Circle of Death (8 page)

“What happened?” Her question was sharp and sure, as if she had no doubt that something
had
happened, even though I had only told her to get into the taxi.

“What?” I tried to pretend I didn’t know what she was talking about.

For one second she seemed annoyed, and then she sighed. “Don’t try to fool me. There was a threat. Something put you on edge. What was it?”

What would be her reaction if the knew about Seth? What would be the risks? Without knowing what that name meant to her I couldn’t risk saying anything.

“I can’t tell.”

I was ready for more questions, but she nodded, serious. I didn’t hide my surprise, and she smiled.

“I know some things are better kept secret, and others have a time to be told. I respect it.”

Those words were familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had heard them before. Still, “You can’t be real, Kelene.”

Her smile widened, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she approached and kissed me. I kept her there for a moment, before she broke the kiss to take a breath. After another quick kiss, she left to her bedroom.

Now I was at an impasse. Seth knew where we lived, and it would be easy for him to get in there, even without an invitation, and attack Kelene or take her with him. It didn’t matter if she was or not the woman he was searching for, he had seen us together and would attack her just to hurt me. And, even tough I could feel his approach, I had no guarantees that I would be able to reach Kelene before him. She was in danger. I wanted to be with her, more than I had thought possible but, that night, all I wanted to do was to protect her.

“Kelene?” I asked, from her bedroom’s door.

She turned to face me, already wearing one of her sets of old t-shirts and shorts.

“I don’t know if it will be safe to leave you alone. You may be at risk because of me, and I don’t want you hurt because I have old enemies.”

“Do you want to spend the night here?” Her question was soft and so natural that for a moment I couldn’t react.

And when I could, I didn’t answer. I had no idea of what she would hear in my voice.

“All right. You will only get bored, as I don’t have a TV here.” She said with a quick laugh, understanding my silence.

It was unreal when Lucio laid down beside me. It had been too long since I had a man in my bad, and I didn’t have exactly good memories of the last. Actually, the memories of the last man with whom I shared my bed had made me avoid any kind of relationship for a long time. I didn’t know what was going on, and I trusted that Lucio would tell me when it was safe. He had a reason to be worried, I was sure, and all my instincts screamed the same. I didn’t even think he would try anything, as had more trust in his control than he did.

“I’m sorry about this, Kelene.” He said, clearly uncomfortable.

I sighed.

“I’m going to be blunt. There is some kind of problem, a threat. And no, I’m not asking for an explanation. Let me finish.” I shut him up with a sharp gesture. “You can’t or won’t tell me what it is, and I respect it. I believe you. I believe I might be threatened inside my own home. And I thank you for trying to protect me. Don’t offer apologies.”

I kissed him, noticing how surprised he seemed. But I knew that sometimes even the lack of an invitation wasn’t enough to stop someone from the Otherworld. Without saying anything else, I turned around in the bed, getting ready to sleep.

It was my turn to be caught by surprise when he put his arms around me.

“May I?” His question was a soft whisper.

“Yes.” I answered, settling myself in his arms.

In a couple of minutes I was already in that trance I entered when I wanted to sleep but there was some threat near. Yes, I could feel something hostile, but didn’t know for sure who or what it was, even though there was something familiar about that presence. Anyway, the threat didn’t come any closer to the building, or I wouldn’t even be able to get into the trance. I could also feel Lucio, completely alert beside me. His presence there made me feel safe in a way I had never felt before. If it was anyone else, I would be worried. But it was Lucio, the same vampire who once offered to help me run away and to protect me.

Not long after that, as the sun rose and the streets were no longer empty, the threat went away. It was only then that I finally fell asleep.

“Are you sure you would rather stay? I can help you disappear, if you wish. You know it is not safe.” He was worried and didn’t try to hide it.

Kelene smiled, regretting not having met him before. Things could have been different, but now it was too late.

“I know. But I cannot hide. He will only come after me, and I
cannot
stay hidden forever.”

“You can. I would protect you.”

She looked around, barely seeing all the nobles in their finery and the riches in the ballroom, so different from the village where she had been born. None of that mattered, not anymore. She had a choice to make.

“Thank you, but no. I have to do this.”

It wasn’t a surprise that I dreamt about that night. No surprise at all. That was the night when I had made the choice that changed all my life.

I was still in Lucio’s arms when I opened my eyes. Smiling, I turned around to face him and froze. He was sleeping.

Surprised, unsure about how to react, I smiled. Vampires don’t need to sleep. They are always away, only falling into a light trance when their bodies have gone too long without rest. That is, unless they are with a human they trust. And not a “normal” kind of trust, but the deep one, that trust that only happens when you know you can put your life – your existence – in someone’s hand. I never understood why it was like that, as almost all relationships between vampires and humans ended in problems. The venom, the bloodlust, the fear… It was never forgotten. That’s why people who know vampires aren’t thrown into death with sunrise believe they never sleep.

And still, Lucio had slept beside me. Holding me –
me
, with all my secrets, that I was sure he had noticed. And he still trusted me. That was an honor unlike anything that had happened before.

Feeling my gaze, he woke up.

“Good morning.” He said, starting to release me and move away, again with that unsure expression.

“Good morning.” I held his arms where they were and put a hand on his shoulder, making it clear he didn’t need to move away.

He halted, starting at me, his expression now showing some kind of vulnerability. Vampires and their prejudices against themselves. With the same hand, I put a lock of dark hair behind his ear, echoing something he had done to me a long time ago.

“You slept.” I whispered, not hiding my surprise.

“Only when I knew it was safe.” His smile was still fragile, unsure.

“I know. I know.”

He laughed, releasing me, and got up. I did the same after a second, and called him when he was already leaving my bedroom.

He turned to face me, waiting for me to continue, and I hesitated for a moment before going to him and hugging him tightly. “Thank you. Thank you, Lucio.”

“It was nothing.” He answered, and I knew he didn’t understand why I was thanking him. But he hugged me back, and kissed me after a second.

I guess he thought I was thanking him for staying with me to protect me. Lucio was always surprised at how much I knew about vampires, and I was sure he didn’t imagine I knew about the sleep restriction. I was thanking him for trusting me. To someone like me trust wasn’t easy to be found, be it to give or to receive. Knowing that I had his trust was something I would guard as a treasure for the rest of my life.

The day went by quickly, while I cleaned the apartment and washed my clothes. I always left everything that had to be done for the weekends. And doing that after two nights of parties left me exhausted. Add to it the fact that I would have the first time class tomorrow, and I decided to go to bed early.

Lucio, who spent the day doing something with a number of old books I had never seen before, followed me as soon as I said I was going to bed. The threat was still there, he didn’t need to say anything to remind me.

That night, I dreamt about Seth and
that
night, so long ago, when I died trying to destroy him, after he tried to turn me against my will. I woke up with a strong hand on my face, his touch just like Seth’s.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, sitting up and turning to face the hand’s owner.

It was Lucio.

Seth wasn’t near, as he had been just before Sunrise. But he was stronger during the night, even if he could move in daylight. I couldn’t let myself relax.

It wasn’t long after midnight when Kelene started moving in her sleep, muttering incoherent phrases. I put my hand on face, trying to calm her as I used to do with the children from my village, when I was alive. But her reaction was totally unexpected.

“Don’t touch me!” She screamed, sitting up. I could hear her fury, and could almost touch her fear.

I moved away, surprised, her words cutting me like a dagger. I thought there was no chance of that happening, that she wouldn’t remember I was a vampire and a threat, but obviously I was mistaken. Now was the time to leave quietly and blame myself for keeping that illusion.

Wordlessly, I got up. Kelene turned to face me, with fire in her eyes and that strange
strength
easily visible. I almost doubted my senses telling me she was scared. As soon as her gaze stopped on me she hesitated, her expression changing completely, and she fell back on the bed.

“Lucio, stay, please.” She asked, her voice weak.

“You don’t need to ask me to stay if you’re not comfortable with it. I won’t be offended.” How could I? She was finally doing what was sensible.

“It’s all right.” Kelene went on, refusing to look at me, her voice full of fear and vulnerability. “It was a nightmare. Please?”

Slowly, I went back to the bed and laid down. She inched closer to me, as if asking for forgiveness… and protection. Her voice was less than a whisper when she started talking, and I knew she was trying to explain what had happened.

“I once fell in love with a vampire. He was everything I had ever dreamt of finding in a man, and I though he loved me. I knew what he was, and that was never a problem. But he was only playing with me. Death had ordered him to turn me. Me, someone who can
never
allow Death any kind of control over my actions. When he saw he wouldn’t convince me he tried to force the transformation. It should have been the end of my existence, I would die before being turned into a vampire, but I survived. I thought I had been able to destroy him… But now I know I was wrong. He was here yesterday.” She sighed. “Your touch is just like his, I hadn’t noticed it before. Please, don’t leave me alone.”

“I won’t.” I answered, hugging her.

She stood still in my arms, still refusing to look at me, her head on my arm. What had really happened to scare her that much? What was at stake? And how could she have met Seth? There was no other vampire whose touch could be mistaken for mine, because of our shared past. She had given herself to him and he had used her, nothing more. The thought infuriated me, even though I thought nothing Seth could do would surprise me anymore.

And that shouldn’t have surprised me at all. It wouldn’t be the first time he had done something like that. I remembered the copper haired woman I tried to save from him, once, just to find out she had died the day she refused my offer.

Not knowing what else to do, I pulled Kelene closer to me. She turned and hid her face in the crook of my neck, and I could feel her tears.

She was already sleeping when I remembered there was almost a century since Seth stopped doing anything for Death. And he hadn’t even come close to this country in the last thirty years.

I turned off the alarm clock when it rang for the first time, still in Lucio’s arms. I didn’t want to move, but I owed him an explanation. I knew what I had said last night would be just enough to make him think about more questions. But I couldn’t force myself to think about those days, about when I first met him. I was sure Lucio was the vampire that caused that last fight between Seth and me. Would he still protect me? Would he still trust me? I would be breaking one of my vows... But he deserved the truth.

I could feel him beside me, alert, attentive to any detail that could become a threat. Protecting me. And I
did
feel protected. He was the only one who could make me feel like that.

“Good morning.” I said, raising my head to look him in the eye. “And I’m sorry about last night. “It was just a reaction to the nightmare.”

“No apologies, I understand. If you were dreaming about Seth, there was no way you wouldn’t mistake my touch for his. We had the same training and were turned together.”

The name “Seth” hadn’t been mentioned last night. I closed my eyes, knowing my instincts had been telling me the truth all that time. Seth was close, and we would soon meet again.

“It was him, wasn’t it? Seth followed us after the party. It was about him you were worried.” I said, opening my eyes, wishing he would tell me I was wrong.

But I wasn’t.

“Yes. What could he want with you, if you already kicked him from your life?” He asked, but I could hear the other questions there. Where? When? How?

But I could only answer what he asked aloud. What did Seth want with me? What could he want from the woman who used powers of death to try to destroy him?

“He wants to kill me.” I said, surprised when my voice didn’t tremble.

Lucio stared at me, waiting for me to continue, but I denied with a shake of my head. I had no doubts that he
would
know it all, but not yet.

“You didn’t know it before, and still thought he was a threat. Why?”

His expression became carefully blank. “We have a past, Seth and I. We were brothers before we became enemies. The last time I saw him, he swore he would destroy me.”

I wasn’t the only one with a past I wanted to forget. How could it be possible that two people hunted by the same vampire found themselves together? And now one of them could protect them, maybe even destroy the threat. But that also gave us an advantage.