by Nadia Heaton
Gathering his wits, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and cracked his eyes open again, slower this time. At first, Nobu thought he must be hallucinating. He was surely surrounded by people and machinery, judging by the racket reaching his ears, but the small room he was in now was empty.
He stared around, trying to figure it out. His own breathing and heartbeat echoed loudly in his ears. Waves from what he assumed was the ocean sounded like earthquakes. Somewhere above him, footsteps thumped like thunderclaps. Everything was amplified.
The small room looked like it was part of a ship’s cabin, which would explain the gentle rocking sensation. It didn’t explain why the small amount of light coming in from behind the curtain felt like it was going to blind him.
“Ah, you’re awake.” The door opened, and Rashid walked in.
Without thinking, Nobu launched himself at the vampire. Rashid stepped nimbly aside, leaving Nobu to go sprawling.
“Now, now. Your reflexes may be much improved, but you’re far from a match for me yet.”
“What have you done to me?” Nobu snarled.
“I’ve done you a favor – granted you eternal life. You’re welcome.”
Nobu froze, unwilling to believe what he thought Rashid was saying. “You what?”
“Congratulations, Nobu – you’re a vampire.”
“No. No, I can’t be.”
“I assure you, you are. I bit you. My venom ran through your body, changing it into what you are now. Things will be a bit overwhelming at first, but you’ll get used to it.”
“Why?” Nobu felt numb with horror. A vampire. He’d never wanted this.
“Nothing to do with you, I’m afraid. You simply had the bad luck to fall in love with a witch who has enemies.”
“Where is she! What have you done with her?”
“Nothing at all, other than using the water to dull her powers a bit. There’s no better way to hurt someone than by hurting someone they love. This is perfect, really.”
This time, when Nobu lunged, he made contact. He got in one good punch before Rashid had him pinned to the floor. “Don’t be nasty, now, or I won’t share my food.”
“I’ll starve before I eat anything you offer!”
“We’ll see about that.” Rashid pulled something out a satchel he had slung over his back. Nobu didn’t think anything of it until Rashid opened the top. Then the smell hit him.
It was like flowers and chocolate and the finest wine combined. His body slipped his mind’s control as Nobu snatched at the blood bag. Half of it spilled in his haste to tear into it, but he didn’t care. The blood soothed the aching in his throat like a heavenly balm. Too soon, it was gone.
Rashid was there, offering him another blood bag. Nobu lost track of how many blood bags he went through before he was satisfied.
“There, that’s better. Now, let me tell you a bit about our coven.”
“We don’t have a coven.”
“We didn’t. I’ve never seen the need to join one, but with you… what a wonderful torture it will be, having you so close to Lisette, one of my own. Yes, I think you will be worth the effort, Nobu.”
“Burn in hell,” he snarled.
Rashid shrugged. “You’ll come to see it my way in the end. Like it or not, you’re a vampire now. There’s no going back from that. You’ll need allies of your own kind, to teach you. You certainly won’t find allies among witches, not anymore.”
“You’re wrong. Lisette loves me.”
“She loved a human, but that human is dead. Witches and vampires hate each other, or did she not tell you that?”
“Her two witch sisters are in love with vampires!”
“And you think Lisette will follow in their footsteps?”
Nobu found the defiant ‘yes’ dying on his lips. Lisette may accept her sisters’ relationships, but she had made it clear that she didn’t like vampires at all. Would she reject him now because of what he was?
No, he couldn’t believe that. Lisette loved him. He had to put his faith in that.
“I’m leaving.” Nobu knew full well that Rashid could stop him if he wanted to. Nobu knew nothing about being a vampire. He could feel the strength in his limbs and the heightening of his senses, but it would be some time before he managed to incorporate all of the changes into his training to use his new advantages as an effective fighter.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to. Lisette was a witch. Maybe she could cure him. He was hoping that Rashid would have no use for a vampire who didn’t want to be any part of his coven. After all, Rashid would have to watch Nobu twenty-four-seven to stop him escaping. Was he really worth the effort?
“I don’t suggest going out there. The noise, the light? You’re not used to your vampire senses yet. It’ll be much worse in a city. You should stay here. I can help you.”
So that was what the deafening cacophony of noise was about. Nobu couldn’t deny he could use some help relegating it to the back of his mind like he usually did with background noises. It was just so loud, he didn’t quite know how to ignore it. He wasn’t about to admit that to Rashid, though.
“I don’t want your help with anything. Are you going to let me go, or do I need to fight you?” It was a fight he’d no doubt lose, but Nobu didn’t care. He would never give up fighting to get back to Lisette.
“You’re free to go.” Rashid was giving him a very nasty smile. He even stood aside as Nobu strode past him. He hurried through a passageway and up a set of stairs.
There, Nobu stopped short. He’d figured out he was on a boat, of course, but he hadn’t counted for how long he’d been unconscious. There was no sign of land anywhere. Even if Nobu had been a strong swimmer, he’d have had no chance of reaching land from here.
He turned to find Rashid smirking at him. “Going somewhere?”
Nobu resisted the urge to attack him, knowing it would serve little purpose now. A thought suddenly struck him. If he was a vampire now, he would be a sea vampire, since that was what Rashid obviously was. That mean he was able to turn into a manta ray.
He had no idea how to turn into a manta ray, and he doubted Rashid was going to give him coaching, but it was Nobu’s best shot at getting back to Lisette.
Without giving Rashid any warning, he dove over the side of the ship. He struck out going downward, as deep underwater as he could. Nobu could only hope that his body took over and made the switch.
Swimming was a lot easier with vampire strength and reflexes, but he quickly started to run out of air. Nobu forced himself to keep going down, concentrating with all his might on the image of a manta ray.
Nobu was more determined then he’d ever been, on any mission. He’d die trying to get back to Lisette if he had to, but that was hardly his first choice. Just as he thought his chest was going to explode, Nobu felt his body shimmering. His arms turned to fins, his legs to a long, thin tail. He gasped in a breath of water, feeling relief fill him as oxygen filtered to his brain.
He didn’t have time to wonder at being a manta ray. Nobu took a read on the direction the sun was coming from, allowing him to get his bearings. He headed back in the direction of Spain, determined to get to Lisette.
13
Lisette fought the urge to run after Nobu. She’d never resented her weakness for salt water as much as she did now. Seconds dragged agonizingly by, but he didn’t surface. He said he wasn’t a strong swimmer, and as much training as he had, there was no way he’d be able to overpower a vampire.
Losing her fight against common sense, Lisette ran forward, desperate to get to him before he drowned. A wave splashed against her ankles, and she screamed as the skin was seared painfully. Staggering back, Lisette fell to the sand, cradling the new burns. She scooted herself back, out of range of spray.
She tried to work magic – any magic, anything that would save him – but she had nothing left to give, not with the salt water decreasing her power.
Nobu still didn’t surface. It had been at least
five minutes. There was no way he’d be able to hold his breath for that long. It wasn’t like he swam often. Tears tracked down her face as Lisette stared hopelessly at the ocean.
She’d only just found him, and Nobu was gone. The sun had almost completely set, now. She knew she couldn’t stay here forever. If nothing else, her burns needed treatment. Lisette dragged herself to her feet, nearly crying out at the pain. Running into the ocean had been a stupid idea, but what else was she supposed to do?
Getting back to their bed and breakfast was easier said than done. She and Nobu had walked to the beach, enjoying the stroll through the streets. Now, each step was agony. As soon as she could, Lisette flagged down a taxi.
He didn’t speak English, but she had the address of the bed and breakfast written down – something she and Nobu had quickly learned to do – and handed it over. He asked her concerned questions the whole way, no doubt seeing her burns. Lisette stared blankly out of the window.
It was only when she realized the taxi driver wasn’t taking her to the hospital that she came out of her semi-stupor. “No! Hey, I don’t need the hospital, you’re not taking me there.” She glared at the offending building, which was coming up fast.
He turned to face her and gestured to her burned feet and arm. Lisette cut off his explanations.
“No.” She shook her head firmly and shook the paper with the bed and breakfast address under his nose. “Here. I want to go here, or I’ll get another taxi.” She pointed angrily at another passing taxi. He sighed in defeat and modified his route.
Lisette finally staggered out of the car, not bothering to wait for her change. She didn’t respond to any questions from the staff, heading straight to her room and locking her door. If she could have, she would have teleported herself here, but it would take several hours for her magic to regenerate after what happened.
Or maybe more than that. Grief also weakened magic, which meant her powers may be out of commission for longer than a simple salt water burn would usually warrant. Steeling her resolve, Lisette shuffled over to Nobu’s adjoined room. It didn’t take her long to find his extensive first aid supplies.
Everything was carefully labelled and organized. She winced as she spread a burn salve over her injuries, carefully covering them with bandages, adding extra padding to the soles of her feet. Finally, Lisette flopped into Nobu’s bed.
The tears came back now, with no practical task to distract her from her misery. Lisette’s whole body shook as she sobbed. How could Nobu be gone? She’d never thought she would find someone she wanted to spend forever with. He had been a miracle… and now he was dead.
Lisette had long ago mastered the art of crying herself to sleep. Matters always seemed a little less grim in the morning, at least after a breakup. This heartbreak was of a different type to the much lesser one of ending a relationship, but she clung to her old patterns, hoping they would help, though fearing deep down that nothing would ever really ease this pain.
She drifted off with tears still running down her cheeks. When Lisette woke, her face was stiff with dried tears. She woke suddenly with a gasp, sitting bolt upright in bed.
Everything came back to her, and it was like being slapped in the face.
No. Surely it was all just a horrible dream. Lisette realized she was in Nobu’s bed. Her movement tugged at her bandages, and she winced. The salt water burns were still here. She was stuck in a living nightmare.
Her head was slightly clearer now that she’d had some rest and treated her injuries, but that only added a new worry, now that her mind was working well enough to spot it. Lisette realized that if Rashid really had found her through Mirabelle, her sisters might be in danger.
She snatched the hotel phone from the bedside and dialed Fleur’s number from memory. It rang five times before Fleur answered, her voice filled with sleep. “Hello?”
“Fleur, it’s Lisette. Are you ok?”
“I’m fine – where are you? We’ve all been worried about you.”
Lisette opened her mouth to reply… and burst into tears. She tried to speak, but her words came out garbled and unintelligible.
“Hey, Lis, it’s alright. Just breathe, Tristan and I will be there soon. We’ll do a location spell on you, don’t worry about giving us directions. Tristan!” Fleur raised her voice slightly, and Lisette was vaguely aware of her instructing Tristan on the location spell.
She choked on her own sobs while she waited. Finally, Fleur was speaking back to her again. “It’s ok, honey. Just tell me what happened.”
“I – Fleur – I can’t –”
“Shh, it’s ok, Lis. Don’t try to talk, then. Just breathe. Tristan is doing the locator spell on you right now. We’ll be there as soon as we can. Do you want me to stay on the line with you?”
“N-No, that’s ok…”
“Alright, then just hang tight. We’ll be there soon.”
Lisette tossed the phone aside after Fleur hung up, not bothering to put it back on its holder. She knew that it would take Fleur and Tristan at least a couple of hours to get here. They couldn’t teleport directly, so they’d either have to make multiple stops, or take broomsticks.
She didn’t know which method they would choose, but knowing her sisters would soon be there was a comfort. She just wished Bethany could come too, but Fleur and Tristan would just be slowed down by a passenger who couldn’t command her own magic, and Lisette was sure they would want to get to her as soon as possible.
Lisette pulled the blanket over her head as she cried. Would this kind of pain ever fade? She swiped at her eyes, but the tears kept coming. Why did they have to walk on the beach? She should have known better than that. Vampires came from the sea, and Spain was warm enough for them to tolerate. She should have thought about the potential risks.
“Shut up, shut up,” she muttered under her breath, trying to get her brain to cease its endless list of recriminations. It hurt too much. Her burns throbbed, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.
Time lost its meaning as Lisette drowned in her grief. She mostly lay on the bed, but sometimes, she got up and paced, despite the pain this caused. It was all a bit blurry. Weeks later, she would remember little of this time.
At one point, one of the bed and breakfast staff knocked on the door, checking if she needed anything. They’d no doubt heard her crying all night, not to mention seen her limp in with serious burns. Lisette couldn’t bring herself to answer, and eventually they left.
She tried to think of something else, but her mind wouldn’t stop dwelling on Nobu. After previous heartbreaks, she’d consoled herself by moving to a new guy and focusing on him. The thought of being with anyone else now made her sick. Nobu had been the one, and now she’d lost him.
Lisette saw the rest of her life stretching out, alone and heartbroken. It was a depressing picture, but she couldn’t see herself ever recovering from this. Once or twice, she drifted off, but was woken with nightmares of watching Rashid pull Nobu into the water.
He must have been in such pain when he died. Drowning wasn’t a fun way to go. Lisette curled in on herself as the tears that had never really stopped began to pick up again. It felt like every chance for anything good in her life was over.
14
It took a couple of knocks on the door to draw her away from her grief, back to the world around her. “Coming!” Lisette stumbled to her feet, wincing, and hurried to the door. It must be Fleur and Tristan.
She pulled the door open, not bothering to hide her tears, wanting only to throw herself into their arms and take what consolation they could offer. She stopped short at the sight before her. This wasn’t her sisters. It was a man in a hooded robe, the shadow of the hood covering his face.
Lisette jumped back in alarm, automatically trying to bring up a shield, but her magic wasn’t recovered yet. She could tell by the pale hands that this was a vampire, and she’d be prepared to bet that it was Rashid, come back to murder her like he’d murdere
d Nobu.
“Get away from me!” she spat. “I’ll kill you, Rashid, I’ll rip you apart –”
The man pushed his hood back.
It wasn’t Rashid. It was Nobu.
It also wasn’t Nobu, though. His skin was deathly pale, and his eyes had a slight red haze around the irises. It was a red haze Lisette recognized all too well. The circles of color showed when a vampire had fed recently.
She stumbled back. “No…” This couldn’t be. Nobu couldn’t be a vampire.
Nobu stepped inside. “Lisette.” His voice sounded almost exactly the same.
Lisette was paralyzed with fear and grief. She’d thought Nobu had been dead, and that was bad enough, but this… Being a vampire was a fate far worse than death. Why couldn’t Rashid just have let him go in peace? Let him drown, not condemn him to an eternal life of damnation?
Nobu reached for her, and Lisette automatically stumbled back. “Stay away from me!”
Hurt crossed his face. “It’s me, Lisette.”
“No, it’s not. I can see what Rashid did to you. You…” She trailed off, unable to express the horror rising rapidly inside her.
“I wouldn’t hurt you.”
Vampire or not, she could see the sincerity in his eyes. His expressions hadn’t changed much. Nobu wasn’t here to cause harm. He looked sad and confused, and Lisette longed to take him into her arms.
She couldn’t, though. She might be able to see pieces of the old Nobu, but his vibrancy and life were gone, sucked out of him by a vampire. Had Lisette thought she was heartbroken before? That was nothing compared to to how she felt now. Her heart wasn’t broken; it had been ripped out and vaporized.
“Can we talk?”
As much as she didn’t want to be near a vampire, this was Nobu. How could Lisette refuse him?
“Yes.” She perched on the edge of the bed, glad when Nobu took the chair rather than trying to sit next to her.
