Cherry Blossom (Vampire Cherry Book 2) (10 page)

That was weird. Not counting Francesca, who had lived and died centuries ago, Ádísa had apparently gone after my great grandma, my grandma, and then me. Did her attacks have some intricate pattern? Why would she have skipped one generation?

Alex held up his index finger. “I may be feeding into the paranoia here, but what about the men?”

“What about them?” I couldn’t tell where his detective brain was going with that.

“Ádísa had issues with the women in your family, but what about the men? She was after your grandpa, right? Then she tried to get your ex. And succeeded.” I didn’t appreciate the reminder of Constantine’s infidelity any more than I appreciated Alex’s self-satisfied smirk. “Maybe she’s after your men.”

Our
men—not only mine. “Dad, have
you
seen her?”

“I’d think I’d remember a tall, blonde warrior princess.” Dad kept his gaze to his plate.

“Unless you weren’t meant to,” Constantine said.

I turned a questioning gaze to him.

He wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “Humans can be mind-wiped.”

Only not always perfectly so. Another vampire could bring the hidden memories back.

“Can you make him remember?” I asked.

Constantine nodded. “It’s relatively simple. We can do it now.”

Dad sat upright, fork still in hand. “Not sure I like the idea of you poking around in my head, trying to dig up memories that probably aren’t even there.”

Constantine’s gaze softened. “Greg, you said you’d think you’d remember a tall, blonde warrior princess.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Nobody said she was a warrior.” Constantine arched a blond eyebrow.

My dad sucked in a breath, tension practically oozing from him. After a heartbeat, his shoulders sagged. “Do it. I’m ready. Whatever you need.”

Before Constantine could work his mojo, Mom grasped my father’s arm. “Tomorrow,” she said. “I know we need to do this, but not now. We’re having a nice family dinner, and Ádísa is dead. This can wait.” I didn’t blame her for stalling.

“No,” Dad said. “We do this now. If this woman did something to me, I want to know.”

Mom nodded in defeat, but Alex spoke up. “If you met Ádísa, whatever she made you forget wasn’t pretty. Keep your blissful ignorance one last night. Enjoy the evening.”

I squeezed his hand. “Alex is right. Eat up, I heard something about cupcakes. Then you go to bed, and we’ll clean up in here. Maybe go for a walk after. It’s a beautiful night.”

Mom agreed with a sigh of relief, and she and my father soon left for bed. My parents still didn’t have a dishwasher, but doing the dishes using vampire speed was a piece of cake for the three of us. Sadly, it lacked the sense of calm I used to get from menial labor in my human days.

“Let’s go get that air,” Alex said, as soon as the last glass was wiped dry and replaced in the cupboard. He tugged at my hand. “You coming, Cee?”

“I think I’d like to be alone for a while,” Constantine said.

“See you later then. Call if you need anything; we’ll be right outside.” Alex went for the door, pulling me after him. I’d come to dinner barefoot, and didn’t bother putting on my shoes, as I followed him out the door.

Outside, Alex asked, “You want to fly, don’t you?”

I did. “How’d you know?”

“You’re fidgeting. I know what you look like when you want space.” He gave me a half-smile. “And you tend to take off, when normal people would just take a stroll.”

I ran a finger down his chest. “What about you? You hate flying.”

He shrugged. “I don’t have to come with, if you need to be by yourself. I can drive around, or do some after-dark hiking. Maybe visit the National Forest.”

I loved him even more for being so understanding. “You sure you don’t mind?”

His mouth found mine, and he nibbled on my bottom lip. “You need your alone time. I get it. Just be back by four, or I’ll come after you.” He narrowed his eyes in a mock-villainous scowl.

“Thank you.” I kissed him again. “I love you.”

“I know.” He smacked my ass playfully. “Now go. Worry that pretty little head of yours till you’re satisfied, then come back to me.”

“Always.” I let him walk to the entrance of the driveway, before I took off. I had no destination in mind. Just needed to feel the cool night air against my skin. And avoid dealing with my feelings.

At least I was practically a pro at the latter.

I ended up perched atop Agape Church. Agape means love in Greek, my father told me when I was a kid. For a long while, I’d thought I’d never have love in my life again. Now I did. I had Alex. I had my family back.

I had Constantine.

I should be feeling a lot happier than I was. Yes, horrible, unimaginable things could come up tomorrow, but my parents wouldn’t allow the past to ruin their relationship. I shouldn’t either. Only, I couldn’t stop wondering why Ádísa had gone after my grandpa, possibly my father, and then Constantine.

I couldn’t stop wondering how much of Constantine’s betrayal—the betrayal that had broken us up more than four years ago—had really been his fault. And if it had been some kind of maker juju Ádísa had put on him, had he really been in love with me since we first got together? And was he still?

The past sucked. Most importantly though, it was over and done with.

I let myself slide down the shingled roof, and fell to the ground, loving the rush of adrenaline despite the certainty I’d land on my feet.

The earth squelched under my bare toes, moist with the anticipation of rain. I decided to make a run for it.

I reached my parents’ house well before four, but Alex was waiting for me outside. I jumped in his arms, and bit the side of his neck. I grazed the skin, and the taste of his blood awoke a new hunger in me. I didn’t want to feed; I needed to reestablish our link.

“I want you,” I said.

“What about your parents?”

“We don’t have to go inside. There’s a shed in the back.”

“And Constantine?”

Any answer I gave would be wrong. I closed my lips over his, to shut him up. I couldn’t think about Constantine when I was about to make love to Alex. I dragged him to the shed, and undid my jeans with one hand while pulling at his fly with the other.

“I need to be rough,” he said.

“I want you to.”

He bent me over a pile of logs, and shoved my jeans down to my knees. A harsh tug, and my panties were gone. The night air caressed my pussy, and then Alex drove inside me all the way to the hilt. I dug my fingers in the wood. Splinters bit at my skin, and two of my nails broke, but I didn’t loosen my grip. I needed the pain. I relished it. Physical pain took my mind off my emotional turmoil.

Alex withdrew and plunged inside me again with enough force to make me lose my balance and scrape my legs against the logs. I could smell blood from the tiny cuts. It turned me on more. “Faster,” I growled.

He found a punishing rhythm that soon had me crazy with lust. The first drops of rain pattered on the roof, the sound not loud enough to cover that of Alex’s flesh slapping against the back of my thighs.

My pussy throbbed, my head felt light, and I was ready to fall off the edge, when Alex bit down on my shoulder, over my t-shirt. The bite was savage, tearing fabric and skin alike, but it was just what I needed. With the first couple of pulls of my blood, he sent me spiraling toward my climax.

I was still floating, still fluttering around him, when he used his hands to rip the shirt open wider so he could lick the wound closed. “You’re mine, Cherry. Say you’re fucking mine.”

The rain had started in earnest now, and the ground smelled of new life. It had always been one of my favorite smells. “I’m yours.”

“
Not his.
You’re mine.” He swiveled his hips and began thrusting even faster. Deeper.

I tried to adjust my position, uncomfortable now that the afterglow of my orgasm was fading. Alex grabbed my hair, and pulled my head back, straining the muscles in my neck. “Not fucking his.” He spat each word out.

I didn’t need to ask who
he
was. “Yours.”

He buried his fangs in my throat, and sucked until my legs felt weak. Then he pulled out of me, and I felt his cum drench the tattered remains of my top and my exposed back.

My body was sated, but my mind was reeling. For all the niceties and buddy-routine, Alex felt threatened by Constantine, and his jealousy was affecting his behavior. That was what all the mood swings were about. Sheena had been right. He and Constantine were only civil to each other because they had to be. My parents’ obviously liking my ex didn’t help matters any.

Worse, I didn’t know how to change that.

All I could do was keep showing Alex he was the only man in my life.

It’d be easier if that were the case.

Feeling dirty and guilt ridden, I let Alex help me to my feet and drape his own shirt over my shoulders. Arms around each other’s waist, we walked back to the house, and to the ground-floor bathroom, where we had a quick shower together. We tiptoed to the basement like naughty teenagers on a school night, making sure to remain completely quiet as we passed by where Constantine slept.

Safe within the confines of our bedroom, I trailed my fingers along the wound on my throat. It was already healing, but still throbbed. It felt out of place.

I didn’t bother with pajamas, and neither did Alex. We lay back to back, but our feet touched. At some point, I heard Constantine say goodnight. I hadn’t realized he’d been awake when we’d sneaked past him.

Alex didn’t seem to hear, and I didn’t answer. For all Constantine knew, I’d already gone to sleep.

A knock on the door me woke me up, and I realized I was ravenous. I did a mental check of my state of dress, and made sure Alex was covered.

“Come in,” I said.

Constantine pushed in the room, holding a tray with baked goods and three steaming mugs. “It’s ten past sunset,” he said. “Kathleen brought us breakfast.”

I nudged Alex, until he opened his eyes. “Food,” I said and sat up, gesturing for Constantine to come closer.

He approached on Alex’s side of the bed and handed him the tray, then lifted one of the mugs to his lips. “Whatever the secret ingredient is, it makes blood taste even crappier than the anti-coagulant does,” he said. “How is it in tea?”

“It tastes a bit like sage. Or old oregano.” Alex shrugged. “Not that great either way.”

My mouth was already crammed with chocolate-filled pastry.

Constantine snatched a croissant. “Finish up, and come find us in the living room. Your father is back. We’re ready.”

That almost made the chocolate goodness lose its yumminess. I had to take another bite to get it back.

“We’ll be right up,” Alex said.

We finished eating, emptied our cups, and got dressed.

Alex came up behind me, and caressed my back. “It’ll be all right,” he said. “Whatever your dad remembers is in the past. She can’t hurt any of us now.”

I knew he was right, but I still dragged my bare feet to the comfy couch I’d spend a big part of my teenage years on. “Good morning,” I said to my parents, even though it was evening. I’d done that before too, after a late night out with my friends. I sat in the corner of the couch, and pulled my feet under me. The comfy pillows hugged my body as if I’d never left, and for a moment it was as though the past six years of my life had never happened.

Only they had.

My father was in his favorite armchair. He looked a little pale, but smiled. “Let’s see what I’ve forgotten,” he said.

Mom stood next to him, holding his hand. “It’ll be fine. Whatever it is, it’ll be fine.”

Constantine set one of the dining room chairs opposite my dad, and took a seat. “Look into my eyes, Greg,” he said. His voice had that deep, unearthly quality it got when he was enthralling someone.

Dad raised his gaze, and his face went slack.

“Greg, no matter what comes out of this, remember you are not to blame.”

My mom bobbed her head in agreement. Having seen what Ádísa was capable of, I hoped she really believed it.

“You’re not responsible for the things she made you do,” Constantine said. “Will you remember that?”

“I’ll remember,” my dad replied in a flat, lifeless tone.

“Now focus on my voice. You and I are the only ones in the room. Nothing you say will hurt the people you love. Be completely honest. Have you met the woman we talked about yesterday? The tall blonde?”

“Ádísa.”

“Yes. Do you remember meeting her?”

“I”—Dad’s face distorted in agony—“don’t know.”

“She’s told you to forget her. Forget everything that has to do with her, hasn’t she?”

My father groaned.

“You’re hurting him.” My mother sounded scared. I jumped to my feet, but Alex stood and took her free hand before I could. I sat on the floor between them and Constantine, and smiled reassuringly at my dad. I wasn’t sure he could even see me, but I wanted to believe my proximity offered him and Mom some comfort.

“It’s okay for you to remember,” Constantine said. “You’re allowed to. You’re safe now. Tell me about meeting her.”

“She said it’s okay?” It was eerie hearing my dad sound so lost.

“She did. She said you can tell me everything.”

Dad nodded. “Okay. I’ll tell you everything. I met her when Gerri was eight. I had to stay late at work. On the way back, I saw a car stopped on the side of the road. A woman asked for help. It was her. Ádísa. I helped her change her tire.”

“I remember that night,” Mom said. “He came back covered in mud, and said he’d slipped and fallen in the rain.”

I remembered too. Mom had yelled at him for practically ruining his suit. The noise had jarred me from my sleep, and I’d padded to their room. My dad’s face had broken into a huge smile when he’d seen me, and my mom had softened. They’d let me sleep between them that night.

“She was pretty,” my dad said. “Beautiful. And she invited me to her hotel room. I said I was married. Had to get home to my wife. Ádísa got angry. Then she…” A tear sprung from his left eye, and I watched mesmerized as it coursed down his cheek to his chin.

“What did she do, Greg?” Constantine whispered.

“Maybe we should stop.” I didn’t want to hear more. Constantine should stop asking questions. He had to leave my dad alone.

“She looked into my eyes, and told me she’d make me feel good. Better than my wife did. She bit me. It hurt, but she said I shouldn’t fight, so I let her. She kissed me, and pulled me down to the ground. She undid—”

“No need for details.” Constantine sounded upset. I didn’t know if he was jealous of Ádísa, or worried for my mom’s sake. “Did you… Did you go all the way?”

“All the way.”

Even though I’d been able to tell what his answer would be, my stomach lurched. Ádísa had mind-zapped my father into fucking her. Into cheating on my mother. I felt sick. This couldn’t have happened.

Dad was all out crying now, the flow of tears at odds with his composed expression. “And then she told me to meet her again the next evening.”

“I thought he was at work.” Mom pulled free from Alex, and covered her face with her palm. A surge of relief washed over me when I saw she hadn’t let go of my dad’s hand.

“Did you see her a lot after that?”

“Every evening for a month. After a while, she didn’t have to tell me what to do. I’d hate myself and still do everything I knew she wanted. Then she’d tell me to forget until next time, and I’d go home. I’d leave the monster, and go home to lie next to my wife.”

“He had nightmares.” Mom let out a sob. “He’d cry in his sleep. I should have known.”

“You couldn’t have,” Alex said. It came out choked, but his tone was reassuring. “
He
didn’t know. He probably felt something was wrong, or that something was missing. Maybe he acted strangely, but his conscious mind had no idea of what was happening.”

Constantine glanced at Alex, brow furrowed. I guess he didn’t expect him to be so insightful. I knew better, and was glad Alex was there for my mom when I was too crippled by shock and revulsion to be of any use. My heart ached for her, but more so for my dad. Recalling the memories was tearing him up inside.

“How did it end?” Constantine asked.

Dad smiled. “She asked if I loved her. If I would leave Kathleen for her. I was lucid enough to say hell no. What she’d made me do… I couldn’t love a monster. Not when I had Kathleen.”

“I’m amazed she let you live,” Constantine said.

“She was furious. Said she’d drain me right there and then. I begged her to let me go. For my wife and daughter. Then suddenly she smiled. She said I could go, and not come back. Said to forget her. That she could wait.”

My head spun. My stomach roiled in disgust at what that woman had done to my family, and that didn’t even allow for the loathsomeness of her having slept with both my father and my ex.

I tried to refrain from lingering on that last part, as Dad went on. “I left. I forgot all about her. The nightmares stopped.”

My mother shook her head. “Not completely.”

“You’ll have no nightmares of her again,” Constantine said. “Ádísa raped you. You did nothing wrong. You’ll remember it all, but it will no longer affect you. Now she’s gone, and can never hurt you or yours again.
Ever.
You’re free from her. And now you’re free from me.”

My dad blinked rapidly and looked around, until his gaze focused on my mom. He pulled her in his lap, and they cried in each other’s arms.

Constantine turned to me, and I saw the toll the whole thing had taken on him. His eyes were red rimmed, his lips tight. He stood, and before I could think about it, I leaped up and hugged him. “I’m sorry,” he murmured against my hair. “I’m sorry I let her get to your family. To you.”

“Not your fault,” I whispered. My whole body was numb.

He withdrew, and Alex pulled me in a tight embrace. “Shhh,” he said. “It’s all behind you now.”

I disentangled myself from him. “It’s not just what she did to my dad. It’s what she said when he turned her down. She said she could wait. Even when I was eight years old, she was planning on ruining my life. On having me turned. Why? Just out of spite?”

“I don’t know.” Constantine shrugged.

“Well, I’m planning on finding out,” I said.

“We need to locate Willoughby.” Alex traced circles on my shoulder with his thumb. “He’s the only one who might know.”

“We can get on it tonight. Now.” Constantine seemed in a hurry to leave, but he didn’t move.

I dropped to my knees in front of my parents. “Will you be okay?” I asked them.

My mother twirled a lock of my hair around one finger, and gave me a warm smile. “We’ll be great. Constantine told us how he rid the world of that woman. She’s gained nothing.” Her eyes still shone with tears, and the neckline of her shirt was soaked, but she seemed to mean in.

“I love you.” I smiled. My eyes burned, but I held the smile in place. We’d deal. All of us.

“We love you too, Princess.” My father smiled too. “And we
will
be great. I feel lighter already. Thank you, Constantine.”

“Think nothing of it.” Unlike my dad, my ex seemed burdened with the weight of the world.

I wanted to hold him again, but it wouldn’t go down well with Alex. “Thank you,” I mouthed. I should say more, but the words just weren’t there.

I thought I heard him say he was sorry again, but his lips didn’t move.

****

I watched Mom and Dad head upstairs. As soon as they were out of sight, I said, “We’re going after Willoughby. Tonight. Constantine, any leads? Where do we start?”

“I suggest we start by scanning the neighborhood. If he is watching, we show him we are not sitting ducks. Odds are he will come to us. I do not believe he was sighted without his knowledge. Not when he managed to completely disappear for months. He wanted to lure us here.”

He could have shared that insight sooner. Along with other things.

I saw Alex nod in agreement. “I thought of that too.”

“Either of you could have said something.” My answer lacked bite. I was too mentally exhausted.

“It’s just a theory,” Alex said.

Constantine got the door. “Shall we?”

Within less than forty eight hours, we’d found out that the ancient vampire who’d orchestrated my turning had been after our family for years, and had raped my father’s body and mind. I was feeling drawn to Constantine on a level I couldn’t explain; Alex had Mr. Hyde moments; and my aunt wasn’t really my aunt, but my grandmother.

Who was also a vampire.

Oh, and we were probably about to walk into a trap.

I needed a moment to process all that, and analyze my dad’s trip down locked-down-memory lane until it made sense to me. And I wanted a sounding board who had no horse in this race.

“You two go. I need to make a phone call,” I said. “I’ll catch up.”

“Walking the streets alone two nights in a row is inviting trouble, especially if Willoughby’s really still around. We’ll wait for you outside.” Or Constantine didn’t want me to be alone after what we’d learned. I’d have expected Alex to be the one to object.

I nodded, and waited for them to leave the house. Then I took a couple of unnecessary breaths, and called Constantine’s private landline.

Sheena picked up. “Have they killed each other yet?”

“No, but I’m tempted to off them both, for different reasons.” I filled her in on what we’d found out, and how much of it Constantine had known for a while.

Sheena snorted. “God! Men who pull that ‘for your own good’ crap drive me crazy. He’s lucky he looks so good.”

I laughed.

“And how’s Alex? Going berserk, every time you and Constantine are within two feet from each other?”

“The paranoia factor keeps rising,” I said, “but we’re still holding strong.”

“Promise you’ll be careful,” Sheena said.

“Don’t worry about me. My guys have my back.”

“Not the part of you they’re interested in. You still promise.”

“I promise.”

“Good.”

I hung up and returned to the living room. The sound of soft laughter drifted down from above, and I let myself hope things really would be fine. If my parents could share a laugh after the evening’s revelations, anything was possible.

I pulled on my sneakers and stormed out. “Ready. Let’s go.” I slipped my hand in Alex’s, and silently prayed it wouldn’t be long before this cloud pressing down on us dissipated. And what better way to speed that process than by finding and killing my maker? The grin on my lips felt slightly demented, but not forced.