Love and Bloodlust: The Sacred Objects

by Melinda Clark

  “It was my mother’s. She gave it to my little sister, who gave it to me before she died. It has that crest on it. What does that mean?”

  Rose butted in seemingly out of nowhere, inching closer to Avery, “Your parents must have been part of The Order. Avery, can you tell me how they died?”

  Avery choked back, “A vampire killed them, but didn’t drink from them. That’s the only time I had ever seen that. I always wondered if they were targeted for a specific reason…”

  Caleb and Rose were quiet. Avery tried to process this discovery. Her parents were slayers too. They were killed because of it. Avery slowly shuffled into her room and shut the door behind her.

  She could hear Caleb whispering to Rose, “I knew her last name was Langdon, but I didn’t think she was descendant of THE Langdons.”

  Avery didn’t know what he meant by that, but she didn’t care. She needed to get out and kill something. Daylight savings started today, so sunset was in a couple hours. She debated whether she should make a stop by a certain house in the countryside.

  CHAPTER 12

  After Avery had dressed for the night, there came a knock on her bedroom door. She answered it hesitantly and found Caleb anxiously awaiting her on the other side. He had shaved his red chin prickles away and put gel in his dark hair, wearing a nice button up shirt and blazer with dark-wash jeans. He was too nicely dressed to be going out on duty.

  “Where are you off to looking like that?” Avery asked.

  “Well, I was going to grab a bite to eat with Rose when she canceled on me. Some kind of girl drama. So I was wondering if you wanted to come with me…”

  Avery hesitated. Was this a date? Or a just two roommates having dinner, shootin’ the shit? She hoped it was the latter. She could go for some food and nodded her head in agreement.

  Caleb looked her up and down, “You might want to dress up a little for where we are going though.”

  Avery glanced down at her cowl neck sweater and jeans. Where the hell were they going that this wasn’t good enough? Avery grumbled as Caleb walked away and she changed into her white sweater dress with black leggings, complete with black heels and belt around the waist. She topped it off with dangly earrings and pulled her hair up so that a few chestnut curls fell around her face. With utter confidence she strode out into the parking lot, only to be greeted with a pessimistic ‘hmph’ from Caleb as if she were being critiqued.

  “Let’s get going. Got to be there in fifteen,” Caleb rushed her.

  Avery opened the door to the overly lavish, black Lamborghini Gallardo, not knowing where dinner was to take her.

  A tall man with onyx eyes tread about an old and lavish home. He remembered the original owner who had this secluded acreage and castle built when he came to live in America, and now the place was his. The glow of light from stubby white candles cast shadows that flickered upon the stone wall. He stressed while he paced because the world had changed on him. There were now strange machines, big and small, and he was still unsure about the power that allowed energy to be contained and illuminate glass. This kind of light was harsh to his eyes, and he preferred to stick to firelight. He found himself pacing in a square as he ran his tongue along his fangs in deliberation, his opened white button-up shirt billowing in the air around him. He was tormented with thoughts of what had occurred before sunrise. He recalled them;

  He had been wandering around this strange town the last two nights, his wits not entirely about him, indulging in the fact that many of the young women exposed their skin like prostitutes though they asked for no money in return, only pleasure. He wasn’t the ‘chasing’ type of predator though, he preferred to use the lure of his beauty and mystery to attract his prey to him. When it came to women, it was more satisfying to him to have what he called ‘the aphrodisiac hormone’ rather than adrenaline in the blood he drank. He had been on his way back to his temporary home before the sun could rise when he spotted a woman walking down the road toward him. Though he had had a night of blood-filled ecstasy, he thought, What’s one more snack before bedtime? He looked the woman’s way, knowing she did not see him yet and willed her to look his way. As she looked his way on cue, he disappeared into the alley nearest him, knowing she would follow. He felt her behind him and slowly turned to face her, to complete his allure. The girl had frozen in place and gotten wide-eyed, like a frantic doe pinpointing a sound in the woods. Disbelief briefly twitched at his indifferent face as he got a good look at her. He stepped closer to her, staring into her features, knowing that he was not mistaken.

  She was the girl that had appeared in his dreams. She didn’t move and didn’t make a sound, though he could hear her heart beat faster. He curiously reached his hand out to her hair and took in her scent. There were different lingering smells on her, one of which he determined was faintly vampire. Like lightning striking him, another smell had triggered something he had committed to memory. He stared into her eyes, trying to make sense of this familiarity he had with her. He was about to voice the question he already knew the answer to, but there was no time as he sensed the presence of another. He disappeared from her sight, looming over her from the rooftop above. He knew just by looking that the man that had appeared was the progeny of his half-breed children. He watched them interact with each other and was confused by their closeness. He had never known any of his children to suppress their hunger and hold a human as if they were precious.

  He stopped his pacing long enough to snap back to the now, though the encounter still gnawed at his mind. Their human-vampire relationship seemed taboo, like having a relationship with livestock. He knew it wouldn’t be long before her vampire lover consumed her, but from within him and unbeknownst to him as to the reason why he had felt a pang of jealousy. He had wanted to know more about the girl who charmed a vampire, invaded his dreams, and smelled of Langdon blood.

  Talon found himself at the bar again. He was letting himself get depressed over seeing Avery take off with that rich, snobbish slayer boy. Jealousy was not a monster he had met with before, and this was the only solution he could think of to get his mind off the matter. He didn’t like that Caleb guy, not one bit. But he kept telling himself that Avery was her own person and could be with whomever she wanted, even if it wasn’t him. “But she’s mine.” That little voice in his predatorial nature growled. When he was done here, maybe he would just go home and skip killing things tonight. She would know where to find him if she needed him. Then again, killing things might help with his aggression a little.

  Avery and Caleb pulled into the long circle driveway in front of a large white house. One could almost call it a mansion. It reminded her of the house she grew up in before her parents died, except this one was way over the top in décor. There were statues, rose bushes, and the most elegant fountain in the front.

  “Where are we?” Avery asked wearily.

  “My parents wanted me to have dinner with them tonight, and I can’t stand to be alone with them. That’s why I usually bring Rose to…ease the tension.”

  Avery gulped and wondered what these rich folks would criticize her for. She just had an inkling that it would happen, seeing how their son was. She straightened her posture and walked with Caleb to the front door.

  Something that resembled a liver was placed in front of her as the main course to their five-course meal. Avery poked at it with a fork and held off eating it until the creature was properly identified. Caleb sat next to her, across from his mother and father at this ten-person dining table. She couldn’t help but feel like people were missing from the other seats. Caleb’s parents seemed normal enough as they were squabbling with Caleb about college and careers, conversations Avery just tuned herself out of. She poked at her ‘food’ and stared into the polished tabletop, looking at her reflection in the glass chandeliers’ light.

  To save himself from the center of attention, Caleb put Avery in the spotlight. “So mother, father, did you guys know that Avery’s last name is Langdon? Isn’t
that interesting?”

  Caleb’s father turned to Avery and looked her in the eye. “Were your parents Geoffrey and Lydia?”

  Avery uncomfortably nodded.

  “I thought you looked familiar! Avery, you look just like your mother,” Caleb’s mother joyously commented, then changed her tone. “But they died quite a few years ago. You poor thing. Who took care of you when that happened?”

  “Foster care.”

  Both Caleb’s parents gasped. Caleb’s mother continued, “You didn’t have Godparents to take care of you and handle the money left to you?”

  Avery nodded again. “No. There were no Godparents for me and my sister, and certainly no money. My parents had no will that could be found. Everything went to the state.”

  “It’s a shame you had to grow up that way young lady. Had there been a will, you would have grown up taken care of. Your parents certainly were wealthy, with being the head family of…” Caleb’s father shut his mouth quickly.

  “The Order?” Avery finished his sentence.

  “So you know. Yes. The Langdons have led slayers against vampires for over a thousand years. They were well renowned throughout Europe and here in America for being the best at what they did. Stories even talk of your ancestor, William Langdon, being the one to behead the father of all vampires,” Caleb’s father finished his story and stood from the table, taking Avery’s hand. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Langdon. I hope to see more of you.” He then excused himself to his study for the evening, lighting up a large cigar on his way out.

  “Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Edgington,” Avery said goodbye to Caleb’s mother and waited in the foyer for Caleb to finish up his goodbyes.

  She overheard his mother talking to him.

  “You take good care of that girl. She seems like a keeper. What with the prestige of being a Langdon and all….”

  “Yeah, mom. I love you too. Goodnight,” Caleb rushed Avery out the door and into the car.

  Caleb was quiet the entire way home and broke his silence when they entered the apartment. “I’m sorry about my parents. Thanks for not making me face them alone. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem,” Avery tried to muster a smile before plopping down, exhausted and still a bit hungry on the couch. Of course, she didn’t eat that mystery meat!

  Caleb came and sat next to her. “Rose isn’t going to be back for a while I guess. She may have gone out to hunt already,” he inched closer to Avery. “My mom really likes you too. She told me....”

  “Yeah, because I’m a Langdon. They didn’t care one way or another until you told them that,” Avery tried to get up and sneak away to her room, to avoid the discomfort his closeness was causing her.

  Caleb grabbed her wrist, “Wait,” and pulled Avery down onto the couch. “I wanted to say that I really like you too. Living with you has made me see you in a different light than before.”

  Oh no, here comes the awkward. Avery tried to quickly think of a quick escape plan, but Caleb put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. She wriggled out of his grip. “I’m sorry Caleb. I just don’t think of you like that.”

  He looked into her eyes and stated as a matter-of-fact “Avery, I am Caleb Percival Edgington. I get what I want, and I want you.” He came back down on her, trying to kiss her and grope her breast simultaneously.

  “Caleb, get off!” Avery squirmed. He didn’t listen to her and tried to hush her speech with his own mouth. She pulled her herself back as far away from him as she could manage and head-butted him, sending Caleb reeling back onto his side of the couch.

  “What the fuck?!” Caleb found blood pouring from his left nostril. “You bitch!” He yelled as he held his bloodied and swelling nose.

  Avery wanted out of there so badly, she didn’t even bother to grab her jacket before she took off into the rigid, cold night.

  The moon was a mere sliver in the black sea of clouds. Avery stalked the outskirts of the college campus, trying to figure out how she was going to handle her new situation. She needed someplace to live because the only place she had available to her just became an awkwardly unsafe zone. She felt her eyes burning, as if she wanted to cry, but did not let not one tear escape. She wasn’t going to let Caleb get the fear of being a victim from her.

  As the breeze whisked around her, her perfectly styled hair slowly fell out of place, the curled tendrils floating about her face. She found no vampires to distract her, noticing that the last few nights had been a lot slower for her line of business. It made sense why Rose seemed disappointed as well lately. It seems they had cleaned up the town quite nicely. Avery thought about how their reputations as the local slayers had spread throughout the demonic community. Only the cocky youth dared to challenge the slayers nowadays.

  Avery found herself wanting to talk to Rose. Should she tell her about what happened with Caleb? Avery thought to call her but realized she had left her new cell phone at the apartment. She wasn’t used to carrying one around with her yet. What if Rose didn’t believe her anyway? She didn’t want to cause a rift in Rose and Caleb’s friendship, one that had been in the making since they were children.

  Avery kept walking, and before she knew it, she could not feel her legs or arms any longer. She had taken her heels off not too long ago to save her feet the ache, but now they felt the cold burn of the frozen earth as well. She walked on with her arms crossed over her chest, heading to the only other place she could think of. After almost an hour of walking, she had made it to a long driveway and collapsed onto her knees, dropping her shoes on the ground. A man in the distance came out the front door of the cabin-style house as if he knew she would come.

  Before Avery could register it, she was swooped up into Talon’s arms. He must have willed himself warmer because he was a welcome heat to her.

  CHAPTER 13

  In an instant, he had her on his couch and was wrapping a black Sherpa throw blanket around her. Avery welcomed the warmth surrounding her by wrapping herself up tightly.

  Talon, still being upset about earlier, came across as mean. “Are you insane? Where is your coat?”

  “I didn’t have time to grab one given the situation I was in…” Avery chattered through her teeth.

  Talon’s temper flared for a moment. That damn spoiled rich kid must have something to do with this. He immediately calmed his tone and rubbed her shoulders through the blanket. “What happened?”

  Avery explained the evening, then as she concluded, Talon leaped up and growled through clenched teeth, “I’ll kill him.”

  “No, just…don’t worry about it,” Avery tried to assure him.

  Talon grit his teeth harder, tensing his jaw and neck muscles, trying to control himself before he roared, “Don’t worry about it?! Avery, what if he tried to do worse than an unwanted kiss?!”

  “Well, I didn’t allow it to get that far, now did I? Besides, I don’t think he would go that far.”

  Avery watched Talon’s eyes turning blood red. She couldn’t believe he got so worked up over the things that happened to her. No doubt he imagined the worst. No one had ever been so worried about her until she met him. She could feel the nervousness of what she planned to do well up in her chest, but she forsook all that her head had told her and listened to her heart for once.

  Avery dropped the blanket and stood up on her tiptoes, planting an unexpected kiss on her protector. The red in Talon’s eyes faded away almost instantly. He pulled Avery by her shoulders closer to his body, radiating his self-generated warmth, and a simple kiss turned into something much more. It was better choreographed and so much more enjoyable when she wasn’t drunk.

  Their friction first heated her face, then her body. Avery could feel her nipples hardening and her more personal areas tingling, like a jolt of electricity had zapped from her mouth to her toes. Talon had turned himself around and plopped down onto the couch, bringing Avery down on top of him.

  He continued to kiss her silly as she was gra
bbed around the waist and pulled onto his lap so that she was straddling him. She felt his erection through his jeans against her and shuddered in delight. She had never been turned on like this by any man in her entire life.

  When it came to her sex life, whenever she had one, her ex’s had all been…well, she pleased herself often. But Talon was making her feel pleasures she had never felt before just by kissing her in all the right places. She had wondered if the prowess he possessed would make him an incredible lover, and now she may find out. At this moment she convinced herself that what she wanted wasn't wrong. After they had been so open with each other, Avery knew she would be safe with him.

  Talon swept her up into his arms and was up the stairs in half a second. Avery had found that if she had her eyes closed and held her breath, her equilibrium was maintained better than otherwise. She successfully wasn’t nauseous from the speed as he lay her down in the middle of his huge bed, the black satin sheets scrunched up beneath her. Talon pulled himself over her body, nudging his right knee between her thighs as he continued his barrage of slow succulent kisses on her swollen lips. She gripped the bottom of his shirt on his sides and tugged upward. He paused, allowing her to pull it up over his head, and at last off his arms. Avery took a moment to run her fingertips across his milky pale pectorals, down his almost eight-pack abdominals. She had caught a glimpse of his nakedness before but had never really pictured him built like this under his clothes. She leaned over to blow out the candle, but Talon stopped her.

  “I want to see every inch of you.”

  Avery exhaled and waited in suspense as Talon's hand gradually slid under her sweater dress. His fingers grazed her navel piercing and worked their way up and over her left breast, his thumb flicking over her nipple a couple times. Avery pulled her top over her head and took off her bra as quick as she could manage while being pinned beneath him. Talon pulled himself back to his knees to look at what she had exposed of her body thus far. Avery watched him analyze her and held her breath. Normally she would be too self-conscious to make love where anyone could see her scars. Nearly fresh cuts to her arms, bruises on her sides and scars on the front of her stomach were still in the process of healing, fading away into her fair color. Talon bent his head down and kissed across her stomach. She knew he wouldn't judge her appearance based on them, and his actions were endearing.