I thought she was piling on some of her usual sarcasm, but, surprisingly, she was right.
“Yes. Awkward.”
“He’s a Priest,” she said.
“Whoa!”
Vamps usually didn’t make those divisions among themselves, and Mia’s bluntness could be a good source of information.
“That’s why he has that strange aura,” she explained.
I looked at him with new admiration. He looked a few years older than I; he was the first vampire Priest I’d seen. They seemed like such a mystery while reading those books that Mr. Matthews had given me.
“Not so ordinary anymore, is he?” I shook my head. Definitely not.
“You know what’s equally interesting?”
“What?” I asked.
“The fact that Belun looks at you a lot.”
Something dropped inside my stomach. Mia gazed at me calmly.
“Well, he’s probably checking up on me. Maybe it’s weird to see me outside the gym.” It certainly was weird for me.
As a crooked smile formed on her lips, I turned around and felt his gaze on me. It made me shy in front of Mia, and I looked away.
“If it was only that, our Simona wouldn’t be wearing a handkerchief for a dress,” she mused, looking behind me.
“I’m sure she would wear it anyway.”
“Whatever you say, girl. Anyway, I don’t think the dress will help her.”
Doris and Aidan returned then with the drinks. He had a beer and the two girls sipped their cocktails. As for me, I enjoyed a bit of fruit punch.
“Oh, reinforcements have arrived,” Doris said. “I was wondering where they were.”
Turning, I saw Set who was already looking at me. I smiled in return. He was with a doll almost as tall as he was, and they seemed to look similar. Aidan pulled Doris onto the dance floor, leaving Mia and me alone as Set approached with his charming grin. I remembered Julia’s mention of the commotion at the Reception, the one between Set and Belun, and I made a mental note to ask Mia later about it.
“Ladies.” Set made a dramatically courteous bow, taking our hands and kissing them.
“Hey you. Haven’t seen you for ages.” I grinned at the ridiculous gesture. There was something light and casual in this guy that I found most relaxing.
“Missed me?”
“Oh, desperately,” I laughed.
“You missed all the fun,” Mia said.
“Hopefully not all the fun.” His look made me laugh again. “Fea had some errands to run and made me go with her. She’s my twin sister.”
They laughed at my shock.
“You didn’t know?”
Know what, exactly? The fact that the hot chick is your sister and not your girlfriend, or that vampires have not only vampiric siblings, but twins?! I’d never thought of the possibility. There had been mention of their human cousins, but nothing beyond that. I shook my head.
“Bryn has an older sister. She’s in Kyrill’s court now,” Mia said.
“What court?”
“The one on the beautiful Greek Island,” she answered me.
“Take it easy, there. We don’t want your pretty little head to explode, do we?”
“Sorry,” I said to Set, gathering my thoughts. “I didn’t know that a vampire twin was a normal thing.”
“Well, it isn’t. Feodora and I are not unique, but for some time now, we have been the only ones. As far as we know, in any case.” Set was grinning.
Feodora, that’s a pretty name. I looked at her and saw that she was with Simona. So they were friends. It seemed that they radiated the same level of arrogance, and then I saw Simona’s tight blue dress that Mia had been laughing at. Geez, she was right, it really couldn’t have been any shorter. She was wearing flat black boots—yeah, like that’s gonna make her look more innocent.
My glass was empty, so I headed for the bar leaving Mia telling Set about our snowball fight.
“Fruit punch please,” I smiled at the barman.
“Spiced?” He grinned wickedly, holding a gin bottle.
“Sure, why not,” I replied. Then I sensed someone’s presence behind me.
“According to U.S. law, you’re not old enough to drink.” Belun placed his elbow on the bar next to me.
“Are you starting a prohibition?”
“Why not? Trust me, it was more fun than people think nowadays,” he teased. “There were a lot of incognito places, the drinks were stronger, the service better, and the women . . . Well, anyway…” He was laughing now.
He was so relaxed! His face was so warm! It was the first time that I had seen him laugh, and he was even more attractive.
“So I was told in Sioux City.”
“What were you doing there, anyway?”
“Waiting for my flight to Tromsø?”
“Besides that.” He just wasn’t going to stop grinning!
“It’s a long story.”
“Oh, I have time.”
What!? A Joke? Who was this imposter?
His tee casually outlined his body, and the raven stood on a branch in front of a full moon, with a funny smirk. Belun brought the bottle up to his lips, watching me looking at him.
“I was disappointed in my character judgment,” I finally offered.
“So you ended up in a vampire den?”
I laughed. He had the cutest smile!
“It’s not for nothing that they say to be careful what you wish for.”
“Well, this is not what I wished for,” I said.
“And what did you wish for?”
I was so bewildered. Where did this sudden interest in my puny little mortal life come from? We’d seen each other twice a day for the past couple of weeks and he’d never asked a thing. What was up?
Maybe I was giving it too much importance.
“I wanted to see things through my eyes, and not someone else’s.”
“Don’t we all want that? And search for it our whole lives?”
“Why? Whose eyes are you afraid of?”
He laughed, and drank his beer, lingering. We looked at each other, but apparently, he wasn’t going to give me an answer. If there was one.
“There you are! You promised me a dance.”
Simona emerged, smiling at him. There was some intensity in her words.
“I did? Well, then.” He gave me an apologetic smile and let her pull him away. I turned back to my drink.
“Is it good?” the barman came back over.
“Excellent.” I smiled, and he slid over a whisky glass filled with cherries. “Thanks! I love them.”
He nodded shyly and returned to his work. A hand with a ring on the thumb was placed on the bar in front of me.
“I thought he’d never leave you.” Set settled himself in the chair next to mine.
Unfortunately, he had left, and with that little witch.
“Even the barman can’t resist your charm.”
“Will you stop with the flattering?”
Set grinned slyly; his self-confidence was attractive.
“So, how was the snow ride?” he asked, and I glanced at the dance floor. Seeing Simona’s body swirl around Belun’s was very unpleasant.
“It was so fun that Tyler and I were ruthlessly punished with a massive snowball ambush.”
“Sounds great!” he said, and I nodded in confirmation.
“I’m sorry that you left without your flower that night.”
That was weird. The rosebud had been taken from my hair by Belun. Now I was really curious about what had happened between the two of them, but that question would have to wait for someone neutral, like Mia.
“Actually, you said you didn’t like flowers outside of a garden.”
“Or one stolen from a vase.”
Set seemed to be enjoying himself. He leaned to the bar and took a cherry.
“I’ve never understood why people find this cocktail hybrid so tasty. This is a completely ruined cherry.”
“Hey,
don't look a gift horse in the mouth!” We laughed, and group of three approached, involving Set in conversation.
He nodded apologetically at me and turned to them, leaving me to my drink again.
“Let’s dance,” a voice whispered behind me. Goosebumps flushed down my entire right side.
Not waiting for my answer, Belun took my hand and led the way. When I felt his skin, something jolted in me, like the first time we shook our hands. Startled, I moved like a robot, following him. Come on, Nika, get a grip! But the memory of his whisper in my ear made me even stiffer. My hand went awkwardly numb, but he squeezed it hard.
When he had found a spot on the dance floor, he let go of my hand and faced me. The green of his eyes was slowly removing some of my layers. The stiffness came first, then jitters, followed by insecurity. Seconds later, after it felt like his eyes had literally reached my very core, the music pulsed through me.
Carried away by the melody, I turned my back to him. I leaned my head back, slowly moving my upper body to the beat. There was a small space between us, but I could feel him, and he could feel me. Our hands brushed. His fingers made their way from the tip of my shoulder over my neck and down my spine. I rested my head back on his chest, completely intoxicated with the moment. The song flew through us.
I turned to face him, my hands on his chest. I looked up at him, and in that moment, both of us were lost in the look. I heard lines of the song—“Love is like a sin, my love, for the ones who feel it the most.” He lowered his head to mine. I could feel his breath, and my own breathing deepened as I got closer to him. His hand landed softly on my lower back, not pulling me closer, but not letting me move any farther away, either.
It was I who tensed up again.
He moved his hand, looking at me. Then he took a half step back, still gazing with concern. I started breathing heavily, thinking that I might faint. He stood quietly, but my condition worsened. I didn’t know whether I would first scream or lose my consciousness. He firmly took my hand and led me through the crowd to Doris.
Chapter 8
The Decision
“What did you drink, girl?!” Mia hovered above me in our hotel room.
“It’s not the drinks,” Doris said, sitting next to me on the bed. Her hand lightly touched my forehead. “You’re burning up.”
“I know.”
Bryn strode into the room.
“Oh. My. God,” she breathed, grinning like an idiot.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Mia was losing her patience.
“I simply could not believe it when I saw you two dancing!”
“Well it explains Simona’s swearing at the barman over the wrong cocktail,” Mia laughed.
“I couldn’t believe it either,” Doris added in a whisper, her worried eyes still on me.
“We were just dancing.”
“Yeah, right!” Bryn exclaimed. “I was totally jealous of the moment you two were sharing.”
“You dance so well,” Doris teased.
Embarrassed, I looked away. At this point, I felt better, or at least my breathing was normal again.
“If everything was so wonderful, then what are you doing here?” asked Mia.
“I felt sick,” I said.
All I wanted then was to sleep for as many hours as I could. I hoped it would bring some clarity, and ease the choking feeling inside of me.
I didn’t really feel like company, so I turned my face to the wall. There was something alarming about its whiteness. It was too white, as if inviting something to ruin it. I felt an icy moss creeping up the bright paint and devouring this little piece of my world. Instantly, I closed my eyes hoping for sanctuary in a dream.
The next day after breakfast, we prepared to leave. I felt more or less okay, however, the memories of the past night were hazy. I didn’t know why I was pushing them as far back as I could, but thinking about what happened made me feel really intense. I was afraid to face it, and I’d rather have stayed in my room as long as I could, skipping breakfast altogether.
I was acting an idiot. What was wrong with me? It was only a dance. Okay, I don’t dance with all guys like that, but he was much more intimate with Simona when they were dancing! Well, she was, at least. I was definitely making something out of nothing. He probably thought nothing of it and was downstairs talking and eating perfectly normally with his friends, while I was hiding and overanalyzing everything. Just like a girl. Drove me crazy!
Later, Aidan asked if Doris and I wanted to ride with him, but she shook her head and kissed him. I didn’t see Belun. Maybe he had already left or was riding with Aidan, which would explain her refusal. So we went home as we came, with Tyler and Mia.
During the ride, the two of them were bitching amongst themselves. No matter what it was about, music or anything else, they contradicted each other. Doris took my hand in hers and leaned her head on my shoulder.
“You know, he needed a lot of courage to do that,” she said.
I knew that she meant Belun. But—he needed it? What about me?!
“I’ve never seen him like that with a girl,” Doris added, and since I stayed quiet, she laced her fingers with mine.
The ride was fun. Doris asked me if I wanted to go to her place so the two of us could have a girls’ night—movies, popcorn, etc., but I wasn’t up for it. I thanked her for the trip and gave a lame excuse about some errands that I had to do. She knew that I was lying, but she understood and was cool about it. So when the SUV stopped in front of my building, she gave me a warm hug.
“Buzz if you change your mind,” she said.
Opening the heavy wooden door, I gave her an unconvincing smile, knowing that I wouldn’t change it. Not today, anyway.
Up in the suite, there was another little gathering. Well, it was movie day, after all. Tibor, Max, and Lyndon, along with Julia. They seemed to be having a good time.
“You’re back!” Julia exclaimed. “How was it?”
“It was a crazy snowmobile expedition.” I tried to match her enthusiasm.
“Well, that’s fun,” said Lyndon, a little too surprised, as if everything I did was usually boring.
“I’m exhausted; we partied all night. I’m off to bed.” I offered them a smile and closed my bedroom door behind me.
My smile disappeared with the click of the closing door.
A feeling of indifference consumed me, I wasn’t up for anything. Even reading a book didn’t seem appealing. I checked my email and found some new interesting jokes that had been circulating through the Berkeley campus. Except I wasn’t there anymore.
The thought of that made my stomach churn.
Did I want to be back there? The following day I was to sign the contract. But I didn’t have to sign it! I wasn’t obliged to stay in this place. Did I want my life back? Well, did I want back the life that I had so badly tried to escape—even though I wanted to escape only for a week or two? And since my memories of this place and these people would be wiped away, did I want to return to that spot in Iowa, to my crossroads?
I didn’t know the answer, but I knew I had only two days to think it through. I had to figure out what exactly I wanted from my life.
The group in the common room had left, there were no more voices coming through my door. I didn’t leave my room; I had had enough fun already, and when bedtime came, I fell asleep more out of boredom than tiredness.
The next day, I was completely uneasy as I made my way to the gym. It was time to face him. Damn. I had tried to avoid meeting Belun, but unfortunately, it was inevitable.
He was waiting, dressed in a dark tracksuit. When saw me coming, he gave a small smile, but I didn’t respond. And I wasn’t going to.
“Let’s go running,” he finally said. His tone was normal, just like the one from the night at the bar. However, it surprised me that I was expecting it to be harsh and stern.
I pulled on my sweatshirt and ran out in front of him. The cool air was bliss, and I ran faster and farther that day than
on any other day. I wondered if I was running away from myself, him, or us. I decided that it was not from myself, and he seemed to realize the same, so he gave me some space.
I felt some anger emerging, so I pushed away from the ground even harder. The surrounding trees turned into one long shade of dark gray, and I could feel them closing in on me. They devoured the whiteness of the snow and the road I was running on. That mass of threatening darkness was on my heels.
I ran faster, feeling the ice in my lungs. My thoughts were after me. I felt something under my feet and, falling, I cried out in pain.
Belun was next to me in less than a second, trying to help me.
“My leg!” I cried, and he turned me over so I could sit. It hurt when he touched my knee; he tried to slowly bend it.
“Not broken.”
“My ankle,” I managed to say.
Belun lifted me into his arms and started to carry me back. I couldn’t believe it!
In his arms like that, I was confused, not knowing exactly what to feel. There was my painful leg, and his proximity . . . . In that moment, some of my anger reemerged, but it faded away as fast as it came.
His face was so close, which put the trees back into normal focus. No more smothering gray mass. His skin was like snow, tender and smooth. His face seemed serious now and his eyes were a bit nervous. He was looking straight ahead as he walked, and when I moved my arm behind his neck to a more comfortable position, I felt his eyes fall on me. I didn’t look up, but when he returned them to the road, I glanced at him, taking in his full lips, nose, and forehead. That sight awakened a strange sense of hunger. I thought of licking his cool smooth cheek. I was horrified at my bizarre emotions; I started breathing heavily again and my heart began to batter in my chest.
He felt me stiffen.
“You okay?”
I was silent, unsuccessfully trying to calm my breathing.
“You want me to put you down?”
“Yes,” I said, surprised at my firm tone.
The pain in my ankle started to ease and I could walk if I balanced my weight well. I felt him looking at me, but I didn’t look back. We walked on in a silence even more unpleasant than the one at the beginning of the session.
Darkling Page 10
