“You don’t want anyone to turn you,” Montana whispered and I could see that the idea caused her pain.
The others all stared at me, waiting for confirmation and I nodded.
“I’m sorry,” I added. “And I really don’t think of you all as monsters anymore, I just... I don’t want to be trapped in death. I want to live, to breathe and grow and change. I want to get old and have kids and die happy after a long life... but if I don’t get to do all of that and my time is up soon then so be it. I want to stay mortal. For however long I’ve got.”
Clarice’s touch on my shoulder tightened slightly and she rubbed my arm before drawing back. “I understand exactly what you mean,” she said and I could see a deep sadness in her eyes. She wished to be mortal. I had everything she wanted and she knew why I didn’t want to give it up.
“You don’t seriously expect us to just let you die if something were to happen to you?” Fabian asked incredulously. “We have the power to save you from the clutches of death but you’d rather we let you go? There’s no way in hell I’d-”
“It’s not about you,” I snapped. “This is about what I want. And I’m asking all of you, if you care about me even a little bit then I want you to honour that if the worst happens.”
I held Fabian’s eye and he shook his head in frustration as he turned away from me again.
I released a heavy breath and turned to look at my sister instead.
“Are you sure about this, Callie?” she asked sadly. “We’re so close to breaking the curse. What if something were to happen and we didn’t save you but then we broke the curse a few days later? Don’t you think-”
“Please, Monty,” I breathed. “Just promise me.”
She stared at me for a long time and a tear slipped from her eye as she nodded. “Okay.”
“Don’t look at me like that,” I teased, breaking the tension. “I’m not dead. I’m only saying that I don’t wanna be undead either.”
She cracked a smile as the truck pulled over.
Julius mumbled something incoherent and I shook his arm gently to wake him.
“Is this it?” Miles asked in surprise and I leaned forward to get a look.
He’d parked the truck before a huge farm house surrounded by sprawling fields. There was nothing else for miles around as far as I could see and I guessed whoever lived here didn’t get many visitors.
“This is it,” Fabian confirmed.
“How can you be sure?” Clarice asked. “If you haven’t seen her for hundreds of years then you can’t possibly have ever been here to-”
“I send her supplies of blood and other consumables,” Fabian muttered. “So I know the address. Plus...” he trailed off, obviously rethinking finishing that sentence.
“Plus what?” Miles asked.
Fabian ran a hand over his face as he sighed. “Plus I usually keep a few Familiars around the place. Just so that I can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t need anything extra from me.”
“You spy on her?” Clarice asked in surprise.
“It’s not spying,” Fabian snapped.
“Well why are we all still sitting here?” Warren asked.
“Because she probably won’t be pleased to see me. Unless...” Fabian’s eyes fell on me. “She’d be more likely to trust a human.”
“Slayers aren’t humans,” Julius said loudly. “We’re so much more. We’re stronger, faster, better looking, more powerful, smarter, we’ve got more stamina-”
“What the hell does stamina have to do with anything?” Clarice asked, rolling her eyes.
“Oh you know exactly what it’s got to do with,” Julius replied with a wink and her lips twitched as she tried not to laugh.
“Anyway,” Fabian interrupted before Julius’s list could get any longer. “She will be more likely to trust someone with a heartbeat. And out of the two of you, Callie is more likeable.”
“No one’s more likeable than me,” Julius countered.
“No one’s more obnoxious,” Clarice muttered.
“Fine, I’ll go.” I got up and headed out of the vehicle, glad for the chance to stretch my legs after several hours on the road.
Fabian sped around the truck and stopped before me, frowning at me in assessment before reaching out to touch my hair. I slapped his hand away in irritation, double checking that I was still using the ring on him to quench his love for me.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Just making sure you look your best.” He shrugged as he pushed a hand through his own hair then led the way to the house.
I fell into step beside him and we followed a curving pathway down a long hill which led right up to the front door. The huge farmhouse looked old; it was built with red bricks and big timber beams. Beyond it, on the far side of the valley, I spotted a large red barn with a tractor parked before it. A cow eyed us warily from a field to the left of the building and I couldn’t help but stare at the big animal.
“Why are you staring at that cow like you’ve never seen one before?” Fabian asked, noticing my attention lingering on it.
“I’ve only ever seen pictures of them and I’d always thought they were kinda like horses but it’s just so… cowy.”
“Don’t say cowy in front of Chickoa,” Fabian muttered and I frowned at his tone.
“If my ignorance offends you then maybe you shouldn’t have had me reared in a prison,” I replied but he ignored me as we drew closer to the house.
Fabian knocked sharply and we waited for an answer.
As the lock sounded, Fabian threw his arm around my shoulders and I frowned up at him as he made a huge effort to look casual.
The door swung open and I looked around at the beautiful Elite who answered. Her hair was black and hung in a silky sheet to her waist and her translucent skin shimmered with a bronze tinge to her complexion.
She released a hiss as her eyes landed on Fabian and swung a heavy shotgun up between us.
“Chickoa,” Fabian warned. “Please be careful with that thing near my wife - she’s mortal.”
The vampire’s eyes drifted over me and Fabian tightened his hold on me as I wondered if this display was meant to impress her.
“I’m not your wife,” I muttered, shrugging out from under his arm.
“I warned you what would happen if I ever saw you again,” she growled.
“I know but-”
Chickoa snarled at him and pulled the trigger.
I screamed as the huge bang sounded. I was knocked aside and Fabian was thrown out into the dirt with an oomph of pain. Chickoa advanced on him and I whipped Fury from its sheath, aiming a kick at her elbow and knocking the shotgun from her hands.
I grabbed a fistful of her hair and whirled her around, slamming her to the side of the porch and holding Fury to her throat.
She attempted to struggle for a moment but I increased my hold, growling at her as I pressed Fury against her skin and burning her with the blade for her efforts. She inhaled sharply and stopped fighting me. I pulled the blade back so that it wasn’t pressed to her flesh but kept her cheek jammed against the wooden pillar.
The rest of the Belvederes and Montana leapt from the truck at the top of the driveway but Fabian waved them off to stop them approaching. The right side of his face was half shredded and blood pooled from wounds to his chest and shoulder too.
“You married a slayer?” Chickoa asked in surprise, her eyes on Fabian as he rolled to his hands and knees, wheezing through the shotgun pellets which had cut into his lungs.
“Yes,” he grunted just as I said. “No.”
“Why doesn’t your wife think she’s your wife?”
“Because I’m not,” I snapped, my grip on her tightening. “I was forced down that aisle and Idun bent my tongue to make me say ‘I do’. As far as I’m concerned we are not married.”
“So you’re still up to the same selfish bullshit you were a thousand years ago. Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Chickoa snarled.<
br />
Fabian caught the edge of the doorframe and heaved himself upright. He winced as he looked at the woman he’d once loved. Some of his wounds weren’t healing and I guessed they couldn’t because the pellets were still buried in his skin.
“It’s not the same,” he growled. “I thought I needed human wives to break the curse. We believed that if any of them could give birth to twins then maybe they’d be the answer to the prophecy and-”
“And so you started forcing girls into marriage without giving them a choice in the matter? You’re unbelievable.”
“I like her,” I announced but I didn’t loosen my hold on Chickoa’s hair.
“I take it he hasn’t gotten you pregnant yet then?” she asked me.
“No chance of that. If he brings little Fabian anywhere near me I’ll be cutting it off,” I assured her and Fabian scowled.
“Less of the little,” he snarled and Chickoa snorted a laugh at his expense. “Besides, now we know better. We don’t think the prophecy is about having children with slayer-born girls anymore. And we are close to breaking the damn curse after all. If it works then you will get your wish and you can be human once more... fuck this hurts. Do you have some tweezers to get these pellets out?” Fabian asked.
“So why have you come to darken my doorstep?” Chickoa demanded, ignoring his request for help. But I could feel some of the tension leaking from her limbs since he’d mentioned us breaking the curse. She wanted it broken too.
“We are in need of some assistance. Our empire has been taken over by a psychopath who wishes to allow our kind to feed from the vein once more and she has her followers hunting us. You might remember Valentina?”
“Well if you stick a crown on your head and start dictating the way people should live then you shouldn’t be surprised to find that a lot of those people will end up hating you,” Chickoa snapped.
“Most people hate him,” I added.
“I didn’t bring you down here with me so that you could band together in your hatred for me,” Fabian growled, eyeing me irritably.
“I don’t hate you,” I replied evenly. “Not anymore.”
“I still do,” Chickoa said coolly.
“If I were in your position, I’d still hate him too,” I agreed.
“So he told you what he did to me?” she asked in surprise. “That he turned me against my will?”
“Yes. And I understand why you want to kill him for it. But at this moment in time we do kinda need his help with the prophecy so I’d prefer it if you could hold off on murdering him for now.”
Chickoa sagged in defeat and released a breath. “Fine. I suppose you’d better come in.”
I glanced at Fabian and he scowled at me, obviously unimpressed about the subject I’d found to have common ground with his former fiancée.
I removed Fury from her throat and released her hair, stepping back so that she could turn to face us. She glared at Fabian for a moment then headed into the house, leaving the door open so that we could follow.
I smiled back up at Montana and the others reassuringly as they watched us from beside the truck before following her inside and closing the door behind us.
Fabian stayed close to me and I could hear him wheezing slightly as he took each breath.
“Tea?” Chickoa offered and I nodded vaguely as she pointed us into a wide living space while she headed for the kitchen.
The house was huge and the room we stepped into was bigger than my entire apartment had been back in the Realm.
Fabian lowered himself onto the green couch, gritting his teeth against the pain of his injuries and I started wandering around the space.
The walls were panelled with dark wood and a long window gave a view over the rolling valley beyond. Fences broke the fields up and animals grazed in the different pastures. I spotted horses and sheep and a herd of cattle in the distance. There was no real reason for her to keep such creatures so I guessed Chickoa just enjoyed having them around.
A small stream ran along the bottom of the valley and the longer I looked out over the view, the calmer I felt. This was what the world should have looked like.
I could be happy living somewhere like this.
I turned away from the window and started inspecting the things which lined the shelves along the back wall. There were books and trinkets mixed in with photographs of Chickoa and various humans. I stilled as I spotted a picture of her in a flowing white dress, arm in arm with a handsome man as the two of them smiled adoringly at each other.
“Are you married?” I asked, lifting the frame into my hands so that I could look more closely. The man’s face was flush with life; I was sure he was human and I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Chickoa re-entered the room with two steaming cups of tea and placed them on the coffee table. She hadn’t brought one for Fabian and I resisted the urge to smirk at him about it.
“Yes. That’s my husband, Terry.” Her wide eyes lit with a deep sadness and I placed the photograph back down carefully.
Fabian sat up a little straighter, frowning over at us.
“Is he human?” I asked.
“He was,” she sighed, reaching out to brush a finger over the image of the man she so clearly loved.
“Was? So you turned him?” Fabian asked smugly.
“No,” Chickoa snapped, turning to glare at him. “I loved him. We were married one hundred and seven years ago. And we were happy together for every minute of his human life.”
She pointed at another photograph further along the shelf and I moved towards it curiously. I recognised Chickoa instantly, she was gazing up at a man old enough to be her grandfather with that same adoring look in her eyes. My heart stumbled with pity as I realised what she meant. She’d loved him for as many years as he’d had and had stayed with him until he died a mortal death. I couldn’t imagine the pain that must have caused her.
“I’m so sorry,” I breathed, fighting against the swell of emotion I felt in response to what she’d been through.
“He died thirty six years ago,” she murmured. “And I still miss him every day. But I never would have been selfish enough to pass on my curse just so that I didn’t have to suffer the pain of his loss.”
Fabian dropped his eyes sullenly and I moved away from the photographs, wondering if I should have pried so much.
“You said you wanted my help?” Chickoa prompted as she took a seat in a large armchair by the window. She tossed a pair of tweezers and a damp washcloth into Fabian’s lap and he grunted a thank you as he shrugged out of his shirt and proceeded to dig the shotgun pellets from his skin.
I perched on the end of the couch beside him and couldn't help but watch as his skin began to knit itself back together once he removed each lump of metal.
“We need to recharge our truck,” Fabian said tersely. “And shelter here for a while if you can tolerate it. Plus we could use some-” he hissed between his teeth as he dug a pellet from his shoulder “-human food and water if possible.”
“I keep grain for the cattle and I grow crops as a hobby. I get milk from the cows too. I know how to feed a human and I can do it easily enough. Shelter I can manage as well; I have eight bedrooms here, although you can sleep in the barn.” She glared at Fabian, daring him to object to that and I snorted a laugh as he held his tongue. “I have a wind turbine which generates my power so I can help you with your truck too.”
“Thank you,” Fabian bit out and she raised an eyebrow at him.
“I have a large supply of blood here which you should know as you’re the one who sends it. So you don’t have to feed from your wife.” She eyed the bite mark on my neck anxiously and I cleared my throat, embarrassed by her assessment. I wasn’t some helpless girl being used by Fabian for anything he desired and I didn’t want her to think that of me.
“That was an emergency situation,” I clarified. “It won’t be happening again. And you can call me Callie.”
She smiled warmly and the effect was dazzl
ing. She was insanely beautiful and I could tell she would have been before she was turned too. It wasn’t hard to imagine what had drawn Fabian to her in her mortal form.
“Okay, Callie. I’ll work on preparing some human food and you can help yourself to a bath if you’d like one. I’ll dig out some clothes for you too. How many humans am I cooking for?”
“Two slayers,” Fabian growled and I could tell he wasn’t impressed that he was being left out of our conversation. “Though Julius consumes at least four times as much as you would expect.”
“I’d better go and milk the cows then. Tell your friends to make themselves at home while I’m gone.” Chickoa got to her feet and headed out of the room. I heard the back door closing a moment later and I shifted towards Fabian as he struggled to remove the pellets from his face.
“Let me do it,” I said, holding my hand out for the tweezers.
He offered me a faint smile as he passed them over. “I imagine meeting her hasn’t done much to improve your opinion of me?” he asked.
I moved to perch on the arm of the couch beside him so that I could see what I was doing.
“Well, at least I know you’ve got good taste in women,” I replied with a shrug.
I dug the first pellet from his cheek and he winced as he fought to stay still. I could feel his eyes on me as I worked but I didn’t meet his gaze. When he looked at me like that it made me uncomfortable.
I kept working until all the pellets were out of his flesh but he caught my hand before I could get up.
“I would have given you the world you know,” he breathed and I stilled as he reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear.
“Fabian,” I warned in a low tone. The ring was still blocking his love for me so I knew that this was all him but that almost made it worse.
“I would have loved you and cared for you and made you so happy. I would have lived and died for you.”
I wanted to shift away from him but the desperation of his confession held me still. It was like he needed to say this and I felt like I owed him enough to hear him out despite the fact that my heart beat firmly for Magnar.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 149
