He turns to face me, studying me in the dark. “And so now, am I still the one you’re meant for?”
“You’re trying to scare me.” I fold my arms across my chest. “It’s not going to work. I know you have darkness in you, but guess what? I have darkness in me too.” I think back to what Atlas said, how I have black magic in my veins.
A wary look comes across his brow. “I know you do.”
Then he coughs. “We should go. I love my cigars, but inhaling bone dust is where I draw the line.”
He takes me by the elbow and leads me out of the skull room, a storage area for the things he’s accumulated in his very long and complicated life.
“I thought you should know, I’m having a party tomorrow,” he says as we climb the stairs.
“Again?”
“I always have parties,” he says smoothly. “Do you need another dress?”
I freeze mid-step. “Please tell me this isn’t an auction.”
He gives me a sharp look. “Really? Is that what you think I’d do?”
Well, I did just see the room where you keep the skulls of the hundreds of people you’ve killed.
His eyes narrow even more, glinting like ice. “Don’t even think like that. If you want to be with me, despite all the horrors I just told you, showed you, then you have to trust me. Fully. Can you do that?”
I swallow, nodding. “Yes.”
“Good,” he says, hand slipping down to hold mine as he pulls me up the steps. “And don’t worry about the party. You won’t leave my side. I just want to show you off. It’s important that they see who you are again, and that you’re with me. It’s a display of power, you understand that?”
“Not really,” I tell him. “What’s so powerful about me?”
He laughs. “Oh, my earthquake-causing witch. You don’t even know.”
Chapter Nineteen
After Solon brought me to his skull storage space, we went our separate ways. He said he had some work to do—whatever the hell that is, perhaps finding another vampire to kidnap—and I decided to spend time in the library, going through the books. It reminded me of being young and my parents plunking me at the San Francisco Public Library where I would spend hours and hours, except this time I was actively looking for books on witchcraft that might help me. Solon seems to think I have a large amount of power in me, so it only makes sense to try and figure out how to use it, even though I find it hard to believe.
It was a good distraction at first. Kept me from thinking about Elle, kept me from thinking about Solon and his past. But after a while those thoughts crept up and overwhelmed me. I cried for a bit, then moved on.
Yvonne made a dinner for me, with Amethyst and Wolf joining us in the dining room. Solon and Ezra were elsewhere. Wolf didn’t even touch his food, a chicken Caesar salad, which made me wonder why he was having dinner to begin with. Perhaps to keep an eye on me, with Solon not there—always the babysitter. Though if he were keeping an eye on anyone it would be Amethyst. I swear that vampire was staring at her every other moment, and she seemed completely oblivious. I guess you have to be impervious to a vampire’s gaze in this house, or you’d never get anything done.
After dinner, I brought a bottle of wine up to my room and drank the whole thing alone. I thought about calling my parents, but decided there was no way I could emotionally deal with them at the moment. Their emotions would be flying high, and I know I’m not stable. One thing at a time.
So I went to sleep in a drunken fit of tears and confusion, hoping that at some point I’d feel Solon’s presence in the room. But that never happened.
This morning I woke up with puffy eyes and a bit of a hangover, but thankfully a long hot shower took care of that. I slowly get dressed into my leggings and a long t-shirt, toweling off my hair, wondering what I’m going to do today before the party starts. The fact that I didn’t see Solon at all after our talk bothers me a little, makes me feel untethered. I don’t mind being in this house, and I do feel safe, but it’s starting to feel a little bit like the hotel in a way. I’m safe, as long as I’m inside. But most of the things I want to do are outside.
I slide on a pair of slippers I found in the closet and head out into the hall.
To my surprise, the roses are alive again, blooming and bleeding. It’s both beautiful and disturbing. I walk over to them, studying them closely.
It’s an incredible feeling to know I brought these back to life.
And the fact that they’re still alive means that Solon hasn’t been on my floor, let alone any other vampire.
I stop on the staircase and look up to where his room is. But as persistent as I have been with him, I’ve been telling myself I need to back off. I’ve been in pursuit of him recently, and I think I need to leave the ball in his court now. He knows how I feel about him. He knows that very well.
Instead, I head down to the kitchen to see Yvonne puttering about. She pours me a cup of coffee and then opens the blinds, making me flinch as the sunlight streams in.
“Sorry,” she says. “You don’t mind, do you?”
I stare at her through pinched eyes. “Not at all,” I say dryly.
“You know, Mr. Stavig told me that since you’re only half-vampire, you’ll adjust to things much quicker,” she says, sitting down across from me with her own cup of coffee, a plate of cookies between us. She flicks the plate with her finger, moving it closer to me. “Eat,” she demands. “I suppose since your mother isn’t here, I have to be on you to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”
I hesitantly reach for a cookie, my stomach growling a little. “I think I have a steeper learning curve than the others. At least with a full-on vampire you know exactly what to expect. I have no idea. I don’t think anyone else does, either.”
“Well,” she says after a moment, swallowing her coffee, “that may be true, but there are half-human, half-vampire hybrids. Maybe there will be some at the party you can talk to.”
The mention of the party brings a wave of nausea over me, but I swallow it down.
I stare at Yvonne over my mug. “So, you have to tell me. How did you and Amethyst get roped into all this business?”
Yvonne gives me a quick smile. “It’s a long story.”
“I have all the time in the world.”
“Yes, but I don’t,” she says. “This house, these boys, it takes up more time than I’ll ever have.” Then she sighs, sitting back in her chair, tapping her nails on the oak table. “I’ll keep it short. Perhaps if you find me with some gin some evening, I’ll tell you more.”
She takes a cookie and nibbles on the end thoughtfully. “I’ve always been very open-minded. My mother practiced witchcraft, but she wasn’t a hereditary witch. Just a normal person who had success with herbal remedies and the like. A kitchen and garden witch, if you will. Such a common thing these days. So when Amethyst told me that there were vampires, not just in the Bay Area, but in the world, it didn’t feel impossible to me. If anything, I was worried. I forbade her from going to Dark Eyes, no matter how safe she said it was. She was so fascinated, you see. She didn’t let them feed on her, but she just wanted to be a part of…this life. Your life.”
She goes quiet for a moment, her grey-blue eyes growing cold. “She was walking home late one night from here, we lived just up on Laurel Heights, and she was…attacked.” I gasp. She notes my expression and quickly adds, “Not by a vampire. But by a human predator. She was…assaulted, almost killed, but then…Mr. Stavig showed up. He has a sense, you see, for those in danger. He saved her. He saved my daughter. And for that, I am forever in his debt.”
Whoa. That is a lot to take in. Poor Amethyst. No wonder they’re both so devoted to him.
“That’s awful,” I say. “What happened to the attacker?”
Yvonne gives me a measured look, as if to say, what do you think happened?
I nod. I have a feeling that asshole’s skull won’t be in Solon’s locker.
After that, Yvonne ge
ts back to work, and with my curiosity about her and Amethyst somewhat satisfied, I go into the library for a bit, looking for more books, and secretly hoping that Absolon will find me.
When he doesn’t though, I take the books to my room and decide to try some magic up there. I have zero idea what I’m doing, and the texts are all so old that a lot of it isn’t legible. There are pictures, but they don’t help, and you’d think a book about magic would have some magic in it, at least sense that I’m a witch and try to help me out a little. Aren’t they supposed to dance around by themselves and come to life?
Eventually though, Yvonne comes by with some gazpacho for a late lunch, telling me that Solon will be by my room at eight p.m., so I should be ready by then. To my surprise, Amethyst shows up a few hours later to help.
“Shouldn’t you be running the show?” I ask Amethyst as she comes in the room, armed with a curling iron.
“Everything is in place,” she says. “Don’t worry, these parties usually happen twice a month, it’s like clockwork by now. So, I was thinking we could curl your hair. I can do your makeup too, if you want.”
“Go nuts,” I tell her. I know I could do it but, it’s nice to be doted on. I sit in the chair by the desk and she opens the blinds enough to let some light in, then attacks me with the makeup she bought for me.
“You don’t seem to worry if I’m hungry or not,” I tell her, keeping my eyes closed as she rubs eye shadow primer on my lids.
“I know you’re not,” she says. “I’ve gotten pretty good at detecting when a vampire needs to feed. I know all the signs, and even more than that, I can sense it. With you, because you’re only half, food seems to go a long way. It satisfies you in a way that it doesn’t the others. Convenient if you ask me.”
I want to tell her what her mother told me, but decide it’s best to keep it to myself. Besides, spilling secrets seems to be an issue in this house.
“Did Solon, uh, talk to you?” I ask.
She pauses and I briefly open my eyes to see her droll expression. “You mean did he get mad at me because I told you all his secrets? Yes.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to put you in a tough spot.”
She shakes her head and starts sweeping on eyeshadow. “Don’t worry about it. I knew you’d tell him. I was just surprised at how angry he got. I’ve never seen him like that before, at least not with me.”
My cheeks flame, feeling horrible.
She pauses, switching brushes before dabbing highlighter on my brow bone. “The way you bring out his anger is almost frightening.”
I swallow uneasily. “Great.”
“It’s not all a bad thing,” she muses, taking a step back before doing my other eye, my lids closing. “I don’t think.”
“So much for being fond of me,” I mumble.
“Well, I was wrong. It’s much more than that. Deeper. Stronger. Intense.” She pauses. “And I know you love him.”
I open my eyes, and she almost stabs me with the eye shadow brush. “I do not—”
“Don’t talk,” she says abruptly, cutting me off. “You’re messing up the makeup.” She comes at me with the brush, forcing me to close my eyes again.
“I don’t love him,” I whisper harshly.
“I said you were in love with him,” she corrects me. “And there’s no use fighting it, babe.”
I practically growl. “What I feel for Solon is…complicated.”
She chuckles, her breath smelling like lavender. “Don’t tell me you believe the simplicity of fairy-tale romances. Love is complicated. Loving a vampire, even more so.”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” I tell her, pressing my lips firmly together.
She pauses and then does a pitch perfect impression of Cary Elwes from The Princess Bride. “As you wish.”
Luckily she honors my wishes, and we talk about more neutral subjects, my school, her traveling, things normal people talk about. I have to say, it feels really good to forget what I am for just a bit. Then, when she finishes my makeup and hair, she brings out a silver flask from the pocket of her oversized blazer and we both do a few shots of vodka.
“It calms my nerves,” she explains as she swallows it down, handing me my dress I’d decided on, the long red strapless one. “I still get a bit worked up on party nights. A house full of vampires can be a bit much.”
She could have fooled me. She’s cool as a cucumber. I guess vodka has been her secret weapon.
I go into the bathroom to get changed into the dress, wanting some privacy, and take a quick look in the mirror.
I nearly gasp.
I look stunning, and that is not a word I use to describe myself. Pretty, yes, ethereal, sure, but stunning? It’s like looking at someone else.
Because you’ve become someone else, I tell myself. This is who you are now. The power. Don’t you feel it yet?
I feel something, I just don’t know what it is.
I slip the dress on, forgoing bra and underwear, and it fits me perfectly, the blue-toned red setting off my pale skin, except I can’t zip up the back all the way, so I step back into the room.
“Can you help zip me up?” I ask Amethyst.
She’s texting on her phone and glances up at me, her jaw dropping.
“Holy shit you look hot,” she says, coming over to me as I turn my back to her. With ease she zips me up. “Don’t know how Solon is going to resist this,” she says, taking me by the shoulder and turning me around, her skin warm.
“Oh, he’ll find a way,” I mutter.
“Being stubborn, is he?” she asks.
I nod. “The sex blew my mind, but I’m not sure it did the same to him.” I pause, something coming into my mind. “He can’t…get me pregnant, can he?”
She blinks at me. “You’re not on the pill?”
“I was. Until I was kidnapped.”
She gives me a quick smile. “I see. Well, if it were any other vampire I would say that yeah, you should be on birth control, even though your cycle is probably going to slow down to like once every four months. But Solon…”
“Is it because he wasn’t born one, that he was made a vampire?”
Her brows raise. “He told you about that?”
I nod. “I don’t know all that happened, but I know he used to be human.”
Her eyes search mine for a moment. “Yes. Vampires that are made can’t procreate. Thank god, really. They don’t all turn out like Solon.”
Then she reaches out and cups my boobs, adjusting them in the top, and I have to laugh at how handsy she is.
“Sorry,” she says, flashing me a sly smile. “They needed some adjusting. You have nice boobs, even luckier they’ll look like that for the rest of your life.”
I look down at my chest, the cleavage a focal point in this dress, the soft gauzy red layers falling away from it. I hadn’t even thought of that. Then again, thinking about my mortality now makes my head spin.
Just then, the scent of Absolon fills my nose and he appears in the doorway, eying the both of us with a flash of carnality.
“I was just leaving,” Amethyst says, taking her hands away from me and then quickly walking past Solon and into the hall. He watches her go, then closes the door behind him, and walks over to me, one black brow cocked up as if to ask, what was that about?
And while he’s looking me over, the tension between us growing thicker by the minute, I do the same to him. And fuck, he looks good. No suit today, he’s back in a tuxedo, the ends of his bowtie undone, his hair slicked back from his face, facial hair neatly trimmed.
We stare at each other for a moment, that air growing electric, then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out my necklace, the diamonds and ruby glinting in the slices of sunlight.
“Where did you get that?” I ask him.
He saunters over to me, and I’m suddenly so aware of how big he is, his presence powerful and commanding.
And mine.
God, I want him to be mine. It’s not
enough to be his.
“I went to your hotel,” he says, stopping right in front of me, but there’s still too much distance between us. “Brought it back with a few other things you probably want.”
“Are you officially moving me in here?” I ask.
He lifts a shoulder, eyes burning into mine. “Thought it would be a nice thing to do.”
“Thank you,” I say quietly.
He then holds out the necklace for me.
I shake my head. “Put it on me, please.”
I watch him swallow, a tightness to his jaw.
Then he nods, pressing his lips together.
Comes around behind me.
Runs his fingers delicately along my shoulder, gathering my hair before sweeping it off to the side, his touch causing me to shiver. I take in a deep breath, breathing in his scent, which is now mixed with his adrenaline, hoping to calm my heart but it only makes it thud against my ribs.
“You’re scared,” I tell him, making him pause for a weighty moment as he reaches over and places the necklace around my neck. “What is it?”
I can hear his heartbeat.
“It’s you,” he murmurs, his cool fingers at the base of my neck. “I thought I was doing so well handling my cravings for you, but you’re out to test me.”
I can’t help but smile at that.
“I know you’re smiling,” he goes on, fastening the clasp. “But I wouldn’t if I were you.”
Then he leans in, his nose at the back of my head, breathing in deeply as he runs it down through my hair. He places his hands on my shoulders, squeezing hard between strong fingers, my skin tender underneath his palms.
I suck in my breath and his hands slide down, one hand brushing over my left breast, the other coasting over my stomach. Hot bursts of pleasure ignite in my core, making me squirm, this insatiable need for him kicking into high gear again.
“These sounds you make,” he says with a groan, his mouth kissing the top of my spine, “you can’t hear them, but I do. They aim to unravel me.”
Black Sunshine Page 27
