by Martha Woods
“Sorry I didn’t call beforehand, I was preoccupied,” Kristian said as he guided Tessa over to their usual spot on one of the couches.
“It’s alright,” Jared called over.
Kristian’s arm wrapped around Tessa as he relaxed into the couch, “How are things here? Any word on the Calder?”
“There’s not been much of anything since the fight. Veronica and Morgan think the Calder might be regrouping to plan something bigger. But so far, there’s been silence and no movement that we know of,” Jared informed him.
The two men continued talking about it, but it blurred into the background to Tessa. Her eyes were locked onto Calla’s neck, the thumping of her pulse completely distracting Tessa. It was like there was someone else inside of Tessa’s head with her, egging her on to just try the witch’s blood. She didn’t want to, not willingly. It was extremely distracting, though. Then, Calla was moved, Jared pulling her closer to his side. Tessa looked at the dark skinned man, noticing him glaring at her. Tessa looked away, clearing her throat. Calla’s heartbeat still sounded in Tessa’s ears, reverberating through her head like a record player.
Kristian spoke again, “Well, I know it will take some time for everyone to adjust and get acclimated, but it’s good to be back home. Tessa needs to continue her training, anyways.”
Jared’s brow knitted together, “Are you sure that’s the best idea, given Tessa’s condition?”
“It’ll be fine as long as we’re watching them, which we always are. Tessa is well aware of the repercussions of doing something so reckless,” Kristian assured him.
Jared opened his mouth to say something, but Tessa spoke first. “Don’t worry, Jared. I know you won’t hesitate to put me through one of these walls if I attack her,” she said, smiling weakly at him. “It’s not like I want to hurt her.”
“Doesn’t matter if you want to. It’s a matter of if you will,” he corrected Tessa in a pointed tone. “You’re already staring at her like she’s a steak dinner.” Tessa nibbled on her lip, looking away in embarrassment. “Perhaps it’s better if Calla and I get an apartment of our own.”
“Perhaps… Let’s just try our usual arrangement first, though. Tessa does need the training. If Veronica and Morgan are right, we’ll need to be even more prepared than last time,” Kristian countered.
“Calla can’t train her if she can’t get close to Tessa, Kristian...” Jared replied meekly.
“I said let’s try,” Kristian immediately rebutted. “I know this situation isn’t the best and that it is dangerous. We’re both here with them, though. We have to get Tessa exposed to the temptations while keeping her in a safe environment.”
“Seems like Calla is the only one taking risks, yet again,” Jared fired back.
A silence fell over the room then. Guilt gnawed at Tessa. She hadn’t even thought about it like that. Living there all together really was solely benefitting Tessa, and Calla was some sort of guinea pig to see if Tessa could resist attacking her. Was it really fair of them to ask Calla to risk her life like that, especially all they had just put her through? “I think because you’re sleeping with her, you forget that she isn’t our equal,” Kristian stated, a bitter bite to his voice. His eyes slid to Calla, “I appreciate all you’ve done and I do trust you now. However, you still serve Tessa. So when it comes to her, whatever utilizes you in her best interest is what you’re going to do. Both of you need to understand that.”
Jared’s jaw clenched and his eyes averted as he tried to compose himself. Finally, his icy eyes returned to Kristian, “Fine, but I won’t standby if anyone tries to hurt to her. We will leave if it becomes a problem.”
Kristian stared back at Jared, waiting a few moments before simply responding, “Understood. Let’s just take it easy tonight, and tomorrow evening, you guys can start training again,” he said, putting an arm around Tessa.
Tessa gave a gentle nod. Her foot began to tap as she tried to ignore the incessant sound of Calla’s heart beating.
* * *
Even though distance had always been the one way Tessa could block out thoughts, the sound of Calla’s heart beating traveled down the hall of the apartment. Even with a pillow over her head, she could still hear every little patter of Calla’s heart. She told herself repeatedly to just ignore it, or treat it like a metronome to fall asleep to. But that other part of her, a new and animalistic part, wouldn’t let her shake it. Going against her own wishes, Tessa found herself laying there, contemplating how to get Calla’s blood—voluntarily and by force. Jared was a serious problem either way, even if she could manage to do it under Kristian’s nose. He was stronger than any other vampire she had seen, and knew she would be in for a world of hurt if she crossed any kind of boundary. He had made that clear in his little speech earlier.
She even thought of acting ill and hoping that they would think of using her blood to heal her. That was just an evil thing to do.Why in the hell couldn’t she get it off her mind, even for a minute? Was it always going to be like this, and the other vampires had just learned to cope with it? Tessa didn’t think she could. These insane cravings had to go away. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. Thankfully, Tessa found some relief when she finally passed out from exhaustion. Her dreams, however, only amplified the desire. Fantasies of drinking human blood played like strange, gothic films. The dreams were silent other than the sounds of the people’s hearts.
Tessa awoke when she felt the weight on the bed shift. Her eyes fluttered open to see Kristian pulling on his clothes next to the bed. He glanced over his shoulder at her with a smirk on his tired face. Moving over to her, he hovered over her and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Good evening,” he greeted as he pulled back, brushing a few loose strands from her face.
“Evening,” Tessa replied, rubbing her sleepy eyes before glancing sight of the clock. At least she had managed to get a few hours of sleep.
“Feeling any better today?” he asked, buttoning his shirt the rest of the way.
Tessa buried her face in the pillow, “I don’t think so.” Calla’s heartbeat still sounded in the distance.
Kristian rubbed her back. “It’s going to get easier, I promise. Just take it one day at a time.”
She groaned and sat up, “I just want it to be over already. I can’t take these constant cravings and urges.”
He brought her hip to his, “I can take some of those urges,” he grinned, wiggling his brow playfully.
Tessa rolled her eyes and stood from the bed, “Of course you will. So far that and the whole ‘not dying’ thing seem to be the only perks.”
“And what wonderful perks they are,” Kristian chuckled, standing as well.
She pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and a thin white hoodie before quickly braiding her hair. They started toward the door and Tessa eased knowing that she was going to be trying the bagged blood. Maybe that would ease the desire, at least enough to be able to be around Calla. As they entered the living room, Tessa stopped breathing. It was like being in an ocean of her blood when in such close proximity of her. Her eyes flickered over to the couch to see Calla dozing in Jared’s lap as he played with her hair and talked on the phone. Jared and Calla had fallen into a relationship head first, hadn’t they? It was familiar to Tessa, knowing all too well what such an unpredictable and dangerous lifestyle could do to your sensibilities. She had been fortunate enough to have something real come from the stage of extreme infatuation. Tessa couldn’t help but wonder if anything would come of Calla and Jared. They seemed to go together well and were protective of one another, but anything could happen. He seemed emotionless, and she was a witch. It wasn’t exactly a match made in heaven.
Stop that, Tessa demanded herself. She didn’t want to think so poorly of the people who had given so much to protect her. It was the cravings talking. “You’re staring,” Kristian whispered to her, his gentle hand pressing to the small of her back.
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 because of your carelessness,” Jared growled.
“Don’t be dramatic,” K
ristian 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.”
