by RK Close
Women threw themselves at him, and he seemed to love it. It made sense that I’d be attracted to the sort of guy that even a vampire shouldn’t want. It was safe because it was impossible on so many levels.
Nice and safe crush.
I heard someone, two someones, come up the main staircase. It was Victor and Elizabeth. Their room was on the other end of the passageway. I heard them enter the room and close the door quietly.
After a moment, I heard Victor’s voice. “I don’t know what to do about her. She fights our ways at every turn.”
“She holds on to her humanity. It’s her safety blanket. I understand the danger, but is what she did such a terrible thing? There was a time we would have cheered her actions. Are we so far removed from life that we cannot celebrate in our hearts?” Elizabeth asked.
I suddenly felt bad for the way I treated her on many occasions. It had been my opinion that she ignored me as if I wasn’t worth acknowledging. Now I wasn’t certain.
“Beth, my darling, I understand your empathy, but this is not our life anymore. Humans would hunt and destroy us if they knew we existed. We would be eradicated. Olivia’s choices put us all in harm's way, and I lose respect and power with the clan when I don’t punish her as she should be. I could lose my hold and be challenged. Where would that leave us, and Olivia?”
There was silence, and I thought the conversation had ended. I started to quietly return to my room when I heard Elizabeth respond.
“You know she’s in love with the dark-haired wolf, don’t you?”
My heart pounded in my chest. I wanted to defend myself, but her words rang true. I’d tried to call it an attraction, harmless and fleeting. If Elizabeth could see through me, could others? Did Seth?
“It’s an infatuation. It will end. A vampire and a wolf were never meant to be. Surely, she understands this.”
“A woman’s heart does not always listen to reason. One voice is so much louder than the other and cannot be easily ignored. Surely, with the wisdom of many years, you know this,” Elizabeth purred.
“I know more about those wolves than I care to. They were babes in the woods when I last laid eyes on them. Such a tragedy. I don’t wish for Olivia to be a part of it. She’s been dealt enough bad hands for one so young,” Victor said.
Was he for real? He was the worst part of my story. It should have ended with cancer. And what did he know about Seth and his brothers? I listened for more, but the conversation had stopped and something else may have begun.
I entered my bedroom and threw myself on the bed. I didn’t want to feel bad for Victor, and I wouldn’t. He was the monster that had forced this life on me. I was ready to face Death—ready to give him hell.
It was a risk to sneak out to find Seth. If Victor found out, I wasn’t sure Elizabeth could save me. I didn’t understand Victor, and I didn’t care to. I did fear him, though. I’d seen him in action and I knew he could be lethal if crossed. If he chose to end my life, I’d be dead.
Hopefully, I could find Seth, tell him what I’d heard, and be back before anyone was the wiser. When I reached the Burning Moon, I glanced into the windows to make sure that none of the others were there. I spotted Cole having a drink at the bar.
He didn’t like me, and I wasn’t looking forward to a confrontation, but I didn’t know how else to find Seth. I entered the bar and lightly touched his shoulder. He turned, looking surprised to see me. Then stood and looked around the bar, as if determining whether I was alone or not. “Olivia?”
“Cole.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked. Gone from his expression was the hatred and judgment I’d come to expect.
“Where should I be?” I said with my usual hint of attitude. Cole’s eyebrows came together.
My defense mechanism was ingrained in me, but I knew I needed to change that. “Sorry. I’m looking for your brother, Seth. Do you know where I can find him?”
He seemed to consider me for a moment. “He just left to go home. You just missed him by about twenty minutes.”
My face fell, and I didn’t try to hide it. I sat down at the bar and wondered if I should give Cole a note to give Seth. I had no idea when I’d see him next or if I’d still be around to tell him what I’d heard about him and his brothers.
“Do you want his address? He just lives a couple of blocks from here?”
Surprised, I looked at him. Cole smiled and waited. The last thing I expected him to do was to trust me with Seth’s address.
“Yes, thank you.”
“He lives above the auto repair shop on Main Street. Do you know where that is?”
I nodded and turned to leave.
“Wait.” Cole grabbed my arm, but it was gentle.
“That was pretty awesome what you did today for the kid.”
Surprised, I gave him a shy smile and quickly left. But inside, my heart was bursting with happiness. Cole’s words made me feel good about what I’d done. It was like a warmth that spread out from my heart, encompassing my entire body.
It had been a long time since I’d felt gratitude, and it felt good. In no time, I was staring at the glowing window above the auto body shop. When I found the stairs that led up to the apartment, I paused. Suddenly, I was nervous to face him.
He’d seemed angry when I fed off that college guy, and then there was the incident with the toddler falling. I hadn’t been able to explain why I did what I did. No explanation would make it right.
Just tell him what you need to tell him and then leave.
I quickly walked to the door and knocked before I lost my nerve. When the door opened, Seth blinked at me. “Olivia. Where’d you go? Why did you run away?”
That wasn’t what I’d expected, so I stood there looking at him with my mouth open but no words coming out.
“I’m sorry. I’m being rude. Come in, please.” He opened the door wider and stepped aside. I peered into the tiny apartment before cautiously walking in.
Seth closed the door and then walked over to the small loveseat and cleared away some laundry before motioning for me to sit. I did and he sat next to me. We were so close our knees touched, a fact that I was hyper-aware off.
Seth picked up the remote and muted the TV. When he turned to me, my breath caught and my heart pounded in my chest. I was certain he could hear it. I think I might have blushed because my cheeks felt hot. I looked away and busied myself studying his home.
“First, is everything okay? You ran away so fast...I was worried.” His concern seemed genuine.
I found it difficult to look at him. Seth’s face was so beautiful. “I was afraid someone may have seen what I did, so I panicked and ran. Sorry.” I looked down at my hands clasped in my lap.
He pulled one of my hands into his and held it. It felt so good that I wanted to cry. I looked into his eyes and my insides felt as though they were melting. Soon I’d be a puddle next to him. He could make me feel so many emotions that I thought I’d lost. Being around Seth also made me feel vulnerable. I pulled my hand back from his and clasped my fingers together in my lap.
Seth looked down at my hands, then back to my face. “You have nothing to be sorry for. What you did was a good thing. I couldn’t make it to the boy in time and it made me sick inside. When you caught him—I can’t even describe the relief I felt.” He smiled at me, and I looked away, trying not to reveal the emotions that were in overdrive.
He placed his fingers on my chin and gently forced me to look at him. “What made you do it? You risked a lot, didn’t you?”
The intimacy of the apartment and his touch was not lost on me. “It was an impulse. I didn’t think. I just reacted. Shit hit the fan when I got home,” I blurted. I was afraid he could see right through me.
He tensed. “What do you mean?” Seth looked me over from head to toe. It took me a moment to realize he was searching for signs of abuse. I almost laughed.
“Mostly the nonviolent kind.” I rubbed my neck as I remembered Edgar’s hand wrap
ped around it. Seth’s face clouded over, and his eyes blazed amber gold. “It wasn’t that bad. I heal really fast, like you,” I added quickly.
“Would you tell me if someone was hurting you?”
Surprised, I shook my head. “No, I can take care of myself. I don’t need some macho wolf fighting my battles for me,” I said with more edge in my voice than I meant. To get some space between us, I stood and began to look around the room. “Nice place.”
He laughed. “Thanks.”
I looked over my shoulder at him and noticed for the first time that he looked tired. His normally brilliant eyes were dulled and hooded. “Why do you look like you pulled an all-nighter?”
He rubbed his hand over his face and then ran his fingers through his dark hair as he leaned back. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Why?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t the argument we’d had.
“Bad dreams. It’s no big deal.”
Suddenly, I remembered why I’d come. “I came to tell you something I overheard Victor say. It had something to do with you and your brothers.”
Seth was standing next to me in the next second. He held my arms and studied my face hard. “What?”
I tried to gather my wits about me, but it was difficult with him touching me. “It wasn’t much, but it confirmed that he knows something about you and your brothers. Something about some woods—when you were really young. He said it was a tragedy. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but I thought maybe it might to you.”
I wasn’t certain what Seth was thinking, but his emotions filled the room and threatened to suffocate me. “I need to tell my brothers. Victor has something to do with what happened to our mother. We need to know that story for ourselves. Thank you, Olivia,” he said, staring into my eyes like he was discovering all the mysteries of the world.
Seth’s eyes were slits below his thick dark lashes as his gaze dropped to my lips. His head leaned toward mine, and I knew he was going to kiss me. I didn’t have the will to stop it, even if I’d wanted to.
9
Seth
I wanted to kiss her. My body was being pulled toward her like a magnet. For a moment she was a beautiful woman, and I was just a man. That moment felt more real than anything I could remember for a long time.
Her eyes grew wide while iridescent colors swirled in their irises. Her lips parted, and I could almost hear them calling to me. I leaned my head down and brushed my lips across hers. Heat flooded my body, and every nerve came alive.
A buzzing shattered the moment, bringing me back to reality. I was ready to murder whoever was on the other end of that call. I tried to ignore it, but the sound pulled Olivia away. She looked embarrassed by our almost-kiss.
“I better answer that,” I said, reaching for the phone.
But Olivia wasn’t listening anymore. She was staring at the TV and fumbling for the remote on the coffee table. It was like the moment had never happened.
“This better be good,” I said, answering Liam’s call. I followed Olivia’s gaze toward the TV screen. It was a replay of the nine o’clock news, which I’d missed. Olivia pointed the remote at the screen and unmuted it.
“Seth, we need to talk. Olivia’s face was all over the news tonight,” Liam said.
I didn’t need him to tell me because I was watching it unfold before my eyes. The news camera had interviewed the emotional mother and uncertain witnesses, who seemed to embellish and speculate as they filled in the details incorrectly. But the worst of it was seeing Olivia’s face as the reporter tried to ask her questions. Olivia shoved the reporter before disappearing through the crowd.
Olivia was staring at the TV like she was watching a horror film. Finally, the reporter asked, “If anyone can identify this heroic woman, please call—”
“I’ll call you back.” I ended the call without waiting for a response. I took the remote from her limp hand and placed it on the table. When she continued to stare at the TV screen as if in a daze, I reached for her and turned her toward me.
“Olivia, it’s okay. It will blow over and they’ll forget about it. You just need to lay low for a while. Olivia?” I wasn’t certain she heard me.
Suddenly, she pulled out of my arms and moved toward the door in a blur. I caught up to her before she opened it. She looked up at me, her expression anxious. Those lovely amber-colored eyes were lit from within.
“I have to get home.”
“Don’t leave without giving me a way to contact you.” I pulled out my phone. She grabbed it from me as her fingers moved across the screen swiftly. In seconds she handed it back. I looked down to see her number and an address.
“Don’t come to the house, ever. I probably shouldn’t have added that,” she said, reaching for the door again.
This time, I didn’t stop her. “It’s only fair. You know where I live,” I teased, hoping to lighten some of the tension. She gave me a strained smile. “Will you be safe at home?”
“Yeah, sure.” She wasn’t convincing.
“Why is this such a big deal? Is there more going on than you being a vampire?”
She looked nervous. “We came here because Victor crossed a powerful vampire in the city. Because we are his clan, it put us in danger as well. We came here to hide. My face making the news isn’t just a problem because I’m a vampire. If it leaked farther than this town, someone might recognize me as one of Victor’s children.”
She pulled the door open and left before I could respond. I felt her absence as if she took a piece of me with her. I wasn’t overly concerned about our little news spreading beyond our town. Nobody reported on Flagstaff unless it had something to do with college sports. But it bothered me that she was so upset. An overwhelming urge to shelter her from the world hit me hard.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I called Liam back. He answered with a question. “What happened?”
“Olivia was here. We saw the replay of the news just as you called,” I said, wondering what he’d think about her being here.
He didn’t comment on it. “Is it a problem?”
“It could be. Seems that they came here to avoid some bad vamp from the city. They’re hiding out, so it wasn’t good when her face made the news.”
He was silent on the other end. “I don’t think they will have anything to worry about. It won’t make national news. Goodnight, Seth.”
“Wait. There’s more.” I waited to be sure he hadn’t already hung up.
“Yes?”
“Their leader, Victor, definitely knows something about what happened to us.”
“Yeah, you said he might. Didn’t Olivia tell you that?”
“Yes, but it was vague. He could have seen our situation on the news, or something that benign, but tonight she heard him say he’d seen us in the woods when we were found.” There was silence on the line. “Liam?”
“I’m here. What does it mean?”
“I don’t know, but it’s more information about our pasts than we’ve ever had. He was there, Liam. He could have been involved with our mother’s death.”
Again, silence.
“We don’t know what part he played, but we do need to have a talk with Victor. Can Olivia arrange it?”
I thought about how she’d hinted that things were a bit rough at home. Would this make things worse for her? “I don’t know, but I’ll ask.”
“Let me know what she can work out. Goodnight, Seth.”
“G’night, Liam.” I ended the call and then grabbed another beer from the fridge. I walked outside and sat on the top step listening to the night and thinking about Olivia, my birth mother, and Victor. If he had anything to do with our mother’s death, then he wouldn’t live long.
When thoughts about my mother began to turn dark, I focused on Olivia and the brief feeling of her lips. It soothed me, like a sedative. I thought about calling her to hear that she was safely home. Then I remembered she wasn’t like most girls. Shady characters better hope th
ey didn’t run into Olivia in a dark alley. That thought made me smile, and I finally went to bed, praying for a dreamless sleep.
The woman balanced me on her hip, tightly. She held baby Cole in her other arm, his head tucked into her neck. Liam grasped onto her jacket and tried to keep up.
She seemed frantic, frightened, moving swiftly through the woods. There was no trail, but she didn’t hesitate. The only thing holding her back seemed to be when she slowed to allow little Liam to catch his breath.
From the look of the forest, it was fall. Leaves crunched beneath her feet and others floated to the ground as we passed.
“Hurry, my darling,” she said when Liam stumbled and she waited for him to pick himself up. “Only a little farther.”
Her words were soft and gentle, encouraging even. But the look in her eyes was pure terror, and it made me afraid.
The forest grew dark as if someone had flipped a light switch. The next thing I knew, Liam, Cole, and I huddled alone in the same cold, dark woods I remembered from another dream. I was freezing, hungry, and thirsty, but that was secondary to my fear. I looked around the darkness for our mother, but I couldn’t find her and I couldn’t remember how we ended up there.
Pale blue eyes peered at me through the shadowy trees. I wanted to look away, bury my face in my brother’s arm, and pretend I didn’t see them.
Instead, I watched as the face moved closer until I could just make out some of the features. It was a man with glowing blue eyes. My mind screamed danger. And then he was gone, and I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d held.
I closed my eyes and it was dark again. When I opened them, I was in a mansion with a great staircase. Hundreds of candles burned throughout the home.
At the bottom of the stairs, I looked up and saw Olivia standing in a long Victorian-style nightgown. She was lovely, and she smiled down at me invitingly. I watched as she descended the stairs as if floating.
When she reached me, she took my hand and led me into a living room with several winged chairs and a roaring fire in a brick fireplace. A white bear-skin rug lay in front of the fire.