Seta's Fall

Chapter 6

Seta sat alone in the corner of the dark tavern, watching shadow figures dance along the walls as people moved about. It was the third night in a row she'd been staking out the establishment, waiting to see if the man who had attacked three women in the three weeks prior would show.

Christian sat along the opposite wall, talking to the prostitute who'd tried relentlessly to offer her services to him the past two nights. She'd finally given up and now sat next to him, crying as she spilled her problems to him. He looked uncomfortable, but offered her words of advice and from what Seta overheard, was currently telling her it wasn't too late to turn away from her sins.

Eron was stationed somewhere outside, away from her. He said it was to keep the outside covered in case the man they sought did not go in to the tavern, but she knew why he was outside and Christian, poor Christian who looked extremely uncomfortable and out of place in such an establishment, was inside with her. Eron didn't want to be near her any more than possible. He'd been keeping distance since that kiss three weeks before. They never spoke of it, the three of them maintained an awkward silence about it. She caught Christian shaking his head at him sometimes and didn't know if he thought ill of Eron or of her.

She supposed she could say something, but she had done enough, kissing him so brazenly. It was not the least bit ladylike and even if she were a vampire, was she not still a lady? Maybe she wasn't. She'd slept with a married man and bore his illegitimate child. They both knew it. Maybe Eron kissed her back in the heat of passion, but having slept on it, decided she was beneath him. He'd had a wife he cared for very much, no doubt a fine woman who would never do what she had done. Why would he want someone with her past? He'd saved her because he'd been sent to. He was her sire, nothing more. He may have told her to forgive herself and he may have even meant it. That did not mean that he himself would not judge her. Seta sighed as the backs of her eyes started to burn. Closing them, she gritted her teeth together until the urge to cry passed.

One man had already stolen her purity and ruined her. She would not let another cause further damage. There was enough pain in her heart from being away from Rialto. She didn't need to add any other type of sorrow.

The tavern door opened, cool night air breezing in, but it was not the air that sent a shiver down Seta's spine. An alarm bell rang in her head as a trio of large men entered, their presence seeming to fill the room.

The two men bringing up the rear would not have earned a second glance, however the man leading them awakened a thirst for revenge deep in Seta's heart. Count Roberto Garibaldi's guard laughed boisterously as he swung an arm around one of the men's shoulders and walked his group over to a vacant table. They practically flung themselves into the chairs before he slapped the table top and demanded drinks for his brothers.

Blood brothers? Seta looked closer, paying special attention to their facial features. The noses were the same, two of them had identical eyes, but his eyes were different. The eyes of a man who could and would help a man steal a woman's child. How would he feel if she stole his brothers before ripping out his throat?

Seta? Eron's voice sounded in her mind. What is wrong?

Seta cursed under her breath. Eron was her sire and could feel her emotions. She did not know if he could speak in Christian's mind as he could in hers, but if he could, Christian would stand in her way. If he could not, he himself would stop her. She had to do what needed to be done before he could rob her of her chance.

Seta rose from her seat and crossed the bar, her gaze locked onto the man who had helped steal her precious child away from her, who had stood by obediently as his employer cast her over a cliff.