Wicked Soul

by Nora Ash

  “Not cool,” I snapped, though I couldn’t muster up the level of anger such betrayal really required. He had brought my hungover ass pizza after I’d all but molested him the night before.

  “I’ve seen newborn vampires with less ferocious hunger,” he said, that teasing smile still dancing at the corner of his lips. “Do you feel better now?”

  I snorted and patted my new food-baby. “Yeah. Just need to lie down for a bit.”

  I disappeared into the bedroom to get my duvet. When I returned, dragging it along after me, Warin was already sitting on the couch watching the same channel I’d had on while talking to my mom.

  I flopped down next to him and, not waiting for him to approve, placed my feet in his lap and swung the duvet over me. “Just unmute it and change the channel if you want. I’m too tired to do anything meaningful.”

  Warin didn’t touch the remote. He just leaned back and, after a moment’s hesitation, rested a hand on top of my duvet-covered feet. “What did your mother want?”

  "To guilt-trip me, mostly. And force-invite me to fly home for Thanksgiving.” Why, oh, why hadn't I come up with a quick lie about having to work? I’d have to dig into my savings to afford the last-minute flight and motel booking, and for what? The privilege of playing the family scapegoat for a night?

  The vampire watched me closely, the blank expression on his face somewhat guarded. "And you will be bringing a… guest?"

  I groaned involuntarily. "No! I don't know why I said that! Or yes, I do know why I said that—it's because I'm weak and still let myself get manipulated by those horrible, cold, unreasonable…" There just wasn't a strong enough finish for that sentence, so I just flailed a hand for emphasis.

  "You have a strained relationship to your family?" he asked, voice soft.

  I buried my face in my hands and pushed all the issues from my upbringing down, as I'd made a habit of doing since I left my mother's house at the age of eighteen. "I'd really rather not to talk about it right now, okay?"

  "As you wish." His hand gently patted my foot, leaning back against the couch. A tension I hadn’t noticed before seemed to ease out of his shoulders as he let his gaze flicker to the muted TV.

  It was in that moment, while I looked at the man whose arms I’d felt so safe in last night, that an idea struck like lightning from a clear sky.

  “So, er… Warin?”

  "Hmm?" His gaze slid back to me.

  "What are you doing for Thanksgiving…?”

  If he knew where I was going with this, he pretended not to. "I usually don’t celebrate human holidays.”

  “…Warin?”

  “Yes?”

  "Do you remember that horrible vampire party you’re going to make me go to tomorrow?”

  The corner of his mouth twitched in response to my pleading tone. “I do.”

  I narrowed my eyes a little, trying to imagine him in a turkey sweater, but the image just wouldn’t form. "Is there any possible situation where you would maybe consider…?”

  “Consider what, Liv?”

  I drew in a deep breath. “Would you go with me to Denver to this Thanksgiving dinner?”

  His eyes locked in mine. "There are one or two scenarios where that could happen. But are you certain that you would want that?"

  I thought of my family's general ignorance toward everyone who wasn't like them. About how I’d always been so different to them, an outsider, even if we shared DNA. And I thought about having calm, strong Warin by my side through what was bound to be a nightmarish experience. "I am absolutely certain. But…" I sighed. Full disclosure needed. "I have to tell you that it probably won't be a pleasant experience. They are not… very nice people."

  Warin watched me with his head cocked for a little while, then nodded. "Very well. In return for your participation and compliance with the meeting I am making you join me for, I shall book plane tickets to Denver when I get home tonight."

  I sighed in relief and leaned back in the couch. "A million times thank you. You really are the best thing that's ever happened to me."

  "As you are for me," he said quietly.

  A blush spread across my body alongside a warm feeling of happiness. I still had no idea why he chose to spend just a little bit of his immortal life with me, but one thing was for sure: every fiber of my being was thankful for it.

  “We also need to talk about the meeting with Joana,” I said, changing the subject before my stupid heart got any grand ideas. Clearly the little fucker couldn’t be trusted. “Do they have information on how to find the skinwalkers?”

  “They do.” Warin sighed, clearly unhappy. “But I wish you would let me handle this, Liv. I don’t want you further involved.”

  “Do we really have to do this again? You know I’m not going to accept it. And, if you recall, the only reason you had that meeting with Joana and her merry band of witches was because of me. I know I’m not part of your supernatural club, but as long as this involves me, you’re going to keep me in the loop. Got it?”

  “Got it,” he sighed. “The High Priestess have given us the location of one of their main cells, but she also confirmed my suspicions that they have a vampire patron. She couldn’t tell me who, or why, but whoever it is, he or she have fed the skinwalkers their blood. They are much, much stronger than regular skinwalkers, and even my Guard and I will have to be cautious when we attack. But I can’t move on them before we have discovered who this patron is. If we take down the skinwalkers without unveiling who’s behind them, they’ll slip between my fingers. And that… that I can’t let happen. Whoever they are, they’ll be very, very sorry they picked Chicago for their schemes.”

  The look on Warin’s marble features was so grim any sane person would have recoiled from the sheer threat emanating off him. I, however, just shot him a half-smile before I nuzzled deeper into the couch. “You gonna go all Night Lord on their asses, huh?”

  He snorted, the seriousness on his handsome features cracking for a small smile. “I’ll do much worse than that to anyone who thinks they can hurt you on my watch, little one. Much, much worse.”

  * * *

  We spent the rest of the night watching Vampire Diaries, occasionally interrupted by Warin’s contemptuous snorts, and at some point I fell asleep with my feet in the vampire's lap. I half-woke by the sensation of floating, and tiredly cracked an eye open just as I was put down on my bed.

  "Hmm?" I groaned.

  "Dawn is almost here," Warin said softly above me. “I’ll send a car to pick you up at six.” The press of my duvet being wrapped around me made me contentedly sigh before I went back to sleep.

  18

  It was once again pretty late when I woke up, and I had a groggy thought that keeping vampire hours probably wasn’t the best thing for my circadian rhythm as I stumbled to the bathroom to pee. Should probably start supplementing with some vitamin D or something, since I wasn’t seeing much of the sun these days, save when driving in for a shift for work.

  I spent some extra time in the bathroom, remembering I had to get ready for Warin’s fancy-pants party tonight. He hadn’t gone into much detail about what was expected of me, but judging from his manor-like house, it’d probably be prudent to at least shower. And maybe even do my hair.

  * * *

  It was five before I walked out of the bathroom with my hair in rollers and a fluffy bathrobe wrapped around me. I wasn’t entirely sure how getting attacked by evil shapeshifting witches meant I was now the sort of person who got made up to go out twice in one week, but even if I would have preferred to spend the evening on the couch… it felt kinda good to primp. It made me feel pretty. And feminine.

  A flicker of Warin’s expression as he’d looked me up and down in my skimpy dress the other night had a flush of shame heat my cheeks. Yeah, okay, so the main reason I now liked hanging out in front of the mirror like a teenage girl with a crush was that I’d liked how he’d looked at me. I seriously needed to pull myself together, or the next time I got
drunk around the poor guy would likely be the last time I’d see him. He’d been very clear on the no nookie policy.

  No sooner had the thought ‘nookie policy’ flashed through my brain before my gaze landed on a big, white box on my kitchen counter. The pizza box, however, was nowhere in sight. Apparently Warin had made a trade on his way out this morning.

  Curious, I slid up the counter so I could inspect the box closer. It was clearly made from high-quality cardboard, and though I didn’t recognize the logo stamped in gold across the lid, it only emphasized the impression that whatever was inside was hella expensive. Only one way to find out!

  I couldn’t help the small gasp at the revelation of a the pile of exquisite, ruby-red fabric once I lifted the lid. Pure silk, no doubt. A small, white card lay on top of the pile, with my name scrawled across it in a slanted handwriting.

  * * *

  Liv,

  Please remember, whatever I ask of you this evening I ask only so I can keep you safe.

  Warin.

  * * *

  I arched an eyebrow at the cryptic message, but put it aside to focus on the red dress. No doubt he was aware I didn’t own anything remotely this fancy, and didn’t want to cause offense.

  Though, to be fair, it’s kinda hard to cause offense when you give a girl a dress this exquisite.

  Unable to rein in my glee any longer, I picked the magnificent piece of clothing out of the box. It was a full ball gown, with a fitted top delicately adorned with beads and a long, flowing skirt. But before I could get too swept away in the beauty of it, my eyes fell on what had been hiding in the box underneath the dress.

  A skin-colored strapless bra.

  Now, how Warin knew I didn’t own a strapless bra I had no idea, but my eyebrow crept up again at its appearance. One thing was getting an amazing silk dress to go to the ball in. There was a certain Cinderella quality any woman would find hard to resist.

  But a plain bra?

  Maybe if it’d been a sexy little number I’d have been all kinds of giddy at the thought of Warin picking out lingerie for me, but this bra was unquestionably of the sturdy, practical variety.

  Careful not to crease the dress, I placed it over the counter and picked up the offensive bra. It was even my size.

  How the hell did he know what size bra I wore?

  * * *

  Roy was on guard duty as per usual when I let myself out some forty-five minutes later, a mug of coffee in one hand and my elbows tight against my sides in order to keep my new dress up.

  “Hey,” I greeted him when he turned around to see what I wanted. “Trade you a coffee for a zip-up?”

  “Sure. S’cold as a vamp’s tit out here today,” he said. Then, giving me a quick glance, he added: “S’cuse me.”

  “Ha, got a lot of experience with vampire tits?” I teased as I placed his coffee on the brick banister and turned my back so he could get to my zipper.

  Roy made a noncommittal noise that made me laugh as his rough fingers brushed up the length of my spine, pulling the zipper with it. “Never mind,” I said. “I probably don’t want to know.

  “So, what do you think? Warin went shopping.” I spun back around and held out my arms despite the cold making me want to huddle up, modeling the dress.

  The giant gave me a short nod before he wrapped his hand around his mug and took a sip at the still steaming liquid. “S’ok. Your hair’s weird.”

  I let my arms fall back down to my sides, somewhat deflated. “Well, way to build up a girl’s confidence there, buddy. My hair’s still in curlers, I’m not going like this.”

  “Sorry,” he rumbled.

  “What’s the matter?” I sighed, folding my arms across my chest, partly to preserve body heat and partly to achieve a stern “don’t you mess with me, young man” expression even my grandma would have been proud of.

  “Nothin’,” he said, dodging my eye contact like a guilty child.

  “Yeah, that’s obviously bullshit. What’s going on, Roy?”

  The giant sighed and finally looked up at me, reluctance plain on his broad face. “You shouldn’t do this. You need to stay away from whatever the fuck he’s got you doing, girl.”

  I blinked, more than a little surprised at that turn of the conversation. “What do you mean? Why?”

  “I’ve seen this shit more times than I’d like to count. I thought maybe you were right and he’s your friend, with how he’s kept you away from the nest. But now he’s got you dressing up like all the other pretty little girls who end up dead when they get tangled up in vamp society.”

  “Roy, it’s not like that—“ I tried, touched beyond words for the obvious care the giant of a man had for me that he risked speaking up about his boss like that. Even if it was misplaced.

  But Roy just held up a hand, silencing me. “Yeah, I know, it’s for your own protection. He might even mean that—who the fuck knows with them? But if you get in any deeper, you’re gonna be another dead body I’ll have to dig a grave for. Another unsolved disappearance. And you’re too fucking sweet to end up like that, Liv. You’re too smart. I’m telling you, whatever he’s planning for tonight, it’s not a place for humans.”

  I drew in a deep breath and walked down a couple steps so I could reach out and touch his arm. “Roy… I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’re saying this. I don’t… there’s never been a lot of people who looked out for me, and I… Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. But I can’t stay away. It’s not just because it’s for my own protection—it’s also because he needs me there.”

  “Has he ever told you what he used to be like?” Roy’s voice was surprisingly gentle for his size. “About his reputation?”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “A long time ago, before you and me were born, he was someone else. Something else. He may seem domesticated now, he may appear as your friend, but he was a monster. Even other bloodsuckers fear him.” Roy shook his head and rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand. “Shit, I know you ain’t gonna listen to me. Maybe you just gotta see for yourself. Just… keep your eyes open, ‘kay?”

  “I will. Thank you. Truly.” I gave his arm a small squeeze.

  He shrugged. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. Just hate shovelin’ dirt over a pretty face.”

  “We really need to work on your compliments, Roy.” I grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “Can’t call me pretty unless you’re imagining me six feet under.”

  He rumbled a good-natured chuckle. “Ex-wife said the same. Not the dead thing. Just the compliment thing.”

  Before I could tell him I was glad he didn’t talk about burying all the girls he came across, the roar of an engine further down the road pulled both out attentions.

  “Get inside,” Roy said gruffly, shoving me back up the step with a hand as he squared up against the silver Porsche that came barreling down the street. I didn’t miss how the other went to the back of his jeans, hiking up in his leather coat enough that I saw a flash of a gun.

  “Ugh, I doubt skinwalkers are gonna come kidnap me in a Porsche,” I bitched, even as I continued up the steps.

  The Porsche stopped right in front of Roy with screeching brakes, followed by a slam of the driver’s side door.

  I blinked at the tall, suit-clad man that stepped around the front of the car, shoulder-length auburn hair combed back and styled to perfection.

  Aleric.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I blurted.

  “Picking you up.” His cool eyes slid over me and stopped at my curlers. “Fix your hair and let’s go.” Clearly expecting his orders to be obeyed, he turned his focus to Roy. “So you’re on guard duty for my brother these days, giant-blood? What a pity.”

  “S’no worse than being his errand boy,” Roy shot back. From his tone to his stiff stance, it was quite obvious he’d met Aleric before—and that he wasn’t a fan. After my run-in with him at Isla, I shared Roy’s opinion.

  Al
eric’s blue eyes flashed with a cool spark, his full lips pinching with just the faintest smile. “I see Warin’s lax with the whip. You weren’t as mouthy when Lizanne had you.”

  I decided not to stick around to listen to them bicker. The less Roy had to deal with Warin’s prick of a brother, the better. It was really the least I could do for the many hours he’d spent freezing his ass off in front of my apartment building.

  It didn’t take long to pull my curlers out and finger-comb my now wavy hair to ensure the curls sat just right. A quick dose of hairspray later, I grabbed my black clutch housing my cell phone, emergency cash, lipstick, and keys and rushed out the door to save Roy from my newly appointed chauffeur.

  It looked like I was just in time. When I stepped out of the door, I was greeted by the sight of Roy standing with both fists clenched, glare leveled at the vampire. Aleric was casually leaning against the Porsche, both hands in his suit pockets, but from the calculating look in his eyes and the cruel hint of a smirk on his lips, I could tell he’d been needling my bodyguard.

  Pretty brave, if you asked me. Aleric might have been a vampire and all, but even though he was very tall and obviously well-built underneath his expensive suit, Roy had at least half a foot and a good hundred pounds on him.

  “All right, I’m ready. Let’s go,” I said as I walked down the stairs and patted Roy’s arm. “Thanks again .Go home and get warm—I’ll undoubtedly see you tomorrow, yeah?”

  Roy rumbled a gruff agreement, not taking his narrowed eyes off Aleric.

  “Great, get your ass in the car, snack,” Aleric said, apparently not the least bothered by Roy’s death-glare.

  “I think I preferred ‘mouse,’” I said as I opened the car door and slipped into the passenger seat. The buttery leather embraced me in just the right way, and I allowed myself a moment to enjoy the luxury of it all. If only my family could see me now, dressed in the finest silk and sitting in a car that cost more than my mum’s and aunts’ houses combined.