by K. A. Poe
“Hannah will be here soon, and I need to warn them before they go after her.”
“That is all this is about, then? You aren’t going to question them about Malik or gather ideas to kill him; it is solely related to her?”
I couldn’t answer him. The door to the Vanatori building was wide open, slowly wavering in the wind. I pulled the car into the driveway and climbed out, ignoring Salem’s shouting for me to return. Something wasn’t right.
“Hello?” I called out as I approached the doorway. “Mikael? Camellia? …anybody?”
“Pl-please…” Octavian’s voice reached my ears and I ran inside. Salem was right at my heel.
“What happened?!” I yelled as I examined the room. The table was strewn across the floor, as were most of the chairs. The filing cabinets had been opened and there were papers tossed everywhere. Octavian lay on his stomach on the floor, a dark pool of blood forming beneath him. “Oh, no…”
“A man…a vampire…in a cloak…” he said hoarsely, his body shaking as he coughed.
“Where is everyone else?” Salem asked and helped Octavian sit up. There was a wide gash along his abdomen and Salem quickly summoned a thick cloth and held it against the wound with as much pressure as he could manage.
“They’re…they’re all out…hunting. They said that there’s a couple of new vampires in town…I…I stayed behind…like always.”
“New vampires?” I looked over at Salem and without a word knew he was thinking the same thing. “One male, one female?”
“Y-yes. They were seen on your side of town…Mikael went to check on you because we haven’t heard from you…they all went.”
“Damn it!” I shrieked and slammed my fist against the nearest wall. “We need to get there fast!”
“I cannot leave him here like this…” Salem said. “The wound is deep, he could bleed to death!”
“I’ll call an ambulance. He’ll be fine. You can stay here and keep putting pressure on that until they get here. I have to go before anything happens to Hannah.”
“Do what you need to, just make sure Camellia knows…that I…I…”
I stared in horror as Octavian’s eyes rolled back in their sockets and a stream of blood drizzled from the side of his mouth. He writhed in Salem’s arms until he gave in, succumbing to the darkness that enveloped him.
“…he’s gone,” Salem whispered and laid his body on the floor.
I fell to my knees, bawling at the sight and loss of a man I scarcely knew. He finally knew his answer about the truth behind the undead, only long enough to be taken from our world by their hands.
“Come on, Alexis…we need to go,” Salem said and helped me up.
It felt wrong leaving him there, but we had little choice. Hannah and Ezra were in trouble, and there was little time to spare. We were back in the car and on the road in no time, and I admittedly went well over the speed limit. Salem attempted to get a hold of Hannah repeatedly with no luck, making me want to drive even faster but I wasn’t about to get us in a car wreck. She was strong and capable of taking care of herself, but I wasn’t sure how she would handle six hunters at once—even if Ezra was accompanying her.
Passing the store again, we made our way toward home. There would be plenty of time for pregnancy tests later. The IQ was tucked into a parking place quickly and we both scrambled out of the car. There were no bodies present outside the apartment, and no sign of conflict. Had Octavian been mistaken about them coming to check on us? Before I had further time to question this, I heard a scream from the other side of the apartment complex.
“Go!” I yelled to Salem and he ran toward the sound. I followed after him, worrying with each step that he could get hurt. I never stopped to bother considering my own safety, as throughout the majority of my hunting career I had been a mortal, risking my life to save the world. He had been immortal, only having to worry about hunters—now he had everything in the world to worry about and I couldn’t afford to let him forget it.
We came upon a ditch dividing the complex from a vast field. Salem quickly bounded over the ditch and I stumbled through it, ignoring the sludge that seeped through my sneakers. Ordinarily, this would have bothered me, but there was so much on my mind that I wouldn’t have cared if I was covered head-to-toe in the mud. There were at least five silhouettes in the distance, three of them on one side, two of them on the other.
“We don’t want to hurt any of you,” I instantly recognized Hannah’s voice, “but if you don’t put down your damn weapons, it will be your own fault that you die.”
“You expect us to believe a couple of vampires?” Mikael asked, raising his crossbow—I was somewhat surprised to see that this method of slaying was used here, too.
“Stop!” I shouted and ran in between the feuding vampires and hunters. “Please…”
“Alex?” Camellia spoke and I instantly felt overwhelmed with grief. This wasn’t the time to tell her, it would have to wait.
“She’s my sister-in-law…yes, I know, she’s a vampire…but please, you have to trust us.”
Mikael lowered his weapon and whistled. The rest of the Vanatori emerged from the shadows, each of them wielding a weapon held at their sides. Remus stood in the back, shrouding himself behind the others.
“There is so much I need to explain to you all, could we just go back to my place and talk?”
Everyone nodded in agreement though I could still see the tension on the hunter’s faces. Before we began to walk I noticed Ezra’s hand clasped onto Hannah’s. Salem did not appear to see this and bounded over to his younger sister, giving her a huge hug which she hesitantly returned. I caught a glimpse of Hannah’s face over Salem’s shoulder and could have sworn she was glaring at me. I tried to ignore it the best I could, turned, and began to lead the group to my tiny home.
I felt immediately cramped inside the studio apartment. It had definitely not been constructed to hold eight people. Hannah and Ezra sat at the small kitchen table, Mikael and Camellia sat on the couch, Sebastian made himself comfortable on the carpet, Remus scooted into the corner, while Luca and Nicolai stood in the center of the room.
Leaving Salem to explain to them in great detail about his past, my own, and Hannah’s, I took Camellia out onto the front porch to tell with her what happened at their hideout.
“What’s going on?” she asked as I placed my hands unsteadily on her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.
“There was an accident at the headquarters…” that was all it took for her to know something happened to Octavian.
“Is he okay?!”
I shook my head and pulled her tightly against me. “He’s gone, Camellia…I am so sorry…there was nothing we could have done to save him.”
Her body quaked as she cried hysterically onto my shoulder, and I felt helpless. After what felt like a long while, she pulled away and I saw a look of pure anger in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me!” she screeched as the tears began streaming again. She lifted her hand in the air and for a brief moment I thought she was going to hit me but instead collapsed back into my embrace.
“His last words were to tell you that he loves you,” I whispered, and her sobbing amplified. Without any further word she pulled away and began to run off, undoubtedly heading for Octavian.
As I entered the house, everyone questioned Camellia’s absence and were shocked by my response.
“Do you know who did it?” Luca asked.
“No…whoever it was, they were gone by the time we showed up.”
“We have come to a decision that we shall trust these two, so long as they continue their lack of feasting on human blood,” Mikael explained, showing mild grief at the loss of Octavian—I noticed he was one to get straight to business, but he still had a heart, he felt remorse for the loss of his friend.
“There is more that I need to tell you all,” I said and slumped down onto the sofa beside the Vanatori leader. “Malik…claimed me as his Queen.
”
“We should have seen this coming,” Nicolai grumbled. “The bastard is a Manipulator, don’t blame yourself.”
“A Manipulator?”
“A vampire capable of control over others, he can make most people do whatever he wants—within reason.”
I nodded in understanding. “There is more. He has a Seer. I’ve heard them talking…talking about me.”
“You must fall into some sort of plan of theirs,” Sebastian stated. “Whatever it is, we need to be wary. It is up to you if you wish to continue working under his roof and keeping tabs on him, as it has become a matter of risking your safety…but I advise that we keep him under our watch.”
“I will stay…there is nothing I want more right now than his death.”
“Then, it is settled…we shall leave these two alone, and Alexis will remain employed at the restaurant, gathering information.”
“Just how much information does she need?” Salem butted in, obviously upset I had come to this decision without his approval.
“We need to discover his weakness.”
“I am his weakness,” I muttered.
“Then we must use this to our advantage somehow. Learn who the Seer is, make Malik feel safe around you, and in due time, he shall be ours.”
“And this Seer…is…is everything he says true?” I asked.
Remus, who had been quiet up to this point, answered. “Whether what he says is the same as what he sees is a better question. There is a path for all of us, Alexis. A Destiny of grand design. Do not fear the future, for there is nothing any of us can do to change it.”
15. REUNITED
After the Vanatori left to mourn their departed friend, Hannah and Ezra got comfortable on the sofa. I tried my hardest to avoid getting too close to my sister-in-law, knowing that she would easily detect my pregnancy and go off about how the unborn child was evil. With my back turned to them, I fondly ran my hand across my abdomen, smiling to myself. Although unexpected, I knew that I would be a mother eventually…now may not have been the ideal time, but I was happy nonetheless.
“What have the two of you been doing?” Salem asked, constantly eying the couple.
“We’ve spent some time getting to know each other, realizing we have a lot in common…and then like,” Hannah stopped and thought for a second, “two weeks ago? We eloped.”
The look on Salem’s face was priceless and I stifled a laugh. I had to wonder how they got away with wedding when she was physically in the body of a sixteen year old, whereas he was in his twenties…but she had a way of getting through those sorts of things. She was beyond clever- that was for sure.
“…eloped…” Salem muttered and stared, bewildered, at his little sister. “Why did you not say anything? How…how could you do this?”
“It was pretty easy. It’s amazing what you can get away with with a little stolen money.” She smirked. “And I knew how you would react, Salem,” she replied and displayed her best imitation of him, “’You are far too young to be getting married, Hannah! You barely even know him! What are you thinking! Blah, blah, blah!’ When are you going to realize I am not your little sister anymore?”
“Never,” he answered. “You will always be my little sister.”
“I assure you that I only have good intentions, Salem,” Ezra spoke up. “We have both been lonely for far too long, and we quickly bonded and found comfort in the presence of one another.”
“You’re not the first man she’s found comfort with…” Salem lashed out unexpectedly.
“Salem! This is real. I’m not trying to get something from Ezra…this is REAL…like it or not.”
Salem nodded slowly, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his sister was a wife. I approached him and gently put an arm around him reassuringly. “She made a good choice, Salem. Ezra is a fine gentleman, and we both know he will take good care of her. Just be happy he isn’t anything like that Erik guy.”
He grimaced at the memory of Erik. “For that, I am thankful.”
Hannah smiled and wiggled her left hand to display the gold ring on her finger. There was one big diamond in the center that was a perfect reflection of her greed. The two of them seemed genuinely happy, and I had to admit that they made a good couple—both of them needed companionship, though I wondered how much about Hannah Ezra truly knew.
“Where will you be staying?” I asked, keeping my distance still.
“There’s a motel not far from here. The closer we are to you, the better. If anything happens at that restaurant, I will be there,” Hannah said. “My sole purpose in being here is to protect you and to kick this bastard’s ass. I know you don’t believe me but I don’t want anything to happen to you…either of you.”
“I know, Hannah.” I smiled at her but it was not returned. I knew that under her exterior she did truly love us.
“Besides, you two were supposed to be on a nice relaxing honeymoon, right? Hard to have fun when lord ass-hat is hanging over your head.” I couldn’t help but laugh at her zeal.
“I could not agree more,” Salem said with a sigh. “This was supposed to be a fun vacation…now look at what has become of it.”
“What if…we just go home,” I managed to say, holding back my strong desire to stay and finish what I intended to do.
“We both know you don’t really mean that. I understand, it is in your blood to hunt the undead, and I won’t step in the way of you doing what you feel you are destined to do. Besides, if Malik has a Seer he could most likely track you down. We couldn’t risk leading him to our home…our real home.”
I smiled toward Salem, comforted by his words, yet saddened at the fact that I knew this wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted nothing more than an ordinary life, back home in our beautiful house. We could be preparing one of the bedrooms as a nursery for our unexpected child. There was so much that had been restricted from him for so long, and here he was…stuck in a tiny apartment, waiting on me to get close enough to kill a vampire that wanted me to be his bride. This was not the life he deserved…
“Maybe you should go home, and I’ll stay here…”
Hannah burst out laughing at Salem’s incredulous stare.
“Oh yeah, Alexis...he’ll do that! Hello, have you met Salem?” she said between laughter. “You know he’d be going completely insane in Willowshire while you risked your life over here.”
“I would never leave you alone, Alex.”
“But I’m keeping you from the normal, human life you wanted.”
He shook his hand and took my hand, holding it firmly. “You are all I need and want in this world, and I will be at your side through it all. If you want to hunt, I will not stop you, as I have already told you.”
“I feel guilty,” I confessed and eyed the carpet. “This will be the end of my hunting, I promise. Once Malik is out of the picture…I will set aside my crossbow and be done with this for good.”
“You don’t have-“
“I want to.”
Salem prepared a meal of chicken parmesan for the two of us while Hannah and Ezra went hunting for game. It was nice to have someone around that I was familiar with, although I was plenty happy with just Salem’s company. My only wish was that Jason could be here. This was a time in which I needed the comfort and security of my closest friends and relatives.
“I’m going to the store after we eat,” I said after swallowing a mouthful of chicken slathered in pasta sauce. “I considered asking you to summon a test, but that just seemed awkward…not to mention it could be wrong or something, being ‘magical’ and all.”
“That is precisely why I didn’t offer to do so. We need to know for sure,” he replied. “If a Seer foresaw your pregnancy, there is no doubt in my mind that you are…but I would still like to see solid evidence, and I know you would as well.”
Salem accompanied me to the store to ensure my safety; neither of us were feeling very safe after the incident with the Vanatori. The reminder that whoever murder
ed Octavian was still out there was enough to give me chills, and wonder who could have found a headquarters that had been undiscovered for years…unless it was the Seer.
When we returned home, I ran to the bathroom and tried to ignore the thoughts that continued to swarm through my head. Why would the Seer want to kill the people I was close to—or, even people that I scarcely knew? I sat on the toilet seat anxiously waiting the result on the pregnancy test and tried to make a connection between the Seer and anyone I had previously met here.
Could it possibly have been one of the members of the Vanatori, working for Malik? That seemed unlikely, they’d been friends for years and they had a tight bond between them. Nicolai was the only one that struck me as dangerous, but I couldn’t base that solely on his attitude—there could have been many reasons behind that. He had a troubled past from what I could tell, but I don’t think he was a murderer.
Only one other person came to mind—someone that I trusted and thought of nearly as family. Had Salem been right all along…was Cassius really the enemy? It couldn’t be Cassius though, he was human. He had tan, warm skin…and I had never seen him partake of the blood at the restaurant.
The alarm on my cell phone went off, signaling that it was time to check the test. My thoughts were immediately erased when I read the results. Salem came running in when he heard the beeping from the alarm and stared down at the white stick in my hand.
“…what does it mean?” he asked, staring at the blue plus sign.
“It means we’re going to have a baby,” I croaked.
He held me close and kissed me lightly on the forehead. This was more than just a child to him; it was also a gift of living that had previously been stolen from him. “You should share the news with Desmond, and Jason…and your aunt and grandfather.”
“You’re right…” I muttered, dreading the idea of making so many phone calls and worrying about some of the reactions I would no doubt receive. The phone call I was most uncomfortable making was the one to Jason, knowing how he felt about me…how would he react to me having a child with Salem? I decided I would call him last.
