by C. J. Pinard
Love you forever,
Seth
Thomas blew out a breath and raked a hand through his hand. “Ah, hell.”
“Tom, what am I supposed to do? I didn’t have the heart to tell him she was dead, but he has a right to know. I have half a dozen more where that came from.” She pointed at the letters.
Thomas set the letter down and grabbed her hand again. “Don’t worry. Jonathan and I will take care of it. You just provide the transportation and I will tell him myself. I’ve been meaning to talk to him anyway. He says he wanted to talk to me about my dad. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“He said that? Surely he was bluffing to get himself out of his predicament,” Malina said.
Thomas nodded. “Maybe. But I am still gonna go.”
Just then, the server brought their food. They dove in and didn’t speak about Seth again. The talk happily turned to wedding plans.
∞∞∞
“We’ve got to stop doing this,” Kathryn said, slipping her T-shirt back on.
Jonathan chuckled. “Why?”
She put both hands to the back of her neck and flipped her long hair out of her shirt. She slipped on her jeans. “Is this going to be another year-long screw-fest, to which we decide we’re tired of each other and then see other people again, or are you serious about committing this time, John?”
“Come here,” he said, putting his arms out.
She sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed her arm and looked into her blue eyes. “I think we should just let this happen the way it will. We have both learned a lot from the past. We’re great together, but we’re good apart, too. I’m so very attracted to you; I have been from the first day I laid eyes on you in L.A. You’re so beautiful, that every time I see you, I just want to touch you. It’s always been like that.”
She looked hurt. “So, it’s lust?”
He chuckled again. “Not entirely. I’ve loved you for a hundred years… and I’ll love you for a hundred more, I’m sure. I just think I have… commitment issues.”
She laughed this time. “Ya think?”
“Well, what do you want?” he asked, holding her hand.
She ran both hands through his wavy, tousled hair and then rested them on his face. “You. All the time. There’s nobody better for me. And believe me, I’ve looked. Oh, how I’ve searched. But everywhere I look, every man I am with, they’ve got this one glaring flaw.”
He raised an eyebrow and said, “And what’s that?”
“They’re not you,” she breathed.
chapter 7
∞∞∞
South Shields, England – 1809
Silas and Sebastian adjusted well to their new existence; a little too well. Aiden was surprised at how well, actually. He had turned people before, usually of their own volition, and he learned the ones who had been turned without a choice – usually to save their lives – had a much harder time adjusting. But not the Bell brothers. No, they reveled in it.
Sebastian and Silas worked both as fishermen, ranch hands, and boat builders. Aiden was very pleased with how Silas had adapted. Turns out, he didn’t want to be a shoemaker anyway, and couldn’t stand his father. He was just doing what was expected of him. He basically told the old man he wasn’t going to be doing it anymore, and somehow, Bell’s Shoemaker shop got along fine without him. The boys still went home occasionally to see their mother.
What Aiden also noticed about the Bell brothers was their unusual cruel streak. They seemed to be almost completely lacking a conscience. Aiden had seen it before in baby vamps; sometimes the change brought out one’s hidden inhibitions and gave them more confidence. It heightened their feelings and responses to things. Aiden had had to clean up the brothers’ messes on more than one occasion when feeding got out of hand or they got into a fight in one of the local taverns.
“Where’s Aiden?” asked Sebastian, yawning.
Silas smiled and dumped hot tea into a teacup in front of his brother. “At the ship, of course. Where else would he be?”
“True,” Sebastian snorted.
Silas sat at the table and eyed his brother for a long minute before speaking. “Hey, brother, what do you say we venture even farther tonight?”
Sebastian smirked over his teacup as he sipped. “What did you have in mind?”
“Newcastle. I figure if we leave now, we’ll be back by sunrise with no problems.”
Sebastian nodded. “You sure that’s wise? That’s pretty far to go on foot.”
“Oh come off it, brother. We won’t be gone that long, we can move fast, especially after we eat.”
He stared at Silas for what seemed like forever. Then he set his empty teacup down and said, “Let’s do it.”
The brothers cleaned out their cups at the washbasin and decided to take it on foot the seven or so miles to Newcastle.
Once they reached the small town, they found a local pub and settled in, looking for someone to sink their fangs into. They sat in a dark corner, blending in the shadows with their dark hair and dark clothing.
After an hour of drinking a lot of ale, and not finding there to be very many female clientele, the two were about to leave when someone caught Sebastian’s eye. He nudged his brother. “Hey, look, it’s your little redheaded ghost.”
Silas looked up and his eyes got big. “Well I’ll be,” he breathed. He got up to approach her but Sebastian grabbed his arm.
“No! Don’t go to her. Let’s lay low for a while, see if she stays or what. If she leaves, we follow her.”
“Okay,” Silas replied, grinning.
Emma stayed in the pub for only about thirty minutes before she left by herself. The vampyres slipped out and followed her at a safe distance. She began to walk along a lonely road, taking an occasional glance behind her, as if she suspected she was being followed.
The brothers were ready to attack her when a horse and carriage came over the small hill toward them. They stopped and asked Emma if she needed any help. She shook her head and thanked them for their generosity and kept walking. Silas and Sebastian hid behind a large tree while they waited for Emma to finish talking. Once the carriage was on its way, they continued to follow her. As she headed over the hill, they could see she was headed for a forest up ahead.
Silas turned to his brother, pointed at the thicket of trees, and whispered, “This will be perfect, nobody will hear her scream out there.”
Sebastian smiled wickedly and nodded.
After a few more minutes of walking, Emma reached the forest. The forest floor was covered with newly felled leaves, as the beginning of fall was upon them and the impeding cold of winter mixed with the warm leaves caused a thin, low-lying fog to blanket the forest floor. The leaves crunched loudly under her feet as she made her way to a large tree, sitting against it. She pulled something out of her satchel and began eating, the moon shining down, illuminating her shiny hair.
As fast as lightning, Silas ran over and pounced on her. He grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the ground, pinning her hands down. Her sandwich went flying out of her hand and she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
He straddled her middle and reached down and bit into her neck.
Just then, Sebastian heard a twig snap behind him. He turned around to see a family of deer standing there, staring at him. He knew deer didn’t normally attack people, but he stayed very still watching them. He turned back around when the sound of his brother’s cries grabbed his attention.
As Sebastian turned around, he saw a large human man, wearing a bow and quiver on his back, who had a buck knife raised in the air, dripping with his brother’s blood. The man jumped off of his brother and they both watched in horror as Silas’s body turned brown, then gray, then to ash, leaving nothing but clothing. Sebastian stood, too stunned to move, as the man picked the woman up and carried her off. When he was finally able to move, Sebastian zipped out of the forest at preternatural speed and back to South Shields to find Aiden, and for the first time sin
ce he became a vampyre, he sobbed the entire trip back.
“Aiden!” he screamed as he burst through the door to the farmhouse.
Aiden jumped up and grabbed Sebastian. “What is it, lad?”
Sebastian was panting. “Silas… is… dead!”
Aiden’s eyes got big. “Calm down, son. Start at the beginning.” He pulled out a chair and indicated for him to sit. Elaine brought him some tea.
Sebastian nodded. “Okay. We decided to go to Newcastle –”
“Newcastle! What in the hell where you doing all the way out there?”
Sebastian shrugged and continued. “We were following that redhead – you know, the weird one who disappears into mid-air? Well we found her and Silas finally got her – and he was feeding – but this human man came upon them and stabbed him in the heart. He stabbed my brother and he turned to ash, to dust… I couldn’t even bring his body to show you!” his voice hitched on the last word and tears leaked out and cascaded down his face. Then he took a deep breath. “How come you did not tell us that’s what happens to us when we die?”
Aiden shook his head and blew out a breath. “Oh, my. Sit, boy. We need to talk.”
∞∞∞
Portland, Oregon – Present Day
Jonathan and Kathryn were sitting on the sofa watching the 49ers pummel the Falcons in what was promising to be the game to get the Niners to the Superbowl for the first time in eighteen years. Truth be told, Kathryn was more interested in the electronic tablet she was playing on, than the game. Jonathan was eating pretzels and drinking beer when Malina and Thomas walked in.
“Oh good, you have the game on,” Thomas said, taking his jacket off and slinging it over the arm of the sofa.
“Yeah, I think that Kapernick kid may give you a run for your money, Flash. The kid is like a gazelle!” Jonathan remarked.
Thomas snorted. “Doubtful.” He sat down next to Jonathan and began watching the game.
Malina and Kathryn went into another room to look at wedding dress designs on the Internet.
At halftime, Thomas grabbed the remote and muted the TV, then looked at Jonathan. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sounds serious,” Jonathan said with a smile.
“Where’s Tyler by the way?”
“Working. He’s on-call at Providence.”
Thomas grinned. “That’s good. We don’t need a pouting Raiders fan over here when the Niners win this game.”
Jonathan shook his head, smiling.
“So anyway, Malina was at the island today and she said she spoke with Seth and he didn’t look good. He appears malnourished and very depressed and unkempt. He also gave her half a dozen letters. Here’s one.” He handed Jonathan a folded up piece of paper from his pocket.
Jonathan read Seth’s letter to Sheena and furrowed his brow once he got to the end. He looked up at Thomas and said, “This is a problem.”
“Tell me about it. What should we do?”
Jonathan replied, “Do we know when their sentence hearing is scheduled?”
“Good question, boss. Let me ask.” He turned his head around and called out, “Malina! Honey, come here.”
Malina and Kathryn appeared from the hallway. “Yes, my love?”
“When is Seth and Malachi’s hearing?” Thomas asked.
“Well, I asked Bill and he said he didn’t know either. I guess I had better get with the queens and see if it’s been scheduled.”
“Could we expedite that? They’ve been there, what, three months?” Jonathan asked.
Malina thought. “Sounds about right.”
“Are the guards feeding them?” Jonathan asked.
“Yes. But Seth claims he gets ill if he can’t shift and hunt, to include blood drinking.” She let out a small shudder.
“Ew,” Kathryn replied, making a face.
“Let me make some phone calls, I’ll get back to you,” Malina said, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. Kathryn followed her back into the bedroom.
A couple of hours later, both women emerged from the bedroom when they heard shouting. They walked out to see Jonathan and Thomas high-fiving each other.
Kathryn looked at the flat screen and smiled. “Congrats.”
“Superbowl, here we come!” Thomas said, punching his fist in the air.
Just then, Tyler walked in through the front door wearing scrubs. He surveyed the scene in front of him, then glanced at the TV and grinned. “I knew you guys would pull it out.” He went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water.
Malina looked at Jonathan. “So I spoke to Zoe, she has scheduled Seth and Malachi’s hearing for this coming Wednesday. She asked if you needed subpoenas but I told her I would relay the information.”
“That’s perfect. In the meantime, I think we need to get to the island and break the bad news to Seth,” Thomas said.
“Agreed,” Jonathan concurred.
“What do you think, should we go now?” Thomas asked.
“No time like the present,” Malina smiled.
Jonathan bowed his head and waved his arm. “If you would be so kind.”
“I’m coming, too!” Kathryn said, setting the tablet down.
“Me three,” Tyler said.
Malina waved her arm and they all stepped through her magical doorway to the island.
∞∞∞
.
Angel sat in a plush chair in the back corner of the club with her legs crossed and her cleavage out for all to see. She sipped Fireball and sat, staring at the dance floor. She could see Pascal, Brandon, and the others up in the balcony watching her, but she refused to look up at them.
As predicted, a cute, young, Latino man came up to her and sat in the chair next to hers. He was tall with dimples and smelled very nice. “What’cha drinkin’?”
You, in a minute, she wanted to say. She grinned and replied, “Whiskey.”
“Ooh, that’ll put hair on your chest,” he said, looking down at hers.
She smirked. “I doubt that.” She paused, and said, “Why don’t you go get me another?”
“Sure!” he replied eagerly.
Angel waited patiently for him to return, and when he did, he had two drinks. He handed her the glass, then raised his own to hers and clinked it. “Cheers!”
“Cheers.” She threw back the liquid and suppressed a shudder.
“What’s your name?”
“Angel. What’s yours?”
“Does it matter?”
She laughed mirthfully. “I guess not.” She set her glass down on the small table separating the chairs and thought a hard minute before she made her next move.
She thought about what Pascal would do if she did to him exactly what he had just done with that young blonde. She thought about Brandon’s advice to get away from Pascal. She thought about Pascal’s invitation – or was it a dare – to help herself to anyone in the club. She shrugged, and without breaking eye contact with the dark stranger, she stood up and walked to him and asked, “May I?” pointing at his lap.
He smiled, all dimples. “Be my guest.” He put his arms out wide.
Instead of sitting on his lap, she straddled it facing him, and began kissing his mouth. He was the best kisser she had ever tasted. Her fangs were aching to descend and she had to fight the urge since he was still looking in her eyes.
“You’re way hot, Angel,” he said breathlessly between kisses.
She smiled at him and began kissing his neck. She had her arms on his, pinning them to the plush chair. When she bit into his neck, he stiffened and yelled, trying to get up, but she held him in place. He was quickly subdued with vampire pheromone and relaxed in her arms, letting out a series of moans. She could feel his arousal against her, and it was at that moment, she averted her eyes from his neck and looked up at the balcony while her mouth was still attached to his neck. Pascal looked furious. Brandon looked… amused.
“That’s hot,” Brandon said, nudging Pascal as they both watched on.
“Shut up,” Pascal said.
Brandon swirled the drink in his hand before gulping down the rest. He set the glass down and looked at Pascal. “What’s the problem? You told her to have at it… looks like she took your advice, what’s the big deal? Girl’s gotta eat, right?”
“Not like that, she doesn’t,” Pascal replied through gritted teeth.
Brandon smiled, knowing how upset Pascal was. “Well, she looks like she’s having a hell of a time.”
“You don’t know anything, you child. Now shut your idiotic mouth before you regret opening it.”
Brandon shook his head and murmured, “Damn.” He walked away from the railing and went to sit next to Bryan.
Bryan smiled at him. “See. Total dick. I told you.”
“You guys better watch it,” Mike said, looking at the two.
“Sorry, dude. He’s just being unreasonable. C’mon, you heard. What’s the problem?” Brandon said to Mike.
Mike shook his head. “He and Angel… it’s complicated. Don’t get in the middle. Look what happened to Joshua.”
Bryan frowned but Brandon smirked. “Yeah, he was pretty stupid.”
Angel left ol’ what’s-his-name sitting passed out in the chair, two empty glasses on the table next to him, as she made her way across the dance floor, wiping the corner of her mouth with her thumb, then sticking it in her mouth. Pascal didn’t take his eyes off her.
Once she ascended the spiral staircase, she came to stand next to him and said coyly, “Hi, baby.”
Every vampire was glued to the scene unfolding, and they all had front-row seats.
Pascal narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t ‘hi baby’ me.”
She batted her eyelashes in mock innocence. “What’s wrong?”