Phoenix tucked the teddy bears, rainbows and gum drops into the back seat while he introduced Kelly to the sisters. Michelle shook her hand, but Heidi hugged her close. She later explained that Kelly instantly reminded her of Michelle when they were younger.
Stephan greeted them as well, but very reserved. He made no effort to shake hands, just nodded and mumbled hellos. He was very uncomfortable and it was obvious. Good. Phoenix assumed it was because he knew what he was dealing with. There was no way he could tell Kelly, though. Not without revealing himself, which Phoenix figured he didn’t want to do. His demeanor instantly put Phoenix on high alert and the idea that he couldn’t trust Ink man, er, Stephan, was confirmed. He was lying and he was hiding. Without actually knowing the truth, there was no doubt in Phoenix’s mind about whether or not Kelly knew who he really was. They kept their small talk simple and their brunch meeting was fairly short. When they parted ways, Stephan was way too eager to get the hell out of there and drag Kelly along with him. Kelly, however, agreed to meet her mom back at the hotel for some much needed catching up.
“I don’t like him,” Jules announced after they were gone.
“What is it, Hon?” Nick asked.
“He’s not what we think. I don’t mean a demon, I mean he’s lying about something. I get that vibe off him. I didn’t force him to tell me, because I didn’t want Kelly to hear something she wasn’t ready for.”
”I don’t like him either. What do you think it is?” Phoenix asked.
“I don’t know, but regardless, I don’t think I want him around my daughter.” She spoke through clenched teeth and narrow eyes. Jules was angry, and it showed through the warring colors in her eyes. She didn’t like not knowing things, especially since she learned that she could make people tell her the truth. That was one of her vampire gifts. Before her change, she had a knack for knowing when she was being lied to. Now, she could make anyone tell her the truth, whether they wanted to or not. But that was not the most impressive of her abilities. She was a copier. She could copy the gifts of other creatures. It was really an interesting gift, to say the least.
Phoenix walked with Heidi and Jules to the hotel. The others drove, Michelle on her bike and the others in a rented car. He asked Jules to accompany them; he wanted the two women to get to know each other more. He was impressed at how easily they fell in together. He had no idea that Heidi could be so accepting. Jules explained to her about the lifestyle of the vampires in their home, and told her the story of how vampirism became the only choice for her. Heidi listened intently, asking questions often. Jules held nothing back. Because, again, of Phoenix. She trusted his judgment and since the sisters’ acceptance was important to him, it was important to her.
Despite all the tension over Stephan and the nearly irresistible urge he felt to incinerate that man, Phoenix felt wonderful. Everyone he cared for seemed to be getting along well. The sky seemed bluer, the air felt lighter, hell, the whole world just felt right to him for the first time in as long as he could remember. He felt as if he finally found his purpose, even if he didn’t actually know what it was yet. He also couldn’t help but feel like it was Kelly who made him feel that way, just by showing up.
CHAPTER SIX
The midday sun was radiating through the trees as Kelly walked with Stephan through the gardens. “See,” she said with a smile, “That wasn’t so bad.”
“Speak for yourself. I don’t think your mother likes me much,” he replied.
“Oh, don’t worry about her,” Kelly laughed. “She’s harmless.”
Stephan shook his head. “I beg to differ. She was watching me the entire time as if she would like to rip my throat out.”
Kelly laughed out loud. To her, he was just being silly. Her mother could give a death glare to rival any beast, but she knew that her mom was all bark and no bite. The worst thing she had ever seen her mother do was spray the neighbor’s dog with the hose when it used her yard as its personal bathroom. Yeah, she looked different, but Boston had been good to her. Her skin tone was perfect, and her eyes were beautiful and full of life.
“I don’t think you should go to the hotel,” Stephan said, breaking her train of thought.
“Don’t be silly. I missed my mom. I can’t wait to hear all the things she has been doing. I want to tell her all about my summer, about you, everything.” Kelly was beginning to feel a bit perturbed with his attitude.
“She’s been up to a lot more than you think.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. Whatever her mother had been up to, it looked good on her.
“Just, well, I don’t know. I just get a bad feeling from the lot of them. Let’s take off. Let’s just leave Paris, run away together. What do you say?”
“What and travel the world and see the sights and elope? I don’t think so. You know me better than that. I can’t just take off. Why are you acting like this? Stephan, you are scaring me. What happened to the guy I was dating? Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?” she snapped.
“Just a suggestion. I’m serious, they all make me really uncomfortable. You are unnecessarily putting yourself in danger. Didn’t that guy with the weird eyes give you the creeps?”
God save her from men. Especially ones who were beginning to sound way too overbearing. “Danger? From what? My mother? And no, Phoenix did not give me the creeps. He seems nice. Fascinating, really. Knock it off, Stephan. I’m done with this conversation. I’m going to the hotel and I’m going to spend time with my mother. When they go home, I’m going with them. I want you to go, too. But if this is how you are going to be, then please, stay behind.” Her rant had begun low but had escalated into yelling by the time she stopped to take a breath. She was yelling and didn’t care who was listening. He surely wasn’t. What did he want? For her to run away from her family? What a ridiculous idea. Who the hell did he think he was anyway? “These people are my family now! That means we are a package deal.” She waved her hand as if to encompass everyone in one motion, then pointed her finger at his chest. “If you can’t accept that, then you can take a long walk off a short pier.”
They argued over it until Kelly had finally had enough. She ended up turning her back on him and walking away. She left him standing on the sidewalk, staring helplessly after her. Her feet automatically took her exactly where he didn’t want her to go. She knew that the hotel would be at least a thirty minute walk, but she welcomed the time to herself to sort out Stephan’s strange behavior and for her to calm down.
Phoenix and his family all crowded into the penthouse suite at the hotel. It was huge and gorgeous to boot. It had a sitting parlor that was easily the size of two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, a grand bedroom, and two bathrooms. It was spacious, bright, and well decorated. The outside wall was nothing more than an enormous window, interrupted by a sliding glass door that led to a private balcony.
And of course, Kelly was late. She was supposed to meet them there at two in the afternoon and it was pushing three. So naturally, Jules was worried out of her head. She worried out loud, pacing at inhuman speeds from one side of the room to the other. Nick tried to remind her that Kelly was young and even though legally she was an adult, she was still a child and there was no reason to wear a rut in the carpet. Jules snapped right back at him.
“You don’t know her!” she shouted at him and anyone else who would listen. Nick visibly retreated under her anger. “This isn’t like her at all! Kelly has always been mature for her age. She always calls when she will be late. Always.” A deep furrow was forming in Jules’s brow, and Phoenix feared it may become permanent if she didn’t chill out.
He opened his mouth to apologize, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Jules hurried to answer it. Kelly stood in the doorway, looking beautifully apologetic. Phoenix blew out a sigh of relief. He hated to admit it, but he had been just as nervous as Jules had been about her being late. Who the fuck knew what Ink man was doing to her? Just about every scenario had play
ed through his mind and his hands had begun to itch with the need to punch him in the face.
“Sorry I’m late, Mom. Stephan was being ridiculous. He really didn’t want me to come. He kept saying that I was putting myself in danger! From my own Mother! Can you believe that? I told him, whatever his problem is, he needs to get over it. So he refused to come with me, but I don’t care. If he can’t accept my family, well, he can go screw himself,” she blurted out all at once as she glided into the room like an angel. Phoenix made note of her temper and how very similar it was to her mother’s.
“I’m just glad you made it. I knew you would be here when you could,” Jules lied. Phoenix snorted. How unfair! No one gets to lie to her, yet she can lie all she wants. He barely suppressed a roll of his eyes. Barely.
Phoenix sat quietly as the two talked about things that had passed in the year since they were apart. Kelly told her mom all about school, about the places she visited in Europe. Jules told Kelly about her job at the firm, how she and Nick ended up married. She only omitted the ugly parts about demons and etc. She told her daughter with surprisingly graphic details about how she was attacked in the apartment. And how Nick had been the one to save her life. Kelly thanked Nick with a tight hug around his neck.
Heidi and Michelle sat on either side of Phoenix. Heidi took one of his hands and squeezed it when she heard Jules’s story about the incubus that tried to rape and kill her. He didn’t mind, but couldn’t help but feel like even that small contact was wrong. It wasn’t Heidi’s hand he wanted to hold. He watched with rapt attention to every detail while Kelly talked. He absorbed her actions and the way she talked as if his life depended on it. He noticed everything from the way her eyes squinted and crinkled when she laughed to the way she wrung her hands when she was upset or nervous.
Kelly surprised him out of his inner stalk session by asking if he wore his coat all the time or if he was just cold natured. Phoenix couldn’t help himself, he laughed. And that was where the conversation turned.
“Kelly, there is something we have to tell you.” Jules said, not allowing Phoenix to answer. “There is no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to blurt it out. But before I do, I want you to promise me something.”
“Sure Mom, whatever you want.” Kelly was so quick to agree.
“I want you to throw away any preconceived notions you may have about everything in life. About everything you know. Listen to everything we have to say before you make any judgments.”
“Ok, but you are scaring me a little,” Kelly replied, scrunching her delicate brow together. How utterly adorable.
“I told you I am still your mother, and that’s the truth. I told you I have changed, and that is also true. Kelly,” she hesitated for a moment, “I am a vampire. So is Nick. And Victor and Rachel too.”
A smile played around the corner of Kelly’s lips. “Be serious Mom,” she said.
“Look at me,” Jules told her. “Look into my eyes. Tell me if I’m lying.” Kelly did as asked. She stared at her mother a long time. Then she looked at the other alleged vampires.
Everyone waited to the information to sink in. Kelly looked confused at first, then incredulous, then finally, scared. Although Phoenix did not share the super sensitive hearing with the others, he was certain he could hear Kelly’s heart racing. He could see the blood pooling under her skin on her neck and ears. He could hear the slight tremble in her voice. That strange protective instinct where she was concerned reared its head again and he fought the urge to scoop her up in his arms and chase the fear away. “A vampire,” Kelly continued. “So, you feed on people? Drink their blood? How can that be? You were out in the sun! I don’t understand,” Kelly said, her voice trailing off, backing away from Jules. Time for the running and screaming.
“Remember what I said about preconceived notions? Those are myths, baby. Not true. And no, I do not kill people. None of us here do. I promise, you are in no danger.” Jules took a step forward, her arm extended to touch her daughter, but Kelly shied away from the contact. Jules’s eyes dropped along with her arm, and her face was a mask of pain. This was the reaction they all hoped they wouldn’t need to deal with.
“I, however, am one hundred percent human,” Heidi spoke up in the dead silence. “So is my sister. We are not afraid to be here, and we know the truth. I promise child, there is no danger.” She moved toward Kelly and took her hand. Kelly shrank closer to Heidi. In fact, any closer, and Heidi would have had to hold her.
Jules continued to tell her daughter about vampires. No sunlight doesn’t hurt, no she won’t turn into a bat, and so on and so forth. She explained how vampires are simply a different, more powerful, breed of human. She explained that this was the only way Nick had to save her life. She also told Kelly how hard it was to accept at first. The rest of the family remained silent while Jules spoke, not wanting to make it any harder than it needed to be. It was only when Kelly asked a specific question to someone specific did anyone other than Jules answer her.
“What about you?” Kelly asked Phoenix. “Are you a vampire too?”
“Hell no!” he laughed out loud. “I am so much cooler than that. Or, actually, hotter!”
Jules looked at him with warning in her eyes, but Nick grabbed her hand and said, “She needs to know everything. Let him explain.”
“Explain what? What are you?” Kelly was more confused than ever. “Are you some kind of demon, with those weird eyes?”
Why did everyone always assume him to be a demon? Really it was getting old. He started to stand up, but Nick cleared his throat and suggested he just tell her first. “I am a phoenix. I am the firebird of myth and legends. I have wings of fire and I cannot be killed. At least not permanently.”
“I know the stories about the phoenix,” Kelly said, momentarily forgetting her uneasiness and taking a step in his direction. Her head was held high and her shoulders back as she took a stand in front of him. Their height difference made it almost comical, but Phoenix restrained the urge to smile. She obviously shared her mother’s strength. “It’s a myth that originated in India. It’s said to be a magical majestic bird, a protector. It has healing powers and dies in a fury of flames, only to be reborn from the ash. Many people think of the phoenix as a religious symbol. The symbol of new life and immortality.” She shook her head. “You may be a giant compared to me, but you don’t look like a bird.”
Phoenix smiled a genuine smile. Her knowledge was pretty spot on for a human. Most people didn’t have a clue and she had several in that department. She was not only heartbreakingly beautiful, but smart as well.
“You are well read in mythology, aren’t you?” he asked. She stood staring at him as if he were the lowest of liars. That, a liar, was one thing he was not. The strength emanating from this small woman was astounding. She could be very strong when she needed to be, he decided. “What can I do to prove to you I am telling the truth?”
“I don’t know, how about sprouting wings of fire?” she said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring in his direction. It was cute. He wanted to kiss that sarcastic mouth into submission. And whoa, where the hell did that come from?
“Ok then,” he said, “Your wish is my command but you might want to stand back.” He bowed deep at the waist like a true gentleman and waved one arm in front of himself. Everyone began quickly moving to the far side of the room. Heidi was pulling a wide-eyed Kelly as they went.
“Please remember that we are inside,” Victor told him as he unplugged the fire alarm. Phoenix nodded.
“Holy shit! You’re fucking serious?” Kelly yelled from her corner of the room.
Phoenix grinned his best shit eating grin and nodded once again. He slipped his coat off and let it fall to the floor behind him. He arched his back and stretched his muscles before unfolding his wings and stretching them out to their full length. He heard Kelly gasp and Phoenix waited for a moment to let the full effect he had on virtually everyone sink in. Then, he started his f
ire. Gentle blue flames spread across his feathers and began to lick toward the ceiling and in a slow dance. He felt the fire getting hotter and he allowed the flames to feed on the air in the room. They turned orange and yellow before he heard Victor clearing his throat. Oh right. Inside. Phoenix extinguished the flames as quickly as they had begun, and then folded his wings against his back.
He waited for Kelly’s reaction.
She stood there, wide eyed, for at least a minute. Phoenix was certain the suspense was going to kill him. She finally approached him slowly, still holding Heidi’s hand and dragging her along for the ride. Kelly looked at his face for a moment, then walked around behind him to examine his wings. It was a reaction he expected. The few individuals he chose to show himself to always wanted a closer look. He gently and slowly spread his wings slightly to help her out. She still jumped a little at the movement, but was undeterred in her perusal.
“You’re beautiful,” she finally said. “Can I touch them?”
Oh yes please, he thought. He feared he might actually beg her to touch him if he spoke so he nodded in approval instead. Kelly traced the feathers on his wings lightly with her fingers. White hot fire spread through his veins the second she touched him. Not literal fire, but an intense inner fire. Every cell in his body jumped to life and stood up to pay attention to her touch.
“So soft,” she mumbled to herself. “They’re not hot, I thought they would be.”
He felt her fingers tracing the sensitive spot where his wings connected to his back. Everywhere she touched tingled and heated under her gentle fingers. She worked her way around until she was facing him once again. “Do you mind stooping down a little? I want to get a better look at your face.”
Since the top of her head didn’t even reach as high as his collar bone, Phoenix did as she asked. He was used to this by now, but for some reason it was different with Kelly. He stood perfectly still while Kelly gazed into his eyes. He thought her eyes were magnificent as well. They were an intense sapphire blue and they seemed so much older than her years. He knew exactly what Jules had meant when she called her daughter an old soul when he stared into her eyes. There was a depth to them that only those who had seen and lived through everything life could throw at them would have. She looked at him as if they were having some kind of unspoken conversation, and in that moment, no words were needed. His entire body felt the intensity of her stare. It was as if she could see all the way down into his soul. But that wasn’t the end of it. He could see her too. He could see the bonds of love for her mother. He could see her strength and her will. He also saw something wonderful. Familiarity. Courage. Trust. She trusted him.
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