by Anna Santos
“So there will be like five Eylone males trying to claim me?”
“Of course not.” He sat on the bed, shaking the mattress with his weight and getting tense by my words. “It will be an in vitro fertilization. No creepy mating rituals,” he declared, acting all protective, putting his arms around me and bringing me to the safety of his hug.
“You got me worried for a second there.”
“You are mine, no one will touch you,” he muttered, possessiveness reaching its peak, and making me shake my head in front of his face. “You will be.”
“You are annoyingly insistent,” I complained, but I was not mad about it.
“I know what I want, Violet, and I just wish… Just think about it, honey. I can wait for an answer,” he mumbled against my face, playing with some locks of my hair between his fingers. I could feel his lips touching my skin and I knew he wanted to kiss me. However, I was evading his mouth each time he tried.
“What’s wrong with you, Violet?” he asked when he trailed kisses on my cheeks and I evaded my mouth from his once again.
“Promise me you won’t get mad,” I requested, hiding my face against his shirt and wetting the fabric since the hurt that laced his voice was enough to make me start crying again.
His voice trembled when he asked, “What have you done?”
“I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t, but you are the only person I can tell this to and…I need you to know what happened. I wouldn’t feel good with myself if I didn’t tell you,” I sobbed, gripping harder at his shirt.
“You slept with him,” he tried to guess, and his face was dark when I stared at him. “We both knew that this would happen. It was just a matter of time. You wouldn’t be able to withstand the attraction that you still feel for him.”
“Let me explain first.”
“You love him, you loved him all this time, even after knowing all the bad things he has done. Did you come here to tell me that you want to go back to him?”
His voice came out broken, and I felt his pain inside my own heart. I put two fingers over his lips and shook my head to his question. I had to reassure him and calm him down. How can he think that? I had just told him that I didn’t want to break up with him. Galvin drifted between insecure and possessive behavior.
“I came here to tell you that…it’s true that he came to my house and he tried to take me to bed. It’s true that for some moments there, I was tempted to sleep with him. But then I realized something,” I talked sweetly, so he could fully understand what I wanted. “I may still have feelings for him, even when I know he plotted to get rid of me and stay with Anastasia, but the fact is all those feelings are nothing compared to what I feel for you. I love you.” My voice lost its strength. I felt vulnerable, but I continued to speak. “I was a kid when I fell in love with him. I was naïve and I didn’t know how the world worked or even what love was all about. I’m tired of spending my energies thinking about revenge. I don’t even care about it anymore. I’ll just leave them alone to their petty lives, and I’ll move back here, to be closer to you, to spend my days with you,” I whispered next to his lips, trying to figure out if my words were having any effect on him. “Just say something, already,” I urged him, trying to end the suspense and wanting to know his opinion. Would he still want me after all I’ve told him?
“You love me.” He grinned.
“Was that all you understood after my long speech?” I questioned with furrowed eyebrows.
Before I could complain again, his lips crashed against mine, and he made my mouth open to let his tongue in. My muscles relaxed under his passionate hands and searing kiss.
“Galvin, wait,” I asked, pushing him just enough so I could speak. “We aren’t going to use this bed for playing. I need to get back home and take a shower. I also need a clean change of clothes and…”
“Why? You smell just fine.”
“I’m still feeling dizzy,” I lied. I needed a shower to cleanse my soul after what happened with Ewan. I deflected Galvin’s attention. “Do you think I should tell Ewan the truth before I’m gone? Just to clear things up and completely bury the past?”
“I think you should just pack your things and leave. Or not even pack, just leave it all behind and move right back here, or better, move into my home.”
“You have a home?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Did you think I lived here in the compound?”
“Well, you spend a lot of your time here.”
“It’s where I can find you and where I work. I have a good excuse for spending my time here. But I have a home, a big home for you and me to live in.”
“It just needs to have a bed, and I’m happy,” I teased him huskily.
Smiling against my lips, he nibbled my lower one and made his tongue play with mine. “Do you want to see my house?”
“Aren’t you on patrol?”
“Yes, but I can always try to find a substitute. We’ve been all doing extra hours.”
“You can show me tomorrow when I come back. I still need to go to Italy to say goodbye to Francesca and Sebastien. Then I’ll pack my things and return here.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He kissed me again, deep first and teasingly after as his teeth nibbled my lower lip. His lips curled into a smile as he took mine for one more kiss.
I was also bubbling with happiness. It was rushed, maybe, but it was right. I knew it was right the moment he defended my reputation, the moment he touched me, and kissed me against the old door of my small apartment. He was in love with me, and I was falling deeply in love with him.
“Just explain to me one thing,” I asked, pulling him slightly, so I could speak. “Why was Cyan talking about Anastasia?”
“He’s my undercover agent to have your back. He’s her vampire lover. Like that, he can go inside their house and watch Anastasia’s every move. I didn’t want to leave you vulnerable to her. Who knows what she could do to you? Never underestimate a scorned woman.”
“Are you talking from experience?” I asked, amused by his words, but extremely grateful for his concern.
“Maybe.”
I pulled him closer and seized his mouth, kissing him one more time before I left.
23
ANASTASIA’S EVIL DOINGS
WHEN I GOT HOME, I turned on my phone. The ten missed calls from Francesca made my heart race. She had left several messages on my voice mail, sobbing and begging me to go to her place.
I rushed to talk to her, postponing all my plans of packing. Francesca had become my dearest friend and I couldn’t help but worry about her. It was supposed to be a cover up, but I felt attached to the girl, even if she had no idea of what I truly was. It had been a long time since I labeled a girl as my friend. Francesca was able to breach my barriers and sneak into my heart. She was funny, generous, and sweet. If she was in trouble, I would go out of my way to help her.
After three insistent knocks on her door, she finally opened. I immediately noticed her smeared makeup and puffy crying eyes. “What is wrong?”
“Oh, Sarah,” she sobbed and threw herself into my arms, hugging me. “I’m so stupid. I thought he liked me.”
Holding her, I asked even more mystified, “Who?”
“Sebastien.”
I rubbed her back and guided her inside her home. Closing the door behind me, I probed, “What happened?”
There was just a lamp in the corner illuminating the dim studio.
Francesca brushed her hair with her fingers as she sobbed, “I saw him with another girl. He invited me to his home, so we could study. I thought he wanted us to hang out and studying was the excuse. It’s been nice between us, you know. We kissed a few times.” I nodded. She sighed deeply as she brushed the tears from her eyes. “When I arrived at his apartment, the door was opened. After calling, no one replied. I went in and that was when I saw that bitch and him in the bedroom, sucking each other’s faces! When I called his name, he blankly looked at me as if he didn’t even re
cognize me. He didn’t reply to my questions. I hate him so much right now!”
“Wait up,” I demanded. An unsettling feeling began welling inside me. “Who was kissing Sebastien?”
“That bitch, your boyfriend’s sister. She’s engaged! Yet, she goes and steals someone else’s boyfriend!”
“Anastasia?” I asked, my heart pounding faster. That wasn’t good, that was not good at all. “When was that?”
“Like an hour ago.”
Putting my hands on her shoulders, I asked, “Are you all right?”
“No, I’m not all right. I hate him! I hate him, and I hate her! How could he do this to me?”
I stepped back and nibbled my lip. Francesca’s words troubled me. “I don’t think he—was able to resist,” I explained. “We need to go to Sebastien’s house.”
“What for? I don’t want to see them together. They are probably fucking right now,” she shrieked, fisting her hands. “She was all over him and he didn’t seem to be appalled by her. God! I was so naïve. I thought he was different. I thought we had something special.”
“We need to go to his place right now,” I urged her, thinking about the worst that could happen to Sebastien.
Before Francesca could disagree, I was grabbing her hand, and we were leaving her apartment. I had no idea where Sebastien lived, so I needed her to take me there. Though, it was never a good idea to take an innocent civilian to the place where a vampire was probably feeding—or worse. If she had done anything to him, I would kill her. I didn’t care if my revenge was fulfilled or not, I would rip her head off!
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, we were opening Sebastien’s door and turning on the light in his one-bedroom apartment. Clothes and empty food boxes were scattered around. I didn’t muse about it and rushed to his bedroom. My heart stopped beating when I saw Sebastien’s body over his bed. Drops of blood were falling on the mattress, and he looked dead. I saw Francesca tense up and step back.
Before she could scream and escape, I covered her mouth. “We need to stay calm and check on him,” I spoke in her ear.
Her heart pounded against her ribcage as tears welled her eyes once again. “He’s dead. She killed him. She stabbed him.”
“He’s not dead.” I could hear the feeble sound of his heart. “Not yet.”
Opening her eyes wide, Francesca released herself from my hold and rushed to the living room where I heard her tap the keys of the telephone, probably dialing the emergency number.
I looked around, trying to figure out what Anastasia could win with such a sloppy feed. She made no effort in covering up that she was a vampire. Blood dripped from the puncture marks that she had left on Sebastien’s neck. What’s her end game?
Kneeling next to him, I bit my wrist and put my blood over his lips. It should help him heal. At least, I was hoping it would since I was no longer a vampire. Still, it had been a reflex. I had done that thousands of times to humans who had been almost killed by other vampires.
To my dismay, Sebastien didn’t react, but the blood was falling down his throat. I was calm since I had seen millions of scenes like that one, but Francesca hadn’t. She was stuttering on the phone, trying to explain what was happening. I felt sorry for the boy and for her. Also, guilty.
Sebastien eventually gasped, expelling blood into my face. I cleaned it and caressed his forehead, so he relaxed. Panic reflected in his eyes when he opened them, probably reliving the moment in which Anastasia showed her fangs and drank the life out of him.
“Everything is going to be fine,” I mumbled while using my enthralling powers to make him forget about the fangs and the vampire. “You cut yourself, and you fainted before you could call for help. But you will be okay. Francesca is here.” I smiled to reassure him.
“Francesca,” he repeated as his mind processed the information. I saw the love for her in his eyes. Her name soothed his fear.
Our conversation must have warned her because she called him and rushed to the bedroom. “Sebastien?” Sitting next to us, she leaned over him as her hand reached for his. “Why there is so much blood? What happened? Did she try to kill you?”
My hand landed on her shoulder. Staring at me, Francesca got caught inside my eyes. I instructed her, using my powers, “You don’t remember anything. You never saw Anastasia here. You came to check on Sebastien and you found him like this. You called an ambulance and now you are going with him to the hospital. You’ll stay with him until he gets better. Okay?” Francesca nodded at my words of enthralling. “He will be fine, and you two will date and be happy.”
“Happy,” Francesca mumbled.
I smiled at the warm feeling that took over me despite the previous fear. Happiness. Most people longed for it. Love made them happy.
The ambulance should be arriving.
Putting my hand over their entwined fingers, I said, “I’ll see you at the hospital. I need to leave now.”
I got up and left. I had something important to do. I had a vampire to visit, and I was wondering what I was going to do. I needed to confront her, but I needed to understand if Ewan had any part in what happened to Sebastien. Perhaps, Sebastien was a victim because he was my friend, and she was telling me to back off. My mind was clouded by hate and confusion. I had decided to disappear and forget all about my revenge. Yet, now that Anastasia had threatened my friend’s life, I couldn’t simply leave and let her get away with that.
* * *
Moments later, I knocked on Ewan’s bedroom suite and hoped for him to be there.
A sleepy and shirtless Ewan came to the door. His nice abs and smooth skin were a delight to the eyes, but I had to focus.
“Sarah,” he mumbled, rubbing his tired eyes. “What are you doing here at this time of the night?”
“Who is it, Ewan?” Anastasia asked, coming out to the living room in a sexy negligee.
I couldn’t help but think they were doing it, or, at least, had done it as my eyes stared from Ewan to Anastasia. She smirked—a creepy smile that made me step back and narrow my eyes.
“Have you changed your mind about our night together?” Ewan teased me.
By then, I had an urge to throw up. Every time I was near him, nausea took over. My body was reacting to his actions with repulsion.
Sucking in a breath, I built up the nerve to put my plan in motion. “I came here to ask Anastasia why she did it.”
“Did what?” His eyebrows furrowed as he rubbed his left arm.
Using my most vulnerable face, I replied, “She went to Sebastien’s house and tried to kill him.”
Ewan’s neck snapped to look at Anastasia, who lost her smug grin.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she defended herself, trying to sound outraged. “I was here all night.”
“You went to Sebastien’s apartment, drank his blood, and left him to die. We’ve called an ambulance and Francesca is with him in the hospital, but—he lost too much blood. I don’t know if he will make it or not,” I explained with a crying voice, playing the damsel in distress and the grieving friend.
“What are you talking about? I don’t drink blood. Are you crazy?” Anastasia defended herself.
The joke was on her since Ewan had told me what he was, but, apparently, he hadn’t told her that he had confessed. I looked at Anastasia with grieving and sobbing face. Tears welled in my eyes. I had a century to practice how to be a lying bitch and Anastasia was out of her league.
“Francesca said she saw you with him. She thought you were cheating on your fiancé. Sebastien and she are dating. We went there to confront him, and we found him almost dead. There was blood everywhere,” I explained, hugging myself and staring from Anastasia to Ewan with watering eyes.
Ewan’s eyes flickered with darkness. “Anastasia, what the hell did you do?”
“Are you going to believe her instead of me?” Anastasia asked with widened eyes and high-pitched voice.
I wanted to burst into laughter when he sped
to her and grabbed her by her arms.
His voice was cold and stern when he menaced, “Don’t play with me. I know you too well. Sarah wouldn’t lie about something so serious. I warned you to stay away from her!”
“You said nothing about her friends,” she retorted, pushing him away. I wanted to slap her until she was a pool of mud, but I stood quiet, watching the show. “You are hurting me,” she complained with a sobbing face. “I liked him. I went there to play, but things got out of hand.”
I silenced my need to call her a liar and other offensive names. Clenching my teeth, I tried to look helpless and gloomy. Yet, I wasn’t going to let her get away with her lies. “How did you even know where he lived?” I asked. “You barely spoke. Sebastien is dating Francesca.”
Anastasia was going to speak again. Ewan stopped her. “Anastasia, go to your room right now,” he growled, turning her around and pushing her away.
She obeyed like the good sheep she was, even if she was fuming while walking away and realizing that her plan hadn’t worked as well as she had envisioned.
“Why would she do something like that to Sebastien?” I asked Ewan. He looked pale. “He didn’t do anything wrong to her.” My voice trembled with real emotion because I was distressed by what had happened to him because of me. I had to enthrall Francesca so their relationship wouldn’t end because of Anastasia.
Even though Ewan looked mad, he came to me and hugged me against his chest. He smelled like candy. “Are you sure it was her?”
“Francesca saw them together. When we arrived at his place, Sebastien had puncture marks in his neck and she left him bleeding to death. It was something taken from a horror movie.”
“Everything will be okay.” He kissed the top of my head. He was tense, though. I was also stressed. I wanted to bite him. Inadvertently, the bloodlust took over me. Nevertheless, I had to stay in character.
