Fateful

by Cheri Schmidt

  Love,

  Ethan

  She sniffed the paper to see if she could smell him on it. Her eyes rounded when she noticed she could, and a pixyish smile filled her lips as she lifted it back to her nose.

  Chapter 16

  Shall We?

  When they arrived at the mansion, Ethan asked Nadia, “Where’s Max?”

  “He’s setting up the sound system.”

  They led her to a grand ballroom with tall ceilings. The walls and ceiling were covered with ornately carved moldings. Three huge crystal chandeliers hung in a row down the center, and many windows dressed with heavy red velvet drapes lined the front wall.

  “Ethan, you never did give me a legitimate tour of this place,” she complained.

  “Guilty as charged. I promise we’ll do a tour after we practice. But right now it’s time for you to learn the pavane.” He pulled Danielle by the hand as he walked backwards, facing her, to the center of the ballroom. A princely smile danced on his face, and she was bemused a little too quickly.

  “Okay,” she replied, while wondering how she would remember these dances while under an enchantment.

  “Music please,” Ethan commanded and waited, but nothing happened. “Hellooo? Max, the music please?” he requested again. Danielle could see Max in one corner wrestling with a tangle of cables connected to speakers.

  “Patience, Ethan, I’m working on it,” Max answered, sounding frustrated.

  “Wait here one minute,” Ethan whispered with a flippant grin on his lips. “Max is kind of technically inept.”

  “I heard that!” yelled Max.

  Danielle giggled.

  Nadia’s voice came drifting whimsically into her ear. “Let’s hope they don’t start fighting, I might have to pull you out of here for your own safety.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Sometimes they even pull swords on each other. Old habits,” she said with a graceful wave of her hand.

  A smile rose to her lips, because Danielle secretly wanted to see Ethan fight the knightly Max. A knight and a nobleman, both of them armed with swords, now that would be fascinating. She watched them wrestle with the mess of cables as Ethan appeared to become almost as frustrated as Max.

  “Ethan showed me your dress. It’s lovely. I can hardly wait for the girl time we get to have together while we get ready.” Danielle turned to meet the smile upon Nadia’s face.

  “Me too.” Danielle found herself enchanted by Nadia’s beauty and the lullaby of her British speech, but her eyes didn’t muddle her like Ethan’s did. And Danielle couldn’t help but wonder if Nadia was being so sociable in an attempt to make up for what had happened with Celeste.

  Music erupted into the room without warning, the volume way too loud. Ethan quickly turned it down to a more tolerable level. “Oops, sorry about that,” he muttered.

  The music playing wasn’t Victorian style music, it was modern. Danielle hadn’t expected that. “Is this what they’ll play at the ball?”

  “No, there will be a live band, and it will be authentic for the era. But this has the same rhythm.”

  Imagining a group of musicians like she’d seen in that one regency movie, she then chastised herself for being fool enough to envision something so safe and mundane ... because this band would more likely be a group of old vampires just as all of the other guests besides her.

  Nadia’s dark brows turned up in concern when she took in the look on Danielle’s face. “Are you nervous about this?”

  She’s observant as well as pretty, thought Danielle as she tried to re-school her expression. “A little,” she admitted reluctantly. “But I do trust Ethan, and you.” She gazed at Ethan as she said his name, and a smile lifted his lips as though he heard that.

  Ethan straightened, brushed off his hands and jogged to her side. “Sorry for the delay.”

  Max followed and bowed as he greeted her. “Hello, my lady,” he said alluringly with a deep, husky voice. Danielle didn’t want to call him Max, she wanted to call him Sir Knight Maximilian because he fit the part to a tee.

  “Thank you,” she said and blushed. He was just so genteel and knightly, she couldn’t stop the color from rising. Max stepped closer and took up her hand. She couldn’t help but notice how roped with muscle he was. He met his brown eyes to hers as he touched her knuckles with a kiss. While Max was gorgeous enough to draw any girl’s eye, she found she wasn’t bemused at all when looking into his gaze either.

  “Max, you’re in her space,” Ethan rasped in a deep voice, tugging her closer to his side.

  Max just laughed at Ethan’s angry tone and winked at Danielle. Clearly he knew that would frustrate Ethan even further, drawing out the possessive side of him she knew he tried to hide. This banter between them was all just too amusing. However, she feared Ethan might attack any second, so she grasped his arm and said, “Are we going to dance? Or are you two going to duke it out? If it’s the latter, I think I would like to watch.”

  Max laughed hard and loud, then offered, “Should I go get my sword?”

  “You’d like to watch, huh?” Ethan asked, incredulous.

  When she nodded, Ethan shook his head and gifted her with a heartbreaking smile and powerful dose of those blue eyes. Drawing a sharp breath, Danielle tried to keep from dropping limply to the floor. Every time he did that he beguiled her and she again recognized the stark contrast between his influence on her and that of the others.

  Taking her by the hand, Ethan said, “Let’s dance, or you’ll never be ready for this ball.”

  “Yes, sir,” boomed Max.

  “Please lets,” chimed Nadia.

  “Okay, the pavane is a processional dance and used to open the ball,” Ethan instructed. He guided her by the hand around the room in the pavane pattern of steps, which was simply step, pause, step, pause, step, step, step, pause. It was so simple she thought maybe she could handle this. Until they tried to teach her a figure dance called la pantalon. She stumbled through a series of turns, taking hands, switching places and little curtsies at what seemed like a pretty fast pace.

  When they then reviewed the cotillion, and the waltz, she decided she had to stop looking into his eyes! His enchanting gaze wasn’t helping her remember any of this at all. If she was having so much trouble now, what was going to happen at night? Tomorrow night! Then when she realized she wound up facing Max almost as much as Ethan, she wondered if she’d survive dancing with other vampires. Vampires she didn’t know, and all they had to do was make eye contact and she would faint helplessly. Plus, her hip was starting to hurt again....

  “Lunch is ready!” Sophia’s voice came barely audible over the music. Danielle breathed a sigh of relief because her shoulder was aching along with her hip now. These bruises must have been deep for them to keep troubling her after so long.

  And it seemed Ethan remained intently aware of how she was feeling when he swept her off her feet and headed toward Sophia, who turned and guided them to the dining room.

  “You plan to lug me around all day again, don’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question.

  “Every chance I get,” he said with a roguish grin now playing on his lips.

  Her aches subsided and she rested her head on his delicious smelling shoulder. That involuntary smile found its way back to her face.

  Danielle lifted her head when they entered the dining room, which she hadn’t yet seen. The walls were deep red, and adorned with gold framed paintings of Ethan and his family. The artwork looked like old portraits of royalty you see in history books, before they had cameras.

  She struggled from Ethan’s arms, and he let her down, clearly against his own wishes. In the portrait Ethan was wearing a doublet and a cape, with a sword hung about hips. His hair was long, draping just past his wide shoulders.

  “Ethan, you’re not this old.”

  Smirking he nodded. “That’s true, we had cameras in my time and I’d more likely be wearing a frockcoat with a crisp white cravat.”<
br />
  “Then why?”

  “These were done for fun. Sort of like going to a Ren-Fest.”

  “Are any of you this old? Renaissance old?”

  “A few of us, yes. I do have that sword though. It’s been in the family for a while now. Would you like to see it?”

  “Yes. Now?”

  “No, my lady, you must eat first,” he counseled in a perfectly medieval sounding voice.

  She laughed.

  He pulled a rich, tapestry covered chair out, and seated her at a long table.

  “I saw the ones in the drawing room too,” she said when he sat down at the end next to her. “The photos of you.”

  “Those were taken before I was cursed,” he divulged.

  “You as a mortal?” After marveling over that for a moment, she asked, “How do you explain stuff like that to people who don’t know what you are?”

  “We tell them they’re fakes like those western ones people do.”

  “And that works?”

  “Every time.”

  “Hm.” She touched the cold smooth surface of the wood table. “And, what about when people ask why you don’t age?”

  “Easy, we switch jobs, and don’t bother getting to know the neighbors. This place is secluded enough and the city large enough that we can stay put.”

  Sophia came out of the kitchen with her feminine arms lifting a huge overloaded tray, which looked way too heavy for her to carry. Vampires clearly didn’t lose all of their powers during the day. She was wearing the same messy apron as before over a blue designer dress. Danielle didn’t think the apron had been washed since, and wondered if it ever had.

  Her lovely face was smeared with powdered sugar, or something else white and powdery. The white substance was also in her auburn wavy hair.

  Sophia littered the end of the table closest to her with elegant serving dishes full of crusty bread, hot soup, a variety of cheeses and crackers, little tarts, her favorite peach tea and fresh fruit. She felt like a princess in a castle because the setting really didn’t belong in a vampire mansion.

  Of course, she couldn’t eat all of it, but when she discarded her napkin on the table, Ethan frowned and asked, “You’re done?”

  “Honestly, Ethan, I would be the size of a house if I actually ate as much as you people think I should. How do you think I keep my figure?”

  “Exercise?” he offered.

  “Exercise and a well balanced healthy diet. I can’t starve myself nor can I overeat. I would think the physician would know this.”

  “All right then, ready for that tour I promised you?”

  “Yeah.”

  Before she even had a chance to rise from her seat, Ethan had her in his arms, bridal style.

  “I really am capable of walking, Ethan. Exercise is something I need, remember?”

  “You get enough exercise. I’ve seen you in your garden.”

  “And did you also notice I’ve been neglecting that with my sore joints?”

  “All the more reason for me to carry you now. With the ball tomorrow night, I don’t want to risk wearing you out. You have to last till midnight,” he said, and that rascal smirk of his was back.

  “Fine, you win.” Because she couldn’t exactly argue his points.

  He took her down a wide hallway with a silver suit of armor displayed at the end of it. “Does that belong to Max? I would love to see him in it.” Especially since she’d already imagined it.

  “Yes, that’s his. You fancy Max don’t you?” Ethan asked, sounding bothered.

  “Yes, I fancy him, he’s very knightly.” She then realized Ethan was showing that possessiveness again. And that possessiveness made him overprotective, which brought out something else. “Are you jealous?”

  “I don’t know if I would put it like that,” he said stiffly.

  “Really, how would you put it then?” She pulled up more tightly around his neck so her face was closer to his.

  “I don’t know,” he confessed, sounding abashed. He glanced into her eyes with the daytime magic that she could never escape.

  “Ethan, I made direct eye contact with Max and Nadia. Neither one of them can move me even remotely like you can. I felt absolutely nothing when I looked into his eyes today. But when I look into your eyes, you spellbind me every time, day or night, it doesn’t matter. Do you have any idea how hard I have to fight to resist being staggered every time I make eye contact with you? And on top of that, I have that feeling of familiarity wash over me. It’s overpowering. Max has nothing on you, at least where I’m concerned.” She closed her speech with a kiss, hoping she had him convinced.

  A slow smile filled his face. He dropped her legs and pulled her into a closer embrace. She matched her smile with his and gazed into his eyes, just letting the wooziness and familiarity have her. When he released her, she stumbled like a drunk and he lifted her again. “You can’t even walk straight,” he said laughing.

  “You see? Do you see what I’m telling you?”

  “Yes, thanks for reminding me. It’s just that Max—”

  “Yes, Max is very hot.”

  “Excuse me?”

  She laughed. “He’s the knight, and you’re the noble gentleman, silly. You’re both hotties.”

  Ethan snorted with a laugh.

  “On with the tour you noble hottie, you.”

  “You’re a funny girl, but also quite hot.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ethan carried her into a room filled with sculptures, vintage artwork, swords and shields. She figured it must be some sort of gallery. Items were displayed on pedestals and hung artistically on the walls. Everything was illuminated by gallery lighting. He set her on the floor again, the dizziness had passed, then led her to the sword he wore in the painting and removed it from the wall.

  Danielle ran her fingers along the curving designs etched into the metal. “I’m guessing you know how to use this?”

  “Of course, I’m the son of a Duke. It was common practice for men of my class to know sword fighting, though I usually used a foil instead of a heavy blade like this.” Ethan slid it from the sheath and tossed the handle from hand to hand, playing with the weight of it—which she figured was quite heavy.

  Thinking of how Beon had turned his daughter, she wondered aloud, “Why didn’t you turn them?” She could see being tempted by that.

  “Beon suggested it, but I couldn’t curse them like I was. So I let them pass on. I may have been tempted more so if any of them had been threatened with death at a young age, but they all grew old without any mishaps. However, as each family member was on their death bed, I did expose my secret to them. I had to give them that much. Just before they passed on to the next life they knew I was still living. Strangely, they were all very happy about it.”

  “I don’t know if I could have been so strong.”

  “You would if you knew what it was like to lust for blood and need to kill another living being to get it. Have you ever even killed an animal?” he asked.

  Goose bumps crawled up her spine. “No, but I have squashed a spider before.”

  “That’s not even remotely the same. Just consider that nothing wants to die, not even an animal. When I have to kill to satisfy my thirst I know it wants to live, but I have to kill it or I will become more dangerous and end up killing a mortal instead. I truly am cursed.”

  “Why is Beon okay with this life? He chose it,” she asked with a churning in her stomach from the morbid topic.

  “Many people hunt, even your father hunts. It’s a common recreational sport. I did too. It was a way of life back then. Beon sees it like that. I don’t judge him or any other vampire who chose this life. I understand Beon’s perspective. But I take a life every night, and I detest that aspect of this curse. Most people hunt occasionally, I’m forced to hunt every night. And I don’t like feeling out of control. When I’m thirsty that is how I feel. Like some fiendish monster,” he said intently, his brow creased.

  After a h
eavy pause, he went on, “I hunt daily so I do not become that bloodthirsty beast, and since we only hunt animals it’s easy for us to keep our eating habits private. We don’t have to drink every night, we can go longer without feeding, but we would also be more likely to lose our restraint. Lucas, and others like him don’t hunt daily. Partly because, as I told you before, it is quite a bit more difficult to take human prey and remain hidden. If too many people went missing all the time, they could figure out what the problem was. But this waiting also makes him more dangerous when he is out in the city. Sadly that is not an issue for him; he has no remorse for what he is.”

  She nodded as she began to grasp both perspectives. She understood why Beon thought Ethan should make her into a vampire, and she understood why Ethan didn’t want that for her. She was also more frightened of Lucas because he truly was a curse to humanity, exactly as the sorceress meant vampires to be.

  Silently she walked around the room examining the other items on display. She stopped in front of a shield with a crest painted on it. A deep gouge marred the design. This shield had been used in battle.

  “That was the shield Max carried when he was injured, the injury that prompted Seth to make the offer to change him,” Ethan told her.

  She still wanted to see Max in the armor, and tried to imagine him holding this shield, but knew she couldn’t press it or Ethan might get jealous again. Watching them duel with swords was also still appealing. She decided Ethan may be less likely to take that personally unless he happened to lose. But she could picture that he was likely just as skilled a swordsman as Max, and decided to brave the question. “Nadia said you two fight with swords sometimes. I’d kind of like to see that.”

  “We might be able to arrange that,” he said, an impish grin pulling at his lips.

  “Cool.” she said, relieved he wasn’t angry.

  “Would you like to see the dungeons next?”