The Blood of Angels: Divine Vampires

by Selena Kitt

  “What is it, baby?” Anna’s eyes apologize to Beau as she snuggles him down between them, but Beau’s eyes are kind and understanding.

  “I had a dream,” David says, only it comes out ‘dweam.’

  “What was it about, big guy?” Beau’s big hand ruffles his hair, and David looks askance at him for a moment.

  “A fairy.”

  Startled, I nearly fall off my perch on the footboard, trying to sense if the kid has any idea at all that I’m present. He doesn’t seem to, but I can’t be sure. Climbing over the edge of the footboard, I hover there, watching them between the slats.

  “Like Tinker Bell ?” Anna smoothes his dark hair away from his forehead. He’s a sweet kid, great big brown eyes. Gonna grow up to be quite a heartbreaker, I think with a smile, watching him roll his eyes at his mother.

  “No, a real fairy,” he insists. Fairy is faiwy in David-speak. “She was pretty and she kissed me.”

  “Sounds like a good dream, kiddo.” Beau chuckles.

  “But she went away, and I was sad…” David’s eyes are big as he looks between the two of them. “And then there was a scary monster who wanted to eat my eyes!”

  The grown-ups’ eyes meet as they both try not to smile.

  “It was just a dream, baby.” Anna kisses the top of his head. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

  He rests his head on her shoulder as she carries him out of the room and I see Beau, leaning up on his elbow to watch her retreating form, his eyes soft and full of warmth. I’m pretty sure David hasn’t seen me, although he might sense my presence. That feels good to me somehow, like some sort of connection.

  By the time Anna snuggles back in, the banished cat curling up at the foot of their bed, I’ve slipped out of the room to peek in on David. He’s sleeping, his thumb tucked into his little rosebud mouth. My assignment doesn’t start until the morning and I decide to spend the night in a cat-free zone, curling up on the boy’s pillow to watch him sleep.

  Chapter Six

  “Good morning, David!”

  I can’t believe it! It’s Zeph—and he’s looking right at me! I hover over David’s shoulder as he bounds into the little preschool classroom but I stop short the minute I’m seen.

  “I dreamed about a fairy!” David sits at a table and slaps a white piece of paper down there.

  “I bet you did.” Zeph smiles right at me as I fly quickly into the corner of the room, near the window.

  “I’ll draw her for you!” David waves impatiently at his mother as she kisses him goodbye, takes his coat and wishes him a good day. The baby wiggles in a carrier on her back, grinning and grabbing her hair.

  “I can’t wait to see it, David. Good morning, Chloe.” Zeph winks at Anna, giving her a smile.

  Oh my word, that smile. It’s a white flash, filled with a mischievous sort of charm. And he’s looking at me again. Of course, no one else knows it, because no one else can see me. But he can, and his gaze pins me like a butterfly splayed on a board.

  A young girl sucks on a long strand of blonde hair, edging her way around the table to look at what David is drawing. She stands there, quiet, watching the picture take shape. Zeph leaves them as more children filter in and comes over toward the window where I’m trying my best to hide behind the blinds.

  “Hi there, Sam…” His voice is low, so no one can hear him. “Here we are again. Is it fate?”

  I shrug, watching the door. The woman I’m waiting for should be here any moment now. His eyes on me feel like a heat and it’s hard to look at him… and hard not to.

  “You don’t have to be afraid.” He takes a seat at the large desk at the back of the room. “Come on down. I won’t hurt you.”

  “I’m not afraid.” I roll my eyes, crossing my arms, trying to appear nonchalant.

  “Then come down here.” He crooks his finger and then pats the surface of the desk in front of him, leaning back in his chair to look over his shoulder at me.

  Cautiously, I let myself settle gently onto the desk in front of him. It’s so strange, to have human eyes looking right at me. To have his eyes looking right at me. They’re dark gray, like storm clouds. And like watching clouds rolling in, I feel both excited and trepidatious.

  “Who are you here for today?” He glances around to make sure no one is watching him. If someone was, it would look, of course, like he was talking to himself, but no one appears to be paying attention as they hang up coats and change from boots to sneakers.

  “It’s not human business.” I sniff, turning my back to him, looking at the doorway again. I can almost feel his eyes on me. His interest is intoxicating.

  “I told you…” He chuckles, and I feel his finger poking me gently in the back. “I’m not like most… humans.”

  Glancing back at him, I frown. He sure seems to know a lot about fairies and what we do. It’s disconcerting. I want to ask him how he knows what he knows but just being next to him again makes me feel a little dizzy and unable to concentrate. I’m not even sure I’m going to be able to do my job, considering.

  “You’ll see,” I tell him over my shoulder, noting that flash of a smile, the arch of a dark brow. His hair is dark too, so black it’s almost blue under the fluorescents.

  Ah, there she is! The woman helps her daughter out of her coat, hanging it on a hook and shooing her into the crowd of kids. She’s making her way toward Zeph’s desk, thanks to me.

  “Oh, Mr. Sullivan!” She waves her diamond-covered fingers at Zeph as she approaches. “I wondered…” She leans in now, hand on the desk—I have to sidestep it—her voice dropping conspiratorially. “I have a Christmas dinner to donate… turkey and a ham, all the fixings… do you happen to know a family?”

  “I have a feeling I’m going to.” Zeph looks right at me, giving me that sly, secret, knowing smile. It turns me to liquid. I feel like I’m going to melt into a puddle on the surface of the desk. What in the world is wrong with me?

  “Is that a yes?” She cocks her head at him, puzzled.

  “Yes. I’m sure of it.” He nods, standing, his finger brushing my wings lightly. It looks casual, but I have a feeling it isn’t. His touch sends a shivery wave through me, something bright and hot. I don’t understand it, but I like it.

  “Wonderful!” she exclaims. “It’s in the car. I was going to donate it to the church, but I just… had a feeling you might know someone.”

  “Thank you.” He gives her a wink. The same wink he gave me, which makes me bristle and frown. He seems to hand out those beguiling smiles and winks without a second thought. “You’ll make some family very happy this holiday.”

  “I’ll have my driver bring it in!” She beams, giving him a waggling finger wave as she heads toward the door.

  “So, who is it?” Zeph sits again and looks at me, that knowing smirk on his face.

  “Go ask him.” I nod toward David, realizing fate seems to be running itself, and I don’t even have to do a thing.

  “David?” He raises his eyebrows at me, but steps around the desk and squats down beside the little brown-eyed boy, who is still drawing his fairy dream-vision. “Hey guy… that’s a great picture.”

  “Thanks,” David says, only it comes out, ‘sanks.’ “Chloe likes it. I’m going to give it to her when I’m done.”

  Zeph smiles at him and then at me. I’m sitting on the edge of his desk, knees up, chin in hand, watching it all play out, like dominos falling in a line. And I’m looking at the way Zeph’s suit fits him, which is quite nicely. He has exquisite taste in ties. His is blood red and striking against his white shirt, setting off his charcoal colored suit coat, which almost matches his eyes.

  “You like Chloe, huh?” Zeph asks. His gaze skips back to me, something curious there. He is thinking about me, wondering. I can see it on his face. He said he couldn’t read my mind, but the way he looks at me, I wonder.

  “She’s nice.” David shrugs. “I feel bad for her, Mr. Zeph. Her daddy lost his job and she says Santa isn’t goi
ng to come to her house.”

  Chloe is sitting at another table, quietly putting together a puzzle and still sucking on that long strand of hair.

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Zeph looks at me, as if I’m the one his words were meant for. “Santa is magic, after all. Maybe he’ll hear her Christmas wish.”

  “Really?” David studies his face carefully.

  “He knows just what people need, Santa does.” Zeph’s eyes are still on me, and I squirm a little on the desk. “And he has all of his little elves to help make those Christmas wishes come true.”

  “Chloe, you forgot your mittens!” Chloe’s mother tucks mittens into the pocket of the girl’s coat and I’m surprised, although I shouldn’t be, that it’s Lynn, Joe’s wife, who had been so worried a few weeks ago about her husband not having a job this Christmas. Lynn waves to her daughter, who gives her a wan smile and waves back as her mother heads out the door. It looks as if the family is going to have Christmas dinner, at any rate.

  “You know, David…” Zeph’s voice drops a little, but not so low I can’t hear him. “Another name for an elf… is a fairy…?”

  “Really?” David looks at his picture.

  “And sometimes, I think Santa’s elves—or fairies—work all year round, giving gifts to the people who need them.” Zeph’s eyes meet mine. “Isn’t that a nice thought?”

  “I like fairies.” David nods, coloring his fairy’s hair yellow.

  “Excuse me.” We all look up at the sound of the voice, seeing the man in the uniform and cap standing there with a huge box of food. “Where should I put this?”

  Again, I shouldn’t be surprised, considering what I do for a living, but there’s Joe, carrying out his new job, delivering a donated Christmas dinner which, unbeknownst to him, is going to end up on his very own holiday table.

  “Right here on the desk, thanks.” Zeph stands and points.

  I slide out of the way as Joe sets the heavy box down. His daughter has spotted him and comes to give him a big hug. It’s clear Zeph has never met Chloe’s father before, and his eyes widen as the dominos fall into place for him, too.

  “Have a good holiday.” Joe gives his daughter another quick squeeze and waves before he heads out the door.

  “You, too!” Zeph returns the wave and turns back to look at me. His eyes hold a depth of knowing which calls to me, and I feel like I want to drown there. There’s that funny feeling in my middle again. There’s something familiar about this moment, something so familiar… almost as if…

  “Fate.” He says the word under his breath as he sits at his desk, putting his palm near me on the desk. “You never know just what’s going to happen next, do you?”

  “Sometimes.” I turn to face him fully, my wings fluttering slightly, brushing over his hand as I settle myself.

  “Someone knows.” Zeph puts his chin on his fist and contemplates me. “Who do you think The Maker is, Sam?”

  I stare at him, everything inside of me going quiet.

  How does he know about The Maker?

  “Tell me, little one…” His fingers brush my wings, a sweet caress, and he smiles. “What are you going to ask for this year?”

  I stare at him, our eyes locked, something caught between us which seems very familiar to me. I gaze at him in breathless wonder.

  How does he know?

  * * * *

  “I don’t get how he knows so much about us,” I whisper to Alex as we stand in line. Christmas Eve requisitions are usually handled easily enough, through regular communication, but those fairies who have unusual or complicated requests have to get clearance through the F.A.B.—the Fey Advisory Board.

  “Everything’s gone so corporate.” Alex sighs, ignoring my comment about Zeph as the line edges around the corner of a cubicle. The F.A.B. has set up shop in a high-rise office and simply uses the facility after hours, when humans go home for the night. It’s still decorated from the holiday party, funny tinsel garland hung with paperclips from the drop-ceiling tiles. Of course, this office has been empty since noon today, when everyone shut down their computers and went home to be with their families on Christmas Eve.

  “Maybe I should just ask for a vacation.” The door opens and another fairy goes in. “We could go to Hawaii again. That was fun.”

  “Yeah, those enormous bugs were a blast.” Alex shoves me forward. “Forget it. You’re asking to be human for a day and that’s final.”

  “A human request?” The fairy at the front of the line turns to us with wide eyes. “They don’t grant those, you know.”

  “Shhh!” Alex frowns. “They do so!”

  We all know fairy requests to become human aren’t granted very often, and the odds are against me. Like I need to be reminded.

  “Well, good luck to you, then.” The door opens again and the fairy disappears. We’re next. Well, I’m next. Alex is really just here for moral support—already having received approval for a vacation request. Australia’s nice this time of year.

  “Go on!” Alex nudges me toward the open door. Inside, I face a line of fairies, six of them in a row perched on the edge of the large oak desk. This is the F.A.B. I’ve only ever had to consult with them once before, when I asked to have someone’s fate altered. We all go through it, getting so attached, wanting to change things for someone. They gave me two months off work that time, instead.

  “Samariel Azuran…” The fairy on the end nods to me. “Your request has been reviewed and provisionally granted.”

  I stare at them, open-mouthed.

  Just like that?

  Okay, seriously, I never thought they would say yes, not in a million years! I can’t believe it. I stare down the line of them, trying to find the reason on their faces. They almost never allow a fairy to turn human!

  “Provisionally?” I gulp.

  “You realize becoming mortal for any length of time leaves you subject to all the possible consequences, including the possibility of injury or death?”

  Nodding, I say, “Yes.”

  Of course I know that. But what can happen in twenty-four hours? Never mind what I want to happen in that space of time. Remembering Zeph smiling at me makes me feel suddenly weak and flushed.

  “We are granting your request, but want to warn you—anything that happens while you’re human will be irreversible and irrevocable. You will be subject to both the laws of the humans and those of the Fey.”

  I nod again. Okay, I get it. I feel like I’m watching one of those human drug commercials, where they list all the possible side effects at the end.

  “Do you have any questions for us, Sam?”

  Hesitating, I shake my head, and then ask, “How does it work? Do I… transform? Will I…?”

  The fairy on the end shows a glimmer of a smile and then waves at me, a dismissal.

  I’m floating… it feels like floating, not like flying at all.

  What’s happening to me?

  I have time to wonder before the world goes dark all around me.

  Chapter Seven

  “Sam?”

  The world feels far away, or I’m far away from the world, I’m not sure which. The voice is calling me, but it’s not The Maker… in fact, the gentle sort of presence of The Maker is gone altogether, and in its place is a strange, empty void.

  I don’t like it.

  “Sam? Are you okay?”

  “Alex?” I feel a hand in mine, squeezing.

  “No…” Lips brush my forehead. “It’s Zeph.”

  I open my eyes to him, looking down at me from above.

  Where am I? Who am I?

  “They said yes.” The voice coming from my mouth startles me so much I touch my throat in wonder.

  “I noticed.” Zeph chuckles. “I don’t often come home to naked women sleeping on my couch.”

  Naked?

  Woman?

  Sleeping?

  I feel something covering me, something light and soft. He must have covered me…

  I find m
yself wondering how it all happened. Why here? Did someone put me here? Did I just appear?

  Appear…

  What do I look like?

  “Do I look like me?” I touch my face, feeling the softness of the skin there. “Do I… am I…?”

  “You’re beautiful.” His eyes are on mine, those hot, dark eyes. They say far more than he does. His gaze is answering all sorts of questions I haven’t even asked yet.

  “Am I really human?”

  I feel my belly, flat and smooth, the skin taut, as I move my hand upward, encountering the swell of a breast. Startled, I move my hand downward, past my navel, pausing there in a moment in confusion—no fairy has ever had a navel! Curious, I explore lower, encountering a wedge of wiry hair covering a soft mound of flesh.

  “I’m… a woman!”

  “Yes.” His gaze moves over the form my body makes under the covering. “All woman, I’d say…”

  Something warm rises in my cheeks, some sort of heat, and I’m not sure if it’s my response to his words, or to finding the moist cleft between my legs, my finger parting the flesh there.

  “The air… it’s so cold…”

  “It takes getting used to.” Zeph pulls the blanket up to my chin.

  I shake my head, smiling. “Inside my body, I mean… when I…” Taking a deep breath, I feel my middle filling with coolness, and yet I exhale heat over my lips.

  “Oh, breathing!” He laughs. “I forgot. That’s breathing.”

  “And there’s a funny feeling here.” I take his hand and press it between my bare breasts. “Do you hear it? I think I can hear it.”

  “That’s your heart beating.” His hand so large under mine, although not as large as it once was, when I was fey. Still, I feel so small next to him. I press his hand to the rhythmic beating there, and then slowly move it over the swell of my breast. His eyes meet mine, searching.

  “I want this.” I cup my flesh with his hand.

  “I know. Patience, little one.” He nods, moving his hand from my breast to touch my cheek.

  “You don’t understand!” Sitting, the blanket pooling in my lap, I frown at him. “I don’t have a lot of time. How long have I slept?”