by Gayla Twist
“Is that how you’ve been spending your time?” I asked, once she’d sent the man on his way.
When she whipped her head around to glare at me, it was like something out of a dream. I felt so drawn to her. It was all I could do to stop myself from sweeping her into my arms and kissing her.
Chapter 4
Haley
I couldn’t believe Dorian was spying on me while I drank from the seedy man. It felt somehow like he had caught me doing something intimate that was only supposed to happen behind closed doors, like changing my clothes or having a bowel movement. And he was so smug about it, leaning there against the wall and smirking at me. Dorian Vanderlind was an infuriating combination of charm and arrogance. Half of me wanted to wrap my body around him and never let him go. The other half wanted to ram a sharp piece of wood through his heart.
“Why are you spying on me?” I demanded, deciding anger was much better than me throwing myself at his feet and begging him to love me.
“Not spying,” he said with a shrug. “I just didn’t want to interrupt your meal.”
“Thanks.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re quite the gentleman.
“If you don’t mind, can I offer you bit of advice?” he asked. Then he kept going without waiting for me to reply. “It’s very nice that you gave that man a life’s calling, but you might want to add a little something about how those puncture holes got on his neck.”
He was right, but it was annoying for him to appear out of nowhere and start criticizing me. Hot guys always thought they could get away with anything.
“Thanks,” I said again, making my voice as droll as possible. “I’ll add it to my list.”
Dorian was still ridiculously handsome with his blond hair and piercing gray eyes. He was literally breathtaking, even though I no longer found it necessary to breathe. I had wondered if my imagination had amplified his good-looks over the last few weeks, but it hadn’t.
“Your hair is growing out,” I stammered as an excuse for why I was staring. The last time I’d seen him, he’d just had it cut short.
“I know,” he said, running a hand through his locks. “It never stays short for long.”
I didn’t know what to say after that. The last time I’d seen Dorian was when we’d kissed. And then I’d told him that I wanted to stay in Tiburon instead of having him show me the wonders of the vampire world. I’d spent so many long days stretched out on my bed, staring the ceiling and regretting those words. I was an idiot.
“So how’s the whole revenge endeavor coming along?” he asked, his voice casual and teasing.
I was about to snap at him, which for some reason was my knee-jerk reaction to anything Dorian said, but I managed to bite back on my words. “Slowly,” I finally stammered.
He nodded, looking thoughtful. “Have you taken revenge on anyone yet?”
“No,” I admitted, letting my shoulders slump. “I’m just…” I struggled to find the right words.
“What?” he asked, taking a step closer and causing my stomach to flip.
“I’m just not sure how to go about it,” I admitted. “Revenge is a tricky business.
“How so?” he asked, reaching out and taking my hand, making the quaking in my stomach spread to my knees.
“It’s just…” I scrunched my face and tried to focus on anything but his beautiful face. “It’s just that there are these kids from my high school that have always been jerks to me. And then right before I died, they… well… they humiliated me. And that’s why I was driving like an idiot and crashed my car,” I admitted. “So I want to make them sorry for being such horrible people, but…”
“But what?” Dorian asked, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.
I knew he was just trying to be nice, but having Dorian hold my hand was exquisite torture. There was no place I would rather be than by his side, but it was also incredibly painful. Plus the whole thing with Tommy tricking me into handing over my virginity and then telling everyone by showing off the blood stain I had left on his mother’s car seat was just too humiliating. I couldn’t tell something like that to Dorian. And then Sheila and Ashley and the Maybe-Lauras were just so cruel. Boys never believed you when you tried to explain how bitchy girls could be. Especially if the girl was at all attractive. Dorian would just think I was the bitchy one for criticizing other females. That’s how guys’ brains worked.
“But I’m worried I’ll go too far,” I confessed. Dorian was giving me his rapt attention and it was making me nervous. “I mean, I’m a vampire, but I’m not a psycho or anything. Killing them all just because they hurt my feelings isn’t the right way to go about it. I just want them to...” I couldn’t even think of how to explain what I wanted.
“You just want them to regret being so horrible?” Dorian suggested. “You want them to realize that being a flock of assholes is not an acceptable way to be.”
I let out a snortle and then quickly covered my mouth with my free hand.
“What?” he asked, giving me a perplexed frown.
“It’s just funny to hear you swear,” I told him. “I mean, you just don’t seem like a swearing kind of guy.” Dorian came off as way too worldly and sophisticated for that kind of language. “Plus no one says flock of assholes. I mean, they are, but it’s kind of a funny expression.”
“Really?” Dorian creased his brow even more. “I thought it was a very modern expression.”
“Um… no,” I had to tell him. “At least not around here it isn’t.”
“Alright, fine,” he said, sounding a little perturbed. “But is that how you feel?”
He’d pretty much hit the nail on the head. But there was even more to it than that, if I was being completely honest. I wanted Tommy and Sheila and my cousin to realize what jerks they were, but I also wanted them to regret not being nicer to me. I wanted them to realize I had value as a human being. But how do you teach someone to have a conscience?
“Yeah,” I told him. “You’re pretty close.”
“Well, why don’t you just tell me what they did, and together we will figure out an adequate punishment?” he asked, giving me an encouraging smile.
The thought made my belly shrivel. There was no way I could ever tell Dorian what Tommy had done to me. He would probably call me a slut and take Tommy’s side. Wasn’t that they way people usually reacted? Never criticizing the boy for his bad behavior; always blaming everything on the girl.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I told him, turning away and trying to remove my hand from his.
“Oh, come on,” he said, refusing to let go and even tugging me back a little in his direction. “How bad could it be? I’m sure I’ve heard worse. Hell, I might have even done worse.”
His admission of bad behavior did not encourage me to confide in him. In fact, it doubled my determination not to say anything. Dorian would definitely judge me and I just couldn’t stand the thought of him thinking I was a slut. Not him.
“Sorry.” I shook my head. “You wouldn’t understand.
“Haley,” Dorian said, sounding impatient. “I just flew halfway around the world to check up on you. I think the least you could do is tell me why you have a vendetta against these mortals.”
“I didn’t ask you to check up on me,” I informed him, allowing anger to replace my embarrassment. “I’m doing just fine. You don’t have to inconvenience yourself on my account.”
Dorian scowled. “I don’t know why you find it so difficult to confide in me,” he said, releasing my hand and turning away. “You’re acting like a petulant child.”
“Me?” I exclaimed. “Have you ever met you?”
Frowning, he turned back to look at me. “Of course I’ve met me. That doesn’t even make sense.”
Letting my shoulders slump a little, I released a weary sigh. I already missed the feeling of Dorian holding my hand. I didn’t want to fight with him. That was actually the exact opposite of what I wanted. But I couldn’t tell him about Tommy and the bl
ood and the bitchy girls. I just couldn’t.
“Dorian,” I began. “Thanks for flying all that way to come check on me and everything, but… I just…” I felt tears welling in my eyes and I had to turn my head away. “I just want to be left alone.”
“But why?” he demanded, his voice coming out so loud that it made me jump. “I am your maker and I command you to tell me what these children did to you.”
“Don’t start with that maker crap again,” I snarled. “You know you can’t command me to do jack.”
He scowled at me. “Who is Jack? That man you were feeding off of? Is that what this is all about?”
“No,” I said, refraining from adding the words you idiot. “It’s an expression. You know. Like jack shit.”
Dorian shook his head. I obviously wasn’t making sense to him. “Your language sometimes truly baffles me.”
Oh, great. He thought I had a potty mouth. It sounded like he was all prepped to turn up his nose and call me a slut. I glared at him. “I was trying to explain a reasonably modern expression to you. What do you want me to say?”
“I want to know why you won’t tell me about your need to seek revenge.”
“Ugh!” I exclaimed. He was such an annoying tyrant. A super-hot annoying tyrant, but that didn’t keep him from being annoying. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“Fine,” he said. “If that’s the way you feel, I’ll go.”
“Fine,” was my reply. I turned my back on him, tears already stinging my eyes.
My chest felt tight with pain and frustration. Maybe I should have confided in him. Maybe he wasn’t the kind of guy who would judge me. Being with him had to be better than being alone and just constantly dreaming of him. If I could just be with him and talk to him every night then maybe he would learn to care for me. I had to at least try. “Dorian, wait…” I said, turning back around. But he was gone.
Chapter 5
Dorian
I should have never come back from Europe. That was my first mistake. Haley obviously didn’t want me anywhere near her and I was making a fool of myself. I’d let my own emotions blind me to hers. I wouldn’t allow that to happen again.
But touching her had been so wonderful. Even the simple act of holding her hand had filled me with happiness. How could I have let myself fall for her in this miserable way? It was really making me question who I was as a vampire. Was I even Dorian Vanderlind anymore? My feelings for Haley were so alien that I didn’t even recognize myself.
I flew back to the castle, my tail tucked firmly between my legs. I was glad my family was nowhere to be found. I didn’t want to see anyone, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to be alone and lick my wounds.
Grabbing a few bags of blood from the kitchen, I hurried up to my room before Jessie’s giant could come lumbering in and ask me if there was anything he could do for me. The moon was still high in the sky. There was at least half the night to fill until dawn. I knew I’d spend most of it pining for Miss Haley Scott. Damn it, she was annoying. Every instinct I had urged me to protect her, but I also wouldn’t have minded giving her a good, hard shake. Not that I could rattle any sense into her head.
I really couldn’t understand why she refused to confide in me. Revenge was a natural instinct for vampires. Something about the process of changing from living to undead heightened the need for it in most of us. I found it admirable that Haley used so much restraint. She was surprisingly introspective, both as a mortal and as a vampire. Damn it, I said to myself, realizing that this display of character made her even more attractive to me. She was making me insane without even trying. How would I survive if she ever actually put her mind to tormenting me?
I changed my mind about my family’s absents. It would have been good to confide in Jessie. He’d been foolish enough to fall in love with a mortal ― not once, but twice ― so I assumed he could at least provide a sympathetic ear. Hell, I would have even suffered through the surly wet blanket that was my cousin Daniel if it meant having someone to talk to.
Completely disgusted with myself, I got to my feet and stormed out of the room. Returning to the kitchen, I started banging around the pots and pans until I drew the attention of the giant. He lumbered in, looking like I’d woken him from a sound slumber. It was probably a rare occasion when he got to sleep at night instead of during the day.
“Good evening, Mr. Wanderlind,” he said, his voice was perfectly neutral, as if it wasn’t unusual for him to find a vampire in the kitchen causing a racket. “Is there something I can help you find?”
“Have you ever been in love?” I demanded.
He nodded his head slowly, not even needing a moment to think it over. “Yes, Mr. Wanderlind.”
“That woman I saw in here the other night?” I asked. “The one with the black hair.”
Hugo gave me an impenetrable look. I suppose he wasn’t used to revealing the secrets of his heart to a bloodsucker. I took his non-answer to mean yes.
“And does she ever listen to you?” I asked, pacing up and down the room. “Does she accept the sage advice you have to offer her?”
The giant shook his head. “Not once.”
I did a double take, expecting him to say more, but when he didn’t, I demanded “And doesn’t that make you insane? Doesn’t that drive you completely up the wall?”
“Yes,” he said. After several moments he added, “But I love her anyway.”
I stopped pacing and stared at the man. “And that’s how they get us,” I said, pointing at his chest. “That’s how they torture us.”
Hugo shrugged his massive shoulders. “I would rather be tortured by her than merely content with anyone else.”
I closed my eyes as his words sunk in. There was the rub. Haley Scott was stubborn and pig headed and a giant pain in the neck. But she was also all I could think about. I had to keep trying to win her. I had to find a way to make her love me.
“Thank you, Hugo,” I said, patting him on the arm. “I’m sorry I woke you. I really don’t need anything. Please go back to bed and I’ll try to keep it down.”
“Good night, Mr. Wanderlind,” he said and then headed back to his room.
I thought over Hugo’s words and shook my head. “Out of the mouths of giants,” I muttered to myself.
Chapter 6
Haley
Dorian Vanderlind was the most infuriating man on the planet. There were a lot of words in the English language that could describe him: conceited, egomaniacal, annoying, overconfident ― the list went on and on ― but if it had to be boiled down to one word, I think infuriating covered it nicely. That word really hit the coffin nail on the head.
Who did he think he was flying in from Europe to criticize me? He was the one that took off and left me to fend for myself. I might have told him that I didn’t need him around, but that was beside the point. He should have known that I needed him. I didn’t know how to act like a vampire. I hated having to make it up as I went.
And what was that hand holding thing? What was that all about? If I didn’t know it to be the exact opposite, I might think that he actually wanted to be with me. It wasn’t fair for him to try to manipulate me that way. I stormed up and down the alley for a bit, my emotions were at war. I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. Dorian was just so damn good looking and just so damn… everything! I was so frustrated that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
I needed to talk to someone. I needed a friend. The only friend I almost had in the whole stinking town was Erika and we’d only been friends for half a day before I was turned into a vampire. But talking to her had to be better than stomping around the alley, raging to myself. I launched into the air and started heading toward her house. It was only after I had been airborne for several seconds that I remembered that I didn’t really know how to fly.
I quickly lost altitude, nearly crashing to the ground. But then I managed to steady myself and stay aloft. I was a bit wobbly, but still, I was flyin
g! I’d never been able to successfully fly before. I’d been able to levitate a little and I was getting better at controlled falling, but flying was tricky. It would have been nice if Dorian had shown me how to do it before disappearing on me. I made a note to ask him for some pointers, if I ever saw him again. I was doing better as I crossed the highway, but I was having trouble maintaining altitude and kept having to dodge power lines and avoid getting snagged on the tops of trees.
I had only been to Erika’s house once, but it was a memorable occasion for me. Mostly because it was the only time a girl from Tiburon had invited me over just to be social. For whatever reason, I had not been accepted by the students of Tiburon High School. It sounded pathetic, but it was true. So Erika’s house loomed large in my memory.
It was interesting that mortals always needed someone to exclude. There always had to be the outsider. If there wasn’t someone who was out, then how would the popular kids know that they were in?
Erika wasn’t like that. She was easily the most beautiful girl in Tiburon. As a matter of fact, she modeled in Asia during the summers. She was very popular, but she had gone out of her way to be friendly to me. Even when the other kids were laughing at me and calling me nasty names. That took a special kind of bravery from a girl.
By the time I arrived at her house, I’d stabilized a little with my flying. I knew I wasn’t cutting an elegant figure as I soared across the sky, but that was Dorian thinking. I was flying. That seemed pretty good to me.
The second story windows on Erika’s house all had these little micro-balconies. They weren’t exactly for sitting out on. I think they were mostly decorative or for flower pots or something. After circling around the house, I figured out the window I thought accessed Erika’s room. I took a seat on the micro-balcony and knocked on the glass.
The room was completely dark. It seemed rather late for Erika to be out, so I knocked again, this time a little louder. A small light went on inside the room. Probably a bedside lamp, if I had to guess. And then the curtains shifted just a little. A moment after that they were whipped wide open.
