Blaze (7 page)

The decor was completely different than Kira
imagined. The floors were checkered with polished white tiles, the
table in the foyer was a lacquered black that gleamed in the
candlelight. In fact, the candles were the only thing that seemed
remotely old-fashioned about the space. Modern art graced the plain
white walls of the hallway and a giant iron chandelier hung from
the ceiling.

Looking around, Kira spotted an open doorway
leading to a large dining table surrounded by darkly stained wooden
chairs. White-washed antlers hung on the wall, making Kira wonder
if Aldrich caught those with weapons or with his teeth. The thought
made her shiver and she shifted her gaze to where Aldrich stood at
the base of a grand staircase. In the light, Kira really saw his
features: opal eyes, pale white skin, a lean build even taller than
Tristan’s and light-brown hair that Kira would say was bleached by
the sun if she didn’t know any better.

He wore a finely tailored black suit that
looked sleek, but it washed out his already light complexion. And
his red tie was starkly bright against the monotone black, white
and neutrals of the space.

“Welcome,” he said, gesturing around the
room. Kira remained silent.

Aldrich snapped his fingers and an Asian
girl wearing a black sheath dress walked into the room holding a
tray with three glasses—one glass filled with a clear liquid and
two wine glasses filled with something red. The servant’s skin
looked smooth as porcelain and Kira almost thought she was a
vampire but for the two small holes piercing her neck. At the
sight, Kira flinched, turning her head away from the thin girl.
Willing or forced? Kira asked herself.

Tristan felt the small jerk of her body and
gave her an apologetic stare. She noticed there was no surprise in
his expression—the scene was exactly like he had imagined it would
be.

The servant stretched her hand in Kira’s
direction, holding out a glass of what appeared to be ice water.
Glancing at Tristan in her peripheral vision, she saw the small nod
that let her know he couldn’t detect anything wrong with the
liquid. Kira accepted the cool glass gratefully and took a sip to
refresh her parched throat.

A wine goblet was offered to Tristan but he
declined, making Aldrich raise his eyebrow slowly. When the girl
stepped closer to Aldrich, he accepted his cup and tipped it in
Tristan’s direction, taunting him. After a long sip, he lowered the
cup and motioned up the stairs. Kira, however, didn’t follow the
line of his hand. Her vision was caught by the thick red liquid
stilling gripping the sides of the cup—not wine, definitely not
wine.

“Miko will show you to your room. I’ve had
clothes laid out for the both of you and I will be expecting you in
the dining room in half an hour,” Aldrich said very matter of
factly.

At the sound of her name, the girl placed
the tray down on a side table and started walking up the steps, not
really waiting for Kira and Tristan to follow. Tristan moved first
and Kira followed after him, but halted when Aldrich grabbed her
arm. “Your mother is very excited,” he whispered to her. Kira felt
her heart sink and lift at the same time—soaring with hope that her
mother was waiting somewhere in this house, and falling in fear
that Aldrich spouted nothing but taunts and lies.

Tristan reached down to grab her hand,
tugging her from Aldrich’s hold with a hard look at the older man.
His eyes turned an icy sky-blue, threatening Aldrich, who just
grinned and took a step back in surrender.

“I’ll see you soon, for… dinner.” Kira
couldn’t bare the secret hiding behind the slight smirk gathering
on Aldrich’s face—he was up to something and Kira knew she wouldn’t
like it. So, she turned and followed the servant, Miko, down the
sterile, museum-like hallways until the girl stopped outside of a
door.

Without saying a word, she twisted the
doorknob and stepped aside to let Kira and Tristan inside. When
Kira walked past the girl, she looked into her vacant stare and
glazed-over brown eyes. Was this girl drugged or just so
brainwashed that she couldn’t function anymore? Kira thought
silently, feeling uneasy.

The door closed, leaving her and Tristan
alone for what felt like the first time in ages, even though they
had only left the car a few minutes ago.

“Are you all right?” Tristan asked while
running his hands up and down her arms to get rid of the goose
bumps that had sprouted against her skin. Kira closed her eyes and
fell against his chest, taking comfort in his strength. Yes, she
was a super powerful vampire hunter who could throw flames from her
skin at a moment’s notice. But, there was nothing wrong with having
a big, strong man hold her and tell her everything would be
okay.

Kira stayed silent against Tristan’s chest
for one more prolonged breath, letting the world stop for just a
second, before pulling away to survey the room. Even though it was
a bedroom, it was no cozier than the rest of the house. Still black
and white, still very sparse, and still very modern. Bleh, Kira
thought with disgust, how would she fall asleep in here. It seemed
almost like a hospital room—completely devoid of character or any
personal touches.

“We need to get dressed,” Kira said with a
sigh and pointed towards the suit and dress draped across the
gigantic four-post bed behind Tristan. At least the pillows looked
comfortable, she mused and walked over to see what outfit Aldrich
had chosen for her.

Green—that was all she saw when she walked
over. Layers and layers of bright seaweed and lime materials puffed
up off of the mattress, leaking on top of Tristan’s suit and
cascading to the floor as well.

Kira sighed—black-tie, really? The last time
she dressed up this much was for a school dance, and even that
dress wasn’t very expensive. Reaching over, Kira ran her hands over
the smooth silk and scratchier chiffon. This dress definitely
wasn’t cheap.

“He’s a little extravagant,” Tristan said
after leaning over Kira’s shoulder to eye the outfits.

Kira rolled her eyes. “Obviously. A ball
gown for dinner?”

“What can I say, the Victorian era always
was his favorite time period to live in,” Tristan told her wearily,
as if he had experienced something like this before.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Kira spun
slowly, taking his expression in carefully. Sparks of pale blue
spotted his otherwise navy eyes, and Kira new he was remembering
something—something that made him angry. She may not have super
senses like him, but vampires were sort of easy to read.

“Nothing,” he shook his head, retreating
away from her to grab his suit. Kira clutched his hand, turning him
back around and flashing him her angry eyes. His shoulders fell and
he looked away from her toward the window. “It’s just… Aldrich used
to make… well, he would give fancy dresses to…” Tristan trailed
off, unable to finish the thought, but Kira could guess.

“To his food?” Tristan nodded and this time
Kira turned away from him with a gulp and reached for the dress.
Now or never, she thought while looking for the zipper. If it meant
getting a step closer to her mother, it was worth it.

Across the bed, Tristan was unbuttoning his
shirt with his back turned to her. Kira took a moment to watch the
shirt fall from his shoulder, revealing smooth muscles underneath.
He turned to pick up his dress shirt and caught her staring at his
bicep. Grinning, he flexed his muscle as a joke and Kira
immediately snapped out of it. He was right, this was so not the
time for any of that. She gave him a ‘who, me?’ look and turned
around to get dressed.

Kira spread the dress on the ground, trying
to create a hole through the top that she could step into. Finally
successful, she dropped one leg through, then the other, and raised
the dress to cover her exposed torso. One quick zip up the back and
she was ready to go… she couldn’t breathe, but she was ready to
go.

“Holy crap this is tight,” Kira said and
spun around to search for a mirror.

“It looks,” Tristan took a moment to
swallow, “it looks amazing.” Kira smiled to herself. It was nice to
know she could make a one hundred and fifty year old guy
speechless.

Spotting the mirror, Kira started to walk
across the room, and realized after about one step that there was a
slit in the floor length dress—one that reached almost completely
up her thigh. Behind her, she heard Tristan cough and compose
himself.

In the mirror, Kira finally understood.
Green was definitely a good color for her—of course, the skintight
silk corset sucking her stomach in and pushing her boobs up didn’t
hurt. Right below her waist, the corset loosened into a billowing
skirt, which billowed enough to completely expose her legs thanks
to the sky-high slit. The entire dress was made of a beautiful
emerald silk and the under layers of the skirt were composed of
different, brighter hues that were revealed when she walked. In
fact, if Kira didn’t feel slightly like a high-class prostitute,
she might have felt rather sexy. As it was…

“No way am I wearing this,” Kira turned away
from the mirror. “I’m meeting my mother!” Tristan was too busy
staring at the dress to bother paying attention to her words.
Looking down at the full-length of her left leg, Kira grabbed the
fabric and closed the slit firmly shut, snapping Tristan to
attention.

“Uh?” He looked up, and finally took notice
of her annoyed expression. “Hey,” he shrugged, “you knew coming to
Aldrich’s would be difficult.”

“Yeah, you’re clearly suffering,” Kira said
under her breath and walked over to her bag, which had conveniently
been resting in the corner when they originally walked into the
room. Digging around, she pulled out a pair of Nike spandex shorts
and quickly wriggled them on. She would wear the dress, but her
way.

Looking at the four-inch heels resting at
the base of the bed, Kira was tempted to pull out her sneakers in
complete defiance. But she decided to give in. With her legs
covered up a bit, she didn’t feel quite so bad in the dress and if
her mother really had been living here for ages, she would probably
understand that Aldrich had picked out the outfit.

“Okay, let’s go,” Kira said after clasping
the strappy shoes in place. She pulled the chain with her father’s
wedding ring out from underneath the corset. Normally she liked to
keep it hidden, for her private enjoyment, but for her mother Kira
would wear the ring proudly. Tucked below the ring was the small
sun Luke had given her. For a moment, Kira thought about removing
it just for the night. But the two went together perfectly, and as
much as Tristan would hate it, Kira liked having a little reminder
of Luke with her.

Aldrich was waiting for them at the bottom
of the steps. Kira slipped her fingers into Tristan’s as they
approached and never let go of his hand as they sunk slowly down to
meet Aldrich in the main hallway. When he saw her shorts, Aldrich
wrinkled his nose in disgust. Or maybe anger, Kira thought as his
eyes flashed white. He clearly wasn’t used to people going against
his orders, but Kira thought she was playing rather nicely at the
moment. Her feet already ached because of the shoes, but was she
complaining? No.

“You must be hungry,” Aldrich said to Kira,
or was that to Tristan? “Come.”

They followed him into the dining room Kira
had peeked into before. Walking in now, she saw the same large
black table surrounded by darkly stained wooden chairs. The
cushions were black silk and a cast-iron chandelier hung from the
ceiling. But instead of electricity, there were candles with
flickering flames. In this light, the antlers were more menacing:
they were bleached white to blend into the wall, so the candles
cast dark, finger-like shadows that seemed to appear out of
nowhere.

Kira noticed two doors against the far wall.
The entire frame was made of polished white molding that reflected
the light. Finally, Kira’s eyes landed on a china cabinet. But it
was filled with glasses—wine glasses, champagne flutes, goblets of
all sizes—there were no plates or bowls in sight.

Two chairs pulled free of the table,
distracting Kira as they scratched along the floor. “Sit,” Aldrich
said before walking to the head of the table, this time using his
hand to move his chair.

“I hope the candles don’t bother you,” he
said casually and leaned back in his seat, “I can’t stand bright
electric bulbs. Call me old-fashioned.” He waved his hand absently
through the air as if dismissing the thought.

“Where is my mother?” Kira asked. She was
here for her mother and that was it. No more pretending that
Aldrich was an old friend they hadn’t seen in a while. It was time
to get down to business.

“She’ll be down in a moment, Kira.
Patience,” he chided her as if she was still a little girl.

But patience wasn’t really her thing. The
longer she sat, the more frustrated she became. And the more
frustrated she became, the more Kira could feel her body heating
up. Her blood began to boil. Fire stirred in her chest, sparking to
life. Kira tried to breathe evenly and calm herself, but she was
done with waiting. All she had been doing ever since Diana had
mentioned her mother to escape Kira’s hold was wait. Wait to wake
up from a coma. Wait because of Sonnyville. Wait to find Diana.
Wait to visit Aldrich. She was done with that whole game.

“Why is it taking so long?” Kira said
smoothly. Her voice was calm, but that was about the only part of
her that was. Clenching her fists to keep her fire from jumping out
of her body, Kira tried to sit still and remind herself that
throwing a ball of flames at Aldrich’s smug face wouldn’t
accomplish anything. Sure, she might laugh for a moment, but then
he would be angry and Kira didn’t want to know how he would
retaliate.