His voice whispered in my ear. “Snowflake. You’re back. I knew you’d come.”
I had to see him. Turning, my eyes caught hold of his face. He was there, standing before me. His gorgeous green eyes and beautiful face. But even that could be my imagination. My mind still wouldn’t believe. I placed my hands on his arms, feeling the warmth radiating off him. His breathing was rapid, a hint of mint coming off his breath, and he smelled good. Like my Gabe. Still I couldn’t believe. “Are you real?”
He pulled me off the chair and into his arms. My arms circled his waist, my head resting on his shoulder. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to be momentarily lost in his embrace. He was alive. Gabe. After I don’t know how long, I pulled back, desperate to see his face. His features would tell me whether or not he was angry.
“It’s good to see you,” he said softly, his voice full of emotion.
I couldn’t get a read on him. “How is this possible? I saw the angle of your neck. It was broken.” I fought hard to keep the tears threatening to escape at bay.
His gaze fell to my mouth an instant before his lips pressed against mine. That was the last thing I expected, but I reciprocated, pouring all of the guilt, the sorrow, the excruciating pain I’d held inside over the few two weeks into my kiss. He scooped me into his arms and carried me upstairs, into my bedroom where he lay me on my bed before climbing on with me. Our lips never separated, and he deepened the kiss. I clung to him as his thumbs skimmed the skin under my shirt, sending fiery heat along my waist. After a long time, he lifted his head. “Snowflake, I didn’t die. It may have appeared that way, but Professor Pops and the brothers overreacted. I was just unconscious for a while.”
I wanted to believe him, but something in his voice, a slight hitch when he’d said they overreacted, gave me pause. The memory of the way his body felt under me, the way I handled him—as though he were prey and not my first crush. The sound of his neck breaking. The moment ripped through my consciousness as though it were happening again for the first time. I shuddered, shaking my head at the recollection. “No, you were dead. Why aren’t you telling me the truth? Did you…” I paused, desperate to find out the truth. “Are you a vampire?”
He jumped off the bed, a look on his face like I just slapped him. “No,” he said. “No way!”
I tried not to be offended. “You know I am a vampire, right? Drinking from you changed me.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Yeah, I know,” he said, sitting beside me again.
“Does that make you uncomfortable? Because you didn’t seem all that uncomfortable a few seconds ago.” I got to my knees, adjusting my shirt and pushing back the apprehension fluttering like nervous pixilettes in my stomach.
He ran a hand through his hair, his gaze focused on the floor. What was wrong with him? Ever since my hunter bit me he’d been hot and cold. I couldn’t figure him out. “No, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable. It makes—” He paused momentarily before continuing, “I am beyond happy to see you. But…” He let the word hang in the air.
“Spit it out, Gabe. What’s your problem?”
He watched me a moment, taking me in. “It’s just. Ugh! Why is this so difficult?” His green eyes pleaded, as though I should understand what was wrong.
I didn’t, not even a little bit. “Tell me.”
He turned and took one of my hands in his. “Professor Pops told me he told you about those who might want you dead.”
“Yes. He explained that other vampires, and other creatures, believe that if all marked are killed then it will be easier to destroy the queen.” The internal pixilettes quivered again.
“That’s right. And just as the queen is the leader of the vampires, there is a leader over those who stand against her.” He started to fidget, playing with a tassel on one of my pillows.
“Makes sense,” I said quietly.
“When I was little, Professor Pops adopted me. You know that.” He chuckled nervously. “From a young age I knew I was different, that Professor Pops was different, and that the world wasn’t as simple as it seemed. When I turned twelve Pops showed me the Museum of the Supernatural. Something clicked inside. I felt drawn to hunt those who served the vampire queen.” He brushed some hair out of his eyes and cleared his throat. “Of course, Pops wouldn’t let me. He continued to train me, but that was all. I knew there was more, that a big piece of the puzzle was missing. I didn’t know why until a few days after I turned sixteen. A visitor came to see me.” He stopped and searched my eyes.
“Oh? Who?” I asked, feeling nervous for him. I scooted closer.
“He’s the leader of those who oppose the vampire queen.” He shook his head. “He’s the leader of those who want you and all of the marked dead.” He blew out his breath. “More than that though, he is my father.”
“Like, your real father?” I was confused. We’d all believed his father was dead—that he’d died in a fire more than a decade ago.
He nodded. “Yes. When we spoke, he explained that he needed to fake his own death.” Gabe’s eyes filled with wonder. “Apparently, he’s been alive a long time.”
The make-believe pixilettes in my tummy were having a field day. But I could only focus on one thing at a time. “Why didn’t he want you?” I was confused. The man faked his own death and left Gabe to go through life alone. Thank goodness for Professor Pops.
He pulled away. “It isn’t that he didn’t want me. He’s just busy, and those who are loyal to the queen killed my mom. He believed Professor Pops would be able to care for me until I was old enough to understand. And Professor Pops did. I couldn’t have asked for a better father.”
That was true, but I still didn’t get it. Had his father known what Professor Pops was? “But Professor Pops is a vampire.” I said the words slowly, trying to let all he said sink in.
“Technically, yes. He is. But he’s more than that and my father trusts him.” He crossed his arms, his features twisting. “He may not like him or what he is, but he trusts him.”
I shook my head. “Okay, so you’re the son of the man who wants me dead. But how does that explain why you’re alive?” I knew there were many other questions I needed to ask him as well. “I know you died. No one could survive a broken neck or a torn-out throat.” Yet there he was, sitting on my bed, looking as amazing as ever. I shuddered at the memory of him and forced back my desire to run.
“There must be balance in all things. For every sunset there is a sunrise. For each sadness, there is happiness. And for every evil there must be good.” He paused to let the words sink in.
They sank in all right, and I started to get mad. Was he saying I was evil? Had he been waiting for me so he could make out with me before killing me? That seemed kind of perverse. “What do you mean?” I released his hand, moving away.
My movements didn’t go unnoticed. He frowned but didn’t stop me. “When vampires were created, so was another species. Equally powerful, but keen on living in seclusion.” Gabe took a deep breath.
“Please don’t tell me they were werewolves,” I said, mocking.
“No, not werewolves, but chayot.” He pronounced it like someone might say coyote but with a ch at the beginning.
“Chayot?” I smirked. “Did you just make that word up?” I thought about slapping his knee and smiling. He was teasing me.
“Snow. This is serious. If you don’t believe me, look up the word on the Internet. It’s there, though a lot of the information is incorrect.”
He really was serious. The pixilettes in my stomach vanished, replaced by a vicious knot. “If you say so.” I sat cross-legged and settled my hands in my lap. “But why aren’t these chayot in Professor Pops’ books? Or on display in the Museum of the Supernatural?”
He scooted nearer. “Any written mention of the chayot is considered blasphemy. The chayot are sacred, and to be revered.” While he spoke, his voice softened, but that just infuriated me more.
“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that
these chayot are the good guys and we vampires are the bad guys? Is that what you’re saying?”
He let out another weighty breath. “Basically, yes.”
I jumped off the bed. “Unbelievable.”
Chapter 8
I paced, catching my reflection in my full-length mirror. Even she looked frantic. “What about Kenmei and Professor Pops?” I didn’t add Christopher, but his body in the glass coffin crossed my mind.
“They were human before they became vampires.” He gingerly moved toward me. “Though they did a lot of evil in their time, they’ve atoned and dedicated their lives to destroying the vampire queen.”
I backed up, somehow feeling like a caged animal, and remembered what the queen had said. My DNA was changed. I was no longer human. Didn’t he know that? “What about me?” I asked between rapid breaths.
He shrugged. “See, it’s like this—” He stopped and walked over to my dresser and began fiddling with the perfume bottles. He took off each lid and brought the bottle to his nose, then crinkled his face like the bottles contained skunk spray. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, I would’ve laughed. Instead I waited, filled with apprehension at what he would say next.
He sighed, turned back to me. “That’s why I’m here. My father is the first chayot. When the war broke out between the vampires and the other creatures, he stayed out of it. He and the other chayot didn’t get involved until later, when vampires decided to kill and use humans.”
Frustrated tears filled my eyes, but I forcefully wiped them away. “You’re a chayot?”
“Half. Yes.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his shoulders rising to his ears.
Was that why his blood tasted so good? “You aren’t making sense. You are half whatever the hell a chayot is and half what? Changeling?” It was the first word that came to mind. As I said the word, an image of the squat, frog-looking creature came to mind. I knew they could make themselves look different. Hence the name changeling.
At the word, Gabe wrinkled his nose. “Hell no, Snowflake. Human. I’m half human.”
“Is that why chayots want to kill vampires? Because we are no long human.” I wanted out of my room, my conversation with Gabe, and the whole thing. The desire to bolt took over and for the briefest of moments, I went over to the window, desperate to be anywhere but there.
“That’s part of it. But there’s more. See,” he hesitated.
I studied his reflection in the glass, but I didn’t turn.
“My father fell in love with a human and with that love came many children. The vampire queen made an extra effort to capture and change their offspring into vampires. Sons and daughters with chayot blood make even more exceptional vampires than a regular human does. The vampire queen favored them over all others and she nearly got them all.”
I thought about the vampires I’d seen in the castle. Were they Gabe’s relatives? I didn’t ask. Didn’t move. I was a vampire. An enemy. I wouldn’t give him any information.
“The queen brought this war upon herself. It’s my father’s life work to finish it—kill them all. Destroy her. End the suffering of those chayot she’s changed.” As he spoke, he straightened, and a regal arrogance shifted his features.
My breathing was ragged. How dare he? I hadn’t asked for this. Yet somehow, he was saying I was evil—a thing to be destroyed. Maybe I deserved it. I thought of all the humans I’d fed from over the last two weeks. I’d enjoyed it. Reveled in it.
My hands in fists, I faced him. “Well then, what are you waiting for? If that’s why you’ve come, do it. Kill the evil vampire you just made out with.” My words came out harsh, laced with spite. I closed my eyes and rolled my shoulders back. If he wanted me dead, so be it. If I had to die, it should be by the human—even if he was just half human—whose blood I drank first.
Several minutes passed and neither of us moved. I heard him, still standing there, breathing erratically. I blinked open my lids. Tears crowded Gabe’s lashes and streaked his cheeks. The haughtiness was gone, replaced by a desolate sadness.
I lowered my chest. He was so annoyingly complicated. “What? Am I making it too easy? Do you want me to run?” I asked, turning the palms of my hands toward him in supplication.
He shook his head, a strangled moan leaving his throat. He sank to his knees, bowing his head. “Why did you have to turn?”
I went to him then, kneeling in front of him. “You offered yourself to me. I was there, I remember.” My cheeks heated at the memory of our kissing. “You wanted me to bite you,” I added, softly.
“No,” he growled. “I didn’t. But…” His voice trailed off. “You-you tricked me. I wasn’t strong enough to resist you, and you used your—” He paused.
“I used my what? Womanly wiles?” I snorted in disgust. I knew he was talking about a vampire’s gift of compulsion. An amazing ability that came along with being a marked blood sucker. But I hadn’t had that skill before I drank from him. “I wasn’t a vampire until after you let me drink from you. I didn’t use any kind of spell, or magic, or whatever you want to call it. I didn’t have the ability then.” I got off my knees and went back to the window. The slivered moon glowed through wispy clouds. Frogs croaked and the wind whistled lightly through the trees. “If you’d like, I can show you the difference. I have the power to persuade you into doing anything now.” I didn’t look at him but heard his breath catch. “Is that what you want?”
“Snowflake,” he whispered.
I spun around. “What the hell do you want from me, Gabe? If you want me dead, kill me. I won’t stop you. Just do it and get it over with because I’m beyond sick of your hot and cold.”
He crossed his arms. “I should kill you. It’s what I’m required to do.” He looked away. “But I can’t.” Each word came out like he was in pain. “We are meant to be enemies, but that isn’t how I feel about you.”
My anger returned. I walked over and slapped his face. “This is all your fault. You know that, right?”
He flinched, surprised.
I didn’t give him a chance to refute my accusation. “If you had just told me what you were instead of acting weird, I wouldn’t have bitten you. I would’ve resisted,” I said, fighting the trembling of my lower lip. Thinking back, I wondered if I could have, but I had to believe it was true.
It looked like he hadn’t thought of that.
Stupid guys and their stupid hormones.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. “But I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” I exhaled and turned away.
He swallowed, taking me by the shoulders and making me face him. Then he took my hands in his. “I was afraid you wouldn’t talk to me anymore. That you would hate me.” He hesitated and closed his eyes. “I hate myself.”
I yanked my hands from his, frustrated. He was still doing it, acting all kinds of sweet one second and like a total jerk-face vampire killer the next. “Why? Why even care?” I went to my bedroom door and pushed it wide open. “Let me make it easy on you. Either kill me or leave. This doesn’t have to be difficult. Now that I understand what you are required to do, just get it over with!” Fury made my canines grow, but I didn’t care. I let him see the monster in me.
Tears filled his eyes. “I can’t,” he seethed. “Don’t you get that?” His body teemed with desperation, shook with emotion.
“No, I don’t,” I said, my body moving toward him on its own. When I was inches from him, I stopped. “Why can’t you kill me, Gabe?” My voice was low, my breathing erratic as I studied him, trying to decide what the hell a chayot was. I had no clue. He’d said he wasn’t a werewolf so there was that.
He pulled me so that our chests touched, his eyes boring into mine. My heart pounded and I felt his pounding too. Beat for beat. I was furious, scared, and angry. Worst of all, I wanted him. I wanted his lips on mine again. And I wanted him to keep his promise to never leave me. His hurt and confusion vanished, replaced with need. For me.
In answer, his mouth covered mine, his lips warm and urgent. Without hesitation I responded, hungry for all of him. He seemed to need me the same way, and before I knew it we were back on my bed, his body covering mine, his hands in my hair. I let my hands roam over his body, exploring the muscles on his back, his shoulders, and his chest. Our lips parted momentarily when I lifted his shirt over his head. Our eyes met. His were clouded with confusion and something else. I guessed they were similar to mine. I wasn’t sure what we were doing or how we would solve our problems. We’d been friends most of our lives. We were supposed to be enemies. That’s what he’d said. But in that moment, I didn’t care and neither did he.
When I tossed his shirt on the floor, he groaned, pressing kisses into my neck, along my jaw before hesitating, his eyes locking with mine. “I love you, Snow White. I’ve loved you since the day Professor Pops brought me home and I saw your inquisitive, beautiful face in my driveway.”
Chapter 9
I searched for any hint of a lie. My heart beat faster. “You love me?” I asked uncertainly.
He wrapped his arms around me, his elbows on either side, holding me, a willing captive. “So much it hurts,” he said softly, a smirk splaying across his lips.
I realized he was thinking about our first kiss, down in the Seven Magics Academy training room when I drank from him and thought I killed him. “Won’t your dad be mad? He knows what I did, right?”
He nodded, the smirk turning into a smile. “I’ve just decided I don’t care. The past several weeks I’ve tried to be the obedient son, do what my father expects. Take on the family business. But where you’re concerned, I can’t.” His face grew dark, full of determination. “I won’t.”
My heart melted, but I wanted to be sure, to be clear. “Is that really feasible though? Isn’t it your sacred duty or something to destroy me and my kind?” I still didn’t know what he was.
Fate and Magic: Snow White Reimagined with Vampires and Werewolves (Seven Magics Academy Book 2) Page 3
