Scarlet Vamporium: Vamporium #2 (10 page)

“C'mon, we'd better get goin'. We're already late gettin' ye home.”

Reluctantly I let him force us apart, led back uphill toward my home, a far walk from here. Unwilling to ruin the comfortable silence and companionship, I choose to dawdle with him.

He feels familiar, like a boyfriend I've had for an age, not a day. With our arms laced around one another, we match so well, as if we were made for each other, that I'm lost in hopes for my immediate future, desperate to have this one thing every vampyre lives for.

Love.

But the closer we get to the manor, sparkly pops keep making me pause. Spying them out the corner of my eye while we walk, when I turn to look all that's left is a strange red glow fading into nothing an inch off the ground, way over there between the trees.

Three steps... pop.

Snapping to look, sharpening my senses to acute, I examine the space where the glow drifts across dips. “What is that?”

“Whit?” he says, halting with me.

“Over there. Can't you see it?”

Pop.

“See whit? There's nawt but trees.”

“That red glow.”

“Whit red glow?”

Blinking rapidly to shut down the beaming of my eyes, I shake my head, “Nothing, it must be my imagination.”

“Aye, those Skull Splitters can be pretty potent. It's probably the light playin' tricks on ye.”

“Yup,” I nod, knowing it's easier to agree than freak him out any further this evening. Impatient, I stop us again, “Hold on tight, I'm transporting us to the garden.”

Without question he grabs me into a rib cracking hug, and I move us in a heartbeat.

Standing together on the steps of the manor I return his embrace, “Just wait out here for two minutes. If I don't come back out, run. Run straight down to the end of the lawn and keep going. You'll get to the hedge where we first met.”

Standing back, rubbing my arms, he gives me an encouraging smile, “Ye worrae tae much. I'll dae as ye ask, but I dinnae think it will be that severe.”

Stooping, he presses a soft kiss on my forehead, turns me around, and gives me a little push towards the door.

Taking a deep breath, I vanish to reappear in the hallway, leaving the front door closed to save Doug from witnessing the end of my life.

Chapter 11

Ellindt:

When I manifest in the passage at the bottom of the stairs, the sound of whispers abrade my nerves, setting me on edge.

Glancing up and down the wide corridor, I tiptoe toward the voices until I'm almost in the kitchen.

They stop talking.

I stop walking.

Holding my breath I wait for it to resume, but it doesn't.

“Ellie? Is that you?”

Damn, she knows I'm here. “Yes Selene.”

“Why are you lurking out there?” Her voice gets louder as she steps into the passage to look at me with eyes so bright they are like LED's.

“I'm not lurking, I just got in,” I snap, immediately irritable.

“I thought I told you to be home at a decent hour,” she chastises in that grating lilt of hers.

“This
is
a decent hour,” I snark, walking past her and into the kitchen, looking for evidence of the person she was conversing with. “It's before sunrise when the world still sleeps, when magic plays and the underworld steps across the forest floor.
And
I got to watch the moon hide behind the mountains.”

“Two in the morning is not a decent hour, young lady.”

Turning to face her, I avoid her accusation, “Who were you talking to?”

“No one,” she says, zipping past me so fast I would lose sight of her if I was human.

“Selene, who were you talking to?”

Rounding on me, her long platinum hair flits out with the sudden movement, “You'd know if you were home when I told you to be.”

Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply, trying to find a psychic signature left in the room. It pervades with the slipperiness of vapor on a windy day. Here one second and wriggled loose the next. It's a hot scent. Blistering boiling hot, with an overbite of ice cold frost. And it's masculine. It tingles the ventricles of my heart as if it's injected right into my soul and my future.

It smells like destiny.

Opening my eyes I can feel them burning in their sockets. I know they are now as supernova as hers, “Who was he?”

“He? You presume it is a he, do you? You think you know all the answers when you're nothing but a teenager with too much spare time to get herself into trouble.”

“I went to a house party. I'd hardly call that getting into trouble!”

“But you're not drunk and I know they tried to make you so. How are you going to explain why you don't have the weaknesses of a human? I know the pattern Ellie! Next he'll want to take you hiking, but you don't get tired. You are built like a vampress, lean and tall, and he's going to wonder how you can hike up sheer inclines without strength in your build or a hint of breathlessness! You are going to raise questions Ellindt. Questions we don't want to answer. If you want to go out, you go to the vamporium.”

“Venix told us to mingle with humans. How am I supposed to find that kind of love in a vampyre? I won't and you know it.”

I swear sometimes Selene is just a heart blocker. She's the anti-love quarterback. Plus I had no clue there was a vamporium here.

“Where's the vamporium?” I ask, unhooking my jacket from my shoulders and slopping grumpily into a chair in front of the aga.

“In the forest, just follow the blood orbs.” Sitting opposite she passes me a goblet of spiced blood. “Every forest the world over has a door to the vamporium. Where do you think humans got their whacked out myths from?”

“What myths?” I pry, sipping the ambrosia which ignites a thirst so deep in me that I crave nookie.

And yet I'm not allowed to have it even though I really want to. If this was the middle ages I'd already be married with ten kids, but this modern world makes out like basic instincts are forbidden and wrong. I will never understand the contradictions of society.

“They believe the forest is where the seelie live. Beings who glow, ladies and gentlemen of enchanting beauty, predators of their kind. We are called guardians of the forest, lady of the lake, fey, elf, and everything else in between. They're talking about us Ellie! We're the creatures they witnessed dancing skyclad in the forest with our long hair and pale skin, with our hearts burning bright through the portals of our eyes.”

“Doug called me shee.”

“Then he knows exactly what you are. Yes, they call us sidhe. And if you think I don't know how badly you messed up tonight, you can think again. All hell is breaking loose and I can't keep stalling them or putting them off. I'm being fair Ellindt, and I'm waiting for your side of the story before I let them take you.”

Oh god.

My spine weakens and I sit straight to keep my dignity while fear claws through my insides like nesting spiders.

“Doug's outside,” I blurt, panic coagulating my blood.

“Ellie!” she cries, suddenly looking as unnerved as I feel. “Go get him, get him in here
now
!”

“Why?”

What's the sudden hurry?

“Your guardian is here stalling the demon sent to fetch you. If Doug is outside he's probably already seen them! What were you thinking?! You have a phone for a reason, maybe you should use it to warn me next time!”

“But you would have said no!”

“Exactly! Because I know what your welcoming party looks like!” Impatient, she grips my arm and spins me off the chair, shoving me toward the passage, “Hurry!”

*

Douglas:

The air crackles and warps as if a static charge just blew across the yard, and in the dim light I make out two men standing nose tae nose midway down the lawn.

I thought Roddie was big, but these two are obviously no' human because they're the size of teenage dragons.

Bolting behind the pillar on the right, I hide, listening, doing ma best tae stay silent as a prayer whispered by a mute.

“Back off Zarak!”

“Arelstin, you know the rules. She exposed the entire supernatural community tonight. You know she has to come with me.”

“Forget it buddy. There is no way in heaven or hell I'm letting you take Ellindt to the caves.”

“Arelstin listen to yourself, you're letting your feelings cloud your judgement.”

“What feelings? I'm her guardian! It's my job to protect her and that's exactly what I'm doing. She's the only daughter he had, and you- cannot- have- her!”

“I never said I want her. I have to drum it into her thick skull that she cannot go willy nilly across the world exposing us! She's going to restart the witch hunts of the sixteen hundreds.”

“Zarak, I said back off! You know what being the only daughter means, you know we need her alive and sane, not dead and disciplined because you get off  inflicting agony on pretty  innocent girls.”

“Bull, Arelstin! I'm not the villain here! I have a job to do and you have to get the hell out of my way so I can do it!”

Darin' tae take a peek, I spy around the marble tae see the blond man with eyes glowing so bright they look like headlights in a tunnel, and the enormous man with the dark spiky hair is leaning over him tae stare down his nose with eyes flashing like police lights, blue red, blue red...

What the heck? This isnae the place fer a human tae be caught loitering.

“You don't get to touch her until Venix gets here!” yells so loud ma ears ring in ma heid.

Light splashes across the polished terrace, exposing ma silhouette in the now open front door, and my wee heart stops beating as two pairs of crazy eyes snap tae look at me, halting their argument.

Crivens!

Swallowing hard, I hold up ma hands tae indicate surrender, almost fainting when fingers grip my shoulder from behind.

“You need to come inside,” Ellie says in a worried squeak.

Giving her a slow nod, not taeking ma eyes off the men on the lawn, I back up slowly, letting her guide me because I feel like I've stumbled intae the lions den and I dinnae want tae turn ma back and no' see them attack.

“Who the hell are you!?” booms across the garden, shattering the calm of the night.

“None of your damn business!” Ellindt yells in answer to the blond man.

“Au contraire young Ellie, it
is
my business because I'm your guard!”

“Run inside,” she whispers to me, giving me an almighty shove, slamming the front door and isolating me inside the entrance hall while bright light flares through the windows on either side of the door.

“Arelstin get lost! And take Zarak with you!”

Red bleeds across the frosted glass and I hear the deep growl of a voice so low it's got the bass that cracks foundations.

“Ellindt, your punishment won't be harsh if you come with me now.”

“No! Selene is waiting for my side of the story, and in any case it's not your damn decision to make! Uncle Venix will be here soon and only when he thinks I've done wrong can you take me away. Until then you can't touch me!”

Listening to the altercation on the other side of the door, ma palms sweat, cold riddles ma skin, and terror unlike I've ever known rises up tae fog ma logic. The enameled glossy door blasts open with a gust of cool air and bangs hollowly behind her, the silent void replacing it is immediately thick with foreboding.

With ma pulse pounding in ma neck I watch her slide down the door, her bravery dissolving when she pulls her knees up tae inhale a ragged sob.

“Ellie?” calls behind us, and I spin tae face it, back on high alert. “Sweetheart?”

It's the most beautiful voice in the world, soft and soothing like a mother cooing a lullaby tae her bairn.

Selene steps intae the passage, wiping her hands on a pink cloth, looking enchanting with her pale hair wafting down tae her elbows, “Douglas! How good to see you again. What are you two doing out here? Come to the kitchen.”

She nudges her head to indicate the way she came, her smile serene and provocative.

I'm drawn tae her as if I ha'e no will of ma own, driftin' in a stupid dawdle over glossy tiles, past pastel yellow walls and entrances tae rooms I dinnae care tae look intae.

Her smile widens and she turns, walking away from me. With eye contact broken, I stumble, spinning back tae check on Ellindt.

Offering her my hand with an outstretched arm, I beckon, “Sitting there panicking ain't gonnae change a thing. Let's dae this.”

She stares at me with flickering eyes, and I think I know her well enough now tae know her eyes light up when she's upset. So right now she's struggling tae overcome her fears which is why they flicker between titanium tae electric blue voodoo.

Inhaling dramatically she shoves up off the floor and moves tae ma side in a blur of speed.

I dinnae think I'm ever gonnae get used tae this. How the hell did ma ancestor cope marriet tae a faery?

“You have an ancestor who married a fairy?” gushes behind me, and I spin back tae stare at Selene with ma heart doing somersaults.

“How did ye know what I was thinkin'?”

“The older generation still have the gift of telepathy. I don't mean to eavesdrop, but I can't help it.” Propping her long elegant fingers on each hip, she tilts her heid tae survey me with open interest.

It makes me nervous and ma breath lodges thickly in ma throat. Not knowin' what tae say, I nod. “Aye, it's a well known MacLeod story.”

“You're a MacLeod?”

I nod again, anxiety making ma muscles stiff and wrapping ma skin in a chilled sheen.

Smiling widely at me now, she looks from me tae Ellindt, “That changes everything. Let's go sit down, I can't stand in the passage all night.”

Moving like a fluid ribbon sliding down a pillow, she sashays her long pale legs away from us, pushing the baby blue sleeves up on her cardigan.

Ellindt is gonnae grow up tae look just like that.

Her skirt is so tight it outlines her shapes just perfectly and it gives me a wee moment of vertigo.

God must have been a man tae create creatures so fair and distractin'.