Blood Ties (23 page)

“I love you Liz,” he breathed.

I melted. “Me too,” I said quietly. “Please hurry home.”

“I will,
tomorrow. I promise.”

The call dropped and I handed the cell back to Selene. She went off to sit on the leather couch and began flipping though magazines. I couldn’t concentrate. I decided to give it up and plopped down on the couch next to her.

“Are you done studying for the day?”

“Yep, I’ve reached my limit.”

“Oh good,” she said with a tinge of excitement in her voice. “Darn. Michel should have called earlier. What would you like to do now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe a movie?” It
might help me from obsessing about him.

“Wonderful,” she breathed. “Here, we have several.” She reached for the multi-media remote and then flipped on the flat screen. She sorted through movies, asking which ones were my favorites. I settled on “Somewhere in Time”. I’d seen it at least three times but from the look on her face, it seemed to be one of her favorites.

“Come, my little princess,” she giggled as she pulled me close and put my head in her lap. She started sniffling half way through. Myself, I tried not to think too much about it or I’d be blubbering along with her. Towards the end, “Lah-lah-lah” played in my head. The whole plot was too close to home.

***

I woke up the next morning and rolled out of bed, excited. Michael was coming back today. I went downstairs to the kitchen. Selene already had breakfast waiting. She looked like a ghostly June Cleaver in her apron with a spatula in one hand and a plate full of pancakes in the other. She had a huge good morning smile spread across her face.

“I was thinking we’d go down to the beach this morning since it’s a nice day,” she said as I stuffed a bite of pancake in my mouth.

I chewed slowly and then downed it with a swallow of orange juice. “I’m kind of feeling antsy. Could we go out, maybe into town?”

“I wish we could but Michel asked that we not leave the house while they’re gone.”

I stabbed another bite of pancake and shoved it in my mouth. “Why?”

She looked away and shrugged. “He just wants to make sure we’re safe.”

I snorted, stabbing another piece. What could he be worried about? After all, Selene could take care of herself. I’m sure she could probably stop a Mack truck.

I rolled my eyes. “Really.”

“Hurry up and eat. I want to get going.”

I choked down the rest of my pancakes and orange juice then ran to r
etrieve an extra sweater I’d brought with me from my apartment.

The minute she stepped out
of the door into the direct sun, it was hard not to stare. Her skin was translucent, barely hiding the veins and tissue underneath. It was gruesome how you could see everything move under her skin.

“I know it’s not a pretty site,” she said. “It took me a
while to get used to it too.”

I stared at her monster skin.

“I can put some makeup on, but it will still look a little weird in direct sun.”

The brief glimpse of Michael’s hands in the sun had not prepared me for this. I cleared my throat trying to pretend that see-through skin was something you see every day. If I could deal with naked baby mice and half-baked chicken embryos I could deal with this, or at least shove it somewhere deep and deal with the back
lash later.

“No, it’s okay
, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

She
wrapped one arm around my shoulders, pulling me to the steps. “I would be surprised if you weren’t staring. After all, we’re not human.” How nice of her to remind me.

Once we were at the bottom of the steps, we found some large rocks. We crawled up on top of them and basked in the sun.

The ocean was calm this morning. Off in the distance, ships emerged and then disappeared into the fog but mostly I watched a group of seagulls rip at something that had washed up on the beach. They flopped around, making indignant noises when another raced in to push them out of the way.

Occasionally I would steal glimpses of her. “Night of the Living Dead” flashed in my head. No, it was more like “Day of the Living Dead”. I stifled a giggle. She glanced over at me, absent-mindedly playing with her hair. I looked down at the beach at the seagulls. More had joined their friends and they were fighting over whatever it was they were munching on.

“Selene?”

“Hmmm?”

“Would you tell me more about Michael? What happened after he found you?”

She raised her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees.
I waited patiently, watching her as I unsuccessfully tried to capture the strands of my hair that whipped about my face from the breeze coming off the ocean.

“Once he found me and helped me understand ... my ‘condition’, we tracked his Maker and those of his brethren.” She looked down at the beach. “Michel was obsessed with destroying them as they
had done to everyone he loved.

“We tracked these creatures to England. We were too late to prevent what happened. They had decimated a small village
. It was horrific watching Michel tear them apart, one by one. They were no match for the rage that consumed him.”

She watched my expression, probably wondering if she had said more than she should.

“Afterwards, it was difficult. He was depressed. He begged me to release him from this life, wanting to join his Alisé.” She shook her head slightly and her eyes glittered with unshed tears. “I refused,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “No matter how horrific our life was ... or is, I could not end his. Michel is one of the most kind and loving beings I’ve come across, living or immortal.”

She paused, looking as if she were struggling to hold back
more tears. She looked up at the sky, a lone tear trailing down one cheek. “We traveled from place to place. When something reminded him of his Alisé, he’d become a recluse, not feeding … starving himself. It was a long time before he could come to terms with this ‘life’. He tried to reconcile what he had become with his faith, searching for a meaning in all of it. We went on this way for a long time.”

My throat tightened. I looked away.

“You were his whole existence. You can’t imagine how much he loved you.”

I
blinked back tears.  His suffering was over, mine was over. There was no need for more tears. Time to change the subject.

I cleared my throat. “Has anyone else ever found out about your ‘kind’? I mean, for real?”

She twisted her hair around her finger. “Yes, it has happened. We try to blend in, keep to ourselves as much as possible. When someone becomes suspicious of our pale cold skin, the way we move, we contain it before it becomes dangerous.” She touched her forehead.

“I see,” I replied softly, a bit confused with her explanation.
“Are all vampires like you, Michael … and your cousins?”

“No, there are many that have no regard for humans. You are prey to them.” My breath caught and of course, she heard it. “Liz, don’t be concerned, they rarely cross our paths. We would never expose you to any danger from them.”

I forced myself to continue with my next question. “Are there many like Michael’s and your Maker?”

“A few, they put us all in danger. They generally don’t live long. We’re very good at cleaning up after ourselves.” She gave me a wry smile.

I pondered that for a while, wondering how they went about cleaning things up. It didn’t paint a nice picture. I decided to ask a question that had been at the back of my mind the whole weekend. “Has it been difficult for you to be around me these last few days?”

She glanced over and grinned. “Don’t worry, silly. I fed Friday before you came over.”

Well that answered that.

“When do you think they’ll be back?”

“It shouldn’t be any later than early evening. Do you need to study some more?”

I groaned
, “Twist my arm why don’t you.”

She hugged and kissed me on the cheek when we reached the top of the stairs. “How about I make some brownies this afternoon?”

“Ooohh ... I just love brownies.” She laughed.

The day slowly moved forward. After lunch, she showed me the rest of the house. Off the Great Room on the north side was Michael’s office. It looked like a boardroom with all dark wood. The west wall was a giant flat screen. The conference table seated at least twenty. At the east end was an oversized desk and behind it was a wall of matching bookshelves and cabinets, including a built in workstation with three large flat screen monitors. I didn’t ask a lot of questions, I was too shocked. I just did a lot of “wows”.

On the other side of the Great Room were two more offices, each as expensively furnished but smaller in size. One of them was clearly Selene’s. It had that bright airy feminine touch. Xavier and Mathew shared the other office.

She took me upstairs and showed me the room next to Michael’s studio on the north side of the house. Matt and Xavier used the bedroom when they were in town. It was chic modern, something you’d see in a trendy hotel. Next to it was a large storage room.

She took me around the other side of the house, down the hall from her bedroom where I was staying. It was Michael’s. For a bed that was never used, it was more than unreal. It was a four-poster king like Selene’s, but instead of an undersea fantasy, intricate Chinese dragons curled up around the dark cherry wood posts, some stretching out to curl overhead as a canopy with their wings outstretched. Others looked out upon the bed. They were so artfully done it looked as if they could crawl right off the posts. Taking up the whole of the headboard was one single dragon, its body and wings curled up as if it were sleeping. The wood traced its body in a deep relief. The bedspread was made of a deep purple silk with a large dragon embroidered in brilliant jewel colors. I stood in the doorway and let out a whoosh of air.

Selene stood with me, her arm around my shoulders. “Impressive huh
?”

“Yeah, understatement there. Why do have beds if you can’t sleep?”

I looked around at the heavy furniture, carved in the same relief as the bed. There were matching windows like Selene, but the curtains were made of a transparent red silk. Built around the fireplace was an entertainment center. The furniture in the sitting area was in mahogany leather. Across from the bed was an armoire. There were several paintings of emerald green woods and a few Chinese silks.

“We like
to hold on to the fantasy of being human.” She squeezed me. “Besides they’re great for lounging around on.”

***

For the remainder of the afternoon, I spent my time at the kitchen table, oblivious to the world, focused on my books and laptop, occasionally stuffing a brownie in my mouth or throwing back one of Selene’s drinks.

After an early dinner of leftover lasagna, I sat at the table and watched the clock, thumping my pencil on my notebook. I breathed long and hard, staring at the plate of brownies in front of me. If I ate one more, I’d be sick. I looked
across the expanse of the Great Room to see Selene on the patio. She was leaned back in a deck chair, her feet propped up on the railing. She had on headphones and she wiggled her feet and bounced around as she sang to the music.

I perched my head in my hand and watched her for a while, wondering if I should take a nap. Suddenly she jumped up and put her iPod down on her chair. She
came in and smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “They’ll be here any minute.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Absolutely.” She leaned against the granite counter. “How’s the studying going?”

I let out a long breath. “I can’t take it anymore. But I think I’m caught up.”

“Good. Ready for a trip to Québec City?” She had plans for us to take a road-trip together to shop at her favorite stores. I had a sneaky suspicion she wanted to dress me up like a Barbie.

I groaned
, “Please Selene, wait until midterms are over.”

She gave me a pouty look and
looked towards the door. It opened and Michael walked in. I jumped up and threw myself into his arms.

He lifted me from the floor and I wrapped my arms around his neck
, and legs around his hips. He moaned as he kissed me deep, his tongue dipping into my mouth. I explored his with my own. I heard a throat clearing behind him.

“Please ...
,” Xavier groaned. Selene laughed. Michael moved us to the side to allow him and Mathew to pass. Stephen wasn’t with them, thank goodness. It was too creepy thinking of him as a kissing deer. They walked into the Great Room, talking quietly, taking Selene with them.

“Did you finish your business in Sydney?” I asked.

He ignored me. He set me on the table, kissing me, running his hands through my hair and down my back.

“Geeze …
,” I heard from the Great Room.

Michael threw me over his shoulder and headed upstairs with me protesting loudly.
He sat me down on my feet next to Selene’s bed. He braided one hand in my hair and the other moved to the small of my back. He pulled me towards him. He kissed me roughly, pressing his hips against me, the hard line of him pressed against my belly. I gasped when he pulled my head back to arch my neck.