by L.H. Cosway
“Ethan darling, who is this precious girl you’ve been dancing with?” she asks, her voice sweet and delicate, but I can sense a strength behind it.
Ethan turns to the woman, and it appears that he hadn’t realised she was there until she’d started speaking.
“Eliza,” he says, “this is Tegan, she’s an old friend.” I smile at how he introduces me, since it’s exactly the same thing Finn said about me to his neighbour Maria.
“Tegan,” says Eliza, trying out the sound of my name. “Is she a witch? She doesn’t smell quite like a human.”
Uh oh. Ethan’s eyes meet mine for the barest fraction of a second. “No, not a witch, a human, but a very distant descendant of the magic users.” Okay, I’ll take that excuse. At least Ethan’s keeping my secret and not telling this Eliza lady about me. Surely that’s a good sign. For my own survival if nothing else.
“Ah, so that explains why she smells different,” says Eliza, her gaze wandering over me curiously. “Why don’t you come and join us upstairs, Tegan?” She’s smiling now, but there’s no warmth in it whatsoever.
I look to Ethan, but his face is indecipherable. I guess going up to the VIP section will allow me a better chance to listen in to the vampires’ conversations.
“All right then,” I answer. Ethan holds out his arm to me, and I link mine through it. I think I catch Eliza scowl briefly before a smile replaces it milliseconds later. I squeeze Ethan’s arm and look up at him as we leave the dance floor. I try to ask a question with my eyes, is it safe for me to go up here? His nod is almost imperceptible, but it puts my mind at ease somewhat.
Once we get up the stairs I peer about, taking in my new surroundings. I don’t think I’ve ever been among this many vampires before. It causes my temperature to run a little cold. They glance at me as I walk by with Ethan, Eliza leading the way ahead of us. I hadn’t realised how large this section was when I’d viewed it from downstairs. There’s a main area and a bar where most of the vampires are partying, I even notice a few humans among them. Blood donors perhaps. Then there’s a long hallway that leads to various secluded areas for private groups. We enter one of them.
I recognise Lucas and Delilah instantly. Lucas is sitting on a chair with a human girl on his lap, I don’t realise it’s Amanda until she turns around and I can see her face. Her hair is no longer blue, now it’s bright pink. Delilah is sitting beside them, chatting with an older woman with short dark hair. There’s a table in the centre of the room with lots of vampires sitting around it, and at the head of it sits a vampire who seems to demand attention simply from his very presence. He looks around forty, with hair and eyes the same colour as Eliza’s, they must be related in some way.
Lucas sees me then, and his eyes gleam in amusement, he whispers something in Amanda’s ear and then she looks at me too.
“Tegan!” she exclaims, jumping up from Lucas’ lap. I let go of Ethan’s arm and go to her, giving her a big hug. But when I look at her eyes it seems like there’s something missing, something not quite right. Then I see the bite marks on her neck and arms, some of the scars are older than others. Oh God, he really has turned her into his blood whore. The problem is, she seems so unbelievably happy about it. I look over Amanda’s shoulder to see Delilah watching our exchange, her arms crossed stubbornly over her chest.
“You came home,” says Amanda, dragging me over to sit with her on a couch close to Lucas.
I stroke some of her pink hair out of her face and look at her straight on, trying to figure out how this could have happened. I know she’d been smitten with Lucas’ attentions, but I never thought she was the kind of girl to allow herself to be used. To become no better than a fridge full of blood. She seems so out of it that I have to wonder if she even realises that Lucas is a vampire. Perhaps he’s been wiping her memory every time he feeds from her. I glance over at him and he stares right back at me, satisfied. Like he’s happy to have broken my poor fragile friend.
I try to put enough hate into my eyes, to communicate with him silently that he’s not going to get away with this. For a second he actually looks startled by my aggression, but he shrugs it off quickly and glances away, starting up a conversation with Delilah.
I focus my attention back on Amanda, my hands cupping her face now, she grins back at me, quite obviously clueless as to the fact that she’s in a room full of vampires. Oh yeah, I’m definitely going to make Lucas pay for this. I caused Antonia to kill herself when it seemed like there was no way on earth for me to exact my revenge on such a powerful vampire. Next to her, Lucas should be a piece of cake.
“Amanda, are you okay?” I ask, despite it being obvious that she is definitely not anywhere near okay.
She continues to grin and answers, “Of course I’m okay, in fact, I’ve never felt better.”
I sense someone watching me, and look across the room where Ethan is now sitting with Eliza. She’s right up close to him, her arm draped over his. He seems tense though, and I continue to shoot daggers at him with my eyes, to show him that I am not at all happy with how he allowed Lucas to do this to Amanda.
The vampire sitting at the head of the table begins to speak, “Well, what have we got here?” he asks, taking in the sight of me holding onto Amanda for dear life.
“This is Tegan, Father,” says Eliza, “she’s an old friend of Ethan’s.” So they are related. The vampire at the head of the table is Eliza’s dad. I try not to think about the fact that they only look about five years apart in age. Clearly that’s nothing unusual in the world of the vampires.
“And she is familiar with Lucas’ human,” he says, his voice is like cold steel, it slithers over me in a highly unpleasant manner.
“Yes,” Ethan replies, “Tegan and Amanda are friends.”
“Interesting,” says the vampire. Then he rises from his seat and comes to stand in front of me. He holds out his hand, “Come and sit with me child, I would like to talk with you.” Then he takes in a long, deep breath that makes me shake to my very core. Please, please, please don’t let him recognise my scent. I have a feeling that this vampire is ancient, far older than any of those present.
This makes me nervous, because if he is hundreds of years old then he might have encountered a human like me before, a human with my special variety of blood. I try my best to remind myself that my mother’s spell has hidden what I am deep down inside of me, there’s no way this vampire could know what I am.
I take his hand and he leads me to where he had previously been sitting, I sit on the chair beside him. Once we are comfortably seated he takes a moment to study me.
“My name is Jeremy,” he says after a minute. Instantly I understand who he is, as I recall Finn telling me of the new vampire Governor of South Tribane. Jeremy Whitfield. The very same vampire who kidnapped Rebecca. Also the very same vampire who has taken a sudden and unexpected interest in me.
I almost can’t move for a second, but I snap myself out of it and try my best to appear calm. I cannot let him know what I’m up to, and I have a feeling that this vampire is so old and experienced that he does not need to be told things in words to discover information. I have a feeling every single move that I make is telling him something new and interesting about me. Damn, why didn’t I buy one of those NLP books when I had the chance? That way I’d at least know how to disguise my inner thoughts more effectively.
I remain silent while he continues to speak. “It is surprising that I have not come across you before now, tell me Tegan, where in the world have you been hiding?”
My chest freezes with panic. Does this vampire know what I am? But then he starts laughing. “Goodness child, you look scared to death.”
I pull myself together, and try not to sigh in relief. He doesn’t know what I am, he’s just wondering how he has not encountered me before, since apparently I have quite an appetising scent. Like a very special sort of vampire cuisine, and surely a vampire as important as the one sitting before me would have his pick of the most
tasty blood donors in the city.
“That’s probably because I don’t live here any more, I moved away a couple of years ago. I came back to pay a visit to my dad.”
“And when will you be leaving again?” he asks, his gaze wandering over me.
“In a week or two,” I answer.
“So soon,” he says with a tut, “we will have to do something to remedy that. In fact, I’ve been looking for a new human to bring into my home.”
I look to Ethan in panic, he stares back at me and there is a confidence in his eyes that makes me feel a little less frightened.
“I’m afraid Tegan’s ownership already lies with me, Jeremy,” says Ethan in a steady voice.
Jeremy glances between the two of us. “Is that so?” he says, and there is a slight hiss to his words.
“Yes,” both Ethan and I say at once. I give him a small smile as Jeremy glares at him in assessment.
“Very well then, I would not wish to thread where my loyal warrior has already marked out his territory,” says Jeremy. He stands now, and trails a cold finger down my cheek. I suppress a shiver. “Come daughter,” he continues, talking to Eliza, “we will return home. Thank you Ethan for your hospitality this night, it has been quite an enjoyable evening.”
“But Father, I would like to stay a little while longer,” says Eliza, she almost sounds like a whining teenager being forced to leave the party early by her strict parent.
Jeremy doesn’t breathe a word, he just stares at her in reprimand, and then she gets up silently and follows him from the room. The majority of the other vampires present go with them, seemingly they belong in Jeremy’s entourage. Only a few stragglers remain, alongside Ethan, Lucas, Delilah, Amanda and myself. Ethan is beside me the second Jeremy and his crew have left, taking me tightly into his arms. He buries his face in my hair, breathing deeply.
After a moment I ask, “So what was all that about ownership?”
Ethan smiles with both his mouth and his eyes, he looks happy and amused at the same time. “Jeremy wanted to take you as a blood donor, I told him I had already made my claim on you so that he could not do it. It is highly disrespectful for a vampire to take the blood donor of another.”
“But I’m not your blood donor,” I say in protest.
His eyes take in my entire face. “No you are not, but he does not know that, and I would prefer it if we kept it that way.”
I swallow. “All right then.”
“So now you belong to me,” he says, with such fierce possessiveness that I feel like running straight of the club. He laughs then. “Well, that is what you will say should anyone else try to claim you.”
Delilah interrupts us then, coming and sitting close so that the other vampires don’t overhear. “What the hell are you doing here Tegan?” she asks, and it actually seems like she’s scared for me.
“I already said, I had to come see my dad,” I answer.
“That’s all fair and well, but if I have my facts straight I believe that your father does not live anywhere near the city, so I repeat, what are you doing here?”
“Can’t a girl decide to come and see some old friends if the mood takes her?” I ask, hoping to God that she’s not cottoning on to me having ulterior motives.
“No, not in your case,” she answers coolly.
“Leave her Delilah,” says Ethan, and his arms reflexively tighten around me. I lean back against him and he places a small kiss on the top of my head.
“No Ethan I won’t leave her, she has no idea how dangerous it is for her to be here right now with the way things are. There’s a bloody war going on for Christ’s sake.”
“Why Delilah, there was me thinking you weren’t fond of me,” I say to her with a smile.
She glances at me. “Don’t be ridiculous. I want you safe because I know what it would do to my brother if anything should happen to you. Do you know how badly you leaving affected him? He’s only just getting himself back together again after the stunt you pulled, and now you just waltz back into his life, ready to break his heart all over again. No, I’m not having it. You have to leave. Right. Now.”
Her words hit me like a hammer to the skull. Break his heart all over again? Guilt squeezes tightly on my chest, making it difficult to breathe for a minute.
Ethan stands, pulling me up with him. “Not another word from you Delilah,” he says, before leading me out of the room, down the stairs, through the club and out of the side entrance, all the while holding firmly onto my hand. The cold air hits me as I step outside, Ethan must notice because he covers me with his arms to warm me, at the same time backing me up against the wall of the building. We’re in the alley at the side of the club, and it’s absolutely empty. Suddenly I’m aware that we are all alone.
“You look amazing,” he breathes, eyes consuming me.
“Yeah, I decided to dress up for the occasion,” I reply shyly.
“No I don’t mean the clothes, I mean you, you look better, physically, emotionally - healed.”
“I suppose you could say that yes. Time away from Tribane did me some good I think.”
One of his hands rests on my hip, the other is trailing back and forth over my lower back, leaving not unpleasant goose pimples in its wake.
A small frown forms on his lips. “But you’re not back for good, are you?”
“No, only for two weeks.”
Now he smiles. “Perhaps I could persuade you to reconsider.” His hand on my hip drops, moves around to rest on my bottom, he squeezes gently, pushes in closer to me.
My brain is in danger of going on a brief holiday, there was something I needed to say to him, but when he’s touching me all I can think of is him, and how I want him to touch me some more. I scramble through my thoughts.
“Wait Ethan. Hang on,” I say breathlessly, his hooded gaze meets mine. “I said I was home to visit my dad, remember?”
“Yes,” he answers, not stopping his roving hands as they explore my behind. “What about him?”
“I went to our house in Chesterport last night, but he wasn’t there. A woman answered the door and told me he’d sold the house to her a year and a half ago. He left town and hasn’t been seen since. I want to know what happened to him Ethan.”
“I have no idea, why are you asking me this?”
I push away from him and pace back and forth. “Because my father is not the kind of man to just up and leave town without telling anyone where he’s going. It was vampires, I just know it. Someone knew about me and then went about setting their sights on my dad to try and find me.”
“Are you accusing me?” Ethan asks, with a dark expression.
I shake my head. “No, of course not. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find out what happened to him. You know all the vamps in this city, surely you can discover who it was that caused my dad to disappear.”
As I say the words my heart drops, because it’s at this moment that I realise how likely it is that he’s dead. Ethan grabs my elbow, pulling me back to him. “I will help you Tegan, if the cause of your father’s disappearance is anything to do with my kind I will discover it for you. I promise.”
I peer up at him, suddenly realising how much taller than me he is. How much bigger.
“Thank you.” I whisper.
He brushes his thumb over my lips. “Anything for you, fata frumoasa.”
Something flutters in my chest. I glance to the street at the end of the alley, where cars pass by out on the road.
“I better be getting home now.”
“Where are you staying?”
“At a friend’s place, I’ll take a cab.”
“Why don’t you come and stay with me? I can guarantee you a visit to remember.”
I almost say yes. But I remind myself of my purpose. I’m not here to bed Ethan, I’m here to find a little girl and my father.
I grin. “As tempting as that sounds, all of my luggage is at my friend’s house, and I wouldn’t want to be rude by leaving after only
one night.” I look back at him. “Oh, and I forgot my coat,” I fumble in my bag for the ticket.
Ethan places his hand on mine to stop me. “I’ll get it for you.” Then he zooms into the club and is back before I’ve had the chance to blink twice. He has my coat and he helps me into it.
He smiles widely. “Would you meet with me tomorrow night?”
“Sure. Where?” I reply, and instantly regret sounding so eager to see him again. His smile deepens.
“Eight o’clock, at the Blackfield monument.”
I’m intrigued by the location, since Ethan would normally just get me to come to Crimson. I tell him I’ll be there, and then he walks me out to the street to hail a cab. I wait until he’s gone before I tell the driver to take me to Finn’s address.
Chapter Five
It’s a Kind of Magic
When I get back to Finn’s I go to the kitchen and make myself a cup of tea, then I sit down at the counter, my mind reeling with everything that has happened tonight. I saw Ethan again, beautiful, otherworldly Ethan, who apparently was heartbroken after I left two years ago. I still don’t understand how someone like me could have that kind of an effect on him. Then again, it’s probably all to do with my blood.
Now there’s a depressing thought, because I know that it’s not anything quite so obscure that has me blushing every time he so much as looks at me. I take out my phone and text Finn, letting him know that I’m home. No more than fifteen minutes later he emerges through the front door and comes to quietly sit beside me.
“So, how did it go?” he asks.
I make eye contact with him, before answering, “I met Whitfield.”
Finn’s eyes widen and he pulls his stool closer. “Whitfield was there at the club?”
I nod. “In one of the private rooms in the VIP section, there was another vampire there called Eliza, she’s his daughter. I think there’s something going on between her and Ethan, or else she just has a thing for him.”