by L.H. Cosway
The place is ground zero now.
It’s funny how for so many years I imagined blowing that building up in my head, fantasised about how satisfying it would be to see a club full of vamps burn. Now that it’s happened I don’t feel anything, and it’s kind of scary.
Tegan
In Ethan’s room I strip down to nothing and step inside the shower. He’s already in there, his forehead leaning against the expensive tiles, his hand braced on the rail, holding his body up. I rest my head against his back. He’s so tall that my face doesn’t even meet his shoulder. Some of the tension falls away from him when I press my lips his skin. One of his back muscles twitches in response.
When I look to my feet I see the debris that had been stuck to my body washing away down the drain. I’ve got scrapes and cuts all over and they sting when the water touches them. Even with a vampire to whisk me away from an explosion, I still managed to get hurt.
There’s a slightly pink tinge to the water now as a gash on my arm bleeds out. Ethan’s body goes frighteningly still.
“Fuck, Tegan,” he whispers, his breathing harsh.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was bleeding,” I say and move to leave but he stops me.
“Don’t go. Stay and drink from me. You are hurt.”
“Remember we said we weren’t going to that again?” I try to remind him but already my mouth is watering. Even when my mind is determined to quit, but body won’t seem to allow me to stop.
Ethan whips around shockingly fast and then his lips are on the wound on my arm, his tongue licking away the last remnants of my blood. I moan from the feel of it.
“I know what we agreed, but we can also agree that tonight has not been any ordinary night? I need to be with you as deeply as I possibly can. I need to feel you drink from me, to heal you, to be in control of this one little thing.”
“You’re in control, Ethan,” I murmur as I run my hands through his hair. “Don’t let Theodore undermine you. That’s what he wants.”
Ethan’s face grows angry. “He blew up my club! Of course I’m not in control.”
My gut instinct is to get away from him when he’s like this, but I don’t do that. Instead, I stay and keep touching him.
“A club is a club. There are many more clubs in the world. It’s inconsequential. Theodore is obviously running out of ideas, and resorting to using bombs when he has so much magic is the act of a desperate man. Surely you can see that, right?”
The anger in Ethan’s features dissolves. “Yes, I see that.” His strong hands slide along my neck. “You are wise beyond your years, my love.”
“No I’m not. It’s just easier for me to see clearly because anger isn’t clouding my vision.”
Ethan moves me so that my back is pressed flat against the tiles and his arms are penning me in. Drops of water trickle down his perfect torso, distracting me from the conversation.
His eyes are watching me with intensity. “Your friends could have died tonight if I had chosen incorrectly. You should be just as angry as I am.”
“Yeah, maybe I should. I guess I’m just sick of being so full of emotion all the time. I want to not feel anything for a while.”
I trail a finger down his wet abs, lingering just above his pubic bone. “And speaking of that, how could you not tell which heartbeats were human and which were vampires?”
His face becomes an indiscernible mask. “Theodore had spelled them silent. There might as well have been ten dummies presented to me, for I could not hear a thing.”
“Oh. Well, I’m glad you guessed right. And I’m glad Lucas jumped in front of the bullet for Amanda.”
“He owed her that,” he whispers, his eyes now focused on my chest and my rapidly hardening nipples.
“Yeah, he did,” I whisper back right before he picks me up and pulls my legs around his waist. I’m perfectly situated for him to slide his cock right inside me, and when he does I cry out loudly at the exquisite invasion. He shuts off the water and carries me to the bedroom, still inside of me. When we reach the bed he puts me down carefully, moving in and out torturously slow.
Then he rises to his knees and uses his nail to cut a line down his wrist. I’m too lost in the sex to tell him no, and when he holds it over my lips and a single drop trickles out, I can’t help but to lick it up with my tongue. Even that one drop fills my body with a maddening sense of pleasure. I feel my scrapes and cuts healing already.
Ethan presses his wrist to my mouth now, his hips moving quicker, and I latch on to the open wound. I moan as the first full gulp hits my system, but that’s all I allow myself to take. I can sense him becoming frenzied with lust when I drink from him, and I know that this process does just as much for him as it does for me.
I lick the blood away from his skin and then pull him down for a kiss.
When he comes inside of me he whispers endless declarations of love and I fall asleep wrapped in his arms, covered in blood and sweat. I wake up in the middle of the night, which is something I don’t normally do, but I find myself abnormally starving.
Sneaking downstairs, I prepare myself a gigantic grilled cheese sandwich, devouring it almost as soon as it comes off the Breville sandwich maker and burning my tongue in the process. Rummaging through Ethan’s cupboard, I find an array of fancy ingredients, so I begin experimenting. I make grilled cheese with truffle oil, grilled cheese with cured bacon, grilled cheese with ham and apple, grilled cheese with pesto and tomato, eating them all ravenously. I’ve never been hungrier in my life, and I figure it has something to do with the blood I drank maybe?
By the time I’m finally full I find myself sprawled out on the couch in the living room, too stuffed to make it back upstairs. Alvie is the first one up in the morning and he laughs when he finds me half asleep on the expensive sofa, which probably cost more than I used to pay for rent in a year.
“Did you and lover boy have a tiff or something? What are you doing down here?” he asks in bemusement, tying the belt on his black silk kimono.
“I got hungry in the middle of the night, ate too much and fell asleep. Don’t tell anyone, it’s embarrassing.”
Alvie continues to chuckle as he goes to the kitchen to make coffee. I sit up and a strange feeling comes over me. It’s like I’m exhausted and full of energy all at once. Well, that’s what I get for stuffing my face like such a pig last night.
My stomach lets out an audible gurgle and then queasiness takes over. Oh no, I’m going to vomit. I race up the stairs to the bathroom and slam the door shut. Seconds later I’m crouched over the toilet bowl, heaving every scrap of those grilled cheese sandwiches back up.
At least thirty minutes later my stomach has finally calmed down and I splash water over my face to cool off. I think I might have a temperature. Or maybe I’m just hung over? I mean, I did drink an awful lot at Ethan’s party, and it doesn’t matter how expensive the alcohol is, it all feels the same the next morning.
There’s a knock on the door followed by Ethan asking, “Tegan, are you alright in there? I heard you throwing up.”
“I’m fine. Just really hung over.”
There’s a smile in his voice now. “Ah, well, I’ll make you up a good cure, shall I?”
“Depends on what it is.”
“Raw eggs and milk,” he answers and I groan.
“Jesus, are you trying to make me sick again?”
The door opens and he scoops me up into his arms. “Come, my darling, get some rest and you’ll be right as rain.”
“What I don’t get is how your blood hasn’t healed up all my ailments. I think I might be developing a resistance,” I whine.
“One does not develop a resistance to vampire blood, especially not mine. Besides, you didn’t drink that much.”
A minute after Ethan has tucked me in bed, Delilah comes strolling into the room without knocking.
“Brother, I was wondering if I could have a word with you…” she begins but trails off when her eyes lock on me
. She stands there stiffly and simply…gapes at me.
“Of course, what is it you want to speak about?” Ethan looks at her curiously.
“Oh, what? Never mind,” she says and hurries to my side. “Oh, God, Tegan! Oh, shit!” she mutters as she runs her hand over my sweaty face before turning back to Ethan.
“How could you be so foolish?” she hisses.
“Delilah, don’t take that tone with me. Now, what has you so riled up?”
“I thought your senses had been bettered not dulled, brother. Are you so blind that you can’t see? Look at her, see how she sweats, see how her skin is tinted with a blush, how she practically glows all over?” Her hand moves from my face to my chest where it rests just above my heart. “Hear how two hearts beat instead of one?” she whispers.
My head is thumping with an ache, so I don’t immediately get what she’s talking about, but Ethan does, and he smiles the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.
“What’s wrong with me?” I ask just wanting her to get to the point.
Ethan answers for her. “You’re pregnant,” he beams.
Okay, it’s a good thing I’m already lying down, because now I feel like I might faint.
Chapter Thirteen
All my Blind Ambition Left me Deaf with Perfect Vision
Finn
“Please tell me you’re joking,” I say, rubbing my tired eyes and staring at Delilah like she’s got two heads.
She carefully spoons a lump of sugar into her teacup, Ira sitting beside her. Gabriel and Alvie are on my side of the table, both wearing identical expressions of shock.
“I know a dhamphir pregnancy when I see one, and Tegan’s showing all the signs. The two of them have been shagging like bunnies anyway, so this is the obvious outcome. Although I had thought my brother would be a little more careful. He knows how dangerous it is for a human to become pregnant with a vampire’s child.”
“But Tegan’s not entirely human,” Gabriel interjects. “Perhaps that will help, give her a better chance of surviving the birth.”
“Here’s hoping that’s true,” Delilah replies and I can’t take it any longer, I have to broach the subject nobody wants to bring up.
“Has she considered aborting it?” I ask in a low voice and Alvie lets out a gasp. Delilah stares at me like I just spit in her face.
“No, she hasn’t…considered that. But it doesn’t matter anyway. An abortion poses the same amount of danger as childbirth in this particular case.” She lowers her voice. “And a word of warning, don’t go around saying anything like that in front of my brother. Children are, um, a touchy subject for him.”
“Ethan has had a number of children in the past,” Gabriel explains and I’m surprised he knows this. “All of them died.”
“Oh,” I mutter and look away. It’s kind of disconcerting when you discover the people you’ve labelled as shallow actually have depth. Cristescu has a whole history that I’ve never even thought about before.
A moment later there’s a knock at the front door and I use it as an excuse to escape the awkwardness my big mouth created. I finish off the slice of toast I’d been eating and stick the other in my mouth, because, you know, I’m a growing boy.
When I reach the door I open it to find a tall, dark haired man standing on the step. He’s wearing a suit you’d see in the front window of a designer department store and his blue eyes are intense. One thing I know for certain is that this is a warlock, and a powerful one at that.
There’s no point pulling out a weapon when the person you’re pulling it out at has magic, so I simply stand there and wait.
The man closes his eyes and a little shimmer sweeps over his face before he opens them again. “Finn Roe, it’s a pleasure to meet you. May I come inside?”
I lift a hand to stop him as he takes a step closer. “State your business first.”
“I am Roman. My granddaughter Tegan must have told you about me, no?”
Not a warlock then, not even a really powerful one like I thought. A sorcerer.
“Uh, yeah, she did.” I glance over his shoulder and down the street. There doesn’t seem to be anyone else around. I consider telling him to wait outside until I consult with the others, but there’s really no point in that. I doubt a closed door will be much of an obstacle to a man like this.
“Come on inside,” I say stepping out of his way. “I’ll go and tell Tegan you’re here, but she’s been sick this morning so she might not be up to visitors.”
“That’s quite alright,” Roman replies. “If she is ill then don’t bother disturbing her. I came because I need a couple of volunteers. Today I will endeavour to take Emilia Petrovsky from Theodore, and I will require the help of at least two able bodied men. I also sense that there is an elf staying on the premises. Am I correct?”
I narrow my gaze at him. “You’re not wrong.”
“We will need her, too. She was the one Michael Ridley had been holding hostage, yes?”
“Do you always speak in questions?”
“I do when I require answers,” he says, stopping to stare at me blandly.
I let out a sigh. “Yeah, she’s the one Ridley kidnapped. What do you need her for?”
Roman smiles now. “She will be our decoy.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You don’t have to. Just trust me when I say it will work.”
I lead Roman into the kitchen where I introduce him to everyone else. Gabriel and Alvie both stare at him like they’re meeting a celebrity and Delilah gives him a cordial smile. Roman takes a seat at the table and explains why he needs to get Emilia in order to break the barrier spell she cast around the city. I inform him of Rebecca’s recent abduction, so he alters his plan slightly to include rescuing her also.
Just as we’re organising for me, Ira and Allora to accompany him to the place where he believes Theodore is hiding out, the shit hits the fan…well almost. Cristescu enters the room.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” he asks Roman coolly.
“I’m sure you already know,” Roman replies. “You can hear everything that is said under this roof.”
A deadly silence ensues.
“Get out.”
“I’m here to help my granddaughter, and you for that matter. Please don’t allow your petty insecurities to get in the way.”
Cristescu looks like he’s trying to calm himself down when he replies, “The last twenty-four hours have been eventful for us, Sorcerer. You’ll excuse me if I am highly strung.”
Roman wears his bland expression again. “Of course.”
Another God-awful silence. I decide to get the show on the road by arranging the last of our plans for the day. Cristescu seems relieved that I’ve decided to take the reins and agrees that the plan is a good one. Once that’s all taken care of I go to check on Allora. She’s in my room getting dressed after having a shower. It puts me on edge and alerts every protective instinct in my body to ask her to go into a dangerous situation like this, but I know it can work. I also know that I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe.
When we’re ready to leave, instead of using regular methods of transportation, Roman casts a spell bringing us all to our destination. I feel like I’ve just woken up out of a dream when I open my eyes a second later and we’re no longer at Cristescu’s place, but crouched behind the trees outside a large family home.
It’s a cookie cutter house surrounded by dozens of houses identical to it. It’s also in an area where only humans live. Camouflage, I’m guessing. Theodore wants to blend in with the crowd.
Roman is whispering in Allora’s ear, giving her instructions as to what she needs to do. I can’t hear all that he’s saying, but I understand why he wanted to use her when I see Michael Ridley standing guard at the door.
I glance down, noticing there’s a small metal hook where his hand used to be. I’m guessing it wasn’t his casting hand that Ira chewed off, because if it was Theodore wouldn�
�t have selected him to stand guard. I store this piece of information away for later.
Roman begins constructing an invisible bubble around Allora so that when she approaches Ridley he won’t be able to harm her. I put my arm around her shoulders and give her a quick kiss before she steps out from behind the trees and starts walking toward the house.
The second Ridley spots her his entire body tenses, his eyes darting back and forth to scan the area for anyone else. When he’s satisfied that she’s alone, he smiles.
“I knew you’d come back,” he says walking toward her.
I clench my fists at the smug look on his face. Patience. All I need is to be patient.
Allora stops just outside the gates of the house, going no further. This is all a part of the plan. We need him to come outside the house, outside the zone of Theodore’s protection.
“My family have fled the city. I didn’t have anyone else to turn to,” she says in a purposefully meek voice.
“You’ll always have a place with me, child. I might even find it in my heart to forgive you for what that mutt did to my hand. That is, of course, if you have any good predictions for me.”
The predatory gleam in his eye puts me on edge. Ira growls low in his throat when Ridley calls him a mutt, but I place my hand on his shoulder as a sign for him not to make any more noise. We can’t afford for the warlock to discover we’re here.
“I’ve had a number of visions in the past few days. I’m sure you’re eager to know what I’ve seen.”
Ridley continues to get closer to her, but when he reaches the gate he simply opens it and gestures for her to come inside. Damn it, he’s not going to leave the parameter of the house.