by Aine Massie
“Anya, I have expended a great deal, and put my mate and myself at great risk to help you, more than once. Please,” he begged.
“Thomas, the problem isn’t whether I will or won’t, the problem is, I do not know what I did. I was yelling at her for biting Declán, and was overtaken by a memory – which I could happily never experience again and be just fine, thank you. When I came to, Nicholas was shaking me. I don’t know how she died. That’s probably much more than I should tell you, but I’m hoping you have some idea what did happen.”
“Did anyone witness what happened?” he asked, clearly excited.
“Nicholas was the only other one there. He said I yelled something just before she was reduced to ashes but didn't catch what I said. You know what happened, don’t you?” I demanded.
“Yes.” He grinned, clasping his hands in obvious pleasure. “It means they were successful in creating a lethal weapon, one that could destroy even our own kind, but that they completely failed in changing you into someone they could use.”
“And this makes you happy?” Maybe he was insane. Could vampires go mad? I mean, I know I’m a bit off, but–
“Yes, it does, the part where you are still you, that is. They worked tirelessly to increase your power and to condition you to be able to kill with just your voice. Some of us were not sure it was really possible, and after knowing some of what they did to you, the fact you are still the gentle, human lover is all the more impressive,” he added. He paused, staring at me again before he continued, “I wonder if she even realized she was in danger from you?” I didn’t like the look he was giving me; the awe was growing.
“Oh, she realized she was in danger, though that only seemed to dawn on her at the end. I can be scary if I chose to be,” I said baring my teeth just enough to show my point. His eyes widened just a little as he took an involuntary step back. “I just choose not to be; living in the human world is easier if they aren’t terrified of you.”
“Yes, so I see,” he said swallowing hard. “I didn’t mean to offend by calling you gentle. I just meant that most of us think of you as kinda tamed. You are just not seen as a vamp to contend with. That could be good though, deceptive yet lethal . . .” he trailed off. “Wait, you said you had a memory flash?”
“Yes. Something I would rather never experience again.” I could feel the shudder roll down my spine and knew he could sense my distress.
“And, it was during it that you destroyed her?” He tilted his head as if he was trying to listen extra hard to my response.
“Yes. The memory was about her, and when I came out of it, she was ash.”
A truly wicked and frightening grin spread across his face just as his void eyes seemed to somehow come alight. “Wonderful! That means you have a weapon that they cannot stand against. That you can control who is affected, and with training and practice, you will be a true threat to them.”
Confusion. “Huh? Training and practice? And, just exactly why are you so happy if you want them to fail in turning me into one of you?” He had lost even what little sanity he’d had, obviously.
“I want them to fail in making you their weapon, not in you becoming a weapon.” The light in his eyes only seemed to get brighter. “You’d never use it the way they would.
“You could make them invincible. You do understand that, yes?” Once I nodded, he continued, “I’m not interested in the same things they are. We just want to have our little lives, be together, and be in relative peace. I’m no carnage obsessed monster, no matter what you or your friends believe.”
“Sorry, but I still don’t understand completely. They did manage to make me lethal; I don’t want to be a killer. I don’t even kill humans. How is this good?”
“Anya,” he began, the light finally calming some. “You snapped back to being you, which is why I’m so happy. If they had won, you would have snapped and stayed that way. You should be craving the kill, not upset you killed someone that tortured you. I saw some of what she did; believe me, no one should mourn her death!”
“Understood. What are you going to tell your House? If you tell them all of this, it will empower them and encourage them to try harder to get to me.”
“The truth, just slightly edited. I have to report Ashley’s death; I’ll simply fail to mention that you used your voice. You did have your vampire mate with you; he helped when she attacked. Besides, you will use your voice to make sure that is all they can get out of me.” He folded his arms across his chest looking smug. “Simple.”
I just shook my head, fighting the smile threatening to break free. “You’re more insane than I am, and you call me odd.”
Later that evening I finally had a chance to talk to Nicholas, alone. “So,” Nicholas started in on me. “You’ve decided to make friends with and trust one of those sent here to turn you into a true monster.”
Gently taking his face in my hands, “Yes, I have. This isn’t the first time he’s helped me, if you recall. Also, he’s on our side, on this point at least. He will not feed in our combined territory, and he has, again, risked a lot to help me, us really.
“Now, Nicholas dear, why were you and Jonathan here still when Thomas arrived?” I asked.
“You’re funny, Anya,” he murmured as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. “We were here to talk to Star about the move. You do realize we’re planning to move two entire households plus three humans across the country, a decision made only last night? This is something that takes a little planning, especially with two of the humans not knowing our little secret.
“Now.” Nicholas sighed as he began kissing gently down my throat, his cool breath caressing, causing my skin to begin tingling.
“Mmm,” was all I could manage. Bringing his wrist up to my lips and grazing it gently with my teeth, I murmured, “if you don’t stop now, mmm . . .” I did not get another word in before his teeth gently broke through the flesh of my neck and it began again.
Chapter Twelve
As we pulled away from Skye’s home, I was both excited and a little nervous. I was driving, of course, though I wasn’t entirely sure where we were going. This was to be a girls' night out, just Kayla, Skye, and myself. “Okay, where to?”
“Well, the mall would be the first stop. We all need new outfits for graduation night and then maybe a movie,” Skye said. “We can grab dinner at the mall if that’s cool with everyone.”
Hum, food . . . eating . . . “I’m not really hungry, girls. I grabbed a snack already.” This whole not eating thing was a pain. “But I’d be happy to hang out while you two ate, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure, but you know Declán’s not here to see you eat so you can pig out with us,” Kayla said with a giggle.
“You are too much. Really, I’m not hungry.” Thankfully, I thought to go hunting before we left. “But you two should eat. We can work out the logistics once we’re there. Now, who brought the CD’s?” It was always so easy to hang out with them; they were so relaxed all the time. Music, conversation, this is fun. Keeping a close eye on the speed, no need to frighten them or attract police, we flew down the highway for our shopping extravaganza.
“Which one do you think, Anya?” Kayla asked later. She was debating between two dresses. The first was a beautiful white dress, with a barrel skirt topped with a strapless opening-fan style top, making her look very grown-up. It had a wide black band creating a high waist – making her legs look longer – for the sheath dress. Or a simple, basic black dress that came to just above her knees. In both cases, she wanted strappy heels to match.
“I like the white one better, personally. What do you think, Skye?”
“I agree with you. Of course, Kayla looks good in everything,” Skye said with a wink. “Not to mention, you have a basic black dress already.”
“And well, black and white are the colours of the party,” I added.
“Mmm, true that. Okay, the white one it is. Sorry I’m so slow at this. I just never seem to know what looks best.”
Skye and I both laughed.
“You’re fine. You have your partner with you and yet you still worry about if it will look good to her. Only you . . .” Humans were so strange.
“Fine, fine. And you never think about if Declán will like what you pick out?” Kayla countered, putting both hands on her hips.
“Not really. I am usually more concerned with trying to fit in with everyone else, well, as best I can anyway. Our first official outing I was a bit of a mess, so I guess I can see your point. A little. Nevertheless, with you two I’m never sure if we are on a GNO or if I’m playing tag along on your date.”
“Oh, it's a GNO, we promise,” murmured Skye. “It’s just been a while since we did anything boy-free, and well, we kinda wanted to talk to you without Declán or Nicholas around.”
“Ah, so this is an ambush.” I smiled shaking my head. “I should’ve guessed. If you wanted to talk, we could do that anywhere, though shopping is always fun.”
“Ambush sounds so bad. Think of this as girls’ time with an added Q-n-A section.” Kayla gigged. “We’re just curious about when we all move to New York. We have our housing assignments but what about you and Declán. And, aren’t you going to miss Nicholas? We will.”
“You two are something else. As far as Declán goes, he hasn’t told me his intentions on housing yet. I need him to hurry up with that actually. I leave right after graduation for a few days to go check out houses and such.”
“You and Declán haven’t discussed where he’ll live? We assumed you’d be moving in together. I mean, well, we just . . .” Skye mumbled at the end.
I could see the sweet blood pooling under their cheeks. Look away! “I don’t know that he wants to, though the houses I’m looking at would be plenty big enough.” What would he want? “I’ll talk to him soon, promise.”
“You guys are weird,” Skye teased. “We both know you’re together,” I could hear the quotes in her voice, “so why the big mystery?”
“Us? Look at you,” I chided back. “Snooping into our personal lives. And you do not know any such thing.” Just assume things like that. Harrumph. “As to Nicholas, why would you have to miss him? He’s coming too.”
“What!” they squealed in unison. “Really?” continued Kayla, with a huge grin.
“Yes, really. He and Jonathan will be flying out with me to house hunt. Things will be set up by the time we’re ready to go. Why?”
“Well, it’s just that he’s sorta become part of the gang, I guess. We would miss him is all,” Kayla promised.
“Nicholas is coming with, no worries, as are the rest.” This should be a truly interesting adventure. “Star and your parents are the only ones staying behind. Well, Star will visit, often she says.” It’ll be strange not to live with her anymore. She says it is time for me to live with my own kind, but she will always be my mom. By that time, we were sitting together as they ate their dinner. Eventually this eating thing is going to be a real problem. I wish I could just tell them.
“So, we’re going to be in the dorms and you in a house? We don’t know where Declán will be living, and Nicholas will be living where?” Skye asked, trailing off suggestively.
“Ugh, is that all you think about?” Hormonal humans. “Nicholas will have his own home, they’re thinking possibly over in Dryden or some other area close by.”
Looking around, an automatic habit, I found someone that did not belong. Carefully sniffing the air, not wanting to bother the girls needlessly – definitely vampire – I found someone that didn’t belong. A generic looking, to me, male was standing against the far wall watching us. As our eyes locked, he smiled coyly. Whispering under his breath too low and fast for any but me to hear he spoke. “You’re not safe here. You should leave and take your pets with you.”
“This is my territory, it’s you who should leave,” I hissed back.
“You don’t have your precious guards with you tonight. Are you willing to risk your pets’ safety, just to annoy me? Plus, I’m not here to hurt them, just need you – alone!” he countered.
Damn! I cannot risk the girls or all the other humans here just as he says. “Then why follow us here? Leave!”
“Anya? What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?” Skye was trying to get my attention, blast.
“I’ll be fine. We need to go for now,” I said getting up from the table collecting our things. Both Skye and Kayla got up and followed me out, but I could hear their confused whispers about what was going on. I didn’t respond until we were in the car.
“I’m sorry,” I emphasized. “I just needed out of there!”
“What’s wrong Anya,” Skye asked. “You haven’t been yourself since the club. We’re worried about you, that’s the other reason for this outing. We were hoping to get you to relax some.”
“I am . . . the night I got ill at the club I had a memory flash. It was the first time that’s happened, but it has left me feeling very off centre. I didn’t realize you noticed.” This is so complicated! I hated lying to them.
“A memory,” Kayla squeaked. “Really? That’s a good thing, right? What about?”
Good? If I could only be so lucky. “In the way that it means I may, in time, remember more of whom I was, yes . . . I guess it’s good.” I could hear the nervous tenor and knew they could be affected if I didn’t calm. Control.
“You aren’t happy about remembering?” Kayla asked. I could see their eyes in the rear–view and could tell they were both curious yet slightly scared.
“Guys, my memory was of the accident, in a way. Mostly it was of the pain, not something I ever wanted to remember. I would really rather not discuss this right now.”
I couldn’t seem to keep my speed in check on the way back to Kayla’s house. I wanted them safely away from me before the stranger reappeared. I could feel the panic building up inside me. I needed to get away! Thankfully, my speeding came in handy, we returned in a matter of a few minutes.
“I’m not feeling well, I need to get home. Please tell Declán I just needed to rest and not to worry.”
They both exited the car, taking their new clothes, shoes, and other odd items from our shopping trip and hurried to the door, looking back at me curiously a few times. I didn’t pull away until I saw them entering the house.
I sped home, wondering if that was better or worse. I hit my brakes, hard, just as I turned into the drive. Is he insane? There, standing in the middle of the drive was the stranger. His face was untroubled, as he just stood there, as if the driveway wasn’t a strange pace to be. He was maybe five–nine with wavy, dirty-blond hair. Nothing really stood out about him, not even his eyes. They were void, as expected, but somehow even they blended into the background.
Getting out of my car, I immediately slipped into a more naturally aggressive crouch. I could feel my fangs descend as I bared them and a violent, angry, hiss escaped my lips. “How dare you come here?” My fingers curved into hard talons, “Who are you?”
He kept his untroubled stance and simply shrugged with just a hint of a smile playing at the edges of his lips. “I heard you dispatched Ashley and had to come and check for myself.” His voice had a slight accent I hadn’t noticed before, Austrian maybe. With a great sweeping bow, he continued, “My name is not important, but as you ordered, I am Heath. However, yours, assassin, is well known in some circles. Odd that you keep humans as pets, have the eyes of an aberration, and yet are the assassin leader of this area.”
I was losing what little patience and restraint I had. A light rustling in the trees alerted me that someone else was fast approaching. If it was another one like him . . . I turned and sprinted forward calling out, “Show yourself, now!” I nearly lost my control when two more appeared in front of me. Both females moved into flanking positions to this Heath creature. They weren’t as relaxed, tensing with low growls escaping their lips.
“Now, now girls, she won‘t harm me as long as I do nothing to her or those she protects. She has human morals.
” He covered his mouth with the side of his hand, laughing. “Don’t you, Assassin?”
“I am positive I could make an exception for you, if needed,” I snapped back as another venomous hiss erupted from me. “Your kind is not welcome here!”
“You misunderstand my reason for visiting. I came to see the great Assassin and to verify that you did indeed destroy Ashley. I am not here to avenge her; quite the opposite, in fact. She was hated by many beings, not just vampires. If she is truly gone, there will be great rejoicing around the world. I just cannot believe that it was you which destroyed her.” He maintained his calm the entire time and both females slowly relaxed their position. I did not, however.
“Fine,” I snapped. “You know who I am and what has become of her,” I spit the last word. “Why are you still here? I want you as far from my friends and family as possible.”
“Oh, I know. You don’t even have to use your voice, as you are, for me to know that. I just wanted to see, face to face as it were, the one that ‘got away.’ We have no choice but to leave now, but our thanks are with you, great Assassin.” As if on cue, the three turned and left quickly.
I didn’t trust them to leave without harming anyone; I hadn’t actually ordered it. Following them until they were a good, hundred miles out, I turned and sprinted home. What I found when I returned to my car was nearly as perplexing though. Five vampires, a bloodless, and one human, all waiting for me. Only Declán seemed the least bit concerned, throwing himself at me when I sprang from the tree line, landing lightly next to them.
“You’re okay?” he practically screeched as he slammed into me, knocking the wind out of himself.
“Of course I am. Why are all of you here?” I wrapped my arms around Declán, carding my fingers through his hair, trying to calm him.
“Kayla and Skye said something was weird with you when they came inside. I came right over afraid something was wrong. They mentioned your memory flash,” he explained.
Taking his face in my hands carefully, “Declán, a ghrá, what did you think you were going to do? Come and rescue me? You’re very sweet and valiant, but you are also very soft and easily breakable. You shouldn’t endanger yourself so.”