“Hmm?”
“Holding you. We don’t do this often enough. Lately it’s all been sex and fighting.” He chuckled and kissed the tip of my nose, then took a deep breath and sighed. Dorian was right, and I hated that he was right. I was Aleksi’s weakness. “I might be a little weird for a while. Tonight touched one of the only nerves I have left— aside from things that involve you, of course. Just…be patient with me.” He took my hand and kissed my fingertips, before sighing again and staring at the door with almost vacant eyes. “But now… now we have to go to Crimson Hill… which means dealing with Vlad and Elizabeta and I am not in the best of moods.” His lips pursed and his eyes narrowed for a moment. His gaze focused on that silver door knob. I could feel the tension in his body as his jaw set and I could sense his annoyance. I had missed something in the weeks of being caught up in my own affairs I had forgotten to look at the big picture. Something told me… the night was far from over, and the worst had yet to happen.
15
AFTERMATH
THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT SEEING CRIMSON HILL THAT I ABSOLUTELY HATED. That bright, shining, golden gate made my lips turn to a frown whenever they came into sight. Aside from it being the first place Aleksi and I made love, it was also the site of so many horrible things. I lost Aleksi there, and Nikolai drew his last gasping mortal breath with his throat ripped out on the floor. As those glimmering gates parted I glanced back at Nikolai as Aleksi parked up front. Nikolai’s nervousness only fed my own as we slipped out of Aleksi’s pristine antique Mercedes.
The enormous palace was empty for a change, and once we were waved inside by the guards the place would have been cavernous if not for the immaculate decorations. Our footsteps echoed into nothingness as the three of us wound our way through the labyrinth with Aleksi leading. He led us to what used to be Tristan’s office and threw the doors open.
Inside, Elizabeta and Vlad were playing with Margot on the carpet. If Elizabeta wasn’t the sadist I knew her to be and if Vlad wasn’t Dracula the scene would have been touching. But they were who they were and thus that lovely scene twisted into something completely and utterly bizarre. Aleksi actually hesitated when he saw that baby girl with her pretty blonde loose curls and large emerald eyes. It had been a while since I had seen baby Margot, but you could tell with a glance that she was Aleksi’s—I had never seen a baby look so smug.
“Whatever should we have her call you when she starts talking? Vlad we have decided will have Dada, and I will be Mummy. But what about you, Aleksi?” Elizabeta looked up from Margot for a second. The little girl stood on shaky new legs and walked over to Aleksi and stopped at his feet. Those curious green eyes looked between him and Nikolai.
“I don’t care. Now is not the time to feign domestic bliss. We know where Gregory is.” Aleksi’s voice was so cold it gave me the chills. My brows knit as I stared down at Margot’s confused little face. I was the one who scooped little Margot into my arms, she continued to stare at Aleksi even as I walked her back over to Elizabeta and Vlad.
“Thank you.” Elizabeta spoke to me with a smile as I sat Margot down in front of her. The precocious little toddler, however, had one goal. Seconds later the tiny girl was walking back to Aleksi again.
“And I know you sent Dorian.” Aleksi groused out crossing his arms.
“Yes, Aleksi we did send Dorian,” Elizabeta sighed out smoothing that tasteful copper chignon, the movement was almost mechanical. Vlad pulled her into his lap; he still had yet to say anything to us.
“So you knew what he’d do?”
“Yes, I expressly asked him to help you three deepen your bond,” Vlad spoke though he didn’t look from Elizabeta.
“Deepen our bond?”
“I told him he should use his influence to help you better accept your situation. I was expecting the three of you to… what’s that quaint term you use these days? Have a threesome.”
“With my son.”
“No, with your gardener! Of course with Nikolai. You can hardly call yourself his father. You’ve known of his existence for what? Less than a year?”
“Some of us have lines we’re not willing to cross, Vlad. So in twenty-six years are you going to try the same thing with Margot? Is this to your sick way of fucking with my life?”
“Not in front of Margot!” Elizabeta chided.
“No. It was a specific response to a specific situation, nothing more. I gave Nikolai a place because you refused to do it. Now pick up your Daughter, she’s as stubborn as you are.”
“Whatever.” Though Aleksi griped, he still bent down and picked up the toddler. They stared at each other for a moment and then he held her close. Right away she pressed her little apple cheek to his chest. “Gregory is right under our noses. He’s in apartments by the University.”
“Of course he is.” Elizabeta sighed as she leaned back against Vlad.
“The Sun Cross we believe to also be active there. Have you seen anything else other than his location? Any immediate threat?” Vlad didn’t even look at me as he spoke, Elizabeta was his whole world.
“No, n-not particularly. I did have another vision a while ago about being lead through the Harker by the security team.” My voice was small but oddly clear and sure considering how terrified I was of Vlad. Maybe it was Aleksi’s presence that gave me the strength to face them. I glance back at him as he stared down at Margot in silence, it was the first contact he had with his daughter. He stroked her hair for a few moments; staring down at her it was clear that their connection was instant. Aleksi’s thoughts were practically transparent as he started to rock the one and half year old in his arms. We could all see those wheels turning in his head. Vlad removed Elizabeta from his lap and the air grew heavy with what seemed to be inevitable.
“Regardless, Autumn, there doesn’t appear to be any immediate threat. Universities aren’t considered part of a territory. It would be a nightmare for council if we were to proceed on their property,” Vlad continued as he fussed with the cuffs of his black silk shirt.
“But you are Council.”
“Not in this matter. If you had a clearer vision about some catastrophe we could act, but you didn’t. Tell us exactly where he is and we’ll put a tail on him. Other than that we can’t send our people to bring him here for execution until he leaves from the neutral zone. Unfortunately, this is politics,” Elizabeta shrugged. “Now give me my little girl back.” Her voice which seemed so cold hard and final, held a hint of fear and desperation.
“I never signed the papers,” Aleksi said as he left the room still holding Margot. Someone has clearly lost their mind. I stared open mouthed at the door that closed behind him. Everyone stared in shock as my stomach clenched. Did he just abandon you? “Autumn!” He yelled, perking me up and instantly my whole body relaxed, that tension fading from me as I ran after him followed by Nikolai.
“Aleksi…” It was Nikolai who spoke as we followed him down the hall. Elizabeta and Vlad didn’t follow, which confused me.
“What? Am I just supposed to leave her here with them after what they made me do to you? After what we know Vlad did before?” Even though he raised his voice that little girl in his arms remained mostly silent. When we crossed into the hall of mirrors we were met by the whole security team. People like Vlad and Elizabeta don’t run, they send people after you.
“Hand the lil’ baby girl over, Aleksi. We both know I can’t let you leave with her,” Wyatt called in that thick west Texan accent. He was leading the team as always and I couldn’t help but to think about that vision I had and how Wyatt led that team too. My lips slowly parted as I realized with a growing knot in my stomach that maybe I was being led away because I was being forcibly removed from Aleksi.
“Hand her over or you’ll what? Shoot us? Need I remind you that I’m holding a mortal child?” Aleksi smugly smirked at them and Wyatt moved his gun to me and my breath caught. You keep forgetting you’re still expendable, both the gypsy girl and Maria were executed. What m
akes you so special?
“Give us that pretty lil’ baby girl or Seer or not, we’ll shoot Autumn here so full of holes there won’t be enough left to turn.” And this is supposed to be the man who is in charge of the people guarding you.
Aleksi hesitated, I knew what it was. It wasn’t that he’d allow them to shoot me; it was that he wasn’t certain they would. I was the Seer; he probably thought that if Vlad had wanted me dead, I’d have been dead long ago. However, in the end, he whispered something to the little girl and pressed a kiss to her forehead before passing the child off to Wyatt. She screamed bloody murder and grabbed at Aleksi for dear life refusing to let go. They had to gently pry her little hands from his hair and shirt. Her screams carried. Who knew something so small could be so loud?
Once those grand doors closed and we were outside the scream was finally silenced. Aleksi glanced at Nikolai for a moment, and then at me. Without a word he continued to the car. During the drive he was also silent. He feels guilty about Nikolai and Margot’s situations. We were halfway back to Florence when Aleksi suddenly sat up straighter.
“So?” Nikolai broke the silence.
“What’s done is done. We need to focus on what’s coming next. Gregory is planning something. He has a vendetta against Elizabeta that she’s choosing to ignore while she plays mommy.”
“M-maybe she’s trying to protect you from what she’s getting ready to do? Elizabeta doesn’t strike me as the type to just let things go, Aleksi,” I murmured with a glance to him. He returned the look before answering, those electric eyes focused on me for a second, sending a shiver down my spine before he returned them to the road.
“Because she’s not. She’s also been known to wait centuries to exact revenge. She’s smart and plays a long game. Even if that means during the process of this long game hundreds of lives are lost. Or in this case thousands. The Sun Cross killed over three thousand people the other week.”
“Are we even sure he was involved in that?”
“Yes, Gregory wrote the speech given before and after. Years ago, when we stepped forward after the Titanic a group of Vampires spoke out adamantly against us—Gregory was part of this group. He gave this huge impassioned speech before Council—and it was almost exactly the same one. So this whole fucked up thing is his way of trying to create a situation in which he tells Council ‘I told you so’. Except he’s forgetting that most Vampires enjoy the freedom that being public allows—including the Council. The majority of them practically have celebrity status, like Elizabeta. And the ones who don’t like the attention know it’s in their best interest to go along with it. Would you want Elizabeta as your enemy?”
“Isn’t she?”
“No, and neither is Vlad. As displeased as they are, they won’t kill me.”
“W-what about me?”
“You? No. I gave Margot over because I don’t trust Wyatt.”
“Oh?”
“He’s trying too hard, and experience has taught me two things. One is that people who try too hard always have an angle, and two that angle is rarely a good one.”
“Like Kendra.”
“And Nikolai.” His lips twisted into a grim line and I glanced back at Nikolai who was asleep in the backseat, his head resting against the window. Again, a sickening thought crossed my mind and I chewed nervously on my bottom lip. Since the Sun Cross now worked with vampires he could still be working for them. The thought made me sick, and again Aleksi glanced at me. Releasing my lip I shifted in the seat.
Aleksi refused to drive me home. Instead, he pulled into his assigned spot and got out of the car in silence. Nikolai followed, leaving me to stare at the black leather of the dashboard. I watched in the rearview mirror as they waited for the elevator. For a second I thought Aleksi would leave me in the car. Nikolai held the elevator and I eventually got out of the car. The second I closed the door the lights flashed as the doors locked remotely. Why was I suddenly so nervous? Isn’t it obvious? You don’t trust Nikolai anymore.
On top of the new rekindled mistrust there was that air of awkwardness that had settled between us. As I watched the green digital light change with each floor I could feel that tension grow. It was almost like with a new relationship. That’s because you are accepting the traitor into your bed. I bit my lip at Miss Manner’s assessment, she was right. The electronic beep that alerted us to our floor made me practically jump out of my skin. Aleksi smirked a little as he strode out of the elevator with his head high, he didn’t even look at me. He warned you, he was going to be weird. I watched as he walked right to the door, opened it and entered without so much as a glance at either myself or Nikolai.
“Autumn,” Nikolai spoke my name drawing my attention. He was holding the door for me. I blinked in a flurry.
“Oh, I.” I shook my head and stepped out of the elevator.
“Processing earlier? I really didn’t expect him to try to take her like that. I mean where would we put Margot?”
“I did. Aleksi has a big heart. When he finally decides he cares for someone their safety is his primary concern…” I trailed off as I thought of when he broke up with me. My eyes raised to Nikolai, as I thought about him pleading over Aleksi’s cooling corpse all those months ago. “You two are very similar when it comes to people you care about.” I ended the conversation with that. After, I walked into the apartment and found that still empty room. It was there on that sheet-less bed that I fell asleep, my conscious slipping from me as my head touched the mattress. The night had been too much for me and I knew the day wasn’t going to be much better.
16
STOLEN
BEFORE I KNEW IT WE WERE IN TECHNICAL REHEARSALS FOR GISELLE. Yet, even in costume I could hardly believe I was dancing in a production, amateur or not. The shows were all sold out, every last one of them. It was the cheapest anyone would ever get to see Aleksi dance. The best tickets were only thirty dollars and the worst five. However, Evan, my darling Evan, had become insufferable because of it. Aleksi was perfection, but he had danced the part of Albrecht so many times that after a week of slowness he settled back into ballet like the old habit it was. The differences between us became obvious after that, at first I noticed little differences but they became more and more glaring as time went on. At first, it was the way he held his chin—he almost always kept his face tilted a little toward what would be the seats. Then I noticed the expressions, he always had the appropriate expression on his face—I had a bad habit of smiling. I could dance the part, but I lacked those little extras from time to time.
“Nervous?” Aleksi asked as I stood in my act one, peasant girl costume. I kept grinding the tip of my Pointe shoe in the little box of resin. I jumped more than a little at his voice, since coming back from Crimson Hill he had been withdrawn. If Nikolai was anywhere near he tended to distance himself from me completely. But now there he was all six foot four of him, in those tight white tights, white shirt and simple blue vest that almost matched his eyes. He always looked so princely in his costumes. He was heart-stoppingly romantic looking. There was a moment of pride and ownership as I stared at him with a small smile affixed to my lips.
“Exceedingly nervous.” I sighed. That’s because you know you’re going to fall flat on your face.
“Don’t be.” He breathed into my ear as he pressed himself against me. “Relax. You’re a natural, Autumn. You’ll be spectacular. We partner phenomenally in all things.” He kissed my cheek as the overture started and I sighed. Tonight was the opening night, and this would be the last time I would dance the production without hundreds of eyes watching me
Technical rehearsal went surprisingly well. For the first time as I stood on that stage I felt like I actually belonged there. I was sweaty and out of breath as I walked back to my dressing room. My normal deep olive skin was painted that traditional ghastly white. I caught my reflection in the mirror, I looked menacing. The make-up was Evan’s idea, heavy and dark around the eyes with more of that heavy concealer on my
lips. I raised en Pointe and gazed at my reflection. My eyes were a large flash of bright gold in a sea of white. Tears fell from my eyes unexpectedly. I wasn’t myself anymore. I had spent so much time running from myself, denying what I wanted and taking on the roles that others expected.
It was so easy to turn that part of my brain off that made decisions and fall into what others wanted. Shaking my head I started removing my costume. Once all vestiges of Giselle had been removed I laid on the floor and propped my legs up against the vanity staring at the ancient ceiling. The remnants of a sculpted pattern still lurked under layers of paint.
“What do I want?” I whispered to myself. Really? It’s a bit late to start asking yourself that question. “Is it so wrong to want both of them?” Yes. My mouth twisted and I rotated my ankles. Shutting my eyes I thought about biting Nikolai all of those months ago and the reaction of his body. I could almost see myself in that situation again. If Aleksi hadn’t shown up, what would I have done?
I let out a little frustrated cry and jumped up into the chair removing my Pointe shoes. At the same time… I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about being tied up by Aleksi. There was a knock on the door and I let out a little gasp, like someone who had been caught doing something wrong.
“Y-yes,” I called after a moment of catching my breath.
“It’s Evan, are you decent?” Hearing that calm cool accented tenor made me relax.
“Give me a moment.” I hastily pulled on my dress and started taking the bobby pins out of my hair. “Come in.”
Evan entered almost silently and paused when he saw me. His head cocked to the side and a smile blossomed on his pale blush lips. It was a thoughtful smile, the kind that always made me melt. Our eyes met and he looked away first, his gaze fell to the floor—my own followed a moment later. We were both shy, and we’d never be comfortable around each other, that bond made sure of it.
Dark Awakenings (Danse Macabre Book 2) Page 33
