Alexander watched as Cain kept himself between him and Mia as they headed up to the room.
“What is it you want from me?” Cain asked Alexander when they were seated in the lounge.
Alexander moved uncomfortably in his seat. He had caused this pretty young girl to be scared. She knew what he was, but he had questions, and now he was here he might as well try and get some answers. “Are you two a couple?”
Cain breathed in sharply through his teeth. “That is none of your damn business.”
Alexander got up and went to the window, ostensibly looking at the view but actually finding it easier to watch them via their reflections in the glass. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to pry. Well, it’s just that I have only spent real time with one vampire, the one that turned me, and then there were the four that came and threatened to kill me, the ones that took Lareina away. They weren’t there long, but they scared the hell out of me.”
Cain watched him for a few minutes, saw his reflected eyes darting from one to the other of them. “Ask your questions.” He still did not trust this vampire, but he did not think there was any immediate danger.
Alexander turned and leaned back against the windowsill. “I was curious when I saw you together. I thought I was the only one who liked human company. I didn’t mean to imply anything or upset you…” he paused, and then he smiled, “…or Mia.”
He inclined his head toward Mia. She found it a gallant gesture, like a knight of old bowing to his queen, and his voice seemed to caress her name. She blushed and couldn’t hold his gaze.
Cain kept a tight hold of her hand. “There are a lot of us who enjoy human company. How long have you been a vampire?”
“Five years.”
“Where is the one who created you?”
“Dead. She was murdered.”
Cain did not see much of a reaction when Alexander spoke these words so he guessed Alexander had neither killed nor loved his creator. “Maybe you should start at the beginning.”
Alexander nodded. “I was twenty-nine and living with my parents on an estate in Manchester. I had been diagnosed with leukemia six months prior and had no choice but to move back in with them. I had been responding well to the treatment when Lareina, my creator, moved into the house across the road.” There was a slight tremor in his voice.
“She was Spanish, and nothing special to look at, dark eyes, dark hair, and a little overweight. She looked to be in her early twenties. We became friends over time and she would visit me in hospital and at home during my recovery from the treatments. I was getting better and I wanted to thank her for all she had done for me. We went out for a drink a couple of times, but I had no romantic feelings for her.” He glanced from Mia to Cain.
“She started to get all weird. She was a little mad, well, a lot actually. When she told me she loved me, I set her straight. But that didn’t put her off. A few months later I had a relapse. The leukemia was back. I told her I was dying. The doctors didn’t have high hopes for any more treatment to work. I expected her to start crying, but she attacked me and turned me into this.”
Alexander glanced down at his hands.
“Lareina thought that if she turned me into a vampire I would fall in love with her for saving my life. She was besotted with me. I didn’t know what to do. She kept me in her cellar. I refused to hunt so she brought bags of blood she had stolen from the blood banks to keep me alive. I’m not exactly sure how long she had kept me down there, but after a few months she let me go. I went back to my parents, afraid to leave the house in case I hurt anyone. She was always watching me, and every time I looked out the window she was there.”
He looked at Cain and Mia as a cold sweat ran down his back. “I was so scared I’d hurt them.”
“You wouldn’t hurt your parents though, would you?” Mia realized she already knew the answer.
Alexander shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I didn’t, but I was getting pretty hungry. And that’s when I was really afraid that I would hurt them, so I went out on my own.” He looked at Cain. “I didn’t trust myself in the same house as them.”
Cain said, “I can understand that.”
Alexander paused and waited for Cain to explain, but since he didn’t, after a few seconds, Alexander carried on with his story. “I rented a small apartment and started hunting animals at night. This started to play on my mind as well. I didn’t want to kill anything, not humans and not animals. It’s just not in my nature to kill. I started stealing from the blood banks as well.
“That’s where she caught up with me, at the local hospital. I think she must have been watching me the whole time. She told me to watch the television the next morning as she was going to be on, a full interview on daytime TV. I watched the program the next day.
“‘Why doesn’t my vampire boyfriend love me? That is the story of twenty five-year-old Lareina, who claims she is also a vampire.’”
Alexander raised his arms in a silent question, a plea for understanding. Then he continued, “She babbled on about how she had made the love of her life into a vampire, but he just wouldn’t love her back. She had saved his life, but if the world knew they existed at least he would have a chance at some sort of normal life. Maybe he would grow to love her. After all they had a thousand lifetimes ahead of them.”
He chuckled as he closed his eyes. “I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen! I couldn’t believe what I heard. When the male presenter asked her if she had ever had any psychiatric treatment she flipped. She told the two presenters that she could kill them both in less than a second. She picked up an unopened can of fizzy drink and crushed it in one hand; the can exploded, covering all three of them in a frothy liquid. The program went straight to commercial.”
He looked at Mia and Cain, a slight grin on his face. “That took guts. I felt sorry for her, even guilty for how I treated her, so I waited for her return. We spent that night together. I tried to make her see that I cared about her, but I couldn’t force myself to love her. She was the most sane I have ever seen her.
“She said that when I told her the leukemia had come back and I had only months to live she realized she couldn’t watch me die. Even if I hated her for what she was about to do it was better than how she would feel about my death. Her plan was to go on TV and tell the world that our kind existed and hope they would accept us. I would be able to have my family back, even be grateful enough that I would allow her to be a small part of that life. But she couldn’t control her temper and it went wrong. She begged me to forgive her, which I did.”
His expression grew pained. “How could I not after knowing why she had done the things she had done? In the early hours of the morning, four men burst into the house. They were vampires! Two grabbed Lareina. One held a sword at my throat and the other a stake at my chest. I was terrified not only for myself, but for her. They told me if I moved I was dead. Even if I could have made my limbs work I wouldn’t have been able to stop them.” His breath caught in his throat and he put his head in his hands. “I still feel ashamed that I didn’t try.”
Somehow to Mia Alexander looked like he had shrunk, curled up into himself.
Alexander looked sideways at the two of them, unable to directly meet their eyes. “Her body was found a couple of days later. They had cut her head off and put a stake in her chest. Headline news was ‘Vampire girl gets murdered by frightened public’. Honestly, there really wasn’t anything I could have done to help her. I left the UK the next day.”
“Do you not think that with the public shows you are putting on, showing off your skills, that this will attract human attention, or the attention of other vampires?” Cain’s voice was dangerously calm, disdainful of what he saw as stupidity.
“I have always liked magic, and with my new skills I work my way around the world, hoping I don’t ever meet any of them again. I thought about the magic, about how others may think I am showing myself to the public, but I don’t think I’m putting anyone in danger by
what I do.”
He quailed under Cain’s icy stare but still tried to justify his actions. “What we are, what we do, transcends human understanding. They think it’s magic, just conjuring tricks. No one would ever come up with the idea that I can do this because I am a vampire. There are plenty of other human magicians who do similar things. That would be my argument if ever I needed one.”
Cain seemed lost in thought for a while. “Yes, I suppose that could work, human’s being as blinkered as they are.”
“Is it normal for vampires to do this, kill others for trying to expose them? I mean is there some kind of authority, or code?” Alexander looked almost sheepish asking his question.
“No, there is no one who rules us, no authority, but keeping our kind a secret is a priority, and if we were under threat of exposure I can see how some may come together to eliminate that threat.”
Alexander did not relax; he had a hundred questions, but was not sure how far he could go. He looked at Mia. Is she safe, knowing vampires exist? Cain is very protective of her, but what if others find out she knows the truth about us? Could he alone keep her from harm? Would a group of them kill her, as they did Lareina, in order to keep the truth hidden?
He breathed out heavily. “What do you kill to feed?”
Cain had not expected that particular question. He most certainly did not want to discuss it while Mia was there. “I do not kill humans, if that is what you are asking.”
Mia stood up. “The whole feeding thing really creeps me out. You guys can discuss it but I have to get out of here.” She looked at Alexander. “I just can’t.”
“I’m sorry, Mia. I didn’t mean to upset you,” Alexander said and lightly touched her arm.
He looked so bereft, so like a little lost boy, that without thinking she cupped the side of his face. “It’s okay,” she said and looked back at Cain. “Cain will help you.”
She went into her bedroom where she sat at her dressing table. There she unpinned her hair and started brushing it with long even strokes, hoping the rhythm would settle her jangled nerves. She knew Cain had to do what he did to survive but she loathed thinking of him feeding on people, drinking their blood.
Alexander watched her leave, the natural grace of her movements, and his hand strayed to where she had touched him. Cain, however, felt the urge to rip the skin off Alexander’s face, but managed to restrain himself. Instead, he glared at Alexander and then followed Mia, shutting the door behind him. He stood behind her and held her gaze in the mirror.
“Cain?” She saw how tense he was. There was an underlining thunder in his expression.
“I’m sorry, Mia, this will not take long.” He managed a small smile, ran a gentle finger down her cheek in unconscious mimicry of her own gesture of comfort to Alexander. “You will never have to see him again, I promise.”
Mia turned on a rather wobbly smile but a smile nonetheless. “Cain, he wouldn’t hurt me. I’m sure of that.”
He shook his head and returned to speak with Alexander. He circled the room, his eyes never leaving Alexander’s face. Alexander squirmed on his chair, feeling more and more uncomfortable.
“Has nobody ever taught you to feed?” Cain asked suddenly, his words blunt, full of disdain. “Did you not figure out for yourself how to feed without killing?” Cain’s voice was cold.
Alexander turned his head to the side. “You can feed without killing? Humans and animals? I’ve never fed on a human, just small creatures.” Everything he had ever heard was contradictory to this; this would make all the difference to his life. He could start living again.
Cain explained how it worked, then told Alexander to leave and never come near him or Mia again. Alexander begged to be allowed to spend more time with them, but Cain flatly refused. Alexander left the apartment.
Cain called to Mia to join him in the lounge.
She entered slowly, looking worried. “Cain, I’ve been thinking about it while you were talking with Alexander.” She chewed her bottom lip. “I want you to promise me if I ever get ill,” she gripped both his hands and held his gaze steadily, “you know, really ill like you and Alexander were, or if anything happens and I’m dying, you will not make me a vampire. I don’t want to live forever. I don’t want to feed off other’s blood, always hiding the secret of what I am.”
Cain sat and pulled her down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her protectively. “I could never do that to you. You mean too much to me.”
She leaned into him, trusting his promise absolutely. After a while she said, “Alexander seems nice, but lonely. It would be good to spend some time with him, don’t you think?”
“No!” Cain frowned at her, angry sparks flashing in eyes that had turned dark. “He’s not to be trusted.”
“But–”
“No!” He stopped and took a deep breath, trying to control the intense dislike he felt for the young vampire. He resolutely shut his mind to the way Alexander and Mia had responded to each other and marshaled his arguments against another meeting. “He’s been a vampire for five years and not yet learned he can feed on humans, feed without killing? He expects me to believe he’s survived all that time on small animals? He’s lying, Mia. I don’t know what his agenda is but he’s not being honest with us.”
Mia’s gut instinct would have said Alexander was utterly trustworthy, but suddenly she felt worried. Was Cain right and was she that easily duped? Or was Cain being unduly cynical?
****
Alexander had deliberately taken his time leaving the suite, letting the lift pass twice before calling it to the fifth floor. His superb vampire hearing had allowed him to listen in to Mia and Cain’s conversation as he lingered in the hallway. When he exited the building, Mia’s words were still repeating over and over in his head. ‘Alexander seems nice, but lonely. It would be good to spend some time with him, don’t you think?’
He pounded his fist into the wall. If it weren’t for Cain she would have been a good friend to me! “The bastard!” As he spoke out loud he felt it, another presence behind him. He turned slowly and faced the other vampire.
“Thrown you out already, has he? Fancy some company? My name’s Vasile.”
Chapter 34
Mia was accepted at the local college to do a degree in business administration. Cain was thrilled for her and asked her if she wanted to go back to the ranch the following week so they could celebrate. Mia leapt at the chance of spending a few days alone with him, but did not relish having to tell her mother she was going back there again.
Jess was still not happy about the ranch and had been pressing Mia to meet Cain. She did not know about the weekly meetings they had. Jess still wanted Mia to refuse the ranch; she did not want her daughter to be indebted to a man she hardly knew. More to the point, someone Jess had never met.
When Mia told Jess she was heading back to the ranch for a few days her mother seemed to take the news more calmly than she had expected. All she had said was, “Make sure you tell Cain before you go, and don’t forget you need to discuss the ranch in more detail with him.” Mia promised she would speak with Cain very soon.
She went weak at the knees at the sight of him at the airport. She admitted to herself, I’m falling for this guy, this man who thinks of me as a child. Come on, girl, get a grip of yourself! He doesn’t think about you that way, and you shouldn’t think like that about him.
Mr and Mrs Bates met them at the ranch. Mrs Bates embraced Mia in with a friendly hug, announcing that she had prepared a large meal for their arrival.
“Is everything all right, Mia?” Cain asked. ”You were very quiet on the drive here.”
“Everything’s great.” She couldn’t tell him all she could think about was him: his incredibly blue eyes, his voice, and how it was like being wrapped in velvet as she listened to him. She longed for him to hold her, to kiss her.
“Eat up, then we can get the horses and go for a ride if you wish.”
“I’m going to ring my moth
er first, then I’ll eat. Then the horses, I’d like that, thanks.”
Mia dialed the number and Jess answered so quickly Mia thought she must have been sitting right by the phone, waiting.
“Hi, Mom, I got here in one piece.”
“So have you spoken with Cain yet?”
“Yes, I have. Now will you just drop this for now?”
“I’m sorry, but I think there’s more to this than he’s telling you, and I think you need to sit down and really discuss the ranch with him.”
“Well, he’s here now, Mom.”
“What? He’s there? When did he get there?” Jess could not hide the surprise in her voice as it came out a little high-pitched.
“Mom, please.”
“I’m booking a flight now. I’ll call you back and let you know what time I’ll be arriving.”
“Mom, I’m not a little girl. You don’t have to come all this way. Everything’s fine, I promise.”
“Yes, I do, Mia. You’ve been through enough and I want to make sure that nothing else is on this man’s agenda. I’ll speak to you as soon as I’ve made the arrangements.”
The phone went dead and Mia stood there looking at Cain.
“Is everything okay?” Cain asked.
“Mom is coming to the ranch. I think she wants to give you the third-degree. She wants to know what your intentions are, why you’ve given me the ranch. She thinks there may be an ulterior motive.”
“Oh, I see. I am not really sure I can answer that. Well, not in a way your mother would understand.” Mia shot Cain an ‘I don’t really understand either’ look. He said, “I mean, what should I tell her? Hello, I am Cain, a vampire, and this ranch belonged to another vampire. She gave it to me and I am passing it on to your daughter, and by the way I drank her blood when she was just a child, alone and scared in the woods.”
Behind Blue Eyes: The Good The Bad & The Blood Page 24