Family Secrets (Davenport Manor Book 1)

by Melissa Zaroski

  “Whatever you decide, we’re behind you.” Vivienne said before tipping her glass back for the last drop of blood.

  They heard bare footsteps upstairs that were walking into the portrait hallway. Emma got up and motioned for everyone to stay put. She sprinted up the stairs, but when she got to the top she walked at a human speed. She turned the corner of the hallway to find Todd standing in front of her painting, his arms folded in front of him.

  He jumped when he saw her from the corner of his eye and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it shut again. She strolled over next to him and looked up at her picture along with him. He looked at her once again, then back at her image that was painted over two-hundred years earlier.

  Todd slightly shook his head, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. It’s hard to believe.”

  She reached out to take his hand, which twitched at her touch, but slowly relaxed and wrapped around hers. “Look at me, Todd. I’m the same person on the inside. The ‘me’ that you have come to know…that’s me. I know it’s hard to look at me the same, but if you look beyond me being a vampire, you’ll see that I’m the same inside.”

  His mouth twitched into a small smile, his eyes could only be read as forgiving. “Come on,” he said as he began to walk and lightly tugged her hand.

  He led her back to his bedroom and motioned for her to sit on the couch. He was forcing himself to relax around her even though his senses were telling him to be fearful. She was dangerous. He saw what she was capable of tonight; she snapped the necks of five men so fast it happened in a blur. The screaming growl that came out of her mouth when she was furious was downright frightening. The strength of a single kick sent a man soaring back twenty feet. He knew that if there was anything on this Earth that should be feared, it was her.

  The fact of the matter: she used her speed, strength, and inhuman rage to save his life. With that realization he knew that he no longer needed to fear her, but to immensely thank her. If it wasn’t for her, he probably would have been lying in the morgue at that very moment.

  He poured two glasses of wine, then stopped while pouring the second one and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She politely shook her head “no”. He sat down on the other side of the couch and said, “Okay, let’s have it. Tell me everything.”

  “What’s to tell? I’m a vampire, that’s pretty much it,” she responded with a shrug.

  “Do you kill people often?” That question was high on his list.

  “No, besides self-defense, I have only killed one person from feeding on them, which was my first prey. I didn’t mean to, but the urge to drink was so overwhelming, I just couldn’t stop.” She hung her head, ashamed by the memory she had of her first kill. “We’re not what movies and books make us out to be. We don’t have to kill in order to feed, most of us don’t. Of course you’ll get the occasional rogue asshole that will do it anyway, but if the high vampires find out about it, they’re dealt with.”

  “High vampires? Like the vampire police?” He laughed.

  She chuckled with him, “No, we don’t have vampire police. We have kings and queens on each continent, except Antarctica. The King of Europe is ancient, the rest are close in age to me. They are all his offspring.”

  “They sound ominous…”

  Emma shook her head fast, “No! They’re not at all. The kings and queens are actually the most respected and fair vampires that are on the Earth. They’re not at as scary as they sound. They maintain the peace with the vampires living amongst humans—we try to live quietly alongside you. Up until now, you never knew we existed, so we must be doing a good job.”

  Todd sipped his wine and eyed her skeptically. Up until now she was this sweet girl that he was falling for, now he felt deceived by her.

  “What did you say to that guy you let go tonight? Aren’t you afraid he is going to run to the police?”

  This was the best time, if any, for her to come clean. “He is going to run to the police, but to turn himself in for killing his buddies. Vampires have this gift we call charming; we are able to manipulate the minds of humans to do whatever we tell them to. I told him to forget he ever saw us and to go to the police station to turn himself in.”

  Todd’s mouth fell open as he was fascinated and disgusted at the same time. “You manipulate people? Have you charmed me?”

  “No! Of course not! There are plenty of vampires who use that ability freely, however I don’t like to use it unless it is a dire circumstance. I think tonight fell into that category. Before we had private resources for blood, charming was our only mechanism for surviving in secret. We would charm someone first to forget everything that was about to happen, not to scream, and such, then we would feed on them. We would then rub a bit of our own blood on the puncture wounds. It instantly heals them and after charming them, they would have no recollection of what happened.”

  “Can your blood heal sick people?”

  “No, just injured people. Our blood only heals the basic makeup of the body—a broken bone, cuts, things like that. Illnesses and infections are considered foreign organisms to the body, something our blood cannot heal.”

  “Couldn’t you donate some of your blood to hospitals to heal injured people?”

  “That’s not the first time someone has asked that question and we have even asked ourselves that question. It is definitely a possibility in the future. Vampires are evolving and the kings and queens have been discussing coming out into the open and donating our blood for the greater good. Not only would it help humans accept us, but we would be helping them as well,” she explained.

  Todd’s brain scrambled to come up with more questions for her. As freaked out as he was by her revelation, he was also intrigued. How many people could say they had a relationship with a vampire? Or even knew a vampire for that matter.

  “The ghost I keep seeing, Elizabeth…is that your sister?” He asked.

  “Yes, that’s my little sister. You’re the second person I know of that has seen her, but the first that has communicated with her,” she responded with envy. “You don’t know how bad I wish I could see her, too.”

  “Why does she say that you know the truth and that you need to make it right?”

  Emma looked off to the side and shook her head, “I don’t know.”

  The painting of Elizabeth that had securely hung on the wall for years came crashing down to the floor with a slam. Todd jumped and Emma spun around in attack mode, her fangs instantly appeared. His attention quickly turned to her and was suddenly more afraid of her than he was of the picture falling. He stared at her as she composed herself and retracted her fangs, slightly embarrassed. She walked over to where the giant portrait laid face-down on the floor, picked it up as if it weighed one pound, and hung it back up onto the wall.

  “Who turned you?” He asked, spitting out the next question lingering in his mind.

  “Do you remember when I left for Scotland to visit my friend, Aidan?” Emma asked as she came back to the couch to sit down. “Well, he’s not just my friend, he’s my maker. I had met him in town one day in 1815; he was so charming and easy to talk to. Apparently he was taken with me and saw a spark in me that made him think I would be a good immortal. He found me in the woods as I walked to Elizabeth’s cottage that night and after idle chit chat, he began to scare me with his questions. He chased me down, eventually caught me, and struck. Got me right in the neck.”

  “What was it like turning into a vampire?”

  “Awful, but fairly fast. We have small holes on the tips of our fangs where we can release venom if we choose to. When he bit me he had every intention to turn me. Feeling every organ in your body rapidly shut down was the most excruciating experience—ever fiber fights to survive while the venom takes over. It only took minutes to complete though. Toward the end, I accepted that I was dying and once the pain was over I thought I was dead. But, when I opened my eyes everything was the same, yet different. The first craving for blood was a
feeling I could never describe in words.”

  Todd remained silent while he processed everything, but Emma’s impatience got the best of her. “Say something, Todd. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  He leaned forward and set his glass down on the coffee table, then relaxed back into the couch as if he was preparing to interrogate her. “Tell you what I’m thinking? Okay, let’s see—the girl I began to fall in love with is a mythical creature that I should be afraid of…”

  “Obviously, not mythical,” she interjected.

  He continued to speak over her, “You never told me! This isn’t like some silly little trait like one foot is bigger than the other. You’re a vampire! You’re not even alive!”

  She nodded, clearly perturbed with his tone toward her. “Now you tell me, Todd…I’m sure you have some secret of your own. Do you announce it to every person you meet?”

  He understood where she was coming from and they sat in yet another awkward silence.

  She quietly asked, “Did you say you were falling in love with me?”

  He matched her soft voice and looked directly into her eyes, “I was. But, I think that feeling has since passed.”

  “Good,” she responded as he looked at her with confusion. “I don’t want you to be in love with me. The last time a human was in love with me, he became like me. I don’t wish that for you.”

  He chuckled, “I don’t wish that for me either.”

  Glad to see a hint of a smile, she admitted, “However…I love you, too. That feeling has not passed for me.” She stood up and gave him a wistful smile before bidding him goodnight. She walked out of his room and shut the door behind her, leaving behind the memories of feeling human for the past couple of months.

  Chapter 11

  A couple of weeks had passed and Emma made sure to avoid Todd to the best of her ability. Her acute hearing, sense of smell, and speed came in handy as she would dodge him every time he was coming near. She hated feeling like this in her own home.

  She knew she needed to get away. Far away. One day while they were filming she went to her room and plopped down on her bed. She thought about where she could go; perhaps a vacation somewhere by herself. But, Christmas was just days away and she surely didn’t want to spend it alone. She reached for her phone and scrolled through her contacts, hitting “call” on the one she could always turn to.

  “Aidan, it’s Emma. I need to get out of here, mind if I come for a visit?”

  She smiled knowing she was going to get to see her maker again so soon. She explained the reason why to him and he lectured her about getting involved with a human she didn’t plan to turn. While she normally became perturbed when others lectured her about the same subject, she couldn’t help but take Aidan’s words to heart. She wished she would have spoken to him sooner as he would have been the only one to talk her out of pursuing Todd.

  She opened her laptop and began searching for flights to Glasgow and decided on the same one she had taken a couple months before, which meant she’d leave that night. She booked an open ticket so she could return when she felt ready to come back. She got her suitcases out of her closet and began to pack everything she would need. She needed this trip—to get away from Todd, from all the tension in the house, and even Zachariah, who was relishing in the break up between her and Todd.

  She eventually went downstairs and waited for a break in filming. Once Zachariah and Daniel were available, she called them over to her. She saw Todd from the corner of her eye, who was watching her intently. It was the first time he had actually seen her in two weeks. She disregarded him and never returned his stare.

  “I need to get out of here. I’m going crazy trying to dodge Todd all the time,” she quietly explained to them. “I feel like a bandit in my own home. I’m leaving for Glasgow tonight, so I’m going to spend the holidays with Aidan.”

  Daniel looked at her with disappointment, “I have never spent Christmas without you, Emma. You’re the only family I have left.” Sadness saturated his voice. It pinched at her heart because he was one hundred percent right. She was his only family now.

  Even Zachariah looked slightly forlorn, “I have never spent the holidays without you either. Over one hundred Christmases with you.”

  Their heartbroken faces were killing her! So much for an escape, “Alright, when I get to Scotland I’ll ask Aidan if he wouldn’t mind if you two joined us. Goodness knows he has the room at his house.”

  Later that evening when everyone was gathered in the parlor after dinner, Emma came downstairs with her suitcases and placed them in the foyer. She went into the parlor to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and safe travels to their homes on their break. She explained she was going to Scotland to visit her friend for a while and glanced around the room as she spoke. She made brief eye contact with Todd for the first time in two weeks. When she was done saying her goodbyes, he got up and sauntered over to her with his hands deep in his jean pockets.

  “You have a Merry Christmas, Emma,” he gently said.

  “You as well. Are you going back to London for the holidays?”

  He nodded, “I am…will you be back before filming is done or is this our final goodbye?”

  “I’ll be back before filming is done,” she started, hesitating on her next words. “But, it is entirely up to you if this is our final goodbye. I’m sure you have noticed that I can make myself scarce.”

  He looked her straight in the eyes and replied, “I don’t want any of our goodbyes to be final.” He bashfully shrugged his shoulders, “I can’t not love you. Your absence around here for the past two weeks has been torture; I thought you were already gone.”

  This revelation made things complicated all over again. When she was convinced that he no longer had feelings for her it was easy for her to let him go. Now, she contemplated canceling her trip, but the pull of seeing Aidan was far stronger than any love she felt for a human. As they hugged goodbye, they lingered with her head pressed against his chest.

  He kissed the top of her head and said, “Have a safe flight, love.”

  She looked at him with a smirk and replied, “I think any flight would be safe for me…I’m not exactly fragile.”

  He chuckled and gave her one more squeeze before letting her go.

  She gave Daniel a tight hug and told him she would call to let him know if Aidan would allow him and Zachariah to join them. She picked up her suitcases and walked out the door to her driver that was waiting in the black Escalade.

  Later that evening Todd sat on the couch in his room and sipped a glass of wine while going over his script. He heard a knock at the door and for one fleeting moment he wondered if Emma may have changed her mind and returned. He carelessly jogged across the room and opened the door, surprised to find Zachariah standing there. He, too had a glass with red liquid, but Todd was certain it wasn’t wine, now that he knew their secret.

  “Can I come in?” He asked as Todd looked him over.

  “Yeah, of course, sorry. I’m just a bit surprised. Come on in and sit down.”

  Zachariah sat down on the couch and could still smell Emma’s scent all over it, reminding him that he already missed her. Todd knew that he wasn’t there to become best buddies and hang out together; there had to be a point to his visit.

  “Well, let’s have it. I know you’re not here to shoot the breeze,” Todd said as he plopped down on the couch.

  Zachariah gave an appreciative nod and started, “I never had a problem with you, man. I just want you to know that. I admit, I got a little jealous when you and Emma started seeing each other. I normally don’t get jealous, but this time I just did.”

  “She’s obviously been with other men before I came along, so how come you were jealous of me?”

  “Because you’re a human,” Zachariah replied matter-of-factly. “Vampires are bound to this Earth for a very long time; being with one person for an eternity can get boring. It’s in our nature to be with other people from time-to-time.” He
paused, taking a sip from his glass. “Even when we’re in love with someone, we stray, but our emotional makeup is different from humans. It is accepted. I guess it’s like an eternal open relationship.”

  “So, you guys sleep around and always end up back with each other?” Todd asked, trying to understand how they could freely have sex with other people and still be in love with each other.

  “Sex is in our genetic makeup, just like humans. However, our urge is far more dominant than yours. We have guiltless sex with whoever we are attracted to, then always come back to one another. We’re like boomerangs.” Zachariah laughed.

  Todd rubbed his face with his hands and looked up at the ceiling, wondering how the hell he got into this completely surreal situation.

  Zachariah continued, “The real reason I behaved the way I did towards you is because you were headed down a very dangerous path—you still are. I’ve been down that same road and the destination isn’t one I would wish on my worst enemy. Emma loves you, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. She obviously loves you enough that she would fight to protect you. But, she may also love you to the point where she may not be able to let you go, just like she did with me.”

  Todd appreciated Zachariah’s concern with his mortal fate. They continued to speak about the situation and Zachariah answered the questions that had plagued Todd for the past couple of weeks. His number one question was mere curiosity, but he didn’t know how to ask it delicately without sounding like he had a hidden agenda.

  “I don’t want to sound suspicious, but I have to ask,” he hesitantly started. “I know you’re all immortal, so does that mean there is no way for you to be killed?”

  Zachariah was a little taken back, but not entirely surprised. “No, we can be killed. But, I don’t know if I should tell you…” he playfully raised an eyebrow.

  Todd waved a hand and said, “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.”

  “There are a few ways, but we aren’t allowed to speak of them to humans,” he replied immediately without looking at Todd. “It’s not a stake through the heart or ripping us to pieces like Hollywood would have you believe. The one weapon that is the easiest way to kill us is very hard to find. There is a reason we’re called immortals…because killing us is next to impossible. I’m not sure if the weapon even exists anymore; the ancient vampires did their fair share of eradicating them as each was found.