by A A Mize
“I love you, Rowan,” she said softly. He didn’t reply.
Yvette scooted closer to him, draping an arm over his side. She nuzzled her face into the soft skin between his shoulder blades, tangling her fingers in his hair.
43
The clack of pool balls nicely complimented the crackle of the fire in the billiard room of Samiell’s mansion. It was a cozy little room; walls lined with book shelves, adorned with a few small chairs for people to relax in while they waited their turn. Sophie could tell that the room was rarely used. The chairs were still fluffy and thick and showed no signs of wear. When she first saw it she wondered why Samiell had even bothered having a billiard room if no one was around to use it.
The evening might have even been comfortable had Sophie not been fretful. She walked around the table, her eyes on the balls but her mind elsewhere. Rowan, Samiell, and Sarah had been gone for some time, called to the Central Business District to meet with the Elders to discuss the current events in the Quarter.
Since the incident a few nights prior, when Rowan suspected the Rogues had been sent to attack him specifically, there had been another group of them. The Elders were questioning Rowan’s authority, forcing him to go to them personally and explain what he knew and discuss how to punish Matthias for the theft of Rachel’s car. They had summoned Matthias as well, but Sophie and Rowan hadn’t been able to track him down.
Matthias had been missing since the night before, even after making such a scene about Sophie being back before dawn. He didn’t show up for work, either, leaving Sophie and Mamma to handle the bar by themselves. The pair struggled through, but they had made it, making calls to Matthias’s cell every chance they got but to no avail.
Sophie had rushed back to Samiell’s in the hope that Matthias was there, but he was still missing. Sarah recommended Sophie play a game of pool by herself to occupy her mind, assuring her that once they returned, they would track Matthias down.
Sophie picked up her cell phone from the corner of the table and dialed his number again. This time it went straight to voice mail. Probably dead. Her hands gripped the phone tightly, hoping Matthias was alright out there somewhere, safe, but knowing it was probably not the case.
“Where are you, Matthias?” she whispered into nothing.
The storm brewing to the West made it hard not to imagine him lying dead in a gutter, torn apart by another Turned. Sophie swallowed hard and resisted the urge to call him again. It didn’t matter how many times she dialed that number; the phone was off.
“Hey, rack up and I’ll play a game with you,” came a voice that startled her.
She whipped around to see Matthias the doorway with the same old easy grin playing on his face. Sophie rushed to him, dropping the pool cue and her phone as she wrapped her arms around him. She couldn’t think of a time when she had felt so relieved. He was alive.
“What’s all this about?” he asked, placing his hand on the crown of her head.
“You didn’t show up last night and you didn’t come to work. Mamma and I were worried sick. Where have you been?” Sophie asked, pulling away and dabbing a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand.
“Nowhere. Hiding out. Where’s Rowan?”
“He and Samiell had to go meet some Elders. Not sure when they’ll be back but I’m glad you’re here,” Sophie said, picking up her phone and cue off the floor. “You were supposed to go with them but I’m sure it’s too late now.”
Matthias hesitated, then smiled and took a cue for himself from the wall, examining it before chalking it up. Sophie racked the balls, lightning flashing in the window behind her. Matthias stood at the other end, ready to break. When he did, the balls scattered around the table and the pair circled opposite sides, both viewing the set up before them, preparing for their next plays.
“So...” Matthias started, leaning across the table to take another shot. “Do you love Rowan or what?”
Sophie’s hands gripped the cue tightly, masking confusion with a nervous smile. “What?”
“You heard me. Do you love Rowan?” he asked again, more slowly, sinking a ball as a clap of thunder shook the house. The lights flickered overhead, and Sophie tensed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
What was his deal? It was unlike him to approach a subject so harshly and he never pushed her into talking about anything she didn’t want to. Something was wrong with Matthias and Sophie’s knew it. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and her muscles tensed.
“Don’t lie, Sophie,” he said, circling the table toward her. “I know better. I see the way you look at him. It’s kinda obvious. But you know what I don’t understand?”
Sophie backed up to the end of the pool table, the large window behind him flashed with light before the power flickered and went out. The fire reflected in his eyes and Sophie’s blood ran cold. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Why him?” Matthias asked, ignoring Sophie’s question. “I mean, it was my idea to bring you home. Give you a place to stay. I got you that job. I’m your friend, not Rowan. Hell, he hardly even acknowledges you, and you act like the sun sets on his shoulders.” Matthias’s voice was intense but quiet as he towered over her, forcing her to look up at him.
Without warning Matthias grabbed her, wrapping his arms tight around her and pressing his mouth to hers. Sophie’s hands gripped his shirt as she tried to push him away. He broke off the kiss and she gasped for air, his grasp squeezing the breath out of her.
“I’m the one that really cares about you, Sophie. Why don’t you try with me? Try to love me?” He leaned in to kiss her again, only to be met with a slap to his face.
“What are you doing, Matthias? Let me go,” Sophie demanded, but his lips pulled into an unnaturally wide grin.
Another clap of thunder and Sophie was on her back on the pool table, the force of the drop sending shock waves from the back of her head, down her spine. For just a moment the world went black. When her vision came back it was blurry, but she could see Matthias looming over her, a dark shadow in the firelight. He leaned in, kissing her neck as his other hand tore open the front of her shirt.
“Matthias,” she whispered, her head swimming. “Stop.”
Matthias ignored her shaky plea, restraining her wrists when she attempted to fight back. He smiled, eager to play such a dangerous game.
“Look, Sophie...look at how small your wrists are. I could break you. Wouldn’t even be hard,” he mused, observing his hands, wrapped tight around her wrists. Again his mouth met hers and he used his knee to force himself between her legs, pushing her farther up onto the pool table.
Her vision cleared and she tried to push him off, but he didn’t budge. Even if he was human, she would be hard pressed to fend him off with their size difference. He removed one hand from her wrist and slid it under her head, gripping the hair and forcing her head back. A sob caught in her throat when Matthias’s lips grazed over her artery.
“Shhh, you’ll be mine soon,” he whispered, fangs poised and ready to pierce her tender flesh.
From the corner of her eye she could see a billiard ball, glistening red in the firelight. Her hand gripped around it firmly and with all her might she bashed it into the side of Matthias’s head. He grabbed at his ear, a growl of pain and anger escaping him. While he was still reeling from the blow, Sophie rolled over onto her stomach and scrambled across the pool table. She screamed for help, knowing the house was empty.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he bellowed, grabbing her ankles and pulling her back to him, her fingernails tearing the surface of the pool table.
“Let me go!”
“I’m gonna make you regret that,” he snarled, grabbing around her hips with one arm, jerking her violently back into him, the other hand grasping her chin and forcing her head back. Her neck was exposed, her shirt falling from her shoulders as she struggled to push herself up to relieve the pressure on her back.
Matthias’s fangs sank into her sh
oulder as the door burst open. Lightning flashed in Rowan’s eyes when he saw Sophie, exposed and bent back at an awkward angle, blood dripping from where Matthias was feeding from her. Within a second Rowan was across the room, throwing his Pupil into a bookshelf in a surprising show of strength.
Books and statuettes rained down from the shelf, pelting Matthias and surrounding him with heavy tomes and shards of ceramic and stone. He rose from the pile with a laugh, catching himself on what was left of the shelves with his elbow for support.
“Hey! Rowan you arrived just in time to save your pet, eh?” he spat the words out at his Mentor who had stepped between him and Sophie.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Rowan yelled.
Matthias sidestepped until his back was only a few feet away from the window. “Nothin’s wrong with me. Things are about to change around here, Rowan. You aren’t strong enough for this.” Matthias then turned and leaped through the window, glass shattering onto the grass below.
Rowan rushed to the broken window to see Matthias disappear into the shadows of the trees. He was gone for the time being, but he would likely return and when he did Rowan would be ready for him. At the moment there were more pressing matters. He needed to tend to Sophie, who was sitting at the edge of the pool table, pulling her ripped shirt over her chest to cover herself. She was shaking badly, and her breathing was erratic, blood tricking from her shoulder
“Shh, you’re alright,” he said, placing his mouth over the bite to heal it. She shuddered at his touch, pushing against him at first. He slid his coat from his shoulders and draped it around her as Samiell and Sarah hurried in. Rowan helped Sophie to stand but she was reluctant to move any farther once her feet hit the floor. Her arms wrapped tight around his waist and she began to sob.
He’d arrived just in him, but the thought of what could have happened continued to play in Sophie’s head like a bad dream she couldn’t wake up from. Rowan stroked her hair and she clung to him tighter, burying her face in his chest. She wished for nothing more but to be absorbed by him; removed from the pain and fear she was feeling.
“You’re safe, Sophie. Shh, now. He’s gone.”
“Come now, love. Let’s get you cleaned up,” Sarah said, redirecting Sophie to herself to lead her to the bathroom. Sophie reluctantly released Rowan, clinging instead to his coat.
“The boy’s possessed,” Samiell muttered, half to himself as he viewed the yard from the broken window.
“Not possessed,” Rowan corrected. “That wasn’t Matthias. Call the Elders. Send for Horus if you must. Our shape-shifting murderer is closing in.”
44
Rowan chewed his thumb as he paced outside Sophie’s door. Sarah could be heard speaking in hushed tones on the other side, careful to keep her voice low enough that Rowan couldn’t make out what she was saying. Clever girl. She had no choice but to be clever, living under the same roof as Turned; learning their secrets. When she exited the room and passed Rowan with a kind smile, he knew it was faked.
He rapped his knuckles on the door, waiting for Sophie’s answer. It never came. He could hear her shifting around, but she didn’t say anything. He wondered if he should insist on seeing her, or if it would be better to leave her alone. The decision was easy.
“Sophie...may I come in?” he asked, hand poised to knock again. He had no intention of leaving before he had checked on her himself, even if it meant waiting until she was asleep and letting himself in.
“Yes,” she answered, and Rowan entered, closing the door behind him.
Sophie sat at the edge of a large sleigh bed, her arms wrapped tight around her knees. Rowan could tell she wasn’t alright yet. Her heart was still beating too fast, her body trembling from the attack. She didn’t look at Rowan as he approached, instead she held her gaze on the window.
Rowan entered her line of sight, opting for a position by the window to overlook the gardens behind the house. Pale hands clasped behind his back, dark eyes watching shadows on the lawn as the storm clouds broke apart and scattered to the night. Something about it seemed unnatural. The storm had gone as quickly as it had come and light from a full moon cast a silvery glow over the flower beds below.
“My Mentor will be here tomorrow evening,” he said, unsure of where else to begin. Sophie didn’t respond. Her eyes remained fixed on a single point in space. Rowan was certain she wouldn’t have cared if the Queen of England was gracing them with her presence.
“I have Artashir looking for Matthias,” he tested another route. Sophie’s response was visible. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she seemed to be chewing her cheek.
“I want you to know that it wasn’t Matthias that attacked you. A shape-shifter took his form. I know it’s difficult to come to grips with, but you have to believe me,” he said.
“I’m so tired of this,” she whispered. “I’m tired of needing you and Matthias to protect me.”
“Sophie...” Rowan said. She was only human. Surely she knew that as such, she had no hope of defense against the Turned. It wasn’t that he considered her a being he needed to protect, or even that he thought of her as weak. It was a simple fact of nature. A rabbit could not overcome a wolf, and so a human couldn’t hope to overcome a Turned.
“I want you to Turn me,” she said suddenly, her eyes locking onto his gaze, and in their depths, he could see a mix of fear and determination. It caught Rowan off guard and he froze in astonishment. If he Turned her, he would no longer have to lament about sending her away. He could keep her with him forever. It was what he wanted more than most anything.
“Surely you don’t mean that,” he replied, tightening the grip on his own hands behind his back.
“I do. I mean it, and I want it to be you. I want you to be my Mentor,” she said, her voice growing more confident as she slipped from the edge of the bed and neared him.
Rowan backed away, shaking his head solemnly as she approached, pulling her hair aside to reveal the candlelit curve of her neck. He had tasted her blood before and although it had no different taste than any other, he wanted it. Wanted to Turn her and make her what he wanted her to be...Evangeline. It seemed he had no control over himself with her either when he found his fingers grazing her flesh, his thumb tracing the artery from her jaw down to her collarbone. She was close enough that he could feel her warmth, hear her heartbeat, smell her rose hip shampoo. His eyes closed as he took her in, etching her into his memory.
It wasn’t right. Turning her would only be fulfilling his own selfish desires to keep her. And then he remembered how he had felt the previous night, lying in bed after Yvette had fallen asleep. He had missed Sophie’s heartbeat and had lain awake for hours trying to rest without it. Somehow, the house had felt less like his home than it ever had, and he had wished that things could be different. He wished he could keep Sophie human and he would keep her as long as she wanted to stay because without her, the house was an empty shell.
“I can’t,” Rowan whispered into her shoulder, the cool of his breath causing chill bumps to form on her skin. Reluctantly, he backed away, pulling her hands away from where they gripped his shirt in anticipation of his kiss. “You declined my offer before, Sophie. In your clear mind, you didn’t want this life because you felt I was dead inside. Perhaps I am. You didn’t want that for yourself then, and I don’t want it for you now.”
It was the most painful thing he had said to another being in a long time and the two of them stood silent and still, Sophie unable or unwilling to meet his gaze. Still he did not budge in his views. Soon he would have to bid her farewell for good but until that time he hoped she could bring light back into his life. He hoped she could continue to stoke the flame she had set in him and when she did finally part ways with him, they would do so with fond memories and peace. If he Turned her she would only come to resent him later.
It was obvious that she was disappointed, but more than that she was exhausted. Rowan placed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to bed. “It’s been
a long night. You should sleep.”
“Are you going home?” she asked, pulling the comforter up to her chest.
“Yes. I have no choice.”
“Why? Why can’t you stay?”
Rowan sat at the edge of the bed. “Don’t cry. I’ll be back tomorrow. I must return home. If I don’t, there’s a chance Yvette will cause trouble. That, and there are Turned out there who seem to have it out for Matthias and me. Frankly, I think you’d be safer here without Matthias but as he wishes to be stubborn, there’s little I can do. If I could, I would stay here. I know you’re tired of being protected but...” Rowan glanced at Sophie, hoping she understood where he was coming from, only to realize that she was asleep.
He knew it was only a matter of time before she would crash. Matthias knew it as well. She was falling asleep around the house and sometimes Rowan caught her in the window seat, staring out at nothing. It was clear that she had been in pain, covering it when she saw them come around. Asking him to Turn her was a side effect of that crash. She was breaking inside and as much as Rowan hoped to delay telling her she must leave them, he knew it would be in her best interest to find Rachel’s killer as soon as possible. He wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out the way things were going.
Watching her sleep was the most peaceful he had seen her before. It had been easy to tell that she was wearing down, day by day. She hid it as best a human could, but the mask was frail. She was stronger than he first gave her credit for, but everyone has their limits, even the Turned, and he couldn’t help but wonder what her limits were. One thing was clear; if matters weren’t resolved soon, she would surely break. Rowan was determined to keep that from happening, even at the cost of his own happiness.
45
Yvette was waiting, as Rowan had anticipated. He could feel her presence before he even set foot in the house. For the longest time he stood on the sidewalk under the front gallery and dreaded entering his own home, clutching hard at his car keys until he felt his hand might be cut open. The hanging plants from the railing overhead rustled in the breeze, bringing with it the smell of the river and partially shielding Rowan from the view of people across the street as the long fronds swayed down around him.