Fabian spun around towards her, his hands balling into fists by his side. “I knew I loved her before this happened to me. I would prefer you keep your opinions to yourself. I might have been struck down and be human, but this is still my home and if you cannot respect myself or Sirene, you will have to find yourselves alternative accommodation.”
“Oh relax Daddy dearest. Actually do we still call you that?” Fran tipped her head to one side as she studied him. “Well I guess you did turn us even if you are now human. Ok, so tell us what happened to you.”
“You might want to sit down.” He told them and while they all spread out over the various lounges in the large room, Fabian sat down too, dragging Sirene onto his lap, his arms locked around her, needing to have her close to him, and slowly he began to tell the story of the morning that changed his life.
Sirene
Once Fabian had finished telling the whole story to Fran, Lucian and Damien, all eyes turned to me, which was a little intimidating. The vampires all had stunning eyes, expressive eyes and at the moment, they were accusing eyes.
“Don’t you even think about blaming me for this.” I snapped. “It’s Fabian who got himself in this shit.” I gave him an apologetic look when his eyes shot to mine. “It’s true. You couldn’t keep it in your pants and that girl died. Ok, they had no right to do as they did and come after you, but they did want you dead. You died because of them and seriously?” I looked around the room into the face of each vampire. “What was I supposed to do? Leave him dead? He was decapitated, he was not coming back from that and I couldn’t let him die, to have him be gone forever. The spell used was the only one my Gran and I could come up with, since time reversal was the only answer. Why it made Fabian come back as a human, I have no idea.”
“Calm down Sirene. We aren’t blaming you although how we sort this predicament now, I have no fucking idea. We could just turn him again I guess?” Fran raised a questioning eyebrow at us both.
“NO!” I yelled and everyone turned to look at me in surprise. “I don’t want you changing without giving life as a human a go Fabian. You might come to like it.”
He sniggered. “I doubt that, but for now, I’ll stay human. I need to try more food before I return to my blood diet.”
I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. “You want to stay human to eat some more fast food? I told you what will happen if you eat too much of it. It’s very fattening Fabian. If you intend eating at the rate you did earlier, you will need to join a gym or something.”
“Are you trying to tell me I will get fat? I get the impression you are telling me that if I get fat you will not want me anymore.” He was grinning at me and I rolled my eyes. This was a side of him I wasn’t used to. He was teasing me and it was vastly different to the brooding vampire he’d been.
Everyone was staring at Fabian like he’d grown an extra head or something and I suspected that they were having a hard time adjusting to a side of him they’d probably never seen before. Like it or not, he was exhibiting more human behaviour now, rather than the intense, serious temperament that was typically vampire.
While they were all staring at one another, we heard the sound of the doorbell reverberate through the house. “I’ll get it.” Francesca announced, getting to her feet and walking out of the room.
I saw a frown form on Fabian’s face as his focus shifted to the doorway to the living room, obviously curious as to who had knocked. He was trying so hard to act relaxed and unfazed by all that had happened to him, but I could see the stress around his eyes. It was an act. He was tense and nervous, but I think it was only me who could see that.
This is what the spell had done to him. He was alive but he wasn’t living, it was merely an existence for him right now and suddenly I felt a deep sorrow. I was no better than the person who finds a wild animal and insists on keeping it captive. Fabian was that wild animal and I was trying to keep him captive. It was wrong of me. He deserved to be free, he deserved to return to what made him happy. He deserved to be vampire again.
Since I was occupied staring at Fabian, I missed everyone turning to see who had followed Francesca into the living room, but when I heard all the gasps and saw the colour drain from Fabian’s face, I turned to see who had arrived.
Holy fuck, it was Dominick and Allegra. It was a shock to see them standing there. I hadn’t expected to ever see them again. Dominick was gorgeous with his mane of jet black hair and those incredible eyes of his. They were the most intense shade of blue; I think I’d ever seen. By his side was the love of his life, Allegra with her amazing long mane of hair that hung right down to her ass and her bright hazel eyes.
As I stared at them, it suddenly registered that Fabian was going to be shocked. He had no idea that his attempt to have them killed had failed.
“Oh my fucking God!” Francesca suddenly screeched and ran towards them, throwing herself into Dominick’s arms. “Am I seeing things? You’re alive? But Fabian…Fabian told us you two had died in a plane crash. Now I know you’re vampire, but not even vampires can survive plummeting from the sky, in a plane that burst into flames when it hit. We’re good, but not that fucking good.”
“Francesca, how are you?” He bent and kissed her cheek. “There are things you don’t know. We obviously did not die although someone did make an attempt on our lives. Fortunately I was able to anticipate that the attempt would be made in the first place, and had two planes booked. We took the second one and it was the first plane which crashed.” He raised his eyes over her head and met Fabian’s. I shivered when I saw the exchange. Dominick’s expression was cold as he stared at his sire.
My heart started thumping almost painfully in my chest. Were Dominick and Allegra here to kill Fabian? How did they get here so quickly? I texted them just a few hours ago which could only mean one thing. They’d already been on their way here when I sent them the text about Fabian’s death and return as a human. So why were they on their way here? They’d told me in Italy that they were never going to be able to return to Australia. So why had they decided to come now? Was it to give me crap about refusing to continue to torment Fabian? Maybe it was to kill him hoping I’d assist? I wanted answers. He would be an easy target now he was no longer human but I would never allow them to touch him, they had to realise that.
As if aware of my thoughts Dominick’s gaze shifted to mine and he raised an eyebrow at me when he saw how close his sire and I were standing, with our hands on each other.
“So you’re alive?” Fabian’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “Why are you here?”
“Aren’t you pleased to see us Father?” Dominick’s voice was laced with sarcasm. “Oh, hang on, no you wouldn’t be would you?” He stepped closer to us. “Given it was you who tried to have us killed.”
At Dominick’s words, there were audible gasps, and all eyes turned to him as I still held him, trying to be his rock, his safety net in a room full of vampires who could very well turn on him at any moment.
“I met a young lady when Allegra and I were in Italy and learned of her ‘talents’. I employed her to come here and let’s say, toy with you Fabian, but what ended up happening? You won her over, you charmed her somehow, and she no longer wished to work for us. Now it seems the woman who claims to love you managed to screw you over more effectively than any of us could have.” Dominick turned his brilliant blue gaze on me. “Congratulations cara, on a job well done. You have done an outstanding job and have certainly earned yourself a bonus. Taking away Fabian’s identity, robbing him of what made him the way he was, is sheer generous. Stripping him of his power, his position, his arrogance and making him human? Well played. He’s now just a shadow of his former self.” He bowed to me and I felt like throwing up.
Dominick was turning it all around, making it seem like this had been my master plan under my client’s instruction to unman him and take away all that was important to him, but it wasn’t like that.
I narrowed my eyes at him. Damned v
ampires, you couldn’t bloody well trust them. What was Dominick hoping to achieve by making it sound like the events of the day had been all some huge mastermind of mine?
I looked at Fabian, silently praying he wouldn’t believe what Dominick was saying, my eyes begging him to believe me when I whispered ‘no’ to him shaking my head. His gaze locked on mine and I could see the questions lurking in those pale eyes of his, the accusation in his stare. I saw the hurt come over his face as he stepped back from me and my heart sank. He believed Dominick? He believed I could do something like that to him? I couldn’t even think of something like that, just as I didn’t know where to begin to fix this problem. He was going to believe the vampire he’d tried to kill over me, the woman who loved him?
Chapter Sixteen
Fabian
Dominick’s words turned over and over in Fabian’s mind. So the clients that Sirene had worked for were his son and his witch possessed vampire woman? No wonder she’d never revealed who they were to him; which could only mean that she knew he’d tried to have them killed.
Now they were here, standing in his living room, obviously very much alive and well, and Dominick was making it quite clear that all that had happened to him was part of some master plan of Sirene’s?
He turned to meet her troubled eyes and he could see the shimmer of tears in them that she was fighting so hard to hold back. Would she do that to him really? She’d told him she loved him and what would arranging his death, then bringing him back as human achieve? She couldn’t have arranged for those men to run him down and then go to the trouble of bringing him back. It just didn’t add up and she’d told him a month ago she couldn’t continue doing the job she’d been paid to do. For over a month, he hadn’t laid eyes on her. If she’d wanted to get to him, she’d had ample time, but nothing.
Fabian turned his attention back on Dominick and Allegra and noticed behind the hint of a smile on his son’s face that anger burned in his bright blue gaze. His eyes narrowed as he met Dominick’s. Something didn’t add up. He was sure he was trying to stir up shit and drive a wedge between him and Sirene.
“You can cut with the crap son. I know Sirene didn’t turn me human as some sort of master plan.” He said, hearing the audible sigh of relief from his little witch behind him. “I understand you’re angry with me and it will not make things better, but I do apologise for my behaviour and for what I tried to do to you. You might be happy to know that Sirene did her job well. She made life challenging for me with her various spells until she started developing feelings for me. Amazingly and for reasons I will never understand she loves me now, as I love her, an emotion I never expected to feel. Attack me, if that is what you need to do to get your revenge, but don’t use her in your attempts to punish me.”
Dominick chuckled quietly when Fabian finished speaking. “This is priceless father. You tried to attack Allegra, you wanted us gone and to be sure of that, you even tried to have us killed all so you could be free of a life with a witch in it. You were terrified of Allegra’s powers and what she could do to you, weren’t you? So you must surely see the irony now? Not only do you have a witch in your life who could strike you down before you spoke her name, if she chose to, but you have fallen in love with her?” He threw back his head and laughed. “I could not have asked for a better outcome. The vampire who hates witches is in love with one. It’s hilarious, and now because of your witch’s spell you are condemned to a future as human. You are destined to a mortal lifetime of torment and we all know it will be torment for you. You have lost everything that meant anything to you. Your power, your position, your strength is gone. You will grow old, frail, feeble while we all stay young and strong and watch your slow decline to a human death. I love it.”
“You think I didn’t consider that myself Nick? I couldn’t believe it when I discovered Sirene was a witch and trust me she chose some cruel methods to punish me. She found that one weapon to use that is soul destroying to a vampire. She attacked me sexually. To be honest I contemplated killing her for all she’d done to me and for what she was. Not to mention the spells she cast so I could no longer take my fill from Cassandra or Chloe. It was the denied access to them that inadvertently led to the situation I’m in now, me being human.”
“So we heard. Sirene told us.” Dominick said quietly and Fabian’s eyes shot to hers.
“You spoke to Nick? When? Why? You told me you no longer worked for them.”
“I wanted to inform them of what had happened to you. I’m not working for them anymore but this was different. This was too big, to not text them and tell them. Don’t get pissed at me for that.”
“Listen to your witch Fabian.” Allegra suddenly spoke, her bright hazel eyes meeting his pale blue/grey ones. “How could you expect her not to let us know about something so monumental in your life? We were driven to hide in Italy because of you, never able to return to Australia. We actually chose to risk coming here to find out what was going. We wanted to find out what had happened to make Sirene no longer wish to work for us. It was while we were on our way here, that we heard you were human, so that meant the threat that you might be to us was lifted. There isn’t much you can do to us now and if you want to challenge us on that one, go ahead. I’m more than happy to demonstrate what an attack on us will do to you.”
Sirene stepped forward, her hand reaching for his and closing around it. “Allegra, you must realise that I did what I did out of courtesy. I felt you had a right to know about Fabian’s situation, but don’t make the mistake of threatening him. I am a witch too don’t forget and I will not allow you to harm him. I have no doubt there is much for you all to discuss, and I can understand your anger and resentment towards him, but it is late. None of us have slept and I think a calmer more rational conversation can take place once we’re all rested, wouldn’t you agree?”
Dominick bowed slightly in Sirene’s direction. “You make a valid point. Allegra and I have travelled a long way and it is late for us all to still be up. We will head off now to our home and meet again tonight, do you agree?”
They all nodded and Francesca being her usual loud and opinionated self, sighed with relief. “Oh thank fuck for that. You lot do like to go on don’t you? It’s so boring to listen to you all. I don’t get your righteous indignation Nicky boy. Fabian was a vampire; he sired you. He gave you life and when he felt threatened he tried to take it. He failed as we can all see, but don’t stand there all puffed up because he tried to kill you. You know full well any one of us would turn on the other the moment we felt threatened, so my suggestion to you is.” She walked over to him. “Pull your finger out of your ass and get the hell over it.” She lifted on her toes to kiss his cheek before waving over her shoulder at them all, and heading off to bed.
Fabian tried not to grin despite the tension in the room at Fran’s words. Only she could say it like it was, and then tell them all to get the fuck over it. “Francesca although blunt, does make a valid point Nick. You seem surprised that I tried to take yours and Allegra’s life, but I’ve never made any secret of the kind of man I am, and you knew how I felt about witches.” He turned to look at Sirene a smirk forming on his face. “It’s kind of ironic that I was tormented by a witch, but still fell in love with her and now as a result of knowing her, I’m human.”
“You would have been dead Fabian if I hadn’t done the spell. Is that what you would have preferred? Do you wish I’d never brought you back?” Her eyes searched his face.
“I don’t know my beauty; death or a life sentence? Let’s face it; being human is a life sentence. I’m weak and eventually I’m going to become a weak and feeble old man. Maybe death would have been a better alternative?”
He watched Sirene gape at him and there was a brief flash of hurt in her eyes. Damn he didn’t mean to keep hurting her, but being in a room with all vampires only brought it home to him what he no longer had. He loved her but he wanted his old life back. They were going to be faced with a very real problem ev
entually.
Could she still love him if he was vampire again? Could he love her enough to stay human for her? That scared the crap out of him to think about it. He wasn’t sure he could give it all up for her. Assuming he got the chance to live as vampire again that was, and what about her? She wanted him to stay human, but he didn’t want to. If he was turned back, would he lose her and end up heartbroken for eternity? There was a lot at risk here. It was late and he was so tired. He couldn’t think about this right now.
Sirene
Pain sliced through me, not unlike how I imagined it would feel to be stabbed. Fabian was not going to be able to settle for life as a human that was obvious. The question was, could I settle for a life with him if he was vampire again and I was not?
If this morning had never happened I’d be with my vampire lover now, but this morning had happened and a part of me secretly liked Fabian as a human. I honestly thought he could adjust to it if he gave it more of a chance, but he was making it more and more clear that he didn’t want this lifestyle.
“Is the idea of growing old with me so abhorrent to you?” I asked him. For me personally I loved the thought of us being together when we were old and grey, for us to have babies and maybe one day be Grandparents. I could picture him in my mind with his hair greying at the temples, more lines appearing on his face, but obviously I was the only one thinking like that.
“It is hard for me to imagine anything other than what I’m used to Sirene. I certainly do not relish the prospect of becoming wrinkled and maybe balding, my body soft and my muscles wasted. To have my eyesight deteriorate is not exactly something I look forward to. Surely you can’t be looking forward to all the weaknesses the human body encounters as it ages?”
Passion By Control (Passion Series Book 2) Page 22
