Contingency (5 page)

He looked up at me and stopped. I probably looked just as green as I felt. It was easier to think of vampires as mythological creatures, like those I had watched hundreds of times on television, I mean, I owned just about every classic vampire movie ever made. But to think about doing the things Travis was talking about to someone, some thing, like the blond vampire woman who attacked me... something
real
, well, that was another whole story. I swallowed nervously and was very glad to see the end of Vampires 101 for the day.

After a class of etiquette with Mrs. Howell and Phoebe, I was more than ready to expend a little energy and frustration. I hesitated on the threshold of the old ballroom in the back of the mansion. Surely I could shut my ridiculous attraction to Dr. Blake out of my mind and just concentrate on my training. Of course I could. I would.

“Are you going to stand there all afternoon, Miss Hannigan, or do you plan on joining me?” I swear the man had super powered hearing. His back to me when I entered, his arms stretched above his head to loosen his muscles in preparation for our sparring. He had shed his jacket and his loosened white shirt hung nearly to the knees of his soft loose pants.

I frowned and looked down at my outfit. When I looked up again he had turned and had a bored expression on his face. “How am I supposed to do anything in this, this fluffy dress?” I asked exasperated. “It will be impossible for me to maneuver.”

“You can’t go around wearing pants in this era, Miss Hannigan, you’d likely be jailed for indecent exposure.” I snorted. Dr. Blake ignored me.

“You will have to train in the clothing you’d be wearing if you got into an altercation. You’ll just have to work harder and have a few tricks up your sleeve to gain the upper hand. Now, are you ready to begin or are you going to stand there and complain instead?” He crossed his arms and raised a brow.

Pompous Ass.

“I’m ready, Oh Great One.” I answered, performing a mock bow. I thought I saw the corner of his lip twitch. Maybe my eye twitched though, I can’t be sure.

“All right, I thought we’d start off by seeing if we could get a demonstration of your powers today.” My eyes must have echoed my reluctance. “We cannot determine what you are capable of if we do not test you a little.” He said slowly, as if he were talking to a child.

My temper flared and before I could stop myself, I marched across the room and poked him directly in the chest. “You do NOT have to talk down to me.” I enunciated each word with a jab of my finger. I stood toe to toe with him now and added softly, “I have no idea how to tap into my powers or how to control them when I do.” His nostrils flared as if he were inhaling some new exotic scent.

“We’ll figure out what triggered your powers during the vampire attack and go from there.” He stepped back and pulled out a huge mat and rolled it open across the floor.

Here we go
, I thought.

“Tell me, what were you feeling when you were being attacked, right before your powers manifested?” Dr. Blake asked.

“Besides being scared shitless?” I muttered. I immediately clapped my hand over my mouth. Dang it! I really did need to work on my princess social skills. Dr. Blake’s lip quirked up at one side.

”Yes, besides that. What emotions were you feeling?” I thought about it for a moment.

“I was scared, I was also in shock finding out about vampires. Then my shock and fear turned into a red hot fury. Fury that I was going to die before I’d fully lived and fury that I’d die a victim.”

I looked up and saw his eyes understanding and a little too knowing. I hadn’t told him that my fury had also been for never having truly loved or been loved in return. His eyes were way too discerning for my taste. I cleared my throat.

“Ok then, anger I can work with, since you seem to have quite a temper.”

My mouth flapped open with a retort balanced on the tip of my tongue. Ah well, what the hell? I shrugged, he was right. His brows rose at my obvious agreement with his assessment of my character. He gestured to the mat and we both quickly took our positions. I felt ridiculous in my skirts, but I grudgingly understood I had to work with them in this era. I took a pose I’d learned in self-defense classes as Dr. Blake began to circle me as a predator.

Even though I knew I was in a class and perfectly safe, I still couldn’t keep my fists from clenching and my heart from thumping irregularly. This was my ultimate fear, the fear of being a victim. Dr. Blake lunged and I quickly dodged to my left and even though my skirts got tangled a bit I still eluded his grasp. Just barely. I cursed under my breath, and Dr. Blake was grinning devilishly.

Well, come on then. I made a “come get some” sign with my hand...full of cockiness. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was thinking that Dr. Blake would take it easy on me, or that his blind eye would give me an edge. He plowed into me and took me down so quickly my head spun. He had both my hands tightly pinned above my head with only one of his larger ones; he also had my legs held completely immobile by his longer, stronger ones. We were both breathing hard, chest to chest. It would have been nice at any other time, but at that moment I was just a little pissed about losing so quickly.

“Get off, you win, damn you!”

His eye took on a hard glint and his words took on a cruel edge. “Why don’t you make me?”

“I mean it. Get off! You’re heavy.” I ground out.

“Whatever are you going to do about it, Sage? You’re female, you’re weak and helpless. Pathetic, really. If I killed you, it would be what you deserved.” A red haze filled my vision...they were so similar, those words.

My terror soared pass reasoning and I began to struggle in earnest as the images I’d blocked from my mind so long ago slithered in. I’d never forgotten the words he had spoken or the mangled scent of his unwashed body, tobacco, and mint. The phantom smell swelled up around me so strongly, I almost gagged. And then the rage came, but with the rage this time came a power that I only wish I had had back on that hot July night when I had been only fifteen and so helpless.

I welcomed the power as it surrounded me like a pliable bubble. My left hand came free and I became aware of Dr. Blake suspended above me, his face questioning. My shock almost made me drop the tentative grasp I had on the bendable power. I wiggled my other hand free from Dr. Blake’s grasp and rubbed my wrists. I could still feel the bubble of power surrounding me and pulsing from my body like an invisible membrane.

On a whim, I skimmed my fingers over the scar on Dr. Blake’s face, lingering on the one above his brow. I pushed back the hair that fell over his blind eye and let a slow breath escape as I pulled myself out from beneath his body. I stood up and took a few steps back, feeling like I was on the outside of reality looking in.

Such an odd sensation. I reluctantly released my hold on the power and felt it snap back into my body just as Dr. Blake made an “UMPH” sound, landing face first on the mat hands clutching air where my hands had been.

“What the bloody hell?” he jumped up and swung around. His hand went to the scarred side of his face as if he felt the lingering sensation of my impulsive touch.

“Good God, Sage! That was amazing! One second I had you pinned and the next you were gone, vanished!” His boyish smile and enthusiasm was contagious and I felt myself grinning in return.

I started to walk towards him when I realized my legs felt quite Jell-O like. Holy crap, I was exhausted! Dr. Blake was by my side instantly, helping me into an armchair. I rested my head on the back of the chair and vaguely heard him say he was going to get tea. The next thing I knew his hand was on my shoulder gently shaking me awake.

“Here, Sage, have some tea and a muffin. The sugar will do you good.” I sat up and did as I was told for once. Dr. Blake sat in an armchair close to mine and had a cup of tea as well.

“You called me Sage,” I remarked after I had, quite un-ladylike, inhaled the muffin. He looked a bit confused for a second.

“I am sorry, Miss Hannigan. I got excited when you did so well,” his tone once again arctic.

I sighed. Geez, I’d screwed that up.

“When I pinned you down...” he began, and I stiffened, “the look on your face...well, I almost stopped because your terror was too real,” he said.

I looked him directly in the eye.

“Yes, yes it was,” I barely whispered. I stood up wearily on shaky legs and walked to the doorway. “What happened...” I trailed off, cleared my throat and began again. “What happened, well, was a long time ago and I promised myself I’d never be helpless again. Please, don’t feel sorry for me.”

“I don’t,” he replied, astonishing me. “I feel proud to know you. You are a very surprising woman, Miss Hannigan.”

I looked over my shoulder at him, my eyes full of the gratitude I felt. “Thank you, Dr. Blake.”

As I walked out the door, I called over my shoulder, “Doctor? Please call me Sage.”

Chapter Seven

The next day I had a few moments free after my class with Travis and before I had to meet with Mrs. Howell and Phoebe. I’d learned some new things that morning about vampires he hadn’t covered the day before so I felt like I needed a little fresh air. I walked around the courtyard and small garden outside, glad to be outdoors after so many days of being cooped up inside. It was a beautiful day and it seemed so peaceful and quiet compared to the city I was used to. Sure, there were noises of people bustling about and life flowing around me, but it was different, more muted. The air seemed a bit fresher and life seemed a lot less rushed than life in the twenty-first century.

I found a little stone bench in an alcove close to the wall that surrounded the courtyard. I inhaled deeply taking in the rich heady scent of the overhanging magnolia tree in the warm sunshine. As I sat on the bench I let the warmth of the day seep into my skin. My worries slowly faded into the back of my mind, and I relaxed for the first time in days. I guess I would have to be content with visiting the courtyard for the next few weeks to keep from going stir crazy indoors, since I wasn’t going to be able to go out into public for awhile. All part of the big plan. I sighed.

I was going to be training hard for the next few weeks to prepare myself for my Warper duties. I didn’t feel powerful or destined to do anything but survive. No, most of the time I felt like myself, like an 18 year old girl, a little scared, and a lot uncertain. I shook my head. But, here I was in training to participate in a clandestine society to save the future I held dear. The plan was quite simple really. I would train and keep hidden so that I could take on the persona of a young widow who needed employment to help make ends meet. Evidently I was going to let it slip to the gossip mills that I was hunting for a husband.

I grimaced at the thought of any men trying to “court” me while I had so much going on, but they told me it would make my entire cover more believable. I also couldn’t be tied to Mrs. Howell and the other Cerberus members, and that meant becoming a very convincing young woman from 1904 and then wiggling myself into the employ and good graces of one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in the city.

This morning I had the good sense to finally ask Travis what kind of position the vampire needed filled. Evidently this vampire had a soft spot for pretty young women reading to him every night and attending public outings with him. I thought Travis was joking, and I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face--until I realized he had been serious. Then I laughed even harder. I mean, seriously? A big scary ass vampire liked to be read bedtime stories? My lips involuntarily twitched at the thought, but I quickly sobered.

The vampire might share my love of reading, but he was also strong enough to snap my neck with one hand if he thought he was being betrayed or spied on. I’d be pretty safe, that’s what Travis had said.
As safe as one can be while working for a monster
, I’d thought. I’d have to watch my every step and word if I ever wanted to get back home. If I ever wanted to make it out of this mess alive.

I felt a shadow fall over me. I snapped my head up and sprung to my feet. I hadn’t heard anyone approach. My heart skipped a beat as I found myself staring into Dr. Blake’s scarred face, and I’m pretty sure my fluttering heart had nothing to do with being startled. “Miss Hannigan, it seems Mrs. Howell is on a rampage looking for you,” he announced dryly.

Holy crap! What time was it?

“From what I gathered, you missed your class with her and she was muttering something about women from the future being ill mannered, stubborn, and uncooperative,” he smirked.

I sat back down biting back a groan. I hadn’t meant to miss her wretched class. Much to my shock, Dr. Blake sat down on the bench beside me so closely I could smell his unique scent of musk, fresh herbs and honey. “Thank you, Dr. Blake, I didn’t realize I’d been out here that long. I needed some time to think out here in the fresh air, but the sun relaxed me too much.” I smiled over at him.