Valley of Dust (9 page)

I
AWOKE TO SEE my clothes strewn everywhere, and I was curled in Lucian’s arms. He was so beautiful. I didn’t even think I moved too fast when I stared at him. I knew last night was the right time for us. I felt like we were meant for each other. His confession had touched me. The way he was worried for me and Anton’s child made my heart cry out in joy. I wished this baby was truly his. Then Lucian’s eyes looked up at me; he smiled, which made my heart melt. He gently kissed me and said, “How are you feeling? Are you okay?” I couldn’t hold back anymore. I swung my arms around him and kissed him. Lucian smirked and said, “Don’t tell me you want more.” I laughed; I had thought of it, but then there was a knock on the door, and before we could get out of bed Carla jumped in to surprise me, “Hey, Selene, you never came to my room last night, so I hope you didn’t get in trouble… Holy shit, I am so sorry, you two, Lucian, Selene. I, um, will be at breakfast if you want to join.” Carla ran out of my room as fast as her legs could take her. We laughed. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now, Lucian.” He smiled. “Do you want to go eat breakfast with Carla? I might make it awkward for you two, so I will get some work done in my office, but afterward would you like to go out on the town?” I wrapped my arms around Lucian and answered, “It’s a date.”

Showering and dressing was a lot quicker than usual;
time sure flies when you’re happy,
I thought. I was definitely happy; you could probably say I was giddy, and I knew Carla would be questioning me when I got downstairs to the kitchen. When I got downstairs for breakfast, a guest had arrived for me. It was unusual. I had never had a guest come here for me. He looked familiar, and then he showed me his badge. I realized it was the detective who used to be in charge of my case. Carla glanced my way. I could tell she was worried, but I gestured to her I was fine. “It’s been a while, Detective,” I said. “Selene, call me Michael. I am not entirely here on business,” Michael responded. I paused for a second. I knew he had told me my case had been taken over, so why was he here? “Selene, I know you are wondering why I am here. I thought I would have caught you working when I was there last on business.” Before he could finish, I spit out, “What happened to my work? Why were you there?” He looked surprised at me, like he was shocked I did not know. “Tell me, Michael,” I said. “Two regular customers have gone missing. There is no trace of them. It is like they vanished. I was wondering if you may have known them,” Michael asked. I took a look at his pictures of them, but I couldn’t remember them. That’s when a few other pictures slipped out. My eyes focused hard on those women in the other pictures. They were the three women who were with Anton that night. I cringed at the memory of him that night. “You know these girls, Selene? They have been missing a while now. I believe they were last seen two days before you called me saying you moved,” Michael said. “I know them, Michael.” Before I could say another word, Lucian came down the stairs. “How dare you question my fiancée without her lawyer present, especially in her condition,” Lucian said. Michael stood up. “I am Detective Brown. I am here not on duty, just asking her if she knew old customers she used to make drinks for,” Michael said. “Well, Detective Brown, I would like it if you would leave. She is not open for questioning of any kind without her lawyer present,” Lucian demanded. That’s when I stepped in; I couldn’t believe he was talking for me. I knew my rights, and I didn’t need him to clarify that to anyone else. “Lucian, those three women that Anton slept with are missing, he has a right to know who saw them last,” I said. Lucian flashed an angry look at me, something I had never seen before. That’s when Michael spoke, “Anton? Where is this guy? I need to question him since he may be our only lead on where these women might be,” Michael said.

I could see Lucian was hiding something, and I knew the detective saw it too. “Look, you two, I do not want to, but I can bring you in for questioning,” Michael threatened. “Enough, you guys, Anton was the last person I saw those women with, but I do not know or care where Anton is, neither does Lucian. Taking me downtown for questioning would get you nowhere since I do not even want to know where that scumbag lives. I gave you a name, so please,” I said. “Fine, Selene, but I may need your help in the investigation later if we find this man,” Michael said. He looked at Lucian and quipped, “You can have her lawyer present then.” He smiled a little half smile and gestured us good-bye.

That’s when I heard Lucian. “How could you, Selene? There are rules, and you broke one. You have revealed part of our society, Selene,” Lucian said. “How could I have revealed part of our society? I only told Michael the truth: those women were with Anton last and that we were not involved,” I said. “Selene, we are involved. Anton killed those women, like you did to my garden,” Lucian said. I gasped; I had not thought truly what we were until I realized that Lucian and I were different from our society. They killed humans for energy. “Lucian, what about the missing people from my work?” I said. That’s when I saw Lucian look nervous. “Carla, please come in here,” Lucian screamed, and within minutes Carla was by my side. “Carla, please take care of Selene today, I have business to do.” Before I could say anything to Lucian, he was gone. Carla tried to cheer me up, but my morning of happiness was gone. I had no idea what I had done wrong. I knew we were different from humans, but I had not yet come to the understanding that the human world’s laws did not apply to us. One thing I did know was when he told Carla to take care of me it meant we were not going on that date. I felt trapped in this mansion. No matter how big it was, I felt I wanted more. Something I knew I could not handle until I could keep my powers in check. Oh, how I wish I could return to my human self.

L
UCIAN WAS LOOKING through the reports from his own society’s police. How could missing people from Selene’s job go unnoticed by his task force? He even had people working there for him. There was something wrong in this, and he was worried about who might be behind it. Then he remembered Sebastian’s reaction at the meeting. He was Anton’s friend and a man who could draw many people to follow him. Then he worried about how Selene had given the detective Anton’s name in the missing women’s case. He wished he had gone downstairs for breakfast. Maybe he could have stopped Selene from leaking information to the detective. He knew if the detective tried to press Anton, he wouldn’t live long. Anton may only devour women, but he did like a good brawl which made his victims look ripped apart. Lucian wished he had spent more time involving Selene further in the rules and laws the strigoi society had set up. They barely scraped that in her lessons for the ball. She was too naive to answer that cop so easily, and calling him by his first name made his blood boil. He knew getting lost in jealousy would be pointless, especially to a man like Detective Brown, so he decided to make a few phone calls. His first call would be to Alexander, then he would call the undead police force who failed to mention the missing people from Selene’s work. He knew this had Anton’s name all over it, but still he should have been informed since Selene’s job meant that she would be connected or questioned, which in itself meant the strigoi society would be investigated, or parts of it would.

After talking with Alexander, he knew Sebastian was planting seeds of doubt in the council’s heads. He knew it would be easy, considering Selene’s performance at the last meeting. He sensed that somehow Sebastian and Anton had planned that night out. Anton had never interrupted a meeting before or come unannounced. There were always protocols to follow, and Anton now had disobeyed two rules involving the council. That time he had not shown and attacked Selene and the second time showing up unannounced and uninvited at the ball. Lucian knew those two were planning something big, but he couldn’t figure out what yet. His phone call with his undead police force had gone nowhere. They had lied to him, saying they had not heard of the missing people from Selene’s work. It was very unsettling to Lucian that his authority was being undermined. Could the undead be swayed to Sebastian and Anton? It was possible. Lucian got his energy by killing the undead; he was definitely feared by them because of this. Alexander had promised Lucian he would keep a lookout behind the scenes, but Lucian was starting to doubt whom he could trust. Even Alexander, who was a second father to him, made him worry. He knew if Anton or the council had control of Selene, she would just be a puppet to them. They would use her to dispose of their enemies that didn’t agree with them—for Anton and Sebastian, Lucian and Alexander would be the first on their list to kill. Lucian’s mind was running in circles, and he knew he needed to forget all the conspiracy theories for now. Lucian found that as everything stood right now, it would be highly unlikely that they could overpower him and Selene together. Now he thought it was time to talk to Selene.

When he got to Selene’s room, he realized he was too late; she had fallen asleep. He gently pulled her hair from her face. She looked like a goddess even without her makeup on. He gave her a kiss, whispering an apology in her ear. He hated how he had acted to her earlier, but he was not in the right mind after everything that was happening. Selene’s eyes opened as he was bringing his hand back from her face. She smiled at him with a smile that could cure all his doubts, and then she gestured him to her arms.
An invitation,
he thought, and crawled into bed with her. She rested her head on his chest and returned to sleep in a matter of seconds. It was comforting having her so close to him. He could feel her smooth belly; it had a round little bump to it. Family was something Lucian had missed. Even though it had been over a thousand years, he still knew what it felt to be loved by a mother and father. Back when Lucian was born, mortals’ life spans were a lot shorter than they are now. Modern medicine and advancements in technology helped greatly. Both Lucian and Anton were twelve when their parents died, so they never knew hate from mother or father.

Anton and Lucian had learned the tough way about their immortality. Almost dying from hunger, they realized their power prematurely and survived by living off others. They were alone for many decades before meeting Alexander. Alexander had helped them after Lucian was cursed by the Gypsies for Anton’s misdeeds. Lucian was later appointed to lead the council when his powers far outranked his superiors. He wished he had known that Anton was always jealous of him. They were fraternal twins, and he always thought he knew Anton. Sadly Lucian only saw the good in his brother for so long; he was blinded by love. Having Selene in his arms made it less painful to be at odds with the only brother he had. He felt he may finally have the family he always longed for. This time he knew it would last. He just wished he could have his brother too.

I
AWOKE TO FIND myself wrapped around Lucian again. It was phenomenal to have someone by your side to wake up to. It was new to me, but the thought of being with him and raising this child together grew on me every day. I knew he would be a wonderful father. I hoped our relationship would change, but the relationship was new and I knew with patience and time it would blossom into something much more.

Love was in the air, and everyone around us could feel it. Even my beloved friend Jacques would recite beautiful French poetry as I walked by the kitchen every day. My bump grew larger and larger, but Lucian never seemed to care. However, Carla and Jacques were constantly trying to touch my belly, which sometimes got on my nerves. When the garden was back to normal, I found myself out there increasingly. I felt free being out in the garden on my stone bench under my weeping willow. It seemed like the cage surrounding me was less constricting out here. When Lucian came out to see me one day, he looked passionately in my eyes and got down on one knee. “Selene, I know it hasn’t been this long for you, but I have been waiting a thousand years to meet you, will you please do me the honor of being my wife?” I looked at him for a split second and realized this was all real. I jumped from my seat up and down screaming, “Yes, yes, yes!”

There were very few invitations sent out. Jacques would be the cook, and Josephine and Belle would be the clean-up crew. Even though I did not get along with my family, Lucian insisted I invite them since this would be their chance at giving away their daughter. Little did he know that they cared very little for me. The wedding was in less than a month, and it felt like Lucian had planned it for years.

I decided to go find Carla and ask her to be my maid of honor. I knew she would say yes, but I just had to ask to see her face. “Carla, will you be my maid of honor? I know it hasn’t been long, but you are not only like my family but someone I could call a best friend,” I said. Carla looked at me, eyes filled with tears and said, “Yes, Selene I would be honored to.” She embraced me so hard I lost my breath, and when she let go I asked her, “Carla, would you like to invite your family along? Lucian and I will pay for them to come, it would be an honor.” Suddenly more tears cascaded down Carla’s face, but these were not joyful tears. “Carla, what’s wrong?” I asked. “Selene, thanks for the offer, but I do not have any family left,” Carla answered. “Oh my, Carla, why didn’t you tell me? How awful. I could have been there for you more,” I said. “Selene, it is okay, my parents died a long time ago during a house robbery gone wrong,” Carla said. “Does Lucian know?” I asked. “Yes, Selene, he hired me knowing my background. He actually saved me the day I met him from a rogue undead,” Carla said. “Oh my, you had to have been horrified,” I said. “At first I saw Lucian as a monster, but then I saw the remorse in his eyes and I knew he was not like the monsters who killed my parents,” Carla explained. “I never knew that,” I said. “Yes, the day he saved me, I agreed to work for him and have never regretted my choice. He is like a brother to me,” Carla said. I hugged her and said, “You will always be our family, we love you.” Carla smiled and replied, “I know.” “Well, Carla, all you need to do now is buy a dress. We will have to go shopping soon, for now I have to talk to Lucian about my parents. He is adamant on meeting them,” I said. “Good luck with that, Selene,” Carla offered. I winked at her and ran out the door.

I met Lucian downstairs and told him I had not heard from my parents, and that is when Lucian thought it might be good to introduce us as a couple to them. We drove into the city of Raleigh and up to the place I had grown up. I cringed at all the bad memories I had. Knowing I wanted to go home, Lucian held my hand and suggested, “Focus, Selene, this is a new beginning. Keep your emotions in check, and let’s try not to ruin any landscaping.” He winked. Lucian knew just what to say to me to get me laughing. We pulled up in an expensive Ferrari; Lucian had thought this touch would make him look successful to my parents. I was sure that he would look good to them in the money aspect, but otherwise they would not care much. When we got to the door, my father and mother were already opening it to look at who had parked in their driveway. They barely recognized me until I spoke. That’s when my mother gave me a look. It was the type of look that made you feel ashamed of yourself. She was trying to make me feel guilty because she had noticed through my dress that I was indeed pregnant and was probably having a shotgun wedding. Then Lucian calmed the air. “Mr. and Mrs. Holmberg, my name is Lucian Balan, and in two weeks I plan to marry your daughter. We would love it if you would come to our wedding. It will be small, but everything is paid for.” When my parents heard that everything was paid for, they immediately chimed in and accepted the invite. I knew their reasoning now in not wanting to acknowledge the invitation at first. They were hoping if they did not reply then they would not have to pay for any of my wedding.

The dinner we ate with them was the normal Swedish cuisine I was accustomed to. The only one who seemed to be enjoying themselves was Lucian. He kept going on and on about love at first sight. I couldn’t believe how enthusiastic he was. It seemed like he had waited for this exact moment all his life. I hoped they didn’t disappoint him like they did to me. That’s when I remembered my dream and how the dream woman knew I knew we were both live strigoi, but there might be something more to it. I stood up and said, “Dad, Mom, I was wondering if you still had our family trees from both sides of our families.” They looked puzzled by my question, but I really wanted to know who I was or where I came from. My mother said they were with my grandparents and she would ask them if they could mail them as wedding presents. I smiled with gratitude and thanked them.

After dinner we got in the car and started heading back home. Lucian told me he was so relieved that they would get to come to their daughter’s wedding. He really believed in family values, no matter how bad the family was. It made me realize the pain he must feel that Anton would not be coming to our wedding. After everything Anton did to Lucian and me, I knew deep down Lucian wanted to forgive his twin brother. Lucian was a gentle soul; he never stayed mad at the people he loved, and it was hard on him to show anger to those he loved. I figured it must be harder for him because I knew twins carried a special bond.