Of Fate & Forbidden Desire (The Gatekeeper Duet #1)

5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

How can you lose everything in a matter of minutes?- Dina

“ A drina?” Tilly's voice makes me jump as I carefully let myself back inside my hotel room as the sun finished rising after my night with Charleene. I was still reeling from the fact that Charleene was a bloody witch.

“What are you doing here?” I grumble at her, wanting nothing more than to fall into the double bed that she’s currently lounging on, “Get your shoes off my bed,” I snapped at her, glaring at the offending knee high black boots.

“And where have you been?” she asked, raising one of her perfect eyebrows in an arch above one of her blue eyes and drawing in a deep breath, “ah, you smell like sex, so does this mean you've got that human out of your system?” she asked, grinning up at me.

“Witch,” I retorted on my way to the ensuite bathroom, slamming the door a little too hard behind me, hoping she'd get the message that I wanted to be alone. I hadn't been expecting Charleene's scent to still be affecting me so much, however Tilly's thinly veiled humour made rage pour through me. How dare she make light of such a special person. My mind agreed.

“How have you gotten mixed up with a Witch?!” Tilly called through the door.

Ignoring her I turned the tap and got the shower running, how indeed had I gotten involved with a damn witch? And how hadn't she known what I was? I'd been asking myself those two questions since leaving Charleene's house and was still no closer to an answer.

Just thinking of Charleene brought a flush to my cheeks as I remembered our time together and my thighs clenched as steam slowly filled the small room. Last night was amazing, I'd never known how different a woman's body would feel compared to a man's. Charleene had been soft and her tongue had known exactly where to play to make me moan. She also hadn't rushed; where most men seemed to be in a race to finish, Charleene had drawn out each moment of pleasure.

“Adrina?!” Tilly shouted as her fist reigned down against the door, rattling it on its hinges.

“I'm not in the mood Tilly, so leave me alone.” I called back, rolling my eyes at her antics. I knew why she was so concerned, if Charleene was truly a witch then there was no way we’d ever be allowed to be together. Even casual dalliances between species were severely frowned upon by the High Council.

“Fine, grumpy pants, I'll leave you be for now but tonight I will have answers.” She threatened, before I heard the soft thump of my hotel door closing behind her. Wiping a thick line through the steam on the mirror I met my usual frowning gaze and wondered what the heck I was going to do? A relationship with a human was hard enough, one with a witch was going to be impossible, however I couldn't stop myself from thinking of her. Quickly stripping out of my clothes, I stepped under the warm water and washed away last night. Once clean and dry, I flopped onto the bed without getting dressed and fell into a fitful sleep.

A loud thumping at the door, forced me awake for the second time that day, leaving me feeling grumpier than normal as I left Charleene in my dreams. Opening my eyes, a little of my ire left me, as the dim light of evening peeked in around the heavy curtains and I remembered my promise to meet Charleene tomorrow. I’d woken earlier from tortured dreams of the life I would have had, if it hadn’t been stolen by a man with hundreds of broken promises and when checking my phone for the ungodly time I’d found a message from an unknown number. Clicking on it had taken me longer than it should have but once I’d read her short message my heart had soared.

More thumping came from the door, dragging me back to the present as I wondered sourly, What now? before tossing back the thick quilt and hunting for something to wear in the small wardrobe the hotel provided for its guests. Finally dressed in another black shirt and skin tight black jeans, I threw the door open, revealing a frowning Tilly with her clenched fist in the air, clearly ready for another round of pounding. “What?” I grumbled at her in an almost growl.

“What? What?!” She demanded striding into my room and pinning me with a piercing glare, “This morning you come back from your night of…fun” she finally said finding the word she wanted, “and dropped the bombshell that the woman you’d bedded was in fact a witch, before kicking me out.” Tilly was incredulous and I understood why, I was edging into dangerous territory. However it seemed that when it came to Charleene I wasn’t entirely my usual rational self.

“Yes, she’s a witch, big deal.” I threw back at her, slamming the door shut, ready for whatever fight was coming.

“Big Deal?” she threw back at me raising one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows in question, “Do you even hear yourself Adrina?” Tilly stomped over to my unmade bed before spinning back round to face me, “if she is a witch, nothing further can happen between you both. You know our laws better than anyone, and what happens when one of us breaks them.” Her voice dropped some of its anger by the end of her speech.

“Of course I know our laws Tilly, I’ve spent the last century enforcing them, but—”

“There are no buts Adrina, you must leave the witchling alone.” Her words made my heart squeeze painfully at the thought of having to never see her again. “We need to inform the York Coven so that they can bring her into their fold.”

“What?” I almost shouted at her, “she clearly doesn’t know what she is Tilly,” I protested trying to protect Charleene, from what I wasn’t too sure, but the overwhelming need to keep her from harm crashed through me.

“And what? You’re going to be the one to tell her, train her?” Tilly’s questions brought me up short, making me think rationally, and realise I probably wasn’t the best person. “The York Coven is better equipped to deal with a wild grown witch, we are not. ”

I knew she was right, it would be best for the both of us if I never saw her again, but the thought of hurting Charleene didn’t feel right. “At least let me say goodbye?” I asked, defeated.

“Fine but you need to feed before you go anywhere near her again.”

Nodding my agreement, I sank onto the hard chair near the small desk and asked my next question, “What about the rogue?”

“Seems to have gone to ground with his latest victim.” Tilly said drearily as she followed suit and perched on the edge of my bed. “If they follow their usual pattern, we’ll have a couple of nights before another human is taken.”

“Then I’ll take tonight to feed and say goodbye to Charleene tomorrow evening.” I said, falling in line like the good soldier I’d always been since the London Coven had taken me in. Finding the rogue vamp before they killed again had to be our priority, too many innocents had already died.

“Good, I’m going to check in with some of my contacts in the city, hopefully they’ll have heard something new.” Tilly muttered dejectedly. She was fuming that whoever this vamp was, they’d managed to out manoeuvre us for so long and I completely agreed with her. We hadn’t had this much trouble finding one vamp in our centuries of working together.

Before my thoughts could turn to Charleene again, I bid Tilly goodnight and grabbed my favourite coat from its hook. The hotel key card was still in my pocket from this morning, so leaving her to close up, I stomped off down the hotel corridor. Using my vampiric speed I was out in the darkening night ready to begin my hunt in a matter of seconds. Being a vampire certainly had its perks, I thought turning to my left and merging with the throng of humans. The crowds thinned as I walked unsuspectingly to the nearest archway out of the city walls and breathed a sigh of relief as I picked up my pace, eager to find someone I could use to satisfy my bloodthirst.

I’d only been searching for a few minutes in one of the less reputable areas belonging to York, when I crossed the sickly sweet scent of burning drugs. Following it like a bloodhound, and bingo. He stood at the end of a dark alley, with no street lamps, towering over two skinny children with messy hair and dark shadows lining their eyes. They barely looked old enough to be roaming the streets, let alone being drug addicts already. Such a waste, I thought sadly to myself as I stalked closer down the alley. My hackles rose when I heard his threatening voice, pushing them into handing over cash for the life-draining drugs in his hand.

“Come on,” he purred down at them, “you know you need what I’m giving.” Sneering, I made sure my feet made no sound on the litter strewn floor. The youngsters eyes widened as they spied me first, raising my finger to my lips. I gestured for them to be quiet before tapping the thug's shoulder with my right hand. “Just a minute,” he grumbled without taking his eyes off the kids.

“But I’m desperate,” I fake whined, already enjoying the hunt that would come soon.

“I have enough for everyone, Sweetheart,” he answered smugly and finally glanced at me over his shoulder. His glazed eyes flowed over my body, noting the tight clothing I wore and my short stature as his attention switched from the two kids to fix firmly on myself and I smiled up at him.

“Oh, that’s a relief,” I gasped, taking a step back. I needed the kids to leave before my fun could truly begin. Other than the laws set by the Vampire Council, I had my own which kept my humanity in place and protecting the young was very high up on that list. “Why don’t you kids get out of here,” I prompted them, flashing the thug another coy smile as he stepped towards me.

“Yeah, get lost.” He growled back at them, as his eyes fixated on my rising chest and a grin showed me his blackened rotting teeth. The two kids glanced at each other before one of them found their voice.

“But…”

“Get lost you twits!” The man roared, making them both cower before they darted around us. “Right, where were we honey?” he asked rhetorically and reached one of his grubby hands out towards me.

“Right where I want you.” I answered letting my own grin spread across my face, “however, I think you might want to run. ”

“Run? Why would I run from what you’re freely offering?” he questioned, confused at my answer, his brows scrunching together.

“Because I’m your worst nightmare.” I said, letting my fangs descend over my bottom lip and laughing cruelly as his face blanched.

“What kinda freak are you?” he snapped, trying to master his fear.

“The kind that likes to play with her food.” I retorted, drawing out his confusion and the fear that was steadily worming its way through his scent.

“What…” he began but didn’t get very far before my lips were latched onto his neck and my fangs sank through his skin. Pulling a long drink of his tainted blood into my mouth, I smiled against his neck when he began to struggle. “Get off of me you freak.” He yelled, his fist connecting with the side of my face and dislodging my mouth.

“RUN!” I screamed, pushing him to the damp floor. I wiped the small dribble of blood that had escaped my hungry lips, with my finger, and made sure I was looking directly into his eyes—smiling probably a little menacingly—before I licked it clean. He scrambled backward, his legs not wanting to work properly as he finally realised he wasn’t the predator anymore. Laughing, I gave him a few minutes head start before I began hunting him.

I took my time, relishing in the power I had over him, as my noisy pursuit made him panic. I focused on his racing heart and followed him down yet another street as he flicked a fearful look over his shoulder. We were nearing the city centre and I knew I’d have to end this game of cat and mouse far sooner than he deserved, but I had to feed and he needed to learn not to be such a massive douche-bag. With a short laugh that echoed towards him I forced him down a small alley to his right and finally into a dank abandoned square.

“You’ve reached the end of the line,” I purred at him when his head spun from side to side and he realised there was no escaping me. He dropped to his knees as I drew closer making him feel the same fear that his own victims would have undoubtedly felt at his hands. Tears ran down his face as he muttered indistinguishable sounds, when my hands yanked his head to the side roughly exposing his neck and I plunged my teeth into him again.

“What in the world are you doing?” a horrified female voice pierced through the fog of bloodlust which had claimed my mind shortly after I’d begun feeding. The words she’d spoken meant nothing but her sweet shaking voice had my head flinging back, breaking the seal of my mouth on this worthless guy's neck. I met her brown eyes and reeled back further as reality came crashing down at her fear-filled look.

I knew what she was seeing and hated myself for being so careless. She was seeing the monster I’d carefully hidden from her last night. Blood dripped off my chin as her eyes pinned me in place and her heart sprinted, much like the man’s had done until seconds ago. I watched, trying to force my bloodlust to clear, as her eyes ran over my face and her head shook from side to side. A whimper that shattered my heart came from her lips before she turned and fled.

Unable to make myself move, I watched her long hair swing from side to side as she disappeared down the small cut through. Looking down at the man, who was still breathing—luckily—shame barrelled through me. I hadn’t hunted a human like I’d done tonight, since the night Tilly had found me half-mad from bloodlust in Edinburgh. Yes he’d deserved every minute of the fear I’d made him feel, but did he truly deserve to have his life ended by me? I wasn’t any better than him after all. It took me a few more minutes until my mind was my own again and I pushed to my feet, leaving the shit-stain where he lay. Tilly was going to be furious when she heard how tonight's hunt had gone. I’d been supposed to go to the clubs, sipping small amounts from those too drunk to notice, not meet-out my own form of vigilante justice on York’s drug dealing population.

I could already hear her voice as I whipped the blood from my chin and buttoned up my long coat, before turning and walking back towards our hotel with Charleene’s horrified voice ringing on repeat.

Shit, what have I done? I berated myself.

“What the hell did you do?” Tilly accused, when she saw the dejection on my face. She’d seen it often enough in our past to recognise it.

“I fucked up,” I answered honestly, I knew it was pointless in trying to hide anything from Tilly, she knew me better than I knew myself most days. Ushering me inside she gently closed the door before speaking again.

“Is anyone dead?” she asked, raising an eyebrow while reaching for her phone, in case she needed to call for someone to clean up whatever mess I’d caused.

“No.” I grumbled, Charleene’s fear filled eyes flashing through my mind, making me flinch.

“Then what?” Tilly asked, her voice softening slightly.

“I hunted a dealer tonight, and took all my frustrations out on him,” I paused, meeting her green eyes, “and she saw me.”

“Who?”

Charleene’s horrified voice rang through my head and I flinched again as my mouth uttered her name, “Charleene.”

“The witch?” Tilly asked incredulously, “Wait where were you feeding, for her to find you?” her voice turned suspicious until my next words made her furious.

“In the Shambles.”

“Adrina!” Tilly snapped, her ire returning as she shook her head at me, “anyone could have stumbled upon you.” She ranted, pulling at her hair and pacing a line in the carpet before me.

“I know, I was lost to the bloodlust. I wasn’t thinking clearly after I’d found the scumbag dealing to kids.” I excused myself.

“That’s no excuse, this is why we have rules against you hunting dealers.” I knew she was right, she’d placed the restriction on me for a very good reason. I lost all rational thought when hunting people like the shit-stain I’d fed upon tonight. Something from my own turning made me hunt anyone who pursued children with a single minded focus .

“I know.” I answered, ashamed of my actions for more than one reason. “What am I going to do about Charleene?” I asked my voice a little hesitantly.

“Nothing.” Tilly’s voice cracked across my ears like a whip.

“But—”

“But nothing, Adrina! I’ll call the York Witch Coven and they will deal with her.” Tilly said, already searching through her phone.

“No!” I shouted at her, not willing to let Charleene go. Something about her had burrowed its way beneath my skin. “She’s Mine!”

Tilly jerked back from either the manic look in my eyes or the short tone of my voice, I wasn’t sure which, but whatever it was shocked her. “Don’t be daft.” She laughed incredulously. “You’ve known her for what? Three days? She’s not yours and never will be Adrina.”

“I can’t explain it myself Tilly, but there’s something about her that calls to me, here,” I told her tapping above my heart. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Adrina, you have to let her go.”

“And what if I can’t?” I snapped back.

“Then I can’t protect you.” Tilly’s voice had grown sad and her eyes implored me to see this more clearly. “If you keep on down this road, it will be you I’m hunting next.” Frustration boiled inside me, forcing me to grab hold of my short strands and tug them. “If the witch means that much to you, then let her go, Adrina, it’s the kindest thing for both of you.”