It was Thursday and university would start again on Monday. I missed Michael more with each passing day, and I hoped my classes would distract me from that. To take my mind off him, I struck out for the village center. When I’d reached the end of our driveway, I spied a black BMW. I immediately turned around and wanted to go back to the house, but Stefan was already there, blocking my way. “Please wait, I just want to talk, and I can’t follow you through the rock wall. I’ve been trying to get through it for a while now.”
“Well, then talk!” Although I made my voice gruff, I was really happy to see him, which unfortunately he could read in my aura or body language. “Come on, you’re glad to see me,” he teased. I gave him an impatient glare and he quickly added: “Michael loves you.” He said those words as if they were a spell and then looked at me expectantly. Unimpressed, I turned away and tried to walk past him. Let him tell his lies to someone else. Before I could set one foot in front of the other, he grabbed my arm and stopped me. As if he hadn’t stopped speaking, he went on: “After the whole episode with Nikelaus I knew that you were more than an invigorating plaything for him. And when I found out that you’re a Halfling and Michael wanted to hush it up, I suspected for the first time that he was in love with you. It’s not in character for him to ignore the laws or to risk a quarrel with the dragons for a mere plaything. For two long days he thought he had lost you forever, he was sure that you were dead. He’s over a millennium old and he can hide his feelings if he wants. But this time he didn’t fool anyone. Don’t be too hard on the old idiot. I know you love him, too, so move back in with him!”
“Why would I believe you? You Peris are proud of your masterful manipulation of humans. That’s all you do your entire lives, for otherwise you would need to sleep and do without your magical abilities.”
“He loves you. You’re coming back,” he declared with stubborn finality. To him it seemed clear that if Michael loved me, everything else was a minor formality.
I hugged him briefly, which had him confused, and said: “I know you mean well.” I wanted to return to the house, but he barred me from doing so once again.
“Melanie, didn’t you hear what I just said? What is wrong with you?”
“My father wanted me to live a human life. He wanted me to make my own decisions. He took away my abilities to give me a chance at such a life. He loves me and he wanted me to be happy, even if he had to make me vulnerable and risk losing me a lot earlier. You know, that is exactly what I’m going to do now: I’ll stay away from the likes of you and live my life.” I was a natural at pissing off Peris.
“Don’t pretend that you’re daft. We both know you are not. You know full well that you would not stay alive for long on your own. Not now, since everyone knows that you’re anything but ordinary, and since the Lustrares are after you.”
“Lustrares?” I echoed, drawing a blank.
“Radical Peris, elves, and other creatures who think that the older, powerful creatures need to be wiped out.”
“Oh, that’s what you call them. Well, I’m going to live my normal life, and if I die, I die. That’s what people do, you know? Human people at least.”
He was seething with rage by now; he was probably thinking about strangling me himself. Yes, I really had a knack for angering them.
“You’re coming to Salzburg with me, because you have to tell us what happened. How you escaped, what the woman looked like, simply answer a few questions. It was very considerate of Michael to delay this conversation for so long, but Andreas and Jeremeia want answers.”
“Let me guess, you’re not giving me a choice?” He shook his head no. Without a word, I took the car keys from his hand, motioned for him to get in, and drove back to the house. Rosalia heard the car approach and came rushing out. I quickly checked with her and said goodbye. She brushed a stray strand of hair from my face and said affectionately: “Take good care of yourself, my girl.”
Stefan had to wait it out in the car, for he was barred from entering the house as well, just like any other supernatural creature. When I was done packing a few things, I got in behind the wheel and we drove off.
Even before we turned onto the main road leading to Lienz, he insisted on switching seats, claiming that his reflexes were better. We barreled down the highway at about 110 miles. When we entered the freeway, he gave me a brief, sideways look. “I’m really sorry. If I’d known that it was really you, I’d never have smashed your bones. We thought you were a supernatural creature in disguise. We’re tougher on them. You can’t imagine how baffled I was when you started bleeding.”
I had been staring out the window the entire time. “Stefan, I know; I grasped what happened,” I replied without looking at him.
“But have you grasped why Michael left?” he prodded.
“Could we please not talk about Michael?”
He threw up his hands in frustration, let them drop back on the steering wheel again, and remained silent. Back in Salzburg, we got out of the car and entered Michael’s house. I didn’t want to acknowledge my feelings, but I was actually looking forward to seeing him. Michael was sitting in the lounge with Martellius and Alessadro. They were all suspiciously silent, as if they’d ceased talking the moment we had set foot into the house. Which was probably the case. The weird thing was, simply being in the same room with Michael felt exciting. Martellius rose to meet me and pulled me into an embrace. “It’s good to see you again.” The next one to greet me was Alessandro.
Michael stood stiffly in the corner, showing no emotion. He didn’t bother greeting me, but said bluntly in his business voice: “We want you to tell us everything that happened. And then we’ll agree on what you will keep from Andreas and Jeremeia, and what you can tell them.”
“I should have known better, but his cool demeanor hurt me deeply. I wiped a single tear from my cheek, took a seat in an armchair, and told them my story. While I was speaking, Michael got more and more detached. He looked downright bored. I reported my struggle for survival, and he seemed ready to fall asleep. It was hard not to let on how terribly I suffered under his offensive behavior. I told them about the mysterious man who had saved me. They didn’t understand how it was possible that I had never seen his face. I did not mention the man’s offer of providing me with an ordinary life in a different location, or his friendship with my father. As soon as I had finished my account, Michael asked: “Melanie, the woman, what did she look like?”
“I can’t describe her.”
“Then draw her!” His voice was still cool; there was no affection in it.
I fidgeted in my chair feeling awkward and cornered. I couldn’t draw her face, but how could I make that clear to these people? They would laugh at me. I decided to bare my soul quickly to get it over with, the way you tear off a band-aid: “All I can see when I think of her is her face mangled by my shots.” Much to my surprise, none of them laughed. Martellius even put a comforting arm around me. “Melanie, you’re pretty dangerous for a vulnerable creature.”
“What did you mean when you told me today that your father took away your abilities?” Stefan asked the next question.
“What do you mean, taking away abilities? She picked the lock of the Lore,” Alessandro pointed out, baffled.
Michael was still studying me with a face that was devoid of emotion. I no longer dared to meet his eyes, because his callous demeanor hurt me too deeply. He must have heard something from further away, for he looked up and then nodded at the other Peris. “You can simply tell them everything you’ve told us, but we’ll save Stefan’s question for later.” Shortly afterwards, I found out what they had heard: Andreas and Daniel stepped into the room. Andreas nodded at me with a smile. He acted like a respectable person in charge of an official matter. That was a part I hadn’t seen him play until that day. I was used to Andreas the womanizer. Daniel appeared extremely exhausted as he greeted the Peris, acknowledged me with a nod, and addressed Michael. “Jeremeia can’t make it,” he said with a
meaningful stress in his voice. For the first time that night, Michael betrayed an emotion. He looked worried. “It’s progressing quickly. We have even less time than we thought.”
“I’m afraid that is true. Are you coming to the castle later?” Michael gave a curt, affirmative nod.
After I had recounted my story a second time and had answered all questions to their satisfaction, Andreas and Daniel took their leave. Alessandro, Martellius, and Michael left the house along with them, and Stefan was the only one who stayed behind with me. Michael had not even said goodbye to me. He treated me as if I didn’t exist at all. How could we have gotten to this point? Hurt and offended, I grabbed my coat and got ready to go to my own apartment. In the front hall my gaze snagged on the wall of the room where I had kissed Michael for the first time. I stepped into the room and looked back at Stefan for an explanation.
“Michael heard the fatal shot ring out, smashed his phone on the floor, then smashed the table and hammered his fists against the wall. He caused some damage we haven’t had the time to repair yet,” he explained in all seriousness.
‘Some damage’ was a nice way of putting it. Half the wall was missing! The breach had been covered by tarpaulins, but that was at best a temporary solution. My mouth hung open; I kept forgetting how strong they really were.
Stefan shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal. “I told you he loves you, otherwise he would never have vented his feelings like that in the presence of Andreas and Jeremeia. After Andreas and Michael had overheard your abduction over the phone, Andreas and Jeremeia came over right away, so they could coordinate your rescue.”
“If he loves me, he’s an expert in hiding it.”
“That’s what I’m telling you! Why else would he react in such a childish manner? It would be more logical to be very nice to you, if he merely wanted to win you back as his plaything,” he pointed out matter-of-factly.
I couldn’t bear to go on arguing about Michael with him. “I should go to my place now.” Before I left the house, I whispered to myself: “Peri logic, who could argue with that?”
Stefan followed me and handed me a phone. “I got you a new SIM card with your old number. You should always have a phone with you.”
I thanked him and took a few steps, and he followed me again. After a few yards I stopped and gave him a questioning look. He returned it without blinking. “We need to take care of a few issues before Salzburg will be safe again. I had to deal with Michael’s grief for two days; I’m not going to let you walk into a death trap now. As soon as it gets dark, Sarah will take over. You’re not going anywhere without a babysitter. And just out of curiosity: What did you mean when you said that your father took away your abilities?”
At least we weren’t talking about his father anymore. “Do you remember the golden lines and symbols on my skin?” I paused, waiting for him to nod, and then went on: “They’re some sort of cage. They prevent me from tapping into my powers, whatever they are. If I do anyway, I push against those lines. As soon as I’m done and let go, they rebound. Well, and you know what happens to me then. My nose starts bleeding, my body aches, and I can’t breathe anymore.”
“Your father did this to you?”
The last thing I wanted was discuss things with Stefan which I didn’t know how to handle myself. I fell silent and he did, too. He did not let me out of his sight for a second. He accompanied me to the grocery store and helped me carry the bags home. He followed me every step of the way. When we reached my apartment, it had gotten dark, but Sarah was already waiting for me in the hallway. I was glad to see her and Stefan was glad to be rid of his chore. Sarah did not need an invitation to enter my apartment, as vampires often do in films and books. But instead of taking a seat in one of my chairs, which I had pushed into the center of the room together with the table-slash-desk, she stood in my kitchen looking awkward and undecided. I had to tell her to sit down before she did so. We had never needed such formalities before. We were the best of friends and it had been normal to feel right at home at the other one’s place, or to open the fridge and grab a can of Coke if you were thirsty. No need for polite manners or anything like that. Her new behavior was jarring. I even considered getting her a little drunk, but then I remembered that she was a vampire and I didn’t have any Incendium on hand. She placed her arms on the table and gave me a patient look, almost like a teacher who’s forced to chat with her student. “Tell me about your adventures. What happened since we last met?”
I had told the whole story twice before. I couldn’t bear doing it a third time, so I changed the subject. There was something much more interesting to talk about: “Sarah, how have you really been faring those last few months? What is life as a vampire like? What happened after you were injured that night?”
“Well, you and I went to Michael’s place, together with Alessandro and the others. He and I went upstairs, to do you-know-what. But afterwards he was all too quick to get dressed and leave me. I was pissed and got dressed again. Suddenly I heard fight noises and rushed down the stairs. I wanted to know whether you were okay, and then I was bitten. When I woke again, I was at Jeremeia’s castle. Everything was terribly loud, even the cars in the street! Traffic sounded as if it was going straight past my ears, it was deafening. The voices from the other rooms were so loud and clear as if they were speaking directly to me, face to face. The smells were incredibly strong. I realized that before that moment, I had not perceived even a hundredth part of all the aromas in existence. And one scent was the most dominant – blood. I was unbearably thirsty. My throat felt as if I had eaten sand. So parched. Jeremeia came into the room, patiently explaining everything, and then he brought me my first meal. She was a young woman with red hair and a strangely receding chin. He made sure that I didn’t accidentally kill her. If he hadn’t been there, I would have. I lost all control after I’d taken my first sip. But he told me to let go of her, and I had to obey. When he orders me to do something, I obey. I can’t help it. A few of his older vampires claim that it gets better after a while, that the urge to obey diminishes over time. I have no idea yet whether that’s true. If he ordered me to kill you, I wouldn’t have a choice, I would do it. I mainly spent the last months getting adjusted to the vampire way of life. I no longer need Jeremeia’s help to rein in my greed.” She had warmed up slowly while she talked. She sounded so proud, speaking about her newfound self-restraint, and that made me glad for her.
“I miss the sun. Yes, I miss daylight, but otherwise life as a vampire is fantastic. Everything is that much more intense,” she comforted herself. My eyes were still wide as I waited for her to continue, and since I remained silent, she did. “Although Jeremeia had forbidden me to talk on the phone with you, every single one of your calls made me happy. It’s great to know that I have a friend who doesn’t give up. And when you threatened to call the police, he immediately ordered me to keep you from doing that. It felt so good to hear your live voice again.”
“But Jeremeia was in the same room with me. He did not call you.”
“He doesn’t need to, he can communicate with me at any time. He created me. He basically just patches into my brain and speaks to me. He can do that whenever he wants, but not vice versa. Up until a few days ago, he was rather annoying, because he was always talking to me, like while I was eating, even when I was taking a walk to be alone for a while. I felt as if he spent his entire spare time in my brain. Whatever I was doing or who I was talking to, I was always on red alert, lest I would be taken by surprise. He cannot hear all my thoughts, only those I choose to share with him, but whenever he is in my head, he can hear what I tell other people. Now that he’s so weak and is only issuing the most important orders, I miss him. Isn’t that weird? I’ve gotten so used to constantly speaking with him. It’s as if my new best friend has vanished.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. Obviously vampires could cry.
“I couldn’t bear it if he really died now,” she sobbed.
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br /> “What? He’s a vampire, why would he die … and why is he weak anyway?” I asked, perplexed by the last part. She looked up, her eyes blurry with tears. “You don’t know? He was poisoned, and nobody knows what kind of poison was used. At first Michael and the others thought they had at least three weeks to find a remedy, but he’s getting worse far quicker than they expected. If they don’t find the antidote soon, he might be dead within a few days.”
I was shocked by the news. Jeremeia and I had only met a few times, but I only harbored friendly feelings for the vampire boss. I spent the rest of the evening trying to comfort Sarah. But since she continued to hold me at the proverbial arm’s length, it wasn’t easy to give her actual comfort.
We didn’t hit on a way of helping Jeremeia, although we thought long and hard about it. We might just have been the most clueless creatures in all of Austria. I went to bed around two in the morning. When I woke again, Alessandro was at my side. It was plain to see that he didn’t want to be there. Well, I didn’t want him to be there either. “Alessandro, you don’t have to do this. No need to watch over me.”
“I’m of the same opinion, but I can’t risk it. Stefan will kill me if anything happens to you. Which is why I am sitting here watching the human, lying to Michael about where I am.” He tilted on his chair, venting his irritation.
“Would it make you feel better if I was only half human?”
Crash! He was on the ground. He jumped up again quick as lighting and stared at me. “Excuse me, what? But you wouldn’t be allowed to tell anyone if that were the case. You’d be the only female dragon Halfling!”
If I couldn’t trust Alessandro, the same went for Stefan and Michael. “True, that’s what I would be. But I know that my father is not a dragon.”
“Stop it! Shh! You can’t tell anyone. Why did you tell me?”
“I trust you. But I still don’t want you here today.”
Peris Night: Terakon (Secret Language) Page 38
