by Martha Woods
Once she slipped her boots onto her feet, she crept toward the door. The lock would not budge beneath her hands, no matter how she pressed. Frustrated, she ground her teeth and moved on to a nearby window. Pushing back the heavy curtain, Tessa could see the shingle covered roof outside. They were still somewhere in the city, she decided as she looked out at a familiar skyline.
She reached over her head, turning the lock. It clicked into place, echoing softly in the studio. She cringed, waiting for Kristian to wake. When no angry vampire came storming in her direction, she turned back to the window. With some effort, it slid up and she was greeted by a breeze.
Freedom was only a step away.
She hoisted herself out the window with minimal effort. Peering over the edge of the roof, she found that it was only a story’s drop to the ground. Bile rose in the back of her throat. She could jump, right? Tessa glanced back through the window and a tinge of regret sparked through her.
She shook her head.
What am I thinking? She cringed. She wouldn’t be a part of whatever messed up plot he was stuck in. No. Thank. You.
She jumped. She’d done it before, sneaking out of her foster parent’s home. It wasn’t like riding a bicycle. Tessa landed hard on her feet and tumbled forward into an awkward roll. Pain jolted up her spine. Her ankle throbbed. She tried to put her weight on it, but it barked in protest.
* * *
Tessa made her way through the city streets, hobbling on her swollen ankle. It had been worth it, she thought. The pain was a low price to pay for freedom. She stopped at the nearest glowing gas station and begged to use their phone. The man behind the counter couldn’t comprehend why she didn’t have her own cell phone. Tessa cursed the day they did away with payphones.
Still, after much bickering, the man gave in, dialed the number for a cab service, and handed her the phone. The cabbie spoke with a voice that said she’d probably had a cigarette hanging between her lips at that moment. She did not disappoint when she arrived outside the gas station, the cigarette bobbing as she called out Tessa’s name.
It was a quiet ride over, but Tessa was grateful for the bills that Kristian had laid on her table before he kidnapped her. Oh, her table. She thought of the wrecked booth that had been left behind. It didn’t mean as much as her car, as her trailer. Even as she regretted leaving it, she knew that she could find another in a thrift store somewhere else.
Tessa paid the woman with one of Kristian’s crisp bills before the car turned around and left her alone in the dark. Tessa resisted the urge to reach down for the knife in her boot. Her nerves must still be on edge from earlier. It had been a long, confusing day.
The crackle of a fire caught Tessa’s attention. She slowly stepped forward, listening for thoughts in the air. Everything was quiet. As she rounded a large SUV, she could see the dancing light casting shadows around the parking lot. Her stomach plummeted.
Fire licked up the sides of her teardrop trailer. It burst through the tiny windows and climbed toward the roof. A scream of anguish was caught in her throat. She slapped her hand over her mouth. Black circles covered dents in her car as if someone had thrown explosives at it. The windows were completely smashed, glass on the pavement glittering in the firelight. The seats of her car were charred, parts of them still burning.
Hands grabbed her arms. She jerked back into a hard wall. Panic flooded her and she struggled against the immovable grasp until familiar thoughts floated to her. Guilt and sorrow greeted her in Kristian’s voice.
“We should be leaving now,” he said, his hand sliding down her arm to tangle with her fingers.
Numb, Tessa followed him.
Her trailer, her freedom. It was gone. Someone had burnt set it ablaze and left it to burn down to nothing. Anger sparked somewhere inside her. It set fire to the numbness, chasing it into the shadows. Had it been a group of rowdy boys? Or had someone tracked her and destroyed her only means of travel?
* * *
When she woke, she did not open her eyes immediately. Her ear was pressed against his chest, but she realized she could not hear a heartbeat. It sent a shiver down her spine but not of fear. She knew that she lay on a powerful creature, and it made her feel safe after what happened.
When she was a girl, she’d felt a similar sense of power in herself. But the more her powers grew and the more she learned of the thoughts of those around her, the more that power had been warped into something ugly. She’d become jaded, distrustful, and bitter. People, as it turned out, were terrible beings. But she’d stumbled upon an entire world of other powerful entities. Kristian and his sister certainly couldn’t be the only ones. She now saw the potential for more than a cursed life, running away from the iniquities of people. She could seek answers she hadn’t even known to seek.
“You’re awake,” Kristian observed. He fiddled with her hair as he stared at the ceiling. The feeling was bliss.
“What time is it?” she asked. The sun dappled the foot of the bed, and she could hear the faintest sounds of the street below.
“Later than I would like,” he said. “But I wanted to see to it that you to get sleep.”
She didn’t move to get up. She felt strangely content in the arms of a vampire.
Tessa’s brows furrowed. “How did you find me last night?”
A thought mixed with guilt and a dash of righteousness greeted her. Kristian ran a hand through his rumpled hair and Tessa was surprised with how much it made her want to reach up to touch him.
“I may have...tasted a touch of your blood after dinner yesterday.”
“That prick I felt!” Tessa leaned away from Kristian’s body. She had shrugged it off. Nothing more than an angry nerve after the day she’d had.
“I wanted to create a bond in case you tried doing what you did last night. It helped me track you down and I’m grateful that I did considering what happened to your trailer. I’m afraid that was not the act of delinquents.”
Tessa’s indignation flared and died.
Suddenly, the front door of his apartment burst open as a woman entered, her expression intense and urgent. She had long, woody colored hair similar to Kristian, free save for two small braids that pulled the hair back from her long face. Defined cheekbones sat beneath the same emerald-colored eyes framed by long eyelashes and sculpted brows. She wore an immaculate white jacket, leather boots, and dark jeans that accentuated her long legs and slender form. She had a bag swung over her shoulder and her phone in hand.
“Kristian, they are coming,” she said. “We need to leave. Now.”
Kristian reluctantly moved out from under Tessa with gentle control, but once free of her, he packed so quickly her human eyes could not follow his progress, only the disappearing of clothes off the floor. They knew that this time was coming, but shut in the solitude of his apartment, they had been able to ignore it.
“When?” he asked, voice tight. Tessa could discern only panic in his thoughts, memories of her trailer the night before.
“Veronica, I presume?” Tessa pulled herself from the bed, stretching aching limbs.
Veronica’s eyes locked onto Tessa for a moment. She had the feeling of being an ant beneath a magnifying glass before Veronica pulled her glare away.
“We have less than a day,” she said. “Ally has been trailing them. She said they boarded a plane from Paris to Asheville. She believes their flight arrives tomorrow.”
Veronica’s eyes flickered to Tessa again, who now felt pulled in whatever direction Kristian might be going. Kristian had already moved on to packing a duffle bag. She made no comment.
“Have you—” he started, but she raised a hand to cut him off.
“I have booked two tickets for New York,” she said. “We can figure out where to go from there.”
Kristian finally paused. He looked at Tessa. Tessa looked back.
“There’s someone after you. They intend to kill you,” Tessa read as his thoughts unraveled for her. “Was that who trashed my tr
ailer?”
“You told her?” Veronica seethed. “What if she was working for the witches? Do you care nothing for your safety? For mine?”
“I do not believe Tessa to be the enemy. Even so, we cannot risk losing such a tool. She can read minds,” Kristian said.
“Hello? I’m sitting right here,” Tessa snapped.
Veronica’s eyes went wide. “We have not seen those powers since…” She stopped herself and gave Kristian a meaningful look. Tessa felt the tiniest flicker of jealousy from Veronica’s thoughts before she said, “Then we must take her with us.”
Tessa looked to Kristian. He looked relieved with his sister’s assessment of the situation.
“Look, I—” Tessa started, but Kristian interrupted. He was suddenly standing before her, her hand in his. He lifted it to his lips, but at the last moment he pulled her into him and their lips met. She returned the kiss despite her confusion.
“Come with us,” he said. “We need your ability, but more than that, I want you to.”
She produced a choked, nervous laugh. “Why?”
“Our kind used to have such powers available to them, but we lost all those with abilities in the slaughter. If you become one of us, you can create more like you,” Veronica said, navigating her phone. “I’m booking you a ticket.”
“Woah, become one of you?” Tessa said, panic edging her voice.
“Listen,” Kristian said, gripping her arms earnestly. “I will explain everything in time. And no matter what, you will have a choice. But we are in danger here, and we must leave immediately. Please come with us.”
Tessa hesitated only a moment. She didn’t want to feel cursed anymore. She wanted answers, and these two could give them to her. The feeling of his lips still lingered on hers.
What had she gotten herself into? Become a vampire? Kristian said that it was her choice, but Veronica clearly wanted Tessa’s ability to be passed on. Could it even pass on to another vampire? Or was she one freak in a million?
“I already booked your ticket,” Veronica said. “Now, let’s go.”
* * *
Kristian and Veronica were quiet for most of the trip to the airport. The sleek black sedan that had pulled up outside the apartment was some luxury European make that Tessa couldn’t name. The butter colored leather was cool and smooth beneath her touch as she slid into the passenger seat. It occurred to her she was surrounded, and that in this small space there would have been little chance of her getting away. Kristian kept his eyes on the road, his face completely void of any expression. She caught the wave of his thoughts and followed them easily. Every now and then one of Veronica’s loud thoughts would jar her from the wave. Irritated, Tessa turned and stared at her.
“Really, if you have so many questions, why don’t you ask me?” Tessa snapped.
Veronica crossed her arms. She was really a lovely woman, but the hardness of her expression made her cold. She was not, however, totally unfeeling. The worry Veronica had for her brother proved it.
“I just keep thinking that this timing is damned convenient,” Veronica replied. “I usually agree with my brother’s sense of intuition, but I can’t help but wonder. It seems more than serendipitous you should run into us now.”
“Veronica,” Kristian growled. “Don’t start.”
“No, let her ask whatever she wants,” Tessa said. “Once she’s got an answer, I don’t have to hear the same thing circling around in her head. Kristian happened upon me by accident. I was minding my own business. I don’t live in this town. I was only passing through so I could work at the street faire. It was him interfering in my life that got my car and trailer trashed. I can assure you I’m not involved with these people who are hunting you. I assume that’s who the Calder are?”
Veronica sat straighter in her seat.
“I told you, sister,” Kristian said quietly.
“The Calder are a very ancient group of witches. I’m not talking fluffy pagans. These are a different race, even if they look human. For centuries, they’ve hunted us. I suppose you could call them our apex predator. They are to us what we once were to humans.”
“Why did your kind stop killing humans?” Tessa asked, her train of thought derailing.
“I wouldn’t say our kind has stopped completely,” Veronica said with a grin. “Other than it being barbaric, it’s not as easy as it used to be to cover up multiple murders. Not with everyone carrying a portable camera in their cell phone. I won’t say we don’t enjoy a small taste now and then. Just a bite and a few drops of blood from a human can create a somewhat strong bond. And it’s pleasurable to both parties. But ripping someone’s throat out and just drinking them whole? Not very likely. It can be a dangerous pursuit these days. Certain diseases can be passed from humans to vampires, which is another reason most of us depend upon clean blood banks.”
“Vampires can catch diseases?”
“Blood diseases, yes,” she replied. “They won’t kill us, but they could make immortality unpleasant.”
Tessa glanced at Kristian. “You didn’t even have me checked before you nipped me.”
If he were human, Tessa was sure he would have blushed. Instead his brows knitted together. He pursed his lips. “Most humans would not have remembered,” he said quietly.
“Well, since we have already established I am a freak among humans…” Tessa said.
“You really are, aren’t you?” Veronica laughed. It was almost musical the way she laughed, a cold trill too perfect to be human.
“So, you thought the Calder sent me?” Tessa asked.
“They have been known to plant their people in places one wouldn’t expect them,” Kristian said. Veronica nodded in agreement. “An attractive woman with the power to read minds could be a powerful tool for tracking us across the country.”
“I guess that explains why you kidnapped me and all.”
“I again apologize for that,” Kristian said.
* * *
The flight itself took three hours, but they spent another couple of hours in the airport changing flights to throw the witches off their trail. By the time, they touched down in Los Angeles, Tessa was exhausted. She’d only slept a handful of hours after her escape attempt, and not much the night before that. Tessa suffered from insomnia on a regular basis. You could imagine how difficult it might be to sleep while bombarded by the thoughts of a city. Even though she learned to reduce the stream of transient thoughts into a sort of white noise buzz when she needed to, there were always her dreams. Dark memories were transformed into monstrous images at night, haunting her each time she lay her head down at night.
In those few hours after Kristian had found her in the parking lot, she had slept well. She couldn’t figure out what it was that set her at ease. She should have ignored the feeling, knowing that he was a dangerous creature that had kidnapped her, but she didn’t want to. Was it the way he touched her? Or was it his mere presence? She was looking forward to testing her theory further.
After the flight, the drive out to Kristian’s home was another long slog—two hours in heavy traffic. They arrived at the beach house just before sunrise.
“Can you travel in the daylight?” Tessa asked nervously as they entered the house.
“We can, with the help of some very expensive drugs,” he replied coolly. “Otherwise, no.”
“We made sure to take our dosages before we left,” Veronica replied sarcastically. “Couldn’t risk blowing up in balls of flame in case the plane was delayed.”
Tessa stared at Veronica. It wasn’t often she found someone nearly as sarcastic as she was. Of course when she did it would have to be the baby sister of her undead kidnapper. This was going to be fucking interesting.
Kristian took Tessa’s hand, pulling her across the threshold and into the house. He wanted to separate the two of them. He didn’t know if his sister trusted Tess, yet. Veronica disappeared somewhere—literally—she was gone before Tessa could even see which direction he went.
“There are six bedrooms in this house,” Kristian said quietly. “I keep my private suite in the basement, while Veronica keeps her rooms on the main floor. The second floor holds the guest rooms.”
“Do you have many guests?” Tessa asked.
“Occasionally. We have friends who are scattered about, and sometimes we’re lucky enough to have a few of them visit. No one else is here right now.”
“And where will I sleep?” Tessa asked.
“Where would you like to sleep,” he asked. Images of her laying in his bed crept into her mind. She frowned and pushed them away, sure that they were his thoughts.
“I’d like to see the guest rooms.”
Tessa had seen houses like this in magazines, but never been inside of one. The ceilings were twenty feet high, with fans whirring softly above. The living room held a brick fireplace which took up an entire wall. The furniture was simple; a plush L-shaped corner group in dark red and chunky, matching leather chairs in black. The mahogany wood floors shined. She noticed an Oriental rug but only caught a glimpse of the colors in it.
“Let me guess,” Tessa said. “Veronica decorated this room.”
Kristian made a small, dismissive sound. Tessa realized with some amusement he’d sucked his teeth. “She has no idea about such things. I designed this house myself.”
Tessa thought about saying something snarky. The first thought that came to her mind was a vision of him watching HGTV and Food Network after the sun set. She pressed her lips together in a smile at her own joke. “It’s lovely,” she said.
Tessa smiled. She registered his pleasure from her small compliment. It made her happy to know this. With some horror, she wondered why his pleasure should mean so much. She usually didn’t care what anybody thought.
What’s happening to me?
Kristian led her up the staircase, opening into a landing framed by a floor to ceiling window that looked out over the crashing waves of the ocean. He walked up to pull the heavy drapes across the glass, his face apologetic as he turned. Down the hall, he opened the door to a room that was...so much more.