Eric gently nudged the bird from her lap onto his finger. With a slight smile, he began to realize the depth of their connection. “This is the first living animal I’ve touched in a very long time and it’s because of your essence. I wonder... all living things project an unseen aura. For humans it consists of their spiritual energy, but for us, it’s a manifestation of our emotions, another means for assault. It can act as an entity separate from our subconsciousness and consumes energy from the creatures around us.
“Perhaps you... yes, that’s it! My blood gave you life, but when it bonded with your body, it remained linked to my energy because you were dead. You didn’t have any life essence for it to connect to, so it never broke its tie to me. In that case, removing you from my aura would have slowed your progression. Perhaps you need a constant supply of my energy for the vampiric cells to stay active. Since Jonathan altered me, we share similar DNA, so he must have sustained your needs enough to keep them dormant without dying. Maybe the High Council—or rather Lucien—suspected this all along.”
With barely a breath’s hesitation, he whispered, “It’s your essence... it calls to me. And Jonathan, too. He was a completely different man last night. I’ve never seen him like that—so kind and gentle.” He quieted and eventually sighed.
“It’s a viable theory, but that’s all it is. Not even Jonathan knows Lucien’s innermost thoughts or intentions. Whatever the reason, you have his focus and that’s most important.”
Neither sure of what to say next, they sat unmoving in the breeze. Eric stared at the bird perched upon his finger and turned their conversation over in his mind. As miraculous as it was, the restoration of her life wasn’t the first impossible feat recorded in vampire history.
Jonathan lacked the necessary composition to infect his prey, but an unknown force had compelled him to try. When he succeeded in bestowing his attributes to Eric, he created a lethal vampire who did not carry the infectious protein—a vampire stronger than the true bloods, who shared his persistent thirst and was capable of defeat only by himself or Lucien.
Tradition dictated that altered vampires fall to the bottom of the hierarchy, yet Eric’s place in the chain of command was directly beneath Lucien and Jonathan. He had not shown Paresh his ribbon bar because silver stars designated that he shared the same bloodline and social status as the First and Second Born. No other vampire shared that honor.
Not that Eric considered it an honor. He had only seriously contemplated leaving his post in the 1930s, long after Joshua Hawthorne had fallen from the flock. He may have credited Joshua’s infant son, Daniel, as being what kept him in the Realm of Man, but in truth, the way Jonathan looked at him had also changed his mind. Jonathan clearly did not see him as a brother in the human sense of the word and Eric did not return his desire or appreciate his advances.
That aside, Eric did not want or expect beings thousands of years old to treat him as nobility. Despite the blood in his veins, he did not feel that he was special. He had never done anything spectacular until the moment he brought Paresh back from death and he doubted that he alone had accomplished that feat.
The sheer number of unknowns pointed to an epic event looming on the horizon. An unknown force had driven all of them—Jonathan, Eric, and Paresh—to veer from their context of normal to take risks with extraordinary results. Paresh knew she walked her destined path—perhaps he and Jonathan traveled alongside her. An odd coupling to be sure, but who else could protect the Servator better than two of the strongest creatures living in the Realm of Man?
Lucifer had cursed the Earth with his bloodthirsty creation—how ironic for God to use Jonathan to bestow His promised gift. Eric had often felt like a coveted chess piece in Jonathan’s games and wondered why God had given him a second chance. Now he knew that he was another tool, one of His children moved into place to break a repetitive historical sequence and take compassion on a human couple at just the right moment to usher in the Vampiric Nation’s Second New Age. He had given life where none should have existed. She was their chosen one, not him.
The male cardinal suddenly cocked his head to the side and let loose a nervous whistle to his mate. They took to the sky in a flurry of spooked red feathers and flew toward the rear of the cemetery. Eric wondered what had taken Jonathan so long to appear. At least the cemetery’s sacred soil would keep them safe, although Jonathan could still infect the air with malicious energy.
Paresh was studying the photo, so he subtly scanned to where Jonathan and his car stood apart from a soybean field. He glowered at Eric from across the road without submitting the slightest of glances to her. As expected, Eric felt distant animosity radiating from him.
Eric narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth. Why are you following me now? he wondered.
Tired of the game, Eric returned Jonathan’s piercing gaze as he began speaking. “Jonathan knew I’d never let you go, so he waited for an opportunity to take you. Since he needed to allow you to develop normally to observe your transformation, he involved your uncle, giving you a home with family so you wouldn’t question your new custodians, and has been in control of the situation ever since then.”
Eric’s expression softened as he faced Paresh. “However, David is a dangerous man with many evils lurking in his heart and has plans of his own. Jonathan is—or was—under orders to keep you safe from him only until you returned here. He instructed you to contact me and then faded into the shadows to watch David’s plan unfold without interference. But I suspect his orders have changed. He was my unexpected visitor this morning and our conversation wasn’t pleasant—”
Eric stole a glance in Jonathan’s direction and saw him angrily throw open his door before the chauffer could reach the handle. The man in black closed the door behind Jonathan and then drove off in near silence.
Paresh’s worried gaze followed Eric’s. Thankfully, the car’s heavily tinted windows hid Jonathan’s identity. As they watched the car disappear down the road, Eric finished, “But, he didn’t tell me much about the plan or his orders.”
When he knew Jonathan was out of earshot, Eric took the photograph from Paresh and held her hands.
“I hate seeing fear in your eyes. I’m not telling you this to scare you, but I cannot safely assume that you are free from danger. I promise that I will not let anyone—anyone—hurt you, but it’s not fair for me to keep you in the dark about the people manipulating us. Vampires aside, it’s time I told you about your uncle.”
II
“In the same year of their marriage, Daniel and Sandy celebrated the birth of their first son, Andrew. One year later, in 1957, they became the first Hawthorne generation in a century to produce another heir and named him David.
“The brothers were close at first, but when David was about four or five, he realized that Andrew was special because he had inherited the Hawthorne legacy: me. And it was impossible to hide the preferential treatment I gave Andrew—in fact, it affected their parents, too.”
Eric tossed his hand up in a helpless manner. “No one meant to hurt David, but I had never lived with a generation that had more than one heir and I had been a father figure to Daniel—of course he’d be somewhat partial to the son under my care. Andrew and I had a bond that strengthened as he got older, and despite my efforts to build a rapport with David, he developed a type of jealousy that twisted their relationship. David knew I would never treat him the way I did Andrew, so he took his anger out on his brother to get my attention. He’d glare at me with hurt eyes and then run off to sulk, always feeling like the victim without an ounce of empathy or regret for the suffering he’d just inflicted on Andrew.
“Once his father was elected to Congress, David’s aggression worsened. Daniel and Sandy chose to separate the boys and sent David to a boarding school. When he returned for home visits, Andrew went away with me on retreats so they would never see each other.
“Yet in Andrew’s absence, David would burn Andrew’s clothes or ransack his room, flippi
ng over furniture and turning out the drawers, or he’d smash his trophies and scatter the pieces all over the estate. On a few occasions, he even left dead fish and frogs rotting in Andrew’s bed.
“We couldn’t understand David’s rage or why he failed to see his own strengths. Both boys had good looks and limitless potential—it wasn't the clichéd scenario where the artistic and misunderstood brother was dwarfed into nothingness by his popular jock brother. Both were bright young men with slender physiques, and, when David applied himself, he rivaled Andrew’s talents at any sport or school subject. David looked like their father and had his commanding presence. With lighter hair and blue eyes, Andrew looked like their mother. There was something a bit fragile about him—for instance, Andrew broke bones and David never did.
“Andrew wanted only to be like his father. David, on the other hand, was only focused on me and he possessed so much potential, too. He could have easily followed his father into the Senate without doing half of the work Andrew had to do. David had the resources and an obvious fire burning within him that could have driven him to rise above any of Andrew's accomplishments. But David only saw himself as inferior and living in Andrew’s shadow.
“Over the years, David’s contempt for his parents grew as Andrew’s preferential treatment distorted David’s version of reality. Daniel and Sandy did try to help him, but the more they reached out, the more David pulled away.
"Then, one day when both boys were teenagers, David came home from school unusually mellowed and left without his typical rampage. He spent the weekend alone in his room, sitting in the dark burning incense and muttering to himself or listening to records. He barely acknowledged his parents or any of the support staff, leaving his room only to eat. Daniel suspected drugs, primarily marijuana, but overlooked it since it kept David subdued.
“David dropped out of school and returned home, sleeping and smoking, or taking off in his car without a word as to his whereabouts. He frequently came back drunk, but he stayed out of trouble, so again, preferring peace despite the cost, Daniel turned a blind eye and focused on his other son. The Senator had begun building the foundation for a successful legal and political career for Andrew, who, in turn, was busy doing everything he could to live up to his father's expectations.
“In those days, David usually kept to himself. But every now and then, he’d get worked up again and break into his brother’s room. Andrew woke up several nights to his brother standing over him with a hateful look on his face. One time David didn’t leave with just a look. He wrapped his hands around Andrew’s throat and tried to strangle him.
“Andrew broke free and held David back until I arrived and restrained him. David didn’t resist me and willingly returned to his room, once again with eyes empty of remorse.
“The next morning, I confided the happening to Daniel, against Andrew’s wishes. Always concerned about his father’s reputation, Andrew wore high collar shirts to hide the bruises on his neck and begged his father not to say anything to anyone. When Daniel confronted David about it, he claimed to have no memory of the event and insisted he’d been sleepwalking.
“That led the Senator to adjust his will in secret, giving Andrew nearly complete control over the family’s wealth while leaving David a considerably smaller stipend of his own. He trusted Andrew to take care of his brother—and he would have honored that duty... if things had turned out differently.
“When he was eighteen, David met a young woman at the library. What he was doing there no one knows. Perhaps he passed by and saw her walking in one day. At any rate, he pretended to be a student at the local university and, although he never looked particularly haggard or disheveled, he cleaned himself up and cut his hair to impress her. Quite possibly, she was the first, or maybe only, person he ever truly cared for.
“Later that week, the Senator hosted a party at the mansion. To his surprise, David promised to make an appearance with his date. The type of girl he’d bring concerned the family; however, his agreement to go intrigued them even more.
“That night, Andrew and I were greeting guests in the circular garden near the valet station when David’s car pulled up the drive. The soft-top was down and a beautiful girl sat in the passenger seat with golden hair fluttering in the breeze.
“Neither of us could believe our eyes. The girl seemed so different from all of his friends. He crept up the lane, and then peeled out and drove off toward another part of the property. That had constituted his appearance.
“The girl stayed on Andrew’s mind all evening. He worried about what David would do if she made him angry. Even as he plastered a smile on his face, his worry came through. I excused myself from the party to check on the couple and saw them enjoying a picnic style dinner near the pond. David was actually behaving like a gentleman. I observed them for a short while and left without letting him know I had been there.
“But that wasn't enough to ease Andrew’s fears. His worries persisted and he constantly asked David about her as their relationship developed over the next few months. David grew suspicious about Andrew’s interest and kept the girl’s identity a secret, somehow even from me, and avoided Andrew as much as possible. When confronted, he’d mumble that he loved her and to leave him alone.
“It became clear that this ‘love’ was more like obsessive and jealous attachment, and his paranoia increased with each of Andrew’s questions. After hearing David and the girl argue about her activity during her free time one night, Andrew set off to warn her to leave David before she got hurt.
“He only knew that she worked at the library, so we spent a few evenings there waiting for her. The moment he saw her walk in, he realized why his mind had refused to let her go. He had mistaken infatuation for concern ever since the Senator’s party.
“Andrew started to question his own motives. David had never harmed or threatened her, and she had been a positive influence on him. He had obtained his G.E.D., had spoken with his father about enrolling in college, and had stopped drinking and smoking. Her presence in his life had made David focus on bettering himself.
"Andrew realized that for the first time in their lives, he was the envious one. He knew he should leave her alone, but love is a tricky emotion. He approached her at the counter and said, ‘None of the books here can tell me what I need to know. Maybe you can help me?’
“When she nodded, he asked if she’d go to dinner with him.”
Paresh winced. “That’s so...”
“Cheesy?” Eric finished with a partial grin. “Yeah, your mother thought so, too, but it worked. He introduced himself as ‘Andy’ and got her name: Felicia Schaffer. Neither mentioned David, who couldn’t have been far from their thoughts, as they planned to meet the next night.
“I heard the entire exchange while I roamed the aisles, hoping for Andrew to back off, but he never did. As soon as we left, I urged him to reconsider. Stealing her from David only meant disaster. But he told me that he had fallen in love with her, and that he thought she’d fallen for him, too.
“I remember that it was a night I normally would have enjoyed, with a bright moon and stars, and evening cicada song. But, as we walked to the parking lot, I hardly noticed. Andrew suddenly seemed very different—he had never lied before and had no need to covet anything, let alone his brother’s girlfriend. David had finally found someone who brought joy to his life. Frankly, at the time, I didn’t believe in love at first sight or understand just how strong it can grip a man.”
At his pause, Eric met Paresh’s eyes with an expressive gaze. His chest flooded with warmth as he laced his fingers through hers and brushed her hand with his lips. The affectionate gesture chased the sadness from her face, but the story wasn't over yet.
He sighed. “If I had only known then how he felt—if I had understood. Maybe things would have ended differently, but I didn’t and there’s no point in wondering about what never happened. Right then, I didn’t know of such love and his apathetic response left me thinking that
Andrew had acted upon his chance to strike back at his brother.
“I stopped on the sidewalk and told him I was disappointed. I’ll never forget the pain in his eyes when he whirled around in frustration, as though his guilt was consuming him. ‘Destiny made a mistake! She doesn’t belong with him!’
“What could I possibly say? He stood there, staring at me like he desperately needed my blessing. Or anyone’s blessing. He’d honor any request I gave him, but who was I to interfere with Destiny? He had acted only from his heart, so I told him that he owed them both the truth, and that he needed to accept responsibility for his actions.
“Andrew agreed, but put it off until their third date. It was only a week later, but David had already grown suspicious of her sudden withdrawal, and I was getting uneasy.
“When he finally revealed his secret, she was rattled. It wasn’t as simple to leave David for another man when the other man was his brother. She wasn’t sure how to respond, especially since Andrew’s revelation pointed out her own lie by omission. Andrew spared her any explanation, but asked about her feelings for David.
“She confessed that he had initially swept her off her feet. He was handsome, polite, and sweet. But as the weeks turned into months, he began to suffocate her with his neediness. Trying to distance herself to sort out her feelings only made him cling tighter.
“Then he told her he loved her. When she couldn’t reciprocate the feelings, he accused her of cheating on him. Incidentally, that was the argument Andrew overheard, which led him to her in the first place.
“She didn’t want to hurt David, but felt their relationship was progressing too fast, especially after his confession. She suspected he was going to ask her to marry him and the thought scared her to death. She knew her parents would pressure her to say yes—their daughter was dating the son of a respected United States Senator who seemed to make her happy. What more could they want? Felicia didn’t know what to do... until she met Andrew. As he had suspected, she had fallen in love with him the moment she met him.
The Arrival (Children of the Morning Star Book 1) Page 20