“Farewell.”
And with that, he disappeared into the night, leaving Dawn behind him, panting from their game and deeply confused.
Chapter 6
He had said she would find out about him, but Dawn hadn't learned anything about Micheil that night, other than that he was an asshole. She hadn't heard anything from him since then, except to get a formal card saying that the hospital would still be receiving his donation, and that he would appreciate full anonymity with the superior staff members.
Suddenly furious, Dawn stormed down the hallway in the hospital, pausing briefly to study her reflection in the display case. Was it me? She was questioning herself when something caught her eye in the display cabinet - a picture of the hospital's first humble beginnings a century earlier. Standing there at the doorway was a man who looked exactly like Michheil, right down to the smile. The name on the plaque was Michael Dominik: Founder.
Could it possibly be...? There was no way. Her heart skipped a beat as images of Micheil standing over the woman, who was holding her neck, sprung to mind. Dawn stared at the photo again before finally turning away. She left the corridor with goosebumps. It was better not to think about him anymore. There was no point. Even if somehow it was him, he wouldn't be back for her.
That night, she found Brandon sitting on her doorstep with his sketchbook in hand. For someone so athletic, he was also an incredible artist and musician, always expressing himself one way or another. He held the sketchbook out to her and gave her a shy smile.
She took it and her face softened. He had done another drawing of her from his window, this time of her doing the dishes. He was extremely talented, and he always seemed to be there for her when she was feeling the worst. He was an amazing person. She thought he might be getting a little too old for the same old stalker-like displays of love, but she sat beside him on the stoop anyway. He put his arm around her and she leaned against his shoulder, allowing him to comfort her – hoping it would help her forget about Mikheil.
Over the next couple of weeks, she spent more and more time with Brandon, both of them unable to forget what had happened the other night when they were watching movies together. The unmet kiss hung in the air between them like a dirty little secret, and the longer she spent time with him the more she was tempted to make it right.
She was wrestling with whether or not to do it when she suddenly heard something at her door. She walked over and saw an envelope. It had been slipped under the door. She picked it up and was met with beautiful calligraphy. It was from Micheil, asking if she wanted to meet again that night. Her heart thudded in her chest and she grasped her mother's locket, which seemed to be reacting to her increased heartbeat. She then threw the door open and found him standing on her doorstep with an elegant smile.
***
Micheil studied her, feeling nervous and happy at the same time. He chided himself for the feelings, as he had been in turmoil over the past few weeks. He couldn't forgive himself for wanting to kill this vibrant, beautiful young woman, despite the fact that she had seen him quite literally at his worst. But no reports had been made, no charges, nothing had happened. He was safe, and yet he couldn't get her out of his mind.
He knew he had to man up and take the initiative to make things right with her. He couldn't mope around his estate, wishing for her to magically forgive him for leaving so abruptly, or for seeing him being the true beast that he was inside. No, there was no way she would come to trust him on her own. But why did he care if she trusted him? Surely he couldn't be falling for a mortal? It would never work out.
And yet there he was on her doorstep, pining away, his long black hair pulled into a neat ponytail. Most vampires chose to cut their hair to keep up with the times, but it never grew back. He found himself surprised by the number of bald vampires he found. Micheil had been sentimental though, one of the things his friends had laughed at him about. He'd kept his hair, as it was the only part of his body, other than his fingernails, which he cut, that grew after he was sired. It stopped after a few months, but it seemed wrong to get rid of it. He couldn't bring himself to do it.
“Can you handle a secret?” he asked her finally.
Her clear, ocean colored eyes looked deeply into his and she nodded. He took her by the hand and led her to the awaiting limo.
Chapter 7
When they pulled into his estate, Dawn looked at the place, shock and awe on her face. She had passed it once or twice as a child, but had never had much of a thought about the kinds of people who might be living there. Nobody had ever seen them. They were busy and kept to themselves, no doubt ordering their fancy foods via airmail and keeping any children they had in for homeschooling and tutoring of a higher quality than even the most private schools could offer.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” he said, taking her by the hand. He led her inside, then through a huge open foyer to the dining hall. When he realized she wasn't trailing along behind him, he found her toying with a relic from Egypt on the shelf.
“Please don't touch anything, I have it all how I like it.”
She raised her eyebrow at him, but set it down and followed him to her seat.
“You even use more than one type of fork in your house?” she asked with a laugh.
“Of course,” he said. He had a couple of servants too, people paid well to keep their mouths shut and do their jobs. He had taken them out of abject poverty and brought them their own upper middle class status, something they clung to. He'd bought their loyalty so to speak. The servants now brought out a three course meal for Dawn, and she ate heartily.
“How do you keep such a perfect figure with an appetite like that?” he asked with a laugh.
“I have good metabolism,” she said, chewing. “Besides, I work out a lot and have good genes.”
She touched the locket around her neck, her mind wandering back to her mother. She missed how things used to be, when they were a family. Even with all the mysteries that she was never able to solve, she wished for a chance to speak to her mother just one more time, or hear her voice. She would have given anything for it.
“Well that's fortunate for you,” he said with a grin. He sipped his wine, watching her eat.
“Why aren't you eating anything?” she asked.
He didn't answer, just clapped his hands for the last course, which he barely touched. As much as he tried over the years, human food just wasn’t his thing. He was dreading revealing his secret to her, but he knew he had to. There was no other way to reconcile his feelings. He waited until after dessert, which she squealed in excitement about, before leading her to his study.
“There are things about me which you might not believe,” he said with a heavy sigh. “There's no easy way to say it.”
“Just tell me,” she said, moving her body closer to his, her breast hot against his arm, making his hands tremble.
“I'm a vampire. What you saw in that alley was me trying to get my lunch.”
At first the words sounded foreign to her ears. Even though she'd had her secret suspicions, now that he said it out loud it seemed like crazy talk. Did he really expect her to believe that? And if he believed it about himself, whether it was true or not, did that put her in danger? Of course it did. She had to get out of there.
He pointed to a series of pictures on the wall, each of them with a man, identical to him but in a different attire and giving the camera the same knowing look. Needless to say, the same picture she saw in the hospital also hung there. She shook her head, unable to believe it, and he turned to her, his fangs protruding from his mouth. His hands gripped her shoulders, and he forced her to stay put to look at him.
“I'm a monster, are you happy? You see what I am now.”
She thought she should be repulsed, and struggled halfheartedly to get away, but she was overpowered by something else. His body so close, his eyes boring into hers, his handsome face and startlingly blue eyes fixed on hers, not in a hungry way, but in a desperate, lon
ely way. He didn't want to hurt her, but he did want her. Just as she knew deep down, she had wanted him since the moment she had seen him. His raw power fixated her, made her want a taste of more. Her lips ached for his, and she nearly gave in.
But no, she couldn't do it. Not right then. It was all too much.
“I think I should go home,” she said, her voice shaking. “If you could just give me a little time to let this sink in, I think it might be better.”
“Of course,” he said gently, his face softening into his perfect human features. He watched her leave, a heaviness in his heart that he had hoped never to feel again. But this time, it was all the more excruciating as he watched her leave his sight.
Chapter 8
She arrived home late that night, her mind flooded with terrible thoughts. A vampire. That meant he killed people and ate them. But he hadn't hidden himself from her. Why? Was he playing some kind of a sick game? Mentally torture his victim until she was desperate enough to give in to whatever he wanted?
She was scared, but somehow she knew this wasn't the case. There was something behind his eyes that he hadn't wanted her to see. Something gentle and kind. Something almost...human. Suddenly she heard a noise and she nearly screamed, but it was just Brandon coming out from the bushes. He had been waiting there all night, ever since he had seen her leave with Micheil. That guy was bad news, he knew it more than anything. And he would protect the woman he loved.
“Who was that?” he asked, unable to hide the jealousy from his voice.
“Nobody you would know,” she said, trying to avoid the conversation. It wasn't something she was ready for.
“No, it's more like you don't know him, not how you think you do,” Brandon said, his eyes narrowing.
“What are you talking about, B?” she said with a sigh.
“Listen. I have an aunt. She works for that guy. She's seen some really twisted things. She would talk about it at home, but had us all swear not to tell a soul. I've heard the stories since I was a kid and thought they were all made up. Something to tell us to pull our legs and make us behave at night, come home at curfew, that kind of thing.”
“Wrap it up, Brandon, I'm tired.”
“Well, she said that he's a vampire,” he said in a hushed whisper. “That he kills people, Dawn. If you're messing around with him, you're in danger.”
“A vampire?” she asked warily. Was she having Deja vu? Hadn't she had this revelation tonight already?
“I know it's hard to believe,” he said. “I thought it was all a crock. But I've seen something. When I was 12, something I'll never be able to forget. He didn't notice me there or I wouldn't still be here…” Brandon shuddered as he trailed off.
“What did you see?” she asked warily.
“He was sucking someone's blood, my babysitter's in fact. But she wasn't babysitting me at the time, I was just kind of following her around to see where she went.”
“You're such a stalker.” Dawn said with a purposely lighter tone, changing the subject as if she was trying to protect Micheil’s secret.
He grinned, embarrassed.
“I'm not good with girls,” he said. “Just stay away from him, all right? You know he's no good for you. You belong with me. Please, Dawn, just be my girlfriend. I'll protect you from this guy. You'll be safe with me.”
“Brandon...” she was too overwhelmed to handle this right now. “I'm going inside now. We'll talk more about this later, okay?”
And with that, she went inside, leaving Brandon on the doorstep, scowling behind her.
Chapter 9
The next night, Dawn knew that she had to see Micheil. She had dreamt about him, about the man beneath that he tried so hard to hide. He was handsome and charming, asking her to dance to music she had never heard before. She dressed up and got into her car, driving as quickly as she could to see Micheil.
In the meantime, Micheil was miserable, sure that he was doomed now. He paced, his chest bare, wearing only a pair of comfortable black pants. He would have to leave the town, get himself established somewhere new, where people would make up new rumors and he would find himself dodging questions and donating to the community regularly so nobody would think too much about him. He was about to start packing when he heard a soft tapping at his door.
“It's Miss Dawn,” one of his servants said. “We let her through the gate, figured you'd want that.”
“Yes, of course,” he said, throwing a red satin robe on over his bare chest. “Thank you.”
The servant smiled, happy to be praised, and left the room.
“Dawn,” he breathed. Her blonde hair was silver in the moonlight, and her supple lips were pursed nervously.
“I had to see you,” she said with a sigh.
“Come in,” he said, taking her by the hands and leading her inside. “Are you all right?”
She didn't feel all right.
“I don't know! You can't just drop a bomb like that on a girl and expect her to be all right!” she exclaimed.
“I really like you and now I don't know what to think! You just made everything so complicated. And I mean, you don't have to kill people, you know? I can bring you blood from the hospital, you can stop being such a...”
“A monster?” he asked, asserting his strong body in front of her, tucking her head against his broad chest.
“Yeah,” she said, a little breathless. She let him hold her and all of her anxieties fell away.
She pulled away and looked into his magnetic blue eyes.
“Are you sure about that?” he asked. He found himself pulled once more into the lull of his raw power, but instead of using it to hunt, he gripped her hard and brought his lips hotly against hers. She cried out in surprise, her body tensing up against him, but ultimately letting her mouth glide sweetly across his. She closed her eyes and cried out as her body was filled with bliss, and she suddenly felt her own power, immense and overwhelming.
Micheil was suddenly pulling away from her. She heard his soft voice in the distance. “What...?”
And then she was glowing, a flash of bright, blinding light, and when she looked up at him, the power in her gaze nearly knocked him off his feet. Suddenly, he began to put everything together. Her power, her ability to avoid his hypnosis, her strength and courage. Dawn was an unlocked sorceress. And now somehow, he had helped to unlock her. Her eyes were closed as the tendrils of golden light swirled around her perfect body.
“Your locket,” he said, pointing to her neck. It was quivering, and she gripped it, holding it up to her eyes. Suddenly, the locket burst open and her mother's words were in her mind, filling up every part of her. The rest of the world fell away and all she could hear was the voice she had longed to hear for so long, now so clear in her mind as if she were speaking softly to her right that instant, no longer a separate person, but a part of her.
“Dawn, honey. I know we left you with a lot of questions, and I'm so sorry for that. There was nothing we could do. I'm a sorceress, and your father has been working diligently to protect us and our secret. He has been waiting for your awakening for a long time, you must write to him immediately. In the meantime, know that you have always been loved. In fact, that has never been more true than now. It was true love's kiss that awakened your powers.
“All your questions will be answered soon. Go to your Aunt Sarah, she will show you what you need in order to harness your magic. I was able to protect you with what little I had left, but now it is up to you. Know I have never stopped loving you my sweet child, and I will be with you for all your days. If you ever forget that, remember this moment and feel my heart beating inside yours. We will meet again. There is much more to life than you think.”
***
She had blacked out as she listened to her mother's impossible message, crumpling to the floor in an alarming heap. Micheil had nearly fallen on his face to catch her, holding her tightly in his strong arms. When she opened her eyes finally, Happy tears streamed down her face.
>
“Are you all right, love?” he asked, his blue eyes narrowed in concern.
“I got a message from my mother.”
“I bet I can guess what she said. You're a sourceress? And a powerful one at that,” he said, the glint in his eyes returning. She matched it with her own. He thought he should be fearful for his life, vampires and sorceresses had a muddy history, but instead, he was deeply aroused. He pulled her close to him, nuzzling her neck, grazing it with his fangs. No, he wouldn't bite, but the sensual thrill brought her body buckling into his, writhing for what came next.
The feeling this stirred up in her sent him flying across the room, and she sat up, her ocean colored eyes wide and afraid.
“I'm sorry!” she exclaimed.
He got up laughing, rubbing his head. His robe was drooping off his well-muscled shoulder.
“It will take a lot more than that to keep me down,” he challenged. He bolted toward her, taking her face in his hands, kissing her deeply. She moaned as his tongue flicked hers, and they soon discovered that they were levitating. He laughed as they fell to the floor, grabbing her and holding her above his head so she wouldn't hurt herself. It was nice to feel powerless in his arms, and he lowered her onto his body, her breasts pressing against his bare chest, their warmth sending a thrill of pleasure, striking his loins painfully.
Feeling the urgent pressing of his erection against her filled her with longing, and the glass in the windows shattered as she kissed him passionately. He raked her fingernails down his back as he maneuvered himself out of his loose pants and shook his robe off. She turned around, allowing him to unzip her dress and press himself against her backside. She groaned with pleasure as he grazed his fangs along her shoulders and to the back of her neck as she rocked into his stiff member, a jolt of ecstasy bringing a moan to her lips as he eased himself between her legs. He turned her around so they were facing each other, and she sank her teeth into him, licking him with sultry reverence as the light bulbs above their heads shattered and a trail of sparks fizzled out around them.
Romance: Zach (A College Bad Boy Romance) Page 4
