Survivor (15 page)

He nodded and took a seat at the table, stretching
out his long legs and looking like a model.  “Water is fine.”

I brought him his water, then sat staring at the
table.  Finally, he leaned forward and took my hands, bringing me out of my
daze.  “Hey,” he said kindly.  “Are you okay?”

I nodded and wiped at the stupid tears that started
up in response to his concerned tone.  “I’m fine,” I said firmly. 

He gave my hands a little squeeze, still not letting
go.  “I heard what happened.  I wanted to see you… to make sure you were well.” 
He sounded truly concerned, his voice carrying almost as much guilt as Peter’s
had last night.  “And to think, I said all that stuff to you about being
strong.  What was I thinking?”

I met his eyes and mustered a smile.  “Really, I’m
fine.  I’m just tired and strung out.”

He seemed to relax a bit, though he still looked
guilty.  “If there is ever anything I can do for you, please tell me.”  His
beautiful voice was soft, but serious.  For whatever reason, he seemed to feel
responsible.  I wasn’t feeling up to delving into that any further right now. 
One vampire in my business was enough for me, thanks. 

Once he was sure I was still alive and kicking, I
managed to get Haine to leave.  I didn’t protest too loudly when he ruffled my
hair before he left.  It was nice to have someone show concern for my welfare
who was neither family nor lover.  Kind of like having a big brother.

I spent the rest of the day adrift.  Physically I
felt great.  Peter had given me a little dose of his blood to erase all the
bruises and scrapes from my captivity.  I had protested and gagged, but this
way I wouldn’t have to explain my injuries and I could stick to the out of town
story.  It had worked wonders on my body, but my mind was still exhausted.  I
recalled what Peter had said about turning me.  This was just concrete proof
that what he said was true.  All of my physical ailments were healed, but I was
mentally and emotionally drained.  I lay on the couch with my eyes closed,
trying to nap, but never quite falling asleep.

I
wheeled to the sink and rinsed out my bowl. 
Peter silently opened the cupboard and got out the teapot.  The kettle was
burbling away on the stove, and I hoped he would turn it off before it
whistled.  The sound went right through my head.  I watched his graceful
movements as he rinsed out the teapot, then hunted through my canister of
teabags until he found something he liked.  I sighed and wheeled back to the
table to leaf through the newspaper.  Peter had been quiet since my rescue,
withdrawn.  I dropped the paper on the table and he turned the kettle off just
before it started to make noise. 

“Do you hate me?”  I’m nothing if not direct.  I
could use my damaged frontal lobe as an excuse, but the truth was it was part
of my personality even before the injury.

He shot a surprised green look my way, then returned
his attention to the tea, busying himself.  He was always busy these days,
alternating between frantic movement and deadly stillness when I knew he must
be lost in thought.  Fragrant steam drifted up as he filled the teapot.  He set
the kettle back on the stove and went still again.  I waited.

“I’m going away for a while.”  His beautiful voice
was calm, devoid of any strong emotion.  I had enough emotion for the both of
us.  A wave of panic washed over me, followed by a sharp surge of anger.  It
wasn’t a surprise that he would leave.  I had always known that he didn’t
really belong with me.  It was his reasoning that pissed me off.

“Is this because of me… because of what happened to
me?”  Because I couldn’t keep up with his world, because I wasn’t one of them. 
Vampires.

He turned to get a teacup out of the cupboard.  “In
a way,” he admitted, smiling to soften his words.  He poured tea into the
little cup as if it were any other day. 

His calm acceptance was too much for me.  I snapped. 
“Then don’t just stand there pouring tea,” I shouted.  “If you are leaving me,
then just leave.  Get the hell out!”

His eyes widened, but he didn’t argue.  He came to
set the little cup of tea on the table in front of me.  Then he pulled
something from his pocket and set it beside the cup.  “Take care, Melody.”   

A numbness settled over me with his words, as my
emotions swung crazily, unchecked by my damaged frontal lobe.  I felt almost
calm now, though my hands had started shaking.  He made his way to the door and
I watched him go.  I almost thanked him for saving me, but in the end, I bit my
tongue.  It wasn’t my fault that I had needed saving in the first place.  The
little teacup shattered against the door, and I watched the honey-colored
liquid make swirling rivulets on the linoleum. 

I picked up my bracelet, the one Cashern had sent to
Leah when I was kidnapped.  The koi charm shifted against my palm, and I
wondered if it the fish had any more fight left in it. 

“Too many waterfalls to climb,” I said to no one.  I
let out a massive sigh.  “And I’ve yet to turn into a dragon.”

*****

The morning air was crisp and chilly.  It was still
fall, but if today was any indication, a full-blown Michigan winter wasn’t far
off.  Chelsea was impatient as I transferred into my wheelchair.  She’d cooled
down since our last little chat, more than a week ago.  But she was still her
same old snotty self.  “Why do I have to haul you around on my day off?”  She
stuffed her hands in her pockets for warmth.  “Couldn’t you just take
transportation?”

I shook my head as I buckled my lap belt and arranged
my legs.  “It’s too far out.”  My words were clipped as I looked up at the
house, my stomach a slurry of anxiety.  The coven house was far enough outside
of town that it wasn’t part of the public transportation route. 

Chelsea tossed her hair and went around the other
side of the car.  “I won’t be long,” I said as she slipped behind the wheel. 
She waved her hand dismissively and reached for the radio.  Steam floated up
from the car’s exhaust and I could see my breath puff out in white clouds as I
wheeled myself up the driveway. 

I slowed as I neared the steps.  Haine was waiting
on the threshold, his broad shoulders blocking the door.  He held up a hand in
greeting.  “You came!”  It probably wasn’t a secret that Peter had dumped his
crippled human girlfriend.

I nodded.  “Is Leah home?”  I tried to sound
confident.  I had no idea what I was doing.  The vampire nodded affirmative,
then glanced at my chair. 

“Is it okay if I bring you up here?”  I gave him a
wry smile, embarrassed at my inability to climb stairs.  If he hadn’t been
here, I would have had to sit here and yell for service.

“If you wouldn’t mind.” 

He jogged down the stairs and, gripping my chair by
the sides, lifted me up onto the porch as if I weighed nothing.  “I was just going
in,” he said politely, “you can come with me.”  He made it sound like I
wouldn’t be welcome without an escort.

“Thanks.”  What a nice vampire.  I turned and went
in, rolling my eyes at the absurdity of my life. 

I didn’t see anyone in the living room, but I could
hear voices from down the hallway.  I wheeled toward them, following the sound
of Leah’s soft tones.  “I don’t know,” she was saying.  She sounded tired.  A
male voice replied, but it was too low for me to catch what he said. 

The door jerked open just as I raised my hand to
knock.  Peter stopped in the doorway, halting abruptly mid-step.  He looked
pissed.  His eyes landed on my companion and his entire expression went flat,
shutting down.  It was more terrifying than his visible anger had been.

“I’m here to see Leah,” I said, automatically
defensive. 

“Of course.”  He gave me a wry half smile and
stepped back, gesturing for me to come in. 

I wheeled into the room, and then froze.  “Uh, are
you having some kind of meeting?  I’m sorry.”  The room was full of people.  Vampires.

Leah was pacing on the other side of the room.  She
looked… upset.  The coven leader came to a halt and turned to me.  Her smile
didn’t quite reach her eyes.  “I don’t know why I came,” I said awkwardly. 
“Maybe to say thank you?  I didn’t know you would be busy.”  I tried to back
away.

Cynthia stood from her spot on an antique sofa near
the fireplace, and started to usher me out the door.  She froze when Leah
spoke.  “Tell me what I should do.”  I looked around for a second before I
realized she was speaking to me.

The room was filled with murmurs and hushed
conversation.  Viktor stood, clenching his fists.  Cynthia started to say
something, but Leah held up a hand and she was quiet, her lips compressed to a
thin line of disapproval.  I could feel the tension in the room, flowing about
me like choking smog.  Viktor, never one to know when to shut up, spoke out
over the others, “but she’s just a human.”

Leah gave him a quelling look, her blue eyes showing
a hint of silver.  “Yes.  She’s a human.  She has human morals, a human soul. 
Something we’ve lost.”

Haine touched my shoulder in passing and went to
take a seat on an old fainting couch near the fireplace.  I frowned in
confusion, automatically looking to Peter for explanation.  He leaned against
the mantle, refusing to meet my eyes, and I clenched my teeth.

  Leah took a seat on the ottoman next to me.  The
tension in the room ratcheted up a notch, and I thought I might get killed just
for being here.  What in the world was going on?

The master vampire took a deep breath and let it
out.  Just like that, the tension was gone.  Her power over the others was that
strong.  This was one of her talents.  She gave me a calm smile.  “I am nicer
than other vampires,” she said, surprising the hell out of me.

I cleared my throat.  “Um… yes.”

She looked around the room, her eyes lingering on
each vampire in turn.  “I am very young to be a coven leader.”  Her eyes met
mine and they were completely silver.  “But this is what my master wanted. 
When he left this world, he insisted that I take the coven.  He wanted a new
direction for our kind.”

I nodded.  Peter had told me this.  Their master had
been an optimist.  Her voice grew soft and distant.  “I’m a woman.  I’m not
just young, I’m soft.  I wouldn’t choose this role if the choice were mine to
make.”  She inclined her head toward Peter and the others.  “But, my coven is
my family.  I need to protect my family or the wolves will devour them.”  I met
those compelling silver eyes.  Her fangs were out.  I had trouble breathing. 
She was supremely pissed. 

I was missing something.  “What do you mean?”  My
voice was small.

Peter stood.  “Cashern’s people must be taken care
of.”  His voice was soft, deceptively and dangerously quiet.

I swallowed hard.  “How?”

Leah took a deep breath.  “I will kill them.”  Her
voice was cold, brittle.

I didn’t know what to say.  They had made a play for
power and lost.  Naïve little me, I had thought that was the end of it.  Peter
finally met my eyes.  What I saw there wasn’t comforting.  “A fire starts as
only one tiny flame, yet it will grow until it consumes everything and becomes
unstoppable.”

Leah stood suddenly.  “I know there is something
more to this than what’s on the surface.  I should put out the spark before it
grows.  If they think I’m soft-weak- more will come.”

I was shocked by the cold decisiveness in front of
me.  “But the whole coven?”  My voice gained strength.  “I only saw about four
or five people the entire time I was there.  What about the ones that had
nothing to do with it?”  They would all die because of me.  I shook my head in
denial.  “No.  That isn’t justice.  It’s ruthlessness.”

The eyes on me were not kind.  I had just dared to
contradict their leader.  I was chastising a bunch of monsters for being
ruthless.  I was shocked when Cynthia agreed with me.  She wasn’t comfortable
speaking out, but she lifted her chin defiantly.  “Take out Cashern and bring
them in,” she said quietly, “like you did for all the others.”  Leah’s adopted
family of orphan vampires.

Viktor looked at his sister as if she had lost her
mind.  “Without knowing where their loyalties lie?  What if they are just
waiting for the chance to betray her?”

Cynthia took a quick breath, refusing to look at
Leah.  “Bind them.”

A slender, dark haired beauty snorted derisively. 
“Leah doesn’t bind her vampires.”

Haine lounged on the sofa, looking lean and
dangerous.  “I am not bound, and it only increases my loyalty.”  His voice was
captivating.  I flushed and looked away from his slivery blue eyes.  They were
all a bit stressed out, and I think I was getting an overdose of vampire mojo. 
He shrugged.  “But I could easily betray you because of this.”  His voice held
soft warning.  “It would be so easy.”

“What would you do?”  Leah turned to me.  Her
silvery eyes watered, but she blinked rapidly to keep anyone from seeing it.  I
looked to Peter for help.  He stepped forward and knelt at Leah’s feet.  Taking
her hands, he spoke earnestly. 

“Leah, even if you don’t command us to do this, we
will act on our own.  You know this.”  They were all fiercely devoted to this
woman and the way of life she provided them.  They wouldn’t let her be in
danger.