by Abby James
I scrambled to my feet and set off through the forest toward the castle, journal in hand. Given everyone was at the poker game the corridors were deserted. Good, it meant no one was around to see where I headed.
I’d been to the vampires’ lair a handful of times, but I knew every step. Amazing how your mind became alert and remembered the things you thought were important.
Once at the top of the stairs I quick-footed it down to the door while panting from my exhaustive stair climb in record speed. The handle would not budge. Not caring who answered, I banged on the door. The loud clunk of the latch undoing was my signal to push through into the empty room.
“Hello, Luca.” Now inside the silence of the room, I managed a moderate voice.
“I thought I told you not to come here without invitation.”
I spun to find him standing in the entrance to a darkened corridor.
“I have to show you something, in private.”
Time ticked. Was he considering whether he would give me a moment? Before I could say anything else, he backed up and disappeared down the corridor, leading me farther into the vampires’ lair. When I reached the corridor he was nowhere in sight. Great, I was not in the mood for hide-and-seek games. I ran my hand along the wall as a guide and continued forward but bumped into something solid cluttering the wall.
“Luca,” I hissed.
His face loomed out of the darkness. “Lost your way?”
“I get that you guys have exceptional vision, but this is ridiculous.”
“Is that your polite way of asking for a light?”
“That’s as polite as I will get at the moment.”
A glow appeared in the darkness to my right, chest high. From a bud it grew into warm, yellow light. Once strong enough it illuminated Luca’s palm, expanded beyond that to form a chute to a wooden door at the end of the corridor. Either side of us remained in darkness as though an invisible wall shielded everything around us from my sight.
“The rest of the vampires are private people, are they?”
“No one comes this far into our house. I do this out of respect for their wishes. There are some vampires behind these doors that choose not to be seen. The old ones.”
“How old are we talking?”
“Do you wish to have this conversation in the corridor where everyone can hear?”
“Fine, I get it. Lead the way.”
I followed behind Luca, my eyes on the soft light emanating from his palm. Sorcery was a handy power. I’d heard many gripes and moans about the sorcerers from some of the supes who’d landed lesser abilities. I had chalked their whinging up to jealousy, and I could see why. Who’d want to be an empath when you could throw bolts of energy and make your palm glow.
“Once you step beyond this door you are at the mercy of a vampire.”
Yes please. Was he being adorably sexy or serious? I was unable to judge as I couldn’t see his expression clear enough. He’d never been playful or sexy with me before. I didn’t know what to do, so stupidly said, “let me in. I have something to show you.”
He opened the door and disappeared inside, and I was left feeling like I’d missed a vital opportunity. You idiot.
“We’re going to need some more light.”
Luca shut the door behind me. “Would it unsettle you if I refused?” His voice reached inside and tickled all the right places. I was not so naive as to miss the subtle seduction in his tone. Sexy Luca, yummy, yummy. My body zapped and tingled, but my infuriating mind rang the wake up bell, wrenching me out of the seductive swirl. Bad timing.
“I want you to read something.”
His steps were so quick it was like he glided toward me. “Make yourself at home,” he said as he slipped mum’s journal from my hand. Luca then raised the glow in his palm to his mouth. One gentle blow and the glow split into six smaller lights and shot off around the room, each finding its mark on the end of a long handled torch, bracketed to the wall. Once there the lights grew brighter until they shone a steady orange light around the room. I stood like the stupid mesmerized girl I was with a gaping jaw in awe.
“Is that you showing off?”
“After all my effort, don’t tell me that is the first time you’ve been impressed by my ability.”
“I hadn’t noticed you were trying to impress me before.”
Luca smiled to himself as he looked down at the journal.
“Do you guys not like electricity?”
“There are some in this house who lived when there was no electricity. They are some of the originals at Darkwells.”
“That old, ‘ey? It’s going to take me awhile to get used to the immortality thing.”
As soon as I said it I wanted to take it back. There it stood, hovering in between us, the reminder that Luca would still be standing here after I was long buried six feet deep.
I couldn’t tell if Luca caught the significant moment himself. If he did he ignored it and continued. “This has been their home from the start. They choose to live nowhere else. Nor are they interested in modernizing things. I allow it out of respect for their age. Besides I have no need for light.”
I turned a circle. “Is this your bedroom?”
“They are not bedrooms as we do not sleep.”
“And since you don’t sleep then there is no need for a bed. So this is your privacy room.”
“Yes, you could call it that.”
I strolled through the room, examining every inch. Like the rest of the vampires’ lair the place looked like a museum for antiquities. Book shelves lined one wall, stretching up to the ceiling. This was one of the few places in the castle where the ceiling did not turn into a vaulted spire to the sky, but it was still impressively high. Soft lighting, luxurious textures, plump pillows, heavy colors, leather and fur and the delectable smell of Luca, a blended mix of whiskey, rich spice and raw masculinity, the sort of scent that made me want to peel my clothes and claim my need, except for the journal he held in his hand.
On the other side of the room were large windows framed by thick drapes. “You do have other windows.”
“A few rooms do. From the beginning of Darkwells’ history this section was always the vampires’ liar. There was little thought to views. Only a few exits were needed for flight at night. Given I can move about day and night, I was given the room with the largest window and the best view.”
“But you were unsure if you would ever see the sun again when you turned yourself.”
“I hoped for this, but I was ready for three outcomes; I would stay a sorcerer, I would become a vampire and nothing more, or I would die.”
“You were prepared to give up your life or ever seeing the sun again?”
“Sometimes you have to pay the ultimate price. There is no other way.”
“That’s something my mother thought.”
Luca looked at the journal. “You’re willing to share this with me?”
“I think my mother would want me too. I can’t keep this to myself. She would not want me to and I don’t think Nathan would either.”
Luca headed for one of the lush chesterfields and eased himself down. I followed him across, sitting close beside him. I took the journal and placed it on his lap, flipping open to the appropriate page.
“I stopped a few pages back and so this was all new until a few hours ago. Nathan insisted I should read it.”
My eyes followed his. The soft light caught the amber and turned it to the hot yellow glow in a lava pool. I watched his handsome face, the smooth of his brow disappear to form small creases. My eyes sought his lips as they softly murmured the words spilled across the page. The further he read the deeper those small creases became. If there was an old fashioned clock in the room the tick would be the time of my heartbeat, the disruption of the peace, the counting of the moments that unraveled the shocking truth.
Luca lifted his eyes to mine. I dived inside searching for the emotions that would not come to me.
“Have you
told anyone else about this?”
“No. I only just read it now, and I came straight here.”
“Nathan knows about it?”
“I assume so. He was the one who told me I had to keep reading.”
“And what about McGilus?”
“As I said I only just arrived here to show you.”
“There is nothing we can say here in this room.”
I looked around at the wall, thick stone work because that’s how they built everything a long time ago, thick but not thick enough to keep vamp ears from hearing.
“I’m not surprised you don’t bring women to your room.”
It was random, and not the sort of thing to say right now, after such a revelation. But I couldn’t help but wonder where we would go from here.
“Come.” Luca ignored my comment and launched to his feet.
I was up beside him. “Where too?”
Rather than waste time filling in the details, he strode across to the window and drew back the drapes to closed wooden slates. Those vampires really hated the sun. The drapes were heavy and thick, not a glimpse of light would get around them, and the slates were double proof.
“We’re going out the window?”
He opened the slates and the dull of the gray sky came through. The chill raced in the moment the windows were opened. A blast like ice raced down the front of my sweatshirt and pointed my nipples seconds flat.
“This is going to be cold,” I mumbled as Luca signaled for me to come over.
“Hold on to this,” he commanded handing me the journal.
I slipped it down the front of my jeans. “Can I look this time?”
He quirked an eyebrow. “If you want, but you’re not to make a sound.”
“Scout’s honor. Where are we going?”
“To see McGilus. I think he will find this very interesting.”
“We’re going to burst his evolutionary bubble again.”
“That is the least I am worried about.”
Luca climbed up onto the ledge and signaled me to follow. I refused to look down because I had promised not to make a sound. I did that when he swept me into his arms. It was not a sound of alarm, more a sigh, or groan or something equally as embarrassing and pathetic, but, hey, he was still getting a healthy dose of my emotions, wasn’t he? No point pretending I did not love being pressed against him. Luca juice, injected straight through my skin and down into the core of me. God it was good.
Luca frowned down at me.
“I know. I’m not meant to be feeling you, but I haven’t graduated beyond my meditations yet.”
He gave me a deadpan stare. It would’ve been enough to make me forget I stood on a window ledge when he said, “wrap your arms around my neck.”
I did as told and found myself flush against the front of him. Was he remembering the time on the couch, his fangs in my neck, me dry humping him? Because I was.
“Samara.” Was he chastising me?
“I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Are you ready?”
I nodded. Luca leaped and I let out a small shriek. The cold wind lashed around me as we spiraled down to the ground. This time there was no flurry or blur of activity. This time Luca allowed me to see. I turned my head from his neck and watched our rapid descent to the ground. Not a good place to look, so I turned around and stared over his shoulder and into large, black, leathery wings. Wings? He had wings.
Shocked, I didn’t notice the landing, which was also due to Luca’s skill.
The moment we touched down Luca set me back, unfurling my death lock around his neck. I stumbled a few feet away as I took in the whole view. Luca, winged, magnificent. They splayed behind him, looming over us, dwarfing the topiary of animals either side of the door to the castle.
“I didn’t know.”
“Few do.”
“How do you keep it a secret?”
“They are not visible to any bar those that take a vampire’s blood.”
“Why do I see them?”
“You take a part of me every time you touch me. It lays my secrets bare.”
What did I say to that? Not so long ago he took a part of me, and I did not want it back. “It’s only fair. I’m laying all my secrets before you.”
“Then we are even.”
Not until he confessed what he felt in his heart. Or maybe I didn’t want to know.
Ms Rhinecroft hovered behind McGilus as we entered. He drew his gaze from a fat piece of fruit cake on a floral plate, sitting atop his scattered paperwork.
“Luca, Samara, welcome. Not interested in poker?” His eyes darted and his lips spread into a mischievous smile.
Ms Rhinecroft smiled sweetly, as sweet as someone could when they had been disturbed.
“It’s a shame there is only one piece of cake,” McGilus said. “I’m not sure I’m up to sharing mine.” This widened Ms Rhinecroft’s smile.
“I don’t eat cake,” I said.
Luca just stared.
McGilus looked up to Ms Rhinecroft. “I will have to delay sampling this wonderful treat.”
She fluttered down like a delicate bird and swept it away from the desk. “That’s all right, Dean McGilus. It can wait for later. How about I call in after dinner?”
“That sounds lovely.”
“Make sure you don’t fill yourself up.” She gave a quick girlie shrug, then spun and sashayed out of his office.
Luca strolled to the wall and reclined against it. “Show McGilus what you showed me.”
I pulled the journal from my jeans and slammed it down on top of the paperwork.
“This is the journal Nathan gave me.” I flipped it open to the right page then pointed. “You can start from here.”
McGilus pulled himself closer to the desk and settled his reading glasses into place.
I slid into the seat opposite him and waited, again doing as I had done with Luca. I studied his face as he read.
His eyes darted back and forth as he turned the pages. Before he reached the end I felt ready to leap up and pace. Finally he had learned what he needed. His hand came down onto the page covering the words. He stared at his hand, brain churning no doubt. After a while he sat back, pulled his reading glasses from his nose and rubbed his eyes. “To say it’s alarming is a gross understatement.”
I flicked a glance at both McGilus and Luca.
“Who else knows about this?” McGilus said.
“Nathan.”
“You believe he read the journal.”
“You once told me Nathan was in a cult.”
“I didn’t mean cult.”
“No, he was caught up with my father. My real father.”
McGilus fingered his glasses now in his lap. “I had no idea you knew, my child. When did you find out?”
“Awhile ago.” My voice betrayed my guilt. I’d not told McGilus when I first discovered who my real father was. Neither had Luca it seemed.
Maybe Luca and I should’ve arrived a few minutes later so McGilus had at least enjoyed some of the fruit cake. I never thought someone could age in minutes.
“Amy and Lorna know McManus is my father. But I’ve mentioned nothing about this.”
“I am sorry I’ve let you down.”
“What? No, you haven’t. Why would you say that?”
“You did not feel you could tell me this from the start.”
I could not hold the guilt in. “It wasn’t that. There was too much going on, and…” My voice trailed away.
McGilus shook his head as if to dismiss my awkwardness. “We must keep the secret within this room.”
“What can we do?” I said.
“I must think this over.” He sat forward, elbows on his desk. “Samara, this is very important. No one should ever know of this. There is no one we can trust.”
“The council?”
“Definitely not,” he spat. “This knowledge is dangerous. The only thing that preserves the fragility of our peace is the understanding that we
are who we are, unchangeable. There is a stability in knowing one supernatural cannot hold the multitude of the many. To believe that it was nature’s gift was something wonderful. It would’ve been a slow sequential change that we would all have grown accustomed to and legislated for. But this is something else. That someone succeeded.” He shook his head.
Luca was staring at the floor, no doubt thinking of his own secrets.
I would perhaps be as shattered as McGilus had I lived within this world long enough. But I wasn’t sure how I felt about what I now knew.
I did not signify the dawn of a new age in supernaturals. At least not in the one McGilus had hoped. I was not an evolutionary mutant. I was a genetically modified mutant.
15
The halls of Darkwells were emptying. Christmas break and most were heading home. Duncan was one of the few who remained. He normally flew back to his family to celebrate Christmas, but this year his family holidayed in Europe, so Duncan elected to stay at Darkwells.
Once she learned Duncan was staying, Amy had wanted to stay as well. The arguments and emotional blackmail that came through via Darkwells communication bent her into submission. No one in her family, according to Amy, had spent Christmas outside the family fold. Lorna was also returning. Being an only child, she was riddled with too much guilt at the thought of leaving her parents to Christmas alone.
“No sneak peeks. Okay. My present is to be opened on Christmas day,” Amy said as she swept me into a big hug.
“The same goes for you,” I replied.
“I’ll open it on the bus journey home,” she giggled. Amy had been caught in an infectious cheer for weeks, ever since her conversation with Duncan had gone so well. Once she let me go, she moved across to Duncan and they walked away hand in hand for a private good-bye.
“You won’t be lonely, will you?” Lorna said.
“Of course not. I look forward to the peace and quiet.”
“Does that peace and quiet have anything to do with a certain dark one?”
“He’s not going to be around for most of Christmas remember. But there will be enough for me to do. I think I will spend some time in the library.”