Iron & Wine

Chapter Twenty Seven - Consequences

I nodded slowly and turned to him to bury my face in his iron chest, where I often felt safe and, ironically, warm. But I quickly pulled away. There were others here, I was being rude.

"Sorry about that, you guys. But I assure you, your secret is safe with her. She won't tell anyone, I promise." I grabbed my glass of wine and chugged it back. This party was turning out to be very stressful for me.

"Avery?" inquired a soft voice from behind me. It was Moya. "Was that your Aunt Tess?"

"Yes, that was her," I replied. "I'm sorry for her reaction, she was just really shocked, as you could imagine."

"Yes, so it seems," she agreed thoughtfully. But there was something else in what she said, or how she said it. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that my sisters and I will be retiring for the night. Thank you for inviting us to your wonderful party. We had a lovely time."

"Oh, no problem, I loved having you." I hugged her good bye and waved to Aya and Brie. They didn't talk much but they seemed just as sweet as their sister.

After that, everyone else slowly finished their drinks and was on their way as well. Lattie had curled up in the big chair in the living room and Julie had joined Will in her room. Only two people remained.

Celadine looked at her brother like she was asking a question, which, now that I thought about it, she probably was. Then she looked at me and grinned.

"Well, darling, I'm off for the night. I have lots of work to do tomorrow. Thank you for a wonderful time." And she pecked me on the cheek.

"No problem, I'm just glad that I could manage to get you out of the gallery for a night."

"Only for you," she kidded back. "Goodnight."

"Night, Celadine, see you on Tuesday."

Once she left, I ran to Jack's arms where I had been aching to be all night. He embraced me tightly as he planted soft kisses on my lips.

"Would you like to spend the night here?" I asked. "Or can you?" What would happen if he woke up in my sun lit bedroom? I knew he and his sister couldn't go out in the daytime, but I also knew that Celadine worked inside all day long, so I didn't think they slept in coffins or anything.

"I would love to spend the night with you, Miss Quinn," he answered a bit mockingly. "And yes, I can," he grinned his Jack grin and scooped me up in his arms to carry me to my room.

A little while later, I rested my head on his chest and he played mindlessly with my hair. "So, what do you do during the day?" I asked.

I could tell that he was grinning without even looking at him. "Well, I don't burst into flames or anything, if that's what you're thinking."

"No, well, I dunno what I thought, actually," I admitted.

"I can't go into the daylight because it makes me very, very weak. Imagine having every bit of energy drained from your body all at once. So much so, that you could barely lift your leg to take a step. That's a vampire in the sunlight," he explained.

"Why though? It's so strange."

"I have no idea. We are creatures of the night, our senses are extremely heightened after dark, so I guess they are really weakened during the day."

"I suppose. So it's okay for you to wake up here then? Because I get the southern exposure, so it's pretty sunny in here," I rambled.

"Fine by me, just don't be surprised to see that I am not a morning person," he joked and snuggled me closer to his body.

"Okay," I said through a big yawn. I was so tired. The party had taken a lot out of me. The whole mess with Aunt Tess, I didn't even want to think about it. But there was one thing I had to find out right now.

"Jack, how do you know Max?"

"What? I have never met her before in my life."

"Are you sure? Why did it seem like you guys hated each other so much?"

"I just knew her from things that you told me before. I assumed that she was being herself and making things difficult for you, so I came over to let her know that she was not welcome here if she couldn't...control herself." He seemed to be telling the truth. What else could I say?

"Okay then. I guess it was just weird, that's all," I said. "I'll have to talk to her on Monday. She was convinced that you were a bad guy for me, maybe she was just jealous or something."

"Well, I am quite a catch. Just look at me," he kidded. I slapped his chest and moved myself up to meet his face and kiss him. I loved his soft pink lips. I loved his hands in my hair. I loved his body in my bed. I loved him.