Scorned

by Tyffani Clark Kemp

  “I have,” Adelina answered. “But, I do not want to have children with a man I do not love. I love The Master and that is enough for me.”

  “What about you?” I asked Calliope and she gave me a sad sort of smile.

  “It is the same way for me. Besides,” she added, “there are many young women for us to care for, so in a way it is like we have children.”

  Pierce gave me a look and I told him with my eyes that it wasn’t a good time and we would talk about it later. He conceded and the subject dropped.

  From the outside, the Colorado house was much grander than I expected it to be. Snow piled high on the sides of the road, gathering more as it fell from the sky. The entire place was white, even the bark on the birch trees that surrounded the house.

  “Wow,” Pierce said. “Wow.”

  “Yeah,” I said softly beside him.

  Stone steps led from the house to the driveway that wrapped around and disappeared, and if there was a garage it was around back somewhere because I couldn’t see one. The front door was the solid kind with an etched window made of several different panes gilt in gold. Warm yellow light shone through each pane, caught on the nuances and fractured to create effects that made the glass look like it would melt and pour over our feet.

  I grasped the knob and pushed. The door swung open easily and we walked into a small hall. There were six steps leading down to the right, beyond which I could see the living room, and six steps led up into a darkened hall, although in the late afternoon light, or what was left of it after the snow and clouds blocked most of it, it wasn’t as spooky as it would have been at night. A chandelier hung in the hallway. Just a small one, but it was beautiful, made of gold and dripping with what was probably real crystal. Or maybe, knowing Roman’s lavish tastes, they were diamonds.

  “This way,” Adelina said, and took us up the stairs. There was a door at the end of the hall on the left. “This is your room,” she said with a smile. “Go ahead and get settled. The butler will be in soon with some refreshments.”

  When she left, Pierce pushed the door open and I gasped. This wasn’t a room, it was a suite. A king size bed stood against the far wall, covered in the most luscious looking bedclothes in deep reds and golds with patterns that made me think of the seventeenth century. It was canopied by heavy curtains that could be pulled closed to give complete privacy. On our end was a sitting area with two large sofas and a couple of chairs all surrounding a giant fireplace with a roaring fire. On the floor was a bearskin rug that looked like it was made of polar bear fur and I couldn’t help but think of the kind of things that might be fun to do on top of it.

  I kicked off my shoes at the door because I was afraid I would track mud and snow across the lush white carpet.

  “Damn,” Pierce said in a soft voice behind me.

  “Yeah. I wonder what the bathroom looks like,” I said, but I had a good idea.

  I crossed the room to the door on the left of the bed and pulled it open. Four sinks lined the left wall, those cool bowl sinks that sit on top of the counter, and the faucets looked like hand pumps from a well. The shower was set back in the wall. There were four shower heads, one on each end and two in the back wall each with their own thermostat. A seat ran along the back should you desire to sit and there was a towel hook on the wall just outside the door. The bathtub wasn’t just a bathtub; it was a hot tub with enough room for no less than eight. A round red and cream bench sat in the middle of the floor, completing the ensemble.

  “Damn,” Pierce said again. “He doesn’t know how to half do anything, does he?”

  I shook my head. “I’m going to call my aunt. You should let Gable know we made it okay.”

  We went back into the bedroom to make quick phone calls. Afterward, I flopped onto the bed and let my eyes close. I don’t sleep much anymore. I always seem to be exhausted.

  A knock on the door startled me into realizing I’d drifted for a moment.

  “Wake up.” Pierce slapped my butt as he walked past to get the door. I groaned and rolled to a sitting position so I could see who it was. A man who fit every description of a butler you’ve ever seen, from the tux with tails to his white gloves to the hooked nose, receding hairline, and English accent, came through the door with a tray of hot cocoa and cookies. I assumed they were cookies, because I’d never seen any of them before.

  I hopped down from the edge of the bed and came over to stand closer to Pierce and the old butler. He was so pale I knew he was a vampire right off.

  “Good evening,” he said. “You may call me William. The Master sent me with refreshments. He sends his regards and wishes you to get your rest. He understands that it has been a long day for you both.”

  Pierce took the tray and set it on the hearth in front of the fireplace. “Thank you.”

  Butler William nodded and left.

  I sat down in front of the fire on the soft rug and snagged a mug of hot chocolate for myself. Pierce took a seat next to me and we sipped together in silence for a few moments.

  “God, I’m tired.” Pierce yawned and stretched and popped one of the cookies in his mouth. “I think I’m going to lie down.”

  “Yeah, I’ll join you.”

  I don’t remember making it to the bed.

  The room was dark and cast with shadows when I woke up. I pushed heavy covers off and turned to find Pierce snoring next to me.

  “Pierce. Baby, wake up.” His only reply was a louder snort and he turned over onto his other side. I climbed out of the bed and crept across to the fireplace. Some embers still burned underneath so I tried to stoke it to bring some warmth and light to the room.

  A shadow fell across the floor in front of me and I screamed, but a cold, dead hand clapped over my mouth before anything more than a squeak escaped.

  “Tis only me, my sweet.”

  I let myself relax, but growled in my mind, “Why the hell didn’t you just let me know you were here?”

  “I tried.”

  That was all the answer I got. Roman removed his hand from my mouth and I turned to him, motioning to the door with the stoker. I didn’t wait for him to lead or follow, but marched from the room as quietly as I could.

  “What did you do?” I asked, once the door was shut.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Stop it! What did you do? Did you drug him? Because there’s no way he wouldn’t wake up if he heard me scream. What. Did. You. DO?”

  “I need you to come somewhere with me, LeKrista, and I knew he would not allow it. But it is important.”

  “Ohmigod. You really aren’t above anything are you? I’m not going anywhere with you, Roman.”

  “Ah, but you must. You have no choice.”

  “Excuse me? No choice?” There were two looks that he wore in that moment. His face held a smug arrogance that made me want to hit him, but in his eyes was worry. “What kind of trouble am I in now?” I asked, half joking, but Roman’s face cleared of all emotion and I knew I’d hit the nail on the head.

  “LeKrista, I really don’t have time to explain or to convince you to come with me. We are already late.”

  Roman wrapped me in his stronger-than-life arms without my consent and then we were airborne.

  “What’s the rush? Slow down.”

  “We are in a hurry. We’re late.”

  “Late for what?” But I didn’t get an answer.

  By the time we landed we’d flown so fast I was breathless. I collapsed to the floor, unable to breathe and sure I was going to die. My lungs felt like they’d disappeared and my throat was so dry it stuck shut. I looked up at Roman, my eyes so wide I thought they might pop out of my skull. I grasped for him, my fingers clutching only air. He came closer and started shouting at someone, but I couldn’t hear a word he said. I tangled my hands in his shirt and pulled him close enough that our faces almost touched.

  “Water.” I mouthed the word because I couldn’t get any air to speak, and I thought of the ocean, full
of water that I couldn’t drink. “Air,” I mouthed, and felt the wind blow through me. But it wasn’t blowing through me. I was losing consciousness, hallucinating. As the blackness ate at my vision, I knew I was going to die.

  I felt someone’s lips on mine, and I knew I was being given mouth-to-mouth, but I couldn’t see who it was. A breath went in, and it came back out. Another breath in, and it came back out. Two more times and I felt my heart stop and the world left me.

  I was dead.

  I watched as Adelina pressed on my chest.

  “One, two, three, four, five.”

  She tilted my head back, pinched my nose, and breathed into my mouth. My cheeks puffed out, but the air went down my throat. I could feel it, even standing here near my head, watching. My right hand went involuntarily to my chest at the feeling. Calliope stood next to Roman across the room. He had his face in his hands and his head on her shoulder, but she didn’t seem to be making any progress in consoling him.

  “LeKrista.”

  The Voice came from everywhere and nowhere.

  “Yes?” I answered.

  “You can’t die,” It said. “There is much I still need for you to do and learn.”

  A young man stepped up beside me and sat on the floor next to my feet. He looked up at me and smiled, and that smile was so full of peace that I couldn’t help but mirror it in my soul. I sat down next to him and crossed my legs Indian-style, just like he had.

  “Am I dead?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, but don’t worry. I’m going to send you back in a few moments.”

  “Roman’s pretty upset,” I said.

  The young man nodded. “I have a few things to tell you, so pay attention, okay?”

  I nodded.

  “The time will soon come when you’ll need to swallow your pride. Don’t fight it or it will be the death of you. I won’t bring you back then, because it will be your fault.”

  I frowned. “Why, if you’re going to be able bring me back now?”

  “It won’t be a matter of ability, LeKrista. It will be a matter of whether or not I’m willing, and I won’t be. If you let yourself die because of your own pride there won’t be anything I’m willing to do for you. This wasn’t your fault.”

  “Some would say otherwise.”

  The young man shrugged and looked at me. His eyes were so full of color that they were colorless and I sighed at the immensity of the peace that filled them.

  “I know what the Mage woman says about you. LeKrista, you were made special for this very reason. You belong with the Mages, but you belong with the Vampires as well.” He was quiet for a moment. “I must go now. Go to sleep and you’ll wake up again. I promise.”

  I looked at my body, and when I glanced back to the man sitting next to me he was gone. Part of me knew that wasn’t quite right, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was so sleepy. I slid to the floor with my head braced by my hands and fell asleep.

  Someone was pounding on my chest.

  No. It's CPR.

  I came back with a gasp and sat up straight. Whoever had been making my heart beat scrambled away. I heard them crawl across the ancient hardwood floor, and looked around. Adelina had saved my life, and she was now a foot away in case I came up swinging. Roman and Calliope were across the room against the wall. He was distraught, leaning on Calliope’s shoulder. Calliope rubbed his back in soothing circles, trying to calm him, but it wasn’t working. The longer they stood there, the worse he got until he just exploded. Roman roared with pain. Calliope stepped back, staring at her master. She looked around, caught sight of me and did a double take.

  “Master,” she whispered. “Master, look.”

  Roman didn’t hear her, or couldn’t hear her through his immense pain at losing me. That was kind of funny.

  “Calm down, you creepy old man. You’re scaring the children.”

  Roman stopped immediately and turned surprised, disbelieving eyes to me. “What is this?” he whispered.

  “Um,” I said, “I’m not dead. Well, I was. Not anymore.”

  “How?” Roman asked and I grinned.

  “You probably don’t want to know.” My cell phone rang and I answered it without thinking. “Hello?”

  “LeKrista?” It was Pierce and he was just as shocked to hear my voice as Roman seemed to be. “You’re...okay?”

  “Yeah. Why?” Then I remembered my car accident three weeks ago. Somehow we were connected. “What did you see?” I whispered.

  “You...you were dead,” he said. “I felt you...saw you die.” There was such grief in his voice, masked with suspicion and relief. It broke my heart.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” I promised, “but I’m fine. Really.”

  “I...Staci...” There was something in his voice, defeat, loss, pain, and I didn’t like it. I knew all too well how it felt to be where he was.

  “I know,” I said, then added, “I love you,” just in case he thought I didn’t.

  That must have been what he needed to hear, because he sighed with relief. “I love you too.”

  “I’ll wake you when I get back,” I said.

  “Promise?”

  I thought about saying something smart but thought better of it. There would be plenty of time for that later. “Yeah, I promise.”

  We hung up. Roman, Calliope and Adelina had watched with rapt interest, and now were looking away. No, the girls were looking away, Roman wasn’t.

  “You were dead, my sweet.” Adelina and Calliope tensed. “Your heart stopped beating. I saw the life go out of you.”

  I nodded. “I agree. I was very dead. Not just mostly dead, all dead.” My hands were cold. Was I going into shock?

  “What happened?”

  I didn’t know what to tell him without sounding cheesy, but...

  My eyes went out of focus and I shivered.

  “LeKrista?” Roman’s voice was soft as he said my name. “LeKrista, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m so cold.” My teeth were chattering.

  What the heck?

  “She’s in shock,” Calliope said. “I don’t think she quite understands what just happened to her. It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

  “Run a hot bath,” he told Calliope and she ran off to do as she was told. Adelina stayed close by and Roman picked me up from the floor.

  “LeKrista, do you understand that you just died?” Roman asked. I nodded. “Adelina had to give you CPR. She had to make your heart start beating again.”

  I shook my head. “No, not Adelina.”

  Roman frowned at me, and I guess he thought I’d gone insane. “Who then?”

  “Dunno. A boy.” Roman and Adelina looked at each other as if they thought I’d finally lost it completely.

  Roman carried me into the bathroom. My teeth chattered together as Roman set me on the floor next to the tub and instructed Adelina and Calliope to get me warm. They undressed me without hesitation and helped me climb into the bathtub - an oversized, black claw foot tub that I would have loved if I was in my right mind. I sank into steaming water that smelled like lavender.

  I’d just died and come back because I still had things to do. I gasped and sat up, sloshing water all over the bathroom floor.

  “Oh my god,” I said softly.

  “What?” Calliope asked. “What’s wrong? Is it too hot?”

  I looked at her, my eyes wide and popping. “I died.”

  The girls looked at each other, then back at me.

  “LeKrista,” Adelina began, but I shook my head.

  “No, I...I died. I was dead. No heartbeat, no breath.” Tears slipped down my cheeks, but I didn’t think I was crying. Well, I hadn’t known I was crying.

  “LeKrista.” Calliope wanted to console me, but I didn’t need consoling. I needed Pierce and he wasn’t there.

  “I need to get dressed,” I said. “I need a towel. Where are my clothes.”

  “LeKrista, you’re in shock. I don’t think-”

  “No,” I sa
id. “I’m not in shock anymore.” Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if I was or not, but I didn’t want to hang around in the bathtub. I wanted to get to Pierce. “Give me a towel!” I was yelling now, clearly still not in my right mind, but I was going to have my way whether I knew what I was doing or not.

  “Get Roman,” Adelina said quietly to Calliope. “I’ll get her dressed, or at least covered up.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Get me covered up.”

  I dried off and had the towel wrapped around my body by the time Roman came in. “I want to go to Pierce,” I told him without looking up. Roman didn’t answer out loud.

  “LeKrista, I can not take you back yet.”

  “Why not?” I asked aloud.

  “Please, LeKrista,” Roman thought, and he sounded tired and annoyed.

  I humored him. “Why not? I just died.”

  “There are only a few hours of dark left, and I have to be somewhere very important. Your presence has been requested as well. They would like to meet Lucretious’ murderer.”

  “Excuse me, murderer? He was trying to kill me. It was self-defense.”

  “Be that as it may, they would like to meet you.”

  “Who is ‘they’?”

  “Vampire Council.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I have to be there?”

  “Yes. Get dressed.” Roman turned on his heel and left. End of conversation.

  I dressed and met Roman in the hall where he paced, impatient, but when he saw me he stopped and looked me over. “Are you alright?”

  I nodded and looked up. I didn’t know this house. Oak beams crisscrossed the ceiling and a beautiful crystal chandelier lit the front hall with a soft, yellow glow. Roman held a door open and motioned for me to precede him.

  “We must hurry, LeKrista. We are already very late.”

  I humored him and stepped through the door and ran my fingers through my hair to try and tame it. My bare feet touched rough stone and I pulled up so suddenly that Roman nearly bumped into me. We were in another cave, and it was so very dark that, once Roman closed the door I couldn’t see a damn thing.