I gave him a wide grin. "Seriously?"
"Alex, I don't joke about things involving Supernaturals."
"So," I said, taking a step towards him. "What you're saying is... You're willing to give things a try?"
"I guess..." The annoyance was clear in Ty's eyes. "I'll admit, he does have a point on some things. And I've always wondered if those Hunters who had different opinions from the mainstreamers... I wondered if they were onto something."
Compulsively, I jumped up to wrap my arms around his neck in a hug, kissing him on his cheek. This clearly surprised Ty, and at first, he awkwardly hugged me back—however, I soon dropped to the floor in a release.
"Why aren't you wearing your necklace?"
Ty's voice was sharp, almost a frantic. Now I was beginning to realize how worried he was about me... Still, I tilted my chin upwards and looked him in the eye. "You know what? I'm not that happy that I've been wearing a vampire-burning thing on my neck for a year—and that I never knew about it. I mean, seriously, that's the kind of thing that require permission, don't you think?"
"Not if it jeopardizes your safety," Ty growled. "Besides, do you want a vampire to bite you?"
"No," I snapped. "But I also don't want to be a complete pariah to the ones who don't want to bite me. I mean, Zane... He and I don't really completely get along, but we're doing fine as of now. He hasn't tried to suck my blood, I haven't attempted to drive a stake into his heart, so we're good."
"The stake thing is my job," Ty corrected mildly. Then he realized the other thing I'd said. "Hold on—Zane helped you find out that the necklace was a Bloodruby? How?"
"Don't worry," I said quickly, holding up my hands defensively. "There wasn't any fang action going on. I just asked him about the sunlight thing, and he explained about amulets. Then I, of course, babbled about my necklace... Which he informed me was a vampire-guard." I paused, brushing my hair out of my face. "Man, I need some Prozac, or something."
That made him laugh a little bit, but not for long. "I want you to wear the necklace."
"Not a chance." My voice was flat. "I understand that you want me to be safe, and that's really nice, but it's also kind of impossible, considering my situation. Zane has my scent now-" I chose not to mention Madison at the moment "-and that won't be changing anytime soon. Like it or not, I'm going to be in danger. And from what I understand, this Bloodruby would only protect my neck. Not my wrist, my shoulder... What are you going to do? Deck me out in jewels from head to toe?"
Ty looked at the ground, avoiding my eyes for some reason. "Alex. It would kill me if you got hurt, especially if it was because of my job. If you aren't going to wear the necklace, just stay out of it!"
"You know me," I replied calmly. "I can't."
Finally, he did meet my eyes, and I realized how worried he was. But he had to realize that I could learn to take care of myself, and it was better this way. Deep down, I think he did. But all he gave me was a flat, "I'll arrange a meeting with the vampire this Friday. The date's non-negotiable; I'm busy for the rest of the week."
"Thanks for giving it a chance," I murmured, wanting to hug him again—but knowing that this wasn't the right time. "And, by the way, I saw your boss. Roxanne."
Ty raised his eyebrows. "I've only met her a few times, and only briefly... No one knows too much about her, besides the fact that she's a good leader."
I didn't know Roxanne myself, so I had no right to judge her. Still, I was relieved when I noticed that Ty wasn't bowing down to worship her.
"I'd better get going." He gave me a reluctant smile, the hurt still lingering in his brown eyes a bit. "See you soon." Before I could even respond, he was out my door, running quicker than I'd thought was possible for him—nearly as fast as Zane. There was the soft sound of my door opening and closing downstairs, and I saw him running-almost a blur-to his car, the view right out my window.
A sigh escaped my lips, and I rested my forehead against the cool glass of the windowpane. Here we go...
xxx
"I'm totally deprived of any hot guys," Lulu sighed sadly, taking a bite of her hamburger. "Not that I had many in the first place, but... summer sucks."
"Do you realize how completely moronic that sounds?" I asked, sitting down next to her. We'd chosen to go to Tammy's. It had been two days since my talk with Zane—aka, Thursday. One more day until the fateful meeting. Unfortunately, Ty hadn't contacted me at all, and neither had Zane, so I really had no idea of what was going on...
"Yeah." Lulu rolled her eyes. "But seriously, I'm depressed! And to add to that depression, I have to listen to... Well, tell her, Tammy."
Tammy, who had previously been sitting at the cash register and making sure everything was where it was supposed to be, perked up. "Oh, yeah." She paused for dramatic effect. "I have a boyfriend."
I smiled at her, taking a sip of my lemonade. It had been months since I'd last had a boyfriend, so I made up for it by listening to others' romantic entanglements.
"His name is John," Tammy began excitedly. "He's thirty, working on becoming a doctor, and as sweet as can be. The relationship is still in the early stages, but he has The One potential."
At this, I rolled my eyes. The fictional One. Honestly, I was getting sick of this cliché. There were girls who thought that they'd only have one love their entire lives... The One. I myself am not sure how this is even possible. I mean, come on. Is it such a sin to have loved multiple guys? I'm not talking about sleeping around, or anything. But one love... Don't you think that would be kind of boring? And wouldn't a person have more depth if they went through the loss of one love?
Well, I'd let Tammy trill about her One. Heck, maybe she was one of the lucky few who actually did have one love. Then again, she had always been a little naïve for a twenty-nine-year-old.
"He's adorable," Tammy smiled dreamily. Then a sly look crossed her face, and she darted a glance at me. "Of course, admittedly not as hot as the guy who was trailing after Alex... How did your date go, anyway?"
"Hot guy?" Lulu spun around in her chair to look at me. "Date? Alex, what have you not been telling me?"
"It wasn't a date," I protested, rolling my eyes in an attempt to be nonchalant. "And his name isn't 'hot guy'. It's Zane."
"Last name?" Lulu questioned.
"Um... I don't know." Ty had mentioned it, but now I wasn't sure... Plus, didn't it change a lot?
"That's promising."
I slid her a dark glare. "That doesn't really matter, does it? Considering that Zane Whatever and I weren't on a date." Actually, he was telling me about his vampiric nature... Funny how things turn out, huh?
However, Lulu didn't seem to be listening to me. Her eyes were wide and distracted, almost vacant, and she was staring beyond my shoulder. At first, I didn't understand, until I looked at Tammy. She had almost the same expression, and that's when it hit me.
"I do have a last name. Maybe it's none of your business what that is, though."
Snapping my head around, I nearly slammed my face into Zane's arm. That was because his hands were on my shoulders.
"Get your hands off me!" I hissed through gritted teeth. Of course, I knew that trying to pry them off myself would be pretty pointless... But I still tried.
"I got a call from your friend," Zane continued, as if I hadn't spoken. His hands moved almost imperceptibly—to anyone's eyes, of course. I could feel them, almost massaging the tense muscles of my shoulders. Oh, no, I was not going to fall for that. But man, it felt good...
Tammy and Lulu were watching very carefully now, expectantly. Clearly, they couldn't tell that Zane was trying to seduce me into glassy-eyed adoration by means of shoulder massage. Or else they would have helped me. Until he seduced them with by some other means.
"Did he?" I asked, trying to sound aloof and unconvinced. "Let's go talk about it—somewhere else." Sure, this was making me sound like there was more to us than there was, but sacrifices have to be made.
"I'd be glad to."
Only now did Zane release his hold on me, and his voice was amused—and pleased. He sounded like a spider who'd caught a little fly in its web. If spiders could talk, I mean.
"Bye, Tammy, Lulu," I said, forcing a smile as I stood and paid Tammy. She took the money, eyes questioning. Lulu opened her mouth, the closed it again.
"Bye." She sounded disappointed, but interested at the same time. I hate to say it, but Lulu's a bit of a gossip. No way was I going to tell her about my dealings with the undead and the boy Buffy. (AKA, Ty.)
"See ya..." Tammy gave a little smirk.
"You will not touch me again without my permission," I growled at Zane as we walked out the diner's doors. "And trust me, there is very little chance that you'll be getting permission at all!"
"You have control issues," he commented, his voice a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "All I did was put my hands on your shoulders. It wasn't like I was kissing you."
We now stood on the sidewalk, so our voices were low, but we were standing still, facing each other. This caused a few people to stare, and shake their heads. They clearly assumed that we were a couple that was having a lovers' spat, and that just got under my skin.
"So?" I spat back. "It seems that every male around me is trying to take control of my life, and I am not going to take it anymore!" Oh, geez. That sounded like an all-too-popular 80's song. "If I'm not going to wear the Bloodruby, then I'm also not going to let you do anything crossing the line. We aren't friends—we're associates."
That got him laughing. "Associates? Me and you? Please. You barely know anything about my species-" his voice lowered to near inaudibility "-let alone enough to be my associate." To my outraged shock, he reached out took hold of my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "Got it, Aly?"
Aly. Aly? It was never anything but Alex! Not even my parents called me... Aly. That stupid nickname only added insult to injury!
"It's Alex!" I yelled, beginning to pound my fists against his chest. Oddly, hitting Zane seems to take up a good percentage of my time with him.
Calmly, he took my wrists and laid my arms flat at my sides, holding them there. Angrily, I looked up at him, opening my mouth to say something, when he spoke. "Please stop making a scene. People are watching, and frankly, I don't need or want any attention."
Looking around, I found that there seemed to be a good amount of bystanders standing still and watching us. One was a group of teenagers, the guys looking like they wanted to laugh, the girls in awe. A middle-aged woman took a cell phone out of her pocket, making eye contact with me. She pointed at the phone questioningly. It took me a moment to process that she was wondering if she should call emergency services. I contemplated whether or not to take her up on that, then sighed and shook my head. Though... That would have been funny...
"Fine," I muttered. "But we are going to talk about this. I don't have control issues—I have a point."
"Sure you do." His hand locked around my wrist, Zane began to drag me down the sidewalk. However, I began clawing insubstantially at his skin.
"I thought we were just discussing how I don't want you touching me," I muttered, his skin still freezing.
"We were," Zane replied lightly. "But if I let go of you, you might go running off just to spite me."
"What if I promise not to run," I pleaded, trying to sound persuasive. "Will you let me go then? Pretty please?"
To my surprise, Zane looked at me for a moment. "I'll let you go if you also promise," he began after his appraisal, "not to ever say 'pretty please' again. It doesn't suit you."
How would he know what suited me or not? Still, I said, "I promise to both," and felt my wrist released.
Running was tempting. After all, Zane hadn't even specified where we were going, and I couldn't see his car. We were just walking down the sidewalk... And the fact that I was with a vampire was a bit scary. But I'd promised Zane that I wouldn't leave, so I kept on trying to match his pace (and failing miserably).
"Where are we going?" I asked as we rounded a corner, entering a shady-looking alley. The place was the kind of area where you would expect murders to happen at night.
"It seems that your Hunter friend wanted to have the meeting happen earlier," Zane explained, leaning against the side of a building. "He didn't specify why, but it's happening at sundown. We'll go to Madison's place; she keeps a pretty low profile."
"OK," I nodded, though my stomach was churning at the though of hanging out with another vampire. "But why aren't we going anywhere right now?"
"We're waiting for someone."
No sooner were the words out of Zane's mouth than another voice accompanied his.
"Your wait is over."
Madison seemed to come out of nowhere, though I knew she just must have been in the dark. A smile played on her lips at my startled expression, and she walked up to Zane. I noticed that she seemed distinctly respectful-yet affectionate-with him.
"Hello, Alex," she murmured, inclining her head towards me. "How have you been these past couple days?"
"Fine," I replied, a bit surprised by her polite, sociable tone. "Thanks for asking. You?"
"I'm not thirsty, that's for sure," Madison laughed. Her words sent a chill down my spine, and Zane looked a bit pained.
"She doesn't need to know everything, Madison," he said, voice formal. There was an air of authority to his tone.
"Sorry," Madison said with a smile. "I hope I didn't freak you out too much, Alex."
"No," I replied, trying to shrug her previous words off. "Not at all." Unfortunately, instead of making me look like someone experienced in the dark side, this earned me laughs from both of the vampires.
"Come on," Zane suddenly said, becoming more serious. "Let's go in."
"Go in?" I looked around. This place was, in general, trash. The buildings were crumbling and ugly. Plus, there had been rumors of gang activity.
"Yeah." Madison beckoned for me to follow her as she walked deeper into the alley, her snowy skin still standing out in the shadows. Zane fell into step with her, his pace matching hers exactly.
Biting my lip in worry, I followed them. Once we were deep into the alley, we came upon a door. It was on the side of the building, drab and plain. I watched as Madison carefully knocked on it, tensing in preparation.
However, when the door did open, I was surprised to find that the person wasn't a vampire. She was pretty enough, but not beautiful. Short and thin, she was kind of hippy-ish, with long, light brown hair, peachy pink skin, and hazel eyes.
"Flora," Zane said, nodding to her. "We're here for the meeting—it was jogged ahead. Sorry I couldn't tell you beforehand..."
"No problem," the girl replied. She looked about twenty, I'd guess. "I wasn't planning on doing anything else... How many will be coming?"
"I don't know." Zane gave a shrug. "Depends on how many don't have appointments already scheduled." He slipped a cell phone out of his pocket as we walked in.
We entered a good-sized room. It was kind of messy, with various items strewn around... But it was also quite comfortable, with a sofa here, a few chairs, and aromatic candles and incense lit. A gigantic book was open on a coffee table, and there were tons of plants all around the place.
At that moment, I realized that there was something furry pressing up against my leg.
"Aah!" I gave a little jump as I looked down and found a ferret coiling itself around me. It looked quite annoyed at that.
"Oh, sorry!" As she shut the door, Flora seemed to notice me for the first time. She rushed over and gathered the ferret into her arms, stroking its tan fur. "Cirrus likes girls a lot." (I was guessing that 'Cirrus' was her weasely friend.) "You're the human girl, aren't you?"
How does everyone seem to know about me before I know about them? "Yeah." I paused, looking her up and down. "Wait—aren't you a human, too?"
"No," Flora laughed, letting Cirrus to go scurrying across her sofa. "I'm a witch."
Well. That actually made sense... As I looked around Flor
a's place a little more, I discovered that a variety of creatures besides Cirrus occupied the area. A large black and white rabbit reclined on one of the chairs, near a gigantic tank of fish. There was also two cats lounging on the sofa... How did she get cats to coexist with rabbits and fish? Come on...
"Wow," I finally said. "You're the first witch I've ever met..."
"And you're the first person I've ever met who got scared by a ferret," Flora said jokingly.
"I'm going to go call the others," Zane announced. "Flora, is it all right if I go in the kitchen to make the call?"
"Sure," she shrugged. He walked out of the room through a door.
"So," I began hesitantly. "Not to be rude, but I don't see how this is a good place for us to meet. It is the home of a witch. Isn't that kind of conspicuous?"
"We're being inconspicuous by being conspicuous," Madison explained, smirking. "It's complicated-"
"Convoluted is more like it," Flora snorted.
"-but it's how we operate." Madison seemed to think about that for a moment. "Actually, being convoluted is generally a vampire or werewolf thing. We're the ones who carry out the dirty work, most of the time."
"And I'm glad of it," Flora commented, frowning. "Though Fauna gets far too into the fighting side of this war..."
"Fauna?" I questioned.
"My twin sister," Flora explained. "She's off in Australia right now... Quite wayward..."
"Wayward witches in Australia and convoluted vampires." I attempted a smile. "This is just... a lot to take in. How the heck have you guys managed to keep everything a secret for so long?"
"The ones who threatened to give us away—we got rid of them," Madison answered briskly, casually. She kept her happy face on. It was amazing how angelic she looked as she spoke of 'getting rid of' someone.
"Madison!" Flora exclaimed, giving the vampiress a sharp look. She rushed over to my side, looking surprisingly motherly for someone her age. "I'm so sorry, Alex. She didn't mean it like that. Well... I'm afraid that we have been forced to make some executions in our history, but one race hasn't? It isn't entirely unusual."
Meeting: Vampire Hunter Saga Book 1 Page 9
