by L.H. Cosway
“You could say that,” Delilah agreed, gathering herself. “I apologise for interrupting your meditation. I should go.”
“You can join me, if you’d like,” Ira offered, gesturing to the empty patch of grass beside him. “If you’re stressed it might help to clear your head.”
Delilah seemed unsure, pausing as if weighing her options, before finally, she took a deep breath and went to sit beside him. Once they both closed their eyes, Ethan pulled us away from the roof edge.
“Hey,” I whispered in protest. “It was just about to get interesting.”
He smirked at me. “Quite the little voyeur, aren’t you.”
“Well, when you put it like that you make me sound like a pervert.” Though to be perfectly honest, if things had gotten sexy, I probably would have stayed and watched. Maybe I was a pervert.
Ethan moved me to the centre of the roof and pulled me to his front as he stretched his body out with me on top of him.
“It’s strange being up here,” I said after a few quiet moments of staring up at the starless sky.
“Ah, déjà vu,” Ethan muttered, tracing his fingers up and down my arms.
“Déjà vu?”
“The first night I met you,” he explained, “it was a starless night just like this one. I sat on the roof of my house with Delilah, staring up at the sky. We spoke about the perils of loving a human.”
“I think it’s slightly more perilous for a human to love a vampire,” I countered, tingles rushing through me at the thought of Ethan’s love. I was certain it would be a truly spectacular thing to possess.
I sensed him smiling when his jaw moved against my hair. “The perils go both ways, I suppose.”
“Okay, explain it to me then. How is it dangerous for a vampire to love a human?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You age and die, while we stay young and unchanged.”
Thinking about it, that did sound rather depressing. “I guess. But then why don’t you just date vampire women? It would save you the heartache. Besides, vampires are a hell of a lot more attractive than humans, so I can’t imagine it’d be too hard to fall in love with one.”
“Vampire women are beautiful, yes, and for a long time, I only courted my own species. When I was young, though, I was enraptured by humans. I found them passionate and unpredictable. They seized the day because they knew their lives were finite.”
“Your life is finite, too.”
His hand drifted over my stomach. “Not nearly as finite as a human’s,” he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Did it sadden him to think of my short lifespan?
“Is that why you had so many dhampir children? Because you had relationships with human women?”
“Yes, and after those children continued to die, I made a promise to myself never to fall for a human again.”
“And you kept that promise to yourself?”
“I did,” he answered, voice quiet. “Until I met you.”
I stilled, thinking about what he just said. Did he mean to say he was falling in love with me? The idea filled my entire body with butterflies. Perhaps he just meant falling in lust.
“Do you remember some of the things I said to you in bed last night?” he asked, distracting me from my thoughts.
“What things? I remember you speaking some Romanian.” And it being hot as all hell.
His arms tightened around me, pressing his fingers into the dip at my hip bone. His other hand travelled to my neck, where he caressed my throat. I trembled against him. “I tend to revert to my mother tongue when I get …excited,” he said then, somewhat sheepish.
I trembled again. “So, what were some of the things you said to me?”
“There were many. Only one was truly important.”
“And that was?”
His mouth came to my ear as he whispered, “Te iubesc. Look it up.”
My brow furrowed. I hadn’t remembered him saying those particular words, but admittedly I had been a little distracted.
“Why can’t you just tell me?”
His smile was devilish. “No, I’m too … shy.”
I barked a laugh at that. “You, Ethan Cristescu, are so far away from shy it could break a world record.”
“Fine. I’m mysterious then.”
He lifted me, and before I knew it, he was running down the roof and dropping us to the ground, so smooth I barely even felt it. Things went blurry again for a few brief seconds, and then we were inside his house. He threw me onto his bed, pulled my top off, and began kissing and licking his way down my stomach, before unbuttoning the top of my jeans.
“What … huh … what are you doing?” I asked weakly. His kisses made me forget my own name.
He flicked his tongue along my belly, where I immediately broke out in extreme goosebumps. “Making you mine again,” he replied huskily, and my willpower collapsed. Not that it was doing a very good job of helping me resist him anyway.
I moaned when his hand slipped inside my jeans, caressing me before he grew impatient and began removing the rest of my clothes. I didn’t fight him. One more night of bliss, and then I would figure things out. I’d fix my dad, make Rita whole again, and return Rebecca to her father.
Tomorrow.
Yes, all that could wait until tomorrow.
***
After the second night of barely any sleep, I woke up exhausted. When Ethan and I were alone together he had a way of making me forget everything. There were no problems, no other people, no rivalries, feuds, or villains—just us.
Reluctantly, I left him sleeping and threw on my clothes. As I passed by the spare bedroom, I heard Edwards snoring loudly. He sounded like a giant bumblebee. I knocked on his door, and the snoring immediately ceased. I waited a minute or two before peeking my head in the room. He was sitting up in the bed with the blankets tucked around him, his grey hair sticking out in every direction.
“Good morning!” he exclaimed. “My word, I think I slept nearly fifteen hours straight last night. After all the excitement of rescuing your father, I must have needed it.”
“I can imagine.” I smiled at him. “Are you hungry? I’m going to make some breakfast.”
“I’m absolutely famished,” he answered. “I’ll just make myself presentable, and I’ll be right down.”
I went downstairs, hoping Delilah kept some food in the house. Opening the fridge, I expected to find it mostly bare, but it wasn’t. It was well-stocked with a variety of food. Thank goodness a dhampir lived here and not just vampires.
I quickly threw together some French toast and coffee. Edwards entered the kitchen just as I was setting it on the table, and we ate quickly. Edwards seemed just as eager to see how my dad was doing this morning as I was.
Over breakfast, Edwards informed me that my dad was conscious throughout most of their journey home, but that he was far from being in his right mind. It was the transition through the dimensional door that took the strength out of him. I put our few dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and then we headed across the street.
Finn was making his way down the stairs just as we stepped inside. When his eyes landed on me, they seemed conflicted. I guessed he wasn’t happy about me spending another night at Ethan’s. He didn’t comment on it though; instead he focused his attention on Edwards.
“I just checked on Martin. He’s still sleeping,” Finn said, before pulling something from his back pocket and handing it to me. Edwards passed by us to go upstairs to see Dad. I glanced down and saw he’d given me a brand-new passport.
“For your old man, as promised,” Finn said before moving to go by me.
“Thank you,” I whispered, opening it up to see a picture of my dad inside. “Wait. How did you get the photo?”
“I hacked into the database of the school he used to work at. It wasn’t difficult.”
“Oh, well, thanks. This means a lot.” Reaching out, I pulled him into a gentle hug. He seemed taken off guard by the gesture, stiffening a little before relaxing into it.
“You’re such a good person, Finn. I really don’t deserve you as a friend.”
He patted me on the back, a hint of humour in his voice. “Yeah, well, not many people do.”
I pulled back, turning to follow Edwards upstairs. Before I made it to the first step, Finn touched my shoulder. His eyes met mine before flicking to the floor as he spoke, “I just wanted to say …” he trailed off, some conflict warring behind his gaze, and my breath caught. Oh, no, please don’t let this be what I thought it was. If Finn had feelings for me, I didn’t want him to say it, because then things would be awkward, and I selfishly wanted them to stay how they were. He swallowed thickly before continuing, “Listen, I can give you advice, but I can’t tell you what to do, but please promise me you won’t do anything stupid for that vampire?”
“Finn, I’m not going to—”
“Look, I know you have feelings for him. I’m not blind. And yeah, I’ll admit I’m jealous because I really like you and I thought there might be something between us. But I’m not going to make a fool of myself and beg you to choose me. That would be pointless. Just know that you’ll always have a friend in me and that I’m here if you ever need me.”
Great, now I was going to cry. Finn was the salt of the earth. He deserved better than me, and I just hoped one day some girl would come along and love him like he deserved to be loved.
“That goes both ways. I’m not sure how it happened, but I think you might be my best friend. I’m here if you ever need me, too.”
He squeezed my shoulder, sucking in a breath as though trying to keep a handle on his emotions. “Go see your dad. Give a shout if you need anything.”
With that, he went, and I continued up the stairs, where I found Edwards peeling off the lotions he put on my dad yesterday. They’d formed into a solid skin, and when he peeled it back, I was amazed to see that the blisters had disappeared, leaving new, pink skin in their place.
“How incredible,” I said in awe, sitting down on the edge of the bed. The moment I sat, my dad’s face whipped to me. His eyes were open, but they weren’t their usual colour. They were all murky, like a swamp. I startled and stood. One side of his mouth tilted up, an unsettling expression on his face.
“Dad,” I whispered. “It’s me, Tegan.”
Edwards placed a hand on my elbow. “There’s no point, dear. He doesn’t recognise you right now. His mind is somewhere else.”
Dad still stared at me, almost like he was sneering. For the second time this morning I felt like crying. It felt wrong on a deep and disturbing level to have Dad look at me with eyes that weren’t his own.
Edwards placed several bottles containing dark liquids by the nightstand. Dad turned to watch him, his face calming when he looked at the professor. Edwards was his saviour, so it wasn’t surprising that Dad had a different reaction to him. Edwards perched himself by the bed and began feeding him spoonfuls of liquid from the different bottles. He seemed relatively passive at first, but before he swallowed down the third spoonful his expression contorted and he spat it out onto the bed. I went to grab some paper towels to dab up the spillage, and Edwards tried again with the same liquid, only for Dad to spit it out again, more aggressively than before. His body started to convulse, and he let out a wail of pain.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, panicked, my voice catching with tears.
Edwards looked at me gravely. “His body isn’t accepting the medicine. This one is particularly important in restoring his mind, but it’s just not taking. When he spits it out it’s not so much him doing it but the evil that’s infesting him.”
“The infestation wouldn’t let him take the medicine?”
“Correct.”
“Is there any alternative?”
“There is. There are other medicines, more powerful ones, but I don’t have any of them here.”
I ran my hands through my hair, feeling stressed. “Let me guess, you only have them at home.”
“Correct again,” Edwards answered apologetically. He knew I didn’t want him taking Dad away so soon.
“Is there any way to get the medicines here in Tribane? There are many supernaturals in this city. There must be someone who could provide them.”
Edwards shook his head. “Tribane has lots of vampires and witches, but very few demons, if any. My city is the demon capital of the world. Every country has varying populations of different kinds of supernatural creatures.”
“So, what you’re basically saying is my dad can’t be healed here, he needs to go home with you?”
“Yes. The sooner we leave the better.”
I stared at my dad in despair, but I couldn’t be selfish in this matter. Whatever had to be done for him to be himself again, I was going to make sure it happened. Gathering my resolve, I replied, “I’ll go book some flights then.”
After I booked their airline tickets, I assisted Edwards in cleaning up my father. He tried to attack me several times, but Edwards managed to subdue him. It saddened me that I was the one he wouldn’t tolerate, while he was as passive as a teddy bear when it came to Edwards.
I had to run to a men’s clothing store to get a couple of outfits for him, and I bought a small suitcase, too, packing it with items I thought he might find comforting when he finally came back to his old self again.
Once Edwards and I got Dad dressed and cleaned up, he looked almost normal. Edwards gave him some different medicine before we left for the airport, informing me that it would keep him calm during the flight. My stomach twisted with sorrow as I called them a taxi to the airport. I wished I could go with them, but there were too many loose threads here in Tribane. I couldn’t just leave.
In the end, I rode in the taxi with them to the airport, staring into Dad’s unrecognisable eyes one last time before I waved them both off at Departures. With a bit of luck, he’d be home and well again soon.
With that hopeful thought, I turned and left the busy airport.
16.
Similar to when I found myself in the middle of the riots on Campion Row, the atmosphere outside the airport felt off. All of a sudden, the place didn’t feel busy in a normal way; it felt busy in a manic way. In a way that seemed like things were about to get out of control.
The people who were hurrying by one another in a mannerly fashion a moment ago were now beginning to bump into each other or telling one another to watch where they’re (fucking) going.
This couldn’t be good.
I flagged down a taxi, telling the driver to take me to Finn’s house. The airport was a little outside the city, and as we pulled onto the motorway, my eyes were drawn upwards. That was when my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach and my blood ran cold.
Hovering in the sky was a gigantic cloud of chaos mist.
I watched as it grew larger and larger, forming an enormous black mass over the city skyline. It looked like a humungous dark claw, reaching forward to crush the city in its powerful grip. As I drew closer, I realised it wasn’t a claw, but a crow. The crow was Theodore’s totem animal, and this certainly had his fingerprints all over it.
Something bad was happening. Either the mist was becoming stronger and taking over the city on its own, or Theodore was strengthening it. I had a brief moment where I considered telling the driver to turn around and drive as far away from Tribane as possible.
The coward in me wanted to run, but the magic inside of me urged me to stand and fight. Tribane was where my friends were. It was where Ethan was. After the last two nights, I could no longer pretend that I wasn’t halfway in love with him. It was a sobering realisation, and one that made me shut my mouth and let the driver keep heading toward the city.
My crew of misfits might not be a match for Theodore, but we could damn well try our hardest to be a major bump in his road to tyranny.
Minutes later, the taxi stopped outside Finn’s house. As I emerged, a group of neighbours were shouting and acting rowdy. They cheered on two women who were beating the living hell out of
each other in the middle of the road. A couple of teenage boys threw bricks at the houses, smashing in windows.
Things had taken a turn, and I could no longer afford to keep my powers hidden. Especially not since the teenagers were headed toward Finn’s house.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned, eyeing the ringleader. He sneered, calling me a name that didn’t bear repeating. Well, I wasn’t having that.
I could almost visualise my magic shooting through my body as I swung both arms above my head, creating a stream of sparks, before throwing them at the teenagers. They screeched at the sight of my magic and backed off.
I didn’t intend to hurt them. I merely wanted to shock them out of their madness. I sensed they hadn’t been fully infected by the mist yet. They were just going a little nutty with it being so heavy in the atmosphere.
The ringleader was pissed though. He gripped the brick in his hand, lifting his arm to chuck it at me. Less than a second later, Ethan appeared beside me, and he must’ve looked scary because the teenager visibly paled, dropped the brick, and ran off with his friends.
“Thanks,” I breathed, turning to Ethan. “You showed up just in the nick of time.”
He bent to give me a quick kiss before taking my hand. “Come, things are bad. We must prepare for battle.”
“Battle?” my voice came out just slightly high-pitched.
“Yes. While you were seeing your father to the airport, Finn received reports of vampires coming over the river and attacking civilians. Apparently, the human population on the south side is going just as mad as those on this side. Whitfield has given his vampires free rein to murder as many humans as possible. I think he might be using this as a smokescreen so that he can advance on Pamphrock and take him out while the city is running amok.”
“That certainly sounds like Whitfield,” I agreed angrily as Ethan and I went into the house.
Everybody had gathered in the living room, where Gabriel was casting a spell over Finn and Alvie to prevent the mist from infecting them. I asked about Rita, but apparently, she was still locked tight inside her RV. Ethan and I went out to try and get her to open the doors, but this time all the curtains were pulled, so I couldn’t even see in.