by L.H. Cosway
“Ethan gave me money to take Becky toy shopping this morning,” says Amanda. “I was actually surprised to find the shop still open given how crazy things are in the city.”
I’m momentarily touched that Ethan did that. Perhaps this whole transformation thing has actually made him better instead of worse. I mean, magic makes everything better, right? Okay, maybe not, but with Ethan it seems to have worked wonders. Or perhaps he was always wonderful and I was just too blind and stuck up to see it.
“People still have to make a living, I guess,” I reply flopping down onto the bed.
I amuse myself by watching them continue with their game for a while, laughing when I discover the current storyline in which Amanda’s doll has found out that her boyfriend has been having an affair with another doll who wears a skimpy pink outfit. Rebecca is utterly delighted with all of it.
Their giggling makes me smile until I get a tingly feeling in my hands. The tingling transforms into an itch and then I can see Roman in my head.
“I need to talk to you, Granddaughter,” he says.
Amanda and Rebecca’s game of Barbies has become the background and Roman’s face the foreground.
“Where?” I ask in my mind rather than saying the words out loud.
“Come to the roof.”
“You’re on the roof?”
“Yes, come. And hurry.”
I go up to the next floor to Ethan’s room and crawl through the window. There’s a part of the roof that juts out and it’s easy enough to climb to the top from there. However, it’s not as easy as it would be if my body weren’t so battered and bruised from this morning’s attack. I whine a little as I pull my body to the top to find Roman perched there wearing an expression of amusement.
“Hey Gramps, care to give me a hand up?” I ask reaching out with laboured breathing.
“Why, of course,” he replies smoothly and takes my hand into his. A little zinging spark of recognition runs through me and I instantly know it’s my magic identifying him as kin.
Once I’m sitting beside him, I take a moment to look at him now that we’re meeting in the flesh and not in one of my dreams. If I thought he was handsome in a dream, it has nothing on him in reality. His face is almost too handsome, his eyes shining like bright blue sapphires.
We both seem to be staring at one another, studying, because neither of us says a word for at least two whole minutes. He touches a finger to my cheek where there’s a bruise.
“What happened?”
“I mistakenly used magic in front of an angry mob. They thought I was a freak of nature and attacked me.”
His reaction to what I’ve told him is a very slight narrowing of his eyes.
“And why would you do that?” His tone sounds barely interested but I’m thinking that’s just his way, being a sorcerer and all.
“They were going to kill a man who didn’t deserve it and I was trying to stop them.”
“Ah, so you were being a hero.”
“More like a fool.”
He grins now. “Hmmm, that too.”
Cheeky bastard.
“So, what’s the big urgency to speak with me?”
“I have visited your city’s barrier to the outside world and have managed to easily slip through. Most magical folk would be able to pass it, just not humans or vampires. Also, it wasn’t constructed by Theodore.”
“Wait a second, what?”
“Magical folk can move through it,” he repeats.
“No, not that, the other thing,” I say flustered.
“Ah, yes. It wasn’t constructed by Theodore. In fact, it shows all the signs of being a witch’s doing.”
“Was it Rita, Theodore’s daughter?” I ask.
“I’m certain it wasn’t. Actually, I know intimately the person who did it.” He makes meaningful eye contact with me and it takes me a second to understand.
“Are you saying it was Emilia? But when I spoke to her she acted like she knew nothing about it.”
I quickly think back to that conversation and it all suddenly makes sense. Emilia had basically said the barrier was a good thing, because it would keep the humans from fleeing the city and informing the outside world of the supernaturals living here.
Roman watches my face as though he’s reading all my thoughts. And he is. “I believe Emilia constructed it to bide herself some more time. She wants to be able to cast a mass memory cleanse of the human population so that they won’t remember that vampires and magic exist. It’s one of the most difficult spells to cast, especially for a witch who is not yet a sorceress.”
I eye him speculatively. “Could you do it?”
He looks back at me like I just insulted him. “Of course I could do it.”
“Okay, I’ll rephrase that question. Will you do it? Something needs to be done about the humans and I think that forgetting everything that’s happened these past few weeks will be the best solution.”
“I might, if you give me something in return.”
I bristle. “What do you want?”
His blue eyes gleam in the darkness. “I want you to allow me to train you to become a sorceress.”
I say nothing for at least a whole minute, my mouth hanging open in surprise. When I finally gather my senses, the best I can come up with is, “Uh…what?”
“I have never had a granddaughter before, so I have never had the opportunity to pass on my knowledge to another person. I want to pass on that knowledge to you, Tegan, if you’ll allow it. Besides, haven’t you considered the negative aspects of your mortality? You will age and die while your vampire lover remains exactly the same as the first night you saw him.”
I narrow my eyes and fold my arms. “How do you know about my vampire lover?”
“I’ve been doing my research,” he answers with a wide smile.
Suddenly, I’m remembering Allora’s vision where she said she saw me and that I was older but I hadn’t aged. Does that mean I’ll actually become a sorceress after all?
“I need time to think about this,” I say rubbing at the back of my head.
“That’s quite alright. I need a few days to gather what I need for the spell. I’ll also need to find Emilia.”
“Theodore has her,” I volunteer.
“Ah, that makes things a little more difficult, but not impossible. I need her to undo her barrier spell before I can perform the mass memory wipe. But not to worry, I will find her.”
“Could you get Rita for me too while you’re at it?”
Before he has the chance to respond, Ethan appears at the edge of the roof and climbs easily to the top. His face is free of expression which usually means he’s either bored or pissed. In this particular scenario I’m going with pissed.
“Who is this?” he asks in a low, threatening voice.
Yep, definitely pissed.
I get up and walk to him, placing a hand on his chest. I meet his eyes when I say, “Ethan, this is Roman, my grandfather.”
“How did you…”
“I didn’t,” I cut him off. “He found me.”
“Mr Cristescu,” says Roman getting to his feet now, too. “It is an honour to meet you. Or should I be addressing you as Governor?”
Ethan shakes his head. “I have no interest in titles.” He reaches out and shakes Roman’s hand and then there’s a silence as they measure each other up. I’m practically holding my breath, waiting for them to break the handshake. But finally they do and Roman is saying his goodbyes. He makes a couple of tiny hand gestures and then he’s disappearing into a cloud of silver and gold smoke.
Ethan stares down at me, a questioning look on his face.
“He’s going to help us,” I say, not ready yet to tell him about the whole becoming a sorceress thing. I need time to hash it all out in my own head before I tell anyone else about it. Instead I slip my fingers through his and lead him back down off the roof. He scoops me into his arms when we reach the edge and drops effortlessly inside his large bedroom wi
ndow.
Chapter Ten
Love is Blind
Finn
I’ll say one good thing about Cristescu, his house is bloody fantastic. Vampires happen to be considerably fond of themselves, which means they’ll only settle for the best in interior design. Back in my early DOH days I had to break into a vamp home while the vamp was out. The place had heated floors, solid gold taps and in one room there was even a glass ceiling.
I know, a glass ceiling for a vampire. How dumb could he be? I later discovered that they’d invented this kind of UV filtering glass that negates the effects of sunlight.
Clever little shits.
The room I’m staying in at the moment has an amazing shower and I’ve never felt a more comfortable mattress in my life. I’m lying in bed, just about to turn off the lamp and catch some z’s when there’s a tentative knock on my door.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“Allora. Can I come in?” she replies in the quietest voice.
“Sure,” I say, wondering why she’s come looking for me.
She steps quickly inside and closes the door. Her hand glides along the wall as she feels her way to the bed and I have a momentary flash of her hand gliding along something else – because I’m a massive pervert.
“What’s up, Goldy?”
“I don’t want to sleep alone,” she says.
And aren’t those words just like music to my ears.
“Why not? You’re safe here. No one’s going to harm you,” I try to reassure her, you know, be a gentleman and all that jazz, but she still seems nervous.
“But…there are two vampires in this house,” she replies and now there’s a hint of desperation to her voice. “There are also several standing guard outside.”
“You don’t like vamps?”
She shakes her head. “A couple of years ago I had a vision of a woman being murdered by a vampire. He was sick and got off on her pain. He tortured her for a long time before he killed her. It’s one of the worst things I ever saw.”
She’s still standing by the bed so I take her hand in mine and gently pull her down to sit. “Hey, you know the way in the human world there are good people and bad people?” I ask.
Her gold eyes are staring in the direction of our clasped hands, her impaired vision probably only seeing a blur of skin. “Yes.”
“Well, it’s kind of the same with vamps,” I continue, surprising even myself with my logic. There was once a time when everything was black and white for me. Vampires were bad, humans were their prey. Now I’m coming to see that there’s a lot of grey in the mix.
“Most vampires can be pretty decent. They feed on humans but they don’t kill them, and the humans they feed from want it. It’s an addictive process. However, there are some vampires who are complete psychos and I’m guessing it was one of those that you saw in your vision.”
As I speak, I’m also coming to the stark realisation that it was a cruel and psychotic vampire who killed my family. And that it could have just as easily been a psychotic human who killed them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to go declaring my undying love for Cristescu, but I’m slowly coming to learn that he might not be as bad as I used to think.
I know, shock horror.
I’ve probably killed just as many vampires in self-defence as he’s killed slayers who were trying to stake him. To be honest, I think that vampires are just as wary of humans as humans are of them. Vampires might be strong, but humans outnumber them by a huge margin.
“So, you trust the vampire who owns this house?”
I sigh. “Yeah. He’s a cocky prick and too good looking for his own good, but I think we can trust him. Well, as much as I ever trust anybody, which is about ninety-five percent. There’s always a slim chance people will do something crazy that you don’t expect.”
I shut my mouth when I see Allora tensing up again. Damn, I’d almost managed to relax her.
“Hey, come on. You can stay with me tonight. Will that make you feel safer?”
“Yes, thank you,” she takes a relieved breath and I begin to mentally prepare to keep my hands to myself tonight. I mean, it’s some feat not to touch a beautiful woman when she’s lying in bed with you all sleep mussed and soft and…
Okay, I need to get a handle on this.
I pull open the covers for her to climb in and then I turn off the lamp. I lie on my side and close my eyes. A minute or two later I feel Allora move and her hand slips back into mine. I don’t say a word but I don’t let go either.
I feel her breath hit the back of my neck and I turn to face her, reaching out to caress her smooth skin.
“You’re very beautiful,” I tell her in a low voice and her breathing hitches.
“I didn’t come here to…” she says but I interrupt her.
“I know. I just needed to say it. You’re gorgeous.” I pause and let out a long sigh. “Okay, now I should be able to sleep.”
“Finn?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for needing to say it. Sometimes a girl needs to hear it.”
I chuckle. “Well, you’re welcome.”
When I finally do fall asleep, I do it while holding her hand.
I must have been moving around during the night because the next morning I wake up with my head resting on the cushion of Allora’s stomach. I’ve got one hand on her thigh and the other has slipped under her t-shirt to her ribs.
She feels way too good.
I’ve got what you could describe as morning wood, but mostly it’s because of the fact that my lips are so close to her skin and I could easily and very happily kiss her now. She stirs and a soft whimper escapes her. She hasn’t woken up yet, but she’s going to soon, I can tell. When my eyes are drawn to the rise and fall of her breasts I can’t hold back any longer.
I press my lips into her skin in a tender kiss which elicits a quiet moan. I think I could blow my load from that noise alone. I shift my body now so that my torso is between her legs as I continue to kiss a line across her stomach. This is so inappropriate but I can’t seem to help myself.
I trail my mouth to the underside of her breast and to my dismay I find that she’s wearing a bra. Pushing up her top a little I nuzzle the silky fabric.
This is the moment when she gasps and whispers huskily, “Finn.”
I groan and continue to kiss her, this time over the top of her breast and she lets out a shaky sigh.
“God,” she says, her hand moving to sink into my hair.
When I reach her face and my erection is pressed firmly into the soft, warm spot between her legs, I bend down and trace my lips over hers. I wish she could see me right now, see what touching her does to me.
“We shouldn’t,” she protests but then falls silent when I take her mouth in a hungry, wet, claiming kiss. I thrust my tongue inside and her entire body shivers beneath mine. I reach underneath her to undo the clasp of her bra before slipping it off. Then her magnificent breasts are exposed to me, and Jesus, they’re fucking perfect.
I mould one breast in my palm and take the nipple of the other into my mouth, sucking hard. She cries out and I smile as I swirl my tongue around the delicate pink peak.
When I trail my hand to her inner thigh and then up between her legs she shudders. I rub my thumb over her clit on top of her underwear and she begins to whimper, holding my head to her breasts. I need to feel her, all of her, so I slide my hand beneath the fabric. I groan when I feel how slick and wet she is for me, and I try to just focus on this little piece of heaven away from all the shit that’s waiting for us outside this room.
“Christ,” I mutter as I find her entrance and thrust a finger in. She’s so tight.
“Finn,” she breathes.
“Relax,” I tell her because I can feel her tensing up. She got nervous the second I put my hand here.
I circle her clit with my thumb and her eyelids drift closed as her head falls back into the pillows.
“You’re really tight. You feel so g
ood,” I rasp, my eyes intent on her face as her orgasm builds. I love that moment when a woman just completely shatters beneath you, pleasure taking her over. I love even more being the one who got her there.
Slowly, I move down her body and tug her underwear down too. She’s not watching me, her eyes are still glued shut, but she’s definitely feeling it. Her chest is rising and falling in quick breaths of anticipation.
When I dip my head between her legs and touch my tongue to her clit in a long, hard lick her entire body jerks.
“What…what are you doing?” she gasps.
I can’t help grinning. “What do you think I’m doing, honey?”
“Finn, you need to know some stuff…”
“Tell me later,” I say in a low voice and then return to licking.
I suck her clit into my mouth and my finger is still inside of her, moving slowly in and out. Judging from how tight she is, I’m guessing the thing she wants to tell me is that she’s a virgin. It’s kind of obvious from the way she acts sometimes, but also from the fact that she was just nineteen when she was taken by Ridley. She didn’t exactly have much time out in the real world to get experienced.
Anyway, she doesn’t have to worry about me taking things any further than this, and if she tells me to stop I will.
The thing is, I know when a woman wants something and Allora really, really wants this. She probably didn’t know she wanted it until it was happening though, and I’m going to make it good for her. Heaven knows she deserves a decent orgasm after having two years of her life stolen.
“You taste incredible,” I murmur, my mouth still going to work on her as I stare at her breasts and her flickering eyelids. I reach up and pinch her nipple and she cries out, her hands fisting the sheets.
“I wish I could see you,” she says on a moan when I swirl my tongue around in a big circle, sliding over her folds.
“Imagine it in your head,” I reply. “Think about my face, what you think it looks like. Think about my mouth on you, my tongue…” I trail off groaning.
