Darkling (20 page)

“I’m waiting an explanation!” I demanded. “Why are you transporting me like I’m some prisoner?!”

“You don’t want to sit with me?” he asked, his voice full of surprise.

“Under these conditions?”

“What conditions?”

“For God sake, you took me and shoved me here without even asking me first!”

“I only wanted some privacy.” I sensed the nervous undertone in his voice, even though he was pretending to sound perfectly calm. He still wouldn’t look at me.

“What privacy?! You shoved me here so I wouldn’t sit with someone else!” I shot back, my anger getting stronger.

“With whom would that be?”

His faked nonchalance was unnerving. Fine! I could take him on!

“With Set?” I said, watching his green eyes grow darker.

“So you like him?”

“Yes, I do,” I replied, defiance in my tone.

“Well then, you can sit with him the next time.” He didn’t sound apologetic at all, which was putting me even more on edge. Looking at his serious face, I could feel my anger getting even hotter.

“Why are you bothering me? Why not sit with Simona instead?” I hissed.

Belun finally turned to face me, his eyes filled with fire. He seemed taken aback by my suggestion, and he looked more pissed—bitter, almost in pain—than ever before, as if he was sitting next to his mortal enemy. I laid my hand on his arm, in the exact place where I had bitten him. I looked directly into his eyes and pushed my thumb against the wounded place. I pushed harder and harder, wanting him to feel pain. His eyes grew even darker. They were no longer green.

Then he shoved my hand away, moving his face so close that I could feel his breath. “Remember that rose bud? It was the same means of seduction that he used on my sister, breaking her heart over and over until she finally killed herself,” he said in a low and frighteningly calm voice. Something strange was happening inside me, and the rest of the passengers were completely oblivious of it.

“I’ve also heard that he drinks the blood of human girl. But I have no proof.”

Belun leaned back into his seat, staring straight ahead for the rest of the flight. For some reason, I didn’t mind the tense silence. Only after we had landed and were in the company of my friends did I relax, leaving the darkness behind. And only then did Belun’s words seem to find their way into my conscience.

His sister? Was she human or vampire? She had ended her life as a result of a broken heart? Something inside the place where my heart was supposed to be had tightened. He was talking about his sister while I was thinking of ways to hurt him. What was wrong with me? What kind of person was I becoming? Suddenly, Tibor’s suggestion of meds and a shrink didn’t seem that off after all.

After we disembarked, I looked in his direction and saw Simona joyfully running to him. I shifted my gaze.

“We rented the biggest house they had. It’s a bit farther than the rest, but we have enough cars. Well, not exactly enough, but we’ll manage,” Aidan said, grinning while we walked to the parking lot where the vehicles were waiting us.

“Save me a spot,” I called, heading in search of the toilets. On my way, I saw Belun talking with Simona and Feodora. So, he was probably driving with them.

I had to wait in line; there were three other people before me.  Damn my bladder.

Why had I been so mean to Belun? I know Simona was in his room that night . . . but still! We weren’t a couple or anything; there was no reason for him not to have a girl with him. What had I exactly expected to happen that night? And with what right? I felt hurt, but why?! He hadn’t done anything bad, only the opposite. Lately, he had only been nice to me, and here I was, behaving like a child.

When I finally got back, only our car remained.

“Hurry, little one,” Aidan said, waving from the driver’s seat.

“Sorry, there was a line.”

Through the dark glass, I could see the back seat was crowded.

“Get in, somehow,” Doris’s voice came from the front seat, which she shared with Mia.

I opened the back door and stared in bewilderment—Andrei Belun was sitting in the window seat. There were two more people: a guy who was equally as big as him, and a girl who was sitting on the guy’s lap. Since there was no free place, I didn’t know what Doris meant by
get in
. And then I caught Belun patting his knees. No way! Aidan’s voice was hurrying me inside.

I entered carefully, and Belun lost his patience, grabbed me, and sat me down on him, closing the door.

“How long is the drive?” I blurted. That was the only thing I wanted to know right now. Mia grinned, realizing my trouble.

“Less than an hour,” Doris replied.

An hour?!

I sat stiffly on Belun’s lap, afraid to make even the smallest move. I tried to reason with myself—that he was an okay guy who was being nice to me, and that I should reciprocate in the same way. Not behave like some wild person—wasn’t that what he had called me? Or rather, berserk? It seemed like he was right about that. The thing was, he had probably noticed my interest in Set, or whatever, and thought that he should warn me. That was a nice thing to do, and how had I reacted? By sticking my finger in the injury I’d previously caused him! Splendid. Where the hell had I gotten such a cruel idea?! Why couldn’t I control myself?

My back was hurting me after a while, so I decided to move. I leaned on the door, finding a position that was much more comfortable. That put me nearer to him. His pearly face seemed relaxed while he looked at the road before us. The two next to us giggled about something, Mia was bantering with Aidan, and Doris was fighting for song choice.

“It’s my favorite, leave it!”

“Monsters, demons? C’mon,” Aidan scoffed.

“Leave it, Sky’s great!”

“Listen to your woman,” Mia teased. Just a second ago, she was on a verge of getting a serious nickname: Tin man. And that made me wonder if Bryn’s Vuk had heard about our little visit, since apparently everybody else had.

The song filled the car, and Belun’s eyes stayed on the road. He looked so perfect and so close. I remembered the feeling of his skin under my palms, soft and smooth. I put my arm behind the headrest, behind his neck, feeling some of that skin again. A blink and a flicker of restlessness crossed his eyes. Where were his thoughts?

The song spoke of the monsters and demons in our minds, and it all seemed really ironic to me. The fact that I was among vamps and listening to a song about monsters made me grin. And that caught Belun’s eyes for a second, not more, but enough for me to feel it in my chest. I leaned my head on my arm that was behind him, and angled my body in his direction. Now I was even closer. He blinked a bit, and I moved my lips to his ear, whispering.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened on the flight.”

He didn’t answer, but he seemed uneasy. Was he uncomfortable with my being so close to him? But as the song went on, it made me hyperaware of his proximity. It was intoxicating, and I had to have more of it. More of him. Just a little bit closer . . . His chest moved higher, and I heard his breathing. I moved my body a little bit more, feeling him hard underneath me. But before I could even think about it, he straightened himself up, moving me a bit away.

I was surprised. I wanted more of that closeness.

Now my back was to the window again. Why was his skin so beautiful, anyway? He didn’t deserve it. As my resentment started to grow, we arrived and parked. It was the end of the ride and I jumped from the car, going for Doris and Mia, without looking at him.

“Fireplace, nice.” I said, as we entered the rental house.

“Girls!” Bryn yelled from the top of the stairs, waving for us to follow.

“Four of us, all alone,” she said grinning, as if this was a great achievement. And maybe it was: there were a lot of us on this trip. The thought that I might have had to share a room with Simona was dreadful.

“Great!” I exclaimed, infinitely grateful for her work.

This time there were no bunk beds, but two queen-sized beds. The room was lovely, and as soon as we got in, Doris pulled me onto one of the two. We stretched out over it, and relaxed and chatted, as I tried to erase the feelings of the ride.

“What did Vuk says about our little adventure?” I asked Bryn, who sat down on our bed. She blushed.

“Well, it wasn’t necessary for him to know.”

“Why?” Doris asked.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.”

“C’mon, spit it out,” Mia insisted, unpacking her bag.

“He said nothing. Since everybody seemed to know, I had to tell him, and I had hoped it wouldn’t come to that. But Mia’s Tin Man won everybody’s hearts.”

“Greedy bastard,” Mia added.

“I didn’t tell him about the part that concerned him, of course, but about that problem Arna had mentioned—that she couldn’t see Nika’s existence, which he found most interesting.”

“See, stupidity is never worth it,” I chimed in, and a pillow flew in my direction.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“To prepare for going out, but to have our bikinis on under,” Doris said, giggling, and then I realized that I didn’t have a swimsuit! But she read the shock on my face and tapped me on my forearm.

“Everything’s cool. How’s yellow on you?”

I smiled; it was an interesting color choice and I bet Tertius would have thought the same. I wondered what he was doing now. I pictured him in his brown suit, sitting at the table, and the image woke a weird sensation in me. I wished to see him free, but, unfortunately, I knew he wasn’t some kind of librarian.

“I brought you a dress, as well,” Doris added, but I had already pulled mine from my bag.

“Oho! You prepared well!”

“When you give me time to pack, sure.”

She threw a yellow bikini at me. It was more like a light amber, and I quickly decided that it suited me. I put my dress on over it, and the final product was rather nice.

All four of us were in dresses. Doris’s was wine color and shorter than mine, Bryn’s was gray, and Mia wore a golden-brown one, also short. We applied waterproof mascara and lip gloss; Aidan had been buzzing Doris’s cell for a while now. He was waiting almost patiently. Hadn’t he gotten used to Doris’s tardiness after all the time that they’d been together?

Belun was driving this time, Aidan sat next to him, and four of us were in the back, Doris on my lap. The drive hadn’t lasted long before we arrived at the main building where the spa magic was going to take place.
Ah, all that pampering
. . . . From the outside, the building looked new, and the inside was pretty amazing as well—five shining stars. A hostess was waiting for us near the entrance and welcomed us inside. She described the services provided, and how to take full advantage of them. Then she showed us the way to a room, saying it was for the ladies.

Everything was white in the room: the lockers, walls, and a huge white rounded leather ottoman that stood in the center of the room. We left our jackets in the changing room, and the others took off their stockings, leaving their stilettos on.

“Are we going to the pool now?” I asked.

“Yup. Hot tubs and bars are there,” Bryn said.

What was I going to do with my stiletto boots near the pool? The girls had smartly brought their shoes, so I opted to leave the boots behind and go barefoot.

The pool was shaped in the form of an infinity sign. There were two bars on each side of it, and a few hot tubs were off in a small isolated spot; there was a lot of greenery to give the place a tropical-paradise look. It absolutely succeeded in that respect, this spa was fantastic! I noticed some of the other girls wearing boots. Boots and pools—not a good combination. However, when I saw Simona and Feodora wearing golden high heel sandals, I was glad I was barefoot.

Checking the place out, I had moved away from the other girls, so when I didn’t see them around, I took a seat at the bar.

“Fruit punch,” I said to a barman.

“It must be invisible...” I heard the familiar voice before Set leaned his elbow on the bar.

“What’s that?”

“The chain he keeps you on.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s cruel.”

“And I’m a cruel guy. Haven’t you heard I kill sisters and drink girls’ blood . . . ?” he said, viciously grinning.

There was something utterly natural about him. He wore his “bad guy” aura well, and he was casual about his misdoings of all kinds. Well, joking or not, I gave him points for honesty. What was that thing I had read in a Baudelaire poem—“That you are good, what does it matter? Be sad: be beautiful!” The words suited him.

He leaned in closer, wearing the same grin, but leaving enough space between us for my alarms not to sound.

“So what’s the taste like?” I asked, and he pretended to sniff my hair.

“Of virgins? You can’t even imagine.” He winked.

How did he know? He had to be teasing, I mean I know that drinking blood from humans is a huge no-no, but could vamps sense the levels of innocence in blood? Weird.

His proximity didn’t bother me like Belun’s did; his presence had the lightness of a summer breeze, and that feeling was always pleasant on my skin.

“I’m collecting the evidence against you, actually. Know where I can find some?”

Set laughed, taking my hand. He turned it palm up and kissed my veins; the feeling was nice, but I got the joke.

“Is that fruit punch? Why not drink something better?” he asked, looking at my glass.

“Like what?”

“Two mojitos,” he told the barmen. “If you don’t like yours, I’ll take both.”

But there was no need. I
really
liked the cocktail, drinking it down in several gulps. He ordered us another round.

“I heard you’re doing well with your Vocati. “

“Mmm hmm,” I said, not so interested in talking about work. “Tell me a secret of yours.”

“A secret?”

“Sure,” I said, gulping the mojito.

He took a few moments to think about his answer.

“What will I get in return?” he asked, slyly.

“A little piece of knowledge.” He seemed intrigued. “I’ll tell you my blood type.”

He laughed. “It’s a deal.”