Christmas Healing (12 page)

“I’ve done awful things,”
Arthur managed and Gregory met his eyes.

“So have we all,
brother. So have we all. Go, I will take care of this.”

Gregory
glanced to Rosa and she nodded, giving Arthur a slight tug. He went, without protest, toward the huge beast of a car that his brother owned.

Rosa
opened the door for him and he scuttled into the passenger seat.

In the driver’s seat, she had to adjust several things, her being smaller than her vampire lover.
But even though the car was so much bigger than her, had so much more power than that which ran through her spider-like limbs, she seemed unafraid. And Arthur thought there was something regal about it.

“You are the
Guard Queen, aren’t you?” he asked carefully, and she cocked an eyebrow, revving the car into drive.

“The
Guards have no queen. If they weren’t such a horrible race of people, yes, it would be me. But I belong to no one.”

Arthur
sat quietly for a moment, thinking of the right words.

“You do a brave thing, consorting with my brother.”

She glanced at him as they pulled out onto the road.

“Yes. But I do not find it so difficult.”

He wanted to ask whether she loved him, whether this was all an act. Wanted to see proof that a mortal and a vampire could be in love ... that what he felt for Annalise was possible. But he didn’t know the words for it, and so he leaned his head against the passenger side window, closing his eyes. He was surprised how much more emotion he felt, being close to the Guard. Being a vampire made you cold.

They drove home in silence, and twice he turned away from her so she would not see the tears that were forming. He felt like all hope was lost as he looked out on the land they passed. Each house had Christmas lights, decorations. There were several houses that had extra cars in the driveway, families arriving to spend time together, bearing gifts of food and material goods.

When they pulled up into the Bugresson house, Rosa did nothing except open the door for him and lead the way inside the house. It too, of course, was decorated for Christmas, and there were even some presents under the tree.

Trying to push away the emotion, he turned to her.

“Do you not have family to go to?”

She looked up from hanging up her coat, surprised.

“Here.”

“Here?” he looked around.

“I don’t have family, unless you count the Guards who share my blood. They certainly don’t. I grew up in foster care, in the system. It was a vampire who paid for my dance education, a vampire who gave me a home when there were no hotels, and a vampire who saved me from a lifetime of street living.”

He nodded, the words running through his mind. He knew her story was grim, and he knew that she had a secret benefactor, another vampire to whom she was loyal. And he also knew she always traveled for shows.

“And no show now?”

She shook her head.

“It’s Christmas. A time to be home.”

She left him standing in the hallway alone, as if nothing was out of the
ordinary. As if he had not just rampaged through town, possibly exposing them. As if his brother was not going to kill him when he came home. To Rosa, nothing was out of the ordinary. She was home for Christmas, and this was her reality.

A time to be at home.

What she meant was with the ones she loved, whether she said it or not. And
Arthur loved his brothers dearly, but the truth was, they would always be there. They had all eternity to be together now that he was awake. And no matter how much he sulked around, there was no way to threaten that eternity. He was Initial, immortal to every threat.

But
Annalise was not. Annalise only had one Christmas left, and possibly not even that.

It took him an hour to gather up the
courage to go to the redhead who was sitting at his brother’s desk, clicking away at the computer. He took a shower, changed his clothes and cleaned the blood, trying not to think of what he did. If he thought about it, he knew that he would lose it. He knew that he couldn’t go to Brock or Knox, for they would not support him. They would not understand this love story. But Rosa, who saw things as they were, she just might. For all that she denied that she loved his brother, she was here and she wasn’t leaving. Maybe, just maybe, she would understand the need to be with the one you loved on Christmas.

He gathered up all the paper money and coins from his desk. It was left over from when they went shopping.
He also took down the map Annalise had put up in his room, where she had circled her home town.

Creeping down the stairs to
Gregory’s desk, he knocked on the door.

Rosa
spun around in the chair.

“What?
You feeling rampage-y again? Gregory will be home in an hour.”

“Please,”
Arthur took a few cautious steps towards her, his heart thumping in his chest. He felt so nervous he thought he might be sick, a long forgotten feeling. “Please, help me.”

He handed the map to her, indicating
Annalise’s hometown. She glanced at it, sighing.

“It’s 500 miles away,
Arthur.”

“Please,” his eyes were wide.
“Before I run out of time. You will have all the time in the world, but she will not.”

Rosa
met his eyes, and for a moment, he saw fire. He thought she was going to deny him, that there was no one to help him and Annalise would die alone, without him.

But then, she sighed, and turned to her computer.

He pulled some money out of his pocket, all of the paper bills, and handed them to her.

“Please.”

She raised an eyebrow, looking at the cash in his hand.

“Do you want to bus, train or fly?”

“Whatever is fastest.”

She turned back to her computer, clicking some keys.

“It’ll be expensive, Arthur. And you can’t be afraid. I don’t imagine you’ve ever seen anything like a plane. It’s going to scare you.”

He heard expensive, and drew the coins out of his pocket as well, practically shoving them in her face.

She glanced at them, and then her face softened, an expression he had never seen on her.

“That’s all the money you have in the world, isn’t it?”

“Please,” he begged. “You can keep whatever is left over. I need to get to her.”

She laughed, shaking her head.

“Keep your money, Arthur, buy her a teddy bear. It’s not enough to get you there. But don’t worry,” she continued typing without looking. “You want to go now?”

“Before
Gregory returns.”

“Kind of you to do that to me,” she replied, and then hit one final key, spinning around to the printer. “Don’t
worry, I’ll handle your brother.”

She took the paper from the printer, folded it in half and handed it to him.

“Bring your wallet, with all the cards Gregory got for you. If you stutter through your English, that’s fine. And it’s fine to ask people where you are going. Tourists are lost all the time. Go pack your stuff. I’ll call a taxi for you.”

He glanced at the paper, the words and letters foreign to him.

“How long?”

“You’ll be with her by tonight.
Christmas Eve. Now, go pack your stuff.”

She shooed him out of the room, and he walked up
stairs in a daze, staring at the contents of his bedroom. What exactly was he supposed to pack? What exactly did one bring to say goodbye to his one true love?

The taxi arrived within 15 minutes, and
Rosa managed to get him out the door and down the driveway before anyone noticed.

“Aren’t you afraid? Of what
Gregory will say?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“There are worse things in the world than
Gregory, trust me,” she smiled as she closed the door. Looking at her fragile frame, Arthur half wondered what battles she had fought with Gregory beside her, what they were keeping secret.

And then the taxi was hurtling down the lane, towards the airport.

She had given him instructions, but he listened to her advice and summoned the courage to ask people at every corner. He showed them the paper she had given him. To his surprise, no one was annoyed or angry with him. They were all kind, smiling and pointed him in the right direction wishing him
Merry Christmas
after every instruction.

Somehow, by some miracle, stuttering through his words and forgetting half of them, he managed to be boarding the plane without too much confusion. A lovely
young woman pointed him to his seat, and offered to put his coat overhead, which he denied.

He was shaking when the engine started, the roar so much louder than that of a car.
Rosa had told him not to worry, it was just like a car and it flew, not by magic, but technology. She also had rolled her eyes at his reaction and informed him that it was much safer than a car. He had nothing to fear.

But he still felt an overwhelming wave of
nausea when the plane’s nose pointed upwards and they took off.

He let out a strangled gasp and leaned his head forward, wondering if he was going to throw up the stomach full of blood he had.

“First time flying?” came a voice beside him.

Glancing sideways, he found himself beside an old woman, likely in her 70s or 80s, with sparkling eyes and a kindly smile.
She had knitting needles in her lap and a cup of tea in her hand.

“Yes,” he managed, trying not to heave. She smiled and patted his hand.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be alright. There’s a bag right here if you need it,” she said, pulling the paper bag from his seat. “But what I think you need is a good strong cup of tea and a chat. Are you headed to see family?”

“
Uh …” he was surprised that the nausea was subsiding. The woman raised her hand to signal a flight attendant, and within minutes, he had a cup of tea as well. “No.”

She smiled.

“A girlfriend?”

“Uh
… yes.”

“Does she know you are coming? Or is it a surprise?”

“It’s a surprise,” Arthur took a sip of the tea. Peppermint, strong and full of flavor. He began to feel better already.

“Well, won’t that be lovely! My husband used to do that
to me during the war, arrive in town as a surprise. It was always such a treat. Tell me all about her, dear.”

“I uh
…” Arthur closed his eyes as the plane hit a bit of turbulence, trying to tell himself it was just like bumps in a car. “She changed my life. Taught me how to live. I don’t think I could do it without her.”

“I know the feeling,” the woman nodded. “Sometimes, we just meet those special people, don’t we?”

“Yes,” Arthur smiled at her. “We do.”

Chapter 8

He did as
Rosa had instructed, and bought the largest teddy bear he could afford on his way out of the airport, handing over the last of his money. If he wasn’t so focused on his mission of being with Annalise, he would probably be still wide-eyed from the plane. But his seat companion had talked his ear off the entire trip and he barely noticed when they landed. She had wished him a merry Christmas and best of luck when he had stuttered out his story, or at least as much of it as he could without looking too suspicious.

Rosa had told him that there would be a man with a sign waiting for him when he got off the plane to take him to Annalise.

As soon as he stepped out of the terminal, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, and saw with dismay that it was
Gregory.

Sighing, but unable to completely disobey, he answered.

“Hello?”

“
Arthur, are you alright?”

To his surprise,
Gregory was not angry, but concerned.

“Yes. I’m alright.”

“Thank God,” his brother sighed.

“I’m going to
Annalise.”

“Yes,
Rosa informed me of that little tidbit.”

“
Rosa is not to blame,” Arthur said, quickly, scanning the airport for his name on one of the signs.

“Of course she is to blame,”
Gregory replied, although he didn’t sound annoyed. “And she did the right thing. I was pigheaded to not let you go.”

“Have you spoken to Dr.
Hever, then?” Arthur asked, hopefully. There was a silence on the other end of the phone. “Gregory?”

“Yes,”
Gregory replied. “I informed him of your arrival. When you get to the house, he will take you to Annalise. Although you may not get the warmest reception.”

“And her condition?”