“Helena, I need to pay and then we better hurry home to get ready for class,” I say.
“I already paid. I knew we had to hurry. Let’s go, sweetheart. Bye, Aurora,” Helena says as we run out the door.
“Thanks for paying,” I say once we get settled in the car. “Let me know what I owe you.” I take out my check book but she lays her hand on it.
“My treat today. Aidan really hurt your feelings and mine too. I know he needs to move on but he did this in a stumbling way that hurt too many people. I’m sure Manda was confused and upset too.”
“Yes, I heard her question him as we left,” I say.
“I heard too. What was he thinking?” Helena says slapping the steering wheel.
“He was thinking with his heart, Helena. He is beyond happy. Couldn’t you see that?” She nods. “Even in my pain I saw that. It’s all I’ve ever wished for him,” I whisper.
Helena reaches over and grasps my hand tightly and then takes it back to drive. When we pull up to the manse, Sebastian is standing on the front steps in faded jeans and a cable knit sweater, hands tucked in his pockets. Just waiting for us to come home. He walks to my side of the car and opens my door. I smile at him when I see the tight lines around his eyes. I insert myself inside his arms and hug him tightly. He hesitates then holds me so closely I doubt that the air can pass between us.
I pull back slowly and he leans down and kisses the corner of my mouth. I touch his face.
“Thanks, Bast. I really needed that. Thank you.”
“Any time and always, cherie,” he says hoarsely.
He follows me closely as we enter the house. Helena and I go upstairs to change for class. I’ve put on tight black pants and a tight pink sports bra to kick box in. They have to be tight so they don’t get snagged by our opponent or trip us up. I go back downstairs to the library. Andrew is in Liam’s lap kissing his amour. I have to clear my throat three times before they come up for air.
“Oh, Miss Lily, sorry,” Andrew says. He hops up and walks over to me. “Damn, Girlfriend, you look serious about this kick boxing thing.”
“I am, Andrew. I’d watch myself if I were you,” I say as I fake a jab at him.
“Make it count, Cherie, or don’t waste the energy. I want to know you can kick some ass,” Sebastian says as he is studying my posterior.
“Uhm, Sebastian, my face is up here,” I say jokingly.
He laughs loudly but doesn’t apologize. He walks past me and whispers in my ear something about liking both views.
Julian comes walking in with Helena. She’s wearing calf length pants and an electric blue sports bra like mine. Her hair is put up into a pony tail.
“You ready, Lily?” Helena asks. She bounces on the balls of her feet and throws some punches. “I’m so ready to spar. I hope we get to tonight.”
“I love this side of you, ‘Lena,” Julian says as he smacks her on the bottom as she walks by him. She winks at him and his grin gets bigger.
“OMG I do not want to know what that was all about,” Andrew says throwing his hands up. “It’s like walking in on my parents. Eeuw.”
Sebastian and Julian both laugh at Andrew. Helena just scoffs at him and pushes me through the front door. We take my car and I drive. We park in the same parking garage and make it to class early this time. We have plenty of time for the retina scanner security. Then we take the elevator to the level three.
We get a treat as we see Katie, our beginner instructor, sparring with another teacher. They finish up when Katie throws a roundhouse to the thigh of the man she is fighting and he goes down. He gets back up and they bump gloved fists. Katie spits out her mouth piece and waves to us.
“Hey guys, good to see you. What do you think?” Katie asks.
“You’re amazing,” Helena says. “I want some of that action!” Katie laughs at her.
“You’ll get some of it. You guys will be sparring tonight. Lily, what do you think?”
“I’m thinking how the hell did Petra get into this class?” I ask as I glare over to the offending person who punched me in the nose the other night. Katie’s and Helena’s heads snap around. Katie lets out a small growl. Petra grins and waves her fingers at us.
“There’s only one way and that’s if one of the male instructors were using the wrong head to evaluate her. This just pisses me off.” She strips off her gloves and stomps into the office. We see her waving her arms around and pointing out in our direction. We turn as one and notice Petra standing in front of us.
“Petra,” I purr lethally. “What can I do for you?”
“Nothing, I thought we could let bygones be bygones and start fresh tonight. I heard we are supposed to be sparring,” the short, shorts-clad vamp says.
“I suppose that’s okay.” I hold my hand out and she shakes with me, squeezing my hands to the point of the bones rubbing together. Then she turns and bounces away.
“Do you trust her?” Helena whispers in my ear.
“Not for an instant,” I whisper back.
“Smart thinking,” she says.
Katie comes out of the office. She’s quite angry. I can almost see the steam rolling off of her.
“This is so much bullshit,” Katie says. “She asked to retest with someone else and nailed everything. Either she nailed them literally or she was purposefully dicking around in my class. Either way, don’t trust her. I’m not going to.” Katie walks away to clean up.
Helena raises an eyebrow at me just as the instructor asks everyone to gather around. He makes introductions because of the new classmates. His name is Seth. He explains to us that the teachers rotate and that tonight we are sparring. He is going to watch us newbies closely and explain the rules as we go.
We spread out on the mats and he starts to pair us up. Oh no. Please no. Yep. I’m paired with putrid Petra. He asks Petra and I to watch some matches before he will let us start. He puts Helena with a more advanced student who can mentor her. Ha. She’s a taste for this.
Our time to start arrives and Seth tells us bow to each other. Just as we are bowing, Petra winks at me and shows a tiny bit of fang. Dammit.
She comes flying out of the bow grabbing my hair and bringing her knee up to my face. I manage to move enough so that she only gets the side of my head but it is enough to make me see stars for a second and she recovers fast.
I stumble back but still get clipped by her follow up punch to my solar plexus. Meanwhile Seth is screaming at her. She’s got a blood lust on. I tighten my gloves around my fists and punch her in the face. She’s stunned and doesn’t see the kick to the side of her head coming. Another punch to the face and she goes down to one knee. I’d go farther but I think Seth would start having kittens, so I back up. He reaches in to grab Petra and she has already recovered. She flies up, fangs bared and claws out. Seth is so surprised he lets go of her. Thanks, Seth. It looks like it’s me and Petra again until two of my bigger classmates tackle her to the ground.
“What the fuck is going on?” Seth yells, recovering himself. Katie comes running back into the room.
“Nothing special, I thought we were sparring,” Petra whines. She struggles against her captors. I notice she put the claws and teeth away, though.
“That’s not how you spar, chick, this is the second time you’ve attacked Lily. What’s your problem?” Katie says getting in Petra’s face. Petra doesn’t back down. In fact she steps up. Big mistake.
Katie pushes her back a step and Petra stumbles. When she recovers herself she jumps Katie and tries to bite her while pulling Katie’s hair. If there is anything I hate about the way girls fight it’s that they always go for the hair. Katie hisses and her fangs descend. She shoots an uppercut to Petra’s chin, knocking her head back but Petra won’t let go of Katie’s hair, the bitch. I jump in and grab Petra’s hands and extricate them from Katie’s hair. All the men are just standing around like they don’t know what to do.
As soon as Petra figures out who has her she goes wild. She latc
hes onto my wrist with her fangs biting viciously and starts drinking. I think she means to drain me. I desperately stick my finger in her eye and she screams letting go of my wrist. Just as Katie and I are going to pounce, Helena steps into my peripheral vision.
“Enough!” Helena shouts sending a spell at Petra, knocking her on her ass hard enough to keep her there. “You,” she points at Seth. “Go get some rope or something and tie this child up. She has to answer some questions and she is much too wild to do it unrestrained.”
Seth runs for the office and comes back with some jump ropes. He and another student tie Petra up as she comes out of her stun. She starts to hiss at them. They’re careful not to get their hands close to her mouth.
“Now, Petra, why are you attacking Lily?” Helena asks her while staring into her eyes. I know she is using her glamour. Petra won’t be able to resist. Ha! Some vamps can resist another vamp’s glamour but Helena is hundreds of years older than Petra. She doesn’t stand a chance.
“Because Mark loves her. Mark’s mine… I love him…” Petra says and drools a little.
“Oh good grief,” I say rolling my eyes. “Petra, Mark is my friend, not my lover. Do you understand?”
She nods her head.
“You will go from here and never come back. Go!” Helena says, waving her hand and sending a spell that unties her. Petra gets up and walks out of the building.
“Good Goddess,” I say. “I’m sorry, Katie. I didn’t even know who she was. I’ve only met Mark twice. What a mess. If you want me to quit the classes I would understand.”
“Of course not, this is why you need to take them. You need to be able to defend yourself against whack jobs like her out there. By the way, thanks for the help,” she says as she softly punches me on the shoulder. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” she says as she nods to my wrist, “while Seth finishes up the class.”
“Thanks, Helena. You want to spar with me for the last round?” Seth asks.
“Yes! I’ve been dying to get into a good friendly fight all night,” she says smiling.
19 AIDAN
“Aidan, she wasn’t just a friend. What the hell? You and I need to have a talk,” Manda says the minute we hit my flat.
“Do you want anything to eat or drink, Manda?” I ask.
“Stop stalling, Aidan.”
I sigh and sit down. I rub my hands over my face and through my hair.
“Is it that bad,” she whispers. I sense her insecurity in her energy and rush to her side. I take her in my arms.
“Shhh… Manda, since the moment I saw you, I’ve been inexplicably drawn to you. I love Lilith but I am ready to move on. You make me so happy.”
She stares into my eyes and finally nods. Manda walks to the couch and sits down.
“Tell me,” she says simply.
“I was destined to wander the earth alone. I had for millennia. I was bored, lonely, desolate. I was an empty shell and wanted my existence to end. I tried every way you could think of to kill myself and nothing worked, because a djinn is almost impossible to kill.” I sit next to her and take her hand. She squeezes it. “Djinn have been held as slaves by vampires in the past and are always in danger of being enslaved by others if they know their true names. I have been lucky, only captured twice in all my long years. Almost a third time but Lilith saved me from the witches who tried.”
“One night I called into the San Francisco Suicide Hotline to see if I could get advice on how to kill myself.”
She tries to suppress a giggle and I give her a half smile. She instantly sobers.
“I’m sorry, Aidan. The irony of it, though.”
“I know. The person on the other end freaked out. Begged me not to do it. Asked what she could do, since I was on the Golden Gate Bridge ready to jump. I was intrigued a human would go to such lengths. I was lonely so I said she could meet me on the bridge and we could talk,” I say.
“It was Lilith,” she gasps.
“Yes, it was Lilith.”
“But you told me she is a vampire. I thought they feed off humans. Why would she want to save them?” Manda truly looks confused. Her brow has the cutest crinkle in it. I kiss it and she smiles at me shyly.
“She saves them because she can’t bare taking sustenance from them. At that time I was a vampire hunter. I froze her and was going to kill her. Something about her enchanted me. She challenged me, enlightened me and made me question myself.”
I summon a glass of wine for Manda. She takes a sip and motions me to go on.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about her. A benevolent vampire? Such a thing didn’t exist in my world. I had to know more so I followed her. Got to know her and her family. Fell in love with her.” I look down at my hands and they are shaking. Manda puts one of hers over mine.
“Thank you. I fell so in love with her I couldn’t breathe on my own anymore. But, so had Sebastian. We fought each other, we fought against others to protect her. She finally chose him. But I vowed I could wait for my time because I knew she loved me too.”
“Finally my chance came and I took it. We had one magickal night but I think I broke her. I pushed myself into her life so hard that she became confused about what and who she was that she didn’t want either Sebastian or me. She’s been miserable for months. So much so that she lost her job and started spiraling down, hanging out with the wrong people. Drinking. I couldn’t watch so I left. I rode the winds. I came back one day and I saw you.”
“So I’m the rebound girl,” she says and looks down and shakes her head. “I knew this was too good to be true.”
“No! In no way are you a rebound girl. You are truly the first woman I have seen clearly, freshly. There is no baggage between us. I care for Lilith but not like that anymore. Once I got my head clear it was amazing the perspective I gained. It’s been over for months. Honestly from the first minute that I saw her. I was just too inexperienced in love to realize it. Manda, I adore you. Please don’t feel that way about yourself. You are not a rebound girl. I want a woman who loves and sees me for me alone. Lilith will always have a place in my heart but in a different way than before. It was like a intense first crush. I don’t want to belittle her because there is much more to Lilith than some object of my affection, but you complete me.”
“Well, when you put it that way,” she says hoarsely. I lean in and kiss her deeply, twisting my hands into her hair. She is so sweet and strong. I crave her and feel I can’t get enough of her. I keep the guilt I feel tucked down deep. I will always love Lilith, but I know that chapter of our relationship is over. We both need to move on. I still feel some jealousy but Sebastian is a good man for her if she will have him.
I can’t believe I feel that way. After all the fighting and anguish.
I pull back into the here and now and kiss Manda’s neck making her shiver. She pulls back from me.
“Aidan, she must have been shocked to see the two of us together today. You described her as a good friend. That wasn’t very kind. It’s not something that the man I know would do,” she says looking at me sternly. My shame shows plainly, I’m sure.
“I didn’t know how to tell her. I thought this would be the easiest. I didn’t think she cared anymore. But when I saw the hurt in her eyes I knew I had to talk to her and tell her what was happening.” I rub my hands across my face again, pulling my hair up on end. “That’s why I offered to take her to her appointment but I think she was too hurt to allow it.”
“How can you make amends? You know you need to or it will eat at you,” Manda says. Gods, she knows me well so soon.
“I don’t know. Lilith is stubborn, especially when she has been hurt and I did hurt her today. I need to talk to Sebastian.”
“Go now that you know she is gone. Talk to Sebastian. I’ll wait here,” she says as she takes my hand and squeezes. “I feel like there is something good between us, Aidan, and I want us to start with a clean slate. You need to take care of this. We need Lilith’s blessing.”
�
��I’ll pop over right now.” I kiss her long and hard until she is breathless and then I evaporate.
I land at the front door of the manse and knock. Andrew answers and gives me a hard look.
“Please don’t be mad at me too, Andrew. I have to make amends to Lilith. I’d like to count you as a friend still, always.” Andrew dabs at his eyes and suddenly grabs me, pulling me into a hug.
“You helped me through my turning, Mr. Aidan. How could I ever not be your friend? But, I don’t like how you treated Miss Lily today. That was not right,” he huffs.
“You’re right, Andrew. I didn’t know how to tell her. I’d hoped letting her meet Manda would help. But I know I hurt her. I have to make it right. I need to ask Sebastian how. I think he is the best man for her,” I say.
“Finally! Now we can stop all this back and forth,” Andrew says.
“You’ve forgotten one thing,” a cold deep voice comes out of the shadows. Sebastian walks forward. “Lily makes up her own mind. We don’t manipulate her, we don’t trick her and definitely don’t fucking hurt her anymore.”
Sebastian pushes me against the wall. Hard.
“What the fuck were you thinking bringing Manda here like that, Aidan? How could she not be hurt by that? Even if she just wants to be friends. You just spring in deliriously happy for the first time in months and she knows that it’s because you aren’t hanging around her anymore?” Sebastian growls out.
“I know. I was stupid. Manda means a lot to me. Lilith means a lot to me. I wanted them to meet. I didn’t think it through,” I say.
“No, you didn’t. And as much as I love Lily, I can’t just make it better for you. Right now our relationship is very tenuous. She is gun shy to say the least and you probably set her back a couple of months,” Sebastian says and then curses under his breath. “Come into the damn library. We’re all arguing in the entryway like uncivilized fools.”
Julian is having a cup of tea with Liam and from the look on his face I know he has heard everything. He looks a little pissed too. Great. Since when do I care what vampires think about me? Since they’ve become my family.
Suckers Bite Back (San Francisco Vampires #5) (Vampires of San Francisco series) Page 10