by S. J. West
“Oh crap,” I say to Julian in sudden dismay. “Did we tell her about the brakes?”
“I don’t think so,” Julian says, looking troubled. “But she’s smart. I’m sure she can figure it out.”
We continue to watch Nadia as she turns her bike around in the street and pedals back toward us. She’s all smiles until I see realization dawn on her face.
“How do I stop it?” she yells out to us, attempting to backpedal, but that doesn’t work on this type of bike.
“Squeeze the levers on the handles!” I yell back, making the motion of using the brakes with my hands in the air.
Nadia appears confused by my instructions until she looks down and notices the levers on each side of the handlebars. I watch as she loops her fingers over both of them and quickly squeezes them as hard as she can simultaneously. The bike does indeed come to a halt all right, but it does so all at once. Nadia wasn’t quite prepared for the suddenness of the stop and barely catches herself before toppling over onto her right side.
“Thanks for the warning!” she shouts to us irritably, righting herself and her bike.
“I figured they taught you basic physics in Valengard school! Well, hey, you did a lot better than I did when I first learned how to ride a bike,” I tell her consolingly. “At least you didn’t crash into a thorny blackberry bush and end up looking like a pin cushion. Been there, done that. It wasn’t pretty.”
“That must have hurt,” Julian says sympathetically.
I shrug. “Sometimes you have to fall into a pile of thorns and pick yourself back up before you learn an important lesson. I learned not to ride so close to a blackberry bush.”
I have to admit, I wasn’t too enthusiastic when we first arrived at the bike tour place, but once it starts, I get into the spirit of it all. Our group consists of twenty people ranging in age from twelve to sixty. As we pedal our way through the streets of New Orleans, our tour guide stops every so often to orate a brief history of whatever area we are in at the time. On this particular tour, we end up riding through the French Quarter, a couple of historical neighborhoods with streets lined by massive live oaks, and Louis Armstrong Park, where we stop to listen to some street jazz musicians play.
Both Julian and I keep an eye on Nadia, but she soon proves to be a natural bike rider. At one point, it dawns on me that we’re acting like her guardians instead of the other way around. I may not like the idea of having someone watching my every move, but now that I’ve accepted the fact that Nadia will be in my life for many years to come, I’ve found a certain peace with the notion. There’s nothing I can do to change how things are, so I might as well make the most of an awkward situation.
During the bike tour, Julian rides right beside me. His close proximity proves to be very distracting. In fact, quite a few of the ladies, and a couple of the men, in our group keep getting distracted by him. It’s odd when you feel strangers become sexually aroused to the person you love. I end up having to shut down that side of myself so I can concentrate on my own feelings for the man beside me.
Every time I glance in Julian’s direction, he seems to feel my gaze on him and looks back at me with a smile. The warmth of love for me in his eyes wreaks havoc on my heart, causing it to flutter uncontrollably. I’m sure he can feel how much just a look from him affects me.
It’s strange to know Julian can sense my feelings when I’m unable to feel his. This wayward thought causes my mind to wander back to the council meeting at Mira’s home and what I experienced there.
Why wasn’t I able to sense Alden Highborn’s feelings? It was a sensation I had only experienced with Julian before that moment. With him, I assumed it had something to do with our bond to one another, but that excuse doesn’t work with Alden. I barely know the man, much less share any type of supernatural bond with him. What makes Shael’s trusted advisor impervious to my empathic ability? Could it be that some alfar are naturally immune to my gift? I really have no way of knowing until I meet more of them. Hopefully, I’ll be able to discover the answer to my query sooner rather than later.
By the time we make it back to the bike tour building, it’s already 4:30 p.m. After we thank our tour guide for his services and get into the awaiting limo, I ask Julian, “What other surprises do you have planned?”
Julian leans forward and pushes a button on the back side of the driver’s seat. A black glass partition rises up, effectively blocking out our conversation from the two up front.
“I believe we’ve had this discussion before,” he tells me with a hint of a smile as he sits back in his seat. “Surprises aren’t surprises if I tell you what they are beforehand.”
“Okay,” I concede. “Then can you at least tell me how I’ll need to dress for this next one?”
“I believe what you need can be found in the black box that was on your bed. Did you happen to open it up earlier?”
I shake my head. “No. I didn’t look inside it.”
“Then your next clue can be found in there.”
“Can you give me a small hint now?”
“Hmm,” he says, mulling over what he should say next. “You will be surrounded by natural beauty and have one of your hungers satiated beyond your wildest expectations.”
“Oh really?” I ask, becoming quite intrigued by his choice of words. “Well, I don’t have a clue what you might be referring to, but I have faith it will be something that I’ll enjoy.”
“I hope so. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to organize this second part of our day together. Mira had to use her influence to make sure certain things happened.”
“She did?” I question, finding it odd that Mira would go out of her way to do anything for someone else.
“I know she can be standoffish,” Julian acknowledges, “and even self-serving at times, but she’s always done whatever she could to help me out. In a way, she feels guilty over the fact that I was turned into a vampire.”
“Why is that?”
“She was the one who encouraged me to join her at the castle and work for Bathory. She’s also the one who said we should do the right thing and tell the authorities what we knew about the crimes the countess committed. It’s only because of those two facts that I am the way I am.”
“I’ve always gotten the feeling from your sister that she enjoys being a vampire.”
“She does,” Julian confirms, sounding saddened by the fact. “I think it frightens her that we may have found a way to bring an end to our curse. She loves being who and what she is. I used to envy how well she adapted to what happened to us. I’ve always fought against who I became, but she seemed to love herself even more afterwards.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“During the era we lived in, our society deemed a woman’s worth as being below that of a man. I think being given the power to coerce people into doing whatever you want them to do and knowing that you’re one of the most powerful beings on the planet was addictive for her at first.”
“So what’s her excuse now?” I have to ask.
“She’s been able to get her way for the past four hundred years. Wouldn’t you find that almost impossible to surrender?”
“Yet you’re more than willing to give it up,” I point out. “You’ve been trying to find a way to be normal again for years. You’re not rebelling against change. You’re purposely seeking it out.”
“I want to be me again,” Julian says plainly. “It’s as simple as that.”
“But do any of the others, besides Petru, want the same thing? It’s possible Adrian will but your sister doesn’t seem to want to be human again. What do you think the reaction will be from the other six vampires? The same as hers or more like yours?”
Julian lets out a long sigh, signaling that the answer will be a complicated one. “I think a couple of them will want to help me and Petru find a cure. The others will probably side with Mira, especially the ones who have gone wild.”
“Do you think they’ll try to stop
you from finding a way to end the curse?” I ask, having not thought of the possibility before now.
“I don’t see why they would care,” Julian says doubtfully. “If Petru and I can find a way to become human again, they’ll have two less vampires to worry about.”
“True, but what if the cure can be used as a weapon by others against them?” I ask. “We don’t know exactly what you’ll need to do yet. We’re going on the assumption that appeasing the spirit inside you will end the curse. It might not be that simple or clear-cut.”
Julian sighs again. “Well, we don’t have enough information available to us yet to consider all the ramifications. All we can do right now is try and figure out what’s required to make me human again. Then we’ll deal with the fallout, if there is any. Maybe we’ll get lucky and things will be a lot simpler than what we fear.”
Anything worth having isn’t usually an easy undertaking, but I don’t say that to Julian. For the first time in four hundred years, he has hope for a brighter future—one in which he sees himself becoming human again and having a life as ordinary as every other person in the world. I decide to end our talk on the subject, because today is supposed to be about us. He’s gone to a lot of trouble to plan my surprises, and I don’t want to ruin it by forcing him to think about tomorrow. Sometimes it’s better to just live in the moment and deal with the future when it inevitably comes.
When we get back to the apartment, I immediately go to my room and shower off the dust and sweat from the bike ride. I don’t spend a great deal of time on my hair. I just use a blow-dryer to straighten it out and run a flatiron through it to smooth any wayward strands. Since Julian mentioned that we would be surrounded by nature, I go on the assumption that my next surprise will take place in the great outdoors too. Taking the summer heat into consideration, I decide to pull my hair back into a loose bun.
After I apply a little makeup, I go back into the bedroom to see what’s inside the black box. I pull the red ribbon holding it together and lift the top off to find a dress folded inside. I pull the gown out and lay it on the bed. The color design of the dress is one I haven’t seen before, but I’m by no means a fashionista. The strapless gown is made of chiffon that has an ombré color effect, shifting from a soft shade of purple to white. The top layer of material is long with a slit on the side of the skirt, but there is a shorter, inner-layer skirt, which I’m thankful to see. It would have been unbearably hot to wear a long-skirted dress in the heat of summer, even at night. I flip the dress over and see that the back is open on top except for two thin crisscross straps that are decorated with iridescent beads that sparkle like diamonds in the light. Also in the box is a pair of silver high-heeled sandals.
Once I’m dressed, I open the bedroom door to find Viktor curled up on the wide windowsill directly across from me.
“Well,” I say to him, “how do I look?”
Viktor lifts his head and nods with approval. “Meow.”
“You know, you only say one word, but somehow I know exactly what you’re telling me.”
“Meow.”
I laugh at his simple reply and reach out to pick him up and cradle him in my arms. When I walk into the living room portion of the condo, I find Julian waiting for me. He’s standing just outside the French doors in the room on the small balcony. He seems lost in thought while he stares out at the busy street below us. As I walk up behind him, I take in his rather dapper attire of a vanilla-colored linen suit. When he senses my presence in the room, he breaks his reverie and looks over his shoulder as I approach. He turns his body to the side as Viktor and I come to stand with him. I take note of the pristine white button-down shirt he’s wearing underneath his thin jacket.
“You look lovely,” he tells me, taking in my new dress. “Though, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you wear anything that you didn’t look beautiful in.”
“Even the shorts and T-shirt I wear to bed?” I ask.
“Even those,” he states with a smile. “But I’m sure you would look even lovelier wearing nothing at all.”
Viktor jerks his head up and stares at Julian before making a rather vocal “Meow.”
“It seems you have two guardians who aren’t very enthusiastic about me making love to you,” Julian notes as he considers Viktor.
“Well, thankfully, it’s only my enthusiasm you have to worry about,” I tell him, as I lean down and place Viktor by my feet. He immediately heads for the fire escape ladder and makes his way to the roof. I assume he just doesn’t want to be cooped up in the condo while we’re out.
“And I can assure you,” I continue, “I have no problem at all with your plans to ravage my body in the, hopefully, not so distant future.”
Julian laughs and brings me into his arms. “Good. Then I won’t have to stop once I start to make sure I have your permission.”
I loop my arms around his neck. “You have more than my permission. You have my blessing and wholehearted support in your endeavor. I’m not sure I could have made that more clear today, do you?”
Julian’s smile grows even larger. “No. I don’t believe you could have, and I’m not in the business of disappointing you. In fact, I plan to make sure tonight is one that you’ll never forget.”
“Then let’s get started,” I say, taking a step back. “Where are we going?”
Julian takes one of my hands and begins to walk out of the room toward the elevator. Once we get downstairs, I see Nadia standing on the sidewalk beside the driver waiting for us by the limo. Julian opens the back door for me and helps me inside. When he closes the door, I hear him whisper something to the driver, but I can’t make out what he says. Shortly afterwards, the others get into the car and we’re off to our next destination.
I don’t even bother to ask for a hint this time. I enjoy the fact that Julian is trying to make the day special for us, and in the long run, it doesn’t matter where we go as long as we’re spending time together.
I have to admit, our next stop on Julian’s itinerary actually does surprise me.
We end up boarding an authentic Venetian gondola.
“I didn’t even know you could do this here,” I tell Julian as he steps into the gondola and then helps me step down into it from the dock.
“I’ll be waiting for you at your destination,” Nadia tells us, surprisingly not insisting that she join us on our romantic boat ride.
After Julian and I sit down, the gondolier, a man dressed in a red and white T-shirt, black pants, and a straw hat, pushes us away from the dock with his oar and begins our tour of the City Park’s lagoons. There’s a man sitting across from us holding a guitar. He begins to play a song as the boat drifts off across the lake. The soft slapping of the oar as it hits the water, along with the music and feel of Julian by my side, creates a perfect moment in time for me.
As I nibble on the complimentary cheese and crackers, Julian pours me a glass of water. He asks me to tell him more about my life before we met. I suppose it’s the only safe topic to discuss, considering we’re in the presence of two humans who have no idea what kind of creatures we are. I do still consider myself mostly human, but I can’t disregard my alfar heritage or the fact that I’m a vampire’s companion.
I start with the earliest memories I have of my parents and the seemingly charmed life we lived before the fire took them both away from me. I decide not to dwell too much on that part of the story, because it would only cause me sadness, and I don’t believe that was Julian’s goal for today. Instead, I focus on the good times I had with Kaylee and her parents and how thankful I am that they are a part of my life.
“I like them,” Julian tells me. “Pete and Susan seem to love you like you’ve always been their daughter.”
“I love them too,” I say with a wistful smile. “I just wish I could tell them the whole truth about things.”
Julian leans over and whispers in my ear, “If we find a way for me to become human again, you won’t have to lie to them anymore. We can have a n
ormal life.”
I smile, loving not only his words, but also the small tickle his warm breath caused as he whispered in my ear.
At the end of our boat ride, the gondola pulls up to the concrete sidewalk in front of the Peristyle in City Park. I’ve been to the large Grecian pavilion once before for a wedding of a classmate in college. It’s a very picturesque structure with its almost fifty concrete Ionic columns lining the perimeter. There are two sets of stairs leading up from where we disembark the gondola, each of which is flanked by a set of lion statues keeping guard over the structure. A row of red rose bushes are in full bloom between the two sets of stairs.
After we thank our gondolier for bringing us to our next destination, Julian takes my hand and leads me up one set of steps to the pavilion. Once we’re standing inside the large open structure, I spy my next surprise and smile so wide my cheeks begin to hurt.
“I’ve been told,” Julian begins as he escorts me toward the buffet of food awaiting me, “that the fastest way to a companion’s heart is through her stomach.”
“Whoever told you that was a genius,” I declare giddily, trying my best not to salivate over the various dishes set out on the tables. There’s even a chocolate fondue fountain set up at one end with mounds of various bite-sized pieces of fruits and dippable cakes.
As I look around the pavilion and surrounding area, I notice that the parking lot directly across from the Peristyle is empty except for the limo we’ve been using all day long.
“Where are all the people?” I ask, knowing the park is open to the public twenty-four hours a day. It’s still early in the evening. There should be more park-goers walking around the area.
“Mira was able to have this section of the park closed off to the general public so we can have it all to ourselves for a while.”