by Lola Gabriel
5
Finley rolled over onto her stomach and stared at Pyre, who lay beside her on his back, his forearm resting on his forehead, his eyes closed. By his slow breathing, Finley would think that he was asleep, but his heart was still racing. A small smile formed on her lips as she continued to study him. His strong jawline, the stubble on his chin, his long lashes, and the curvature of his neck. His broad shoulders, the tattoos on his skin—of dragons and stars, arrows and castles. It seemed very medieval to Finley, but she liked it. She had often dreamed of living in a different time, with castles and princes on horses. Of course she had never divulged those dreams to anyone; she felt they were simply silly fairy tales which belonged in books.
She had never gotten the chance to read any of those books when she was still a human, and her smile faded as she wondered what other things she’d never get to experience in her life. She thought of her father. Would she ever see him again? Did he know she was missing? Had anyone realized she was missing?
“That wore off quick,” Pyre suddenly said beside her.
“What did?” she asked, looking at him.
His eyes remained closed, but the corners of his mouth curled up seductively into a smirk. “The feeling of bliss and release.”
Finley smiled briefly. “I was just thinking about something from when I was… human.”
He opened his brown eyes. “And what might that be? From what you’ve told me, you haven’t been immortal for that long.”
“Things I dreamed about when I was a kid,” she mumbled, touching his arm where the tattoos were etched onto his skin. “I saw the castles and the arrows on your arm, and they reminded me of medieval times.”
“It was a rough time. Lots of power-hungry kings, disease, wars, and famine. It’s very much romanticized in novels,” he said.
“First of all, how would you know? You weren’t there.” Her face fell. “Were you?”
“I tried to avoid it as much as I could. I spent more time in the woods, shooting apples off my brother’s head with a bow and arrow, than engaging in the unpleasantries of fighting for someone else to reign the kingdom,” Pyre answered, speaking in a medieval accent.
“Are you kidding?” she asked.
“Of course. I was a lousy shot. Give me a battle axe any day of the week. I’ll swing the heads right off those so-called knights,” Pyre chuckled.
“I can’t tell if you’re joking again or not, but it’s a little unsettling,” Finley mumbled. Pyre sat upright and turned to her. He reached out his hand and lightly grazed the skin on her back. Her skin was cold against his, but it was a welcoming change from the heat he felt inside him. “Secondly, how would you know what’s written in medieval novels? You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who reads those kinds of stories,” she told him.
“You’d be surprised. I lived it. I really enjoy reading them to point out the inaccuracies. Besides, the love stories are completely unrealistic. Why would anybody choose love when all the odds are against them?”
“They’re dumb to any teenage boy.”
“Wow, listen to you,” Finley scoffed. “You are such a cynic.”
“After five thousand years of first-hand experience, I’m allowed to be,” he blurted out.
Her eyes widened, and she sat upright.
“Five thousand years? Is that how old you are?” Pyre wanted to act defensive, but he knew it was futile, so he just nodded. “That’s a lot of years, Pyre,” Finley said wryly. Pyre frowned at her, a look of disapproval in his eyes, and he shifted away from her. She reached out and grabbed his arm. “Hey, I was just joking.”
“I know.”
“You really don’t like opening up to people, do you?” She cocked her head. “Or is it just me?”
“Usually,” he sighed, “I am not so accommodating and generous to your kind.”
“Oh, right. I’m a vampire, and you hate me?”
“I could never hate you,” he said, and Finley noticed the sincerity in his eyes. They gazed at one another for a moment, when Pyre’s phone started to ring on the pile of his clothes. He was the first one to look away and reached for it. “Hello. Oh, hey. Really? Okay. I’ll be there in five.”
The call was brief, but Finley felt an unsettling feeling creep up her spine.
“That was the station.”
“The station?” she asked as Pyre stood up and quickly got dressed.
“Yeah. I work for the Miami Fire Rescue,” he explained.
“You’re a firefighter?” she enquired, intrigued.
“Yes. I have to go.”
“How long will you be gone?” she asked. She stood up, grabbing her clothes.
“I have no idea. You are welcome to go upstairs and sleep, or whatever it is you do,” Pyre said, now fully clothed and heading up the stairwell.
“Pyre, wait.” She hated how desperate her voice sounded, but she somehow knew that he wouldn’t stay, no matter what she did.
“What is it, Finley?” he asked impatiently and turned to her. “I have to go. I’m on call and they need some extra hands. People’s lives may be in danger.”
“Be careful, okay?”
His furrowed brow relaxed slightly. “I will.”
A short while later, Finley sat on the couch, chewing her nails, awaiting Pyre’s safe return. She had spent nearly thirty minutes pacing the living room, worrying about him. She wasn’t sure exactly how long it took to put out a fire, either. A feeling of worry filled her up on the inside, and she did not understand why. Sure, she and Pyre had had amazing sex in the basement, and she’d felt really connected to him, but she did not know him at all. She didn’t know what he was, just that he definitely wasn’t human. He smelled different to her, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. Her cheeks flushed as she recalled the feeling of desire and bliss when his skin grazed hers. It had been the most sensual experience she had ever had, and she would give anything to feel like that again.
She didn’t need to only have sex with Pyre, though. His mere presence was enough to keep her satisfied. She felt like he was all she needed. That was definitely a first.
Finley had never allowed any man to consume her the way Pyre had, and it was both terrifying and comforting to know. She just didn’t know exactly how he felt. He wasn’t the easiest person to read, and she hoped it became better with time.
Then a strange thought occurred to her. She recalled the disdain and hatred Pyre had displayed when he’d come to know that she was a vampire. Did he truly carry such hatred for the vampires? And what made him feel this way? What had the vampires done to him or his family? She suspected that she might never hear the truth, since Pyre didn’t share much of himself with her.
Did he hate her that much? Why had he had sex with her then? Was he that type of guy who just had one-night stands with random women and didn’t commit at all?
Her mind went into overdrive, and she scoffed at herself. She grabbed the TV remote and switched on the TV. She clicked through the channels, hoping she would see the fire Pyre had been called out to assist with on the news, but there wasn’t any news on. She settled on a reality show about a tattoo store, and she cuddled up on the couch. Her eyes started to droop, and her tired body went limp as she drifted off to sleep.
The sky was still dark when Finley’s eyes abruptly opened, and she sat upright. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she saw the time on the clock against the wall. Only three hours had gone by since Pyre had left, and she was starving. She remembered the half full blood bag in the basement and stood from the couch. She opened the door to the basement and quickly retrieved it. The basement was eerily quiet, making her feel very unsettled, and she got out of there as fast as she could. She searched for a glass in the cabinet and decided on a wine glass. She poured the blood into the glass, and she had to admit, it looked a lot more appetizing.
Finley walked around the house, very impressed with the parts she hadn’t already seen. There was a large entrance in the front, which looked like a loft, with
a high ceiling that reached up another level. A zigzagged staircase led to the upper level, where two bathrooms and four bedrooms were situated. Pyre’s room was dark and felt as warm as he was. The other bedrooms were beautifully decorated guest rooms that looked like they hadn’t been touched in a while. One room was locked.
Throughout the house, Finley noticed that lack of pictures on the walls, or decorations other than a large clock on the wall of the living area. The air felt easy around her, and she felt comfortable in his home, like she belonged there.
Coming back down the stairs again, she saw the lights of a car outside and froze. Was it Pyre? Did someone else know she was here? She placed her glass down on the table and hid in the shadows, only until she knew it was Pyre.
Ever since becoming a vampire, her senses were heightened, as well as the gnawing paranoia which wouldn’t leave her alone. The constant fear that she would be captured by the wrong people made her shoulders tense and her jaw clench.
She watched in the shadows as the door was unlocked and opened. Pyre stood in the doorway, looking tired and disheartened. Finley’s shoulders relaxed, and she stepped out of the shadows.
“Hey,” she greeted him. He looked at her, his head jerking slightly.
“You’re still awake,” he mumbled and rubbed his eyes.
“I fell asleep for a while, and to be honest, I did not even think I could sleep,” she admitted. “I feel stupid, not knowing anything about being a vampire.” Pyre stared at her in silence. “Are you okay?” she enquired and approached him. His eyes were red, and upon closer inspection, he had soot smudges on his face and hands. His hair was messy, and his clothes smelled of smoke.
“I’m fine. I just had a rough night,” he eventually answered. “It was exhausting and did not end as well as we thought it would.”
“What happened?” she asked quietly and lightly touched his arm.
Pyre simply acknowledged her by brushing his fingers against her hand, but he did not say anything. He did not have to, either. She knew what had happened. Someone had died. Either someone from his team, or someone who had not made it out of the fire. Finley didn’t want to ask, as the sadness and guilt in his eyes told her all she needed to know. From what she gathered about him, he had always been the savior, the one who did the rescuing, but when he lost someone, he carried it all on his shoulders.
Finley gave him an encouraging smile and placed her hands against his chest. Before he managed to pull her away from him, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close to her for a hug. His heart pounded rigorously in his chest, and Finley felt it against her own. Much to her relief, he wrapped his arms around her waist and melted into her. He did not stay that way for long, though, and pulled out of her embrace. “I’m going to take a shower. I feel and smell like a chimney.”
“Do you need me to get you anything?” she asked.
Pyre’s gaze shifted to the table, where the glass of blood still stood. “You could stop using my glasses as vessels for your sustenance.”
Finley cringed as she turned and rushed to the table. “Sorry, I thought I’d make it look a little more appetizing. I did not think that you’d mind—”
“Well, I do,” he muttered and stormed past her. “Make sure it’s cleaned up.”
Finley opened her mouth to say something, but she simply watched him head upstairs without saying a word. She did not want to upset him more than he already was and simply let him be. She took the glass from the table, drank it down, and went to the kitchen. She washed the glass out, made sure there was nothing out of place, and went back to the living room. She sat there quietly while her brain continued to over-analyze their entire conversation, however brief.
She did not want Pyre to be upset with her or think that she was making herself at home at his place. She knew she had to go back home and make up some story about why she had been missing all this time. Could she really do that? Could she simply carry on with her life as if nothing had ever happened? She wasn’t even sure if she could survive in sunlight. How would she live normally if she could only leave her home at night? Could she leave Pyre? No matter what she felt for him, it was obvious that he had too many issues with her being a vampire. However, try as she might, she did not think she could ever forget about him.
Sure, it’d be difficult to be a vampire while she lived with a roommate and went back to school. Then she thought about all the blood they analyzed in their laboratory at school, and she cringed. The fact of the matter, which was the harsh reality in this case, was that she couldn’t go back to her normal life. She couldn’t continue with medical school. She couldn’t go work in a research facility where she discovered cures for illnesses and save millions of lives. Her life plan was ruined.
She felt an ice-cold tear drip onto her skin. It was like a drop of rain on the coldest day, and it surely resembled her now undead state. She did not want to be a vampire anymore. She’d never be able to do the things she wanted, or those she dreamed about. She’d never convince her friends and her family that she was normal. What if she became hungry and needed blood? Where would she get it from? Would she be able to resist not killing her family? She definitely did not want to take that chance.
Finley stood from the couch and headed up the staircase. It was quiet upstairs, and she figured Pyre was done with his shower. She walked down the hallway and stopped in front of his bedroom door. She raised her hand to knock on the door but hesitated.
Screw it, she thought to herself and knocked on the door.
“Just a second.”
She heard him scurrying around, and a drawer closed abruptly. A few seconds later, Pyre opened the door. He smelled fresh and clean, and his hair was still damp from his shower. He wore a light gray t-shirt with a pair of track pants, and his eyes were practically glowing.
“Can we talk for a second?”
“It’s going to be a lot longer than that,” he said.
“Look, I am sorry about the glass. I can see that you’re not exactly thrilled to have a vampire in your house, though I don’t really understand why—”
“Finley, please. I am tired. Can’t we talk about this later?”
“I’d like to talk about this now, and I promise to keep it short,” Finley practically begged.
“Fine,” Pyre said abruptly and waited for her to continue.
“Right here, okay?” she stuttered. “I’m sorry that I am imposing, which I know I am. I am really grateful that you are letting me stay here, but I want to be out of your hair as soon as I can. I just need a favor from you.”
“What kind of favor?”
“I need your help. I know nothing about being a vampire other than drinking blood. If I want to go back to my life from before, I need to know everything there is to know about being like this,” she explained.
“What makes you think that I am the right person to ask?”
“Because you wouldn’t hate something as much as you do without knowing a lot about them,” she answered.
“And if I do help you? What’s in it for me?”
Finley straightened her shoulders and glanced at him. “I’ll get you that thing you want from Luka.”
Pyre’s eyes narrowed for a moment, and he cocked his head. “You don’t even know what it is.”
Finley crossed her arms and smiled slyly. “It doesn’t matter what it is. You’re desperate for it, and you want me out of your house. It’s a win-win.”
“Luka is a dangerous guy. You can’t just go in there and take whatever it is that I want from him,” Pyre explained. “If it were that easy, I would have it already.”
“It sounds pretty important. What is it?”
“It’s a gemstone, and it belonged to my family,” he told her.
“Why does the leader of a vampire coven have a jewel which belonged to your family? Did he steal it?”
“It’s a long story,” he said without elaborating.
Finley threw her hands up in defeat. “And yo
u’re tired. Fine. I get it, but I want to hear everything. I want to know what I am putting on the line for my freedom.”
“Your freedom?”
“After I get the stone, I’m going back home. To my family.”
Pyre shifted his weight. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“I have no other option. I can’t just pretend that they don’t exist. I can’t just leave my family behind. They probably think that I am dead.”
“You are.” Pyre’s words were cold, but they stung Finley’s insides like a flaming arrow, and she simply stared at him for a moment.
“I need a sense of normalcy in my life again, okay? Is that too much to ask?”
“Good luck with that,” Pyre said and stepped away, wanting to close the door.
“Could you stop being such an asshole for one second?” she asked and pushed against the door. It slammed open, and Pyre glared at her. “I am terrified right now, and I don’t have a fucking idea what I am going to do or what is waiting for me at the next bend! You know vampires! You know how they function! All I am asking is for a little support and guidance!”
“I don’t have time to listen to your sob story—”
“What the fuck is the matter with you? Why are you so pissed off at the world?” she exploded.
“Not at the world,” he growled and pointed a finger in her face. “Just your kind! If you knew what your kind did to my family, then you wouldn’t be standing here asking me for help!”
“I wasn’t a part of that. You’re directing you anger at the wrong person,” Finley hissed. “But the sooner you show me the ropes, the sooner I’ll be on my way, and you’ll never have to see me again.”
Pyre’s jaw clenched, and he took a step back. “Fine. I’ll show you, but it has to be somewhere no one will come looking for us. Or see us.”
“And where is that?”
He glanced at her and ran his fingers through his hair. “The Everglades. Tomorrow, just before sunset. I’ll drive.”
“So, I can survive in the sun? Or are you leading me to my death?”
