by J. J. McAvoy
Frowning, I couldn’t help but say, “That sounds like slavery. Are you happy just following words and commands without question like that?”
“Yes.” And for the first time, a tiny lift of the mouth that had to be a smile appeared on her lips. “It is not slavery. I chose to be here because here is where we are free.” She was genuine, and I was confused.
I didn’t understand that. But I didn’t want to push it. My mind was overloaded as it was. Brushing the hair from my face, I stepped forward, moving into the room.
“Lady Rhea—”
“You are to call her Mother, or Rhea, but preferably Mother,” she corrected, not moving from her fixed place by the door.
“Rhea.” I definitely wasn’t going to call that woman, Mother. “Does not seem like she likes me enough to even give me a closet, let alone clear out a room.”
She didn’t answer. Then again, I didn’t ask a question.
“She knew I was coming and doesn’t like me. Why didn’t she just shove everything back in here?” Seeing as the woman had the whole place turned into a ghost town and even pushed me; she seemed petty enough.
“I cannot speak of the intentions or desires of Lady Thorbørn, which are not offered to me. Thus, I do not have the ability to answer such a question.”
Okay...then I’d ask a different one. “Did Lord...Did Sigbjørn explain why he wanted me to get away from the rest of the family? Or better yet, why you were picked to take me here?”
“Lord Thorbørn does not need to explain himself, nor does he normally. However, he knew you would ask, and so he directed me to explain. I was chosen because I cannot lie, nor do I bend protocols, regulations, or etiquette. I will never be your friend, for I am at the service of this nation and family.”
“So...” I thought carefully about what that meant. “You are here, so I learn protocol, regulations, and étiquette? You will not change for anyone or anything, so I would need to act accordingly?”
She nodded. “He said you would understand partially, and I was telling you that you may be who you are, but you must also be more than that. For a family is a sum of all parts together. For as long as it takes you to digest and accept that, you may remain in this room.”
“What?” I panicked. “So, this is jail? I can’t leave until I agree to follow the rules?”
“You must stop thinking as a mortal, mistress,” she stated, and at that point, I wasn’t sure if it was her or Sigbjørn speaking, but I was confident she would not say it if it weren’t the truth—at least truth to her.
“How am I thinking as a mortal?”
“Every foreign thought or practice is meant to harm you, is the thought of mortals,” she replied. “You are not being imprisoned. Those who serve here are not slaves, and the titles given to you are not for pomp and circumstance. It is our way. If you wish to leave, I will show you the door, and whatever you wish to take with you will be given, whether it is gold, silver, or land. If you go, you will never be disturbed or insulted or even spoken about by anyone here, ever. You can be free of all this and them, for no Thorbørn would follow you.”
Not even Theseus... No, I didn’t want him to just leave with me. How could I make him give up his family? But...all of this...
“He knew all of this was a lot to understand and digest for one so young and uncultured as you. Even more so, with the whole family questioning you and your unease by the presence of so many other vampire’s unknown to you.”
It was then that I started to understand. “So, he had you lead me away from them, so I could be at ease, and you could explain all that I was walking into...or better yet, already in? In here...what? He wants me to decide if I am going to stay or leave?”
She answered by walking back out the door, but before she closed it, she spoke. “There is no rush for you to decide, either way. He wishes for you to take more time rather than less, thinking of only your own desires. They shall all stay as you left them and wait for you, even if it takes hours, days, or years. I shall await your choice from out here as well, mistress.” She did not wait for me to respond before closing the doors.
They would stay as I left them. So, if it took me years, they would all just sit in silence in the living room waiting for me? That would be insane. The thought of Ulrik silent for so long didn’t even seem possible. He’d at least try to mess with Melora, and she’d definitely respond.., or would they? Was it different since their father had given a command?
Would that be enough to make sure Theseus would never look for me again if I left? Thinking of Theseus made me lower my head. With everything he’d done for me, could I just run away?
“How selfish,” I whispered, no longer wanting to stand. Instead, I lowered myself down onto the floor until I laid completely flat, looking up at the bare ceiling. I felt weird. Part of me wanted to run; this wasn’t my world. I wasn’t a princess. I didn’t really care about vampire-society protocols. I didn’t know how to do family. I liked Theseus, but the vampire came with a hell of a lot of baggage.
“Says the vampire who doesn’t even remember her mortality.” That light voice, the one that directed my magic, spoke in my mind.
“Who are you?” I asked
“Who are you?” she questioned back.
“Druella Zirie Monroe.” A month ago, I would have just said an art history nerd. But I’d become so many things since then. I’d seen so many things now.
“Because of Theseus,” she stated.
“Yeah.” But it all came at a price.
The further I went with him, the more unstable everything became. I’d never doubted who I was before, and now I wasn’t sure of my own past. And if I didn’t know that, what else didn’t I know? How was I connected to the Omeron witches? Why did he appear right in front of me? Why couldn’t I give in to him even though I did like him? Why did I have memories of things I didn’t remember? What was going on?
My heart was dead, but I could feel it now as if it were alive, beating and drumming the more I questioned.
If I stayed with Theseus maybe, maybe I’d get answers, but wasn’t that wrong, too? Rhea was right in a way. How could I see how genuine and earnest he was and only want to use him as a history book? After all the romances I had read, after paintings I’d spent days on, did I really not know how to love? Was I broken?
I’d always been alone. I was used to being alone, but I hated being alone.
“Ugh.” I sniffled, reaching up to clear whatever that was blurring my vision only feel it was wet. “Tears?”
I stared at the clear water on my finger. I was crying. My first tears. I hated being alone so badly that it brought tears to my eyes. Since when?
“Since loneliness meant life without Theseus.” She, this voice, spoke again, also sniffling.
“Who are you, and why are you in my head? Theseus! Theseus! Theseus! If it isn’t him, it’s magic you appear for!”
“Who are you, and why are you confining me?” she shot back.
Placing my hands on my face, I closed my eyes, trying to regain my sanity. As if I wasn’t already a mess, now I was having a mental argument with myself. Wait. Opening my eyes, I sat up.
“Myself?” I repeated. Feeling my hands tingle, I rushed to my feet and walked toward the only mirror in the room.
Staring into the glass, into my own brown eyes, I wasn’t sure what to say, and I didn’t have any rhymes, but I smelled the magic.
“You aren’t going to help me out on this one?” When the words didn’t come.
Silence.
“Oh, now you’re quiet? Fine.” I sighed, rubbing my hands together before pointing to it. “Mirror, mirror, against this wall, please answer this jumbled call.” The mirror trembled, and I grinned. “Show me her face once and for all.”
She appeared in the mirror dressed in jeans and my favorite old black and white Converse sneakers.
Her...our dark curls out and parted to the side. It was me, but not me. Mortal me. The one from my memories, maybe younger, a teenager. And as if it weren’t disturbing enough to see an alternate view of myself in a mirror, I had to see myself in a straitjacket. Her eyes were filled with tears as she tugged against the sleeves.
“Free us,” she begged, and I reached out.
I reached in to tug at the jacket, but the moment I touched it, it burned my fingers so badly that I pulled back, gripping my blistering hand. The skin was torn and red for a second before it started to heal.
“Free us,” she demanded again.
“How?”
“Theseus.” It was all she said before disappearing, and I tried to call her back, but she was gone from the reflection.
“Theseus!” I turned at the sound of laughter.
There I was again, however, outside by a waterfall that fell behind a stone. Under the light of the full moon was Theseus and me. Both of us laughed as I jumped onto him. He held me and turned once before running with all his strength and leaping straight up above the waterfall as if we were flying. No, we were flying. He’d taken us up, but I kept us there.
“I’m flying!” I cried out in joy.
“Yes, and without a broom,” he teased, causing me to smack him, and he laughed more.
Being the person I was, I let him slip, his body, sinking toward the ground.
“Druella!” he called out, but I grabbed his hand. “So petty.”
“Me?” I pretended to be shocked. “It was an accident. I haven’t used magic like this before.”
“Sure.” He hugged me tighter as we floated. “You were surely going to let me crash to the earth.”
“It’s not like you would die,” I teased, wrapping my arms around his neck. “But honestly, ever since you came into my life, my magic has gotten so much stronger.”
“Yes, love does make witches crazy.” He grinned.
“And what does it do for vampires?” I snapped back.
“I can’t speak on behalf of all vampires...”
“No, but you can on witches?”
He smiled but ignored me. “But in my case, it makes me into the greatest love-drunk fool in the universe.”
“So, it also makes you crazy?”
“Pretty much.”
The vision faded, and when I woke up, I was staring up at the ceiling, alone in a much-darker room.
The sunlight which had entered the room faded, and I knew for sure I couldn’t leave here. I needed to stay next to Theseus. I didn’t understand everything that was happening to me, but I would figure it out with him just like he said when we came here. But not just that, I wanted to be that version of me, who laughed with him over a waterfall in the midnight moonlight.
“Pelopia?”
“Yes, mistress,” she said, opening the door as I moved to the suitcase I had brought from Montréal.
“Can you help me unpack these?” I asked, smiling.
Without missing a beat, she replied, “Anything you wish I shall have it brought. Do you have any instructions on how you wished them unpacked, mistress.”
I just stared at her.
This was really going to take some getting used to.
Chapter 24
I’d showered and redone my hair, actually putting it into a style other than a high bun. Changing into a long-sleeve, emerald wrap jumpsuit and the pointed satin flats Lucy had picked out for me, I was more grateful with each step I took that I’d let her select my purchases. I had more confidence as I walked down the long hall toward the living room. At least I looked nice. Among humans, it wasn’t an issue, but among other vampires, beauty and perfection was a standard I didn’t want to fall below.
Pelopia held the door for me, and when I stepped out, they were all there, exactly as I had left them. None of them said anything. They were still. They looked like statues—all of them but one. Theseus looked up from where he stood at the fireplace, his grey eyes reflecting the light of the flames. It took him second, and he even blinked, before he walked—slowly for a vampire—toward the bottom of the stairs. I watched him until he was there, waiting for me, before I stepped down, noticing that Pelopia did not follow behind me. When I reached the final step, he reached out for my hand, and I gave it to him.
Lifting it to his lips, he kissed the back of it and exhaled. “Has anyone told you that you could worry a vampire back into a grave?”
I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off.
“That’s the first thing you chose to say to her?” It came from a vampire I didn’t know but who looked very familiar, just like Ulrik but with short brown hair, instead of blond, and green eyes instead of blue.
“If you think that’s bad, you should have seen him just napping away while she drove him home, Hinrik.” Ulrik grinned, sitting up from the couch as his brother took a seat on the arm.
“He wouldn’t?” Hinrik replied instantly
“He did.” Ulrik shook his head in shame. “And would have slept at least another day or more and had her carry him inside had I not woken him up.”
“So, it was Theseus who killed chivalry.” Hinrik also shook his head.
“Murdered it without mercy.” Ulrik laughed as did Hinrik.
“Are you both quite done?” Theseus grimaced, glaring at them.
They both opened their mouths to speak but didn’t dear say anything as Sigbjørn closed his book. It was loud to get attention, or he’d merely finished it, or at least looked to have finished it. Nevertheless, they didn’t speak again. Sigbjørn stood, walking forward to the steps, standing in front of where Rhea sat, her body turned away from us and toward the fire. He stretched out his hand to her.
“Come Draka, let us welcome our new daughter,” he said to her.
Her eyes narrowed on him, but she stood and took his hand, rising. “How free you are with that word, my love.”
“Only to match how guarded you are with it,” he replied as he all but pulled her to where Theseus and I stood. When he reached us, he looked directly down at me. “And there is no longer a reason for it. If she were incapable of loving as you said, she would not be here now. Is that not correct, daughter?”
Not trusting my voice, I nodded and glanced over to Rhea who looked me over again, her eyes wandering up and down. She shook her head.
“Nothing has changed. I still do not see Theseus in her heart.”
“Your behavior is not helping the matter, Mother,” Theseus muttered, squeezing my hands gently, and it was funny how annoyed he looked at her. Like a teenager, really. They probably fought a lot, lovingly.
“You are correct.” Sigbjørn chuckled, his voice in my mind. “A child is never grown in their mother’s eyes, and a man, mortal or immortal, will fight against acting every bit of a child to her. They are even calm now, but she’ll make some excuse to start growling soon.”
A giggle escaped my lips, making both Rhea and Theseus look between me.
“What are you saying to her? You are teasing me, aren’t you?” Rhea growled, and my eyes widened while he gave me a knowing smile.
“Never, Draka.” He said at me, clearly lying, and I smiled.
Her glare shot back to me. “It is very rude of you to laugh at your mother.”
“Oh progress, at last! She sees you as daughter now, sister,” Ulrik called from behind, not exactly enjoying being left out of the conversation.
Rhea’s head whipped back so fast it should have snapped something. Ulrik merely offered her a bright smile.
“Draka,” Sigbjørn called out to her, and she turned back.
“I do not wish to accept someone who does not love my son. I will not. She may have come down, but this...young one, is alone, abandoned, of course, she’d seek family even if she felt nothing. She came for herself, not Theseus.”
“Mother,
is it not possible for you to be civil?” Theseus snapped at her.
“When it comes to my children, why use civility?” She snapped right back. “She does not care. How can I accept that?”
I hung my head...she wasn’t exactly wrong.
“She is completely wrong, daughter,” Sigbjørn stated. “Now, do not hang your head in my presence.”
I lifted my chin and looked at him.
“Sigbjørn—”
“You have said your piece, Draka,” he interjected. “And I am disappointed that you think I’d allow my son, of my blood, of my line, to accept anyone so easily. Or that I would disregard your concern.” He looked directly to Theseus. “Or yours, my son.”
I turned to look at Theseus, who before did not seem to doubt at all that I would be his mate, to see him looking away from me, his jaw locking. He believed her. He didn’t want to admit it. He was going to ignore it, but he believed I was not ever going to love him.
That hurt.
“Do not take it to heart, daughter. They share a common distrust of things they do not understand as humans do, and for good reason,” Sigbjørn stated now on me again. “Just as you have your own. It must not be easy to be in such bondage with no explanation of how it occurred or how to free yourself.”
My eyes went wide, and my eyes welled up with tears again. I didn’t know why. I didn’t want to cry. I wanted answers. “Can you see her, too? In my mind?”
“See who?” Theseus and Rhea both asked.
Sigbjørn paid mind only to me. “Is it not her, but you; is it not?”
“Free us,” the voice in my head begged again.
“Draka, welcome your daughter.”
Rhea looked at him for a long time before letting go and stepping forward. Placing both hands on my cheeks, she leaned forward and kissed my forehead. Her lips on my skin were warm; it tingled. When she stepped back, Sigbjørn came forth and did the same, and again, I felt a tingle on my skin.
“Finally.” A woman with red hair, not red as in orange, but blood red, and large, soft-pink birthmark under her right eye that went to the top of her cheek, said, placing her hand over her chest. “I was starting to doubt for a moment.”