Unknown (44 page)

“How much did you hear?” Aleksi asked turning from the mirror, those electric eyes serious and sad. I swallowed and rolled a pearl between my thumb and forefinger.

“Enough.” My voice shocked
even me, I blinked at the softness of it.

“I should go,” Evan turned to leave, his eyes almost as sad as I knew my own were.

“Come in and close the door.” Usually when Aleksi have an order his voice was so commanding it made me shiver, but it wasn’t this time.
No, the order he gave me seemed like a question. Still I obeyed, walking into the small room and shutting the door behind me. My fingers never stopped fiddling with the pearls between my fingers. “I wanted to do this differently, I wanted to have one last night with you. To have you drift asleep in my arms one last time, share one last kiss at least.” He smiled ruefully and turned back to the mirror to remove the last bits of makeup from around his eyes. “But we haven’t seen each other in two days, so this…” He sighed and turned to look at me.

“Did I-I… did I
do s-s-something w-wrong?” My fingers stilled and I tried to slow my breathing. I was going to sob and once I sobbed the tears wouldn’t stop.

“
No.” He pursed his lips and sighed. “You’ve been… perfect. You are perfect.” He wet his lips and swallowed before standing and tugging a V-neck t-shirt over his head. Asking why would be pointless, I heard it all in the hallway. The worst part of it all was that I couldn’t argue that he was wrong, he was completely right. It was dangerous to be the servant of a vampire in general but to be his servant, in particular, was probably a death sentence in the long run. I was an impediment to the goal of breeding Aleksi—a goal that a lot of vampires apparently had.

“S-so…”

“The romantic portion of our relationship has to end. It’s safer for you this way, I realized when I saw Leslie laying in the hospital bed, how easily that
could be you. How likely it is that if we continue romantically that it will be you. You’ll still be my servant, but I’ll find a way to make things… less intimate.” He swallowed. I opened my mouth to speak and choked on my words. My hand shot up and covered my mouth as I felt the tears well at the corner of my eyes. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. “You’re not going to die because of me.” He stated firmly. “I refuse to let you die because of me.”

I nodded, frantically nodded, my face and eyes burned.
The tears didn’t come subtly. They streamed down my face, running my tasteful eyeliner and mascara. He stood and wrapped his arms around me as I sobbed, my body quaking. I struggled to get away from him, but he held me tighter.

“Your…your performance was…very good. Y-you and C-c-c…”—I swallowed—“Colette dance wonderfully together.”

He didn’t respond to me, he stroked my hair and rocked me slowly. Were we being forced apart again? I leaned my head against his chest and listened to the heartbeat that mimicked my own. I swallowed again and struggled again to get away from him still he refused to release me.

“I…I should go.”

“I’ll walk home with you… and get my things from your place.” He kissed the top of my head before releasing me. I immediately covered my face for a few seconds before wiping under my eyes trying to salvage whatever I could of my eyeliner.

Ten minutes later found us walking across the street to my apartment and riding the elevator in silence. I followed him to my door and he unlocked it and looked down at the key before he held it out to me. I didn’t take it, I just stared at it for a few moments and thought of what it symbolized. There wouldn’t be anymore surprise mornings with Aleksi randomly in my bed. When he realized I wasn’t going to take it, he continued into the apartment and set it on the end table near the door. The entire visit seemed to me a slow dismantling of our dysfunctional relationship. He put the things he kept in the top drawer of my dresser into a grocery bag, took his toiletries out of the bathroom and left without a word. No goodbye, no I still love you, just the sound of the closing door echoing through the apartment as I stood in the hall. My eyes fell on the books on my bookshelf, The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, The Story of O and even Fifty Shades of Gray. My silent tears continued to fall as I let it sink in that my life had become another one of those stories of submission with a sad ending.
But it’s not over.
I swallowed as Miss Manners reminded me the truth, my involvement with Aleksi was far from over. I might not be his girlfriend anymore, but I was still his servant.

Dr. Marla Young was a tall, slender,
brown skinned woman with an amazing smile. But she had a way of watching me when my eyes danced around her office that made me feel uncomfortable. I had been to see her a handful of times since Aleksi and I split up, and every time she advised that I should ask him to sit in on a session. She thought some of my issues needed to be addressed with him. I acquiesced because that is what I do. So there we were, the three of us sitting in her shade darkened office shifting uncomfortably while I watched the snow fall through the small slit still visible between the heavy curtain and the wall.

“Aleksi, I’m sure you’re wondering why I’d ask you here at all,” She started as she flashed him a charming smile and I was left blissfully alone.

“
No, I know why I’m here. You think that Autumn needs me because I’m her Master still. In spite of what she may have lead you to believe, I have not cut her out of my life entirely. She is still coming to visit me when our touring begins. I even want her there as moral support when I deal with my own…issues in February,” Aleksi exposited as he tried his hardest to keep his gaze on anything but me.

“I can feel the bond between you two, and
it's very strong. Usually, the bonds aren’t this strong until the third or fourth mark. Has Autumn told you about her strongest premonition?”

“
No, we don’t talk about what she sees. Our relationship is strictly tied to her duty to me as a servant, she feeds me at functions and relays my messages. I’ve actually started seeing someone else already.”

“Autumn, tell him.”

“Ar-are you sure? I…I don’t…do
n’t think anything can be gained b-b-by… by telling him.” My voice stayed small and I didn’t turn my full attention to them as I spoke. I knew about Aleksi’s new girlfriend, he was fast to put someone on his arm after we broke up. Colette wasn’t pleased about it, she had let me know on several occasions that he and I were meant to be together.

“Tell me.” He clipped out to me, my head whipped around to stare at him.

“I keep seeing you, C-C-Colette and Elizabeta standing by my fresh grave
while a four-year-old b-boy… with your eyes and hair… and m-my lips, plays on top of th-the barely grass covered mound.” I smoothed my skirt and crossed my legs before turning my gaze back to the window. “It w-was one of the first p-premonitions I saw, and I’ve seen it a-about once a week to once a m-month since.” I could feel him shifting beside me, since being separated for almost weeks at a time I found myself hyper aware of him, almost like I was before when the mark was fresh.

“Autumn finally understands that the shooting wasn’t her
fault and that her visions can’t always be stopped. I believe you need to accept that as well, the universe wills what it wills, Aleksi. Abstaining from her will only weaken both of you in the end. I’m not saying you have to be a couple again. I’m saying you need to be a part of her life, try to be a friend if nothing else.”

“I’ll take it under advisement,” He growled out. I could actually feel his annoyance. “Have you started on her telekinesis yet?”
What?

Paris is beautiful in February.
Everything takes on a romantic, fanciful quality that makes it live up to its hype. Or at least it does when you’re there to attend the wedding of your best friend. Leslie and Tristan, looked like what everyone expected a Ballet Dancer couple to look like. She had moderately long chocolate brown hair and dark green eyes, and the grace of a feather floating on the breeze. He was slender, with a mop of loose blonde curls and sparkling blue eyes. Standing next to one another they looked like wedding cake toppers, perhaps it even goes without saying that the wedding was picturesque. I was happy for my friend. She got what she wanted. She came, she saw and she conquered. We were both thrust into the world of Vampires at almost the same time. She, however, was able to use her cunning, wit and assertive nature to get everything she wanted. She had an amazing fiancé, immortality without death, and was the only human Principal Dancer to tour with the only Vampire Ballet Company.

So, of course the entire ceremony was tasteful and elegant. Everyone who was anyone showed up in not only Vampire Society but in the Dance world as well. Standing in front of a crowd of gathered Vampires looking out at them from my perch as Bridesmaid made me realize that my passive nature had cost me everything. I couldn’t even pay attention to the vows as I was struck by how I allowed my life to be hijacked from me. I wasn’t even my best friend’s maid of honor. That position went to Colette, who looked stunning in the garnet satin, empire waist evening gown that all four of us bridesmaids wore. I was the only one not a ballet dancer. I was the only one who the dress made look a little pregnant. As the thought crossed my mind I glanced down the grand staircase they had us perched on and stared down at Elizabeta and the six month old child in her arms. Margot still looked nothing like Kendra. The few times I saw the child she acted as sign of everything that was and would never be again.

The string orchestra started again, and the happy couple filed down the stairs to be followed by each bridesmaid paired with a groomsman. Evan was Tristan’s best man, and I found myself paired with a vampire whom I didn’t know, who seemed terrified every time I looked at him for more than a few seconds. Pictures were handled that morning so once we left the atrium we were allowed to disburse and head to our arranged tables in the ballroom for the reception.

At the reception I felt like a short, wide, little spec of insignificance in a room full of tall graceful males and lithe, waif-like females. I was also overlooked. Leslie was glued to Tristan and I didn’t have a date so I spent most of the evening alone watching everyone else on the dancefloor. Compounding things was the simple fact that it was also Valentine’s Day, and I was still single. Aleksi however was not.

Since our break up he had been seeing the same woman, a pale, slender blonde who seemed almost colorless. Her hair was white blonde and her eyes were the palest shade of gray. I knew she was a dancer, or rather had been—since hooking up with Aleksi she never seemed to not be at his side. I had taken up the habit of staring at them when they were together. He really seemed to genuinely care for her, and it broke my heart a little
. You’ve stared longer than is polite, look elsewhere!
I obeyed Miss Manners and let my gaze drift away from their domestic bliss to the crowd gathered. We were working on a friendship though, and he was helping me with the powers he helped awaken. We would Skype while I tried to force a vision without an aide or when I tried to use my telekinesis and the disaster that seemed to follow it. That was the extent of our friendship though, random skype calls and broken glasses. My eyes fell on Evan who was actually making his way over to me with a smile on his face. He had avoided me since I overheard Aleksi threaten him. I was starting to think that Aleksi had threatened all of the Vampires away from me. Everyone who once seemed so interested now avoided me like I was Typhoid Mary.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Evan exclaimed, with a cheerful grin before sitting in the chair next to me.

“Happy Valentine’s! You, sir, are the first person to wish me it all day.” I smiled at him, looking at Evan just made me smile. There was something about vampirism that brought out the bright copper of his hair and the dusting of freckles on his nose. He was in his thirties when he was turned, but the freckles made him seem so much younger.

“Not even Aleksi?”

“No, but he’s been busy with…” I trailed off and let my eyes dance across the room. “Charlotte,” I finished when I eyes reached where Aleksi was still sitting with the little blonde slip of a girl in his lap. Those bright, burning electric blue eyes were not focused on her however—they were fixed on me. I closed my eyes and turned my head back towards Evan. “It makes perfect sense that he would… spend time with her. I’m just his servant, and barely a friend.”
Change the subject.
“It was a lovely ceremony wasn’t it?”

“It was very romantic, but I hardly expected anything else from those two.”