Flicker (22 page)

              Compared to what he'd witnessed in the woods, this could have been a new girl entirely-- the past several weeks had wrought a dramatic change in her. She walked confidently, her chin up, and she didn't flinch when Alexander casually touched her back. With her sunny smile and ringing laughter, she was a far cry from the disheveled, half-frozen wreck Alexander had tracked in the forest. And yet, he would have recognized her anywhere.

              Untrained omnivore. The words still echoed deliciously in his mind, and he chuckled at them once more. Alexander had begun training her, certainly, but she was still raw, malleable. He grinned, watching the pair walk around the corner and out of sight, and licked his lips in anticipation.

              He'd waited, and watched, and been so very patient. The last three and a half weeks had been devoted to making preparations. Now it was time to make his move.

              “Concentrate, now,” Alex whispered. The tightly furled yellow rosebud, one of the last of the fall bloom, lay in the palm of her hand; she focused, teasing tenderly at the ever-present knot in her chest. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and pulled some of the tingling fire from the spot; as she exhaled, she shooed it gently down her arm. Her wrist and fingers began to ache, and she opened her eyes as she felt a tickling itch on her palm. The rose was slowly blossoming-- she watched with wide-eyed delight as its delicate petals spread open. Beyond the physical sensation, she could feel herself echoing the flower's joy as it reveled in its short, beautiful life.

              Elise let out a ringing peal of laughter. “I did it!” She cried, glancing away from the full bloom in her hand to smile up at Alex.

              He stood beside her bench, beaming down at her, and stroked a hand softly through her hair. “Well done, little girl.”

              A hint of doubt edged at her pride, however, making her frown. “That was easy,” she said, her brow furrowing as she  bit her lip. “Should it have been that easy?”

              Alex chuckled as he sat beside her on the stone bench. “Just like healing, this was encouraging nature” he explained patiently. “The flower wanted to bloom-- you just helped it along. There was nothing opposing you. Now, if you want to try, for example, to stop something that's moving, or to move something sitting still, it will be more difficult-- you will be directly opposing the laws of physics. And it goes without saying that if you try anything involving a living person, their mind will fight your influence.”

              “Somehow, that does make me feel better,” she grinned, shyly allowing her knee to rest against his. “I would've felt like an idiot for never figuring this out myself, if it was so simple all the time.”

              They both jumped as they heard gravel crunch behind them. Alex whirled away from her, coming to his feet in a blur to face the noise. Elise thought she caught a sudden flash of fear and fury from him, but then she couldn't feel anything. She looked up at him: he was standing rigidly, his fists clenching so tightly his knuckles were white, staring down the path with an expression of horror.

              Elise turned in her seat to look in the direction of his gaze. There, striding between the rosebushes, was a man. He looked young, not too many years older than Elise, though judging by Alex's reaction his youthful appearance was probably deceptive-- and the two of them most likely had a history. The man's smooth black hair was long, bound back away from his face, and his beard was neatly trimmed. His light brown skin looked very attractive next to the gray suit he wore. He came towards them with his hands held out in a welcoming gesture, but the smile on his face didn't reach his cold, dark eyes. Elise rose to her feet slowly, placing her flower gently on the bench and smoothing her skirts as the man came close enough to speak.

              “Alexander, how good to see you after so many years!” His dry, menacing voice carried an accent that brought to mind the burning desert sand. Alex didn't say anything, and the man's smile vanished as if it had never been. “Aren't you going to say hello? Or at least introduce me to your lovely little friend?” Elise felt a shudder go up her spine as the young man spared her an icy glance, and instinctively shied away from him.

              “No, I am not,” Alex growled, his own accent infusing in his low voice. “In fact, you are never going to so much as look at her again.”

              Despite his close proximity, she couldn't sense anything at all from Alex; she could tell he was shielding hard and took that as her cue to do the same. It took her only a few moments to gather the edges of herself, pulling her power closed like a cloak to hide her. But once it was done, Elise felt adrift. Glancing up at Alex's face for some clue to his thoughts, she nearly gasped in shock: his features were transformed by an expression of complete, utter loathing. Even her own colorful experiences with hatred paled in comparison.

              While she was concentrating, the other man-- who Elise had no doubt was another vampire-- had taken a step closer. He was almost exactly the same height as Alex, and his shoulders were just a bit broader. “Now, you know that's just a tease,” he crooned, Alex's abhorrence mirrored on his own face.

              The young man suddenly looked at her, looming over her as he pointedly ignored Alex's warning; Alex grabbed her wrist, pulling her behind him. Elise didn't even have to stop herself from fighting his bruising grip-- something about this newcomer frightened her deep in her bones. “Walk away,” Alex snarled, holding Elise behind him as he leaned forward aggressively. “Right now.” The two glared at each other for a few seconds, and it occurred to Elise that if she lowered her shields, she would probably feel some sort of battle of wills going on between them. She wasn't about to do any such thing.

              Suddenly, the other vampire reeled back, his dark skin showing a slight sheen of sweat. “For such protectiveness, she must be something very special,” he hissed venomously. Elise drew back, shrinking behind Alex in the face of this new man's towering rage. Alex didn't reply, just glared a threat as he stood firmly between his adversary and Elise. The man's lip curled in contempt, but with one final glance at Elise, he turned his back and stalked away.

              Alex didn't move until the man had vanished from sight around a curve of hedges. Then very abruptly, he spun on his heel and started walking quickly down the hill in the opposite direction.

              “Who was that?” Elise demanded, shaking as Alex pulled her along. When he didn't answer, she tentatively lowered her shields, reaching for him.

              Instantly, she stumbled, overwhelmed by the sheer fury radiating from him. He glanced down at her through narrowed eyes, and she quailed under his gaze; his rapid, long-legged stride never wavered, and his crushing grasp on her wrist forced her to a near-run in order to keep pace. Desperately, she gripped her skirts with her free hand to keep from tripping on the gravel path.

              They reached his car, and he opened her door for her, all but throwing her inside. She shrank into her seat, hurriedly buckling the seat belt in place as he slid behind the wheel, graceful as a tiger, and the car took off. Alex accelerated quickly, until they were taking the road's curves at breakneck speed. Elise glanced at the speedometer and winced, biting her lip and closing her eyes with a whimper as they flew across a small bridge.

              “Oh, stop cowering, you'll be fine,” Alex snapped.

              “Speak to me in that tone of voice again and you won't be fine,” Elise shot back before she could think better of it. Her fear seemed to have evaporated in a wash of anger-- she realized belatedly that he had probably opened up a bit to her, and she was feeding off his rage. Well, tough, she thought callously. He was going to calm down before he wrapped the car around a tree. When he glared over at her, she returned his gaze deadpan. “Oh, stop,” she told him disdainfully. “That's not going to work on me right now. Why don't you take a deep breath, drive at something remotely resembling the speed limit, and tell me what that was all about.”

              Alex drew in a slow breath that shook as he let it out. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, but Elise watched the needle on the speedometer inch back down. She waited quietly until he was ready to speak, concentrating instead on willing herself to be calm-- and by extension, calming him as well.

              After a few minutes of silence, Alex began. “That was Rashid,” he spat the name, but checked himself and continued briskly and with somewhat more composure. “I met him during the crusades-- we fought on opposite sides of a war we both managed to survive. We hated each other then, and time has only served to deepen the feeling. He has done whatever he could to sabotage me over the years, and I have done the same to him. You are not safe with him here.”

              “Because I'm an omnivore?” She asked when he seemed disinclined to continue.

              He shook his head, then paused. “Yes, but no-- he won't harm you for that. You are in danger because you matter to me.” He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then continued. “One of the things you have to understand about those of us who have lived so long is that over time, the normal human lifespan becomes negligible. They're like flies-- it doesn't matter if they die a little sooner than they might otherwise have, since they had such a short time to live anyway. Rashid and I, and many others like us, have done a great many terrible things in order to survive this long-- and I won't lie to you: if you want to live beyond your mortal years, you will inevitably do the same.”

              She looked down at his hand on the gearshift, and for a moment saw it red with blood and understood that it was his memory, not her imagination. Gazing up at his face, her lips set firmly, she responded. “So you're saying that he won't think twice about killing me just to hurt you.”

              He hesitated again, then glanced over to meet her eyes. “Just killing is the least of my worries.”

              Elise swallowed hard, a thousand possibilities rushing through her mind. She knew she wasn't concentrating well enough to conceal anything, and saw Alex's fists tighten again as she felt his pulse of rage. Swallowing her instant nausea, she forced herself to take a deep breath and bore down on her emotions, pulling them close and sealing them in. “So,” she said firmly, clenching her own hands in her skirts to keep them from shaking and betraying her. “What do we do about him?”

              The look that Alex shot her was full of gratitude and pride. “Whatever we need to.” He said, his voice sure. “I will make sure you're safe.”

              Alex took her straight home, assuring her that now that he was aware of Rashid's presence in the area, the other vampire wouldn't be able to hide himself well enough to sneak up on them again. Elise wasn't sure if that was true or not, but she chose to accept the comfort of his statement rather than question him.

              He came inside with her, suggesting they watch a movie so he could keep her company until her parents came home. She gave him a sad smile when he made the offer-- he had all but said in the car that if Rashid truly wanted to get to her, her parents would be nothing but collateral damage. Still, she definitely appreciated his presence-- the encounter had left her jumpy and shaken enough that she didn't want to be alone.

              They had intended to go have dinner at the little cafe in the botanical garden, so their abrupt departure left Elise leafing through takeout menus as the sun cast long shadows across her kitchen counter. The only sound in the room was the rustling of paper as she set discarded options aside; Alex was so quiet that every now and again, she glanced over just to make sure he was still there. Finally, she plopped down on the stool next to him, the menu for a local Chinese place clutched in her hand, and poked him in the arm.

              “What are you thinking about?” She asked, keeping her worry out of her voice. His eyes were dark, and when he turned to her she couldn't help but feel as if he didn't even see her at all.

              After a moment, he gave a slight, graceful shrug. “History I'd rather not mention,” he said softly. Elise bit her lip as his face tightened. Then he sighed, shook himself slightly, and glanced at the menu in her hand. “Chinese?” He inquired in a tone more similar to hers. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

              “What's your stance on seafood?” She asked lightly, holding the pamphlet open so he could look it over, too.

              His smile was forced, but it was there. “As long as you aren't ordering vegetarian, I'll eat pretty much anything,” he chuckled. “I'm still a teenage boy at heart.”

              “Oh, don't worry,” she winked at him as she spun away to get her phone. “I'm an omnivore, remember?” Behind her, he snorted, but she was glad to sense some slight amusement emanating from his direction.

              Half an hour later, Elise was setting plates full of General Tso's shrimp and crunchy little crab wontons out on the coffee table in the den. Alex sat back on the couch, looking at ease, though she could still see a tightness around his eyes that hadn't been completely erased by their banter over which movie to watch. She took a deep breath, steadying herself, but her urge to ease his tension was greater than her lingering fear. Gathering her skirts, she slid onto the couch beside him, and before he could say anything, she nestled herself against his side.