Rising Son (The Juliana Lucio Series) (3 page)

“Why do you
keep saying my name? You know M
om, I think I should get some sleep now” he said on the back of a yawn. It wasn’t bothering him or affecting him in the least, he couldn’t be compelled to do or think anything.

“I can’t compel you, it won’t work.”

This got his attention, “What are we going to do? Is that why I felt a tingling sensation? I thought my head was falling asleep, you know like your leg does.”

“What? Your head can’t fall asleep. Christian, focus.  You could feel it, but were able to resist without even trying to?”

“Yeah, I guess. What are we going to do? What if they find out?”

I thought about it for a second. If he knew when someone was attempting to compel him, or just pretending to, this would be extremely handy.

“We’re going to lie, that’s what.”

It was about midnight and Christian was exhausted
. A
fter leaving him with strict instructions not to acknowledge knowing about my existence or anything of the vampire realm, I left him so he could get some sleep. I was making my way down the back stairs and heading for the exit when I caught sight of Ana, waiting by the door. Tonight she was wearing a pair of light gray scrubs and had her long straw-colored hair pulled back into a tight pony tail. I came to a stop before her, but still not getting too close. She was incredibly fast, and I was still unsure of what her intentions were.

“How did you find me?”

“First, I’m not an idiot; I went where your son was. Second, in case you have forgotten, as you seem to have lost your god-forsaken mind; I am your Sire. This means
,
as I explained to you the last time you were going to run away, I can and will find you anywhere you go. And lastly,” she took a menacing step forward as if trying to emphasize her point, “I was here first, I’m on shift tonight, so technically, you found me.”

Man
,
did she look pissed. I had a feeling if it had been
Ana
at home with me when I woke instead of William there would have been no way I would have left. Her jaw was clenching and unclenching tighter than I’d ever seen it, her eyes were already rimmed in black from her anger, and I could tell she was trying hard not to ball her hands into fists. We could sense each other’s emotions because we were connected by blood, and her tension and anger were singing through her.

“I see,” I said swallowing audibly, “have you talked to William tonight?”

“Yes, he informed me of your childish, irate, selfish, un-called for show of anger, and your refusal to allow him to explain the situation to you. Is that what you’re referring to?”

The turquoise blue of her eyes that I loved so much was slowly receding as the blackness of her anger was taking over. They usually turned black with our hunger, desire, or anger, it wasn’t hard to tell what the cause was this time. If we weren’t in public there is no doubt she would have tried to throw me through a wall by now. I wasn’t going to let her intimidate me any longer no matter how pissed off she was; I had been doing that for long enough, and I was pissed off myself.

“Good, I’m glad you spoke with him. That means you know I won’t be coming back. And finding out the people you trusted, that you had grown to care about were really betraying you all along is not an ‘un-called for’ reason to be angry. I’d say it’s a pretty damn good one!”

“We were not betra
ying you!
When
will you sto
p arguing long enough to listen?
”

“Wi
lliam said you two are part of t
he Council, is this true?”

“Yes, but--”

“Is this the same C
ouncil that ordered you to kill me?

“Yes, but--”

“Then I’ve heard enough. You can let the rest of your Council know I’ve erased Christian’s memory. He has no recollection of Victoria, Nathaniel, or of ever seeing me. You can leave him and the rest of my family alone.”

“How is that possible? Victoria couldn’t compel him.”

“Yes, well could Victoria compel a 400 year-old master vampire? It’s done, so leave him alone.”

She eyed me for a second, not sure if she should believe me or not. I didn’t put any compulsion behind my statement, as my sire she was even more sensitive to when I was using it,  so I needed to be careful. I knew she was feeling out my emotions, trying to gauge the truth behind my words.

“Well, since I’ve passed on the message there’s no need for me to go home--, I mean to your house anymore. I’ll get my things later.”

She still hadn’t said anything, and let me pass her as I left. I felt her eyes on me as I walked out the exit, and could feel her lingering sadness trailing behind me. Once I made it outside I flagged the nearest taxi. The driver was an old Middle Eastern man whose scent was wreathed in tobacco leaves. I could smell the underlying sweetness of his blood calling to me.

“Hello, ma’am? I said where to?”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t hear you. The nearest hotel please.”

Attempting to compel Christian took a lot out of me, I didn’t generally feed every day, and already for the second time tonight I was noticing a stranger’s blood. The driver took me to a small slightly rundown hotel about a mile and a half away from the hospital. I paid the driver with the last of my cash and made my way inside the hotel lobby.

Though
‘
lobby
’
was definitely an overstatement, the place was dark and empty of any lingering customers, if they even had any. There was a sign on the desk telling me to ring the bell for service, after waiting around for almost five minutes a young clerk came to the front carrying a greasy slice of pizza in his hand.

“Help you?” he mumbled around a full mouth.

“Yeah, I need a room.”

“We don’t rent by the hour lady, and no cash.” He told me this as he moved a sign around in front of me indicating as much.

“Excuse me? Do I look like a hooker to you?” I was pissed and I was sure my eyes were as equally black as Ana’s had been earlier, but right then I didn’t really care.

“Um, no?”

I glanced at his crooked name tag, “No’s right, Joe, but what I am is pissed off, tired, and hungry. So I suggest you find me a room before I make you my dinner.”

I had started leaning over the counter toward him without realizing it, and the clerk dropped his slice of pizza. My eyes began to trail a bead of sweat making its way down the man’s temple to his jaw, and then flowi
ng along the length of his neck
where I could hear the beating of his heart rapidly picking up the pace. The bell above the door indicating someone had just walked in started to jingle, startling the man enough to jump.

“Honey, did you get us a room yet?”

I slowly turned my head, while still leaning across the counter to see William walking in the front door. He gave the clerk a charming smile and nodded at him.

“Hey, Man how’s it going? Did you find us a room? Sorry if the wife got a little cranky with you, you know how it is when they get hungry.” He gave the clerk a sort of guy code wink and laughed in my direction, while I shot him daggers with my eyes.

“Anyhow, all I’ve got is cash. Is that cool?”

“Yeah man, whatever you got. Room eight, on the end,” he said as he reached below the counter for the room key. William tossed some cash on the counter, which more than covered the cost, and reached for my elbow. I immediately pulled away.

“Keep the c
hange,
”
William told the man brusquely.

Just as we were about to hit the door William stopped and turned to face the guy, “Hey you don’t by chance have some extra blankets do you? You know how it is, wife’s a blanket hog, I’ll probably end up on the floor even.”

“Anything you want man, in the cupboard.”

“Thanks, do you have a hammer in there too? Some nails maybe? I’ve got to nail something on the back of the truck.”

“Yeah, in the cupboard. Take whatever.” He pointed him in the right direction, and when William was finally done raiding the man’s cupboard we walked outside where I immediately turned on him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

He grabbed my arm, turning me back toward the direction of the room.

“What I’m always doing Jules, saving your ass. Now get inside” he said as he held the door open.

“Don’t think you’re staying the night, and you weren’t saving me from anything. I’ve done just fine out on my own tonight.”

He was already on his way to the window and was pulling the curtain shut, he grabbed the hammer, nails, and blanket, and began nailing the blanket over the window.

“What are you doing?”

“Making the room sun-proof or had you planned on doing that yourself?”

He was putting the nails all along the outer edges of the blanket ensuring no sunlight would be able to penetrate through to the room. Next, he went into the bathroom, seemingly satisfied there were no windows he came out with the towels, and proceeded to tear them into long strips.

“What the hell are you doing now?”

He didn’t answer and instead just gave me a look that said he was not happy with me. He went over to the door and started to nail it shut, and that’s when I really lost it.

“I said you aren’t staying here!”

“Well, I paid for the room. That makes it mine, and I say I am; like it or not.”

He shoved the only chair in the room under the door knob then proceeded to nail a blanket over the door. The room would be 100% sun-proof come morning. He pulled off his leather jacket and threw it into the corner of the room revealing a tight black t-shirt, like he usually wore. The kind that showed off his abs and muscular arms so well.
I will not think about that, he is the enemy!
He didn’t stop to look at me as he bent to pick up the pieces of the towel he tore earlier. I was still standing near the door with my hands on my hips trying to figure out a way to get him to leave.

“Now what are you doing? Ah!”

He flashed over to me faster than I could even track and stuffed the smaller pieces of the towel into my mouth, while slamming me onto the bed at the same time. I tried to struggle against him, but it was useless as he pinned me beneath him. He used the long, thin length of the towel to tie around my mouth holding the gag in place. I fought to grab at it, clawing at him, and at the towel, but he grabbed my wrists holding them above my head, pinning them to the mattress while he sat on me holding the rest of my body down.

His strength was far superior to mine. I couldn’t beat him when I was at my best, and I had already been feeling weak. That however, was not going to keep me from fighting. I continued to thrash around, trying to get him off me, my anger at the situation building. I knew my eyes had fully dilated to black because I could see everything sharpening around me. William’s however, remained their deep dark brown with streaks of gold in them. He wasn’t showing the slightest hint of strain as he held me. The only way I was going to get him off me was going to be if I compelled him, and that’s when it dawned on me what he was doing.

I stopped fighting him, and my anger turned to nervousness. I couldn’t defend myself against him.

“Ah, finally figured it out. That’s right, if you can’t speak, you can’t compel me. This time I have you under my control, what I say goes, and you
are
going to listen to me Juliana.”

William was looking at me with a firmness I had never seen come from him before. There was no playfulness about what was going on. I just nodded ‘yes’ in hopes he’d let up on my wrists, but he didn’t, he continued to hold firm.

“Good.”

We stayed like that for another minute or two in silence as William looked me over, his face finally softening a bit. His voice and hold on me still held all the forcefulness it had before.

“I don’t even know where to start with you. I never would have treated you the way you’ve treated Ana and me tonight.”

I started to fight again wanting to argue.

He picked me up and threw me back on the bed again, “No! You’ve had your say. You are going to listen now. It didn’t have to be this way, and if I could trust you to act like an adult, instead of a spoiled child, I would let you remove it. But you’ve proven yourself over and over tonight you won’t give anyone a chance to explain to you.”

I stopped fighting, and really looked at him this time. I could see in his eyes the pain I had caused him, how much I had really hurt him by leaving earlier. Maybe he was right, and I should at least give him the chance to explain. I nodded that I would listen, and he slowly let up on my wrists. I put my hands on my gag to pull it off, and he stopped me once again.

“I don’t think so. It stays, and so do I,” he said referring to him sitting on top of me, holding me down. 

If this was last week, I would have welcomed that thought. I just raised my eyebrow at him, but he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“Jules,” he said exhaling loudly, “I really don’t know where to start . . . I suppose the beginning is always the best. You must understand the only reason we didn’t tell you this earlier is because there are only two other vampires that know the entirety of this. The magnitude of what I am about to reveal to you is the equivalent of treason to humans. Yet, Ana and I both were willing to tell you the truth, all of it. Even before you left us and accused us of betrayal. Jules, I have never betrayed you, and neither has Ana.”

I looked into his eyes and I wanted to believe him. I was so lonely when I lost my family and William had felt so right, but was he too right, was it all orchestrated? I wanted to follow my heart, but wasn’t sure if I should trust it anymore. I didn’t seem to be able to stop myself from putting my hand on William’s cheek while I contemplated this, and ran my thumb along his lips. It was all the prodding he needed to continue.

“Ana and I both work for The Council, but not in the capacity that you think.” He pulled my hand from his face and held it in his lap tracing circles along the back of it as he spoke.