The Vampire Hunter's Daughter The Complete Collection (19 page)

We pulled into a brick driveway that circled
a large fountain with stone fairies that danced around falling
water. Lights in the bottom of the fountain created a magical glow
for the dancing fairies.

“Why is your house so big?” I asked him. I
leaned over the seat to grab my duffel bag.

He got out of the car and slammed the door.
“A little extravagance never hurts,” he replied.

“
Okay.
” I rolled my eyes and didn’t
bother to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

“Follow me.” He motioned for me to come with
him.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed
him up the brick pathway to the French doors that served as the
front entrance.

“Welcome home,” he told me and flung the
doors open.

I spun around in a slow circle. Never in my
life had I actually been inside a home as nice as his. The floors
looked like they were white marble with black swirls. A gigantic
chandelier hung directly above us, each delicate crystal glimmered
and reflected the lights. Because of my new wonky vision, I could
tell that every one of those crystals were real. Expensive Persian
rugs were thrown over specific spots on the floors. To my left, I
could see a large living room area, the couches and chairs were all
smooth black leather that looked so comfy and soft.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

I looked at him like he was an idiot.
“Seriously, do you even have anything here I can eat?” In my head I
was thinking that he was going to offer me a big glass of blood or
something.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a semi
grin.

“Vampires do not require the sustenance
humans require. We can, however, consume human food if we choose
to. I also have human donors who live here. They must eat well in
order to feed me well.”

I wanted to barf.
Human donors?
“That
is disgusting.”

“You would rather I bring home an
unsuspecting young girl and take her against her will?" He waved
his hand in the air a bit. “I have tried that and found it
distressing when I have to kill them because they can’t keep
silent. The donors are here of their own free will, and I pay them
more than enough. None of them will have anything to worry about
for the rest of their lives. Come now.” He beckoned me again to
follow him.

I was still disgusted.

“Alice!” he called out. Within seconds, a
human girl with blond hair, who couldn’t have been much older than
me, emerged from one of the rooms beyond where we stood.

“What can I do for you tonight, Mr. Trevor?”
At least she wasn’t wearing a degrading maid’s uniform. She had on
a tee-shirt and jeans.

“Alice, my daughter and I would like to have
a late supper.”

“Yes, sir.” Alice rushed off in the direction
of what I assumed to be the kitchen.

I was still so taken with the house and
continued to look around. There were many pieces of art on the
walls and shelves housed authentic-looking statues and vases. The
only reason I knew they looked old was because we did a section on
art history in school. The majority of the art on the walls were
paintings of sunsets, sunrises and ocean scenes. The pinks, purples
and oranges of the sunset and sunrise pictures contrasted the black
and white decor, giving it warmth and color.

Trevor watched while I examined the house.
“Chloe, I hope that you will make yourself at home. This is all as
much yours as it is mine.”

I nodded trying to keep my expression
blank.

“Why don’t we take your bags up to your
rooms?” He headed up the stairs. The stairs and the second floor
were carpeted in white.

Really, more white?
For some reason,
my one thought when I saw the white carpet everywhere was that it
would be terribly hard to keep blood stains off of it.

The walls upstairs were burgundy. Instead of
paintings, the walls were accented with artistic photographs.

“Did you take these pictures?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. Most of these are
daylight shots, so I couldn’t have taken them.” He stopped to
examine the pictures, gazing longingly at one in particular of a
farmhouse surrounded by lush green fields and large oak trees.
“Although, they do remind me of what I am not able to
experience.”

He turned away, and we continued on until he
paused at a set of double doors at the end of the hallway.

“This is your suite.” He opened the doors
with both hands.

I passed through the doors and then stood in
awe. The room we entered was a living area with couches and a
television in the center. A desk was pushed up against one wall and
there were about six book shelves along another wall, bulging with
books. Across from the couches, tucked into the corner of the
sitting area, was a small dining table with two cushioned
chairs.

The only thing I didn’t like about the room
was that there were no windows to let the sunlight in.

“This is your sitting room, and if you come
this way,” he moved through an adjoining door, “this is your bed
room.”

I followed him into the bedroom. As soon as I
saw the queen bed with a pewter frame and sheer curtains, I wanted
to crawl in and go to sleep. The bedroom also had a flat screen
television mounted on the wall.

“This is amazing,” I told him. I continued to
explore. I found a gigantic walk-in closet and an adjoining
bathroom.

“It is yours,” he told me.

His words echoed loudly in my head:
‘
You’re very important to me. You are my blood.’

I just nodded. I didn’t want to be grateful
to him. No matter what, I had to remember my mission. He had killed
my mother. He was trying to buy me off, or it seemed like he
was.

Alice appeared in the doorway of the other
room and cleared her throat. “Your supper is ready, Mr. Trevor.”
She nodded my direction. “Miss Chloe.”

I hadn’t realized she knew who I was. Trevor
hadn’t bothered to introduce me.

“We will be down momentarily.” Trevor
dismissed her with a slight wave of his hand. He didn’t thank her,
but what else should I have expected? She hurried out of the room.
“Shall we eat?.”

I wasn’t really hungry, but I figured it was
best to eat to keep my energy up. I threw my bag onto the bed and
followed him down to the dining room.

Later, we sat across from each other at the
long dining table while Alice served us thick steaks, potato salad
and corn on the cob. I picked at my food and stared down at my
plate.

What exactly should I talk about with a
father I have never known and whose guts I hate?
Maybe he was
thinking something similar, because he didn’t say anything either,
except to ask if I wanted some of the red wine he had uncorked and
was pouring into the crystal wine glass beside his plate.

I passed. I didn’t want to do anything that
would cloud my thinking while I was around him.

I didn’t trust him.

I studied him while I messed around with my
food. He was dark. Everything about him, except his skin, was dark.
His hair, his eyes, his demeanor, all of it was just… black.

“So, how old are you now anyway?”

He tilted his head thoughtfully. “My mortal
life was taken when I was twenty eight, the age which I will
forever appear. As an immortal, I have lived nearly one thousand
years.”

I almost spit out my water. “Wow!”

“Yes, it is a very long time to have
lived.”

Against my vow to loathe him, my interest was
piqued. I wanted to know more. “How did you become a vampire?”

He took another sip of his wine. “That is a
story barely worth mentioning. It happened so long ago.”

“I think it’s worth mentioning. You should
tell me.”

He shook his head. “Perhaps another
time.”

I shrugged and stabbed a piece of steak.
“Whatever. If you would rather sit here and stare at each other,
that’s fine with me.”

“Chloe, you're being insolent.”

I shrugged again and chewed my steak then
took a big swig of water to wash it down.

He leaned back in his chair, turning to the
side so he could cross his legs. “I suppose, if it pleases you, I
could tell you how I came to be who I am. Seeing as I am your
father, it would not be a terrible thing for you know.”

After another rather delicate sip of wine, he
spoke. “I was born in the Balkans. My parents bore no other
children. For most of my life, I stayed home with my parents and
worked the land.

“When I was twenty-two years, they both died
from the sickness that had spread rapidly throughout our small
community. Nothing could help them.”

As much as I wanted to hate Trevor, the look
of sadness on his face when he spoke of his parents made my heart
wrench a little bit, I knew what it was like to lose the ones you
love.

“After their passing, I had no desire to keep
our land. An inner anger I had not known before had surfaced. I
wanted vengeance for something that could not have been helped. I
wanted to kill people who had no part whatsoever in the spreading
disease that took my parents. With this anger, I became a soldier
and killed for the good our people.”

I leaned forward and ate a few bites. This
was actually a good story. Much better than I expected.

“Eventually, the nobles of Italy hired
foreign armies to fight for them. Their country had much wealth;
however, their armies were miniscule. They were known mercenary
soldiers, led by Condottieri. We were basically contract killers.
Some called them soldiers of fortune.

“Italy found war and blood. I reveled in it
and fought my way into one of the highest-paid armies. Years passed
and my soul hardened. Death and becoming a vampire are not what
made me the way I am. It was life that made me a killer.”

He paused for another sip of wine, then
continued. “One night, in the calm between battles, I stood on the
cliffs and looked down at the black sea. Below, I saw a woman who
sat on a lower cliff, letting the spray of the waves rain down upon
her white gown. I called out to her, telling her to remove herself
or she would be drowned when the tide came in. Still, she sat on
the cliff, staring out at the waters.”

“She was a vampire!” I guessed.

“If you want to hear my story, be
silent.”

I shut my mouth, because I did want to hear
it.

“Frustrated with the idiot woman, I climbed
down the cliffs to retrieve her. I was a hardened soul, but I
wasn’t going to stand by and watch a woman be taken by the sea for
her stupidity.

“When I arrived on the cliffs below, I
bellowed at her that very thing ordered her to climb back up the
cliffs with me.

"When she turned and looked into my eyes, I
saw the most beautiful woman, perhaps aside from your mother, that
I’d ever seen. Her face was pale as ivory and hair dark as the
rolling sea beneath her.

“She stood and said softly to me, ‘Have no
fear for my life, sir.’ I felt entranced by her beauty, though my
harsh words continued to flow freely from my lips. She took a few
steps toward me, and I reached out to grab her by the arm and drag
her back to the top of the cliffs with me.”

He shook his head, remembering his
frustration with the woman. “As I clamped my hand around her arm,
she had me in her arms quicker than lightning, as I have no memory
of how I got there. Her lips caressed my earlobe and whispered
again ‘Have no fear.’

"I felt the pierce of her fangs when she bit
me; they drove deep into my neck. Her lips formed around the wound.
The last thing I remember after screaming in fear until I was
breathless was that it was the most amazing feeling I had ever
encountered.

“Ever since then, we traveled, and then I
left her and traveled on my own. I built my power within the
supernatural realm as well as the living, and killed to live
instead of living to kill.”

I fell back in my chair and pushed some hair
out of my eyes. I didn’t want to feel sorry for him. I regretted
asking him to tell me his story. I didn’t even know what to say to
him.

I set my fork down. “I’m tired. Can I go to
bed, now?”

“Of course.” He nodded and rose from the
table. “Go on up to your room. If you require night clothes, you
will find a few things in the armoire.”

There was no way in hell I would wear
anything he had gotten for me in anticipation of my being here.

“Thank you.” I slid my chair out and rose to
leave.

“I feel I should warn you, there are guards
all over the grounds. They will stop you if you attempt to
leave.”

Seriously?
“So, I’m a prisoner,
then?”

His eyes were cold. “Only if you make
yourself one.”

“I understand,” I told him and marched out
the door.

What a freakin’ jerk.

I should have known he wouldn’t let me have
freedom. Well, to be fair, it seemed like I would have a little
freedom, as long as I was on the grounds.

Once upstairs, I put on my Harley shirt and
sweatpants out of my bag and slid into them. I hadn’t worn the
Harley shirt since the night my mother had been murdered. I wore it
this night on purpose, because I needed it to bring back memories
of her death. I had to stay focused on my goals. That's the only
way this time with Trevor would be bearable.

I pulled back the covers on the bed and slid
beneath the cool sheets. Curling up into a ball, I pulled out my
cell phone and turned it on. Immediately it buzzed that I had
messages and texts. I checked them. There were four texts from
Drew, two of them were of him yelling at me and demanding to know
what the hell I was doing. Then the last one was him, finally,
begging I come back or call him, anything.

There were also several voice messages and
texts from Gavin. His were all simply wondering why I had left,
asking if I was in trouble, and asking me to call him as soon as I
could.