by Martha Woods
Tessa blinked and glanced over at him. How long had she been staring at them? She noticed they were already at the island, and a tall, dark travel mug sat in front of her with a bag of blood next to it. Tessa couldn’t resist reaching over and giving the bag a poke, watching the thick red liquid barely move around in the bag.
Kristian then picked it up and poured its contents into Tessa’s cup. Its scent wasn’t nearly as potent as the deer blood, let alone Calla’s. “Bon appétit,” Kristian joked dryly.
Tessa made a bit of a face. “Why don’t you guys ever heat it up?”
Kristian sighed, “Because it helps distance us from the actual sensation of drinking fresh human blood. It really does help the cravings stay away. It sucks, but drinking blood really isn’t about taste or pleasure. Only survival. So not really wanting to eat is the best way to stay.”
“What about drinking from girlfriends?” Tessa questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. Kristian had drank her blood during sex, and everyone was made aware of Jared drinking Calla’s when he didn’t burn in sunlight. How was it fair for her to only drink cold blood when the men indulged in fresh blood?
His face grew a bit sheepish, “It’s intimate and definitely different. If you ever leave me, find a human and try it out sometime—once you’ve learned control, that is.”
Tessa rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side playfully, “You’d have to run me off with a stick to get me to leave you alone.”
Kristian grinned, “Well thank God I never plan to do that.” He kissed her shoulder and pushed the mug more toward her. “Now drink up.”
Plucking the mug off the counter, Tessa stared down into the liquid and swirled the cup around. It wasn’t looking anymore appetizing. That was something that had been nice about drinking from a living being—you didn’t have to see any more than trickles of blood. Kristian and the others had been drinking bags of blood for years without complaint, so she knew it was just a matter of getting used to it. Taking one final deep breath, Tessa tilted the mug bag and took a gulp of the cold, rich blood. It was a totally different taste from the deer blood she had been drinking. It was irony and sweet yet savory, not salty and gamey. However, it certainly wasn’t fresh. It had a slight bitterness from it from being refrigerated, and the coolness of it was really offputting. It was the equivalent of drinking cold, canned beef stew. Savory, a little weird, and completely off-putting when served ice cold. Yet she was expected to drink it for every meal.
Tessa managed to drink it all down, setting the cup down as soon as it was emptied. “What do you think?” Kristian asked, moving to wash out the cup.
“That it’s definitely going to take time to get used to,” she grumbled. “You should have just started me off on this stuff. I would almost prefer hunting wild game.”
“Maybe we can move out to the mountains sometime soon, and you can have the option of what to drink,” Kristian said.
“That would be nice,” Tessa nodded.
Jared and Calla then joined them in the kitchen. Tessa purposefully redirected her attention to the floor, not wanting to accidentally stare again. “Still no sign of the Calder. Your sister and Morgan are out with a few others scouting their last known whereabouts. Maybe we’ll finally get a break from them for a while.”
“We took out several of their people. Unfortunately, we’re in a similar situation. I have no idea how we’re going to replace the people without actually creating new vampires,” Kristian sighed.
“True,” Jared frowned.
“In the meantime, we need to focus on strengthening ourselves. If you guys are ready to go, we can head down to the basement for Tessa and Calla to practice.”
Jared nodded, and they all moved from the apartment. As they walked down the hallway, Tessa’s eyes widened when she realized where they were heading. The elevator. Think about it, Tessa, if you can just get through this ride, you really can get through it all. Nothing could be worse than riding in an elevator with a human witch at this early in her vampire life. Take it in stride, like Kristian had talked about.
Tessa could do it, she knew she could. It was really as simple as not doing it. They stepped onto the elevator and she crossed her arms tightly. Her nails dug into her own arms as the metal doors closed. Jared and Kristian next to one another, chatting idly about possible ways to attract possible rogue vampires within the city. As hard as she could, Tessa couldn’t focus on their conversation. She had absolutely nothing to add to it, and it was hard to process everything they were saying and keep up with the conversation.
Her eyes fixated on the line of numbers above the door, watching as the light slowly moved down one number at a time. Tessa sang a song in her head to try and drowned out the near deafening sound of Calla’s heart beating. The lyrics of the song started to jumble together, the more the scent of the blood surrounded her. She found herself in an almost trance like state as she listened to the steady rhythm. It was like a siren call beckoning her into dark, murky waters. The rest of the car ride went by in a blur, Tessa remaining completely captivated by the scent of Calla’s blood.
When the elevator came to a stop, Kristian and Jared were the first to move from the metal box. In a snap decision, Tessa pulled Calla into her, ripping her from Jared’s hold and pressed the button to close the doors. In the next second, Tessa’s fangs were piercing Calla’s neck. “Tessa, no!” Kristian cried from outside the doors. Calla tried to pull away from Tessa, but she couldn’t even budge in Tessa’s hold.
A sweet spice lingered in Calla’s delicious and warm blood, making it that much more satisfying to drink. The men were peeling the door open just as they closed together. Jared shoved them apart and immediately dove into the elevator. Tessa was latched to Calla’s neck, her arms locked around her to keep her from fighting back. Jared and Kristian worked together to pry Tessa’s arms off of Calla.
“You have to stop, Tessa,” Kristian demanded. “You’re not going to know when to stop.”
She didn’t budge, though. Trapped in place by the delicious nectar draining from Calla’s neck. A hand with an iron grip appeared around the bottom of her jaw, clenching the joints of her jaw. “If you don’t let go, I will rip your jaw off,” Jared warned.
With a deep growl building in her throat, Tessa pulled back from Calla and let go of her completely. Her coffee eyes stayed locked on Calla as she retreated to Jared’s arms with tears running down her face. Even though shame was already setting in, Tessa’s instincts wouldn’t let her think of anything but Calla’s decadent blood. The bright red blood trickled down her chin, her tongue running across her bottom lip to try and savor the few drops. “Damnit Tessa,” Kristian breathed, keeping his arms locked around her. His voice cut through the primal urges, knocking her down from the high of fresh blood.
As the elevator lifted to take them back to their floor, Tessa stared in horror as Calla cowered in Jared’s arms. She really couldn’t believe she had done that, especially since they had already reached the basement. Why couldn’t Tessa have just stepped off of the elevator? Or alerted someone she was having a hard time fighting off the cravings? Maybe they would have taken the stairs, despite how many flights there would be, if she would have pointed it out. Would Tessa ever stop being an idiot? It didn’t seem so. “I’m so sorry, Calla…” Tessa murmured. “I-I… I wasn’t thinking. I promise it won’t happen again.”
“You guys promised it wouldn’t happen at all,” Jared snapped at Tessa.
“It’s my fault. I’m pushing her too much…” Kristian defended. Tessa could hear his thoughts, he wished they would have stayed at Nolan’s for another week or so. That he had once again been too frantic about keeping Tessa safe and inadvertently put her in danger. He had been too focused on getting her over the initial cravings and resuming her training with Calla.
“You have tunnel vision when it comes to Tessa, Kristian. It isn’t like you at all. You can’t seem to see how things affect anyone but her. Calla could have died becaus
e of your carelessness,” Jared growled.
“Don’t be dramatic,” Kristian barked right back. “We were right there and almost immediately had them separated.”
“And if the elevator would have taken off? Calla could have been dead by the time we reached the next floor. It isn’t always about what happened, it’s about what could have happened. I warned you about this yesterday, Kristian. Calla and I are leaving,” Jared stated bitterly, keeping his woman tight in his hold as he stepped off the elevator with her.
Kristian and Tessa followed them into the apartment. “Jared wait,” Kristian called after him. “Just stay here, alright? You two can have the apartment for now. Clearly, it was too soon for her to come into the city.”
Jared raised a brow. “Where will you go? Back to Nolan’s?” he asked, a hint of disgust in his tone when he had to say Nolan’s name.
“No, I don’t want to keep his property from him,” Kristian said, shaking his head. “I’ll rent us a place out in the country. Then, once things settle down, you and Calla can come stay out there with us a few hours a day. Just long enough to get her training in. If Tessa attacks Calla again, then both of you can leave and never have to worry about coming back.”
He was pleading. It wasn’t often that a man like Kristian begged. He was used to giving orders and making decisions. Tessa did blur his judgment, however, and it was becoming more and more obvious with each decision he made. It was sweet that he was making Tessa his top priority, but Jared was right. She was giving him tunnel vision. If either of them had thought about Calla’s well-being for even a second before leaving Nolan’s, they would have never left for the apartment. Jared looked down to Calla, “We’ll talk about it and get back to you,” he spoke to Kristian. “We’ll be going to a hotel to stay until you two leave.”
“Fair enough,” he muttered, unlocking the door and walking into the apartment.
* * *
By the time Kristian’s made arrangements for them to stay out in the country, Tessa was in a complete funk. Guilt and shame completely consumed her entire being knowing that a large wedge was now between Tessa and Kristian, and Jared and Calla. Thankfully, Calla was the most forgiving person on the entire planet and agreed to the terms Kristian had suggested. She knew Calla was meant to serve her, or whatever, but that didn’t mean Tessa wanted to treat her like dirt. She thought of Calla more as a sister, someone who is loyal and obligated to help but wants to at the same time. No matter how much they had pushed her and policed her, Calla had always been willing to do anything she needed to in order to help out. How does Tessa repay her? By attacking her in an elevator.
Even thinking of the incident made her throat burn. It had been so delectable and sweet… It made Tessa fear being around her again. What if she couldn’t resist again? She didn’t want Calla and Jared leaving forever because of her stupid, impulsive behavior. The entire situation left her drained. Tessa hadn’t even been able to explore the house, and they had been there nearly two weeks. She opted to stay in bed most of the time, only ever leaving the bedroom to get a bag of blood. She was also well aware that Kristian was upset that Tessa was upset, it was constantly on his mind. He blamed himself for what happened with Calla, but Tessa pleaded with him not to. It was no one’s fault but her own.
She struggled with the thought of becoming a monster, worrying that the painful desire for blood would never go away. Kristian and the others were growing antsy, however, hoping for her to be a bit more trained before they had to encounter the Calder again. She had to pull herself together, if not for her own sake but everyone else’s. The family of vampires had given their all to protect her, losing many lives in the process. Tessa needed to be able to give them her all, and that meant stop sulking and try again with Calla. That was easier said than done, however.
“Your senses really should have dulled by now, Tessa… Calla will be fine. Plus, she’s been pretty frantic the last couple of days about wanting to come see you,” Kristian tried to assure her, rubbing her back as Tessa remained face-planted into the pillows.
“You thought everything would be fine before,” she rebutted in a flat tone. She didn’t feel ready to face Calla, and she didn’t even want to consider it.
Thoughts of pain and remorse flashed across Kristian’s mind briefly, before he refocused on the task at hand. “I know… However, that was a mistake. I… I really didn’t think about Calla being problematic except when you two were very close, like when practicing. Yet I didn’t even think about the elevator…” Kristian sucked in a deep breath. “Look, don’t sell yourself short because I’m an idiot. It’s been two weeks since you last saw her, and you’ve drank nothing but bagged blood. I think you’ll be surprised by just how much easier it’ll be to be around her.”
“Easier? So will it ever go away completely?” Tessa asked, turning her face to glance up at him.
Kristian looked to the ceiling to gather his thoughts. He shrugged, “Well… it’s always there, but you just adapt to being surrounded by it and it’s just… different. It’s like instead of humans reeking of blood, it’s more like a perfume where it’s faint but travels a little. Then, from where we only drink cold blood, the urge to act on that smell is really dampened. You learn to forget the satisfaction of drinking blood. If you’re fortunate enough to ever try it fresh, you’ll be able to appreciate it for what it is without becoming animalistic and killing the poor thing,” Kristian rambled on, his fingertips traveling down the length of her neck. He was reminiscing on the occasions where he tasted her blood to heighten arousal during sex.
“Too bad I’ll never, ever experience that. Being trapped with you for eternity and all,” Tessa mumbled, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips.
“You’re not trapped,” Kristian scoffed, brushing a lock of hair behind Tessa’s ear. “Happily imprisoned, I like to think,” he joked.
Tessa giggled lightly. She couldn’t help herself, he was too charming when he wanted to be. He had been trying really hard during their entire time in the countryside to cheer her up and get her out of bed, but for the most part, she had been immovable. Kristian was a good man, and Tessa knew that her moping was making his mood worse and worse. The longer she remained upset, the more Kristian blamed himself for everything that happened. She found the motivation to sit up on the bed, groaning as she did so. “Okay, okay… I’ll try and be around her,” Tessa finally stated.
“Fantastic,” Kristian grinned, craning his neck to kiss her tenderly, “Because they are already on their way.”
Tessa playfully pushed him, “You jerk!”
“Relax, I just wanted them to already be on the way in case you said yes. We aren’t that far from the city, they could have just turned back around if you said no. Besides, Calla has been begging me to let her come see you.”
Her brows knitted together, “Why has she been so persistent about it?”
Kristian shrugged, “I’m not sure, she wouldn’t say on the phone.”
Part Two
Tessa didn’t breathe as Calla and Jared entered their home, hoping that it would make it easier to be around her. By the time they were all sitting down in the living room, Tessa noticed Calla’s heartbeat was starting to fade into the background. Was it really possible that her senses had already dialed down? It certainly wasn’t overwhelming her like it had before at the apartment, but curiosity burned right under the surface of Tessa’s cool demeanor. She feared that being alone would be enough to eventually crack her resolve.
Calla and Jared sat across from Tessa and Kristian. Even with concern and anxiety swarming her eyes, Calla looked beautiful that evening in a white blouse, high-waisted jeans, and her long, bouncy curls framing her white face. Jared, of course, looked as stoic as a statue with his signature flat expression and calculative blue eyes. They looked more like movie stars than creatures of the night.
“Thank you both for coming out here,” Kristian began, nodding over to them.
Jared nodded, “Thanks fo
r finally allowing us over.”
“So why the urgency exactly? Just anxious to get training in?” Kristian asked Calla in a light tone.
“Well… not exactly,” Calla admitted, biting the corner of one of her plush lips. Jared squeezed her hand to give her courage. “My sister Flora reached out to me again. We went to meet her, along with a few of the elders at a restaurant the night before last. They wanted to meet face to face, and then have me meet you the same way. To try and lessen the ways that the Calder can spy on us,” Calla explained. “They want me to talk to you about actually joining, and leading the Firehavens.”
Tessa’s jaw dropped, completely speechless. Calla couldn’t be serious.
“They said that they want you as their High Priestess. They think it is your right to take the position after your mother. You would of course get the full protection of the clan if you do so.”
“What happens if I decline?” Tessa asked curiously, wanting to know the risks involved.
“That I really don’t know… I certainly don’t think that they would go after you, however they might no longer help you. I know it’s stupid, considering you getting into the hands of the Calder is against their own best interest, but the Firehavens tend to be prideful and stubborn. They might also hope that the vampires are enough to keep you safe, considering they have done very well against the Calder thus far.”
“I see,” Tessa let out in a sigh, and then accidentally inhaled. The scent of Calla’s blood filled her nose and Tessa’s entire body stiffened. It was just as overwhelming as it was two weeks ago. She clutched Kristian’s hand, to which he squeezed hers back and rubbed circles into the back of her hand. His movements were slow and methodical, making it almost hypnotic. Focus on the conversation and stop breathing, Kristian thought. Holding her breath, Tessa tried to free herself from the intoxicating aroma. “What do you think I should do?” Tessa asked Calla, trying her damnedest to listen to Kristian’s advice.
