was done. I planned to demand Nathaniel take me home as soon as he was finished with the Congressman. I had seen enough. I knew enough. I had had enough.
“I’ve heard about you,” said a voice that brought me out of my self-imposed trance. When I turned my attention from the view over the balcony to see who it was, Samantha’s fiancé stood before me with a smile on his face. One I was certain wouldn’t be there if he knew what Samantha was up to just one floor above us.
“Hopefully good things,” I sighed.
He chuckled. “No need to worry. Carlton once asked Emily if she had any friends. She immediately mentioned you. The girl who protected her on the school bus back when she was in elementary school.”
I might have blushed a little. To know Emily thought of me as a friend was heartwarming. Even if most of the time I spoke to her was when she wanted a reading these days since I left school.
“You also tell fortunes or something, right?” He asked.
There it was. Yet again. The way people said it was either with amusement as though it was funny or with curiosity because they were about to ask me to read for them. Either way, I wasn’t in the mood.
“Yeah, I occasionally read for Emily.”
‘Notice how I said Emily and not you? Don’t ask, don’t ask, don’t ask!’
“I’ve always been interested in that type of thing,” he said as he permitted himself to take a seat next to me without asking. Normally I would have thought it rude, especially at a formal evening party. But I felt sorry for him, knowing what Samantha was doing upstairs. So I let it slide. “I’ve had psychics at Renaissance festivals read for me. Even dabbled in meditation a bit, but I guess I’m just not spiritually inclined.”
Ah! He thought of it as a form of spiritual development like most other humans. Not that I cared. If anything all that new age stuff helped keep people farther away from the truth.
“Yeah, it takes a certain amount of focus,” I said, not wanting to elaborate.
“I know Carlton appreciates what you do for Emily though,” he went on. “From the little I’ve seen her, she appears to be a bit of a loner. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I was shy too when I was around her age. And kids can be so vile to each other. Especially in public schools. I don’t know why Carlton forced Emily and Samantha to remain in public school. But I suspect it has something to do with keeping a mainstream appeal to blue collar folks. He can say during re-election that he’s normal like everyone else and his daughters go to the same schools as the voter’s kids. I plan to send my future kids somewhere better.”
‘Your future kids? If only you knew…’
“It’s all about appearances these days, isn’t it?” I said.
He stifled another laugh. “Isn’t all of politics that way? We have a private position and a public position. The public one keeps us employed. The private one keeps us alive.”
That got my attention. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head and glanced over at the Congressman who was shaking hands with Nathaniel. Their discussion must have been over because Nathaniel turned and started walking in our direction, almost like he knew where I was this whole time and didn’t need to search around for me.
“Nothing,” he muttered, realizing he might have said too much. “Have you seen Samantha recently?”
‘Oh, you mean the cheating, lying, sack of shit upstairs who will likely get you killed if you stay with her?’
“No. Not for a while.”
He reached out to shake my hand as I set my empty wine glass on the seat and got up. Nathaniel was weaving through the crowd of people to get to me.
“It was nice to meet you, Harper,” Brian said with a firm grip on my hand. There was a perfect amount of strength and levity to his handshake.
“Yes, you too. And good luck with your future endeavors. I hear D.C. is a tough town.”
He snickered and let go. But not before I got a strange feeling that piqued my interest. Brian was captivated by something. Or someone. Was it me? Were they both cheating scumbags? Did they have an open relationship? Whatever happened to loyalty and commitment? Or did I just marry the only available virtuous man in town? Only to lose him so soon.
“Mr. Stockard,” said Nathaniel with a shake of his head toward Brian. “It was a pleasure meeting you tonight.”
“You also,” he responded. “Take care of this one,” he said gesturing toward me. “She’s something special.”
Nathaniel said nothing. He simply shook his head to acknowledge what he said in silence then grabbed my hand.
“You ready?” he asked me.
‘Come on! I’m the one who’s been waiting on you.’
“Yes, very.”
He led me down the grand staircase up front, through a living room, and down toward the backyard terrace.
“Where are we going?” I asked as he practically dragged me along behind him.
“We need to find someplace where we’ll go unnoticed.”
That didn’t sound particularly appealing. If he was going to go through with murdering me, I wanted witnesses.
“Wait, what’s wrong? What did the Congressman say?”
“Nothing that concerns you,” he spat.
He pulled me along all the way outside. When I turned back to look at the people on the outside patio, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. It was Emily. She was hidden in a tree house away from everyone else. She saw me too. She didn’t wave. She didn’t move. She simply sat there in a nice dress and did her best to avoid the party. Even if that meant hiding away in her childhood tree house that I doubt her dad built for her with his own two hands. He didn’t seem like the type to engage in manual labor. He would hire low wage laborers to do it for him.
Just before she disappeared from my view I saw her reach for the ladder leading up to the tree house and pull it inside. It didn’t exactly look light, but she got it in. She didn’t want anyone intruding on her privacy. Even me. Or maybe it was the company I was keeping.
‘Smart girl. Wish I could have avoided the party too.’
Once we were in the woods and beyond any land that the Congressman had properly landscaped, Nathaniel stopped.
“Are we doing that tunnel thing again?” I asked, trying to prepare myself for the oncoming nausea that would likely follow.
“Hold on tight,” he said as he took me into his arms. There was something urgent about the way he enfolded me. Something that told me he was on edge.
A bright flash of light erupted from behind him. I felt the pull of the tunnel sucking us in to take me home.
‘At least I’ll get away from this fancy party, expensive mansion, and uppity people.’
As much as I welcomed the thought, I knew Nathaniel would still be there when we got back to my humble backyard. So it wasn’t like I could get excited about going home just yet.
The tunnel opened behind him and sucked us in. We were moving fast. I was tempted to open my eyes but it was too bright. Until it wasn’t. We plunged downward and I left my heart miles away as the sensation of falling overpowered me.
‘This didn’t happen the last time. Does he know what he’s doing?’
I landed hard on top of Nathaniel. His arms were practically crushing me. He let out a grunt then tossed me to the side. I went flying off of him and rolled on the ground at least five times before stopping when I collided with the side of a tall stone building.
When I peered up to see what the hell had happened and why I wasn’t in my backyard, I saw Nathaniel
already standing. A man launched himself straight at him, sending Nathaniel flying a solid twenty feet back. He crashed into the ground below and did his best to collect himself. But not before the man who thrust him away turned to look directly at me. It was the man who Samantha was screwing upstairs at her father’s party. The man she was cheating with. And not just any man. A vampire. My magic threatened to burst out of me. To protect me in any way it could. But all it would do was expose me.
“You should have known better, Nathaniel,” said the man in a gruff English accent. One very similar to Nathaniel’s. “The last thing to do when you find a living kruxa is wear her on your arm.”
‘Well, I don’t have to worry about exposure I guess.’
“How did you keep her alive all these centuries?” he went on.
‘Huh?’
I could see the man’s fangs lurching out of his gums, getting ready to feed on me. To kill me. His eyes were full of more disgust than even the most wretched of cheerleaders I had ever accidentally run into back in high school. He wanted me dead. He wanted me gone. Purged from the Earth like so many of my ancestors. He took out a piece of metal from his coat pocket and snapped open a long silver knife. He was going to stab me in the neck before feeding on me, just like the girl in Officer Parker’s crime photos. Just like so many other killings across the country that police always assumed were muggings gone wrong.
I tried getting up, but my legs wouldn’t move. My body ached from the crash landing and colliding into the wall behind me. I managed to get up on my hands with my legs still sprawled out on the ground when he walked over and readied his knife to dig into my neck.
Nathaniel never gave him the chance. He threw the man back into the opposite wall and watched as he came back down to the street, landing on his feet as though it barely hurt him.
“You will not touch her, Isaac,” Nathaniel hollered.
It wasn’t until then as I managed to get back up to my hands and knees that I saw more of where we were. The ground was wet from a fresh rain. The sky was dark with overcast clouds. And we weren’t in a regular street. It was a cobblestone alley with buildings towering over us. Not just ordinary buildings. Old ones. Ones far older than any I had ever seen in Dilton or my honeymoon to Savannah. Where ever we were, it wasn’t Georgia.
“Of all Tobias’s closest allies, I never expected to find you keeping the company of a kruxa. Has she finally managed to scar you? Is that why you protect her? Don’t you think Tobias has a right to know that you’ve gone weak?”
Tobias? Dear God. That had to be Nathaniel’s coven master.
“Do you honestly think I would allow such a thing to happen?” Nathaniel countered. He stepped away from me as the two started circling each other like vultures, waiting for one to make a move.
“You wouldn’t have any control over it. Unless…”
Isaac glanced back at me with venomous eyes. I rolled over so I was sitting up against the wall, too terrified to stand. It wasn’t like getting up to run would help. I was alone with two vampires. And only one of them had a mild interest in keeping me alive.
“You’ve been ingesting vixra blood,” said Isaac. “You would dare Tobias’s anger by consorting with the vixra without his permission?”
Nathaniel didn’t waste any more time talking. He rushed at Isaac who was already prepared for the attack. The two fought one another so fast that I couldn’t quite tell who had the upper hand. Maybe neither of them did. They slowed down just enough for me to see Isaac slash at Nathaniel with his knife, primed and ready to stab at Nathaniel again if he faltered in any way. I heard Nathaniel grunt as he went down on one knee. Isaac must have gotten a good shot in.
“Watch out!” I cried. Not that I was terribly concerned about the man who had held me captive all day. But I knew I was safer with Nathaniel than Isaac.
Nathaniel quickly recovered and stabbed Isaac directly in the gut with a silver dagger. I didn’t even see him take it out. Or did he manage to steal it from Isaac? It was too dark and they were moving too fast for me to tell.
Isaac didn’t scream. He didn’t cry out. He merely reached for the blade, yanked it out, and shot fire through his hand directly at Nathaniel.
‘Now that’s a trick I haven’t seen before.’
Nathaniel was sent back into the wall of one of the buildings. His clothes were charred and his skin burned. I watched as his flesh started turning black. Unlike Isaac, he did scream. Isaac reduced the flames until they were no more than a fireball in his hand. I couldn’t stop myself from staring as Nathaniel’s flesh started healing within seconds. His suit however, wouldn’t recover. He ripped away the remains of his shirt and jacket, not that there was much left. His chest was ripped with muscles. Muscles I already knew were there from him pinning me to the wall earlier that day. He raised his head and all I could see was rage dying to be let out.
“You’re one to talk of the company I keep when you’re the one ingesting vixra blood, Isaac,” he said. “Control over the elements? Really? Who gave you power over fire?”
Isaac didn’t answer. He only grinned and turned his attention toward me. I knew what was coming. He was about to set me on fire the same way he had Nathaniel. I preferred the idea of a knife to the throat over burning to death. And apparently, Nathaniel didn’t want that for me either. While Isaac was aiming directly for me, Nathaniel raised his arm and ripped open the tunnel directly behind me. A look of panic crossed his face as I was immediately sucked in. The cobblestone alley was nothing but a memory. At first, I couldn’t see a thing. The bright light forced my eyes shut as havoc surrounded me. Wind threw me about as if I was stuck inside a laundry machine, only to land right on my back staring up at the stars. Stars that weren’t visible in the overcast sky seconds ago.
A few stones and bricks came tumbling down. I had to jerk to the side to miss them. A side effect of ripping open the vixra tunnel, I suppose. I took a bit of the street and the building behind me along for the ride. One clipped my side, leaving a nice and hefty spot where I knew a bruise would surely form.
I peered to the side to see my back porch. I was back home. In the dreaded heat of Georgia. Worse for wear, but alive. Only Nathaniel wasn’t there. Nor was Isaac. Somehow, Nathaniel had opened the tunnel directly behind me so it could suck me away without ever having touched me. He saved me. He could have let Isaac kill me. He could have abandoned me. But he sent me home.
And the look in his eyes right before he opened the tunnel was forever embedded deep in my memory. He was afraid. Not for himself, but for me.
I had somehow survived an entire night being held captive by a vampire, going to a stuffy party for an overpaid Congressman, surrounded by vampires trying to be incognito, and one particularly unpleasant one named Isaac who could throw fireballs through his hand.
If this was an indicator of where my life was headed, I would be right alongside Caleb’s burial plot in no time.
Chapter 7
The sensation of warm water greeting my skin was a harsh but welcomed feeling. My skin was bruised. Dirty. And I had a couple nice scrapes that would prevent me from wearing shorts or dresses for the next couple of weeks. A bath was definitely in order just so I could clean up. There was no way I was going to bed without one. But not just to unwind. I had to mull over every detail of what happened that night. From Nathaniel first showing up to the look he gave me when Isaac raised his arm to set me aflame. From Samantha’s indiscretion to the brand of the Catach-Brayin marking the side of her ribcage. From the Congressman’s obscenely expensive landscaping to his recognition of Nathaniel the moment he saw him. Followed by their long mysterious discussion on the balcony.
I settled into the water, letting the steam waft over my face. I reached for a bathing cloth and soaked it with body wash, then gently tended to my scrapes and bruises. Washing away the residue of the dark and damp alley staining my skin. I turned my body around with a bit of resistance from my thighs. The side effect of being tossed to the side b
y a particularly strong vampire. Even if it was to get me away from Isaac, it was also a bit of roughhousing I wasn’t ready for. I couldn’t be too angry about that part, I guess. I did land on top of Nathaniel. He blocked me from the hard cobblestones under him. Did he do that on purpose? Was he protecting me from the start? Or was I just, in his words, ‘useful’ and therefore worthy of protecting?
I twisted the washcloth and got ready to scrub away the residue on my side.
‘How in the hell did all that grime get under my dress? It didn’t tear there, did it?’
I scrubbed at the spot only to find it wasn’t washing away. Because it wasn’t dirt. I took a closer look and touched the skin under my arm. Panic seeped deep into my core with little to no warning. It wasn’t dirt. It was the beginning of a brand appearing on my skin. The brand of the Catach-Brayin. The symbol that said one thing. I was the property of the Catach-Brayin vampire coven. The most powerful vampire coven in the Western world.
I sat up from the bath as my heart started hammering inside my chest.
“No! No, no, no! He didn’t!”
Did Nathaniel force the brand on me? I would be the first to admit that I didn’t know how the process worked. It wasn’t like I spent enough time around vampires to know such things or asked stupid questions that would lead the wrong sort to come looking for me. I only knew what the brand meant. I knew what it stood for. And I knew that Nathaniel could use it to kill me at any time.
I heard a creak of the wooden floorboards coming from my kitchen. Someone was inside my house. And I was defenseless in my bathtub.
Water splattered on the floor as I reached for a towel to dry off as fast as I could. Previous experience taught me not to rush out of the tub without drying off my legs and feet. Water and tile flooring do not mix. Reaching for my bathrobe, I heard the sound again. A definite creaking of the wood. Someone was walking around. I stepped into my bedroom and reached for a book on my shelf. Well, it wasn’t a book exactly. It was only meant to look like one. Inside the book was a large hole of empty pages revealing a Glock that Caleb had bought for me. He made sure I knew how to use it after we first got married and insisted we go to the range to practice every Friday after he got home from work. I was a pretty good shot after six months, but I hadn’t been back to the range since his death.
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