Lailah (The Styclar Saga) (17 page)

Jonah chugged back his shot, and his expression hardened as he clutched the base of the tumbler, setting it down on the counter. “Vampires were human once. Our Pureblood Masters turned us; they infected us with their venom. By the time they were done, virtually everything about who we were before was erased. Our very DNA coding changed, and we became something else—marauders, bound with immortality and abilities to aid us in our subservience. But, like all things—immortal or not—we still have a physical form and we need fueling. We exist on blood; blood is the giver of life, after all. That bit is accurate enough.”

I shuffled uncomfortably, not sure what to say. “Well, looks like TV has mostly got it wrong.”

Jonah filled his tumbler once again. Swishing the brown substance around he said, “People have it wrong. It’s simply a game of Telephone over many years. Humans who encountered Vampires told each other about these beings who they couldn’t comprehend. With no explanation, factual accounts were reduced to stories, and over time became nothing more than myth.” He stopped for a moment, and when he continued his tone was lighter. “The whole Vampires-can-fly thing is a good example. We can’t fly. But perhaps someone, somewhere, saw a Vampire jump a vast distance. The story gets recycled over and over, until eventually that Vampire was flying, not jumping. Stake through the chest thing is right though, so don’t try to test that theory on me.” He grinned.

“Noted.” I nodded. While this was all very interesting, I was worried about Gabriel. “So where have they gone, do you know?”

Jonah lit a cigarette before necking his drink. “Michael received word from Thomas. They’ve gone to meet him,” he said.

“What?” I stammered. My grip around the tumbler tightened. “Why are you sitting here giving me a 101 on the life and times of Vampires, when you know that? It’s insane! It’s a trap!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, for sure. They know Thomas failed to escape and they used him as bait to try and capture Michael back—you know, when they caught me instead.” He snarled. “If he is still around since this little rendezvous was organized, after his attempted desertion, it would only be because they still deem him useful in some way.”

“So why have they gone? Come on! We have to go!” I had already slid my glass along the shiny surface and begun rushing in the direction of the door, when suddenly Jonah was blocking me, his hands on my shoulders.

“Trust me, if they needed us, we would be there. My job tonight is to keep you here and safe. Gabriel’s no fool, he’s got no intention of getting caught in the middle of an ambush. You need to trust me.”

I couldn’t take Jonah’s word for it; I needed to find Gabriel, but preferably with Jonah, Ruadhan, and Brooke in tow. So I tried again. “The second they get near Thomas, that will be it! Why would they risk themselves like that? And how can you sit here while they do? Gabriel saved you, all of you. You owe him!”

Jonah held his cigarette in the corner of his lips, his hands still firmly placed on my shoulders. He puffed out a stream of smoke from his nose and stepped back, surrendering his hands as if I had a loaded gun that I was about to shoot. “We need to know what the Purebloods and their clans are doing. Thomas will know their movements at least. Gabriel’s fully aware of the risks involved, but it’s a chance he’s prepared to take to find out what they are planning. You are forgetting a very important fact: he’s not a Vampire. He has his own talents, and a good plan. He is safe,” he said.

“Then why has he taken Michael and Hanora with him? If he’s so safe, he wouldn’t need them!” I argued.

“He doesn’t need them. They won’t be anywhere near when he meets Thomas, they will be meeting someone else.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.

“A friend, delivering a message from him instead. Thomas’s Gualtiero plans on ending him in the worst possible way; he knows this. There’s no saving him now, nothing we can do for him. But Gabriel can offer him something. Peace in his final moments, in exchange for information. Not a bad deal considering the alternative.”

Jonah raised his cigarette back to his lips, inhaling deeply. “If you go out there, assuming you could convince me to take you, it will end badly for all of us. I’d be right next to him if I thought there was any chance they might not come back.”

There was nothing I could do. There was no point leaving because I didn’t have the faintest idea where they had gone. I had no choice but to sit it out and wait for them to return.

Huffing noisily, I returned to my chopping board and my drink. I gulped the last of the alcohol, hoping it would relax me. Jonah was back by my side; whether it was out of duty or through choice, I didn’t know and I didn’t care.

I took my frustration out on the tomato and Jonah raised his right eyebrow in response. “Your attempt on that tomato’s life might mean more if it weren’t, well, just a tomato…” he said.

I continued chopping. I tried to block him out and let my mind wander. I wanted to see if I could feel Gabriel’s presence, see if he was anywhere near our private tunnel. He wasn’t.

“Gabriel seems to think you are at the epicenter of everyone’s interest. You want to tell me why that is?” he asked, refilling both our glasses, stubbing the remains of his cigarette out and lighting another immediately.

Chucking the greens into the bowl, I maintained the silence. A few minutes passed and he was refilling his tumbler once again.

I nodded toward his glass. “Ruadhan tells me alcohol has a far greater effect on Vampires?” I asked him with raised eyebrows.

He flicked his collar up as he jumped up onto the work surface.

“Careful of my tomatoes!” I couldn’t help stifle a giggle as he nearly sat straight on top of one.

“That’s better! Half a smile! You know the evening will pass quicker if you chill out a bit.”

I thought about that for a moment. He was right. Counting the seconds wouldn’t make them go any faster.

“I work in a bar uptown, I can hold my liquor. Looks like you need an induction though—your pupils are all lovely and dilated!” Jonah said.

I shrugged at him. “I only drink sometimes to sleep,” I said. “I almost don’t even dream.…”

“What’s wrong with dreaming?” Jonah asked. “I miss it. We don’t sleep.” He filled me in on more Vampire particulars.

“My dreams would make even your hairs stand on end.”

His lighthearted expression turned to concern. Stubbing out his cigarette, he exhaled the last bit of smoke from his lungs. “What are you, Cessie? I know you’re not human. I’ve watched you, you look at things as though it’s the first time you have seen them. And your eyes … Has Gabriel seen those eyes?”

I wasn’t sure what he meant.

“You really should get another hobby, something other than stalking me.”

He paused, refusing me a reaction. “I tasted you. Your blood is bitter but tinged in sweetness at the same time. You’re some sort of living, breathing contradiction.”

I didn’t answer. The alcohol was doing a fantastic job of numbing me, and I let his inquiries pass me by. I didn’t owe him an explanation, even if I had one to offer. And what Gabriel did and did not know about me was none of his business.

“Who are you?” he persisted.

“Cessie.”

“And who is Cessie?” he said.

“I don’t know, Jonah! I don’t know!”

Tears of frustration started to well in my eyes, but I pushed them back. I was still no closer to understanding what had caused them to be bloodied when I had shed a tear on the patio.

“Hey, hey.” Jonah took my hand and I snatched it back and continued chopping the tomato aggressively.

“It really will all be okay.” His tone lowered as he purred the words.

I refused to meet his eyes. I could feel them boring straight through me.

Would it be okay? I wasn’t so optimistic. How could I be sure of anything when I knew so little?

“Cessie…” He reached for my hand again as I scattered the chopped tomato into the bowl. He caught it, holding it tight, and I felt comforted for a moment.

He guided me in between his legs, which dangled over the counter. “You are unique, Cessie. Clearly everyone thinks so, and I don’t disagree.”

I hadn’t seen this side of him before.

“Thanks … I think.” I bowed my head, not wanting to meet his gaze.

He brushed the loose hair away from my eyes and gathered all my long strands over my shoulder. He fingered my wrist and, slipping off the elastic band, he bent down and tied my hair into a side pony.

As he leaned in, he purposefully brushed my cheek and a surge of electricity ran up the length of my body. My heart belonged to Gabriel, I knew it always had. Yet Jonah only had to touch me, ever so slightly, and my body practically convulsed, willing him to put his hands to better use.

“There you go, beautiful,” he said.

I flicked my gaze up to his own and he grinned naughtily, winking at me.

Sighing, I stepped out from between his parted legs and moved back to the chopping board. The vodka was kicking in, as if I needed it. Jonah’s company seemed to have the same effect on me that the hard liquor did.

I picked up another tomato and positioned it centrally on the wooden chopping board. Jonah jumped down off the counter and stood behind me. “Your buttons are undone.”

His hand moved up my back and glided across the nape of my neck. I lost my concentration and sliced deeply into my finger, only managing to graze the tomato.

“Arrgh!” The blood flowed instantly from the split in my skin.

I spun around to locate a towel, but found Jonah toe-to-toe with me instead. His pupils were twice the size that they had been a minute ago and I knew it wasn’t the alcohol.

He knelt down, his eyes fixated on my own.

Softly at first, he molded his lips around my fingertip, then gradually moved his mouth and tongue down the length of my finger. Rooted to the spot, I didn’t even blink; in fact, I think I actually stopped breathing as I watched his eyes begin to burn. He didn’t take his gaze away from me as he swirled his tongue and lapped up my blood.

As I watched him, excitement stirred inside me. So when he shifted his entire hardened body against my own, I didn’t push him away.

Finally he withdrew, my fingertip lingering at his lower lip.

Engrossed, I surveyed him as he observed the tear begin to heal itself, magically gluing back together. He said nothing. Instead he slid his fingers in between my own, squeezing them so that they were clamped together.

Leaning in until the tip of his nose touched mine, his orbs flicked between hazel and red and his face glowed a little; it was a diluted version of the being I had saved that fateful night.

I remained perfectly still, unwilling to concede first, searching his eyes. He held me there suspended; he was calling the shots and I let him. Our bodies could barely be any closer, as if I were a magnet drawing him toward me.

I knew these seconds belonged to him.

I felt myself becoming hotter, a burning sensation rising from the pit of my stomach. As his lips brushed my cheek, I heard his fangs crack as they fractured into place. They immediately found my neck and proceeded to scrape my soft skin, preparing to burrow their way in.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe I had lost myself in the moment, but there was something inside me that yearned for him to stab me with his fangs and consume every inch of me. I could feel my eyes widening in anticipation and my sockets began to itch.

But the sensation was quickly ended by Brooke’s voice yelling urgently from the doorway. “Jonah! What are you doing?”

Brooke caused the taut rope in between us to snap clean.

I began to remember myself. Jonah didn’t flinch; he remained poised at my throat. Brooke was on Jonah’s back within a split second, desperately struggling to pull him off, but he was far stronger than she was. I grabbed his shoulders and thrust my weight into him, and to my surprise he was thrown backward.

Brooke clutched him tightly, shouting for Ruadhan.

“Get off!” Jonah bellowed.

The counter steadied me as my legs wobbled. His eyes had a few remaining flecks of red swirling in them, but he wasn’t lit up the way he had been on the night we met. He was excited, but I could see he was regaining control of himself and I felt relief wash over me.

Jonah shrugged Brooke off easily, tossing her to the side as if she were nothing. She stared at him, crestfallen, as she saw that his eyes were alive for me, not her.

She stiffened and turned her attention to me, enraged.

I made for the double doors leading to the patio area outside, mumbling something about needing some air.

I learned something very useful in the seconds that followed—a lesson once taught to me by Frederic, the first Vampire I’d ever encountered. It had slipped through the net in my panic.

Never turn your back on a murderous Vampire.

TWELVE

A
S
I
REACHED FOR THE HANDLE
and pushed it down, the sudden force of a thousand rocks hit my back, sending me sailing through the windowpanes. There was no time to protect my face as the glass shattered, slicing effortlessly into my skin.

Facedown, I slammed against the icy paving stones, and it felt as though I were being stabbed with a thousand knives.

No time to consider my options; she had me by the top of my arm, dragging me up.

My vision was hazy in the night’s blackness, but I could see Brooke’s red eyes glowing, and they widened as she consumed the space around me. I was petrified. She was a girl scorned, and I couldn’t see an escape from this. I didn’t know how badly I was bleeding. Riding on a wave of jealousy, I was sure that her intentions had been to only give me a good beating, but I conceded that the smell of my blood might be too tempting to resist—for any of them. The true danger of this scenario hit me square in the jaw: Gabriel had left me in a house of Vampires.

The bone in my arm crunched as she gripped it tightly. Just as suddenly she released it and I heard her hit the floor hard as Jonah pounced on top of her. Two sturdy arms eased my fall as I crumpled. Ruadhan was behind, steadying me. Brooke screamed and wailed as Jonah pinned her beneath him. The noise whirled around my mind, disorientating me.