Eternal Ever After (12 page)

“I’m sorry sir, but that special only runs on Sundays,” she said politely.

Arie focused on the waitress’s eyes, his eyes flashing silver. “I want a Bloody Mary, and keep them coming, and Eggs Benedict,” he said, his voice soft and firm.

The waitress looked at him with eyes that were glazed and empty-looking. “Of course, sir. And what can I get for you?” She turned to take my order.

“Steak and eggs please. And some coffee.”

She left the table.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

“What? Dazzle her?” Arie asked.

“I don’t like how you manipulate people to get what you want. You dazzle people like it’s an entertaining diversion.”

“And it is…mildly, at least.” He paused. “Holly, I’m sorry about last night.”

“Which part? The part where you rejected me, or for getting me hot and then leaving me hanging?” I sounded more bitter and sarcastic than I’d meant to.

“I’m sorry for hurting you. Did you hear anything interesting at the club?”

“What do you mean?”

“Last night at the club, when you were listening outside the door.”

I looked out the window.
Shit. Of course he would have known I was standing there.
He balanced his fist on his chin. A similar-looking ring made from a dark green stone with red specks encircled his finger. “Your ring…the stone is like the one I saw Tessa wearing,” I said, hoping to change the subject.

“I need to wear this to protect me from the sun—it’s bloodstone.”

The waitress returned with coffee for me and a Bloody Mary for Arie. He sipped his drink and bit off a chunk of celery.

“So the whole sunlight thing isn’t a myth?”

“I see you’re going to avoid the fact that I caught you snooping.” Arie sighed. “I told you we are more like humans than you think. We carry a disorder that causes an allergic reaction to sunlight, and a type of anemia not yet discovered.”

“Okay, so where does the bloodstone come in?”

“Chalcedony, or bloodstone, strengthens and oxygenates the bloodstream. It strengthens the heart, spleen, and bone marrow; helps neutralize toxins within the body; and enhances physical and mental vitality. It also helps balance iron deficiencies. It’s a powerful healing stone that works well with allergies.”

“And you know this how?”

Arie laughed. “I guess we have time for a story. Legend claims that in 945 A.D., a midwife or wise woman,
sage-femme
, in a rural town just outside Paris, France had a daughter near death from St. Anthony’s fire. It’s caused by ergot poisoning, a fungus that grows on rye bread in cold, damp conditions. Her mother was a renowned healer. Someone told her that a cure could be found if she took her daughter to St. Mary’s church in Paris where Duke Hugh the Great, Count of Paris nourished the ill with his own store of ‘holy’ grains. When she took her daughter home the girl came down with the sickness again, only worse than before, and she now lay dying. Her inconsolable mother bewailed the cruel fate. So swept up by her emotional display of devotion, a vampire passing through observed the girl was of rare beauty. Desiring a consort, in empathy, he turned her. The girl’s mother, horrified at her allergy to sunlight, discovered bloodstone when a gypsy passing through traded her one in exchange for some herbs. She soon noticed that wearing the gem worked as a protective shield. We were known as Night Walkers.”

“Where did you get the ring? It’s beautiful.”

Arie took a sip of his Bloody Mary. “Most vampires have a jeweler fashion bloodstone into wearable pieces like earrings, piercings, bracelets, rings, or watches so they cannot easily be removed. Before that we were destined to walk in darkness.”

“So what, you’ll burst into flames and die without it?”

Arie laughed. “Not hardly. That’s just a myth that the Legacy proliferated to hide our existence from humans. We’re not suspect if we’re able to tolerate the sun. Most myths are ones we have constructed to confuse, like mirrors. We have a reflection, but again it only serves as proof that we’re not vampires.”

“So what
will
happen?”

“We have an allergic reaction to sunlight which causes extreme hives. It spreads and blisters before bursting to release a fluid that erodes and melts through the surrounding skin. The older a vampire is, the stronger the allergic reaction. For someone as old as I am, it would be painful and possibly scarring, but for a newly made vampire, it could be quite unfortunate.”

“Do you have other weaknesses I should be aware of?”

“Holly, I would not have made it this far if I divulged that information so freely.”

I looked at him with apprehension. I felt sure from his tone that I had pried too much. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to ask so many questions, but I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“Which I find really surprising.”

“Why?”

“Holly, I think all this is happening for a reason. You bear an uncanny resemblance to someone else I knew. She has the same aura—the same clairvoyance as you. She’s also a vampire. Like I said…your aura is like a beacon. And I think she’s drawn to it, drawn to you, because you look so much alike. I think you’re in danger.”

“Why is this only happening now?”

“I don’t know. I do know that auras get brighter with age, but then dim towards death. Maybe now is the first time it’s been bright enough to attract the supernatural. You are supernatural. And like attracts like, Holly.”

“Because I’m clairvoyant?”

“Yes.”

So much had happened and I couldn’t tell how it had shaped my fate. The life that I knew was gone forever, but my life had been tedious, and doomed or not, maybe this would be better. It was certainly more interesting than the Coffee Grind. Although part of me wanted to go back to it and at least try for normalcy with so many new revelations to consider. I took a sip of my coffee, grateful for its warmth, which comforted me when so much was changing.

He reached across the table, brushing his fingers across my cheek. “I will protect you.”

And right then I wanted him, wanted him so bad, that it hurt when his fingers pulled away. This was no safe thing that I wanted. But what was safe, with everything he’d told me? Suddenly, I felt tired and plain compared to the exotic-looking creatures at the Hellfire Club. Everything felt different in the daylight. On top of everything, someone was after me. If Arie felt the need to protect me I had the good sense to be afraid.

I moved slightly back from him when the waitress returned to our table with our food. She placed the steaming plates in front of us and, her attention diverted to another table flagging her down, she left ours.

“You think I’m strange, don’t you? Because I see things. It’s okay, everyone does,” I said, looking down at my plate. Over the years I’d faced plenty of rejection from being different.
Why would it be any different with Arie?
Last night still stung.

“No,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face, giving a short laugh. “Hardly.”

“You can drink from me if you want.” The random thought popped into my head as I thought about him feeding from the girl at the club. She didn’t seem to mind it. In fact, she seemed very much to enjoy it. And I thought maybe if I let him drink, I could get him to do the same. Maybe he could turn me. Then I could fight my own battles and whatever supernatural forces I might be attracting with my aura.

He frowned. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I’ve given it a lot of thought after last night. And you said you wouldn’t hurt me. I want to believe that.”

He closed his eyes reflexively, as if I had thrown something at him. “Holly, I want you. But I want to stop wanting you. You’re intoxicating. I’m afraid if you let me drink I won’t be able to stop, and I can’t afford to turn you. I don’t want history to repeat itself.”

I swallowed the emotion that surfaced without bothering to identify it. Looking down at my plate, I pushed the eggs around with my fork.

“I have to look into some things. So I won’t be around for at least a week,” he said. “Victoria will be keeping an eye on your apartment and the Coffee Grind for me. I trust you’ll be safe enough with her hanging around.”

“What are you looking into?”

“Your past, and if there’s a reason why you look so much like someone else, or if it’s all just coincidence. And I want to keep you safe.”

“Sure. I understand.” And I really did understand. But I’d still feel better with him sleeping on my sofa.

***

I grabbed a rag to wipe muffin crumbs from the Formica countertop. Sun began to filter through the clouds. It had rained on and off all day yesterday, through the night and most of the morning. I looked out the window. It appeared to be letting up. A sigh escaped my lips as I collected the fifty-cent tip some penny-pinching customer left me. Only one customer sat in a booth, reading a magazine. The morning had been busy, but on a slow afternoon like this, it left my mind to free to think about Arie, Tessa, and the Hellfire Club. It had been over a week since I had seen him. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed when he didn’t stop by for coffee even once.

Victoria had stopped in a few times that week. Once with the silver-haired moon faerie who waited on us at the club. She hung on every word Victoria said as if she was the one who hung the moon. Although, technically I wasn’t sure if that’s what Luna did or what that would entail. Shit, I had just learned about vampires. I didn’t want to even attempt figuring out the whole faerie bit. But either way she seemed to have the serious hots for Victoria. Not that Victoria seemed to notice whatsoever. I guess relationships were no less complicated even if you had supernatural powers.

I sighed.

Trina walked in carrying her purse and wearing an easy-going smile. She could always find something to be happy about. I wished I had half of her enthusiasm and optimism. I had a bad habit of waiting for the bottom to drop out, because in my experience it usually did. Looking around the coffee shop, she set her purse under the counter and greeted me with a warm smile.

“Hey…looks like a slow one today, huh?”

“Yeah, only a few customers this afternoon. Are you feeling better? You’ve been out all week.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me. I hate being sick.”

I knew it must have been bad to put Trina out of commission. She never called off. It felt like a lifetime had passed since the last time I’d seen her. So much had happened in a week.

“So what’s new with you?” she asked.

“I went on a date,” I said blandly.
With a vampire.

“So how did it go?” She looked at me with a smile, awaiting juicy details, and I couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t often I went out on dates.

“It didn’t.”

“What happened?”

“Let’s just say haven’t seen him all week and I’m fairly certain he’s hung up on his past.” I didn’t realize until that moment just how disappointed I felt when Arie never dropped by. Not even once. I understood why, but I missed him. I didn’t bother adding that my life could be in danger. How could I even begin to explain that to Trina?

“Who’s the guy? Anyone I know? No, wait, let me guess. It’s the good tipper, the handsome one who wears a leather jacket.”

I sighed. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Oh, he’s a hottie. What was your date like?”

“Well don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m not the type he’s into.”
He likes women in leather who like to flog the living daylights out of you.
Of course, I had no idea if he was really into Tessa. I was probably just feeling insecure because Tessa was like walking sex and Arie was probably used to the beautiful women at the club. Not that I was bad-looking. I just didn’t wear skin tight leather that showed every curve.

She shook her head. “I think he’s got it bad for you. He wouldn’t be in here so often if he didn’t.”

I smiled. “He did take me to an amazing restaurant.”

“Did you take him home?”

I rolled my eyes. I knew what she really meant was whether or not I fucked him. “Not on a first date.”

“Well, he kissed you, right?”

My head started to hurt when I tried to remember how the night ended. I remembered being on top of the Aon Center, the spectacular view, and I remembered him jumping, but there was a blank spot in between. Every time I tried to focus on the blank spot, piercing pain shot through my head. I didn’t want to think about the other night and his humiliating rejection, let alone talk about it with Trina.

“I’m not sure. I can’t remember.”

Trina laughed. “A guy that good-looking and you can’t remember if he kissed you. I’d think a mouth like that would be pretty memorable.”

I almost giggled but caught myself. “Trina! Really.”

“I’m just saying.” She threw her hands up. “Oh, hey… I didn’t see your Beetle. I did see a gorgeous BMW. Is it yours?”

I sighed. I’d started driving the car. Only on loan. I had to remind myself. “The Beetle died and a friend is helping me out.” I didn’t want to go into the truth with Trina. She’d never understand it.

“I wish I had friends like that.”

The door to Marshall’s office squeaked open and he trudged out, squinting at us with beady eyes. “If you ladies are done gossiping, there’s work to do. Trina, I need you to do inventory in the storeroom and put together an order. And Holly, the bathroom isn’t going to clean itself.”

I resigned myself with dread to the inevitable grossness that awaited me in the bathroom. The rest of my shift flew by since it overlapped with Trina’s today. And it took hours to scrub the grime from all the crevices of the disgusting tile. I’m sure Marshall would find fault with it anyway. I couldn’t wait to get home and take a hot shower.

I grabbed my army satchel, leaving Trina to finish her shift. Blessedly mine finished without any more disgusting demands from Marshall. “Bye, Trina.”

“See you later.”

I drove home to wash away the grime.
The door to my small one-bedroom apartment was ajar when I got there. My heart trembled like a leaf, and with shaking hands I gripped my small aerosol can of pepper spray in a defensive stance. I nudged the door wide with my foot before entering. The ungreased hinges let out an ominous creak before settling into a silence even more menacing.