by A A Mize
“Okay. Just, be careful.”
The line went dead, and Rowan put the phone away, looking down at the food that he had dropped on the floor. Luckily it had all stayed in the bag, so he didn’t have to clean it up, but it was no longer any good for eating. He tossed the bag into the trash before leaving the restaurant. He could pick up something else for her on the way to get his own meal and still be at the park by the time Matthias and Sophie would arrive since Matthias would have to adjust his pace for his human companion.
The next hour passed in a haze; Rowan fed from a lovely dark-skinned woman that smelled of cinnamon and rum. He might have enjoyed her had he not been in a rush. Food for Sophie had been as easily procured and Rowan hoped that it would soften the blow of his news. Too bad there was nothing he could do about his own feelings toward the matter.
In the park, he paced under a massive old oak, one that had been a wee sapling when he was still young himself, now a mighty tree with large wind chimes hung around its branches. Rowan had gone there many times when he needed to think, allowing himself to fall asleep at its roots on a few occasions. That had been very long ago, before the first wind chimes had been hung and although he had enjoyed their music, eventually the chimes lost their luster just like everything else in his life. However, there was a reason he chose that place. It was a place Sophie hadn’t yet experienced and he thought she might like it.
“Rowan!” Matthias called, his hand high as he waved to his Mentor. Sophie followed him closely but remained quiet. The pair joined Rowan under the tree. Matthias plopped down on a bench while Sophie neared the tree, her eyes drawn to the chimes in childlike wonder.
Rowan didn’t acknowledge Matthias at first, instead he watched Sophie with intense curiosity as she circled the tree, drawing her fingers across the bark as she smiled up into the branches. She closed her eyes and listened to the music the wind made as it passed through the chimes.
“It’s beautiful,” was the only thing she said when she rejoined the two Turned men, her eyes still focused up in the branches. “So, why are we here?”
“The Singing Oak,” Rowan said.
“What?” Sophie asked, taking a seat beside Matthias on the park bench.
“The Singing Oak,” Rowan repeated, his hand gesturing toward the tree. “That’s what some call it anyway.”
“We’re here...for a tree?” Sophie asked.
“No, I just...That’s what it’s called.” Rowan pulled his hair from his pony tail only to retie it moments later, a nervous action. “I’m afraid there’s no way to go about this other than to just say it. Due to a recent development, I think it’s best if Sophie goes and stays with Samiell. Just for a while.”
“What? Why?” Matthias asked, clearly shocked.
“Yvette,” Rowan replied, his voice full of shame. “She came to see me after work and she requested to...to come home.”
“And you told her she could?”
“Yes,” Rowan admitted. He could feel Sophie’s eyes on him, hear her heartbeat quicken, but he couldn’t make himself look at her. He was supposed to protect her, and yet he couldn’t even protect himself. Not against Yvette.
Matthias stood, his fists trembling in anger. “What the hell were you thinking? She almost killed Sophie and you allow her to come back?”
“I had no choice!” Rowan shouted back, the guilt of his words pouring out in a flurry of frustrated passion. “She has too much power over me.”
“Stop,” Sophie exclaimed, stepping between them, her back to Rowan, palms on Matthias’ chest. “Just stop. You’re causing a scene.” She was right. Some people passing by had stopped to see what the two men were arguing about. They took a step back. Matthias walking away a few paces.
Rowan looked away from them both, disgusted with himself. “I’m sorry, Sophie. But you can’t stay with me. It’s not safe.”
“Fine. I’ll go to Samiell’s and think about moving home,” she said, her voice edging on tears. “If you can’t say no to her and no one can figure out what happened to Rachel, there’s no point in me being here.”
“Sophie, it isn’t like that.” Rowan took a step forward, but Matthias cut him off.
“Where she goes, I go. There’s a Turned out there that wants me dead, and Sophie has every right to stay in the city until her cousin’s killer is caught. If you can’t protect her from that crazy bitch you call Yvette, then I will.” Matthias’s eyes burned with not only rage, but a far greater emotion: disappointment. “C’mon, Soph. We’ll go pack our stuff and head on over to Samiell’s.”
“No. I’ll escort her there myself. She deserves an explanation,” Rowan said.
“What? And risk your girlfriend showing up and finishing what she started while you just sit by and cheer her on? No way, she’s coming with me.”
“I’m staying with Rowan,” Sophie interrupted. “I want to hear what he’s going to say. Besides, I don’t think he would just sit by and watch. If anything, it might make him angry enough to chase her off again.”
“Fine. Do what you want, but you better have her at Samiell’s before daybreak,” Matthias threatened, sticking a finger in his Mentor’s face, one thing he had never had the nerve to do before.
“We won’t be that long,” Rowan responded. The two men locked eyes, then Matthias turned and left, leaving Rowan and Sophie alone.
The wind blew gently over the grass, rustling the leaves on the ground and causing the limbs to scrape across one another. The soft music of the wind chimes greatly covered the other noises. Rowan sat down on the bench, bracing his head in his hands.
Slowly, Sophie joined him and waited for him to speak.
Eventually he did, sitting up slowly, collecting his thoughts. It wasn’t easy for him—opening up. Especially about a weakness such as Yvette, but Sophie deserved to know what they were dealing with and why he had asked her to leave.
“In the early 1800’s I met Yvette for the first time. Slavery hadn’t been a thing in Italy for a long time, but there was a wealthy man in his wife that would take young girls to work for debts owed by their families. Most of the girls never worked off their family’s debts. The man and his wife were cruel to them, but they didn’t have the means to escape him and those in the couple’s circle that knew what the girls really were, remained too afraid of the couple to report them. One night, Yvette stole a gown from her mistress and attended a masque ball. I fell for her the moment I saw her.
“It didn’t take long for me discover that she was lying about her identity. We began to see each other in secret. Over time she became my lover and after I knew I could trust her, I offered this life to her. One where she would never grow old, never die. She accepted, and I Turned her.” Rowan cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together. “I’ve never spoken of this to anyone before as it’s my shame, but we did something that’s rather taboo for our kind—we shared blood. I mean, we drank each other’s blood frequently. It bonded us in ways that Turned are not meant to bond. It gave her power over me. She can manipulate humans easily, but it takes her drinking the blood of a Turned for her to control them in the same way. I know it’s hard to understand, but when she’s around, she uses her powers of mind control against me in ways I can’t fight. She knows my weakness, and my weakness is her.”
“So, she’s stronger than you and she knows it. She controls you.”
“Yes.”
“How far does that go? I mean, what does that entail exactly?”
“Far more than I first thought. I’m still in control of a small portion of my own thoughts. She can dredge up memories, change my mind to some degree, and it seems she can even control my physical body as well. Little things, like making me say what she wants to hear. Those moments don’t seem to last long, but as you can see from current events, those short moments have a lot of potential for destruction.”
“She made you tell her that she could come back?”
“Yes, she did.”
“What does she want fr
om you?”
“I don’t know. She told me that she only wants me. Wants me to take her back, but I know it’s a lie. There’s something else. There must be. Something I have that she wants and until I know what it is, I have no way of getting rid of her.”
“And you really want that? To get rid of her?” Sophie asked.
“Yes,” Rowan answered without hesitation. “I loved her once—a long time ago. But she changed. Driven by her need for revenge, she became a different person. I promise, Sophie, if I could make her leave, I would. I just don’t know how.”
Sophie seemed to understand what was happening as it became clearer that Rowan was, in a sense, a man possessed. He was tormented by Yvette. She was playing him like a violin and he had little choice but to be her unwilling instrument.
“I get it. If you want me to stay away until you figure things out, I will,” Sophie said as she stood to walk away, but a firm grip caught her wrist.
“I don’t want you to stay away, I need you to stay away. I don’t know what Yvette wants, and I don’t know what she is capable of. It seems every time we meet she shows me some new power. This is the only way I can keep you safe. You have a right to know what happened to Rachel, and I plan on figuring that out, even with Yvette around. Please just, give me time,” Rowan requested releasing Sophie’s wrist as if he just realized he was holding it. There was something inside of him that was losing control in a different way than when he was with Yvette. This was different, and yet familiar. He rubbed his palm, trying to sort out what he was doing.
Sophie just stared at him, confused. Her fingers found her wrist and she held it tightly under the cuffs of her jacket. “I’ll give you time. But you be careful, too. If she can control you that easily and you don’t give her what she wants...” Sophie didn’t finish the sentence. They both knew what she feared speaking.
“I will,” Rowan replied, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his double-breasted trench coat. “Come now, we need to get you to Samiell’s or we’ll risk upsetting Matthias,” Rowan grumbled sarcastically, walking back in the direction he had come.
However, Sophie didn’t budge. When Rowan turned to ask her what was wrong, she didn’t seem hear the words come out of his mouth. It was as if she saw him for what he was; a creature from a different time. He tried to see himself through her eyes as they stood under the Singing Oak, hundreds of years old but still not as hold as him. He would long outlive her and someday she would only be a memory. He was a magical being after all, untouched by time.
“Sophie?” Rowan said, snapping her out of her little trance.
“I’m fine. Just zoned out there for a minute.”
“Come,” he said holding out an arm for her to take. Without hesitation she hooked her hand around his elbow to walk beside him.
In only a few short years to him, she would be gone. Her grip tightened on his arm and he wondered if she was thinking the same thing.
40
Matthias roamed the streets alone, hands shoved in his pockets. The chains that hung from the pockets of his new coat jingled softly with every step. It had been an hour since he and Sophie had met Rowan in the park and he was still angry. His mentor’s lack of self-control was beyond disappointing. Rowan was supposed to protect the Quarter, but he couldn’t even protect Sophie from Yvette. It was pathetic. Matthias kicked a beer bottle down the street, watching it bounce off the curb and roll into the light of neon signs.
If Rowan had known Matthias was in that area he might have skinned him alive. It wasn’t a place where Pupils of reputable Mentors went to feed. A little petty payback here and there never hurt anyone, and Matthias hoped another Turned saw him. Then Rowan could be equally as disappointed in him. God forbid he soiled his Mentor’s reputation.
Matthias scoffed to himself as a homeless human smiled a wide toothless grin at him as he passed, stating he could tell him where he got his shoes. Matthias didn’t even look at the man. That scam was as old as time. It was hard to believe people still fell for it, but they did. He could walk through the Quarter any given day and hear the same old ‘I bet I can tell you where you got them shoes’ only for a curious tourist to take the bet and immediately lose when the scammer told them they have their shoes were on whatever street they stood on.
Two things brought him around that part of town: food and a fix. If he was lucky he’d get both in one go. He hadn’t been high or even drunk in a while but for some reason it sounded like a good idea. Maybe he would get just buzzed enough to ease off his anger at Rowan.
It didn’t take long to find the perfect meal. She sat at the bar in some hole-in-the-wall joint Matthias hadn’t been to in a while. It used to be one of his more frequent haunts when he was first Turned, and he wasn’t sure what made him go back. Just felt right.
His prospect was already high, and it was obvious though she didn’t seem the type. He assumed she was some college girl who decided to live on the edge for the night. She had short curly brown hair and big doe eyes. Her lips were painted a pale pink and when she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled he knew he had a chance.
Something about her looked familiar, like a dream he couldn’t’ quite grasp. His gut told him to run but his brain didn’t want to comply. A comforting fog settled over him and he ignored his instinct. Luring her away from her friends was easy. All it took was a couple of drinks and a kiss and she was ready to go.
The woman led Matthias by his hand around into the alley and into the darkness. For a moment, he paused, breaking away from her as he thought of the night he fed from Rachel. It was so similar. Dark alley, drunk girl. He hesitated.
“Come on sweetheart, before I change my mind.” She beckoned him with her finger and disappeared into the darkness.
Matthias’s stomach rumbled, and he followed her. He no longer wanted that fix. Food was the only thought. That and getting back to Samiell’s house to be sure Sophie was safe. The woman didn’t seem messed up enough that he couldn’t find his way home if he fed from her so he pressed her to the wall, his fangs finding her neck as his fingers tangled in her hair. She groaned against him, free from the pain of it all, just as Matthias was supposed to do.
It wasn’t until he released her that he realized something was wrong. A sharp pain pierced his chest and the stranger was grinning maliciously at him. His eyes trailed down to the syringe sticking out from above his heart, a nasty yellow liquid forced into his body. Lights swam before his eyes, just like it did when he fed from Rachel. Whatever this was, he had been high off it when Rachel went missing.
“What?” he mumbled, stumbling back into the middle of the alley, the syringe dropping to the pavement.
The woman giggled and sauntered toward him as he sank to his knees, his vision blurring. How could he have been so stupid? There was a Turned out there trying to kill him and he had fallen into a trap.
“Aww, Junior can’t handle his poison,” she tutted, then her face began to change. Rosy cheeks lifted higher and her eyes turned from brown to blue. Her short brown bob haircut shifted in color to a radiant honey blonde as the hair grew longer. Everything about the woman’s body changed and when her transformation stopped, Matthias stared up at her in horror. The drugs seeped through his veins but for a moment the haze lifted from his brain and he realized where he had seen the woman before. She was the one he had given Rachel over to. Ivanka.
“Yvette,” the name came out as a moment of realization. It was her. All of it. She was a shape-shifter. Pieces of Rachel’s case that had been missing suddenly made sense. She had transformed into Ivanka, drugged Rachel, and later murdered her. She had set the whole thing up. Now she was going to kill him before he could warn Rowan.
Matthias’s jaw clenched tight as he tried to push himself from the pavement, afraid that lying down would only quicken whatever fate she had in store for him. He had to fight back.
Yvette laughed, sticking the six-inch heel of her boot into the hollow of his throat, forcing him down to th
e cold, wet ground. Lights danced in his vision, swirling around her as if she was an angel. Too bad he knew better.
“You know, Matthias, you’re one hard man to kill,” she said as she squatted to sit on his hips, pulling out a blade and observing it between her slender, ruby-tipped fingers. “Not that I really tried that hard,” she shrugged, drawing the blade up the part in his coat, popping off the buttons until she could pull it open to see the shirt underneath. “I thought for sure after I framed you for killing that human that the cops and the Elders would be on you fast. But I guess the humans are devising new forensic techniques every day, huh?”
The blade sliced through his shirt and he flinched as the cold metal grazed his flesh. There was no use in moving, his limbs were numb from the drugs and he was fighting to stay conscious as she pulled the blade across his bare chest. Fresh blood, dark and thick trickled from the wound but Matthias felt no pain. Instead, he felt a heat there, growing ever hotter as the blood pooled. Yvette’s now bloody knife hooked under the chain of the sugar skull pendant Sophie had given him. Yvette pulled the pendant up to view it more closely, then she touched it, as if reading the object itself for memories.
“A gift from Sophie? Rowan had one, too. A little crescent moon,” she scoffed. “Funny isn’t it? How attached humans get. Did she know what you were when she brought you this? That you were a monster? Oh, I forgot. Cats got your tongue.”
“Screw off,” he slurred.
“Matthias, do you know what happens when Turned share blood?” she asked, looking at the blood on her finger in the moonlight.
Matthias couldn’t hold on much longer. His eyes began to roll into the back of his head, though he was still able to understand what she was saying. A heavy blow to his face brought him back just a little bit. Yvette’s small hand held a lot of power behind it and his cheek started to bruise immediately from the force, devoid of pain but burning hot like fire.