The Progeny

by Shelley Crowley

  Alexander sized him up with a slanted look. Caius was clearly almost a head taller and a little more filled out than Alexander.

  Alexander just shrugged. “Possibly.” He pushed himself off the frame and crooked a beckoning finger to Caius. “Come.”

  Caius looked to Evie as if for reassurance. She nodded with a smile. “You really do need a wash.”

  Alexander watched Caius leave from the door, his blue eyes scoping and his eyebrow lifting ever-so-slightly with appreciation. Catching this, Varsee stepped closer to her brother. “Alex.”

  He sent her an innocent smile. “What?”

  “Don’t even attempt to watch him shower.”

  He scoffed and looked at her as if she were insane. “How dare you,” he said indignantly and began slowly walking out of the room, his eyes still on his sister. “I don’t do that.” When Varsee arched a disbelieving eyebrow, his lips curved into a small, mischievous grin. “… anymore.”

  Varsee watched her brother go before turning to face Evie who had settled down on the bed.

  “How do you feel about him being back?” Varsee asked, sounding concerned.

  “It’s great.” Evie smiled up at her but by the look on her new Maker’s face, it wasn’t convincing. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “How can I have two Makers? It’s just not possible.”

  Varsee dropped into the overstuffed armchair. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “I didn’t think vampires could be cured either, but apparently they can.” She studied her progeny with a whimsical smile. “You have opened my eyes, Evie.”

  Evie shook her head, not really listening. She was still letting everything sink in. “I felt him… after I was cured. But I guess I dismissed it really. I just thought it was longing. But now, I still feel him, even after I became yours.”

  “You can feel him?”

  Evie nodded. “When he came into the house. But I still felt your pull, strong and insistent, working against his.” She dropped her head in her hands. “What does this mean for me?”

  “Well, we’re all here, under one roof. I can’t release you at such an early stage. You may have been a vampire before but you are a new-born now, it’s too risky. And I am not going to take advantage of our bond and use it against Caius. We are all friends here. This can work.”

  Evie shook her head, her face still buried in her palms. “I just don’t get it.”

  A beat of silence followed and Evie looked up, checking if Varsee was still in the room. She was, watching her appraisingly, as if she were facing one of Seven Wonders of the World. The look made Evie’s cold heart contract with worry.

  “Maybe that feeling that pull you have towards Caius isn’t supernatural at all.”

  Evie furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

  She shrugged and fell back into the chair, folding one slim leg over the other. “I know this is going to sound cheesy and trust me, I am holding back a cringe as I say this but-” She sighed, as if giving in. “In all my years I have never known a Maker and a progeny to be in love. It’s just so… peculiar.”

  Evie blinked hard, a little insulted. Seeing this, Varsee quickly continued, “A bond between Maker and progeny is special, it is like a physical attachment, so powerful that sometimes they can actually experience the other’s emotions. Their pain. But underlying all that… is the loyalty. The raw, irrefutable loyalty to the other person. As harsh as this sounds-” She actually pulled a face like the words hurt as they passed her lips, “Makers own their progeny. They may allow them to have free will and not order them about like slaves but that bond… some see it as a shackle.”

  Evie’s heart sank. She felt stupid and mortified. “Are you saying my relationship with Caius is a lie? That our love is just a delusion? That… it was all just because he was my Maker?”

  Varsee was suddenly knelt before her on the floor. Her big round eyes were bright and pleading. “That’s not what I meant at all! In fact, I meant the complete opposite.”

  “What?”

  Varsee laughed, taking Evie’s hands in her own. “I meant the fact that you are still drawn to Caius, that you can still feel his physical presence close by… maybe after you broke your supernatural tie with him… the other tie lived on.” Evie’s eyebrows creased with confusion. Varsee laughed again softly and gave a hopeless shrug. “Love.”

  Evie pulled a face and tugged her hand back from between her Maker’s soft, manicured clasp. “Love?”

  Varsee sat down on the bed beside her. “I told you it sounded cheesy. And I am not the sentimental type. But I think it could be possible.”

  “Love is just an emotion, a strong emotion, sure. But it doesn’t explain how I could feel a pull towards Caius and felt his presence in the house before even knowing it was him.”

  “Well, maybe it does. Look, you two had that supernatural connection when you were Maker and progeny and on top of that, you were in love. Maybe, because of the latter still being very much alive… it has kept the former alive, too. Albeit, a much weaker version, but it’s still there.”

  Evie’s head was spinning. Everything was happening far too quickly. Only two hours ago she had been human. And now she was a new-born vampire in a place she didn’t know with two different Makers. She could almost feel the ties between her two Makers crossing inside her, knotting up, unsure of which way to go. For a hundred years of her life, it had been her and Caius against the world. But now there were two more people in her life and she was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

  She didn’t feel the same. It was as if when she was Turned by Varsee, something was pulled out of her and was replaced with something else. And she knew what that something was. Her loyalty. Because Varsee had been right. In a way, she was now shackled to her. She belonged to her. She just hoped it wouldn’t get in the way of her and Caius.

  “It just feels like it could get very messy.”

  “It won’t get messy,” Varsee promised and squeezed her knee.

  Evie looked to her. “How are you okay with this? Okay with Caius being here? Surely you would want me all to yourself. I know being a Maker is a pretty big deal.”

  A smile rose on Varsee’s lips, so big that it made her stormy eyes crinkle. “You are worth sharing.”

  Something bloomed inside Evie. A euphoric rush that was as close to a heartbeat as a vampire could feel. Evie knew that feeling. Understood that feeling.

  The first time she had experienced it was when she had refrained from attacking a lonely, wounded man at the side of the road back in 1934. She had forced her fangs to retract even though her hunger raged inside, burning through her veins. She had looked up to see Caius gazing down at her, his eyes shining in the night. He had taken her hand in his and had given it a squeeze. Well done.

  She had made her Maker proud.

  While Alexander was still dressing up Caius, Varsee and Evie waited for them in the living room. They both were sat in the armchairs in front of the T.V. Surprising no one, Lady Sylvia was on the screen. She was currently being questioned about the whereabouts of the two vampire bank robbers and why the money had been returned.

  “Why so many questions? Shouldn’t you be happy? You’ve got your money back,” she said, looking cool and collected as always. Evie had watched her expertly work around the questions that followed similar cases to the bank robbery but she hadn’t really taken much notice. Now, knowing what she knew about her being linked to the Vampire Court and the Court’s involvement with all these unsolved cases, Evie could detect the hidden coy smirk underneath Lady Sylvia’s business-like façade.

  “But the vampires are still out there,” retorted a man, speaking to her from an off-site location. The split screen showed the flushed face of the police officer and the bright-eyed and proper vampire.

  “How can you be so sure about that? And even if they are, they are clearly no threat. They stole and brought it back. No harm done.”

  “No harm done?! Why don’t you say t
hat to those petrified members of the public who were unfortunate enough to be there when the robbery occurred?!”

  Lady Sylvia’s padded shoulders sagged. “I am not saying that it was not a frightening experience for them. As you said, they were very unfortunate. But what I meant was that this no longer needs to be an investigation. The people no longer need to fear these men. You are wasting police time by continuing the search. What’s done is done. It’s over.

  Varsee muted the T.V. When Evie turned to ask her what she was doing, she noticed Alexander walking down the stairs.

  “Okay, I take back my ‘hobo’ remark. He actually looks pretty hot,” he said, walking into the living room. He gestured back to the tall form that was making its way down the stairs behind him. Evie’s eyebrows rose in awe as Caius silently walked over and stood beside Alexander, looking slightly awkward.

  His hair flowed down to his shoulders in soft waves instead of a knotted mess, and his face was lily-white. Evie smiled softly when she noticed he had shaved. Without the stubble, his thin, pink lips looked striking against his pale face and dark hair. Instead of his usual hippy style smocks, he was wearing a fitted slate grey shirt that accentuated his firm torso underneath. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the first few buttons were undone. She figured he must have felt very constricted in such formal attire so that was his was of loosening it up. Fitted black trousers hugged his legs and as a finishing touch, his feet had been slipped into a shining pair laced up shoes.

  Evie coughed when she tried to speak, her dry throat making her realise she had been openly gawking. “Wow,” she managed to get out. “Caius, you look amazing.”

  “Thank you,” replied Alexander with a flick of his blond hair. “It was all my doing. It was something from an old flame. Nothing of mine would fit him. And while I was diving into the depths of my wardrobe, he just looked at me like he’d never seen a suit before.”

  Evie sank into the chair with a slight frown. When he had first Turned her, Caius had never been out of a suit. But then he had been sucked into a void of self-loathing and guilt and keeping up with the latest trends was the last thing on his mind.

  A silence fell over the room and suddenly Varsee swept to her feet. “Right, we’d better let you two… catch up.” She walked over to Alexander and gestured to the kitchen door. He pouted. “C’mon.” She grabbed the back of his neck and steered him towards the door. “We need to give them some privacy.”

  Even through the wall, Evie was well aware that they could still hear everything clearly with their vampire hearing but she figured Varsee was thinking more about being a physical imposition.

  Caius just stared at Evie; his eyebrows drawn up in that helpless, pained way of his. She got to her feet and stood before him, a stretch of rug between them. For a moment, the world seemed to draw its breath. But then Caius let out a choked gasp and scooped her up into his arms. She buried her head into his neck and made a sound between a sob and a laugh.

  “I’m so sorry,” he mumbled against her, burying his face into the curve of her neck. “I’m so sorry.”

  Tears threatened to bleed from her eyes and she held him closer, her nails digging into his back. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

  He set her down back onto the floor carefully. A ghost of a smile crept onto his lips but then they set into a harsh line. His forehead creased with worry as he lifted his hand and grazed the backs of his knuckles against her cold cheek. Evie closed her eyes and leaned into the touch.

  “How are you? You… you didn’t want to be Turned back.”

  She shrugged, biting back a sob. “I didn’t want to be dead, either.”

  Caius’ face had scrunched up as if he was on the verge of exploding into tears. “I should have been there for you. You were so scared. So defenceless. At mercy to those… fiends. I’m so sorry I left you.” He pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head. “I should have been there.”

  “You tried but Milah wouldn’t yet you go. It’s fine, Caius. You did all you could,” she replied, but her heart sank a little. Bitterness attacked her from the inside, hot like acid. If he hadn’t have left her, he could have saved her and she’d still be human. She’d still be alive. Instead of this unending state of purgatory. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore her spiteful thoughts because she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Caius had done everything he could.

  He had walked out in sunlight for her. Nearly burst into a pool of goo for her. Fought the day sickness for her. She knew he would do anything in his power for her. And being there when she was attacked by three blood-hungry Nest vampires just wasn’t one of those things.

  “What did Milah want anyway?” she asked, hoping the clip in her voice was muffled by his shirt.

  Caius shushed her, swaying them from side to side gently. “Don’t worry about her. She felt my pain when I was out in the sunlight. Just wanted to see if I was okay. That’s all. Forget about it. I’m here with you now.” He kissed her forehead and Evie’s smile wavered. That didn’t sound like Milah. She didn’t usually care that much about Caius. If she did care, where had she been when he was locked up in a cell with God knows what being pumped into his system?

  But maybe she was wrong.

  So Evie did what Caius told her to and forgot about it. He was here with her now and that was what was important.

  She soaked him up, curling her fingers into his new, crisp shirt and inhaling the fresh smell of coconut shampoo. “Did Alexander treat you okay?”

  He laughed a little, making her head rattle against his hard chest. “Yeah, he was alright. Wandering eyes aside,” he replied. “How’s Varsee?”

  Evie tried to detect the resentment or bitterness underlying his tone but, to her surprise, there was none. Part of her felt a little disappointed. She was now another vampire’s progeny and he wasn’t jealous. “She’s okay. Quite nice, actually.”

  “Good.” He pressed another heavy kiss on her forehead. She leaned out of his grip and looked up at him. “Are you happy about staying with them? About me being her progeny? Even though you and I still have some sort of… link. It’s going to get very complicated.”

  He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re alive and you’re safe. That’s all I care about.”

  Suddenly, she had a jolt of realisation and her grip on Caius’ shirt tightened. “Nico. His men.” She let out a shuddering gasp and clung to him, burying her face in his chest. “I thought you were dead.”

  “Dead?” He pushed her back and she released her grip rather reluctantly. “Why would you think that?”

  “Alexander.” She stepped back, hugging herself as a cold wave swept over her. Concern filled Caius’ eyes. “He said that the Vampire Court are still out there. That they punish any vampire that does anything to jeopardise the Equal Rights. And Caius…” She gulped. “You killed thirteen of Nico’s men. Thirteen humans. The Court—Guardian -- he could find out and you’ll-”

  He held her close once more. “Forget about the Court. It’s just there to scare us.”

  She laughed, a forced sound. “Yeah. And it’s doing an excellent job.”

  She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. “We can’t let our guard down, though. Before all of this happened, we were on the run. Nico’s men had found me. They were ready to take me back. And if the Court does find out how those men died because… well… we didn’t even hide the bodies. Never mind the Court, the police will find them. They’ll take one look and know that it was a vampire attack. They won’t care that it was provoked. Vampires are always the bad guys. They are always the ones that get blamed.”

  “Evie, have you looked out of the window?”

  “No. Why?”

  He nodded to the drawn curtains. She walked to one of the windows and pushed open the thick curtain and netting underneath and saw nothing. Complete solid darkness. As if the glass had been painted black.

  “We re
ally are in the middle of nowhere,” she murmured.

  “Yes, we are. When I felt your pull, I was driven in this direction. This was the only house I saw for miles. I think we’re as safe as we can be here.”

  “Mrs. Braverman really did like her privacy.”

  “What?”

  Evie let go of the floral curtain so it dropped back into place, and turned back to Caius. He looked so out of place in the room of porcelain Yorkshire Terriers and fringed rugs. “This was her house.”

  “Ah,” nodded Caius. “That explains the décor.”

  “Yeah.” Evie smiled and took in the room. “It’s actually growing on me.”

  He smiled back but then placed his hand on his stomach. “My hunger is stirring. I haven’t drunk since-”

  “Me?” finished Evie when he broke off.

  Caius’ lips formed a grim line and his eyes casted to the floor. “That was a risky move you pulled.”

  “So was charging out in sunlight.”

  His eyes flicked back up to her. “I did it to save your life.”

  Evie smiled. “Ditto.”

  “See.” He raised his head, standing tall. “This is why I am not fretting about all this.” He gestured around the room. “Because the most important thing hasn’t changed. I still love you more than anything.”

  Evie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the swelling feeling inside her. It was if her cold, dead heart was actually responding to his words. “I love you, too.”

  A smile began to creep onto his face but was wiped away at the squeak of a door opening. Varsee stepped out from the kitchen door with a glass of blood in her hand. “We couldn’t help overhearing.” She lifted the blood, gesturing to Caius.

  “Because we were trying,” added Alexander, squeezing through the small gap between his sister and the doorjamb.

  Caius took the glass from her with a nod of thanks and gulped it down. They all watched as the last drop disappeared and Caius lowered the empty glass with a bright-eyed, sheepish grin.