When I glanced up, all three of them were looking at me, even Connie who was supposed to be watching the front counter. Maybe I got a little louder than I had intended. I was justified. “Are you a witch, too?” I snapped at Connie, feeling a little grumpy.
“Yeah,” she answered, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“Oh good, then you go give birth to a prophecy.” An idea suddenly struck me. “Wait, Jenny said the witch from the prophecy is here. That's not right. It can't be right. I'm not a witch.”
The three women exchanged a series of glances that made me feel like I'd said something stupid. I'd like to reiterate that I am not now, nor have I ever been, stupid. I can do stupid things from time to time, but that's not the same thing.
“You are,” Ms. Marquesa said gently, moving her hand from the back of my neck to cup my chin. I looked up into her warm eyes and felt just a tiny bit less like throwing up. “You are the granddaughter of one of the most gifted witches ever born on these mountains. You might have swallowed up all of your talent, denied it, but it's there.”
“You've got the wrong girl,” I protested, “I wouldn't have swallowed anything. Okay? Let me just...let me explain something to you. I wanted to be magical. Okay? I wanted to be someone special when I was a little girl. I wanted to be the girl who turned sixteen and found out she was a witch. I wanted my mom to come back from wherever she had disappeared to and tell me that she was really a goddess and I had inherited her powers.
If they were looking for kids to try out some cocktail of super drugs in the hopes that they would become better, faster, stronger versions of themselves, I would have been the first one waiving my human rights to give it a go, and eventually throwing on a cape and tight underwear to fight against the undoubtedly evil corporation that spawned me. Okay? I desperately, urgently wanted to be special. But I have not even levitated an object or accidentally cast a spell.”
Ms. Marquesa's hand, still a comfortable heat on my skin, gave me the slightest pat. “Oh, Honey, that's not how magic works.”
Before she could explain further, an explosion went off. Not the kind that blew stuff up, but the kind that swept down on you, like a hurricane without any wind or rain. It was a change in air pressure, the pounding of someone's overdone amp. All noise without any sound. I clapped my hand over my ears as Jenny and Ms. Marquesa stood up. Connie turned in a tiny circle, throwing her freckled arms wide.
The three of them joined hands, palm to palm. The necklace around Jenny's neck seemed to glow, as did the many rings on her fingers. I was suddenly very aware of that herbal smell emanating from Ms. Marquesa. Connie threw back her head and howled like some kind of wolf. I was pretty sure I heard something answer her.
I wish I could have paid more attention, but the weight of whatever was happening pushed me down to my knees. I pushed harder on my ears but it didn't help. The pressure was sinking into my bones until I thought they would crack.
“Lorena,” a woman's voice called. I didn't know it, but it was light and vibrated, “Lorena come to me.”
I don't know what I expected to happen. I don't know what I thought I would see when I looked past the trio of women, but I saw a fourth woman in a robe of gray. The hood was so large that I couldn't see her face, but I got the feeling that no one else saw her. They were looking up at the ceiling as if there was something there. Then the image of the woman flickered, skipped like a video that wouldn't stream properly but the sound worked just fine.
“Come to me, Lorena. I'll tell you everything.”
I couldn't help myself. I started walking towards her outstretched hands. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to feel her arms wrap around me and make me feel safe. I took one step and then another. My fingers reached out, stretching towards her. I knew if I could just take her hand, everything in the world would be okay. There was a scant inch of space between my hand and hers.
Suddenly, I was jerked backwards, and I found myself staring up into the face of the most attractive man that I had ever seen. Cliché, maybe, but totally true. He had a long sheet of perfectly blond hair, white blonde or platinum. Whatever color you wanted to call it. It was bright. His skin was moonlight pale and his cheeks were sharp as diamonds. He looked like an angel. Not one of those creepy baby ones you saw in those old pictures, or even the alien looking things the Bible actually describes, but a golden-haired angel without the big feathered wings. He swept me into his arms like I was no more than a feather and hugged me to a chest that I was sure had excellent definition. My cheek pillowed against a frilly cravat around his neck, and I realized he wore the outfit of old French Aristocracy.
“No!” the woman cried, but her voice wasn't soft and pretty anymore. It sounded creepy, like a hundred snakes all hissing at the same time. The hand, which had been perfectly formed, now looked withered and ancient and covered in warts. Ew.
The three women let go of one another, throwing their hands to the sky. The pressure suddenly lifted and I could think again.
“Lorena,” Jenny called, sounding a little out of breath, “are you alright?”
“I have protected her,” the man holding me said.
Being the master of everything suave, I asked, “Who the hell are you?”
“Ma chère, I am Alan Pierre Rouergue, of the House of Rouergue, and I am going to be the father of the child that you birth.”
CHAPTER THREE
“Yeah,” I said, putting my hands on a very attractive chest and pushed, “I'm going to tell you to put me down now. And if you aren't a complete jerk, you are going to listen.”
“As you request, ma chère.” He put me down, but he didn't exactly move. From my upright position, I could tell he wasn't tall, maybe all of five foot eight or something, but he was all slender lines and elegant features. His nose was a bit sharp and his lips a little thin, but he still would have looked right at home on one of those gothic metal CD covers.
“Personal space, buddy. I don't know you.” I gave him a look. I didn't have a mirror, but I was pretty sure it was a meaningful one.
He gave me an amused grin in response and took half a step back. “Oh, but we will, Cher, we will. We will make magic together.”
His grin blossomed into a full-on smile, and I saw that his teeth, while pearly white, were also sharp and pointed. Nope, definitely not an angel, I decided. I wasn't dumb. I knew vampire teeth when I saw them. These were either the real thing or the best prosthetics I had ever laid eyes on. Considering everything that had happened in the past five minutes, guess which ones I thought they were?
“Right. Apparently, you are supposed to father my prophecy baby.”
There were worse options. Okay, that might not be true. For all he was pretty, he could be a level ten mega-creep. But there were probably less attractive options. Wait? Were there options? Had the prophecy already picked a lover for me?
I whirled on the three women who were still coming out of whatever weird haze they had thrown themselves into. Their eyes were all still sort of...empty. Ms. Marquesa came out of it first. I wasn't surprised. She seemed to have the most strength. Did strength matter when it came to magic? Maybe. I didn't know. That was pretty much the theme of my life.
“Is he?” I demanded the moment her brown eyes filled with their normal warmth.
“Not...exactly.”
“Vague much? Like, dude, I dunno how to tell you this but I am pretty much done with vague. I'm done with just about everything until everyone tells me what the hell that was and who the hell he is and what the hell is going on.”
“That was a message,” Ms. Marquesa answered.
“Creepy message. Got it. And everything else?”
“We told you there is a prophecy,” Jenny answered. With limbs as loose as wet noodles after a five mile run, Jenny flopped into a chair and picked up her not quite finished piece of chicken. When I gave her a look, she gave me an unapologetic shrug. “Magic makes us hungry. It's why we got the good food back here.”
/> Connie gave a silent nod of agreement, but she grabbed a roll from a pile I hadn't noticed before. Apparently, she didn't like to say much.
Ms. Marquesa looked up at me. “The prophecy says that the father of the child will be a vampire from the line of Vlad himself.”
“Vlad?” I asked, “As in the Impaler?”
I like history. Sue me. My degree, if I had managed to finish it, would have been in anthropology with a minor in history. I like to study people. They fascinate me. So, when Ms. Marquesa brought up good ol' Vlad, the inspiration for the story of Dracula, I knew exactly who she was talking about. Vlad was a prince of Romania and a heck of a warrior. A lot of history books demonize him for being pretty mean to his enemies, but Romania heralds him as a hero beyond compare. It's all about who writes the story.
“Oui, the most brilliant and esteemed prince of blood.” Alan bowed his head in respect.
“So...he was really a vampire.”
I dragged a hand through my short mop of hair ruining any style that sleeping on it for two hours might have given me. “And Alan is one of his...line.”
Alan's lips curled into a smile. He lifted his chin and pushed his nose into the air another inch. “I am.”
I was both annoyed by him and amused. It's weird how some people can be both.
“He is but one of three.” Ms. Marquesa, who was looking a little gray around the lips, took the chair I had been sitting in. Since there were only two seats, I was left standing. I wasn't bothered. Not only was Ms. Marquesa older than me, this was her place and she had just done some magical stuff to...stop other magical stuff? I was a little unclear about that. “He and his two brothers are...viable applicants for the role.”
“Oh,” I said dumbly, “cool. Well, I'm not interested.”
“What?” All of them said it, in stereo.
“Considering the faces all of you are making, I think you all heard me. I'm not interested in being the oven to your bun of magic. I came here to find out about my grandma and figure some things out about my life. I came here to spend my six months in my grandma's house, get my inheritance and then hit the road. You can see how having a prophecy baby could throw a wrench into the clockwork of my program.”
“My, my. She is a snippy little coquette, isn't she?”
“Hey, buddy. I know what that word means, and I'm not cool with it. I'm not being a flirt or a tease. I'm laying down the law here. I'm not ready to be anyone's mommy.”
There was another series of looks, and I crossed my arms over my chest. They could look at each other all they wanted, but it didn't really matter. I knew what I was going to do.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Lorena, but Loretta was my friend and the stipulations for you receiving her inheritance were...specific.”
My world came to a screeching halt. “What?”
“Your grandma made me the executor of her last will and testament. I am in the way of knowin' what it is she said had to happen. Yeah, there is six months of you stayin' at her place. But those months are for you to meet the three brothers and choosing one of them to take as your husband or lover, or what have you.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, even though I had pretty much sorted it out of myself. I'm weird. I like to get confirmation that my whole world is about to blow up before I freak out about it.
“I'm saying that you won’t get the money until and unless you have a baby.”
The pin on the grenade of my future had just been pulled. I could hear it ticking. Did grenades tick? No. That was bombs. Whatever.
This had not been the plan. The plan had been simple. Six months here. Get money. Go make a life for myself. But no. That wasn't happening. Instead, a grandma I had never known was telling me what I needed to do with my life and how it needed to be done. I did not approve.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” Connie said, breaking her near silence, “she's serious.”
I dragged my hand through my hair again and tried my best not to just break down and cry. Maybe it had been the sixteen-hour non-stop car ride, maybe it was the shattering of all the dreams I'd had about the temporary house my Dad used to call home, maybe it was the lack of sleep or finding out that magic was very real and I was at the center of the prophecy. Who was I kidding? It was everything and then some. Tears filled my eyes, big and wet and hot.
Jenny gave me a look of compassionate understanding. She stood up and walked around the table. Her arms were warm as she wrapped them around me. “I'm going to get you home.”
“Jenny-”
“Grandma, I know a thing or two about life deciding things for ya, let me just...talk to her.”
“Wouldn't it be better if-” Alan started.
“No,” Jenny interrupted, “it wouldn't. You got some kinda stake in this? Hah, vampire pun. No seriously, you do got your own plan. Right? Right. So back off and give her a few hours to just...soak all of it in, okay fang-boy?”
I let her guide me out of the back room, leaving a trio of quiet people behind us. It felt nice to let her take the driver's seat. She grabbed a bunch of snack treats and candy and guided me out to the car. I let her drive. I wasn't feeling like being at the wheel right that moment. I wasn't even wanting to be in that town right then, maybe not even that state. But what was I going to do?
“Thanks,” I said after a couple of minutes of watching unfamiliar street signs pass by. The tears had gone back to whatever emotional pit that spawned them, but I knew they'd come back if I said too much.
“Naw, no worries. Grandma’s just excited is all. She sees you coming in and thinks...well...you know what she thinks. I know she might seem overbearing. But she's good. Took me in after mamma and daddy kicked me out for trying to take my girlfriend to prom.”
“Are you still dating her?” I asked.
“Naw,” Jenny shook her head. “She went off to some fancy college. That's all good. I'll get another girlfriend if I can get off this here damn mountain.”
“Not a lot of lesbians around here?” I asked, happy to be discussing a topic that wasn't about me.
“Pshaw, pretty sure Melody and me was the only ones. Tried one of those dating apps once? All the cute lesbians are in Richmond which is like...two hours away and ain't none of them wanna give a chance to some mountain hick.”
“That sucks,” I said. I meant it. I had dated a girl once. Okay, I had gone on a date with a girl once. It hadn't gone badly, but at the end of it, I realized that I had a preference for guys. Then again, if the right girl found her way into my life, it would not be completely outside the realm of possibility for me to date her. I'm open to options. Oh wait, all the options had been taken from me and narrowed down to three vampire dudes. “I'm sorry.”
She shrugged. But I could tell it bothered her. It had to be hard, I thought, to live in a rural town of Virginia if you were not only a lesbian, a black woman, and a witch. Jeez.
“I'll find someone. Even if I have to fashion her out of magic.”
“Well, if I can help, let me know.”
“You might, actually,” she said, giving me a sidelong glance, “I mean, ain't you Loretta's grandbaby? You got magic in you, too.”
I sighed. “See, I said this all right before...”
I thought back to the woman in the gray robe, the one with the voice like snakes. I wanted to ask about it, but it felt weird, like it was something I shouldn't be talking about at all. I frowned.
“Before the attack?”
“Yeah,” I answered, “what was all that about?”
“Psychic attack,” she said, turning onto my street, “probably from the Cult.”
She said the word Cult like it ought to be capitalized, like it was important. I pictured the woman in the long gray robes and decided if anyone in my life had ever looked like a cultist, it was her. “Cult, right. That makes perfect sense. Witches, vampires, prophecy. Why not a cult, too? Next thing I need is a brooding stranger and we would officially check off the
list of a modern adventure fantasy.”
“You haven't met Dmitri yet.”
I didn't want to know, but I asked anyway. “Dmitri?”
“One of the other vampires in Vlad's line. Tall, dark and broody.” She smirked when she said it. Her eyes twinkling. “If I didn't like women I'd jump him.”
“That's a hell of a compliment.”
She pulled my car into my grandmother's driveway. “Wait, how are you getting home?” I asked suddenly.
“I'll chill here until Connie gets off of work. She'll pick me up.”
I shrugged. “So, we are just going to hang out until then?” I asked.
“If you want. I mean, it's kinda rude to leave the girl who drove you home sitting on ya doorstep, but if that's how you wanna be...”
House Of Vampires (The Lorena Quinn Trilogy Book 1) Page 3