The lack of a heartbeat told me the voice belonged to a vampire so I cast my eyes over to the doorway, frowning in confusion when I didn't recognise the man standing there. With his shoulder length black hair that was falling in front of his face and his strong jawline, he looked like someone straight from my nightmares. He had his arms crossed firmly over his chest as he leaned against the door frame, watching us in amusement. I didn't even want to think about how long he'd been standing there because it just seemed creepy, to be honest.
"Who are you?" I blurted out, frown deepening when the man looked surprised.
"You haven't even told her about me, Shadow? I'm hurt!" The man placed a hand over his heart in shock, though there was a hint of a smile on his face.
"What are you doing here, Vince?" Shadow grumbled, picking me up effortlessly and placing me on the floor so he could stand up.
"I came to see you, obviously." Vince rolled his eyes. "But I can see you are a little busy so I will come back later."
"We can speak now."
"I do not think your girlfriend is happy about that but okay, I will make it quick," The grin dropped from his face as he looked at Shadow grimly. "I have what you are looking for."
Shadow's stance immediately changed, straightening up and appearing more intimidating than he had been as he stared at Vince with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Where?" He spoke through gritted teeth.
"At my humble abode, of course," Vince replied. "Where else?"
"Does she know you're here?"
Vince shook his head. "No. She has been rather jumpy though so I doubt it wil take her long to figure it out."
"Does she still believe we hate one another?" Shadow then asked, leading me to be more confuse than ever before. I guessed that they were speaking about Leah but why on earth would Shadow want her to believe he hated Vince?
"Of course," Vince nodded. Then, he grinned. "I had to say a few horrible things about you though."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Shadow retorted, though I could see that he wasn't offended in the least.
Vince looked amused at that. "I have to play up to it somehow! Wouldn't want her figuring it out and her bolting before you can get your hands on her, would we? What did she do to you anyway? I figure it has gotta be bad for you to want her so badly."
"She turned Violet." Shadow practically growled, hands clneching into fists as his jaw clenched.
Vince's eyes travelled over to me, standing awkwardly to one side as I listened to their conversation. When his eyes met my own, I raised my hand and waved.
"So she turned your girlfriend and you are going to torture her for it?" Vince spoke, taken aback, turning his attention back to Shadow. "Surely, being turned is a good thing? Now you have eternity to have all the sex you want."
"Violet didn't want to be turned." Shadow said, as if that was all the explanation he needed.
Vince shook his head, looking back at me as he spoke. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, love but when you roll with vampires, you are bound to have been turned. Honestly, Leah probably did you a favour turning you."
"How do you figure that out?" I asked, actually interested in why he thought so.
"Because if one of Shadow's enemies had gotten to you first, you would have been tortured first." Vince shrugged.
My eyebrows rose. "Human or vampire, I'd still be a target."
Vince shrugged again, seeming to realise that I was right. It wouldn't matter to any of Shadow's enemies whether I am a vampire or a human because they'd still use me to get to him.
"So, back to business," He then clapped his hands together and walked further into the room. "What do you want me to do about Leah?"
"Bring her here."
"You are really going to torture her?" Vince raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure that is wise given the situation? Leah did you a favour by turning your girlfriend, Shadow. I think you know that.
"What I decide to do is my business." Shadow snapped.
Vince smiled. "So easy to rile up. You always did have trouble controlling your anger. No wonder my brother liked having you around so much."
At the mention of his brother, Shadow tensed up and he glared at Vince with so much fury in his eyes I watched him warily. He had a tendency to act without thinking and the last thing I wanted was for him to attack Vince over a simple comment.
I was still thinking about his comment though as Shadow spoke, his voice menacing.
"Your brother was a psychopath." He was still glaring at Vince.
"We are all psychopaths, Shadow." Vince replied with a chilling expression on his face, a creepy smile forming as he continued, "My dear brother just happened to be more psychotic than most."
Shadow shook his head. "Look, just go back and bring Leah here. Then you can leave."
"As you wish," He bowed. When he straightened back up, his height towering over me as he took a step closer to me. "It was lovely to meet you, Violet."
"Call me before you turn up next time." Shadow suddenly said, just as Vince had turned to leave. Upon hearing this, he span around to look at Shadow again.
"I have learnt my lesson, do not worry," Vince laughed. "I wouldn't want to walk in on you deflowering your girlfriend next time."
"Deflowering?" My brows furrowed as I looked at Shadow once Vince had left.
"It means-" He started.
"Yeah, I know what it means," I cut him off, my frown deepening. "But why would he think that I'm a virgin?"
"You're not?" The fact Shadow seemed to believe I was a virgin almost made me laugh out loud. I wasn't sure why I found it so amusing but to me, it was.
"No..." I shook my head, biting my lip to stop the laughter that threatened to escape.
"Wait, you're not a virgin?" He looked me over, as if he would be able to figure out whether I was lying just from a look. "What the fuck?"
"It was a few months before my mum left, when I was 15." I felt the need to explain. "Wait, does everyone think I'm a virgin?"
"Why did I not know this?" He asked, a bewildered expression crossing his face.
"It never came up." I shrugged. Maybe that's why he had kept putting a stop to things before they got too heated. It would make sense, after all.
"Well, we did have more important things to worry about than the condition of your hymen," He replied sarcastically. "I can't believe I never knew."
Suddenly, a thought occured to me.
"Changing the topic completely here," I then spoke, not wanting to talk about that anymore. "But the brother you and Vince were talking about... was it Viktor? Him and Vince were brothers?"
Shadow nodded.
"And he doesn't hate you for killing him?"
That made him laugh. "Not at all. He told me thousands of times if I hadn't done it, he would have."
"His own family?" My eyebrows rose in surprise. "He would have killed his own brother?"
"Why does that surprise you after Raven?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "I just... does every vampire suddenly get the urge to kill off their siblings because that's just ridiculous."
"You don't know what Viktor was like." Was all he said in response and I got the feeling he no longer wanted to talk about it anymore.
But while he didn't want to talk about it, I only wanted to know more.
"Wait, so Leah goes crazy and turns me because she had to kill her psycho sister but you kill Viktor and Vince is fine with it?" I cocked my head to one side, biting my lip. "That's just... weird."
Shadow didn't reply so I quickly dropped the subject. I didn't want to anger him any further. Hearing that Leah was hiding from him had given him a lot to think about but truthfully, I wasn't sure whether torturing Leah was going to do any good at all. I couldn't see it ending well.
"So you're going to torture my girlfriend because she turned yours?" Alec's voice suddenly sounded from behind us and I span around to see he was staring straight at Shadow.
Shadow raked a hand through his hair, sighing. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough." Was all Alec said in response.
"Look, what I decide to do is my business."
"You can't just torture people because they piss you off!" Alec's voice raised as he took a step towards him. "You can't just torture people because they do something you don't like. That's not how this works!"
"You were here when she turned Violet," Shadow's spoke. "She isn't herself anymore, you know that."
"Because she killed her fucking sister!" Alec yelled, causing my eyes to widen at how loud his voice had risen. It was the first time I'd seen him so angry. "She's grieving!"
"And you think that justifies what she did?" Shadow's eyebrows raised.
"Hell fucking no, it doesn't," He shook his head. "But that doesn't mean she deserves to be tortured!"
I could see that Shadow was becoming increasingly more angry as the seconds ticked by so I stood in front of him, tearing his eyes away from Alec as I placed my hands on either side of his face. His expression softened when his gaze met mine.
"Go get some air, okay?" I told him softly. "I'll talk to Alec."
"You don't agree either, do you?" He asked, stepping away from me. With one last glance towards me and Alec, he turned and walked out.
A second later the front door slammed shut so I span around to face Alec, who was watching me thoughtfully.
"You really don't agree with what Shadow is planning?" He asked me.
"I don't like what Leah did and I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life," I told him slowly. "But I don't agree that she deserves to be tortured for it. She's grieving, she's not herself. If she was in her right mind, she wouldn't have done it."
Alec managed a small smile. "You realise that makes you the weirdest person ever, right? You should be the one wanting to kill her, not Shadow."
"I think he's more angry knowing that she was right," I shrugged, voicing my opinions aloud for the first time. "A human and a vampire couldn't have really lasted, it was inevitable that I'd end up turned. I just didn't expect it to be Leah."
It was a thought that had frequented my mind a lot since I had been turned. Shadow had been angry enough for the both of us after Leah had ran out but truthfully, I wasn't angry. I was just disappointed. I was disappointed that someone I once called a friend could do the one thing she knew I didn't want.
Despite that, however, I knew where she was coming from. I was still disappointed and hurt by her actions but I understood why she did it. I knew that my relationship with Shadow wouldn't have lasted, not when he treated me like a fragile little doll that he had to protect. Now, I was more than capable to protect myself and even he couldn't deny that. I truly believed Shadow was just angry because even he couldn't deny what was staring him in the face; our relationship would never have lasted if I'd remained human. It just wasn't possible.
I suppose, in a way, I sort of owed Leah. I had never wanted to be turned into a vampire but now that I had, all I could do was try and deal with it, to cope as best I can. Having Shadow around just made that better because at least now, I wouldn't be plagued with thoughts of losing him as I grew old and my skin wrinkled. I wouldn't be cringing in disgust when I thought about what would have happened if he'd have chosen to stay with me as I aged because obviously, there would have come a time I'd have passed for his mother and that was just disgusting. Truthfully, I doubted he would have wanted to stick around for that anyway. At least this way, I didn't have to worry about any of that.
"I know I can act like an insensitive ass sometimes," Alec spoke up, interrupting my thoughts. "But I am sorry she turned you. She shouldn't have done it."
I waved off his apologies. "There's no need to say sorry. Shadow is only angry because that's the only way he knows how to deal with this."
"Why aren't you angry?"
"As a human, I would overthink everything," I admitted, biting my lip as I looked up at him. "The thoughts that ran through my mind made me wonder what would have happened if I'd stayed human and Shadow chose to stay with me. In a way, being a vampire is easier because those thoughts no longer apply."
Alec knew what I was talking about instantly and nodded his head. "Leah thinks you hate her because of what she did."
My eyes widened as I realised what he meant. "You've been talking to her?"
"Ever since she left," He told me. "She is still my girlfriend and I do still love her."
Hearing Alec admit that he loves her wasn't something I heard often so I couldn't help but smile at that.
"Can you tell her I'm not angry and I don't hate her?" I asked. When he nodded, I continued. "And tell her that she can't stay with Vince anymore because Shadow knows."
"You're going to help me?"
"I don't want Shadow to hurt her." I spoke simply.
Suddenly, Alec was pulling me into his arms, squeezing me against him tightly as he buried his head in the crook of my neck. It was a good thing I didn't need to breathe because if I'd been human, he definitely would have cut off my air supply.
"Thank you." He mumbled.
I smiled. "You're welcome."
"I am curious about something though," He then said, pulling away and taking a step back as he looked at me. The amusement was clear on his expression, fighting the urge to laugh. "You're really not a virgin?"
"Oh my god," I groaned, covering my face in mortification. "I can't believe you heard that."
"I bet Shadow is kicking himself right now," Alec started to laugh. "He only holds back because he thought you were a virgin!"
So I had been right, I thought to myself.
"Can we please not talk about this anymore?" I begged him, embarrassment washing over me.
"Oh no, you're not getting off that lightly," He grinned wickedly. "Who was it? Did he give you the best sex of your life?"
"Alec!" I whined, covering my face with my hands. This conversation was even more mortifying now that my emotions were heightened so while I may have been okay talking to Shadow about it, I certainly wasn't okay with being teased about it. Besides, if I'd known Alec had been listening in, I'd never have said anything in the first place.
"Oh no, come on, Vi!" He slung an arm around my shoulder. "We're gonna act like girls and talk about boys and you're gonna tell me everything!"
"You're so weird." I laughed.
"When you've been around as long as I have, you learn to find amusement in everything or you end up like Leah." He responded.
"Because that didn't sound harsh at all." I retorted, rolling my eyes as we walked into the kitchen.
"I know how crazy my girlfriend is, Vi," He glanced down at me, smirking. "But she's great in the bedroom and I love her."
"I'll make you a deal," I offered. "I'll tell you about my not so interesting sex life if you tell me about Vince because something isn't adding up here. Why does Shadow want Leah to believe he hates him?"
"Oh..." He trailed off. "You have a lot to learn, my friend."
"That's why you're going to fill me in."