The Vampires of Soldiers Cove (21 page)

I was out in the corridor before Gavin was who had stayed behind to talk to James, or so I assumed because Mariah was out at nearly the same time I was.

“Can I ask you a question of a personal nature?” she said without much emotion.
I wanted to say no, but didn’t think I had the luxury of refusal.

“Of course,” I said forcing a smile.

“Your Guardian, is he being improper with you?”

           
“Not at all, why do you ask?”             

“As your Guardian he is your advisor, your protector.
I’d hate to think he was taking advantage of that role. Not only are you a very young vampire but you are not fully transformed yet. Something that seems ok to you now might seem very wrong once you fully become what you are going to be.”

“I appreciate your concern,” I said in a tone that indicated she should back off.

“Just tread carefully my dear. You can’t un ring a bell.” With that she gave me a polite nod and flitted away.

Gavin emerged just as Mariah disappeared around the corner.
“Want to go for a walk in the woods?” he smiled. “It won’t be dark for another couple of hours but we can explore together.”

“I like the sound of that.”
  We made our way out into the early evening air. The sky was not yet dark but clouds were hanging over threatening to burst with snow by nightfall. We left the grounds of the sanctuary and trotted into the underbrush.

“How are we going to find him?” I asked.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “They come out mostly at full dark, sometimes a little before.
He was here a few days ago and they tend to stick to one area, plus he knows I want to talk to him. And also we can...um...”

“What?” I had a feeling I didn’t want to hear the end of that thought.

“Well, if we become physically aroused he can smell it. That might be the best way to attract him.”

“Oh my god, you want us to have sex out here so that he can smell it and find us? Gavin!”

“We don’t have to have sex but just, you know, make out a little bit.” He took my hand and drew me against him with a devilish smile. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Better than wandering in the woods for hours looking at random.”

“Oh I suppose,” I said playfully, “If it’s for a good cause.”
Gavin grabbed my hair and pulled my head back exposing my neck. I immediately gripped him by the waist and pulled him close, it was evident he had been aroused before even the first touch. He bit into me and sucked my neck, I moaned.

I was certainly enjoying our activity but in the back of my mind the words Mariah had said came back to haunt me. Did I really have anything to worry about with Gavin? Was he taking advantage of his guardianship, or were his feelings genuine? What did she mean about seeing this relationship differently at some point?

As much as I hated to admit it, she had planted the seed of doubt, no matter how small, into the back of my mind.

There was a rustle in the bushes behind us just then and Gavin peered over my exposed neck, fangs showing, to look for our expected company. I heard the familiar trot of goat hooves, not something you hear often in the woods of Cape Breton, and I knew our satyr had arrived.

“
Don’t stop on my account.” He looked just as handsome as he had the first time I saw him, although I felt guilty just thinking that.

His soft chestnut hair hung just below his shoulders as it had before, and once again I found myself wanting to touch it.
Not with the intensity I had last time, but enough that it disturbed me. His beautiful eyes stared right through me. If he wouldn’t have been saddled with a pair of horse hooves from his mid-thigh down he could have been mistaken for a movie star.

“Aries,” Gavin greeted him.
“I’ve come to talk to you about your offer.” His fluid black eyes lit up and the fine layer of black hair all over his lower torso seemed to stand on end.

“You’ve reconsidered sharing your l
over?  How very generous of you vampire.”

“No!” Gavin said surprised.
He must not have remembered that portion of our encounter until the satyr reminded him. “Your offer to come fight with us against Samuel.”

“Oh, that.”
Aries didn’t seem to remember
that
portion of our encounter until Gavin reminded
him
. “Of course, what is our plan of attack?”

“Samuel arrives in three days; he is coming with an army of at least a hundred
revenants, maybe more. Angus asks that your men come to the sanctuary tomorrow night at full dark. We are going to meet also with vampire clans from St.Peters, Johnstown and Chapel Island.”

“My goodness,” Aries said
, “either this is going to be quite a large event indeed or Angus is not as powerful as he used to be. Your clan certainly seems to be in need of a lot of help with this exercise.”

Gavin was offended
.  “Angus is just as powerful as ever. We just want to make sure that this situation gets taken care of for the good of us all. You want an island full of revenants running loose?”

“Certainly not,” Aries said.
”There would be no food for you and no women for us because they’d eat them all.

We can’t have the few women who wander in the woods alone getting their innards torn out.”

“Of course not.”
Gavin seemed amused with the way Aries had put that. Aries then turned his attention toward me, taking a step forward. Gavin stiffened and held my hand.

“And how are you my sweet? Are you well this evening?”

“Just fine thank you. It’s nice to see you again Aries.”  I was trying to be polite, but in a strange way I really was happy to see him. He was a feast for the eyes and senses. As he inched closer I picked up his scent. He smelled of freshly cut grass and clean winter air, an impossible and intoxicating combination.

“Certainly lovely to see you again.”
He took an exaggerated sniff of the air around him. “You smell lovely tonight.”

Gavin cut him off
. “And that’s the second thing I wanted to talk to you about. Rachel is our only female vampire who’s still in her transformative year. She is in need of the training that is to take place tomorrow night if she is going to fight without being killed. So I need you to talk to your men and advise them they are not to try and use their influence. Leave the pheromones at home. Understand?”

“Of course,” Aries agreed, “they will be disappointed but they
’ll get over it. I will be sure to speak with them.”

“And besides,” Gavin put his arm protectively around my waist, “we are to be married.”

“Oh my.” The satyr seemed disappointed. “Congratulations are in order then. I wish you many children.” His well-wishing rang hollow.

“Thank you.” Gavin
said.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will need to go inform the herd.”
And with no further pleasantries the satyr turned abruptly and left as quickly as he had shown up.

“Well that’s done,” Gavin said sounding relieved.
“Remember what I told you about not coming into physical contact with them when they arrive tomorrow night. I’m sure Aries will talk to his men and explain the situation, but some of them are tricky, that’s how they’ve survived this long, they have had to be ruthless.”

“I get it.”
I was disappointed that my fiancé thought so little of me that he assumed I wouldn’t be able to control myself around the handsome creatures. “And besides,” I added, “you’ll be there watching, making sure they don’t do anything they shouldn’t, and you know I won’t do anything to betray you.”

“Not willingly,” he said.
With that he took my hand and we began our walk back to the sanctuary. I wasn’t sure at that point if I should take his words as warning and concern, or distrust.  I decided that tomorrow night when the satyrs arrived that I would show what self-restraint I had.  No matter what chemical tools these creatures had in their arsenals, I could resist. I could be a good vampire and not need to be minded like a child, although I was sure that was how Gavin saw me sometimes.

Given that he had about sixty years on me, I guess maybe
it was natural. If he didn’t have the looks, body, and personality of the time when he was transformed I’m sure I would have thought him a dirty old man.

“You should sleep tonight even if you feel like you don’t need to.”
His orders were beginning to irritate me. I was getting tired of being told what to do.

“I can decide that for myself thank you very much,” I said with a tone that was nothing short of snotty.

He was taken aback. “Ok,” he said, “it was just a suggestion. Is everything all right?”

Suddenly his treatment of me
felt offensive. I was getting more agitated by the minute and I felt my hands beginning to shake.

“I’m just getting tired of being here.
Tired of being told what to do and when to do it, and how to live. I was alone before you people changed me and maybe I was sick but I did what I wanted, when I felt like it. I might not be a very old vampire like a lot of you, but I’m still an adult.”

My frustration was getting the better of me and I seemed to be unable to stop myself from saying things I might regret.
The sanctuary was beginning to feel more and more like a prison by the second.

“I’m sorry.” Gavin was stunned.
“If I’ve said or done something wrong I apologize.” I could see he was searching his mind for something to say to make everything better. “Do you want to go to your house for a little while? We could go spend some time there, maybe that would make you feel better?”

“I don’t want to ‘spend some time’ there
,” I snapped, “I want to go home.  I don’t feel like my own person here.” I was becoming unhinged.

“Calm down.
Everything’s going to be ok,” he said reaching for my hand.

“Don’t! I don’t want to calm down.”
Perhaps the finality of my snap decision to take Gavin and Angus up on their offer to be one of them was at last sinking in. “Everything is upside down.”

“What do you mean?”

“My life is not my own anymore, I’m not sure it ever will be again.” He looked like there was something he wanted to say but was afraid. “What?” I asked.

“I know I sprang my proposal on you kind of suddenly.
Are you having second thoughts?” I could tell by the look on his face and tone of his voice that with everything in him he wanted me to say no, that I was not, but I couldn’t in all honesty give him that answer.

“I don’t know,” I said.
A wave of guilt washed over me, I knew I was hurting him and that was the last thing I wanted to do. He lowered himself slowly onto the ground rubbing his forehead. “I think I need to be alone for a while,” I said.

Even though I had been scared to be alone in my room since James attacked me, the need for privacy outweighed fear
right now. So much had happened in the last few weeks. Once again I was silently contemplating ending my life. In some ways it seemed a better option than living for centuries as the consequence of a snap decision.

Gavin was dejected, “Ok,” was all he said.
I could tell he didn’t want to leave, but he made himself go without another word.

I made my way back to the room and pushed a large dresser in front of the door.
At least if someone tried to force their way in I’d have a few seconds warning. I took a stake from the dresser and placed it under my pillow for protection. After a few moments of surveying the room and making sure I was totally alone, I lay down and slept.

Chapter Twenty Three

During the night I woke once when I had a nightmare about James, but quickly willed myself back into oblivion. This little trick sure came in handy when you didn’t want to face reality. I wondered why we could do this, if it was perhaps for some larger purpose. For someone who always had bouts of insomnia the sleeping on command was at least one welcome change.

The morning light was filtering through my shaded window
now. In this room I didn’t seem to need the glasses, but I got up and drew the curtain darkening the room again anyway. It looked like a beautiful early spring day, and I was in no mood for it. I longed for night and darkness. The daylight felt confusing and burdensome. I knew I’d be expected to get up and prepare for our meetings with the other clans this evening, but all I wanted to do was stay in bed until the sun went back down.