The Soul Mate (10 page)

Bottomless pits of black despair. He spared
no one he found. No man, woman or child who crossed his path that
day had been safe from his madness.”

I shivered hearing this. Gerik’s braid
tickled my shoulder as he leaned close. “Are you cold?” He
whispered. I shook my head without looking at him.

“
Mullo
,” Maisera continued, “
had
called upon dark magic to seek his revenge. And in this life
nothing is given freely. There are consequences to every action. In
return for his bloodlust, he will now always hunger for blood. For
cutting short the lives of hundreds of innocent people, he was
condemned to live out their lives and the lives of their unborn
children and their unborn children, in a never ending cycle. He
will never know peace or life without suffering. He has been
condemned to a life of eternal pain, shrouded in darkness.

It was said that he never again left the
fortress, and that anyone who dared venture up into those mountains
was never heard from again.

Mullo, was the name given him. It means, the
first Vampire.”

“Freaky, yeah?” Gerik was studying me
intently.

Four months ago I would have laughed at that
story. Written it off as just another campfire tale or legend that
had been tossed around over the centuries. Gods knew how many I’d
listened to my father tell. I knew Greek mythology like the back of
my hand but, despite how many people believed otherwise, I hadn’t
taken it at all seriously.

But now? And after everything I’d seen? What
had Jericho said when he’d had one of those creatures suspended in
mid air? “Blestemul de vampir.”

I had no idea what the rest meant, but
‘vampir’ was clear enough. Is that what those things were?
Vampires? There went that whole ‘dark and sexy vampire lurking in
the shadows’ theory.

“Uh, yeah", I said, "Is that story true?”

“Maybe,” Gerik finally answered, sounding
blasé. “Haven’t been to the Carpathian Mountains lately to check it
out.”

I shot him a dirty look and he laughed. The
deep, throaty sound resonated through me making me feel soft and
comfortable. Similar to the sensation I use to get after taking a
long hot bath then snuggling down deep under my covers.

“Dance with me Trinity,” He asked softly.

The dancing had just begun and both the young
and old were already spinning around the bonfire. The Roma who were
not dancing were tongue clacking, hand clapping and clicking wooden
spoons together in time to the fast past melody. Hearing Gerik’s
question, Onyx stood. The amount of hate in her eyes could have
fueled a small city for a decade or two.

“Um…” I tried to look anywhere but at Onyx.
“Maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

Gerik glanced up at Onyx who immediately
tried to hide the fact that she’d been giving me death stares but
Gerik had seen her. Getting to his feet, something silent and
inexplicably intimate passed between the two of them and she
softened. She shot me one last look of disdain before walking
away.

The longing I glimpsed in her eyes was enough
to knock me out flat.

“She loves you,” I whispered, feeling
horrible.

“No, you don’t understand.” He reached for me
and I scrambled backwards. “Don’t touch me!” I fled from him
through the throng of dancers.

Grabbing a bottle of rum out of a startled
Pitti’s chubby hands, I took off toward the empty side of end lot
to find a private place where I could still enjoy the music. I
loved the music in camp. It was free and magical, just the like the
Gypsies.

As the violins whined, while the fiddles
wailed, and the guitars strummed faster and faster, the foot
stomping and hand clapping grew louder and the people more raucous.
The Mousai Goddesses were here tonight, of that I had no doubt. I
could almost picture them twirling around the dancers, unseen to
human eyes, as they frolicked and giggled, spelling them with the
need to keep dancing.

I danced alone in the dark. My braids flew
and my dress billowed around me as I spun around. Shimmying and
swaying, my bracelets and beads shook and rattled to their own
unique beat. The more I danced, the more I drank, letting the
alcohol soak its way into my bloodstream, working its own kind of
magic. Soon a sense of delirium and a delightful skin tingling
numbness took over.

I soon lost myself inside the music of the
Roma and to the inhibitions of alcohol. Both were drugs I didn’t
need right now clouding my mind. But nothing was as bad as those
deep blue eyes that were watching me from the shadows. Gerik was
the worst drug of them all. I’d been pretty even keel my entire
life until I’d met Gerik and experienced the kinds of pleasure only
he had ever brought me. The exquisite places his body would take
mine would stay with me for days afterwards. I’d be left empty,
imagining the highs I still had yet to reach and knowing it was
only Gerik who could bring me back there.

Large hands caught my waist and swept me off
my feet. Gerik pulled me against him. “You’re beautiful you know? I
could watch you dance all night.”

“You could,” I laughed. I felt suddenly bold,
a combination of the alcohol and his nearness. “But I’d get lonely
dancing all by myself.”

Before he could respond, I kissed him hard
and let the heat building slowly between us flare.

“Trinity,” Gerik gasped for air as I eagerly
went for his lips again.

“What?” I asked, pulling his pony holders out
of his braids and running my fingers through the wavy strands,
freeing them. His chest heaved against mine as his breathing grew
ragged.

“You’re never going to be alone again.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Xan finally added something new to my regime.
Only instead of putting bullets in the guns, he’d decided instead
to teach me how to relax. When I asked him how any of this
pertained to fighting he gave me a pointed look.

“When Skin Eaters are chasing you down, fangs
chomping at the bit, slathering and sloshing all over the place,
ready to rip into you, make you dinner, and use your bones for
dessert picks, what exactly do you want to be focused on?”

I swallowed hard picturing just that.
“Shooting them the head,” I answered timidly.

He laughed.

“Say you are overwhelmed with fear for your
life, you’re alone, being chased and those monsters are closing in
on you and you only have one gun. Tell me, what are you going to
do?”

I shrugged. “Try and shoot them all in the
head?”

“Good luck with that.” He sighed. “It’s hard
but if you can relax enough to not be overwhelmed when you are in
danger it might just save your life. It’s important to have a clear
mind with multiple targets. Shoot at one while you’re kicking
another. When he’s down, shoot the other, it might be the only way
you get out alive. But you’re not going to be able to do any of
that if you are half crazed with fear.”

“Wow,” I said, surprised by the conviction in
his voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you so serious
before.”

“I can leave", He threatened. "Right
now.”

“Okay.” I quickly conceded. “Let’s relax
me.”

He stood behind me, had me close my eyes,
shake out my arms and neck in an attempt at clearing my mind.

It didn’t exactly work.

“Forget about camp Trin. About everyone here.
Don’t think about chores or Gerik’s bad taste in hair styles.”

I snorted.

“Just erase your mind. Think of a chalkboard
and wipe everything away. Take deep breaths, remember, in through
your nose out through your mouth, just like I showed you.”

He walked around me. “The mind is a pretty
awesome thing fată, you can lose yourself inside it if you want.
Let the world disappear. You just have to remember to pull yourself
back out again.”

We were near the edge of the front lot,
surrounded by all things green. Xan had picked this particular spot
because of the oak trees, their large canopy’s, the tall grass and
wildflowers growing around them. “It was peaceful”, he’d said, “the
best place to relax.”

We were close enough to the creek, that I
could hear the faint rushing sound of water over the rocks, and
every so often the chirp or caw of bird. The buzzing of insects
would get loud and then quiet as they flew around me. I could hear
the faint drone of voices, it was impossible not to, but we were
far enough from the living lot that it wasn’t loud or
distracting.

“Good,” Xan said. “Good. Don’t forget the
breathing.”

Pssh. As if he’d ever let me.

“Fată, before you completely let go, choose a
word or phrase, something to ground you as you slip away. Something
that will remind you that you need to come back to me.”

I felt Xan’s warm breath against my ear as he
leaned in close. “And remember Trin, your safe here, the wards are
strong and I’m not leaving. Eşti în siguranţă.”

Eşti în siguranţă. I’m safe. Something that
felt like déjà vu flickered inside me.

A kaleidoscope of reds, blues, purples and
greens flashed before me. I watched them change shape and form as
they danced across my line of sight turning themselves inside and
out. I became transfixed, mesmerized, as I cascaded further into
the deep recesses of my mind.

My vision of colors and shapes tunneled than
widened as a burst of white light broke through the colors.

I felt soft and feathery grass beneath me.
The rush of water, pouring down the side of the mountain ledge into
the deep warm springs, filled my ears, soothing me.

I smiled. He was singing again. For me, only
for me. How had I lived this life without him by my side? My past
was unfathomable to me now. He was everything; he was my now, my
future, my forever.

Something was tickling my arm. A spider! I
hated spiders! I screamed, jumping up and shook the nasty creature
off me, screaming even after the insect was gone.

Warm arms wrapped around me from behind, the
contact electrifying and instantly soothing. I sighed against it,
reveled in the familiarity, the passion and the love I found
there.

“
I’ve got you Treime, you’re safe here.
I’m not leaving. You’re safe.”

I’m safe.

“Trinity?” Someone was tapping on my
forehead.

“Trinity?”

I blinked my eyes protesting the intrusion. A
shadow of a man stood in front of me. “Trin? Wake up.”

My heart jumped. “Xan?” I opened my eyes.

Xan was looking at me strangely. “You did
really well… Where did you go fată?”

“I’m not really sure.” But I felt as if I’d
just been torn kicking and screaming from a really great dream.

He studied me for a second longer. “Come on
you’ve got drills to do, then you get to use me as a human punching
bag.”

“Live drills?”

Xan grinned at the anticipation in my
voice.

“Not yet.” He tapped me on the nose like one
would a child and I stuck my tongue out at him.

“You keep doing that Trin and I’m going to be
forced to kiss you again.” He leered at me. I quickly put my tongue
away.

“Was it really that horrible fată? Kissing
me?” His tone suggested annoyance. Xan, I assumed, didn’t get
rejected very often.

Uh, I didn’t want to have this conversation.
I looked at my bare feet. The very tips of my toes were still
painted hot pink. Nail polish. Who would have thought it would ever
be so unattainable? I thought of Fifi and her bright red nails and
almost laughed at the idea of her being willing to share nail
polish with me.

“Trin?”

Okay, so he wasn’t going to drop it. I didn’t
know Xan well enough to know the best way to mollify his ego, or if
such a thing was even possible.

“Xan,” I said, still trying for avoidance.
“How about we get back to practice?”

“Trin,” He responded, more than equipped to
beat me at my own game. “How about you answer the question?”

Ugh.

“It was… um… interesting,” I finally
said.

He narrowed his eyes. “In what way?”

I blew out a breath. If he wanted the truth,
then I’d give him the truth. It was no more than he would do if the
situation was reversed. “In a not so good way,” I conceded.

It was almost if Xan had been expecting an
answer along those lines. He didn’t seem surprised, just quirked an
eyebrow and turned around, suddenly very interested in the guns
he’d brought to practice. I felt bad and I wasn't quite sure why,
it wasn’t as if Xan had trouble finding girls.

The more I thought about the kiss the more I
wondered about my reaction to it. I hardly found Xan unattractive,
quite the opposite. It hadn’t been me that was personally repelled
by him it had been something… else.

I was willing to bet that whatever was wrong
with me had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Gerik’s
power over me.

I left practice with a bevy of questions for
Gerik. Starting with his hair braiding legend, I was going to throw
in a splash of “why do I have my own special brand of male
repellent” and eventually end with a big old bowl of “what the hell
is really going on with us and don’t give me that ‘we’re special
crap’ any more”. I wanted answers, no more vague responses.

“Hey Trinity.” Stevo smiled as I walked past
him.

My body instantly recognized Gerik’s the
closer I got to his side of the living lot. The pull was stronger
than I’d ever felt it before. I was almost to his trailer when my
body clenched, and a sudden burning need to touch Gerik took me
over. I started jogging for his front door.

“Trinity!” Stevo re-appeared out of nowhere.
“Don’t go in-

I burst through the door.

“there,” He finished.

The door to Gerik’s small room was closed but
the sounds coming from the tiny room were unmistakable.
Mortification set in. The draw to Gerik had been incredibly strong
without him near me. I’d been able to sense his pleasure and I’d
wanted him because of it. I felt suddenly nauseated but glad for
the sickness. Who wanted to experience the pleasure of someone
else’s sex?