How did she not know that there was a freaking pack of Werewolves in Glasgow, for Christ’s sake? She didn’t dare speak, as she knew it would probably come out as a squeak at the moment. So she just looked between the two men and tried to compute what she was hearing.
Duncan came over and offered his rather huge hand. She took it, and he shook it very gently. “Nice tae meet ye, Alexina, welcome tae ma club,” Duncan greeted her.
“Alex, my name’s Alex,” was her only response.
Zach smiled and said. “Alexina prefers her shorter version. I do not.”
“Well, whitever yer called, welcome,” Duncan responded.
“Now doon tae business. Oor Witches are in situ at Alex’s apartment, an the place is safe fer ye tae go get whit ye need. That fancy jet oh yoors is also fuelled an ready tae go at the airport. Pilot is there an jest waitin fer ye, as usual,” Duncan advised and then went over to a fridge, offering them a drink.
Zach said he was fine, but Alex said, “Yes, please, I would like a very, very large Jack Daniels, Diet Coke with it if you have any?”
Duncan smiled in answer. “Oh course I dae, one comin right up.”
Once she had her drink in hand, she took a very large mouthful, and then another. She started to calm down a bit. Well, a teeny bit, but at least she didn’t think her head was going to explode any more.
Duncan had got himself a drink, she thought it looked like whisky but wasn’t sure. Whatever it was, he seemed to be enjoying it. He also seemed to be enjoying her obvious bewilderment.
“So, ye dinae have any ideas whit’s goin on, little miss?” The huge man said.
Alex realized he was talking to her and stuttered, “Ah no, nope, no idea, and until this evening I had never met a Vampire, or a Werewolf, or in fact, anything ‘Super.’ So to say I am shocked is putting it mildly.”
Duncan laughed so much she thought he was going to cry, but he finally got himself under control and said, “Dinae worry, this lad here will look after ye. He’s the best at this sorta thing. He’s got brains an brawn, while me, well I’m mostly jest brawn.” He had a little smile on his lips, but he seemed sincere in what he was saying.
Alex just hoped it was true. She also thought that this Werewolf, Duncan, had more than just brawn.
“Duncan, I need one more thing before we go to pick up some of Alexina’s things.” Zach spoke to Duncan, but his eyes were on Alex.
Duncan replied, all the while watching the two of them. “Anythin, boy, ye know that, whit is it ye need?”
Zach again spoke to Duncan, but was watching Alex, “I need to feed, I’ve not fed since arriving in Scotland. I would like to get that out of the way, so I can concentrate on keeping Alexina safe. I can do that while we’re here, because I know you will watch her while I feed.”
Alex choked on her drink. Well, Jack Daniels did not taste quite so nice coming up through her nose as it did originally going down. She grabbed a hanky from her jacket pocket and tried to wipe the mess from her face, all the while looking at Zach.
He was obviously waiting on her reaction to what he had just said. What was her reaction, she thought?
Well, he had told her he was a Vampire, so on a subconscious level she must have known he would have to, what had he called it? Oh yes, ‘feed.’ She didn’t know how she felt, but she didn’t want him to think she thought bad of him, so she tried to keep her face composed. Why she didn’t want him to think she thought bad of him she didn’t know, she just didn’t.
“Of course, laddie, ah’ll arrange it an then ah’ll stay here wae Alex til yer ready tae leave.” Duncan then left the room and Alex looked at Zach.
She was seeing him properly for the first time. She hadn’t taken note in the woods, for obvious reasons. Or in the car park when they ‘moved,’ because she was too busy being sick.
In the car she couldn’t get a full sense of him, either, what with him sitting down driving and all. But now, well he was standing a few feet away, so she certainly could see him properly now.
He was not as tall as Duncan, but he was still a lot bigger than her. With that hair she had decided she really liked. His eyes, as she had noticed earlier, were gorgeous and very rare. She had never seen anything quite like them.
He was dressed in black boots, black jeans that hung low on his hips and gave her heart a little stutter, and a black t-shirt with a black jacket on top.
The jacket was leather, longer than a normal jacket, but not quite long enough to be called a coat. However, it looked so damn good on him, and she realized she was staring.
He looked to be in his thirties, but of course, he was soooooo much older. It was quite incomprehensible to her.
That little smile he did crept onto his lips and, for goodness’ sake, she actually blushed! She had no idea why, and certainly hadn’t blushed in so many years that she couldn’t remember the last time she had.
“Are you all right about this?” he asked.
“Uhmm, yeah, just trying to get my head around it all. You know, it’s kinda weird and scary, and I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with all this, this, this...stuff,” she blurted out.
Zach smiled at her, then once more spoke, with that voice she was liking more and more each time she heard it, “You are going to be fine. I’ll make sure of it, so try and relax. However, I meant, are you all right with me feeding before we leave here?”
Was she? She didn’t know how she felt. A bit weirded out maybe, but if he had to feed, he had to feed. Everyone had to feed their bodies. It was just that he used blood, and not a good steak and chips like her. So she looked him square in the eye and said, “Yup, I am fine with that, and probably most of the other stuff, too.”
She gave him a small smile, so hopefully he would know she wasn’t lying. He returned the smile, and she got butterflies in her stomach.
Just then the door opened and Duncan came back in, he had a plate of food in his hands. “Thought ye might need some nourishment tae, little miss. Afraid it’s just fae the takeaway roon the corner, but so long as yer no a vegetarian, then burger n chips is the best ah could dae at short notice.”
Alex was touched he had thought to get her something to eat and thanked him. Duncan turned to Zach. “Zach, room number two in the private section, an there’s someone waitin for ye.”
Zach walked to the door before speaking. “Thank you, my friend. I won’t be long, Alexina, and then we will be on our way.”
Duncan took his seat behind the rather messy desk, and Alex looked at the food in her hands. She realized that she was hungry and was surprised. She didn’t think, with all that had happened, that she would be thinking of food. However, the smell of the freshly cooked burger wafted up her nostrils, and she started to scarf it down.
“It’s nice tae see a lassie enjoyin her food. Nooadays they all seem tae be on diets oh one sort or the other,” Duncan commented.
Alex started to laugh, and Duncan was bemused as to why. She finally stopped and answered, “Well firstly, Duncan, I am not a lassie, I haven’t been called that in many a year. I’m nearly forty, though I sometimes think ‘what the hell,’ and wonder where the years have gone. Secondly, I just love my food too much to worry about dieting, hence the ample behind on me.” She was sort of joking, but in her mind she was a rather plump, nearly middle-aged woman who didn’t have a lot going for her.
Duncan gave her a long look before he came back at her, “Alex, in oor world yer a child. Ah know ye will probably hae figured oot Zach is very, very old, however, ah’m also pretty old. Ah’m over a hundred and fifty years old, so tae me, aye, yer definitely a lassie. Regarding whit ye call yer ‘ample behind,’ let me tell ye, most oh us guys do not want skin n bone warming us at night! Yer a very beautiful woman an ye should also be proud oh yersel. The way ye seem to be handlin all oh this is quite astonishing. Most oh the humans ah know wid be curled in the corner, crying their eyes oot right about noo. Ye seem to be a very strong pe
rson an ah don’t mean in the brawn way that ah’m strong, yer strong inside, ah can sense it. Ah’m glad tho, cause lassie, ah think yer gonna need that strength.”
Alex looked at Duncan, saw the sincerity in his eyes of what he had just said, and for the second time that night, she blushed.
“Thank you, Duncan, although I have said this earlier today, I will say it again – you’re looking good for your age.” And they both started to laugh.
She suddenly felt a bit more relaxed. She was surprised that a man, or in fact a Werewolf she corrected herself, that seemed to be big and tough, who actually came across as quite scary, could be so candid with her and make her feel safe, too.
This man-mountain had a power about him. Something she hadn’t felt before, but it was one that made her feel secure and calm. It was very strange indeed.
Alex had barely finished her burger and a second Jack Daniels when Zach returned. He seemed to relax when he saw Alex was fine and Duncan didn’t miss that. “The lassie is fine, Zach. Ye know ah widnae hae let anythin happen tae her.” Duncan’s tone was a bit reproachful.
Zach smiled and just nodded his head at him. He put his hand out to Alex and pulled her up from the sofa. God, he isn’t cold, she thought. Aren’t Vampires supposed to be cold?
Well, if they were, then he was different, because he felt just right to her.
“Thank you again, my friend, and don’t take so long to visit this time.”
Duncan just harrumphed and replied. “Hell its ye that’s no been back on these bonnie shores in over a hundred years! Why dae ah hae tae keep visitin yersel?”
“Yes, but you like America so much, don’t you?” Zach laughed. “That ah do ma friend, that ah do,” Duncan replied.
They left the office and the music assaulted Alex’s ears once more. The club was even busier than before, and she wondered how these folk got up for work in the mornings.
They retraced their steps out to the big steel door. Duncan opened it and first went out to check all was okay. “Cannae see, sense, or smell anythin bad. That is apart fae the usual crap in the alley,” he told them. Zach took Alex by the hand and led her to the SUV, where she had to climb to get up into the seat with help from Zach.
He then went back, grabbed Duncan in a bear hug and said his goodbyes. He joined her in the car, and they took off for her apartment. Duncan stayed watching until they had left the alley.
Once they were back in familiar territory, she began to give him directions. He stopped her. “Alexina, I’ve been watching you for a number of days. I know where you live.”
Startled, she asked “How long and was it only you, or has anyone else been ‘watching’ me?”
Zach answered with a slight smile. “About four days. It’s only been me. I don’t need that much sleep, and when I did need to rest, I just had a catnap in here while parked outside your building.”
Alex’s mind started to think of that and there were some questions she had. So she took the bull by the horns and asked “Sorry, I’m a bit confused and would like to ask some questions as in: Are you not a Vampire and therefore asleep during the day? Don’t you have to stay out of the sun? Although I know here in Scotland we don’t get much of that, but daylight? Don’t you have to stay out of it, I mean?”
Zach did that little smile again, and lo and behold, she got bloody butterflies in her stomach again. What the hell was going on with her today?
“Alexina, I understand you have some preconceptions regarding Vampires, so I will give you some truths rather than the Hollywood film versions. No, I don’t need to stay out of the daylight. It won’t make me burst into flames, although if I am in direct sunlight for any length of time, it can make me tired. Newly turned or young Vampires do tend to stay out of the sunlight as it can make them feel ill, but again, they won’t burst into flames. The older a Vampire gets, the more tolerance they have. Are there any more questions you would like to ask, although we are nearly at your place, so you may want to wait until we’re on the jet?”
Alex looked out the window and realized they were just around the corner from her apartment. “Think we should wait. I have to phone my aunt and get some stuff together for this ‘trip.’ I’ll use my phone to send a quick email to my boss, too. I’ll say there’s been a family emergency, give me a minute.” She was done in less than that, her fingers flying over the small keyboard.
He parked, then they got out and approached the main door to the apartment building. It was a relatively new building on the outskirts of the city and she only rented it, even the furniture came with the let.
She had very few personal possessions and even less that were important to her. In fact, there was only one thing that she would not have left without.
As they entered the building, she saw a very tall woman. In fact, she would go so far as to say girl. She had very long hair with the most distinctive white-blonde colour that Alex had ever seen.
She was as pale as a ghost and stick thin. She was dressed in a long skirt, flip-flops, and an ornate blouse, which had abstract symbols embroidered on it. The closer they got to her, the more Alex had a feeling Zach knew her.
As they came alongside her Zach spoke, “Hi, Arielle, how are you? I haven’t seen you in a very long time. Belgium wasn’t it?”
The woman with the long blonde hair gave Zach a long look before replying. “Yes, Zachariah, indeed it was Belgium. Nasty business that was.” The softness of the voice didn’t go with the age-old knowledge Alex saw in this female’s eyes.
Zach smiled. “Indeed,” he replied.
Arielle started talking again, barely looking at Alex and directing her words to Zach, “The property has been completely cleansed and warded, and all is safe. For the moment.”
‘For the moment’ – what the hell did that mean? Alex was thinking. Zach, too, obviously, as he asked, “So, it may not remain so? What is it that you have detected, Arielle, and how long do we have?”
*****
Arielle looked worried, which in turn worried Zach. He had known this Witch, this very powerful Witch, for many years, and he didn’t think he had seen this worry in her before.
Even her tone was worried as she replied, “I cannot be certain, Zachariah, as I have never come across it before, which concerns me. Concerns me greatly. It is not another Witch, Mage, Vampire, or even a Wolf. I can tell you what it is not. What I can’t tell you is what it is,” Arielle finished and Zach scowled.
How can that be? Zach thought. There is nothing that Arielle cannot deal with. How could she not know?
She continued, “All I can say is that whatever it is, it is powerful, and the only other word I can use is evil.”
Zach and Alex looked at each other – the woods – the smoke thing. They had both felt the evilness that was there.
Zach addressed Arielle, “I think Alexina and I have had a fleeting encounter with this thing in the woods earlier. However, I grabbed Alexina and moved us away before it materialized properly. But the overwhelming feeling that was there was evil.”
Arielle frowned before continuing on, “Zachariah, I think yourself and Alexina had a lucky escape. This is not something to be trifled with. I have a lot of work to do, so I will have to go now. As for how long you have in the building? Well, I would not like to give a time period. All I will say is get in and get what is required and then leave. Quickly.”
Zach moved towards the woman. “Thank you once again for your assistance, Arielle. Goodbye and safe travel.” Zach gave her a short hug and then Arielle said goodbye and left, not even looking in Alex’s direction.
*****
Alex had been standing to the side of the two of them while they spoke. Unfortunately, the more she heard, the more anxious she became. Her heart sped up and her breathing became shallower. She was beginning to feel light-headed, when she felt Zach’s arms close around her. There was that tingling sensation again?
“Please don’t worry, little one,
I will make sure you are safe, please trust me,” he said softly.
‘Little one’ – he did not just call her ‘little one.’ Her anger rushed to the surface. She may be small, but she was nobody’s ‘little one.’
She pushed away from him and turned around to face him, anger in her voice as she all but shouted at him. “Okay, alright, you may be a hundred gazillion years old, but do not treat me like a child! I am not yours or anyone else’s ‘little one.’ I am a grown woman, and I deserve to be treated as one. I may not have much knowledge when it comes to Vampires, Witches, and God knows whatever else, but I refuse to be talked down to. Do you understand? You got that mister?!” And she gave him a very large poke in the chest.
She pushed past him and made her way up the stairs to her apartment, anger evident in her every movement.
She went in and got a small suitcase and started to throw stuff in. She didn’t really care what went in, she was still riled up.
She turned to go to her dresser and Zach was standing in the doorway with just a hint of a smirk on his face, which made her even madder.
She got the one thing that was actually important to her from her mother’s locked steel box, which was in the bottom drawer. A piece of jewellery her mother had put around her neck the last time they saw each other. She put it in the suitcase and then found her passport. “Okay, I’m ready to go,” she told Zach, who was still in the same position with the same look on his face.
Just as they came out of her bedroom, she stopped dead. Zach looked at her expectantly, waiting on her to follow him, but she just dropped her case and put her hand over her mouth. “Oh God, I forgot to phone Aunt Mary! What am I thinking? I was ready to leave and forgot to phone her! Jesus, my mind is totally fecked!” She turned and went to the landline, picked it up and hit speed dial number one. It started to ring at the other end.
Zach stood to the side, giving her some space, but also near enough to grab her if anything happened.
“Yes, Auntie, I’m sorry for not phoning earlier, but today has been so weird. Can I please explain without you interrupting?” She paused while her aunt replied. “Okay, here goes...” and she went on to tell her aunt everything that had happened.
Defender's Blood Alex's Destiny (An Urban Fantasy) Page 3
