by Nadia Heaton
Hearing it was one thing, but seeing it was something else. He should probably be running in the opposite direction, but for some reason, he didn’t want to leave Ariana’s side, and it wasn’t just because she was his best chance of getting his voice back.
“Come on, let’s go. You want to ride on my back again?”
Of course, he did. That had been one of the most thrilling things Julio had ever done. He nodded happily and let Ariana pull him to his feet. He wasn’t a small man, but her vampire strength seemed to have no trouble with his weight. She crouched down again, waiting for him to get well settled before starting off at a run.
Julio shook his head in amazement as the wind whipped his hair around his face. As much as it infuriated him to lose his voice, he realized that if he hadn’t, Ariana probably wouldn’t be with him right now. He supposed, in that light, the curse had its benefits.
5
The sun had just started to rise as they arrived at an enormous chateau. Julio had never been anywhere like this, and he couldn’t stop looking around. Ariana was still leading him by the hand, which effectively stopped him bumping into things.
He loved how she always took his hand. Maybe it was a vampire thing, or maybe it was just Ariana. You didn’t often hold hands with strangers like she did. Julio suspected she was protective of him, because of his voice, and he appreciated it. It was a very vulnerable feeling, not being able to make his needs or objections known.
“This is my room – well, the one I use when I’m here, at any rate. You can have another room, if you’d like, but you may as well use the bed in this one.”
Julio shook his head at this. He wasn’t going to kick her out of her own bed.
“Don’t worry, I don’t use it anyway.” Ariana pointed at an elaborately carved, jeweled sarcophagus. “I sleep in there. Take a look.” She opened it to reveal a padded satin interior. Even Julio had to admit, it looked comfortable.
He pointed to the bed, shrugging in confusion. If vampires did indeed sleep in coffins, why did they have beds?
“Most of us sleep in beds,” Ariana explained. “I do when I’m not here too. This is one of Rashid’s treasures. You see the thick curtains? Those are enough to block almost all light out during the day, but they’ll never be as good as thick stone. It’s more comfortable to sleep without any light filtering in.
“Some of us are claustrophobic and won’t go near these things, but I like them. Of course, beds are often more comfortable, so we usually end up using them, but something like this that has been specially modified for sleep comfort… well, I couldn’t resist. Rashid lets me keep it here – he has his own similar one in his room.”
Julio still had so many questions, but he didn’t have the words to ask them. He pointed outside, but Ariana thought he was asking about the curtains, and started telling him about how the fabric was specially made to block out light. It was interesting, but not what he’d wanted to know.
There was a drawer in the room, and he started going through it, pleased to find a pen and notepad. Julio scribbled a word on it and handed it to Ariana. Sun?
“Oh, right! Well, we won’t burst into flames the moment we set foot in the sun, but it is uncomfortable for us, and prolonged exposure will make us burn up eventually. We can go out in the day, if we dress in heavy clothing and sunglasses, but we much prefer to operate at night.”
More than anything, Julio wanted to have a conversation with her, one that consisted of more than written words or letters traced onto her hand. A conversation would have to wait, however.
“I’m going to take a shower. Feel free to make yourself at home. And if Rashid offers you a drink – let alone a party invitation – say no.”
Julio raised his eyebrows in question.
“Rashid is rather famous for his parties and home brewed alcoholic drinks. If you’re looking for a fun time, you’ll definitely have that, but the hangover is so not worth it. Trust me.”
Vampires get hangovers? Julio handed over the pad with his newly written question.
Ariana chuckled. “If the alcohol is strong enough. We have a much higher tolerance than humans, but we can still get drunk. That’s another reason you need to be careful here – the alcohol is a lot stronger than what humans are used to. If you’re not careful, you could end up tanking your liver. If you do decide to accept an offer, make sure that Rashid gives you the human-safe stuff.”
It was surprising to hear that Rashid even had human-safe stuff, but it didn’t matter. The last thing Julio wanted was to get utterly wasted in a strange vampire’s house. He’d much rather go hiking, despite his bad experience the last time he’d gone. But losing his voice wasn’t enough to put him off of his favorite hobby.
Besides, Ariana would protect him. He’d like to see anyone try to curse him with her around. She’d whip them out of there so fast that anyone intent on harming them wouldn’t know what had happened.
The shower water in the bathroom turned on. Julio was sorely tempted to stay in the room and see her naked again when she came out, but decided that would be creepy. Instead, he went out onto the balcony. He’d always loved sunrises and sunsets. Those were his favorite times to hike. Apparently, sunset was also a time when witches liked to perform super-secret rituals, and he’d had the bad luck to stumble upon one.
He was lucky, really, that Ariana had found him. Julio had done moonlit hikes before, but after he escaped from the witches, he hadn’t been hiking so much as running wildly for his life. He’d been completely lost, in the dark forest, alone. Things could have gone quite badly for him if he hadn’t bumped into her.
As he watched the sun slowly peek over the horizon, he opened his mouth and screamed. No sound came out, but about a hundred butterflies did. Julio forced himself to look at them, to see the brightly colored markings on their wings. They truly were beautiful. If he didn’t want to go mad, he should probably try to find a way to appreciate at least this aspect of the curse, for as long as it lasted.
He didn’t hear Ariana as she came up behind him. She stepped up close by his side, dressed in a soft nightgown. The sun’s rays hadn’t quite reached the balcony yet, but he saw her keeping a wary eye on them.
“I’m going to sleep now. I suggest you do too – you look exhausted, and it’s probably a good idea for you to keep a vampire time schedule for the time being. Lisette certainly does, and she’ll expect you to be up at a time that suits her when she finds a way to help you.”
Julio couldn’t deny that he was tired, so he nodded. He took Ariana’s hands in his, staring into her eyes, hoping to convey his gratitude for everything she was doing for him. She could have just left him, but instead she was putting her whole life on hold to help a man she’d just met.
She stared back, and the intensity of her gaze took his breath away. For several moments, they were lost in each other’s eyes. Julio could feel the tension between them build, but he didn’t look away.
Eventually, Ariana did, her eyes finding the balcony floor. She seemed a little uneasy at how intense their eye contact had gotten, but when she looked up at him, she was smiling. “We should get to bed.”
Julio fought the urge to kiss her. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable, but her lips were just begging to be kissed. He wrenched his eyes away and removed himself from the situation before he did something stupid.
Ariana walked over to the sarcophagus and lifted the stone lid easily, still smiling as she lay down and gently closed it on top of herself.
Julio lay down in the bed – it was very comfortable. In no time at all, he was fast asleep.
When he woke, the room was dark, but a dim light was leaking in from around the edges of the curtains. Julio yawned as he got up and went to peek out of the window. It appeared to be late afternoon. The coffin was still closed, and he didn’t see Ariana anywhere, so he assumed she was still asleep.
Not wanting to check and end up waking her, he walked around the room, examining it with
fresh eyes, now that he was no longer half asleep on his feet. There was a beautifully carved desk, and on the far wall, a huge bookshelf.
He was drawn to the bookshelf first. Julio loved books, and art. He’d often take his sketch book out hiking with him, and when he got home, he’d paint some of the favorite scenes of nature.
There were books of every sort here – from novels to dictionaries in different languages to illustration books. He picked one of those, which was filled with high quality pictures of beautiful paintings. Julio recognized a few of them. He had a few replicas of some of these at home.
The thought of home made him wistful. He knew that Bernice, his neighbor, would take care of Janet while he was gone, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss him. Just the thought of her sad little Labrador eyes was enough to make him want to go home right now just to give her a belly rub.
He couldn’t, though. Bernice would be worried and want answers. The only answers he could give her were butterflies. As much as Julio missed his own bed, this was the best place for him for the time being. He was just grateful he hadn’t taken Janet on his hike last night.
Janet loved hiking through the forest, but she got excitable, and the last time he’d taken her out at night, she’d run straight into a hole and broken her foot. Dogs were supposed to have better night vision than humans, but apparently, when they were gamboling around in circles, chasing their own tails, their night vision sucked.
Now, Julio only brought her in the daytime when he had a better view of anything that could potentially hurt her. He had to face the sad eyes for leaving her when he got home, but it was better than seeing her hurt.
For the moment, Julio put his mind from home. Janet would be waiting for him when he returned. He wondered if Ariana liked dogs. She’d probably take him home herself, once he had his voice back. Perhaps he could persuade her to stay for a cup of tea or something…
Julio pulled himself out of his daydreams. It was too early to figure out what was going to happen between him and Ariana, so it was best not to fantasize and end up disappointed later. He didn’t feel comfortable wandering around Rashid’s chateau alone when he couldn’t speak, so he helped himself to books.
There was certainly plenty here to keep him busy. He settled down happily at the desk and started reading.
6
Ariana woke up like a clockwork, just as the sun sank below the horizon. One of the families she’d lived with hadn’t been big on alarms, and they’d helped her train her body to rise and sleep with the sun, even if she couldn’t see the sun from where she was sleeping.
She lifted the sarcophagus lid quietly, wondering if Julio was still asleep. Looking around the room, she found him sitting at the desk, reading one of the many books she had in her room. Rashid kept his chateau stocked with all kinds of treasures, and Ariana hadn’t even had a chance to begin making a dent in his pile of books, considering she never stayed here for longer than a few weeks before he sent her off to her next home.
Julio turned the page, smiling. Ariana remembered last night, when he had stood on the balcony and screamed at the sky. She’d been there, watching from the shadows. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. Of course, she would do whatever she could to ensure that Julio got his voice back, but she’d be lying if she said she wouldn’t miss the butterflies.
“Hey. What are you reading?”
At the sound of her voice, Julio turned to her with a wide smile. He pointed excitedly at an illustration of a forest at sunrise. It was a truly beautiful picture in what seemed to be a book of drawings of nature.
“Do you like art, then?”
Julio nodded enthusiastically.
“Rashid has loads of stuff here – paintings, carvings, historical artifacts… I’d love to show you sometime.”
Again, Julio nodded, getting up and closing the book after marking his page with a scrap piece of paper.
“There are a lot of vampires here,” Ariana warned him. “Rashid has called people from all over the globe to attend Lisette’s meeting, and he’s offering accommodation to anyone who needs it. You’ll be safe, none of them would dare hurt a guest in Rashid’s house, but you’ll certainly be an anomaly. He doesn’t have human guests often, especially not ones like you.”
As she’d expected, Julio’s face fell. He seemed comfortable with her, but he was still nervous around large groups of vampires. Ariana supposed she couldn’t blame him. After all, the media wasn’t kind to vampires. Julio would have grown up believing her kind were monsters, and it would take more than one night for the logic of the facts in front of him to overwhelm the fear that had been planted in him from a young age.
Julio spent a minute writing on the pad, then handed it over.
I believe you that I’m safe, but I don’t really want to socialize when I can’t speak. Vampires hate witches, and I don’t imagine seeing someone under the effects of a witch’s curse will make them happy.
“Probably not. Maybe I’ll introduce you to everyone once you get your voice back.” Ariana thought for a moment. She didn’t know how long they’d be here for, and Julio was likely to go stir-crazy stuck up here in the room. “Can you draw?”
He nodded, making swishing motions with his hand.
“And paint?” she guessed, which got another nod. “Wait here.”
Ariana was sure Rashid wouldn’t mind. He had accumulated many possessions in his life, and was always generous with his guests. She knew he could be a bit of a troublemaker, but Ariana was sure that he had a good heart. He’d always been good to her, even though he had no reason to be.
She dashed through the halls, returning quickly to Julio with her arms full of canvases and paints. His eyes lit up and he clapped happily. Ariana helped him set up a makeshift easel, then left him to his work. She knew some artists didn’t like others watching when they worked, and she didn’t want to make Julio uncomfortable, especially when he couldn’t object to her presence with words.
After browsing the bookshelf and picked a book of her own. Her education had been thorough, and there were a number of non-fiction books here, but Ariana had always favored romance novels. Accordingly, Rashid had stocked her room with a number of them, and she looked forward to the chance to get some reading done.
She read for about an hour and a half, but Ariana found she wasn’t getting into the story in the same way she usually did. Her eyes kept flicking to Julio. He was intent on his canvas, but it was facing away from her, so she couldn’t see what he was painting.
Curiosity overcame her, and she walked around, looking over his shoulder. She’d expected a landscape painting, judging by the kinds of things he seemed to enjoy looking at, but that wasn’t what Julio was doing.
The painting was of her, stretched out on the very couch she’d been reading on only moments ago. Ariana stared. She hadn’t had a glimpse of her own face in many years. Vampires didn’t show up in mirrors, so the only time she saw herself was when someone took a photo, or when she caught a reflection in water.
Most vampires were unconcerned with appearances and didn’t bother with photos. Ariana wasn’t overly bothered about it either, but it was still nice to know what she looked like now.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, wondering if Julio would let her keep it.
He pointed at her, and a stream of butterflies came out of his mouth. His meaning was clear – she was beautiful. Ariana felt herself blushing. Julio pointed imperiously at the couch, and Ariana chuckled. Apparently, he wasn’t done having her model for him.
“Fine, but I want that painting when you’re done with it.”
Julio shrugged and nodded before getting back to work.
Ariana soon gave up on concentrating on the book and just watched Julio. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he painted, his eyes flicking up to her every now and then. The painting had looked almost complete when Ariana had seen it, but apparently, there was a lot more to do.
She wished for perhaps the
hundredth time that she could talk to Julio. Of course, she could, but since he couldn’t talk back, her attempts at conversation would likely just be frustrating for him. Even if he wrote down his answers on the pad, writing was a lot slower than talking and would probably still get annoying for him.
After a while, she gave in to boredom and came to sit beside him. Ariana got out the pad and wrote her own message on it. If he couldn’t talk to her with words, then she would talk to him in the only way he could respond.
Is this your career, being an artist?
He read the message and shook his head, writing his own reply. No, I’m an accountant. Art is my hobby. That and hiking. Is there a reason you’re not talking to me anymore? I like the sound of your voice.
I’d love to hear the sound of your voice. It only seems fair that we communicate on the same level for now.
Julio shrugged and smiled before writing another message. What about you? What do vampires do with their free time?
It depends from person to person. I haven’t had much free time yet. Vampires are only considered adult at twenty-five, so technically, I’m still a child for another year.
That sucks. Are you allowed… what rules do vampires have when you’re underage?
Was he asking what Ariana thought he was, or was that just her mind bringing up dirty thoughts because of how close together they were sitting? We can drink, drive and have sex, if that’s what you mean. We stick to human laws with regards to things like that, but I’ve always had someone who has custody of me, even since I turned eighteen. I still get a lot of freedom, though. Rashid was never one for tradition. I think if I told him I wanted to go my own way rather than live in the next place he lined up for me, he’d be fine with it.
