by Skyla Madi
“Mr Aleksandrov!” I gasped, running the palms of my hands on my jeans. “I didn't hear you come in.”
I really needed to pay more attention to my surroundings. Who knew what was lurking in the bushes.
Mr Aleksandrov chuckled. “Scaring a vampire, there’s a first for everything I suppose.”
I smiled an uneasy smile.
“I just came by to see if you liked your new accommodation.”
“It’s amazing,” I replied, even though I’d only just got here myself.
“Good.”
I stepped past Mr Aleksandrov, careful not to get too close. His acidic scent was off putting. It was like hydrochloric acid... or something just as funky. When I stepped out into the main area, I immediately spotted Tay leaning on the back of the couch, twirling a silver chain around his index finger. I watched it wrap around his long, slender finger—engulfing it completely before spinning in the opposite direction, exposing his tan skin. It infuriated me just having Tay around. It’s said ‘first impressions are everything’ and my impression of him was that he was an arrogant, self-absorbed bully.
“You do know silver doesn’t kill a vampire.” I told him, placing my hands on my hips.
Tay glanced up from his chain and looked at me from underneath a thick strand of blond hair. He grinned at me and for a moment, I imagined ripping his throat out with my fangs.
“No, it doesn't kill a vampire, a little piece like this.” He lifted it into the air, examining it. “It wouldn't cause a normal vamp too much pain, but it does great damage to you.”
I recalled the burning pain that came with silver. It was so bad, I couldn't even think straight. I remembered my helpless screams as the silver wrapped tightly around my wrist and all I could do was wait for the sickening pain to stop.
“I know you attacked me at school.”
His smile broadened and I could feel the delight radiating from him in waves. “Yes, yes I did.”
I scowled at him. Words failed me when I tried to describe the hate I’d developed for this man over such a short period of time. Everything about him annoyed me. From his deep voice down to his boot cut jeans with the black tucked in tank top. I even hated the way the light seeped down his long blond hair, barely settling on each strand.
“How dare you!” I growled, trying hard to keep my cool. “You could have asked me. I would’ve done anything you wanted if it meant ending up here. You didn’t have to attack me.”
Tay looked down at his chain, seemingly contemplating my words. When he looked back up, he wasn’t smiling. He was glaring at me. “But it was so much more fun.”
A low growl vibrated through my chest and Tay threw his silver to the floor, taking my growl as an indication for a fight. He wanted to fight me one on one, without the advantage of silver. Not that he needed it, though, I was outmatched. He was stronger, taller, and faster than I was, but still...if I could hit him at least once then I’d die a happy girl. I launched myself at Tay, but halfway through my launch I was yanked backwards and a sharp pain shot through my shoulder blade and down my arm, causing me to gasp.
“Stop.” Eli demanded aggressively into my ear.
A similar pain shot through my other arm as he restrained both my hands behind my back.
“Control your pet.” Tay snickered, sauntering closer.
He flicked his eyebrows at me and smiled, provoking me to try and wiggle out of Eli’s grasp. I strained against Eli, but he held me tightly, like I was a small child. I was pissed and I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I tore Tay’s head from his body.
Everything I’d been through this year and last flooded into me, fuelling my anger more. I struggled harder against Eli, trying to free my hands when I felt a familiar warm, tingling sensation beginning at my toes. Quickly, it began coursing its way up my body, this time bypassing my heart and going straight to my head. It was my goddess power. It had to be. I concentrated on the plant hanging from the ceiling, above the coffee table. After a few seconds the plant started to grow and stretch, making its way towards Tay's head rapidly and I heard Mr Aleksandrov gasp. I’d forgotten he was even here. I knew I should be worried about causing a scene in front of him—he was the one funding this whole transformation after all, but I didn’t care.
The plant slid over Tay’s shoulder and abruptly wrapped around his neck before he could grasp the situation.
“What the f—” The vine tightened, cutting off his oxygen and leaving his sentence unfinished.
His hands grasped at his throat as he tried to pull the vine away, but was too tight. His blue eyes flicked to my face and widened with fear as small ragged gasps escaped his lips. Amused, I watched Tay’s face change colors.
Red.
“Ruby, stop.” Eli growled, shaking me slightly.
Purple.
“Stop!”
I couldn’t stop. My knuckles began to ache as I balled my fists as hard as I could. My jaw throbbed with the intensity of my clenched teeth.
Blue.
“Ruby!”
“Her concentration.” Mr Aleksandrov stated calmly.
I gasped as my legs were kicked out from underneath me and Eli pushed me down, forcing my torso against the varnished floor, my arms still pinned to my back. My body was heavy with Eli’s weight and I couldn’t get up—even if I wanted to. I angled my head to the plant as it released Tay’s neck and dropped loosely to the ground. Tay, taking no time to recover from his strangulation, grabbed his chain and jumped at me.
“Enough!” Eli shouted, leaping off me and shoving Tay backwards. After a few misguided steps, Tay recovered from his backwards stumble.
“You’re protecting a vampire?” He spat, glaring murderously at Eli.
“No. I’m protecting a girl—a girl who wouldn’t stand a chance against you.”
I couldn’t help but smile at Tay’s expression—an expression of pure disgust. Tay and Eli stared each other down as I shakily rose to my feet.
“Tay, relax.” Mr Aleksandrov commanded, but Tay didn’t move.
His jaw clenched and relaxed as he flexed his fingers by his sides. His gaze drags and zeros on me before he returned to leaning on the couch, twirling his silver like he had been moments earlier. Eli turned toward me, his green eyes narrowing in. I guess I really did it this time. His arm reached around him and he pulled a long piece of silver from his back pocket and stepped toward me. I flinched backward and he hesitated, briefly. He wouldn’t, would he? He better be prepared to chase me around this whole cabin because there was no way in hell I’d willingly let him chain me—not with silver anyway.
“Don't restrain her.” Aleksandrov announced, strolling across the cabin to the kitchen.
I relaxed a margin. Thank God someone here was making sense. Eli looked at Mr Aleksandrov for a little while longer, clearly confused by his decision. With a controlled exhale he stuffed the chain into his pocket, but didn’t move from his position between Tay and I.
“Don’t restrain her? She attacked me.” Tay argued, bitterly.
I bit my lip, trying to suppress a laugh. He sounded like he was in primary school—she did this, she did that—whatever. It wouldn’t be a problem if he wasn’t a giant douche.
“You provoked her. Besides, a good thing came from it. We now know she can use her powers.”
Tay’s stare focused on me, hatred deep and dark boiled behind his eyes.
“I was going to have Tay on guard here tonight but since you handle her better, Eli, you can do it.”
Tay smirked, thrilled with Mr Aleksandrov’s decision. I was grateful, too. If I was stuck with Tay tonight I’m almost certain one of us would be dead by morning...probably me.
“We have to leave now. I trust you’ll keep everything under control.”
Eli nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Tay glared at me one more time as he and Mr Aleksandrov headed for the door and left the cabin. Eli and I stared after them for a few extra seconds before he turned to me.
“Let's talk.” He ordered, strolling causally over to the couches.
I followed, dropping into the armchair opposite him and I pulled my knees up, tucking my feet underneath me. Somehow it made me feel more settled.
“You can’t let him get to you.” He said, his brows twitching into a frown.
I sighed. “What do you expect me to do? He’s infuriating.”
“Ignore him. I do.”
I smiled. “I get the feeling you’re better at ignoring people than I am.”
He leaned back in his chair. “It’s a pretty easy skill to learn. I can teach you.”
“Sounds like fun.” I deadpanned. “But I think I’ll pass.”
“Suit yourself.”
The silence that followed our conversation was awkward to say the least—well, it was awkward for me. Eli seemed completely content to sit quietly. I tapped my fingers against the leather, doing anything to make the silence more bearable.
“So what happens from here? What happens to me?”
“Well, Gwydion will come and he’ll try to transform you back. When you’re a goddess again you’ll be moved to school grounds and—”
“What if he can’t fix me?”
Eli’s gaze faltered for a moment, flicking to the low coffee table before settling back on my face. “He will.”
“But if he can’t.” I repeated. “What will happen to me?”
Waiting for Eli’s answer felt like forever. I kept my stare on his face and his remained on mine. I could tell he was thinking very carefully.
“We’ll kill you.” He said, after a while.
I nodded slowly. I should have expected something like that. I mean, what else would they do? Let me go?
“Don’t think about it.” Eli told me. “I believe it will work and so do Mr Aleksandrov and Gwydion.”
“But you’re not positive?” I slumped into my chair. “Jesus Christ.”
Eli shot forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” I scoffed, running my hands over my face.
And don’t worry? Don’t worry that I was probably going to be dead soon? How did I not worry? If I was being honest, I wasn’t worried about dying. I already had one foot in the grave. I drank blood to survive and my skin was deathly pale and ice cold—I was pretty much dead anyway. What I was worried about was Aunt Jen and Camilla—especially Camilla. I hung up on her. I didn’t tell her how much I loved her or how much I appreciated everything she’d done for me. I hung up...like she meant nothing to me.
“If I don’t die…can I go back home?”
He smiled sympathetically at me and I knew my answer before he even said a word.
“No. Sage will have full custody of you until you finish your schooling or you turn twenty one.”
“And that’s it? My old life is over?”
“Yes, but you’ll be living the life you were always meant to live.”
I hadn’t really spent much of my life talking about—or even being a goddess. I was normal. I was used to living with normal people—humans. Could I be a goddess? Could I live that kind of life?
“And what about Hank? He’ll still come after me.”
“That’s true, but you’ll have me to protect you.”
Protect me? I arched a brow.
“When you’re a goddess again, they’ll make me your guardian angel.”
What the hell did that entail exactly? “You mean... you’ll be my babysitter?”
He smiled, exposing his beautiful, white teeth. “I guess so.”
I felt sorry for Eli. Surely there were better job opportunities in his line of work? What’d he do to get stuck with me?
“Did your mum explain how it all works?”
“We hardly spoke about this side of our life... as far as she was concerned it was behind us.”
The crease between his brows deepened as he frowned. He wasn’t happy with my response.
“Basically, to bond a goddess—or god—with a guardian angel we use each other’s blood—”
“Wait.” I interrupted, cringing. “Did you say blood?”
Eli’s lips curled into a delectable smile. “I’ve never seen a vampire cringe at the word blood before.”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring his remark. “How exactly are we bonded by blood? I drink yours, you drink mine?”
He almost flinched. “No, blood drinking is forbidden.”
I waited for him to elaborate as to why it was forbidden, but he didn’t and I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask. It was obvious that blood drinking was only a vampire thing—unfortunately—and the thought of putting my lips to Eli’s neck did strange things to my stomach. It rolled and clenched, making me feel slightly nauseous—butterflies? Was I experiencing nervous butterflies in my stomach? I cleared my throat also managing to clear my train of thought.
“So how are we bonded?”
“The short version is, you’ll receive a tattoo on your wrist and it’ll be mixed with my blood and some ink. I’ll also receive one with your blood and then a Shar will bind us together.”
I blinked a few times. “Shar?”
“A Shar is an angel with special powers. They bond guardians to their charges—mostly.”
“And once we’re bonded...what happens next?”
“Well, your emotions will be linked to me. I’ll be able to tell when you’re feeling sad, happy or scared and you’ll be able to feel me when I’m close by.”
“Wouldn’t that be distracting?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been bonded to anyone before.”
“Really? Never?”
He shook his head. “There’s one more thing I want to show you.”
Eli stood up and adjusted his black pants. I watched curiously as he produced a gold whistle on a thin, gold chain from his back pocket. With a swift step forward, he extended it to me.
“What is it?” I gasped, mesmerized by the beauty of the thin piece of metal that sat in the palm of his hand.
“A whistle.”
I rolled my eyes. “Obviously. What’s it for?”
His lips twitched and he licked them, trying to cover up a smile. “It’s a whistle that only I can hear.”
“Oh…Like a dog?”
He laughed. “I guess you could say that.”
I reached out and ran my fingers along the warm metal. It was completely smooth—except for a little engraving on the side I hadn’t noticed earlier. Eli dropped it into the palm of my hand and I examined it further.
“Tua Custos Angelus?” I said aloud as I read the script that ran up the side of the whistle.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “It’s Latin. It means ‘your guardian angel’. If I’m away while we aren’t bonded and something happens, blow it and I’ll come running. The downside is that it only works when I’m within a few kilometres of you.”
“And I just keep it on me?”
His mouth moulded into a breathtaking smile. “Yeah, it’s yours.”
I brushed my fingers over the whistle, thinking of my mother and her guardian angel. “Did my mother have a whistle?"
He nodded. “I’m sure she would have.”
“And Michelangelo, was he a good angel?"
I glanced up at and Eli smiled off into the distance, his eyes clouded like he was stuck in some distant memory. “The best.”
“You knew him?”
I couldn’t help but pry. I was a curious person. I always wanted to know things even if it had nothing to do with me—it was definitely a curse.
“You could say that.” Eli's eyes met the floor and his face became hard as he cleared his throat. Straight after, his phone sounded off with loud beeps, startling the both of us. I was thankful for it. I could see our conversation leading into another uncomfortable silence.
“Excuse me a second.” He said as he turned away from me to answer his phone.
“Hello? Yes. Now? Yes, sir.”
&nb
sp; As he spoke, I dropped my attention back to the whistle. It was so beautiful and I felt unworthy to hold it in my hands.
“I need to go and take care of a few things.” Eli said, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “I’ll be back later.”
He went to walk away, but stopped in his tracks, pivoting abruptly to face me again. “Oh and by the way, try not to go outside. There are a few guards hanging around with guns and they’re a little trigger happy.”
“Thanks for the heads up.” I replied, smiling. “I’ll stay inside. I promise.”
“Good.” He turned to walk away again, but stopped. “And maybe stay away from the windows, too... just to be safe.”
He smiled at my no doubt frightened expression before marching to the door and leaving the cabin. When I heard the click of the lock and I was sure I was alone, I swung my legs over the arm of the chair and slid further into my seat, clutching the whistle to my chest. What a morning. I was excited, scared, thrilled—and every other emotion. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but I knew I’d be ready for it.
Learning
I swallowed harshly because my throat was burning. I spent the night alone. Eli didn’t come back and that didn’t bother me, but I was hungry and no one had left me any blood. I hadn’t eaten since...God...it felt like forever. I glanced out the window and the sound of the birds and the low-lying sun confirmed that it was a new day. Hopefully, they’d remember I was still a vampire and needed blood regularly. Without it...would I die? I didn’t know.
The only door in the room caught my eye. Perhaps taking a shower would take my mind off thick arteries throbbing under juicy human—or guardian angel—flesh.
I slid out of bed, strolling slowly toward bathroom. My feet dragged tiredly against the wooden floor. I was exhausted and couldn’t find the energy to lift them high enough to walk properly. I’d probably need two bags of blood to get out of this funk. I was running on fumes—barely.
I closed the door and shed my clothes. I turned the shower on and let it heat up until steam filled the room. When the steam fogged up the mirror and I could no longer see my pale complexion I stepped into the shower. The shower was amazingly therapeutic—just like I imagined it’d be. It didn’t do much for the unbearable burn in my throat, but it was enough to stop me from contemplating tearing out of this house like a madman in search of blood. Call me crazy, but I wasn’t in the mood to be shot by some trigger happy vampire haters. The longer I stayed in here, the longer I lived. I gasped at the coolness of the glass shower wall as I rested against it. I slid to the ground, my knees closing in tightly against my chest. The water rolled over my face and down my back, massaging my skin. In replacement of slaughtering someone—anyone—for blood, my mother began playing on my mind. Words couldn’t express how much I missed her... nothing could. Tears began to trickle from my tear ducts and the once white floor of the shower became tinged with blood. Death was cruel, wasn’t it? Death can take anything away in a heartbeat and it gives nothing in return. Who wants painful memories of the happy times you spent together? I’d rather have my mother here in the flesh over some stupid memories that cause me nothing but grief.
