Inhuman Heritage (3 page)

Aribella and Jareth got out first smiling at and talking to the press that were gathered. Aram took my hand again and we followed suit, again assaulted by the bright bursts of flashbulbs and people shouting questions at us. Aram led me through the throng and into the club without answering a single one of them.

Chapter Two

Then came the dancing. I stood against a pillar that held up the mezzanine floor while Aram was charming a reporter from one of the national papers that had been invited to attend the party inside. I stood there watching the other dancers whirl around the floor. The vampires had gone for a proper dance, not a disco, classical ballroom music and so many of them–the Sovereign vampires–came from eras where they had learnt dancing as part of their education. Etiquette and manners were all proudly observed. I sighed and tilted my head back to admire the decorations that were lining the room along with the lines of male vampires in black tuxedo’s and the females in prom dresses ready to dance with any of the humans present at a moment’s notice. I could see Dusk at the corner of the dance floor; she wore a bright pink strappy dress that fell down her small body in a silken wave. The straps were desperately clinging to her shoulders and as she swayed with the music I could see that the dress had no back to it till it was right above the small of her back. She too was watching Aram with the reporter and I knew she wanted more than anything to dance with him instead of her. Aram was very popular and part of me felt proud that he was my boyfriend.

Fingers crept across my neck making a shiver run over my skin and I turned to see Sienna leaning over me, a fangy smile on his face.

“You know I don’t like it when you do that,” I chided him. Sienna liked to play with me. He had a power over cold, I’d seen him turn a ball of flame into pure ice and because I had an affinity with fire his power often irked me when he touched my skin. It was like having Jack Frost skate across my neck or walking through spider webs.

“Such a beautiful flower should not be left to wither by a wall in the shade,” said Sienna taking my hand. “Dance with me.”

“I’d rather not,” I said but Sienna did not take no as an answer. He swept an arm around my waist and pulled me away from where I had been resting.

“I ask not for me,” he said with a wistful smile, “but Vincent is so intimidated by your beauty tonight that I must conduct you to him.”

I laughed. Vincent was a very flirty, very naughty boy. I didn’t think for a minute that I could possibly intimidate him or that he would be afraid to come ask me to dance with him. I let Sienna whirl me out onto the dance floor and I took up a proper dancing posture with him. Aram had given me a couple of lessons so that I wouldn’t step on anyone’s feet. The vampires had been planning this party since the beginning of the year. There was a bill sitting under consideration in Parliament to grant vampires equal rights to humans and Sovereign vampire groups all across the country were holding events to encourage the bill to pass smoothly. No one knew what the Shadow clans thought as they had no real structure tending to be nomadic and the Brotherhood of Man were for the bill to a certain extent.

“How are things between you and Aram progressing?” asked Sienna drawing my attention back to him. I smiled slyly at him.

“You asking out of genuine interest or trying to see if there is anything more you can do to win his good favor.” I had become suspicious of Sienna a while ago. Aram had been in trouble and Sienna had hand wrapped a way for me to get him out of it. I had to become his
Novia
, his bride, although I still didn’t really understand what it entailed except that I had to have been seen visiting Aram at least once a week. Sienna didn’t answer, he just gave a broad smile and waited for the answer to his question.

“We’re just fine, thank you.”

“Is tonight the night?” He raised an eyebrow at me so I would catch his meaning. I smacked his shoulder with the heel of my hand.

“That is frankly none of your business.”

Sienna laughed, spinning me out and bringing me back into him. I looked him dead in the eyes and didn’t flinch when he licked a fang seductively. I decided to throw him off guard.

“What is a vampire bride anyway?”

Sienna’s eyes went wide but he quickly brought his face under control.

“You didn’t ask before agreeing to it?” I shook my head and he huffed out a great sigh. “It depends on the case but more often than not it means that you are his human, no other vampire may make a move on you.”

“Okay, I understand that but what is the end of it? Most brides end up married.”

“Yes,” said Sienna and he seemed reluctant to tell me anymore. I jabbed him with my foot, he grumbled and could tell I was not going to let it go.

“In most cases the bride ship ends when the bride becomes a vampire herself. They are usually together for a year then they may go their separate ways if they choose. Vampires with vampire relationships are tumultuous at best. You’d go from being his bride to his childe and you could not stay together.”

“But I don’t want to be a vampire.”

“Aram knows that. It is rarer but he may just choose to stay with you and support you till your human life is over though your loss will grieve him horribly.”

The thought that Aram would watch me get old and die one day made me sad. Not for me but for him. It was natural for me, it was what I expected to happen one day but to know that he would be distressed when I was gone was an unbearable thought.

“It is why bride taking but not turning is so rare because you get to know them so well and intimately, then have to let them go. Better to have them as a vampire and see them from time to time than to never see them again. You should consider it more carefully. I think you would make a wonderful vampire.”

I shook my head at Sienna. I couldn’t imagine it, living as a vampire, living forever. It scared me more than the thought that this one life was all I got. What things would I do and see if I had all eternity? I couldn’t imagine giving up the sun either. I didn’t want to think too far ahead, you could never tell what tomorrow would bring and I liked taking each day, a day at a time. My business was only just getting off the ground. I’d become a Paranormal Investigator in December, had my first big case in January and several smaller less noteworthy cases since then. No case was too small when you needed the money to pay your bills and make sure you got to eat every night. I was hoping something big would come in again soon. Well not big—big meant media and police involvement, but something medium maybe, something I could handle on my own that would bring with it some fairly big payoff.

More important to me, next week marked only a month to my twenty-second birthday and I was looking forward to both presents and getting out to do something special. I had talked with Virginia and together we had created a second locket, one that would stop the other world from taking me but that one only lasted a night at a time. I couldn’t work out why it fizzled out so quickly.

I came back to the room when Sienna swung us to a stop in front of Vincent standing aside to let the younger man step in. Vincent wasn’t a bad dancer, he had nowhere near the skill of any of the vampires I had danced with but that was to be expected as Vincent was a mere human. He smelt surprisingly nice tonight; he had on thick sweet cologne that was very attractive. He didn’t smell like his usual cloud of smoke. I complimented him on the difference.

“Yeah,” he said scratching at his head leaving me to lead us away from bumping into a middle aged couple that looked fairly important, “Sienna forbid me to smoke tonight because the smell is so unappealing. They’re all really trying to impress.”

“Mmm I know, it’s because of the rights bill. Jareth has already warned me to stay calm.” Vincent raised an eyebrow at me attempting to spin me but failing. I laughed and held onto him a little tightly so that I didn’t fall over while I regained my footing. “I have a little bit of a temper.”

“You’re passionate that’s all. Nothing wrong with that,” he said and gripped my butt through the skirt.

I squealed and pushed away from him. I stormed away from him trying to fight the smile on my face. Vincent was incorrigible. I was walking back to the edge of the dance floor when I saw someone I had never thought to see again and not here.

He was a squat little man with thick gold rings pushed down his sausage like fingers and he was in a small black suit puffing on a thick Cuban cigar. I had last seen him in the Soul Market-an underground market that dealt mainly in illegal items and black magic. He had seen me with Magnus and thought that I was for sale. I had been glad to prove him wrong. I was surprised that the police hadn’t found him there and arrested him. I started to walk towards him. He was talking to a blonde woman who was all boobs and a skimpy dress that was mostly red sparkles, I thought she must be his date. She laughed at something he said and I guessed that she wasn’t that bright either. There was a man stood behind him and it was him that gave me pause. He was tall, broad and built like a tank. The suit he wore strained around his biceps and his pulse made a tattoo on his neck throb. He looked up at me, his head was perfectly shaved, the skin smooth and his eyes were so dark they appeared to be almost completely black.

I stopped where I was just looking at him; there was something about him that gave me the willies. Who was he? Was he the small guy’s bodyguard? If so who was the small guy that he needed a bodyguard? I decided it didn’t matter, I chose to ignore the bodyguard and head right for the small guy. A hand grabbed my arm and I was spun around to face Aram. His grip was tight on my arm and he looked a little put out, like he had raced over to me. I stared at his face incredulous.

“I recognize him too pet, but leave him be. Please, I beg of you.”

“But...” He pressed a finger to my lips and pulled on my arm to force me to come away from him. I felt a whisper of something at my back and turned as Aram began to move me to look behind me. The fingertips of the bodyguard were just inches away from my hair, he’d walked right up behind me and had been reaching to touch it. His hand was frozen in the air and even his boss-the small pudgy man Aram wouldn’t let me confront-looked puzzled at what he was doing. I let Aram pull me into his arms and he gave the man a warning look that would have frightened most people.

A smile spread across his face and I can only describe it as deeply disturbing. That smile chilled me right down to my toes. He gave a little bow saying something low that I couldn’t hear, turned and walked back to his employer. I looked up at Aram whose vampire hearing didn’t miss much and asked him, “What did he say?”

“That he could see you. I do not know what that means but I will not let you near him again tonight.” I shuddered. That man was going to be my new nightmare for a little while.

Aram stayed with me for the rest of the night which I was thankful for. He only let me go when Jareth asked to dance with me but he hovered nervously while we did. When I didn’t feel like dancing we would sit or stand with his arms wrapped around me which was more than pleasant. He often interspersed our conversation with little kisses on my neck and shoulders that sped my pulse, so that by the time the evening was winding down I was about ready to jump him. I know Sienna had made me mad suggesting that tonight might be the night but I was really hoping it was going to be. Aram had been a gentleman waiting for me to recover from my previous experience and promised me when I was ready he would make our first time together so wonderful that I would soon forget there had been anything before it. I was waiting by the door that led back to the private quarters while Aram was with Jareth wishing the guests a good evening and closing up the front. They had a large bolt that went across the main doorway, day staff came in through a side door that had an electronic access pad. It kept anyone who might do the vampires harm from getting inside. The key number changed biweekly too, the club tended to have quite a high turnover rate. Aram and Jareth re-entered the main room that had seemingly emptied, it was one in the morning and I was like a greedy child wanting what I had been promised. I coughed gently and gave Aram my best come hither look. Jareth looked between his brother and me.

“Good night then,” he said halting their conversation and stepping back from his brother, “I will see you tomorrow night.” Jareth moved at vampire speed and was through the door behind me before I could blink but I didn’t care as Aram was now in front of me. He didn’t say another word, he just got straight to kissing me.

The door to the bedroom crashed open behind me with the strength Aram had put into his swing. His lips were still on mine, he was holding me close and a little off the ground so he could walk me back into the room. I started giggling as he fumbled to keep kissing me and get the light, so much for his vampiric smoothness. The light burst into luminescence and he threw me back into the room. I stumbled hitting the post of his bed. I took a deep harsh breath and he was out of his frock coat and shirt to be back pressed against me in seconds. He kissed my neck and I ripped the tie out of his hair so his curls fell loose around his face. Aram nipped my ear making me groan trailing his lips across my jaw and down my throat.

I gasped as Aram’s fingers gripped the edges of the back of the corset and ripped so that the lacing tore apart. The dress rippled down my skin revealing it to Aram and to his hands that caressed my sides and yanked on the underskirt so that it went to the floor when the dress did. He stood back to look at me and I tried not to blush. His face was alight with pleasure at the sight.