Bound in Blood 1 Clandestine (23 page)

Alexander had a cot slid over next to Beth’s in the dim
room. The bright fluorescent lights were no longer burning
overhead. Instead, there was just one lamp on over by the desk.
The different lighting made the room look less scary and sterile.
Ever since her mother died Emily had loathed hospital settings.
The infirmary room had proven no aversions had been concurred
within her.

Across Alexander’s chest
was a novel laying open; he must
have been reading before he fell asleep. Emily crept over to his
cot and slowly slid the book from his still form. Not thinking,
she closed the volume before looking for a book mark.

Oh perfect
, that’s really rude Emily, she scolded herself. Oh
well, there was nothing that could be done about it now. Out of
curiosity, she flipped the book over to examine the cover. Emily
half expected it to be something on combat strategies, or what to
do in case of a vampire bite. She was shocked at the normalcy
that depicted the cover. Alexander, the head vampire slayer
himself, was reading a first edition copy of
Little Women
. What
was it with the slayer men? Did they all enjoy reading what was
stereo-typically considered to be chick lit?

Without a chance of stopping it, a giggle escaped Emily’s
lips. Quickly she clamped her hand tightly over her mouth.
Unfortunately, the deed was already done. Alexander’s eyes
popped open and Emily froze. Ah great, now she had done it.
Waking up Tyler was one thing, waking up Alexander, was
entirely different. She bit her lip waiting for him to say
something. For her part, Emily couldn’t speak. She could have at
least said she was sorry for disturbing him, but shecouldn’t even
manage that. Her hand was still pressed over her mouth like an
idiot. Quickly she dropped it to her side and put the book down
on the nearby table. The action made her look as though she just
got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

The corners of Alexander’s lips twitched. “You find
something funny about
Little Women
young lady?” He sat up in
one fluid graceful movement, with seemingly no effort at all.

“Um...
No sir, I mean uh… It’s a very good book,” Emily
replied awkwardly stuttering like a moron.
His eyes looked amused by her shame. “Emily, I’ve told
you to refer to me as Alexander. I may be your elder and
superior in command, but we attempt to avoid formalities here
where ever possible.”
She shifted uneasily. “Right. Sorry, I’ll try and remember,
Alexander.” Emily said softly, her face turning a bright hot red.
Alexander stood and moved away from the cot, to move
toward Beth. The wounded girl didn’t look as though she had
moved a muscle since the last time Emily had seen her. She was
however, wearing what looked to be hospital scrubs and all the
blood was wiped off her skin. The color seemed to be returning
to her face as well. At least she didn’t look like she was already
dead anymore. Despite her still unmoving form, Beth looked
much better. If it wasn’t for the bandage over the bite mark and
IV tube sticking out of her arm, she would look as though she
were merely sleeping.
Then as if hearing her thoughts, Alexander broke the silence
making Emily jump. “The girl is resting well. I expect she will
make a full recovery. Her heart is strong and she’s responding to
the transfusion very well.” Alexander gingerly placed two
fingers on her wrist checking her pulse. When he was done he
nodded once to himself in satisfaction with the mental
calculation.
“When will she wake up?” Emily asked in a whisper, not
wanting to disturb Beth.
Alexander moved to stand closer to Emily before
answering. “Her body has gone through a great trauma and has
shocked itself into a deep slumber to protect itself. Young Beth
will wake up when she is ready to return to life.”
Alexander sounded so wise. Sometimes his words made
him sound as though he was from another time and place, far
from this little town. Honestly, he could very well be just that.
Emily was sort of afraid to ask him how old he was. A small part
of her hadn’t believed Sebastian, when he had said that
Alexander was nearly three hundred years old. Itjust didn’t
sound plausible. Despite Emily’s disbelief, she really wasn’t sure
of the protocoland didn’t want to do anything to prove even
further that she didn’t belong there.
“You conflicted with young Ivy this evening,did you not?”
Alexander asked breaking into Emily’s thoughts.
Emily’s mouth dropped open with shock. How could he
possibly know that? “Uh, I guess you could say that. She doesn’t
seem to like me much.” Emily said, working hard to keep the
annoyance out of her voice. Ivy had obviously tattled on her like
a little kindergartner. Figures, Ivy would probably do anything to
get Emily as far away from the slayers as possible, especially
Sebastian. Emily sighed, completely exasperated.
“Ivy is merely intimidated by you. She more than likely
feels that you may steal some of her thunder around here.”
Alexander reassured soothingly.
Emily looked at him incredulous. “Steal some of her
thunder? I don’t even know what I’m doing here. I don’t want
this. I’d give this up and go home in a minute if I could.”
Alexander rested a hand comfortingly on her arm. “Dear
girl, you have been through much trauma yourself in the past few
days. It’s important to relax and find your center. Don’t let Ivy or
any of the others affect your comfort level. You belong here. I
have a feeling your stay will be a long one in our world.” If
possible, his voice softened even more and he smiled warmly at
Emily. “Even if that fate is not an appealing one to you at this
time.”
“I just don’t get why she doesn’t like me.” Emily couldn’t
help the mild pouting tone that came through her inflection. “I
didn’t do anything to her. She thinks I’m after Sebastian.That’s
just crazy. I have no intentions on“
Alexander cut her off, not unkindly. “Emily, as I have said
she is intimidated by your presence here. She is an alpha
personality, especially being the only female in our compound
right now. Miss Ivy does have admiration for Sebastian. While
he is fond of her, it isn’t at the same level of admiration that she
holds for him. Also, you seem to be gaining abilities that she did
not gain so quickly, or in which she hasn’t gained at all.”
Emily’s incredulity returned. “How would she even know
about my…” She stumbled over the word, “powers. I’m barely
starting to discover things that may or may not even be powers?
That’s part of why I came to talk to you. I really need some
answers.”
Alexander went back to his desk in the corner of the room.
“You will find that slayers have ways of tapping into an
instinctual intuition, which regular humans do not. For instance,
Tyler’s ability to think of something he needs as a weapon can
appear to him at his will. Not all slayers have that ability. Kyle
has premonitions about future attacks, injuries and other future
events. Sebastian can teleport from one location to another at his
will.” Alexander stopped speaking and gave Emily a moment to
take everything in that he had just explained.
The extra moment for absorption didn’t make a difference.
“What? Sebastian can teleport like on Star Trek?” Emily was
completely dumbfounded. Although, that would explain how
Sebastian could somehow disappear after he walked her home.
Alexander’s lips twitched,just a little. “Not exactly like Star
Trek, but yes I suppose in a sense it’s something like that.”
“That’s incredible. Do the vampires have stuff like that
about them too?”
“They do appear to have special abilities that make them
stronger. Though they seem to be gifted to the species as a
whole, not by individual.” He rifled through papers on his
meticulously organized desk. “You will find that this world isn’t
what you are brought up to believe. The term supernatural,isn’t
just for books, legends and myths.” He raised a thick brow at
her. “In fact, there are even humans that are gifted with certain
abilities that most aren’t even aware of. Some of those gifts
would tremendously aid in our efforts. Unfortunately, we are
strictly forbidden from revealing our true identities to humans. I
suppose it’s a sort of conundrum.”
Alexander seemed to be trying to convey a message to
Emily. The trouble was, she had no idea what he was trying to
say. It made sense to her that the whole under world couldn’t be
revealed. It would omit panic and chaos amongst the humans.
That would definitely not be a good thing.
It did put her in quite the predicament though. Not telling
humans meant not telling Sam, or even Lucy. How could she
possibly keep such a big secret to herself? Wouldn’t they notice
something was off about her? Well, if she was ever able to
return, that is.And if she couldn’t return, what would that be
like? Emily couldn’t imagine a life without Lucy in it. There had
to be a loophole to the rule, and she would find it. She
had
to
find it. “I understand Alexander. That does make sense.” The
Lucy problem would have to be solved later.
Apparently satisfied with her answer, he moved on to
another topic. “I have already sensed some of your gifts. Can
you tell me what you have been noticing?I don’t mean to be
intrusive. It’s just that it’s necessary information. I hope you
understand.”
Emily took a deep breath to dive in and was cut off short.
Something vibrated in Alexander’s pocket, instantly grabbing his
attention. “Is everything okay?”
Alexander gave her an apologetic smile and reached for the
interruption in his pocket. It looked like a pager of some kind. It
had more buttons though, and continued to vibrate until he
pushed something on its side. “I’m very sorry, but I need to
check this. It’s the…” His explanation was lost as he looked at a
display screen. He blanched and his face went very pale.
Suddenly, his fingers were in motion jabbing at several buttons
at once.
Alexander?” Emily asked perplexed by his shift in mood.
His head shot up as though he had forgotten she was even
there. “Emily… I’m terribly sorry.I’m going to have to cut our
conversation short.” He looked regretful but only for a moment.
After that he was all business. “Will you please go to my office?
I’m calling the others there as well.” He turned his body in
dismissal.
That was bad. Something big was happening. Whatever it
was, had been so bad that Alexander wanted everyone in the
office at the same time. She didn’t argue with Alexander, instead
she just set off towards the direction of the meeting place.

Of course, Sebastian was already waiting when she got
there. He probably had done that weird teleport thing. That was
going to take some getting used to, that was for sure. If it wasn’t
for the situation going on, she would have loved to give him crap
about it. She would say something like…
beam me up Scotty.
That was childish Emily knew, yet she still got a secret thrill out
of what his face would have looked like when she said it. Her
dorkness helped ease her tension over whatever was about to
happen.

As her mind wandered, others started entering the room.
Kyle stalked meaningfully toward Sebastian. Oh goody, Emily
thought dryly. Ivy trailed in after Kyle, even better. Her piercing
blue eyes instantly found Emily’s, and narrowed.

“Isn’t it past her bedtime?” Ivy a
sked her voice dripping
with acid as per usual.
“What’s going on Bass?” Kyle spoke as though he hadn’t
heard Ivy’s remark at all.
Ivy glowered at him, but otherwise said nothing. Clearly
being ignored wasn’t something the other girl was used to. Ivy
marched over to one of the arm chairs by the fire place and
flopped down. Her face quickly transformed to a slow languid
smile as she gazed up at Sebastian.
Was that supposed to be seductive? Emily thought she just
looked like a cat ready to pounce. Maybe that was the point
though. Sickeningly, it was true that some guys went for that sort
of thing, even though it was disgusting.
“Kyle, I got the same message you did,” Sebastian replied
frustrated. “I know as much as you do.”
Kyle matched Sebastian’s tone easily. “Well it must be big
if he summoned all of us in the middle of the night.”
“Just wait and see. I’m sure Alexander will be here soon to
explain.” Sebastian’s eyes fell back on the flames in the fire
place.
Ivy licked her lips considering. “Where’s the new guy? I
haven’t met him
yet
.” There was a heavy emphasis on the word
yet. When Ivy said it, she gave Emily a meaningful look.
“I’m not sure.” Emily replied noncommittally. “When I left
his room earlier he was pretty tired…” Emily trailed off letting
her words hang in the air. She only said it because she knew the
image it would conjure for the other girl. She and Tyler had only
in fact been talking,but her enemy didn’t need to know that
information. The satisfaction in watching Ivy’s expression falter
was too good to resist.
Sebastian’s head snapped up and his eyes locked on her.
His expression was hard and made Emily uneasy. Why was he
looking at her like that? He clearly didn’t think of her in that way
anyway, so what did it matter? If looks could kill though, Emily
would have been six feet under. Sebastian swiftly hid his
reaction, but not before Emily had a chance to catalogue it for
later reference.
Tyler burst into the room like his butt was on fire. He was
still putting his head through his shirt as he entered. Emily got a
peak at his wash board stomach and definitely liked the view.
They may have been just friends, but that didn’t mean she
couldn’t appreciate the merchandise. She snuck a glance at ivy
and saw the other girl was equally appreciative. Stupid Cow.
“So nice of you to grace us with your presence.” Sebastian’s
words were clipped, and his face was like stone. “Maybe if you
weren’t so exhausted from your bedroom acrobatics, you would
have been here sooner.” His implication was thick and he darted
a glance at Emily, before returning his flame eyed gaze on Tyler.
Emily gasped. Even for Sebastian, that was too far. She
couldn’t believe he had said such a thing.
Ivy and Kyle chortled.
“Huh?” Tyler was confused, and rightfully so. He looked as
though he had walked in late to class, only to find there was a
quiz on the menu that he hadn’t studied for.
Emily was saved the embarrassment of having her lie
discovered, by Alexander strolling into the room. He headed
straight for his desk where he promptly took a seat. The entire
room silenced like a classroom full of students, who just realized
their teacher had eyes in the back of her head.
“I’m glad you are all here.” He said it as though he hadn’t
just summoned them all.
“What’s up Alex?” Kyle said.
“We don’t have a lot of time, so your attention is
imperative. Casey has reported in. There’s been an incident.”
Ivy uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. “What now?”
“Casey overheard one of their conversations. They are
displeased with the earlier events of this evening.They’ve
decided to take action sooner than expected.” Alexander looked
weary. His forehead was lined with stress.
Emily couldn’t hold herself back any longer. “What does
that mean?” She began playing with her fingers, as she always
did when she was nervous.
“This doesn’t involve you little girl!” Ivy exploded. “Just sit
there and look not pretty.”
“Ivy,” Alexander said reproachfully. “This is neither the
time nor place for your menial vendettas.”
Ivy actually looked stunned by that. She probably didn’t get
corrected much.
Serves her right, Emily thought smugly.
Alexander continued. “They’ve taken several humans into
their lair. Casey heard them speak of turning the humans, and
using them against us.”
Turning the humans? What did that mean? As soon as the
question formed its thought bubble, she understood. The
vampires were planning to make more vampires. This really was
bad.
The room immediately erupted into a bustle of activity.
Everyone was talking at the same time, making preparations for
the coming battle. Tyler looked over at her with an odd
expression. It was fear, mixed with determination.
Alexander spoke halting allplans. “I’ll of course need all of
you for this. There will be too many vampires and humans to just
send the usual. I muststay here and tend to Miss Thomas.” He
looked sorry for this, but resigned.
“No problem. We can handle it,” replied Sebastian firmly.
It seemed strange to Emily that Alexander would even
consider going along. He was a retired slayer, who had begun
aging again. Didn’t that mean he couldn’t fight? She made a
mental note to ask, when it was a more appropriate time and
place. Either way, if he had thought about going, whatever was
going on must have been epic.
Alexander nodded gravely. “Well children, you better head
out. Casey will be needing assistance.” The older man seemed to
be battling within himself as everyone left the room.
Emily waited until they were all gone and said,
“Alexander?” She raised a hand to place on his shoulder but
dropped it. He wasn’t an intimidating person at all. Just then
however, he didn’t look like he was in a touchy feely sort of
mood.
Alexander smiled weakly at her. “I’m alright child. I’m just
worried about you all. I regret having to stay behind. I just have
a bad feeling about this. Do you understand?”
She thought she did actually. “Do you mean like a cramp, or
gas bubble?” Oh my God! Gas bubble? She did not just say that,
did she? Her face grew hot with instant mortification.
Alexander’s smile grew,but it didn’t touch his eyes. “Yes
Miss Emily,exactly like that.” He shook his head. “I guess I
never really thought about it like that.”
“Sorry,” Emily mumbled, still embarrassed. At that
moment, she would have liked nothing more than to crawl in a
hole.
He waved a hand at her in dismissal. “No need I assure you.
As I was saying, my feeling tells me something bad is going to
happen. It makes the prospect of staying at the compound much
less appealing. We should have planned better. Casey should
have never been left there alone. I should have known they’d be
out for vengeance after one of their own was killed and another
severely wounded.”
Emily sucked in a breath, but was brought up short.
“No no child,it’s not your fault. It had to be done,”
Alexander soothed. “Go now. Your brothers and sister will be
departing soon.”
“Yes sir… I mean Alexander,” Emily corrected. Without
another word, she left to find the others.
The prospect that Alexander shared in her ridiculous
stomach alarm system problem, was kind of a comfort. It was
nice toknow she wasn’t the only strange one. If they had that in
common, did they have anything else? If so, what did that mean?