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CHAPTER 6
I looked at the phone as if it was a live snake and then looked back at Nash, who still had an inscrutable expression on his face but I could feel the tension oozing out of him. I wanted to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction. Hell, I wanted to cut off my own hand before taking that phone. But I never ran away from my problems before and I didn’t intend to start now. Granted, this is a bit different from any problem I’d faced before. Still, I held my hand out and reluctantly took the phone, then held it to my ear. “Hello?” I’m proud to say my voice didn’t waver as I spoke.
“How do you find your new life, darling? Satisfactory? I see you’ve made new friends, a very interesting choice.” He said with a deep voice like velvet. It reminded me of honey dripped over poison.
“As far as I see it, I didn’t have a choice. You took that away from me the second you killed my family.” My voice was deceptively cool. I didn’t need a mirror to know that my eyes must have been hard and cold as ice.
The bastard had the gall to laugh! I gritted my teeth. “I just wanted to let you know that you are cordially invited to the Winter Solstice Ball. Ask the men when and where, they’ll know.”
“Yeah? Well you can stuff your-”
He cut me off before I could finish, “Now, now. Watch your language, little bird. I don’t want to have to cut your tongue off.” He said in the same casual tone and that chilled me to the bone.
“I will get you eventually.” I said in the most even voice I could manage, though on the inside, I was anything but calm.
“I look forward to it.” He was laughing as the line cut. I knew both the guys could hear that he hung up but they were still tensed.
I glared at the phone in my hand and said, “Cocky bastard,” before handing it back to Nash.
At that both the guys laughed. Some of the tension ebbed out of the room. “So, what exactly is a Winter solstice Ball?” I asked.
Gabe answered, “It’s the largest gathering of the Dark community each year. According to humans, I believe it falls on Christmas.”
“So pretty much everything evil gathers together at the same time humans celebrate Christ’s birth? Now that’s what I call ironic.”
“I suppose. Now, get some sleep. The sun may not burn you but all creatures of the Night are weaker during the day.” Nash stated, ushering me into the bedroom from yesterday.
I didn’t want to sleep, I was afraid to. I was scared that once I close my eyes, I’ll be swallowed up whole by the grief and darkness that seemed to be just on the edge of my mind. But I would go to sleep because I needed it. So I told them that I would rest and walked into my room.
When I realized that I didn’t have any clothes, I stopped at the door way and turned around to ask, “Nash, do you have any clothes that I could sleep with?”. I felt awkward asking them for stuff to wear, but I didn’t really have a choice now, did I? I silently swore that I would make it up to him.
He smiled and said, “I’ll take care of it.” I gave him a small smile and closed the door. I deemed both my t-shirt and hoodie lost causes so I threw them in a pile on the floor. My jeans were salvageable with only a few scarps and I folded it and left it on the edge of the bed. I took a quick shower and moaned as the warm water fell on my skin. There was nothing better than a hot shower to relax sore muscles.
I took a little longer than I planned to enjoy it but I got out eventually and wrapped a towel around my body. I found a long black loose-fitting nightie along with a new pair of jeans and a purple shirt all neatly folded on the bed and the ruined clothes were out of sight – even the jeans. I frowned at that but then shrugged and let it go.
I changed quickly and laid down on the bed; I was surprised and grateful that sleep pulled me in quickly.
NASHTON'S POV:
Once she had fallen asleep, both of us looked at each other, “Curious, isn’t it?”I asked him.
Gabriel glanced at me, then shrugged and said, “It’s the first time a half has ever been invited to the party. It’s an ideal situation, but we have no idea what the King is thinking. Is he simply bored and came up with this plot to see how’d we react? Or is he planning to use this opportunity to wipe out all of us trouble makers?”
“Either way, it appears we’ve got quite an interesting battle on our hands. Nicola is a wild card though; no one knows why he decided to change her and go so far as to kill everyone she loves. We don’t know what kind of powers she will manifest or even if she has any to begin with.” I said absently.
He looked at me through narrow eyes. I smiled back; I had a feeling that the haughty vampire found the girl endearing. She was truly a beauty, but that was not the only thing about her. She seems to draw those around her; I could understand why the King wanted her, I wanted her, myself. And burning hell, she had a body made for sin. I certainly wouldn’t mind having a taste of that.
But personal feelings aside, if she did have any powers, and I do believe she does, her second life will be very short indeed. Pity, I actually liked her. Abruptly, I stopped that train of thought. I like all women, I thought defensively. I feed off their lust after all, it’s only natural.
Deciding to get my mind off her, I turned to Gabriel, “She’s lovely, isn’t she? Tell me, how did she get hurt? Or better yet, how did she manage to heal so quickly without any blood?”
I saw his body become rigid and his glare intensify, I knew I’d hit a mark. Her clothes wouldn’t have been so ragged if she hadn’t been attacked and she wouldn’t have healed without assistance. I felt a prick of some emotion that I didn’t care to look too closely upon and put on a smug smile for the vampire. I must have interrupted at a crucial moment since they got back so quickly. I felt my smile widen. I had guessed that was why he sounded so strange, but I had no idea that blood lust had been the reason. I almost laughed aloud recalling his disgruntled expression when they got back.
Serves the bastard right, he should receive some retribution. He stole a lady I had been courting sometime during the 1850’s, not that she was much of a lady. One day, she suddenly decided that she preferred him as a lover. I didn’t particularly find it such a great loss, but it did prickle my pride.
My cell phone beeped, reminding me that I have more pressing matters to attend to. I quickly put the matters of both, Nicola and Gabriel, out of my mind as I went to my room to finish the business that I had been neglecting. Honestly, lawyers, I thought with a scowl, and people say we suck the life out of them.
GABRIEL'S POV:
I was fuming at the demon’s retreating figure. I struggled to rein my temper. The demon was getting much too haughty, it’s about time someone cut him down to size – literally, I thought darkly . I sighed, resigned to my fate. What irked me to no end was the fact that I had to live in the Demon’s residence, granted his was closer than mine; what’s more, she was sleeping on one of his beds. It was not as bad as it sounded but it still irritated me. I groaned in frustration, what was that girl doing to me? I barely knew her for a day, and already she was under my skin.
I needed to get away from her, put some distance between us, but I couldn’t. I refused to run away like a coward and I was wary of leaving her alone with Nashton. I clenched my fists, wanting to hit something. My mind went back to a few hours ago, and I felt embarrassed. I haven’t lost control like that since my first feeding. What in blazes was wrong with me?
Leaving the running of all the companies to my men seemed to have been a good decision. Though I would enjoy a distraction right about now, I would be too busy thinking of a certain female to be of any use. I realized that my blood supply would have to be replenished, so I called one of my men to get a fresh batch from a nearby hospital.
After I’d received the blood, I made my way to the remaining unoccupied bedroom. Vampires need rest to re-energize but contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t necessarily have to be during the day, but it makes more sense to sleep when our powers are weaker.
That day, I had dreamed of Nicola for the first time and I had a feeling it would not be the last.
NICOLA'S POV:
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I wasn’t in my room. The second was that I was afraid of what my mom would do once I got back. Then, reality slapped me like a splash of cold water and my sleepy haze was gone in an instant. I slowly got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. I splashed water on my face and turned on the shower. I leaned back against the door for a few moments as tears silently streaked down my face; then, disgusted at myself, soaked in a nice hot bath.
I wore the clothes that Nash had gotten me yesterday and was slightly shocked to realize that everything was branded. That didn’t really help the guilt I was feeling. I should really talk to them about this, though now that I think about it, the guys are probably loaded. I wonder why that didn’t occur to me sooner; after all they have had a long time to make their fortune.
I walked into the living room to find it empty. Since I craved company, I tried to find either Gabe or Nash. The first room I opened was empty but it had Nash’s scent all over it so I guessed it was his room. The odd thing about this house was that it didn’t really feel like Nash was there a lot, more like only for a visit once in a while. Must have some business to run, I guess; I didn’t know anything about my new roommates, I realized. What do they do in the Real world? It’s obvious that they had some source of income. A lot of it.
I opened the door of the next room to find Gabe just awaking from sleep himself. Immediately, I could smell blood, human blood. I recoiled and my eyes found the source of the smell, a bag of blood, like the ones from a hospital. I looked back at Gabe to find him staring at me. He must have noticed the disgust on my face when I saw the blood. He crossed the room in less than an instant and was pulling me into the room and closing the door behind. I was held against his body for a second but then he moved away and I was feeling oddly rejected.
“Good evening Nicola. Care for a drink?” He asked casually, and walked towards the cooler in the corner and took out another bag of blood. I swallowed the saliva that pooled the instant I smelled the blood. My human mind was still telling me that it was disgusting to drink blood, while my vampire body craved it.
“No, thank you.” I said, between clenched teeth. My teeth felt funny. I felt my teeth with my tongue, only to find that my canines were growing into fangs. I covered my mouth with my hand.
“You have to drink if you want to survive. Unless you want to be driven to the same level of that rabid half.” He offered me a bag. I swallowed my distaste and walked over to take the bag. I never want to become anything like that beast. I sat on the edge of the bed and I watched him drink it.
His fangs were extended and he bit into the packet. He drank the red liquid oozing out but his eyes did not leave mine. It was like a fire had been lit behind his eyes, making them flash for just a second. I blinked and the blood was over. I slowly brought it close to my lips; I could feel his stare but couldn’t bring myself to meet it. When I bit into it, the taste was indescribable. It was like pure power filling my veins. It couldn’t compare to the feeling of taking it from the source though. But it was still amazing. I was finished before I noticed.
“Wow.” I breathed. That was ….. different.
He smiled; the kind that made me feel butterflies in my stomach, “I know.”
“It feels different from the … other time.” I said blushing a little at the last part.
“The adrenalin coursing through a human’s veins is what makes the need for drinking from the source so hard to resist. From another, older vampire, it’s the power in the blood that makes it more intoxicating.”
Just then, the door opened and Nash walked into the room with a grin. He sat beside me on the bed put his arms around my shoulders to pull me closer to him.
“Don’t you believe in knocking?” Gabe growled.
“Not in my house.” He said easily, then took my hand in his and noisily kissed it saying, “Darling, I’m home.” He smiled brightly at me and Gabe glowered at him. I put a hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle and gave them both an amused look. I enjoyed watching them fight and wished that this would always stay the same.
But nothing ever does.