Sleeping With The Vampire (Immortal Vampire #2)

Chapter 5

Izzy

I find my mother in her glasshouse, tending to her orchids. This is where she spends most of her time, surrounded by these gigantic blooms with their delicate stems and wondrous flowers. As a Beauty, she was always drawn to the natural world, to plants and animals, with great healing powers and ability to coax growth out of even the hardiest seed.

She has lost so much weight over the years, her hair almost white now to make her appear far older than she actually is. This came after the attack in which my father and brother were killed, leaving her with injuries from which she would never recover. A healer said there had been an incurable tear inside her head, through which her life essence was leaking. It sounded kooky, but as time went on, I could see it happening. She was dying slowly. My mother said this was another way of describing the process of life, but in her case, it was faster. There was less of her every day, but this was a good day.

She smiled at me and there was light in her eyes.

“Izzy,” she reached out a cool hand and touched my wrist. “How are you?”

“Oh, you know,” I sighed and then said, “Just lost my virginity to a vampire, but apart from that, nothing new.”

She laughed at that. “Wonderful! I had sex with a vampire once, it was quite exhausting! Their appetite for pleasure is so vast!”

I had to laugh too. Part of being a Beauty was being non-judgmental and uncritical, so I had always been able to talk to my mother about anything.

“Did Father know about that?” I asked thinking about his loathing of vampires.

She chuckled. “There is a place for all of us in the new world.”

I wondered if she was right.

It was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I had slept with Lucca. I had waited for so long and then to give up my virginity to someone like him, felt wrong somehow. I couldn’t get over the idea that vampires were evil, loathsome creatures.

“Was it good?” my mother asked and I blushed, because it had been. I’d heard of some friends who’d had painful experiences their first time, but mine had been fantastic in every way.

“They have had a long time to perfect their technique, usually, and it is one of the few pleasures they still have,” my mother mused.

“So, you wouldn’t mind it if I saw a vampire?”

I could see the energy fading from her face, it came suddenly, almost like a cloud shifting before the sun. Our conversation had been too much for her, I feared.

“You… you…” her voice became soft, almost inaudible. She seemed to lose her train of thought. Her hands dropped in her lap and became immobile. It was as if she’d fallen asleep even though her eyes were still open.

I stood up, kissed her head and went outside. I knew my presence alone was tiring for her.

She had told me a long time ago that the part of me that was Guard was stronger than the part that was Beauty. She said even as a little girl, I was too feisty and willful, that these were not characteristics of her kind. She’d told me then that I would find it hard to find a man able to match my strength and ability, that they would be drawn to my looks and that I would find their adoration annoying. She’d suggested another Guard perhaps, but I found them too rough, too simple. I’d never even been attracted to anyone, had never wanted anyone to kiss me.

When I thought of the way that I had responded to Lucca the night before, I could barely deal with how easily I had capitulated, given in. I felt sure of the fact that he had somehow bewitched me, hypnotized me into lowering my defenses. I wanted to ask my mother about the bite marks and what that meant, but I had missed my chance to ask her.

I thought of an old friend, Alsha, who had trained to be a guard with me, but had then fallen in love. She fell pregnant right away and got married, moving away to a cottage in the woods. I later found out her husband was a shapeshifter, belonging to a clan of wolves known for their adherence to the old ways. I had not seen her again, finding her choices difficult to understand at the time.

But I wanted to talk to someone about what was happening to me and Alsha seemed to be the person I wanted to see most. I found the way to her house, asking for directions along the way and finally managed to locate the cabin in the woods. It was in an isolated area outside of town, but there was a clearing and the wooden house had been built there, surrounded by wildflowers. It looked charming and peaceful. I got out and walked to the front door, but stopped when I heard the laughter of children. I turned and saw a grown woman walking towards me. There were two little girls with her and it was their voices I had heard.

It was Alsha and when she saw me, she stopped in her tracks. Then, she seemed to recognize me.

“Izzy?”

“Sorry for dropping in like this,” I said, feeling a bit awkward all of a sudden. I could see the shock on Alsha’s face and had a feeling our last meeting might have been even more confrontational than I had remembered.

She recovered quickly though, “Girls, this is my old friend Izzy!” Then to me she said, “Come in, I’ll make us some tea.”

“Your girls are beautiful,” I said, and it was true. With their long, curly hair and rosy cheeks, they seemed the picture of health. Both were wearing simple cotton dresses, and were barefoot. Alsha too, seemed well. She was wearing a dress too, her hair was very long and wild but it suited her.

We went inside, into what was a big open space divided into a living area and a kitchen, with two rooms on the other side of a narrow passage. It was furnished simply but comfortably, messy with toys and clothes and the hallmarks of everyday life.

“Diran is out,” Alsha said, “So, we can talk. Girls, go play in your room please?”

I marveled at how obedient they were, they both simply went into their rooms without complaint.

“You seem happy,” I said.

“I am,” she gave a big smile and put on the kettle. “You thought I was making a big mistake remember? Giving up the excitement of life as a bounty hunter for this?”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was a bit harsh, I think.”

Alsha grinned. “I think you said I was throwing my life away? Becoming some dog’s bitch?”

“Shit, that’s awful,” I admitted. “Sorry about that.” But he’d kept secrets from me too.

She shook her head to show me she didn’t hold it against me.

“I got it, you were always about the extremes. You didn’t think I could be a wife and a mother as well as a bounty hunter, and you were right. I wanted to have a family, to live here with Diran.”

“And, how is it going?” I wanted to know.

Her voice softened. “I love it.”

I nodded.

“So, why are you really here?” she asked.

“I can’t just drop in on an old friend without wanting something?”

She gave me a knowing look. “Not you, Izzy.”

I knew she was right, but that didn’t mean I liked it. I wanted to be the kind of person who was a good friend. But perhaps I was too much like my father, fond of my own company.

“How was it getting used to Diran’s… you know? The other side?”

She smiled knowingly. “It was strange, at first. You know, how he used to go out by himself, at night, stay out for hours. He never wanted me to see him change and I respected that. But there would be times when he’d disappear for days, then come home and sleep for hours. He would be exhausted, thin, covered in scratches.”

She said, “He told me he loved being a wolf, that this was who he was, but he wanted to be a man too. To be with me, to have a family.”

She shrugged, “There are two sides to him, I had to accept that. But it is easier said than done.”

“But did you?”

She nodded. “Sometimes, it’s hard. I don’t know what he gets up to when he is a wolf and he doesn’t either. His mind is animal then, not human. I saw him once, in the forest… I had gone looking for him because one of the girls was sick and for a moment, I thought he was going to attack me…”

“But he didn’t?”

She shook her head. “No…But there was a moment, when I wasn’t so sure…”

The door opened and Diran came in. He was a tall, powerfully built man with a shaggy beard and warm, brown eyes.

Alsha introduced us and he shook my hand.

“Good grip,” he said, looking me in the eye.

I had not met him before, but I liked him.

“I’ve come to ask Alsha’s advice about being with someone… a bit different.”

His eyes widened. “Oh,” he said. “A shifter?

“No…”

Seeing me hesitate, he said, “I’m going to wash up, give you girls time to catch up.”

I waited until he was gone, then I said, “It’s a vampire.”

Alsha’s face went white.

“A vampire,” she whispered.

“Yes.”

She blinked a few times, then fetched our tea, it was strong and sweet and gave us something else to focus on for a few minutes.

“The wolves and the vampires are natural enemies,” she said, casting a nervous glance in the direction of her room, where Diran had gone off to. “In fact, the vampiresare enemies to most.”

I nodded.

“What about you,” I asked. “What do you think about them?”

“It’s not about what I think,” she said, gently taking my hand. “It’s about what you think and feel. Do you like him? Is he good to you? Can you trust him?”

“I don’t know,” I said, honestly. “I was raised to hate them and it’s hard for me to change that view. I feel so conflicted…”

“Who is he?” Diran had appeared behind us, his voice was loud and hard.

Alsha got up, tried to calm her husband down. “Hang on…”

“No! I demand to know his name!”

He had a temper and he was strong but I could take him down in a fight. Wolves were instinctual but not particularly clever fighters.

“It’s better if I go,” I said, quietly to Alsha. “Thanks for the tea.”

I looked him in the eye, dared him to make a move towards me, but he decided to back down and I left. Alsha came running after me.

“Wait!” she said. When she caught up with me, she said, “Not all vampires are bad. I know there are many who have sworn off killing people, drinking blood from the blood banks.”

I nodded. “Lucca is one of those.”

Alsha stared at me. “King Lucca? Of D’Valleira?”

“You know him?”

“I have heard of his family, I mean, it is one of the big vampire families. You don’t just date and dump someone like that.”

I shrugged, uncomfortable.

“Isn’t he like… a thousand years old?” she asked.

“He doesn’t look that old,” I said. Alsha stared at me and then burst out laughing, and I couldn’t help but join in.

“So, he’s a good-looking old vampire then?”

“Very!”

But I didn’t want to think about that.

I pulled my shirt down over my shoulder. “He did give me that, though.”

I showed her my bite mark, which was still red.

“Do you think he’s marked me now?”

She grinned at me, naughtily. “Diran once bit me when we were having sex, he broke my finger by accident!”

“No way!”

She shook her head and laughed. “I think it means there is a connection between you now. Once he has tasted your blood and your blood has met his, there is a link, like a bond, a sensitivity.”

“But how do you feel?” Alsha asked. “Are you drawn to him, do you want to be with him?”

“No,” I said slowly. “But I don’t fear him. I don’t think he’d hurt me. No, I’m sure he wouldn’t.”

She nodded.

“Give yourself time, I think. This is a lot to process. Bo’s daughter, with a vampire!”

She was right. It was unfathomable.