by LM DeWalt
“It is possible, Lily,” Aloysius said and came closer to me. I backed away.
“Why do you all insist on taking her side?”
Christian approached with caution. He knew my temper by now.
“No one is taking her side. How could you even think that?” He stood in front of me, his hands at his sides. “We’re dealing with the repercussions of Ian’s death. Melinda is obviously very powerful, and don’t forget Ryanne wants revenge for Fergus’ death, too. It is possible that Maia is their prisoner and is doing what she’s doing out of fear or because of some promise they made that they’ll never keep.”
“She could also be brainwashed,” Fiore suggested.
I laughed as they all still looked on in shock. “You are all so freaking stupid!”
I slammed the front door behind me and sped past the elevator. Yanking the door open to the stairwell, I took three or four steps at a time, not bothering to even look as I leapt. Pepé called an unreturned greeting as I ran past him. Not bothering to look for traffic, I ran across the street and around the corner. Running at full speed, not caring who saw, I ran in no particular direction, but the wind felt good on my face. As always seemed to be the case, I was headed in the direction of the beach. Once I reached it, I continued straight into the icy water, letting its salty coldness completely submerge my body and my thoughts. It didn’t matter how long I stayed under. I straightened my legs and allowed myself to float, waves washing over my face.
How could they be so blind? I could excuse Fiore and Aloysius for believing that Maia was a victim in all this, but Christian? How could he? He knew Maia had brought Ian back into my life, into my home.
“Miren. Hay una mujer en el agua,” a man’s voice yelled somewhere on the beach.
Planting my feet back on the sand, I swept my head under once more to push my hair back, and wiped the water from my eyes. Four dark figures stood on the shore, one of them pointing in my direction. Great! Just what I needed! Instead of swimming away, which would have been best, I decided to turn back toward them and walk out. In hindsight, it would’ve been much easier to swim away. So much easier.
~ Thirty ~
As I neared the shore, I realized my white t-shirt was soaked and clinging to my body, same as my jeans. It was no wonder their eyes were glued to my chest. They whistled, but I kept walking, keeping my eyes straight ahead as I tried to walk past them. The larger of the two stepped in front of me and waved a beer bottle at me.
“Oye, chiquita, no te vayas tan rápido,” he slurred, waving the bottle in front of my face, trying to hand it to me.
He smiled as I finally wrapped my fingers around it, grazing his hand slightly, and took it. He pulled his hand away and rubbed it. I brought the beer bottle to my face, sniffed it, and threw it behind me into the water.
“Oye, esa chela es mia,” he complained. He shouldn’t have handed it to me if he didn’t want to lose it.
“Look assholes, I’m not in the mood for this! Get out of my way!” I threatened. My anger wasn’t allowing my brain to switch to Spanish.
“American chiquita,” he said. The four laughed and swayed on their feet. “We like gringas. They are fun.”
“Come here, gringita,” one of the men said. He grabbed my arm to pull me to him. I raised my knee to my chest and kicked, my foot connecting with his jaw. He landed on his back as a wave crashed to shore and rolled over him.
“Bruja!” the larger man yelled. He wrapped his arms around me from behind as his friend stood facing me. “Not nice. We want fun.” He whispered in my ear, his stale breath lingering even after he moved his head back to laugh. I tried to kick behind me but he was so close I had no room to move. His friend slapped me across the face, the sting bringing tears to my eyes. He didn’t even notice. This wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped. All I’d wanted was some peace and quiet while I tried to get over my anger with Christian, Fiore, and Aloysius. As usual, trouble found me.
The other man helped his drunken friend to his feet and out of the water. He seemed to be the drunkest of the four. He immediately dropped to his butt on the sand even though his friend tried to hold him upright. His friend gave up and stepped aside.
“You want money?” I asked, still in his arms. “I have money for you.”
“Maybe after we have fun,” he said with a heavy accent. I was a bit impressed that, even this drunk, he still spoke English.
“What kind of fun are we talking about?” I teased. This short man was surprisingly strong as he held me still.
He loosened his grip just enough to turn my face toward his. His mouth, reeking of alcohol, found mine. I parted my lips and closed my eyes, losing myself in the moment, acting out the part for our spectators. A moan escaped him and his friends cheered as he slobbered into my mouth. I fought to keep from gagging.
“Now me,” begged the one seated on the sand.
“Todavia, idiota! I am not finished,” my companion yelled and came back for more.
His slobber made my stomach turn but I forced myself to deal with it. My hands fought out of his grasp and I fisted them in his hair, pulling his head back slightly as his friends continued to cheer, awaiting their turns. One of his hands was trailing up my thigh, getting dangerously close. Every once in a while his fingers gripped my leg hard enough to make me flinch. His other hand kept me pushed against him. My lips traveled from his collarbone to his neck as I left a trail on his already damp, salty flesh. As I sank my fangs into his vein, he pushed himself tighter against me and moaned, bringing on more clapping and hollering from his drunken friends who no doubt thought he was having the time of his life. I smiled in spite of the fact that blood was flowing into my mouth and wrapped my arms around him as his body relaxed. I enjoyed every drop of his alcohol-drenched blood. Once his heart stopped beating, I released my grasp and let his body slump to the sand.
His friends clapped and cheered until they saw the blood I seductively licked off my lips. The clapping slowed and their eyes grew wide but all stayed frozen.
“Ave Maria Purísima, un vampiro!” the drunk on the ground screamed. He struggled to stand but it was useless. He was too drunk. Funny, these guys didn’t strike me as the religious types.
I turned and looked behind me. “A vampire? Where?” I teased as I searched the beach with my eyes. “I don’t see it. I’ve always wanted to see one.”
I approached the one on the sand next, slowly. He stumbled as he tried to get to his feet again, but I grabbed him by the collar, lifting him over my head as he screamed. The front of his pants suddenly darkened as he relieved himself. I laughed. “Aw…are you scared of the little gringa? Such a big man like you shouldn’t be scared of little ol’ me. Let me give you a piece of advice, though. You have to be careful with the gringas, especially the undead gringas. They don’t take crap from scum like you,” I advised as I tossed him back into the water, much further this time. The other two ran in the opposite direction, not even caring about their friends, one of which was dead, the other, about to drown his drunken self.
“Where are you boys going? I’m not finished yet!” I caught one by the back of his shirt and pulled him against me. “I thought you wanted your turn. We’re going to have fun, remember?”
He nodded but stayed quiet. His eyes were huge and bulging, his heart beat like a freight train in my ears.
“I guess I was too much for your other friends, but you? You look like you could handle me.”
His elbow caught me in the ribs and I dropped to my knees, coughing as the air was knocked out of my lungs. He started walking away but I managed to get up. I dove and caught his ankles, toppling him to the ground. I jumped on top, flipped him over, and straddled him, keeping my thighs wrapped around him. “I’m ready for you now.”
I leaned down to his neck as he screamed. He brought his knees up fast, pushing me over his head. Rage coursed through my veins and I threw myself headfirst into his stomach, landing on top again. “Pleas
e, lady, I have a wife,” he begged, his eyes bulging with fear. “I have children.” He suddenly spoke English.
“You didn’t care about any of that when you wanted me, remember? What is so different now? We’re just having fun. I promise I won’t tell your wife.” I kissed his lips and brushed my fangs against them. His body shook between my thighs. Even so, he brought his hands up and cupped the back of my head, trying to bring me closer as his body arched beneath me. I felt just how much he wanted me. He truly thought he was going to get what he desired. I turned his head gently, trailing my tongue against his salty skin. He moaned and arched more beneath me as his hands trailed down my back and to the top of my jeans. I laughed and he froze again.
As I sank my teeth into his neck, he grabbed a handful of hair and yanked my head painfully back. My hands grabbed his head and twisted, breaking his neck with a blood-chilling crunch. His eyes, wide and glazed over, stared forever at the star filled sky.
Brushing the sand off my wet clothes, I stood and wrung out my wet hair. I looked toward the water but saw no signs of the man I’d thrown. My heart told me to go look for him, save him if I had the chance, but my mind told me to forget about him. My steps unsteady, I made my way back to the street and to the stairs that would take me back to civilization. I saw no sign of the fourth man who ran like a coward, leaving his friends to die alone.
~ Thirty-One ~
“Lily, please let me in,” Christian pleaded from the other side of the door. I sat on the bed in a robe, having just stepped out of the shower. Letting the hot water run over my body only washed away the dirt and blood, not the horror of what I had just done. “I’m your husband. I just want to help.”
Swallowing my self-hatred for the moment, I unlocked the door and went back to the bed. He stood at the foot, his eyes scanning my body for signs of injury. “I’m fine,” I said.
“Do you want to talk?” he asked, sitting at my side and taking my hand.
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m sorry I ran out. I was angry. I just needed to calm down,” I explained though I knew he didn’t really buy it. He was too in tune with my mind and soul for that.
“I don’t think it worked. You came in soaking wet and locked yourself in here without a word to anyone. We were all worried about you. Please tell me what happened to you.” His eyes showed his pain. I had hurt him just by leaving. He had no idea of the rest.
“Now is not the time, really. I’m fine.” I leaned in and brushed his lips with mine. His body stiffened. “What?”
“Um, were you…drinking?” he asked leaning away from me.
I stood from the bed and opened the bedroom door. “Come on,” I said and headed for the living room with him following. “Sit please.” I motioned the sofa and Christian did as I asked. His brow furrowed with worry. Aloysius and Fiore stopped mid conversation and looked at me.
“I messed up,” I said as I paced in front of them, averting my eyes. “I did something really bad.”
“What? You drank beer?” Christian asked.
“Of course I didn’t. The alcohol was from someone else’s mouth.”
“What are you talking about? You kissed someone?” Christian jumped to his feet.
“No! It wasn’t like that!”
“Then what was it like?” He made no effort to hide his anger this time.
“Please calm down, Christian. Let her explain,” Aloysius said. Christian hesitated a moment but sat again. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“I ran down to the beach and straight into the water. Being in the water was helping me calm down, clearing my mind, but when I came out, four guys were standing on the shore,” I explained, still not looking at them. “They were drinking and acting stupid. One of them grabbed me.”
“Are you hurt?” Fiore asked. I shook my head.
“They wanted to…have fun, as they put it,” I said.
“So you kissed one?” Christian asked.
“I had no choice. He had his arms around me and I couldn’t get loose. I had to distract him somehow. The point is I drained him. I killed him while his friends stood there and watched,” I stopped pacing and finally looked at Christian’s expressionless face. “I broke another one’s neck and threw the really drunk one into the ocean.”
“That only makes three,” Aloysius pointed out. “What happened to the other guy?”
“I don’t know where he went. I was too busy with the others and I let him get away.”
“That’s really not good,” Aloysius stood. “Did he get a good look at you?”
I nodded. “I don’t know if the one I threw got out of the water or not. I should have looked for him but I left instead. I didn’t even bother to read their minds. I just killed them. The one whose neck I broke told me he has a wife and children when he was pleading for his life.”
“So what, Lily? What did that matter? You did the right thing,” Fiore said.
“How can you say that? I killed three innocents. They were only acting stupid because they were drunk!” I argued.
“I’m sorry, Lily, but how can you say they were innocents?” Christian asked. “They were far from innocent!”
“They committed no crime that I know of. I didn’t read their minds at all. I didn’t bother.”
“Since when is rape not a crime?” Fiore asked.
“Who said anything about rape?” I looked at her angry face.
“They were going to rape my wife.” Christian stood and came to my side, wrapping his arms around me. I pushed him away.
“That was the alcohol talking. They wouldn’t have done that. I killed three men tonight!” I repeated. I couldn’t believe what they were saying.
“What do you think they meant by ‘fun’?” Aloysius asked, raising my face with his fingers on my chin. “They were going to rape you and only God knows what else. You defended yourself.”
I looked at Christian. His expression changed from anger to worry. “What about the one that got away? What if he goes to the police?” he asked.
“That could be a problem,” Aloysius said. “Regardless, he wouldn’t know where to look for you. They didn’t know your name, right?”
“No. They know nothing about me, except, one did say vampire,” I recalled.
Aloysius and Fiore laughed. “I doubt he would mention that to the police,” Fiore said.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Aloysius reassured me.
“I should not have been there in the first place,” I said looking at Christian. “I shouldn’t have walked out like I did. I’m really sorry.”
“Please remember, I’m your husband. Don’t shut me out. You are not alone in any of this,” he explained.
“And we’re here too,” Aloysius said. “We’re not siding with Maia. We’re just trying to look at all the possibilities before we act. It will be especially hard on my great-grandson if you’re right about her. It would devastate him if he lost Maia.”
“I do know how much they love her.”
“Yes. And until we know something for sure, I’d rather not break their hearts,” Aloysius said and then looked at Fiore, who smiled at me before turning back to him. “Shall we?”
Fiore shocked me by placing her hand delicately in his and rising from the sofa. “We’re going to go feed. We’ll be back soon to go to the airport. Oh, and they’re right. You did the right thing by defending yourself, Lily.”
Before I could say anything, they disappeared.
“What was that all about?” Christian asked as he put his arms around me and I felt his lips on the top of my head.
“I think Fiore may be more than a little interested in him, don’t you think?”
“Umm…is that a good thing?” He moved away to look me in the eyes. I hesitated a moment and he smiled. “Isn’t that better than her pining away after a married woman?”
“Of course it is, but if he feels the same, that probably means she’ll leave with him.” Tha
t was a thought I didn’t like. How I felt or didn’t feel about what she had confessed to Christian while I lay in that bed didn’t matter. She was the closest thing I had to a true friend and I didn’t want to lose that, as selfish as that was.
We left for the airport as soon as Aloysius and Fiore returned. Finding the correct gate on the arrivals board, we rushed to await Aaron and Kalia. As passengers started pouring out of the doors, I watched for my loved ones. To my surprise, Pierce was the first to exit, followed by Beth, Riley, Raul, Kalia, and Aaron.
“They all came?” I said looking at Christian whose mouth hung open.
“Over here,” Aloysius called waving his arms over the crowd.
Kalia wrapped me in her arms as soon as she reached us, my feet leaving the floor for a moment. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Mom,” I said as I squeezed her back. She hugged Christian next.
“Let’s get out of here, shall we? It’s way too crowded.” Aloysius took Kalia’s suitcase and began pushing his way to the exit. The rest of us followed without a word. “I guess we’ll need more drivers.”
“Wait here,” Fiore said as we exited the airport and set everything down on the sidewalk. “Pierce and I will go rent cars. That should make things a little easier.” She and Pierce walked back into the airport before anyone could argue.
“Why are you all here?” I asked as Aaron released me from his embrace and shook hands with Christian.
“We wanted to help, and besides, we could use some time away from the cold,” Riley looked at Raul and he nodded and smiled. “Alaska can get a little gloomy after a while.”
“You can bring us up to speed when we get to the apartment,” Aaron said and nodded toward the exit. “Here they come.”
“All set,” she said and tossed a set of keys to Aloysius. “We got us two minivans.”
“Umm.” Aloysius looked confused.
“What is it?” Fiore asked, looking at Aaron’s amused expression.
“I don’t know how to drive.” Aloysius handed the keys to Aaron.
“What?” several voices asked in unison.