by L.H. Cosway
“And?”
A small smile shaped her lips, and it transformed her features. She was already gorgeous, but the smile made her beautiful. “What? You think I’m going to tell you? I hardly know you, Finn.”
Okay, so she had some sass in her. Good. “You know me well enough to share a bed with me,” I shot back.
“Yeah, well, my options were pretty limited,” she replied as she climbed from the bed and felt her way to the bathroom. A minute or two later, I heard the shower come on.
I went out to the minivan and drove to the nearest shopping mall, which was a couple of miles from the hotel. I stocked up on necessities for everyone and bought Alora something to wear that was a little less conspicuous than a floor-length evening gown. I opted for some leggings and a couple of T-shirts and cardigans. I also threw in some socks, tennis shoes, and underwear, though I wasn’t even going to try guessing her bra size.
Small boobs were easier to guess than big boobs, and Alora could be anywhere from a double D to a G. I loved how this was what my brain decided to focus on, instead of how I was saddling myself with yet another damsel in distress. I was sure a psychologist could have a field day with me. Always trying to save females because I couldn’t save my mother and sister, the only two who really mattered.
When I got back to the hotel, I dropped off the bag of clothes I got for Ira. The poor bloke couldn’t keep going around in jeans that barely covered his calves. When I reached my room, I found Alora sitting by the dresser, attempting to blow dry her long hair with one of those tiny hotel hair dryers. I dropped the shopping bags down on the bed.
“I bought you some clothes. I went as generic as possible because I don’t know your exact sizes.”
Her eyes drifted back and forth as though trying to spot me. She must have pinpointed my location because her gaze stopped where I stood by the wall.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she whispered, her voice aeons away from the sass she gave me earlier.
“I wanted to. Besides, it looks like I still have some work to do to show you I’m trustworthy.”
Turning off the dryer, she set it down on the dresser and made her way over to the bed. She latched onto the bag and slipped a hand inside.
“You’ll have to tell me what’s what,” she said quietly.
“Oh, right, yeah,” I replied, slapping my head dumbly. Taking the bag from her, I pulled out a pale, yellow T-shirt, navy leggings, and a black cardigan. Next, I grabbed a pair of knickers and some socks.
“So, these are leggings, and this is a T-shirt,” I told her, placing one in each hand and feeling like an idiot. I had no idea how to treat a blind person. “And, uh, here’s some clean underwear,” I went on throatily. “You can go change in the bathroom, and then I’ll help you with the rest.”
“Thanks,” she answered, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she seemed touched by how I was assisting her. She walked into the bathroom but left the door open.
“At Michael Ridley’s,” she said, talking to me from the other room, “I always had maids to dress and wash me, so I never learned how to deal with my blindness. Most people would have little tricks to get by, but I haven’t had the chance to learn any yet. I feel so clueless.”
That made two of us.
“You’ll learn, Goldy. I can help,” I assured her.
A minute later, she came back out, and I tried not to focus on how the tight leggings clung to the curve of her hips and hugged her perfectly round arse. The T-shirt was a good deal tight as well. I must have gotten a size too small. Luckily, she still had the bra she’d been wearing under the gown, otherwise, she wouldn’t have gotten away with the tight T-shirt without giving every straight man in sight a massive hard-on.
I walked to her, took her hand, and led her over to the bed, sitting her down. “Here are your socks. Do you need help with them?”
She shook her head. “No, I have to get used to doing this by myself.”
Fumblingly, she put on the socks and the tennis shoes, and I helped her into the cardigan once she was done. Unexpectedly, she reached up, brought her hand to the line of my jaw, and placed a kiss on my cheek. My heart skipped a beat. She smelled like soap, and her lips were so fucking soft.
“Thank you, Finn. You’ve been incredibly sweet to me,” she said with gratitude, pulling away just as I was instinctively turning my lips to hers. I shook myself out of the urge to plunge my tongue inside her pretty little mouth. The air between us felt thick, but maybe that was just me.
“Any time. Come on, let’s go get breakfast.”
On the way to the diner, I informed the receptionist on duty, now a young red-haired woman, that we’d be staying another night. I used my DOH credit card, knowing that it had a decently high limit, and since Pamphrock was gone, nobody was going to care that I was spending the money anyway. A pang of grief hit me at the memory of Theodore suffocating him. He’d drained the life from his body like it was nothing. The leader I’d looked up to for years was dead, and I felt so… adrift.
I opened the door and ushered Alora inside the diner. When we joined the others at the same table we ate at last night, I noticed Delilah was looking a little worse for wear. She had dark bags under her eyes and her lips seemed pale.
“You alright?” I asked, eyeing her in concern.
“I’m just tired,” she answered, a little snappish.
“Are you sure?” Gabriel put in. “When was the last time you had blood?”
A-ha. Now, why didn’t I think of that? Sometimes I forgot that dhampirs needed blood, too. Not half as much as vamps, but they still needed a small amount.
Delilah scowled. “A while ago.”
“How much of a while?” Gabriel probed.
Now she sighed. “Just under a fortnight,” she replied flatly.
“That’s far too long to go without, Delilah,” Gabriel said in a worried voice.
“Yeah, well, I’ve been a little preoccupied.”
“You can feed from me,” came Ira’s low voice. I gaped at him.
“Did you just talk?” I questioned, shocked. The big, burly shapeshifter gave me a sheepish look.
“Oh, don’t look so surprised. He’s been talking to me for days,” Delilah said.
I sat back, folding my arms. “Well, now I’m offended. I thought we were buddies.”
Ira looked a little guilty, shooting me an apologetic expression, before Delilah gripped his shoulder. “I can’t feed from you. I only ever feed from human donors. Most of them are already addicted.”
“It’s just one time though,” Alvie interjected “Harmless, really.”
“I want to.” Ira stood firm. I still couldn’t get over the fact that he was talking. How had I missed that? Then again, we had been a little busy fighting for our lives.
Gabriel shot Delilah an encouraging look, and she threw up her hands, exasperated. “Fine, I’ll feed from Ira. Later though.”
“I can put a glamour around the table if you want to do it now. You look like you need it,” Gabriel offered.
She stared at him, galled. “I’m not feeding here in front of all of you.”
“Why not? We’re practically family,” Alvie said. “There’s no judgement.”
“Exactly,” I added, just to annoy her. Cristescu’s half-sister was particularly fun to rile.
Delilah bit her lip, glancing hungrily at Ira. “Are you sure?” she asked, and he nodded stoically. She chewed her lip some more. “Fine. But your glamour better be a good one, Gabriel. I don’t want to freak out any of the other customers.”
My attention went to Alora, who was listening to the conversation intently. She seemed nervous.
“It’s morning, right?” she whispered, leaning close to my ear. I suppressed a shudder when her gentle breath met my skin. What was wrong with me? Maybe the disappointment from Tegan choosing Cristescu had me channelling my attraction onto Alora. It was fairly pathetic to be on the rebound from someone who you were never even with in the first place.
>
“Yes, it’s morning. Delilah’s a dhampir. So is Gabriel. This is a vamp-free zone,” I told her reassuringly.
“Okay. That’s good.” She exhaled.
I studied her curiously. “Have you seen vampires in your visions?”
“Yes. Many.”
“Hmm,” I said, rubbing my chin.
I wanted to ask her more questions, but my attention was drawn to Gabriel. He was muttering an incantation to create a glamour. Once it was up no one would be able to see that Delilah was feeding from Ira. The redhead leaned in close to my friend and seemed to take her time breathing in his scent. His posture went a little rigid as her small fangs descended down past her lips.
A moment later, she placed her hand on his shoulder, whispering, “Sorry if this hurts a little.”
Then she sank her teeth into his neck and started to drink. Ira was one of those unreadable types. He never let his emotions show outwardly, but I had to wonder if he was turned on right now. Some kind of attraction had obviously been brewing between these two for a while.
It was kind of funny how awkward and quiet everyone became as we watched them. I had no love for bloodsuckers, but watching Delilah feed was oddly riveting. Several gulps later, she pulled away and licked her lips. Her pupils were dilated to the point where almost all the green iris was gone. Feeling devious, I jiggled the table leg with my foot.
“Hey, Ira. Get your stiffy under control.”
Gabriel and Alvie burst into laughter while Delilah shot me a death stare. One end of Ira’s mouth curved up, as though he was trying to suppress a smile. At least he still had a sense of humour. Next to me, Alora blushed even though the comment had nothing to do with her. Wow, this girl was shy. I probably wasn’t the best person for her to be around, since half the things that came out of my mouth needed an eighteen and up rating.
The waitress came and began setting food down in front of us, and I dug into my bacon and eggs with gusto.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Gabriel asked.
“I booked us in to stay here another night. Today, I was thinking we could drive into the city and scope the place out, see if the vamps are still killing, or if Cristescu has ordered them to behave themselves. We’ll check my street out, too, and see if everything’s okay. If it is, then we’ll head back there tomorrow. I can’t be putting you all up in the lap of luxury like this forever,” I joked.
Delilah snorted. “Right. I think I saw a cockroach this morning.”
“Ah, a nice bit of wildlife to give you the full experience,” I replied with a wink.
Another snort.
“If we’re going to the city,” Alora said quietly. “Could you bring me to my parents’ house? It’s on Edmund Street just past the north side of the river.”
I glanced at her, something tightening in my chest at the thought of her leaving already.
“Sure. We’ll go and see if they’re there. If not, and there’s a big likelihood that they fled, you can stay with us.”
She nodded and took a sip of her coffee. She looked cute in the clothes I bought her, just like the pretty girl next door. Seeing her appear out of nowhere in that ethereal gown last night made her seem almost like an apparition, but now she was sitting beside me eating her scrambled eggs, a light sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks, looking like everything I’d ever wanted in a girlfriend.
Christ, I really was on the rebound.
I thought about the possibility of Alora’s family still being in the city. Would she want to stay in contact with me if they were? Perhaps when everything settled down, she might even let me take her out on a date. Asking her on a date wouldn’t be weird, right?
We finished breakfast and then everyone loaded into the van. On my way back from the shopping mall earlier, I had stopped by the parameter of Theodore’s enclosure and noted how even more people had gathered there. There was a frantic, desperate energy about the place.
Some people were saying the barrier was a sign of the apocalypse. Others thought that the devil had taken hold of Tribane. Most people were saying it was aliens. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was aliens, too, trapping us in a cage so that they could study us or some shit.
The motorway was practically empty on the drive into the city, and when we arrived, the streets had very few people on them. Those present scurried from building to building, afraid that if they stayed outside too long, they might get snatched up by a fanged monster.
An old homeless man was sitting on the doorstep of a shop next to where I parked the van. He had a bottle of liquor in a brown paper bag and was taking sips every once in a while. I glanced around, and saw two human policemen on patrol on the other side of the street.
“Any spare change?” the man asked as I got out of the vehicle.
I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out a twenty I’d forgotten was there. Ah crap, I hated when that happened. Now I’d look like a prick if I didn’t give it to him. His eyes lit up when I handed it over.
“Go wild,” I said before jogging purposely toward the two officers.
“How’s it going around here?” I asked them with a meaningful look.
They were both young, in their early twenties, with faces the picture of wary anxiety.
“Quiet,” the blond one replied. “Not many people are leaving their houses. This morning there were several raids in supermarkets. People are stockpiling food.” He paused and leaned closer, his voice turning conspiratorial. “There haven’t been any more … vampire attacks, but we’re all expecting them tonight. They can only come out at night, right?” He swallowed hard.
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re safe as houses during the day. What about the telephone lines and the internet, are they still not working?”
Both officers shook their heads. The dark-haired one eyed my DOH jacket.
“You’re one of those slayers, aren’t you?” he asked with barely contained fascination. “My uncle was one before he died. At least that’s the rumour in our family.”
“I am, not that it means much anymore. Most of us have been killed.”
His enthusiasm quickly deflated. “Is that why the vampires are killing people?”
“No. Listen, boys, I have to go, but you’re doing a great job. Keep up the good work and stay safe.” I patted each of them on the back before returning to the others who were still waiting inside the van.
Just before I got there, though, I spotted someone passing through one of the alleys just off the street. A suspiciously familiar blond head of hair. Stealthily, I slipped down the alley and climbed up a ladder to a small nook on the side of the building. I breathed as little as possible and kept watching.
Seconds later, Cristescu passed beneath me. The fucker really could come out in the daylight now. He walked at human speed and had this weird look on his face as though every little thing he saw fascinated him. A moment later, he was gone, disappearing down another alley. I let out the breath I was holding.
Seeing him walk by like that was strange. He didn’t seem like the all-powerful, scary new being that he did on the roof. He seemed like his usual self, i.e. a confident, ‘knows all too well how good looking he is’ prick.
I pulled out my phone to call Tegan, before remembering the lines were down. I wondered where Cristescu was hiding her.
Keeping my little sighting to myself for now, I returned to the van and filled everyone in on what the policemen told me.
“We’ll take Alora to her house first, and then we’ll drive around, see if we spot anything unusual.”
“We should try to find Rita,” Alvie said. “If we can somehow convince her to leave Theodore, I’m sure she’ll be able to break the seal around the city. She’s the only one who can.”
“Have you not seen your witchy friend recently?” I asked him. “She’s gone to the dark side, and I’m talking Darth Vader dark side. It’ll be very near impossible to get her back.”
“I never would have taken you for a trek
kie nerd,” Delilah commented snidely.
I pointed a finger at her and smiled. “Star Wars, babe, not Star Trek, though I am partial to a woman in one of those tight Starfleet uniforms.”
“You like a woman in uniform. How original,” Delilah deadpanned.
“Rita’s stronger than you know,” Alvie went on, unable to give up on his best friend. “If anyone can break through darkness, it’s her.”
I gave him a considering look before pulling the van out of its parking spot. I knew Rita was powerful, but I still thought the chances of her coming back to us were about as likely as me pulling Scarlett Johansson – in other words: nil.
Alora’s neighbourhood wasn’t too far from my own, a ten-minute walk at most. She told me the address, and I stopped once I reached her house.
“We’re here,” I told her softly before getting out and walking around to her side. I helped her out of the van and led her to the front door. The garden gate lay on the ground, torn off its hinges. I didn’t mention this to her because I didn’t want to upset her, but it certainly wasn’t a good sign. At least the front door was still intact. I pressed the button to ring the doorbell.
Radio silence.
I pressed again but still nothing.
“Maybe they’ve gone out,” Alora suggested.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“I wish I had my key to get in, that way you could leave me and get on with the other things you need to do.”
“I’m not leaving you until I know you’re with your family, Goldy,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I hadn’t meant to touch her. It was just one of those instinctive things. She sucked in a quick breath, letting it out when I drew my hand away from her.
I tapped my toe against the step. “How do you feel about me breaking in?” I asked, eyeing the door and knowing it’d be a piece of piss to get open. Most people didn’t realise how easy it was for their homes to be broken into, especially by sneaky buggers like me who knew exactly how to do it.
“Um, yeah, okay. But can you try to do as little damage as possible?”
“I won’t leave a single scratch,” I told her before pulling a small piece of wire from my wallet.
