Bloodsong

Chapter 16

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. It had been a week since the interview. The article printed had resulted in more emails requesting meetings. I declined them all. His invitation to dinner had floored me. While everyone else in the room had thought it romantic, I hadn’t been so impressed. His proposition had felt like an ambush , and I’d told him no. The hurt in his eyes had affected me more than I would have liked.

I climbed out of bed. Not only did I know a vampire, but he also wanted to take me out for dinner. I was sure his idea of dinner involved his lips on my neck taking my blood.

“Let me take you out for dinner, where you’ll be my meal,” I mocked, walking into the living room after my shower.

On my balcony, a red rose had been left sitting on the chair. He’d done it every day in the past week, and I’d thrown them all out. I couldn’t deny it was a sweet gesture, if it weren’t for the fact that my balcony was twenty floors up, making it a little unsettling. A reminder of his inhumanness. Before I could throw the latest gift in the rubbish bin, the intercom buzzed.

Lilith and Mia smiled and waved at the camera.

“Come on up,” I unlocked the door for them, and I realised there was a note attached to this rose.

‘ Quinn, I do hope you’ll reconsider and accept my invitation.- Matteo.’

“Why are you so insistent?” I pondered. “You’ve got to stop leaving gifts on my balcony.”

Lilith and Mia walked in then.

“Ohh, another rose.” Mia gushed. “He’s really into you.”

“Come on, let’s go,” I said instead, dropping the rose to my kitchen bench. “We don’t want to be late.”

Lilith pressed her lips together but couldn’t hold back the grin. “You, telling us we don’t want to be late? Who are you, what have you done with Quinn?”

I laughed and pulled on my jacket. “I’ve laid in bed for an hour, so I suppose I feel like I’m on time.”

“By your standards?” Lilith raised her eyebrow. “Or are you just trying to avoid talking about Matteo? I mean, if he’s what it takes for you to be on time, we should have him show up in random places more often.”

I groaned as I locked my door. “Or never.”

“You can only say no for so long,” Lilith pressed the button to the elevator. “You had a moment when he walked in last week. I still don’t get why you’re fooling yourself that you’re not into him.”

I clenched my jaw. Maybe because he’s a vampire? I had no one to talk to about what I’d discovered, and I really wanted to tell them. I’d never thought it was possible to feel so alone as I did then.

“We know nothing about him,” I repeated what I’d been telling them since the night of the gallery opening.

“Ugh, I think you’re using that as an excuse,” Lilith put her hand on my arm. “It’s okay to be scared, no one can blame you for that. What you went through with Steven is going to make you cautious. But you can’t hide from men forever.”

“She’s right,” Mia agreed. “You’ll eventually need something other than your vibrator to get you off.”

“Say my bi and lesbian besties.” Laughter burst from all of us.

“No, but what if Matteo’s the one ,” Mia burst with excitement again.

“You sound like my sister. Niamh believed in all that ‘the one’ stuff. I don’t. He’s just a normal guy, pursuing someone who’s already told him no.” Normal guy. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or cry.

“Your mouth says no, but your eyes say something else altogether.” The elevator arrived with a ding. Lilith narrowed her eyes at me as we entered the elevator “You’re terrified . There’s something you’re not telling us.”

Mia glanced at me with curiosity.

“I’m not terrified,” I lied. “Can you stop pushing me on this? I’ll date when I’m ready. Just not him.”

Lilith studied my face, and her expression softened. “Sorry, you’re right. Ok, today’s your birthday; you’re supposed to be smiling. We have a fun day planned. This is your last year of your twenties, so you have to make the most of it. Live life and all that.” Her grin was wide.

“Uh-oh, what do you have planned?” I asked as we reached the ground floor.

We walked outside into the cold wind, dark clouds overhead. I zipped up my jacket.

“That would be telling.” Lilith winked.

My trepidation melted away when we arrived at Chocolate Trail. “Chocolate tasting? It’s almost as if you know me!” I laughed.

Our first tasting was marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate. I took a bite and moaned in satisfaction.

“I know you love chocolate, but try not to have an orgasm over it,” Lilith whispered, her eyes dancing with amusement.

Mia nudged me. “Next time you do have a sexual partner, tell him you like chocolate. Having chocolate sauce licked off your body is enough to-” she stopped when Lilith elbowed her hard in the ribs. “Ow, that hurt! ”

“I’m sure Quinn doesn’t need to know that!” Lilith said.

“Too late,” I laughed, my mouth full of chocolate and marshmallows. “Cannot be unheard.” I had to admit the thought of having chocolate licked off me did have appeal. I could almost visualise it. Except it was Matteo who I imagined. I stopped chewing, my core tightening.

“You okay?” Lilith asked. “You look like you’re enjoying that chocolate, but try not to choke on it.”

I snorted and did start to choke then. Mia and Lilith burst out laughing, which drew the attention of the three other people on the tasting. Lilith’s phone rang, and she answered. I ignored her conversation, taking another marshmallow and swirling it in the chocolate.

Her excited tone drew my interest. “Yes, of course, I’m with them right now.”

Excitement reflected in Mia’s eyes as she met mine. This was something music-related. I hoped it was good news. We were gaining recognition as more of our content had started to go viral. If the number of magazines and newspapers taking interest in my non-love-life was anything to go by, I could only hope someone in the industry would notice us. A few years ago, we’d been the opening band at a big concert, but not much had really happened since.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Lilith smiled and hung up.

Not saying a word, she put her chocolate marshmallow into her mouth, aware that Mia and I were staring.

“So, are you going to tell us what that was about?” I asked.

A slow smile crept across her face. “Not much.”

Mia let out a frustrated sigh. “Then why are you grinning as if you’ve won the lotto?”

“Because we have,” Lilith said in a way that I knew she was trying to keep her voice calm.

“Lil, just spit it out already, you’re torturing us!” I rolled my eyes.

“We just booked our first tour,” she said, her voice strangely calm.

Her words settled over me and I squealed. “Are you serious? An actual tour?” My reaction gained looks from everyone around us again. “Sorry!”

Lilith’s joy broke across her face. “An actual tour. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.”

The world spun, and overjoyed, I couldn’t hold back my own smile. “Well, shit!”

Mia grabbed my arm and Lilith’s. “Let’s remember this moment, girls! It will be how it all started for us. Quinn, happy birthday!”

Overwhelming excitement rose up and I fought to contain it. We were in public and had already called attention.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Lilith said. “It’s just one tour.”

“Yeah, but it’s our first! We’ll never have another first tour.” Mia grinned at me. “Now you’ll have your pick of groupies.”

I scoffed, still weirded out by my reaction to the fantasy of Matteo licking chocolate from me.

“Okay, next we have caramel-filled chocolates,” our tour guide announced, and a new tray of chocolates was laid on the table in front of us.

“So when is the tour?” Mia asked.

Lilith bit into her chocolate and chewed deliberately slowly as we waited. “January,” she said, finally. “Tickets go on sale next month.”

Six months !

“Oh my god, we have to post about this!” Mia pulled out her phone.

Lilith grabbed Mia’s arm. “Wait, let’s play this smart. Take a photo but tease our followers. We’re at The Underground tonight. Tell them there is a big announcement there .”

I smirked. “Lil, for someone who hates social media, you’re pretty clued in as to how to create intrigue.”

Mia took our photo and spoke out loud as she typed. “Chocolate tour for birthday girl Quinn. See you all tonight at The Underground. Big announcement, so make sure you’re there!” She kept typing, probably putting in all the hashtags.

I put a new caramel chocolate into my mouth, loving the burst of caramel as I bit down. “Oh, my favourite!” I enthused.

We all sent our parents messages to let them know and were immediately invited to Lilith’s family’s home to celebrate. They lived on a farm, and it had been a few years since I’d been out there.

The rest of the tasting went by in a blur as we were more focused on our tour. It was raining when we left. To avoid walking in the rain, we jumped on the tram, getting out near Melbourne Central.

“Movies,” Mia said, excited. “We’re seeing one about a singer who receives her second chance at love where she least expects it.” Her excitement was clear on her face, she smiled at me.

Mia was a true romantic at heart and would take us to a romance movie any chance she got. Not that I minded. But the topic of this movie hit a little close to home. We found our seats and relaxed, waiting for the movie to start. Lilith sat in the middle. It was the middle of the day on a Friday, so there weren’t many people. I caught Lilith grabbing Mia’s hand out of the corner of my eye and smiled to myself. We’ve known each other for most of our lives, but the two had only connected romantically in the last three or four years, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

We were only part way through the movie when I thought I heard a moan behind me.

“I think someone’s enjoying the movie a little too much,” Mia whispered loudly.

I resisted the urge to turn around. The second moan sounded more muffled, and this time I did turn around, ready to tell them to take it to their bedroom. In the back row were three people. A woman with two men on either side of her, both kissing her neck. Only it would have looked like that if I hadn’t recently seen a vampire in mid-feed.

I gasped and both men pulled away, looking at me. In the light of the movie, their eyes were red, blood on their lips. Matteo, and the one who’d spoken to me at his gallery. The woman slumped in her seat.

‘ Quinn, please don’t scream, ’ his voice whispered in my mind.

“Don’t look!” Lilith whispered to me. “Voyeur, jeez!”

“I need to get a drink!” I said. “I’ll be back.”

“Bring me one!” Mia called out as I bolted for the door, keeping my eyes down as I passed their row.

In the foyer, I rubbed my hand over my face. I’d just seen two vampires feeding, and my heart was hammering hard.

“Quinn,” he spoke behind me in a soft voice and placed a hand on my shoulder.

I clamped down on a scream. Behind him, I met the eyes of his friend who was watching me warily .

“Breathe, we won’t hurt you,” Matteo spoke as if speaking to a child. “You’re safe. The woman is alive, just under the effects of our venom, and a little lightheaded. She’ll be passed out for the rest of the movie.”

Venom?

“Are you following me?” I asked. “Keeping an eye on me? And who is he? I knew he had to be a va-” His hand covered my mouth, muffling the word vampire. I caught panic in his eyes. I forced myself to relax, realising that I’d been about to blab more than I should in public. “Sorry,” I mumbled against his palm, meeting his eyes so he could see I meant it.

He let me go, stepping away from me yet still watchful. He and his friend exchanged a worried look, their eyebrows drawn down. It occurred to me that I was as much their source of fear as they were mine. That allowed me to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Quinn, this is Carlos,” Matteo relaxed. “I believe you’ve met.”

I eyed Carlos, his presence as chilling as the first time I’d met him. He inclined his head to me in acknowledgement with a smirk. I got the feeling that was his permanent facial expression.

“It’s the middle of the day,” I whispered. “How are you walking about?”

Carlos chuckled. “Humans!” he murmured to Matteo, his voice low. “Sweet, naive Quinn, you shouldn’t believe everything you see in movies. We don’t burn in the sun, nor do we sparkle.” His lip curled in disgust.

I turned my attention to Matteo, deciding that he was less menacing than Carlos. “So, you’re here to what, catch a movie over lunch?” I asked, trying to sound casual and not accusatory.

Carlos laughed, loud and booming, drawing attention from those in the foyer. “She has a sense of humour, despite the fact that you frighten her.” He clapped Matteo on the back and pulled sunglasses from the top of his head to cover his eyes. A matching set to the pair on Matteo’s head. “I’ll be outside.” He left, leaving me alone with Matteo.

His hand lifted as if he were about to touch my face, and he stopped himself. “I wasn’t following you,” he answered my earlier question. “But I’m happy to see you.” His smile appeared genuine.

Mia chose that moment to walk into the foyer. “Quinn, you’re missing the mov…oh.” She grinned at Matteo. “That explains what was taking her so long. You’re not stalking her, or anything are you?”

“No, he’s not stalking me.” I didn’t look away from Matteo, our gazes locked.

“Oh, for crying out loud.” Mia grumbled “It’s her birthday, you know!”

“I did not know that,” he said to me. “Happy birthday.”

“Are you just going to stare at her all day?” Mia asked. She knew exactly what she was doing. Sneaky, Mia.

“I’ll let you go back to your movie,” Matteo said. “On the condition that you let me take you out for dinner tonight for your birthday. We can go wherever you want. What do you like?”

I opened my mouth and paused. He was really going out of his way to get me to agree to go to dinner with him. I wondered if I should just try to get to know him.

“Not tonight, sorry lover-boy, we’re playing at The Underground. But she’s free tomorrow. And she loves Italian! ”

I forced down the urge to roll my eyes at Mia. Subtle, Mia, real subtle.

“Perhaps I can have your phone number?” he asked with hope in his eyes. “That’s if you’re in agreement?”

I let my breath out slowly, my heart pounding. “You’re persistent. But sure.” I pulled out a business card, handing it to him. “It has all our numbers on it, but that’s mine.” I pointed.

“So I can call you?” he asked, pocketing the card.

I nodded, entranced in the way his lips curved, his eyes never leaving mine.

He shot a glance at Mia before his eyes returned to mine. “I know of an Italian restaurant with the finest red wines from Tuscany. I can meet you outside your building at seven o’clock?”

“Oh, she’ll probably be late.” Mia laughed.

I elbowed her. “Seven is fine.”

His face lit up, and he lifted my hand, lowering his head to kiss my fingers. “Then I shall see you tomorrow, Quinn Bailey.”

Then he was gone. And I had a dinner date. With a vampire.