“Olivier mentioned it.”
He studied me, maybe waiting for me to confess who the father was, maybe feeling hurt that I’d found someone else that wasn’t him. He’d had a crush on me for a very long time, and I wasn’t expecting what he said next.
“I apologize for the affection I showed you before. I knew it was unwanted, and I pushed it on you without consideration for your feelings. Being with Marie has certainly shown me what that feels like.”
With a statement like that, I felt bad about all the times I’d basically told him to push off. I tried to smooth it over by smiling at him. “You were fond of me. It’s not your fault.”
He shook his head. “I was fond of the idea of you. When you left as a fledgling, you had a taste of the world. You came back different, and I was certain you wouldn’t stay. It scared me. I thought that if I could make you love me, you’d never leave again. And then it just became a habit. Showering you with gifts and my attention. I had done it for so long I forgot why I’d started. I forgot that you were once my daughter, in a sense.” That put a lot of his actions into perspective, and I somehow understood him better.
“I never loved you as a father,” I told him. A look of hurt flitted across his face, but then it was gone. “Maybe now we can be friends?”
He reached out for me and I stepped into a hug. I expected to feel the revulsion I usually felt when I was this close to him, but that sensation didn’t come. Instead, I felt relief. Extreme relaxing relief.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he rubbed my shoulder. “We wasted so many years. I wasn’t there for you when you needed me, and I alienated you from the rest of the Order. You were never fully invested in any part of it except for your job. You’re my right hand. You should know everything that goes on here, but you stayed away. I neglected my duties to you.” He let me go and took a step back to give me space. “Please, let me make amends for all that I’ve done.”
I’d never expected such a turnaround from him. He was right, I’d kept my distance from everything in the Order that I wasn’t part of. I didn’t educate myself about anything I didn’t need to, because it would’ve meant being near Othello. Maybe if I had, I’d have known how to deal with James, and I would have known the Council gives fair trials. I wouldn’t have run. And I wouldn’t have met Knight. I supposed it was better this way. It seemed everything had happened for a reason, even Othello crushing on me.
“We can’t change the past,” I told Othello. “But we can make a new future. I’ll be involved. You tell me what to learn or do, and I’ll do my best.”
“Splendid,” Othello said with a smile. “With regards to your child, I can tell everyone I’m not the father. I’ll make a public statement.”
“No. Please don’t do that.” He raised his eyebrows in question. “If they know it’s not you, they might try to find out who the real father is.” I couldn’t take a risk like that. Castilla’s baby reading had spooked me.
“Very well. I won’t try to discover your motives. You’d tell me if there was a problem.” He started walking to the doors and motioned for me to follow. “Get lots of rest, don’t overdo it. I’ll let you know when I need you.” He opened the door and waved me out.
CHAPTER 8
MY LIFE WAS CHANGING. IN less than a year, I’d been on the run. Fallen in love. Been someone’s play thing. Taken my freedom back. Had my love taken from me. Been on trial. Gotten pregnant. Gotten my freedom back again. My friend had become one of the turned. My baby daddy deserted me. And now my leader was finally going to stop pursuing me.
All of this was making me think back on my years in the Order. I’d never truly felt part of the group. My closest friend was an outsider, so it only made sense that I secretly felt the same. Maybe it was not knowing who my parents were. Something had held me back. And now I could feel myself opening up again.
No more hiding in my room. I did that far too often, my imprisonment aside. It was time to change, from a recluse to…whatever the opposite of that was. Social butterfly? No. That sounded exhausting.
I returned to my rooms to find Benjamin and Alfred sitting on the floor playing cards. Without Arthur to instruct them, they were now under my supervision. They stood up when they saw me and stood at attention.
I was going to shoot Arthur for sticking me with them.
“Gentlemen,” I acknowledged. “You.” I motioned toward Alfred. “I’d like your real name, please.”
“You cannot pronounce it,” he said in his thick African accent.
“Son, I’m over four hundred years old. I think I can keep up.” He ignored me so I sighed in defeat. “Fine. Your name is Alfred now. You good with that?” He looked like he’d rather stick his head in the toilet, but he nodded. “Two of the bedrooms are for you. You can fight over who gets which one. It doesn’t matter to me, so feel free. Where were you sleeping before now?”
“Arthur’s room,” Benjamin answered.
I noticed two army bags against the wall. Their only possessions, no doubt. I went over to my purse and fished out one of my credit cards. “Here. You can use this to buy furniture, or clothes, or a Monet painting. A statue of Aphrodite. Whatever you need. It has no limit.” Benjamin took it and stared at the little card like it was the holy grail. They both looked at me with wonder and surprise.
“Can we keep whatever we buy? When we are set free, I mean,” Alfred asked cautiously.
“Yes, don’t be silly. You can keep everything. I won’t be needing it. So, you know, go crazy.” The room was silent, except for the occasional chirps from my birds. It seemed the men hadn’t been told that shopping privileges was part of the companion arrangement. I wasn’t too surprised, since Arthur didn’t know our standards. “Look,” I told them. “I’m supposed to make you comfortable and happy while you provide me with the blood I need. That’s how this works. So please, for me, go buy the things you need. They’ll give you a car in the garage, and the stores in town know our address if they have to deliver anything.” Benjamin walked to the front door, but Alfred stopped in front of me.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said, a genuine amount of respect on his face.
I smiled back. “Have fun. But be back here later. I need you to help me assemble my bed when it’s delivered. Don’t forget to buy yourselves beds. You can’t sleep on the floor.”
“Arthur didn’t care where we slept,” Alfred said quietly.
I held back the shock I felt, which was a considerable amount. “I’m not Arthur.”
And that was that. They both left to shop, something they had no idea they’d be allowed to do here. It unsettled me. Arthur hadn’t prepared them properly for being my companions. And from what they’d said, he also hadn’t treated them with respect. That was unacceptable.
I was probably having a hormonal mood swing when I stomped out of my rooms, but I didn’t care. I rode that swing down the stairs, through a hallway, and out to the backyard. Arthur was on the veranda, sitting at one of the café tables, sipping some very strong coffee. I slammed my fist down on the table, breaking it in half. Coffee splattered over his dark grey t-shirt and he scrambled to avoid it.
“What is wrong with you?” he demanded. I was probably crazy to provoke him, but at the moment I didn’t care. I was too pissed off. We’d drawn the attention of everyone else on the patio. Olivier was suddenly beside me, and she grabbed my arm, probably trying to make sure I wasn’t about to strangle Arthur. I pulled free from her hands and glared at him.
“I don’t know what you were thinking when you took leadership of my companions, but you clearly have no idea of the protocols involved with that. You have offended several of the rules we practice here.”
“I haven’t broken any laws,” he huffed.
“You made my companions sleep on the floor,” I spat, venom rising in my voice.
Othello had arrived to hear my accusation, and instantly turned on Arthur. “Is this true, Arthur?” he demanded.
Arthur, for the life of
him, had no guilt in his face. “They’re army men. They can take it. I saw nothing wrong with it. My priority was-”
“Your priority was caring for them!” Othello’s voice was reaching my level of anger. “We never treat the humans we house here with such disrespect. I will give no allowances because of your status as a Hunter. If this is the level of treatment you give humans, then you are not fit to be in charge of them.”
I could see when Arthur finally soaked in the gravity of what he’d done, even if he thought it was stupid. He turned to me and he said, “I apologize for what I did. How can I make it right?”
Othello was the one that answered. “All of you are suspended. You and the rest of the Hunters will remain here and be instructed in social protocols by Lisbeth and Olivier. And if I ever get a whiff of this behavior from you or from any of the other Hunters again, you will be stripped of your status as their leader.” Arthur nodded humbly and left the patio as the gathered group dispersed.
Olivier gently touched my arm. “You okay?” I nodded to her. I’d been so angry that my fangs had almost come down. I took a deep breath to calm myself.
“I apologize, Lisbeth. When I gave him custody of your companions, I assumed he knew what that entailed,” Othello said. It was nice to have him on my side again. “Are your companions alright now?” He said it so gently, like we were discussing babies instead of grown men.
“I sent them shopping for furniture and such. They didn’t know that was allowed.”
Othello sighed with a weary glance to the heavens. “What is this world coming to…” he muttered. “You’re fine with instructing the Hunters?”
“I’ll do my best. As in, I’ll try not to strangle Arthur. No promises.” He smirked and went back inside the castle.
Olivier waited until we were alone to comment. “You have no idea what you’re in for. You can’t handle Hunters. They’re a different class of vampire.”
“This is my world, Olivier. I can do anything.”
CHAPTER 9
I’D LIKE TO SAY MY confidence had been well placed, but it wasn’t. However, I was determined, and that almost made up for it.
The Hunters were less than pleased at their new arrangement. We assigned them new rooms, since before now they’d all been bunking it without permission in the smaller drawing room. They thought living in actual rooms was too stuffy. Embrace the stuffy, people. Embrace it.
By the time the Hunters had gotten settled and agreed to a schedule for their lessons, a week had gone by and they were antsy to get this over with. That didn’t bode well for me.
Hunter class was being held in the smaller drawing room, since they clearly all knew where it was. 29 Hunters had been on the chase when I was the target, but that was every Hunter from all over the globe. The number in America was smaller. 8 Hunters sat in the smaller drawing room, lounging on chairs, sitting on top of things you’re not supposed to sit on, and they all looked at me like they wanted my head to spontaneously combust.
It took ten minutes to get them to stop talking. I got their attention by threatening to revoke their feeding privileges, which as Hunters meant they could feed discreetly amongst the populous. Yeah, that’s right. Lisbeth doesn’t play around.
“Lesson number one,” I started. I was instantly hit with a loud “Boooo!” from one of the girls in the back. She was sitting on a low bookshelf that was not meant for someone’s rear end, and had her arms crossed over her chest. I threw a pen at her. To clarify, I threw it so hard it sunk into the wall next to her head. “I am not here to play games with any of you,” I informed them. “I am here to instruct you in proper respect for humans.”
“Right, because Arthur made your ‘companions’ sleep on the floor. Big deal,” one of them said, making air quotes at the word companions.
“You don’t understand what I’m trying to teach you. I get that. Think of it this way, you all have a respect for the law, right?” I waited for nods or a yes, anything. They remained silent. “Try and think of that respect for the law but make it respect for humans. Would you pass on catching someone because you didn’t feel like it? No. Because you respect the law. And we don’t make humans sleep on the floor because we respect them. They keep us alive. They give us years of their lives in exchange for their blood. Without them, we’d starve. There is a level of esteem held for all humans that live here. They’re not pets. They’re not food.” I could see my words weren’t working. How could I explain it in a way they’d understand? “Think of them like…your favorite weapon. That weapon keeps you alive, right? You’d never leave it dirty or drop it wherever. You clean it. You keep it close by. You make sure it has what it needs to keep saving your life. Gun. Human.”
And magically, I saw a hint of understanding light up in their eyes. Right before someone shot a spit ball at me.
I went to my doctor appointments alone now. Every time I saw my daughter on the tiny digital screen, my heart leaped. She was perfection. I’d amassed a collection of ultrasound pictures, all as realistic as regular photographs. I put them in a photo album I kept in my room.
My old suite had been very vintage. All yellows and golden tones, with furniture over a century old, and more than a few much older than that. They were all priceless pieces, from my Ming vase to my designer clothes.
I gave almost all of it away.
I had no interest in that life anymore. I wasn’t the Lisbeth that liked and treasured those things. I’d treasured my possessions more than I’d treasured the people I loved. It was a common vampire mentality, but I didn’t want to be like that anymore.
The only things I kept were my favorite books, the clothes I’d bought when I was on the run, a few trinkets from my past, and of course, my birds. The trinkets weren’t worth anything. One was a crudely carved wooden horse rattle Balthazar had made me when I was very little. All of the edges had been smoothed out from centuries of holding it and remembering the past. The other trinkets were similar, just trivial things people had given me like a necklace or a piece of ribbon. I treasured these things, but in a different way than I’d treasured the rest of my possessions. I treasured the memories, not the objects.
My new room was larger, but like the living room, it had an almost identical floor plan to my old rooms. The wall of built in shelves was mostly empty, except for one shelf of books and the trinket box. My closet held a small number of clothes and a few pairs of shoes. Everything in my suite felt too big, or I felt too small.
I hadn’t yet decorated the rest of my suite, beyond my new bird cage. Apparently when you throw a large amount of money at someone, they build things twice as fast. The cage was enormous, large enough for me to walk into without stooping my head. It was made out of sturdy wood that had been stained to a deep walnut color. The design made it look like a castle, with towers and little windows with glass. It was a bird palace, and I loved it.
My birds loved it too, as much as they loved each other. They’d grown very close over the two weeks since I’d bought the purple and white love bird. As soon as I put them in the castle and shut the door, they fluttered and flew around, singing to each other a song of joy.
Benjamin came out of his room when he heard the birds happily chirping up a storm. “Ah, they are very happy now,” he said with a smile.
They explored their cage and we watched them for several minutes. Eventually they calmed down and sat together on one of the perches. They finally had room to be free, but they still chose to sit on the same branch. Just to be near each other.
My heart hurt looking at them.
“What are their names?” Benjamin asked, bringing me out of my momentary sorrow.
“I don’t know. I never named them.” I didn’t know why I hadn’t named them. I wasn’t big on having pets. I guess I didn’t think it was necessary to name them.
Benjamin clicked his tongue at me reproachfully. “They must have names. It gives them a soul.”
“Well…” I looked at them and cycled through names
I’d always loved. “The love bird can be Kanoa. It means one who is free. And the cardinal…” I watched her flutter and smile. “Blythe. It means filled with happiness.”
“Perfezione. Perfection. It fits them.”
We sat there on the floor for hours, just watching the birds enjoy their freedom, without talking to each other. It was nice. Just relaxing together.
Alfred came out of his room when it was time to feed and broke the spell. Benjamin got up and left the suite to eat while I fed from Alfred, who then disappeared into his room again.
I had six more months with them. Maybe things would start to change.
In addition to instructing the Hunters in human etiquette, I was also training the turned. The group I’d helped with before running away had completed their training and were already gone. This group was new to me.
Normally I dressed very stylishly, while keeping a business aspect to my appearance. I entered the bigger drawing room wearing a white button down shirt and dark brown cargo pants with my long curly hair pulled back in a very thick braid. Olivier was wearing a long black dress that was much more modern than her usual style. It suited her.
She looked up when I came in and looked me over. “Don’t you look different. I like it,” she said with a smile.
“You look different too. No more mermaid dresses? I’m curious to know why you gave up a life of sarcasm.” She usually dressed like she was making fun of vampire stereotypes. As an answer, she rolled her shoulders up and down in a cute shrug. “Ah, so it was reviews from a certain gentleman?” I nudged her jokingly.
“Renard can keep his opinions about my clothes to himself,” she said, sticking her tongue out.
A knock came at the hallway door. Olivier hurried over to open it while I went to the enormous wall of windows to close the heavy green drapes. What was once a room filled with sunlight became a dark room lit only by the enormous chandelier on the ceiling.
Child of the Outcast (Born Vampire Book 2) Page 5