He wouldn’t really send me to an orphanage. After that first night the threat was never made again. Boarding school, on the other hand, was a real possibility. Clifton suggested it once or twice in passing when Asher expressed concern about my lack of friends. The finest education, being surrounded by girls my own age, making connections to the who’s who of European society. Perhaps someday I could become a Duchess or even a Princess just like Grace Kelly. Wouldn’t I like that? I just glared at my governess. But the idea was planted, and because of my one slip, there was a true threat of it sprouting. The thought of being shipped off brought fresh tears. Some birthday. Asher planned to prepare my favorite meal, chicken carbonara, then we’d go see the ballet Sleeping Beauty. Instead, I was alone in a smoky movie theater falling apart over an accident and terrified to go home.
Then I began to die.
Between films, I went to the lavatory. When I noticed the blood in my panties I almost fainted. I was bleeding internally. The three fold rule had struck with a vengance. I’d broken Collette’s wrist and as punishment my internal organs burst. There was only a little spot in my underwear, so maybe it wasn’t that bad. Except for the aching in my back and I assumed intestines, I felt fine. Asher. He’d know what to do. He always knew what to do. Really I just wanted him to hold me and hug the fear away. I just wanted him.
The moment I stepped back into our flat, both he and Clifton pounced. “Where have you been?” Asher snapped. “We have been out of our minds with worry. You know to leave a note.”
“I know. I didn’t think. I’m sorry,” I said, head bowed.
“You should be,” Clifton said. “Not just for that. Your teacher has two broken bones.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “It was an accident.”
“You do not accidently send a person flying across a room with enough force to break bones,” Asher said.
“Well, I did!” I shouted back. “Okay? I didn’t mean to, but I did. She was saying horrible things about marrying you and sending me away then the wind blew her across the room! I didn’t mean to, okay? I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t take those disappointed blue eyes of his a moment longer. I rammed past the men and ran to my room, slamming the door shut and falling face first onto my bed. I couldn’t stop the tears then. I sobbed into my pillow like the pathetic little girl I felt like. That perhaps I was. I heard Sven’s voice in my head. “Stop your sniveling, you little brat. You’re descended from Vikings, act like it.”
What was the matter with me?
He knocked before entering, but I couldn’t look up. I was too ashamed and embarrassed. I’d never cried in front of him before. Never had cause to. Judging from the way he asked, “Are you alright?” he was as unnerved by my actions as I was.
“No,” I cried into my pillow. The bed shifted as Asher sat beside me. “You … you’re going to send me away because I used magic, and I hurt your girlfriend. I didn’t mean to. I really truly didn’t, I swear.”
“I believe you,” he said, gently petting my hair. I loved when he did that. It was so soothing, like warm waves lapping against my bare feet. “And I am not sending you away.”
I sat up to check for subterfuge, instead finding compassion and even a smile. Like an addict, that one fix made everything a little better. “Really?” I sniffled. “But wh … what?”
“Truly. It would be like banishing my soul from my body, leaving naught but an empty shell. I existed like that for decades before I met you, I could not bear it again, mo chuisle. Never.”
“Wh … what if I died?”
His eyes narrowed. “What sort of question is that for one so young?” He studied my pitiful face as his nose twitched twice. A second later a tender smile crossed his face. “You are bleeding. Is it coming from between your legs?” I nodded and his smile grew. He pulled me into his arms as he chuckled. “Oh, Anna. You are not dying. Quite the opposite. You have blossomed.”
“I’ve what?”
“You have become a woman. I believe the modern parlance is you have gotten your period. Surely your mother or someone must have told you …” I shook my head no against his chest. “It means you can now bear children and every month you do not, you shall bleed as you are now. It is the most natural occurrence there is.” He began petting my hair again. “There are some unfortunate side effects, which is why you have been out of sorts the past few days. And it also explains what happened with Collette today. You are now a High Priestess. You commanded the wind to push her. I suppose she was lucky there was not a fire nearby. You might have burnt her to death.”
“I didn’t mean to. I just … she was being so cruel. It just happened.”
“We shall begin working on gaining control right away.”
“Okay. And the other stuff, the bleeding, can I get control of that too? Can I stop it?”
“I am afraid not. You will bleed every month until you are quite old or when you have a baby in your belly.”
“Well, how do I do that? The baby thing?”
Asher was not anticipating that line of questioning. Though he did not exactly recoil, he did tense and shift around me. “You are not aware how babies are made?” I shook my head no. It never came up in the Olmstead house, at least not directly, and the one time I’d heard a discussion about it was at school when a classmate said she got her new baby brother from the hospital. I figured doctors made babies in the hospital and if you wanted one, you picked one out like a puppy in the pet store. The fact my body made them blew my mind.
“Well, when a man and woman find each other attractive, sometimes they desire to show that attraction by making love, and on occasion that coupling results in a child within the woman,” he began. More nervous and uncomfortable than I had or would ever see him, Asher gave me the standard birds and bees talk.
“That makes babies? And women like doing it? It always hurt when Sven’s friends touched me down there.”
“Oh, Anna,” Asher said, stroking my hair once more. We rarely spoke about my past, especially the uglier aspects. In fact, I tried to banish the life of Anna Olmstead from my every memory. The life of Anna Olmstead. It didn’t matter. To me, I was born two years before. Everything before that was a mere bad dream Asher woke me from. “What those men did … was for their pleasure, not yours. Do not allow them to poison you or your perspective of lovemaking. If your partner is skilled, patient, respects your body and its needs, and you love the person, then there is no more pleasurable experience on this earth.”
“And … that’s what you were doing with Collette last night?”
His embrace tightened. “She should not have disclosed that to you. I am sorry.”
“Do you love her?”
“No. Not in the least. She is comely, and on occasion a man’s needs overwhelm him, like an itch in need of scratching.”
“You’re not going to marry her and give her a baby?”
“No,” he chuckled. “No.”
A grin stretched across my face. “Good.” I hugged my Asher tighter. “Then since I’m a woman now, you don’t need to see her anymore.”
If Asher was tense before, he was close to granite after I said those words. “I beg your pardon?” he asked, his arms slowly lowering from my body.
“We can get married now.”
His arms left me then, and he gently extracted me from his body. When I could see his face again a tumult of emotions were stacked on one another. Shock, discomfort, but above all concern. “That is … Anna, you are a child.”
“But you just said I was a woman,” I countered.
“Your body perhaps, and you are exceptionally mature for your years, but … you have only existed on this planet for eleven years. You are still so innocent in many ways. You have so much more growing, and so much more to experience before you even consider marriage and children. And out there in this wide, wonderful world is a man who will cross your path many, many years from now, who will adore you and give you all you wish fro
m life.”
“But that’s you,” I said with confusion.
“No, it is not.”
“Yes it is,” I said, my voice as hard as my eyes.
My utter conviction unnerved the veteran of three wars because a far from brief moment of pure fear filled his blue eyes. He even rose from the bed as if I were a bomb about to explode. “This has become a ridiculous conversation. You have had a trying day, I think you should rest while I go purchase you the necessary paraphernalia for your current condition. We have missed the ballet, but if you feel better later, we shall have cake and open your gifts. There will be no more talk of marriage and children. Understood?”
I had no choice but to nod. When Asher really put his foot down, it was over. Besides I’d well and truly upset him, and the few times I’d done that, it felt as if I’d plunged a dagger into my own heart. After a nod back, the vampire fled my bedroom. Fled from me. With a frown, I fell back into my pillows. My young mind could not wrap around why I’d upset him. I was officially a woman just like Collette. We loved each other. I wanted to kiss him and be with him forever. I would do anything for him. He was the Lancelot to my Guinevere. The Heathcliff to my Cathy. The Romeo to my Juliet. My one true love. Mine. He was all mine, and I was all his. Did he not feel the same? No, I knew he loved me, maybe I just loved him more. Patience. He always said I needed to learn patience. While I didn’t think this was an intentional lesson on his part, it was a lesson none the less. One I’d master like all the others. I waited nine years for him to enter my life. I could wait for the rest to come in time.
I got my birthday wish two years ago. I would just have to do whatever was necessary to make sure I did again. Whatever was necessary. After all I was descended from Vikings, time to act like it. We were worth it.
_____
A week later, I found myself back at the barre awaiting the broken ballerina’s return. Life returned to normal the moment I stepped out of my bedroom and sat down to blow out my candles. Asher’s tension waned with one sweet smile his way. I knew him well enough not to broach the topic again. At least not directly. Discretion is an effective weapon in a woman’s arsenal. It worked too because if anything we spent more time together than ever. New abilities to harness and all. Of course, asking a pre-teen on her period to rein in her emotions proved as difficult as a man with no arms herding cats. Vampire patience came in quite handy those first nights.
Mademoiselle Collette proved braver than I had given her credit for. She walked right into our flat without visible hesitation or apprehension. I’m sure she’d convinced herself the incident was due to her tripping or that there was a draft. Most supernatural occurrences are explained away as such. After all what’s more likely, your pupil is able to control the very air or you had a clutzy moment? As Collette strutted in, wan head held high and clutching her casted arm, I greeted her with my sweetest, most innocent grin. “Mademoiselle, watch!” On the first try, I lifted myself en pointe with all my weight on my big toe. “I learned it all on my own.” By practicing hours upon hours and enduring intense pain through half my body just to view the ripple of displeasure that crossed her pretty face.
“Very good, little one,” she said with emphasis on those last words.
Though my toes ached like mad, I remained en pointe. “How’s your arm?”
“Fine.”
“I’m glad you can still work.”
“I’m sure you are.”
“I am. Though I am surprised you came back here.”
“Why?” she asked as she approached.
“Well, the ghost and all. I don’t think she likes you.”
“If you are trying to frighten me, little girl, it will not work. I don’t believe in ghosts.”
“You should. They’re real. I’ve even met one.”
“Have you now?” she sniggered.
“Yes. There’s one in here right now. Can’t you feel it?”
She moved to the barre to face me. “Alright, that is enough. Your childish attempts to—”
A stiff breeze wafted against her just as I commanded it to. Collette flinched and instinctively cradled her bad arm. She glanced around the room for the source. “See?” I asked. My tutor’s immense eyes darted toward me. “You should watch what you say to me.” A stronger draft knocked her hip against the barre. “Don’t want to break your other arm.”
“What … How …” she asked the air, voice trembling.
“I wouldn’t recommend coming back here if I were you. Or contacting Asher. He’s fininshed with you anyway. I mean, did he call you once this week? Visit you? No. I mean, I may just be a little girl but even I know that means he’s bored with you. Not too bright, are you?”
“You lying little bitch,” she hissed. “You—”
“Last chance to leave,” I cut in. “I suggest you take it.”
“Your parlor tricks don’t scare me, you spoilt brat. I—”
“Fine. Don’t take it. Can’t say I didn’t warn you.” So much for the easy way. I grabbed my own wrist and squeezed as hard as I could, enough I had to grind my teeth to stop wincing.
“What are you doing?” she asked. I wouldn’t let go, if anything I squeezed even harder. “What are you doing? Stop!” She grabbed my wrist to pull my hand away as I’d anticipated. Astrid often pulled this grift when she was caught shoplifting or a woman got too close to Sven. Worked more often than not. She may not have been much of a mother, but she knew her way around a con.
“Don’t touch me! Get your hand off me!” I shrieked the moment she touched me. “You’re hurting me! Clifton!”
By the time he rushed in, my bewildered instructor had released me, but I still clutched my wrist as if it were a wounded wing. “What is going on?” he asked.
“She hurt me!” I said as I rushed to his side for protection.
“What? I did not!”
“Sh … she said I tripped her, and she called me a bitch, then she grabbed my wrist and squeezed it really, really hard. Look.” I presented my red wrist.
“Did you put your hands on her?” Clifton asked, voice hard.
“I was trying to stop her from—”
“I don’t care. Your position here is terminated effective immediately. Please leave.”
“She is lying! I want to speak to Asher. I am not leaving until I do. He’ll believe—”
“Mr. Asher is out of town, and even still I very much doubt he will wish to listen to your excuses. Leave post haste, and you may still receive a favorable reference.”
“I … She …” She glanced from him to me, confusion morphing into pure hatred. “You little monster! You bitch! I—”
“Leave,” Clifton snapped.
Once again she looked at me, and I raised an eyebrow. I’d won the war, and we both knew it. Collette gathered what little dignity I hadn’t sucked from her and walked past us with her chin up, out of our lives. Good bloody riddance.
“Are you alright?”
I forced a small pout to my lips. Collette taught me that at least. “I am now. Thanks to you.” Flattery, perhaps a woman’s greatest weapon. Works every time.
Did I feel guilty as I heard the front door slam? A little. Later a lot. I hated to fight dirty, but a woman handles threats any way she has to. And though I’d only officially been a woman for a week, I always was a quick study. In a few years, Asher wouldn’t stand a chance against me.
I couldn’t wait.
_____
Any guilt I harbored evaporated the moment Asher draped his arm over my shoulders to comfort me. I snuggled closer against him on the sofa as he examined my bruised wrist. That one loving act made it all worthwhile.
“I am so sorry, mo chuisle,” Asher said as he kissed the inside of my wrist over the freshly blossomed bruise. “I cannot believe I allowed this to happen. I should have seen how unstable she was.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known. It looks worse than it feels. I’m fine. Really. And she’s gone now. That’s a
ll that matters.” I nestled in closer. “But I was thinking. She still might say something about us. About what happened last week. I don’t think she believed the ghost story. She does seem the type to spread rumors too. And we have been here a year. We’ve done everything in the city. Maybe we can go someplace quieter for a few months. Somewhere in the country.” With fewer people and distractions. “I always wanted to see Ireland. We could live on the beach!”
“The beach?” he asked with a grin.
“Yeah. You can teach me to swim.” Though I already knew. “And fish.”
“You wish to learn to fish?” he chuckled.
“I’ve never tried. Maybe we can even get a boat. You can teach me to sail too. We can go around the world. Just the two of us.”
My Asher stared down at me, lightly petting my hair and studying my face. He stared at me for seconds, and with each passing moment it became harder and harder to maintain my smile. It was as if he saw right through me. Right through the lie. He knew. And the moment I gazed away, he knew I knew. I sat there in his arms attempting to keep my face and body from tensing. I’d never lied to him before. I wasn’t sure what he’d do. I could withstand his fury, even a slap, but not his disappointment. Even one little tap with that particular hammer would be enough to shatter my soul into a million tiny pieces.
Perhaps he gleaned this. He did know me better than anyone. Or perhaps he just didn’t care about my dirty tricks. Hell, maybe he was a little proud and honored I’d go to such trouble, but I never found out. Instead he kissed my wrist again before saying, “Ireland is lovely this time of year. Whatever your heart desires, my Anna.
I already had that right in my arms, and I would do anything to keep him there.
Anything.
It just never occurred to me that it’d be a two-way street covered with blood, bodies, and soul-crushing darkness that only one of us could make off alive.
Witch Upon a Star (A Midnight Magic Mystery) Page 5