Ageless (5 page)

There was a soft knock on the door
and Margo cocked her head, listening. Then her face softened.
“Jeremiah sent tea. You do seem to have made an impression on
him.”

As Violet watched, the doors opened
to reveal a small woman carrying a large platter with a steaming
pot of tea and two cups. Violet felt a flash of warmth shoot
through her as she heard mention again that Jeremiah was thinking
about her. It was confusing and strange, and she wondered again
what she had done to draw his attention.

Margo gestured for the woman to put
the tea on the coffee table in the small sitting area. She did so
and then quietly left the room. Violet heard the distinct click of
the lock again. It was clear that no one intended for her to go
anywhere. She wondered what they were afraid she would find if
allowed to wander outside the room.

Margo sat on the edge of the small
sofa and patted the cushion next to her for Violet to join her.
Violet crossed the room and took a seat in the small Victorian
armchair across from Margo instead. She wanted to trust Margo, but
she couldn’t quite yet. A look of frustration crossed Margo’s face,
and Violet saw it before her friend covered it with a tense smile.
Then Margo poured a cup of tea for both of them and handed one of
the cups over to Violet.

“I need to clear something up,
because I know this is part of the problem for you. So before I get
into anything else, I need to tell you that what you saw last night
wasn’t what it probably looked like,” Margo said
quietly.

The cup of tea was halfway to
Violet’s mouth, and then the scene replayed itself in her mind.
Violet gagged, remembering the smell, and her hand started to
shake, causing the cup in her hand to rattle against the saucer.
She quickly returned it to the tray and took a deep breath, holding
onto the edge of the table. Margo seemed to sense that she needed a
minute.

“So what exactly was it then? Some
kind of sick joke?” Violet said. As much as she wanted Margo to
explain that bloody scene away, she didn’t know how Margo could.
Violet wasn’t that naive.

“I was going to try to crack the
tension here with a joke, but I can tell you aren’t in the mood to
appreciate it,” Margo said with a sigh. “You’ll understand better
once I get through this other part, but just know that nobody was
killed or anything like that.” She lifted the tea to her lips and
took a sip.

Although Violet wanted to believe
her, she wasn’t going to let Margo off that easy. “But the
screaming. I heard people screaming in pain,” Violet said. She
heard those screams again in her mind and winced.

Margo frowned, putting her cup
down. She pointed at Violet. “If we’re going to get all technical,
I didn’t say that no one got hurt.” Margo pulled her hand back into
her lap and paused as if trying to figure out the best way to say
what she needed to say next. “Like I said earlier. Tesla and Mike
were in contact with other people that I didn’t know about, people
who aren’t as cool as the Montroses.” At Violet’s confused look,
Margo clarified, “Jeremiah and Jonah Montrose. I know you are going
to have some sympathy for those other people, but you shouldn’t. I
don’t, and I liked them a lot. In the end everyone there knew what
they were getting into. Of course, the reality of it all was pretty
typical.”

“What are you talking about? You
are talking in circles.” Violet’s stomach was doing flip-flops
waiting for the answer.

Margo took another slow sip of tea.
“The closest thing I can compare it to would be groupies that
follow bands around. Groupies party with the bands and everyone
knows that if they could, the groupies would be
in
the band. Mike, Tesla, and the
others, they were groupies.”

“So they wanted to join your band?”
Violet said, lamely trying to go along with the analogy.

“Not my band. I’m basically a
member of the road crew. I’m not the rock star,” Margo said,
shaking her head. “The famous Montrose brothers, they are the rock
stars. What I didn’t know is that Tesla started following another
band too. That made things...awkward when everything came to a head
last night.”

“Since you said this was an
analogy, perhaps you’d better tell me what these bands actually
are, because I have never seen Jeremiah or Jonah on the cover
of
Rolling Stone
,”
Violet said, steeling herself for the answer. As much as she didn’t
really want to know, she was tired of being in the dark.

“Jeremiah is the leader of the
strongest vampire coven in the United States,” Margo said in a
rush. “It is very exclusive and he is incredibly selective of who
gets in. The oldest vampires have all belonged at one time or
another to the Montrose Clan. The fact that he has taken a personal
interest in you, Violet, is a huge compliment.” Margo stopped
talking and Violet let the words sink in.

Then Violet started to laugh. She laughed so long
and so hard that her sides started to ache. Tears squeezed from her
eyes and slid down her cheeks and she wiped them away as the peals
of giggles finally subsided. Margo watched her with narrowed
eyes.

“Vampires! Of course, why didn’t I
see it before?” Violet finally choked out.

“I understand it’s a lot to take
in,” Margo said, taking another sip of her tea.

Violet could feel the waves of
annoyance wafting off of her friend. But Violet didn’t care. The
absurdity of the last twenty-four hours had finally broken over
her. But her chuckles were cut off as the image of the den returned
to her. Something very bad had happened at Mike’s house, but Violet
was hard pressed to think it had anything to do with something
supernatural. Then Jonah’s snarling face and elongated teeth
flashed through her mind and any desire to laugh died
away.

“Let’s just pretend for a moment
that what you said has a basis in fact,” Violet said. “We both know
that I am not some vampire-coven-seeking groupie, not by any
stretch of the imagination. I didn’t even want to go to Mike’s
until you dragged me over there. So what’s my role in all of
this?”

“I obviously was doing a crappy job
of keeping an eye on you,” Margo said. She set her cup back down
and refilled it. “Once Jeremiah found you at Bayersfield, he asked
me to get to know you better so that there would be someone there
all the time to protect you. As much of a jerk as he can be, it was
actually his idea that you should be able to finish out your senior
year in peace. Or at least, he was fine with that idea until he
sent Jonah to check up on me a few weeks ago and decided that I may
be getting distracted.”

“Why would you be protecting me?”
Violet’s heart had sped up again. Things were suddenly starting to
fall into place. Margo’s sudden appearance and interest in her. The
idea that Jeremiah had been unwilling to wait to see her. A
coming-out party being thrown in her honor. “Who do you think I
am?”

“You are the one who is going to
save us, Vi,” Margo said with a small smile. “Your bloodline is
ancient, almost as old as Jeremiah and Jonah’s. You hold the secret
to breaking our curse. So when that other coven members showed up
last night I thought I may have completely screwed up. In the end,
I am so glad Jonah popped up. He was able to distract them by
giving them Tesla, Mike, and the others and keeping them away
before they saw you. I mean, you don’t look any different than
other mortals, but the smell of your blood is...intoxicating.”
Margo gulped and looked away. “I’m not trying to scare you. I’m
used to it after all this time, but they would have known right
away and you would have been in real danger.”

Violet stood up and walked around
to the other side of her chair. Her chest was heaving. She had a
million questions and she didn’t know where to start. She looked
down at her hands and that’s when she saw it. A small symbol glowed
a shimmery gold on her right hand.

Margo gasped and seemed to be at
Violet’s side without even moving. She took Violet’s hand and
stared at it. “Damn, Vi! Jeremiah was right. I mean, I didn’t doubt
him but the way he knows this kind of stuff is wicked
scary.”

Violet pulled her hand away and put
it behind her back. She was painfully aware of how close Margo was
to her, and she scooted back around the bed. “What’s going on,
Margo?”

Margo reached out to grasp her
shoulders but Violet shook her hands off and took another step
backwards. Margo’s eyes were gleaming. “Vampires didn’t exist the
way Hollywood portrays them in the beginning, Vi. Way back then,
vampires were simply mortals who were lucky enough to be granted
favor with their coven leaders, and as their gift for being loyal
servants, they were granted immortality. It was only given to a
very small group, and the intention was that these people would
lead the covens and the whole world to peace and prosperity
forever.”

“So where do the blood, guts, and
gore come into play?” Violet scoffed.

Margo turned and settled back into
her seat. She was the picture of serenity once again. “It’s not
like immortality was easy to get. It required really powerful
magic, which was another reason there weren’t a lot of immortals.
The ones who could pull that kind of magic off were rare. There was
a very strong warlock who worked for Jeremiah and Jonah’s father
and was the one who granted Jeremiah and Jonah immortality. Then
there was an incident between the warlock and the Montrose family,
and then a very long and bloody war began. When the dust settled,
both sides had been almost entirely decimated. Just before Jeremiah
killed the warlock, the warlock cursed the Montroses and every
other immortal. He made their immortality conditional, so that it
could only be maintained by taking the blood of
mortals.”

Even though she tried to stop herself from buying
into it, Violet was enthralled by the story. It was like hearing an
epic novel being told out loud.

“Unfortunately, there were other
side effects to the curse, including aggression and bloodlust that
required the coven leaders to hunt down and kill many of the
remaining members of their covens. Jeremiah always believed that if
he found the right magic, he’d be able to find a cure and remove
the taint from the vampire.”

Violet had started to lean on the
back of her chair listening to the story, but now she stood
straight up with widened eyes. “A cure?”

Margo nodded. “After many years,
Jeremiah was able to form a peace of sorts with one of the
descendants of the warlock’s family. Jeremiah always believed that
the cure was going to be found in that family. The descendant told
Jeremiah that there was a family legend that the vampire curse
could be lifted by the waters of the secret fountain. But the
location was never disclosed. It was Jonah’s brilliant idea to
weave a story of eternal youth around the myth and then spread the
legend to their mortal subjects. It gave them more ears and eyes on
the ground.”

Another piece of the puzzle clicked
into place. “You’re talking about the Fountain of Youth, aren’t
you?” Violet said in awe.

“Yes. I mean, nobody knows if it’s
actually a fountain or a symbol of something else. But nonetheless,
it’s the key to lifting the curse. Finding it would allow us to
live our lives freely once again. It may even mean that someone
wouldn’t be a vampire at all.” Margo’s voice held a heavy note of
longing. “Jeremiah and Jonah have been looking for the fountain for
centuries.”

“Oh,” Violet said. Working back
over what Margo had told her left her with an obvious question.
“So, what was the incident that started the feud?”

Margo rolled her eyes. “What always
gets men all in an uproar?” At Violet’s confused look she sighed.
“You can ask Jeremiah or Jonah to give you all the sordid details.
But it was over a girl, Vi. It’s
always
over a girl.”

Violet tried to process all of the
information and fit it into her perception of reality. It didn’t
work. The story sounded like just that, a story. “Saying any of
this is true, then that really sucks.” Her eyebrows shot up as she
saw Margo’s mouth curl into a grin. She realized the irony of what
she had said and a short laugh escaped her lips. “Sorry. Anyways,
this all sounds very epic and romantic, especially with the whole
feud over a girl. Say I accept all of this; you still haven’t told
me what this had to do with me.”

“The warlock’s descendant also told
Jeremiah that when a sufficient amount of time had passed, if the
vampires still existed, there would be an opportunity for
redemption.”

“Redemption? How?” Violet
asked.

“There would be a map,” Margo
said.

“A map? A map to the fountain?”
Violet tried to follow along.

Margo pointed at Violet’s hand. The
glowing symbol had disappeared, and Violet had all but forgotten
about it listening to Margo’s story. “A map, Vi. You are the
map.”

The heavy “dong-dong” of a
grandfather clock that she couldn’t see just as Margo pronounced
her a living map made Violet almost jump right out of her
skin.

Margo looked amused at Violet’s
startled expression. “That thing is such a pain in the ass. It
wakes everybody on this wing of the house up all the time. I’ve
told Jonah a million times that they should get rid of it, but
apparently Jeremiah is pretty attached to it. And of course, no one
does anything to upset Jeremiah.”