by C. R. Jane
"Please tell me you at least knew about the guys," she said looking scared for the first time rather than just nervous.
"Well yes…" I answered. "But it's one thing to hear about it, and another to see freaking vampires. Wait… none of them are vampires right?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer. I still didn't know what Mason and Beckham were. Lexi looked less nervous now.
"I've never heard that they are vampires," she answered unhelpfully. "But it's kind of a mystery what exactly they are."
I had a million more questions to ask but decided to ask them once we got to the car. It was dark, not just because it was night, but because there oddly were only a few floodlights along the whole side of the building. It had been warm when we left my dorm room, but there was a chill in the air now, and my thin top wasn't providing very much warmth. I was sure that Lexi was even colder in her tiny dress.
The air seemed to get frostier as we walked along, and I pushed Lexi to walk faster as fear inexplicably crept up my spine. A shriek sounded right behind me, and I stumbled in shock at the sound. I turned around and let out my own scream when a black shadow…person…thing…stood right in front of my face. Strangely Lexi ran in front of me, muttering foreign words under her breath, blocking me from the advances of the shadow creature.
Whatever Lexi was doing didn't seem to be working as the shadow stretched out a black vaporous hand that passed through Lexi's shoulder, stopping right in front of me. I took a step back, desperate to get away from the ghostly hand. Lexi let out a hum of frustration and began to chant the strange words faster, with more urgency. Despite the fact that I had started backtracking faster, the black silhouette hadn't moved any further away. Another scream choked in my throat as the hand finally touched me.
A young girl with black hair done up in two long braids was walking along a bright white corridor carrying a tray laden with two goblets, and a vase filled with dark red wine. The leather soles of her shoes scuffed along the stone floor as she hurried forward.
"You there," came a rough gravelly voice from behind her.
The girl stopped, the wine sloshing from the top of the bottle and drenching the tray. She looked scared of whoever the voice was coming from. "Yes my lord?" she answered nervously.
"Where are you going with that wine?" he asked with a suspicious voice. The girl didn't want to answer. She was one of the Queen's handmaidens, and had been sent to fetch the wine for her. The girl was trying to hurry because she knew that Master Beckham would be slipping in to visit the Queen soon, and she didn't want to disturb them. But this man could not find out about the Queen's secret. He had already done enough to destroy everything that made the Queen happy.
"I was just headed to the kitchen, my lord. One of the dignitaries just finished with their wine, and asked me to take this back for them. Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked, praying that he wouldn't look too closely at the tray since the vase was obviously full. The man said nothing, but made a shooing motion with his hand while still eyeing her suspiciously. The girl gave a sigh of relief and took a step forward, prepared to hurry away.
"Lara," the man said in the same growl, but this time with a triumphant undertone.
The girl stopped, beginning to shake with fear. He shouldn't have known her name. She turned around to face the man, sparks were starting to emit from his hands. She opened her mouth to scream…
I came back to reality laying on the cold gravel of the ground, with Lexi hovering frantically over me, patting me on the face, and yelling my name in a panic. She sat back with a sigh of relief when she saw that my eyes were opened.
"Are you all right?" she said, her voice trembling a bit.
"I think so," I replied, thinking back to what had happened. "What was that thing, and where did it go?" I asked, confused.
Lexi looked at me seriously, "That was a specter. I've never seen one behave like that."
"What exactly is a specter?" I asked.
"A specter is an echo from a supernatural who has met a violent end. I believe humans call them ghosts. Different names, same concept," she explained. "I've never seen one go after someone like that though," she said, sounding worried.
"Where did it go?" I asked.
"It disappeared when it touched you. It's like you absorbed it or something."
I shivered at the thought. I didn't want to have anything to do with that creature.
"And I just fainted when it touched me?" I asked Lexi, confused how I had ended up in the ground.
"I don't know what happened. You fell forward into me though and I was able to lay you on the ground," she explained. She stood up and brushed off her knees before reaching out a hand for me.
"We need to go," she said urgently. "I'm afraid more of them will appear."
I grabbed her hand and we hurried away, my mind whirling with questions.
Chapter 21
We finally made it back to the car where Max had been parked waiting for us. As we approached the car, we saw that Max was surrounded by a group of girls who all looked to be flirting with him. Our faces must have shown that something had happened because he immediately excused himself and hurried over to open the car door for us.
"Everything okay ladies?" he asked warily.
"We need to get out of here," said Lexi tersely, all signs of her earlier flirtatious manner gone.
We didn't talk in the car on the way back to campus, both of us shaken from our encounter with the specter. Max drove us back to campus.
"Where am I dropping you off, ladies?" he asked.
"Eva's dorm is fine," said Lexi in the same clipped tone as before.
Max pulled up in front of my dorm, and Lexi and I got out. Before we could walk inside, Max pulled Lexi aside and started whispering urgently in her ear. She nodded and kissed him softly on the cheek before hurrying over to me, and pulling me by the arm in the direction of my dorm.
Once we got inside, Lexi started pacing frantically.
"We can't tell your guys about this," she finally said. "They will never let me hang out with you again."
I kind of agreed with her with how protective they tended to be.
"We don't have to tell anyone. But that means you're going to have to answer my million questions," I said.
She looked at me resigned and then walked over and sat next to me on the bed.
"Fire away," she said.
"First of all, how do you know about supernaturals?" Lexi fidgeted next to me.
"I know about them…because I am one," she said, grimacing and refusing to look at my face.
I sat there shocked. It couldn't be a coincidence that the four people I was closest to in my new life were not exactly normal.
"You're not a vampire right?" I asked, not sure what I would do if she said yes.
I had seen the hungry looks that the vampires in the club had been giving us, and I wasn't sure that I could deal with my best friend giving me those kinds of looks. Lexi giggled at the look on my face.
"No, I'm not a vampire," she answered. "I'm sort of…a witch."
"What does "sort of a witch" mean exactly?" I asked in an interested tone. Lexi sighed, settling next to me, her shoulder brushing against mine as she shifted her weight.
"Your majesty, the plague is getting worse. The Eastern region has reported that all of their crops have shriveled. The ground is covered in ash. There is panic everywhere."
I looked at my advisor and bodyguard. Alexina or "Lexi," had been by my side ever since I could remember. Her mother had been my mother's bodyguard and advisor for her entire reign. Lexi's family came from a long line of powerful witches that had served the crown for thousands of years. Lexi had never known anything other than these palace walls and service to my family. She was more than my servant though; she was my best friend. With the exception of Beckh
am, I trusted no one more than her.
"Have the seers come forward with anything?" I asked anxiously.
That flower dying in Mother's garden had been just the beginning. Within days, other portions of the land had begun to black and wither, a phenomenon unheard of in Tir Na Nog, especially considering my Mother was considered one of the strongest queens to ever rule.
"They haven't been able to see anything, your majesty. Mathias told me that all they can see is black fog when they try to see anything past your mother's death."
I choked back a sob. Mathias was the head seer of the palace. Earlier this week he had personally delivered the news to me that he had foreseen my mother's imminent death. That the ancient, hardened, seer had tears in his eyes when delivering the news was a testament to how loved my mother was. I had forbid him from mentioning the news to my mother. I'm sure she was well aware of what was happening to herself. I sent him back to the seer tower, begging him to try and see anything else.
Lexi's mother, Brianag, had been working round the clock, attempting to come up with some potion or spell to aid my mother. She believed that the plague upon the land was tied to my mother's illness, but I knew it wasn't. The power that had been seeping into my veins ever since my mother first became ill meant that our magic was still alive and well and passing on to the next heir as it always had since our people's creation. Whatever was causing this pestilence upon the land, and likely my mother's illness, was something we had never encountered.
I stood at one of the windows in my room, contemplating my next steps. I could see the edge of the blackness in the distance, soon it would spread all throughout the palace lands. I felt weary, as if I were thousands of years old. If I didn't find a solution soon, there would be no choice but to accept Lord Tiberius's offer.
Lexi walked up next to me, staring out the window as well. She took my hand in hers and squeezed.
"Whatever may come, I will always be here for you, your majesty. There is no cost too great, no request too burdensome. You will always be able to depend on me."
I smiled, a tear streaming down my cheek at her loyalty, as I continued to stare at the black in the distance as it slowly crept towards the palace. It was coming.
Lexi was explaining all about witches as my dorm came back into my consciousness. I couldn't focus on anything she was saying as I absorbed what I had just seen. I felt…mournful, mournful over a land I had never seen, and a queen I had never met. I cut Lexi off.
"Is it alright if we talk about all of this tomorrow?" I asked hesitantly. "I'm not feeling well all of a sudden."
Lexi's eyes flashed with hurt. She obviously thought that I was making up an excuse to get away from her. I wasn't, I just needed a second to go over everything I had seen lately. My mind whirled with images, images of another life and another time.
Lexi gathered her things and rigidly said goodbye. I smiled at her reassuringly, giving her a big hug before she left my room, promising that I would call her to hang out after my shift was over the next night. Her face brightened at my promise, and she looked relieved as she left.
After getting ready for bed I sent a text to Damon and Beckham, telling them that I was going to bed and needed some space tonight. My phone immediately began pinging with texts asking if I was alright. I turned off my phone, needing some peace and quiet to think.
I had been lying in bed for an hour, going over all of the scenes of a life that seemed so familiar to me, wondering what it all meant, when I heard a fluttering of wings outside of my window. I sighed and opened the window, moving aside so that Damon could step inside. I expected a million questions about the night, and settled into my bed resigned to the fact that I was going to be exhausted for my shift the next day. Damon surprised me though, climbing into bed with me and holding me close. My door opened, causing me to jump since I had locked it. I relaxed back into Damon's arms when I saw that it was Beckham.
Beckham stood there awkwardly for a moment.
"Fuck it," he muttered, taking his belt off and pulling his pants off so he was just in his boxers.
"Damn it," said Damon, moving to the other side of me to make room for Beckham.
I was awkward at first as Beckham slid in to my bed. I guess I was lucky that Damon had ordered a new queen bed to be installed in my room after the first night he had been forced to cuddle next to me in the twin bed that my room had come with. The queen bed felt tiny with all three of us in it though, especially considering Beckham and Damon were both extremely large men. I rolled onto my side, facing Damon and allowing Beckham to cuddle me from behind. I soaked in their warmth and love, ignoring the fact that they were both hard as a rock.
Weighed down by my latest vision, I began to cry silently into Damon's shoulder. Neither of them said a word, simply offering soundless comfort to me as the night wore on. I fell asleep, the feeling of protection and love finally pushing out my troubled thoughts.
Chapter 22
(Beckham)
I woke up in the arms of an angel. Literally. Eva had snuck out of bed, and Damon had snuggled up to my side with his arm stretched out on top of me. Eva was giggling at the foot of the bed, snapping photographs of us on her phone, I'm sure to send to Mason and Lexi later on.
"Eva," groaned Damon sexually as his hand started moving towards my pec as if he was going to squeeze it like he would a woman's breast. Terrified, I pushed him off the side of the bed.
"What the fuck!" yelled Damon, as he hit the ground hard.
Eva was now bent over from laughing so hard. I flew out of bed and scooped Eva into my arms, tossing her lightly back on the bed and stretching my body over hers. Eva's mouth was open in shock, none of us had really shown her our supernatural speed yet.
Damon was still sitting on the floor confused.
"I hate to break up the love fest this morning, but would someone mind telling me why I was pushed on the floor just a second ago?" he asked, the sarcasm in his voice apparent.
Eva grinned at me and I moved off of her. She pulled up the pictures on her phone and triumphantly showed Damon the one she had taken where he was about to fondle my chest. Damon shook his head in disbelief, flushing a dark red color. I had never seen him do that before and it sent both Eva and I into a rush of hysterics.
I had always been the outlier of the group. Damon and Mason had known each other for centuries before I came into the picture, and although I considered them my brothers, I had never bonded with them the way they had bonded with each other. It was nice to see Damon laugh in my presence though, since I knew he was furious about my attempts to date Eva. Damon stood up and stalked towards Eva.
"Don't pretend you aren't going to use those pictures for private time later, Eva," he said to her slyly.
Now it was Eva's turn to blush. I knew our little virgin wasn't having any "private" time, not that it didn't turn me on ferociously to think of her having some. Despite Damon's presence, I felt myself growing hard at the thought. Eva looked so amazingly beautiful sitting in her bed, her hair sexily mussed, and a flush still on her cheeks. Last night had been my first time getting to spend the night with her, and despite Damon's less than ideal presence, I had savored every second of holding her soft body in my arms.
Damon picked up his phone and swore.
"I've got weights and then team meetings in ten minutes because of our bye week," he told Eva regretfully. "You work tonight right? Let me know when you're going home, and I'll come get you. Then, we're going to talk about last night."
He kissed her lips softly, and a small ball of fury welled up inside of me at the sight of his lips on something that was mine. I shook it off, and averted my eyes when he deepened it. He then swiftly walked out of the room without saying anything to me. Typical asshole Damon.
I turned to look at Eva. She was looking after Damon,
her eyes soft with love. I could tell she was already missing him. My stomach began acting up again. The more time I spent with Eva, the more I felt like she was mine, that she had always been mine.
Sometimes in my dreams, images would flutter through my mind, so clear that they seemed like memories more than anything else. I was always with Eva in them. Kissing Eva, loving Eva, wanting Eva. It was a bitter pill to swallow that Eva haunted my every moment, waking and asleep, yet I didn't occupy all of hers. I almost didn't want my dreams to be memories of something we had both forgotten. What could be worse than knowing that I had once been her everything, and that somehow I had lost her?
Eva turned towards me and smiled. I hadn't forgotten that something had happened last night while she was out with Lexi. I had learned though that Eva wasn't a big sharer. She would clam up if you tried to push her into telling you something. She had to tell me on her own time even if it drove me crazy from not knowing what was bothering her.
What happened last night was just one of the things I was waiting for her to talk to me about. The other, was where she kept disappearing to around me. She would often go into a trance, not responding despite my repeated attempts to rouse her. When she would come out of it she would try to play it off like it was nothing, but I had noticed she would get really quiet afterwards, like she was studying something in her mind.
I hadn't been crazy about Eva going to a club without one of us. Anyone who met her basically became her stalker, and I wasn't sure that Lexi was up to the task of protecting her. I tried to temper back my overprotectiveness though. That was Damon's job to be the arrogant, overprotective bastard. If he wasn't careful, it would eventually push Eva away. Wouldn't that be nice…
Lexi was a conundrum to me. I didn't know if the other guys noticed, but she was always popping around no matter what we were doing. Of course, she always had a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she was there too, but it still seemed suspicious. I got that she wanted to be best friends with Eva, but there was something about her that rubbed me wrong. Like everything she was doing wasn't as it seemed.