Upon Waking (Youngling Series) (9 page)

“Carter…” Harper tore open the door, the look of murder in his eyes freezing Carter where he stood. “This had better be good.”

“Brother!”

A young woman stepped out from behind the bar, a bottle filled with red liquid in her hand. She had an extremely slender build while still managing to tower over Tessa by a good inch or so. Her hair fell to her tiny waist like strands of spun flame, the red so bright it seemed that her hair was actually glowing. The waves rippled and danced about her shoulders, framing an angular face with its small nose and dainty lips. Her eyes though…they were Elijah’s eyes; deep aqua in color with thick lashes. But where he looked at her with kindness, this girl stared at her with something very close to hatred. But the smile on her face was warm and welcoming.

“Rowena…when did you get here?” Harper took a small step to the left, placing himself just slightly more in front of Tessa. Rowena’s smile widened to show off her small fangs.

“I got into town yesterday but you know how it is. Traveling is just so…draining, don’t you think?” She popped open the bottle she held and took a long drink. A small drop of blood lingered in the corner of her mouth till she licked it off. “But then again, you haven’t traveled out of the country in the last century or two. Not since
she
died.” Harper tensed, his hands fisting tightly. “So, I’ve been busy acclimating to the city and grabbing a bite to eat.”

“You know the rules, Rowena.”

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head about me. I was careful. I was having my preferred dinner, not yours.” Her eyes flickered to Tessa then back to Harper. “Aren’t you going to introduce me, big brother?” Tessa stepped out from behind Harper, holding out her hand.

“I'm Tessa. The boys only recently mentioned they had a sister so it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Now the girl stared at Tessa’s hand until it dropped.

“That’s funny…they never mentioned
you
.”

“Rowena, stop it.”

“I'm just saying.”

Tessa forced a small smile then shrugged.

“I'm a fairly new acquaintance of theirs.”

“Right, the pleasure is all mine, I'm sure. Harper, have you seen my twin? I’ve just been dying to get caught up with him. It’s been so long.” Harper visibly relaxed, as though the idea of getting her out of his bar and making her Elijah’s problem was the solution to the little problem.

“I spoke to him only a few minutes ago. I'm sure he is probably on his way here. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he finds you here.” Tessa and Harper shared a glance, smiles tugging at both their lips at the thought of the real reason for Elijah hurrying here.

Although, Tessa had to admit to being happy about the distraction of Harper and Elijah’s sister showing up when she did. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of what her and Harper had been about to do but she didn’t want to hurt Elijah either. And that was certainly what would have happened had he barged into the office. She still wasn’t sure what to do about the two brothers. They were both so different in so many ways that she knew it was going to tear her apart, having to make the decision she knew was to come.

“So
you’ve never even been out of the state?” Nira blew on her hot coffee before taking a long, noisy sip of it. Tessa shook her head and laughed.

“I never really had the chance to, I suppose. I grew up in the same small town and went to college in the city only forty minutes away. I can’t imagine living in Greece and going to Cambridge of all places for college. It sounds like an adventure.”

“Yeah, a very expensive, very pretentious adventure, I suppose. I think it might have been nice, growing up in a small town, being nobody, no offense. My father was quite rich; he even owned the small island I grew up on. Everywhere I went, I was watched and judged. So, when I told my father that I planned to go to England for college then on to the states he demanded I at least go to the college of his choice. I figured, what could it hurt?”

“I'm guessing it wasn’t quite what you were looking for?”

“Oh, hell no,” Nira laughed, setting down her cup. “I was looking for something small and out of the way. Perhaps study art or something along those lines. But Father always gets what he wants.”

“But you’re happy, right? I mean, you’re here now and that’s what really matters.” Nira smiled and nodded. “Well there you go. You ended up getting what you wanted in the end. You just had to take a different path to get it is all.”

“Some detour. Now here I am, studying for a semester or two abroad, making new friends and living my life the way I want to.” She reached up and grabbed the necklace that she wore around her throat, rubbing the pad of her thumb over the silver.

“That’s a beautiful necklace, Nira. Is it Greek?” The girl smiled and unclasped it, holding the chain up so Tessa could see it better. The silver was aged, looking more like an antique that you might pick up at a flea market. But there was something…ancient about it that told Tessa this was no mere trinket. On the silver chain rested a delicately carved pendant showing three conjoined spirals that met at the center, coming out of a triangle.

“This is called a triskelion, meaning three-legged. It is Greek and many other things, such as Celtic and Mycenaean. In Irish mythology it is the symbol of
Manannán mac Lir,
a
sea-god of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He was seen as a foster father of sorts to many…in the tales, of course. Some ancient societies believed it to be the sign of mischief causing shifters, things that could change their shape at will. It’s just a favorite of mine and I happened across this in a little market that I visited once outside of Dublin. It’s…nothing special, but thanks.”

Tessa nodded, watching silently as Nira slipped the necklace back on and tucked it under her shirt.

“So, what exactly are here to do, anyways? I mean, I'm glad we decided to meet up again but what about school and stuff? Don’t you have to study or something?” Both women laughed.

“Of course, I have to study at some point. But first, I need to do the research. I'm heading out later this week to go survey this great spot near Salem. It’s basically the American version of Stonehenge, aptly named American Stonehenge.”

“Oh, right! I’ve heard of that place. I think I went there once on a field trip for school. What does that have to do with your research?” The girls stood and gathered their things, heading out of the coffee shop.

“My research delves a lot into myth and legend, and places with supposedly mystical powers. Stonehenge happens to be one of the most speculated areas in the world. So I thought I would check out its American cousin. Plus, it has what’s called a “Sacrificial Table” that has my interest particularly peaked. You’re welcome to join me, if you like.” Tessa nodded and shifted her bag to the other shoulder.

“I think that sounds great. I'm defiantly in.”

“Wonderful! I’ll give you a ring later this week and we’ll discuss details.”

Tessa and Nira said their good byes and went their separate ways, Tessa heading for the apartment. With everything that had been going on lately, she had needed a friend to talk to about something other than her new found vampirism.  That or the decision she would at some point have to make between Elijah and Harper. If she had to be honest with herself though, there wasn’t much of a choice to be made.

Something inside her was screaming to get closer to Harper, to just chose him and let it be over with. That she belonged with him and only him; Elijah was an intruder and needed to be eliminated from her heart. But she couldn’t help but think back to Elijah’s word. A blood tie would make sense, she had read about those in a few different books during her research session at the library. But every theory had been different. In one, the tie was unbreakable and forever permanent. In another, it could only be broken with the death of the sire.  Another said it could be broken with a series of difficult and dangerous spells; which was she supposed to believe? The only way to know for sure would be to ask Harper. Elijah had mentioned also that it would simply fade with time but she couldn’t be sure.

Tessa found the apartment dark and empty as day slowly turned to night, her roommate having been working the night shift for the last couple of weeks. With a sigh, she locked the door behind her and kicked off her shoes, heading for the kitchen.

A slight scraping noise coming from her bedroom stopped her dead in her tracks, her head snapping up as she focused on the small noise. Her senses became finely tuned in that direction, attempting to pick up any small nuance that she could.

But there was nothing.

No more sound, no unfamiliar smell drifting in on the breeze that carried under the door.

Wait…breeze? The girls were adamant about keeping every door and window locked after what had happened to Penny. They still hadn’t discovered who’d broken in that night but it had scared them both badly. So now, every window was kept locked as were the doors, even if one or both of them were in the apartment.

Tessa rushed into the room, throwing on the light as she went in. The window was wide open, the pale lavender curtains whispering back and forth against the windowsill. She could clearly see the landing of the fire escape and the man that sat there, smiling back at her, a small pocket knife in his hand.

“Elijah, damn it! You scared me half to death.” She walked further into the room, sitting on the bed and crossing her long legs. He swung his lower body into the window, leaning back against the sill. His white hair shown in the moonlight that poured into the window behind him, lighting the room with a soft, subtle glow. “What are you doing here anyways? And how did you open my window?”

“Simple enough, that.” He flashed the small knife in front of his face then flipped it shut to shove in his pocket. “It’s small enough to slide into the locking mechanism and push it open.” His grin widened as he shoved off his seat, landing nimbly on his feet before her. There was an old fashioned cloak of dyed wool around his broad shoulders, the color so deep a blue that it set off the warmth of his skin and the teal of his eyes. There was a strip of tooled silver around the seams, swirling and whirling its way around the warm garment. Beneath it he wore a simple black tunic and breeches that ended in knee high boots, a wide silver belt hanging off his hips.  “Enjoying the view?”

Tessa blushed a deep red, courtesy of the warm vein she had taken on her way home. It had been getting easier and easier as, of late; to simply coax an unsuspected person off the main streets to get a meal and she had found herself partaking of the need more often lately in an attempt to put Penny's worry of a hungry roommate late at night to rest. So far it had worked.

“I was just wondering what the hell it was you were wearing. No offense, but the last time I had checked, no one wears things like that anymore.” He sauntered over to the bed, stopping only once his shins hit the edge of the mattress.

“I was visiting someone and she tends to get a bit…unhappy when I show up looking like your modern men do.”

“She?” Tessa gulped softly, lifting her gaze to slowly meet his, the blush refusing to leave her cheeks. His eyes burned as he gazed at her, his smile not quite reaching high enough. There was something on his mind tonight and she knew it had nothing to do with his outfit.

“My mother.”

“I thought your mother was…I mean-“ He cut her off by holding up his hand, her lips clamping shut before another traitorous word escaped.

“It’s all right, Tessa. I know that Harper filled you in on our happy little family story. “

“He didn’t tell me everything to be honest. Mostly, he just told me about how he became what he is. And that you’re…well, that you’re a fairy.” Elijah stared at her for a long moment then burst into wild laughter, bending at the waist and grabbing his knees as he tried to get control of himself. Confused, Tessa got up on her knees to touch his shoulder. “What-“

He exploded into movement, shoving Tessa back onto the bed and quickly crawling over her until his face was even with hers. If her heart could have beat, it would have been racing a million beats per second. As it were, her chest rose and fell at an alarming rate, a motion left over from her human life. His hand came up and covered her cheek, his nose touching hers.

“I assure you, woman…I am no fairy.”

Understanding shot through Tessa like a bullet and she would have kicked herself if she hadn’t been flat on her back. She tried to push him off of her, growling quietly at the effort it took to merely move his hand from her face.

“Damn it, Elijah, that wasn’t what I meant and you know it.
Fae
…He told me that you were
fae
. Now get off of me.” Instead, he settled down, molding his body to hers in the most intimate of ways, his hips fitting against hers perfectly. From their chests down, every inch of their bodies touched till her toes stopped at his calves. All she could do was send up a silent prayer to whoever was listening that she hadn’t had a chance to change into her pajamas which were nothing but a tank top and underwear. Reaching up, he undid the clasp at his throat and the heavy cloak slid off the bed to pool on the floor. The tunic bunched tightly around his biceps, the material tied up around his elbows. Wrapping around his forearms and stopping at his wrists were silver lines like a tattoo, only the ink seemed to shimmer and glow in the relative darkness of the room.

Elijah watched Tessa closely as she stopped struggling to reach out and trace her fingers along the lines on his arms.  They were delicately thin and carefully inked into his skin, like spider silk. He could see the questions in her eyes; feel the hesitation in her touch. But before she could bring herself to ask the questions she had, Elijah pulled back from her and rolled off the bed. Despite how clumsily it was done, he still landed gracefully on his feet and picked up the cloak in the same motion.

“I should get going. I told Harper I would work the bar tonight.” Tessa sat up and climbed out of the bed, running her fingers through her hair so smooth it down. When she looked up again, he was gone.