Kiss of the Vampire (The Vanderlind Realm Book 2) (6 page)

Her long, chestnut hair was tousled and her eyes look a little wild. “I need your help.”

“What has happened?” I asked, thrilled to feel her body pressing against mine, yet concerned for her distress.

“I went to see a friend,” she said, twisting around to look at the front door as if she would bolt out of the castle at any moment. “I needed someone to talk to.” Haley turned back to look into my eyes, her face contorted with torment. “And she invited me into her home.”

“Hugo,” I snapped. “Please bring us refreshments immediately.”

The giant had already anticipated me. He extended a tray bearing two goblets and a large carafe. “I took the liberty, Mr. Wanderlind.”

I quickly filled a goblet and pressed it to Haley’s lips. “Drink,” I told her. With trembling hands she grasped the goblet and began taking deep gulps of the red sustenance. As she coiffed it down, I filled the other glass, handing it off to her as soon as she’d finished the first one, our movements synchronized like relay runners. We proceeded through the entire carafe that way, with her barely pausing to even glance in my direction.

Finally, after every drop was consumed, the torment dissipated from Haley’s lovely face. “Better now?” I asked.

“Much,” she told me. “Thank you. I felt like I was on the verge of doing something desperate.”

“So, you were saying, you went to see a mortal friend.” I gestured that she should follow me into the salon, where we could be more comfortable.

Haley hung her head. “I just wanted to talk to someone and…”

“Don’t worry,” I said, patting her on the shoulder. “It’s a mistake that many fledgling vampires make. But please tell me, is there any type of situation that needs to be tidied up before the dawn?”

She looked up at me, obviously confused. Then realization caused her brow to soften and her eyebrows to rise. “No,” she assured me. “I managed to leave in time. But it took every ounce of my strength to do it.”

“But you did do it,” I said. “You left. That shows a remarkable amount of self-restraint.”

“Dorian,” she said, taking the seat that I offered her. “I know that…” She bit her lip and then tried again. “I know that you dislike me as much as I dislike you but…”

“But what?” I asked, even though her words stung me to the core.

“But I don’t know how to be a vampire,” she blurted. “I almost killed the only friend I have in this town and there’s still a good chance I might go back and do it.”

“You won’t,” I assured her.

“I might,” was her reply. “If I leave this place right now…” Her voice was jagged with emotion. “I don’t think I could stop myself.” She began to sob.

“Haley,” I said softly, gathering her in my arms. “You won’t hurt your friend. I promise you that. I will make sure that it doesn’t happen.”

She had said that she knew I disliked her as much as she disliked me. Nothing could be further from the truth, as far as I was concerned. But I wasn’t the kind of man to make a fool of myself chasing after a vampiress who had openly stated her dislike of me. I would just have to accept her feelings and do my best to control my own.

“I’m not asking you to be my mentor for the next decade or anything,” she said through her tears. “I know that you think turning me was a mistake. But would you at least show me a few things? I don’t have any vampire skills at all. And then, once I’m not such a newbie, I promise that I’ll leave you alone.”

I suppressed the urge to yell,
Of course I’ll show you anything you want. I’ll show you the world, if you’ll only let me
. I also stopped myself from bellowing,
What in the hell do you think I’ve been offering you all along?
Instead I settled on, “Haley, I would be happy to show you whatever you wish to know.”

Haley righted herself, pulling away from me. I let my arms fall stiffly to my sides. “Thank you,” she said with a sniff, wiping at her nose. It wasn’t a very ladylike gesture, but on her it looked adorable.

“My pleasure,” I assured her. “Where would you like to begin?”

Haley twisted her lips to one side as she gave it some thought. “Flying?”

I couldn’t help but smile. I adored flying. The idea of soaring through the night with Haley by my side was absolutely enticing. But then I remembered that she wasn’t asking me to be her paramour. Far from it. She was simply asking for my aid.

“I think a few flying lessons can be arranged,” I said. “Would you like to start immediately? Or do you need more time to recover from visiting your mortal friend?”

“Let’s start now,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’ll try to waste as little of your time as is humanly possible.”

I immediately thought that no time with Haley would ever feel ill spent, but I couldn’t exactly say that. So I went with, “You’ll soon discover that vampires have a lot more time to waste than when we were all living in the mortal world.”

“Where are we going?” Haley asked as I started leading her in the opposite direction of the front door. “Shouldn’t we go outside?”

“No,” I told her, taking her hand and tucking it under my arm. “Given your very recent scare, I think it’s advisable for you stay inside for awhile. It’s best to let all those murderous impulses settle as much as possible.”

“Oh.” Haley frowned. “Then how are we going to practice flying?”

“I’ll show you,” I said, escorting her down the main hall. I couldn’t decide if it was a piece of good luck or a horrible misfortune that Miss Haley Scott had sought my family’s castle as a safe haven. But it really was unwise for her to be unattended if she was feeling a bloodlust. Especially if she still had an open invitation to her friend’s home.

I had to wonder if the friend that Haley almost devoured was that delightful creature, Erika, who I’d met on the evening that I’d become Haley’s maker. Erika had also been with Haley at the dance where I interceded, keeping my scion from committing the kind of atrocities that would make her meet the sun. Or at least locked in a coffin for the next century.

Erika was indeed beautiful, especially for a human. But in my mind’s eye, her looks paled in comparison to Haley’s. There was a barely controlled fire in Haley that I found absolutely magnetic. The way she kept herself from feeding off her uncle, and in fact had actually changed his life for the better, was impressive in itself. But that she’d been able to flee a friend’s home without giving into temptation was remarkable. It was a sad truth that vampires did have a tendency to seek their mortal friends when first turned. And those reunions usually ended with the stuff of nightmares. I had to wonder how Haley had acquired such amazing self-control at such a young age. When I turned her, she couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen.

“Where are we going?” Haley asked as I escorted her past a few doors in the hall.

“Just thought I’d show you some of the advantages and disadvantages of castle living,” I told her, accompanying my words with a sly smile. “Castle can be drafty,” I began. “And the heating bills can be outrageous.” I stopped in front of a set of ornately carved double doors. “Not that vampires mind the cold, but the staff does tend to complain if there are icicles hanging from the faucets.” I grabbed the handles to both of the doors. “But there are a few perks,” I said, pulling them open. “Like a ballroom.”

“Oh,” Haley exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “It’s so beautiful.”

It was rather pretty. Aunt Alice had one of the castle’s banquet halls converted into a ballroom in the nineteen-fifties. The parquet flooring had been laid by master craftsmen and the crystal chandeliers flown in from Czechoslovakia. There were four of them suspended from the ballroom’s vaulted ceiling and scaffolding had to be built to get them up there. A famous painter had spent nearly a month lying on his back on that same scaffolding covering the ceiling with blue skies, puffy clouds and scantily clad cherubs. Aunt Alice even had a little indoor band shell installed at the far end of the room to help with the castle’s acoustics.

Unfortunately that was right around the time that big bands and orchestras started dying out in America. Not that the undead weren’t always up for some type of ball, but it became increasingly challenging to supply the live music. Especially with a ballroom full of vampires as guests. It was a shame that the ballroom hadn’t seen much of its intended use, but it would suit nicely for a few flying lesson.

“Let’s get started,” I said, after leading her to the center of the room. “What has your experience been with flying too far?”

After giving it some thought, Haley said, “I seem to fly best when I’m not thinking about it. Like, if I’m angry or in a hurry or something. Then I can fly pretty well. But as soon as I notice, ‘Hey, I’m flying,’ then things start going wrong from there.”

“That’s your old brain in conflict with your new body,” I told her. “As a mortal, you’re thinking, I can’t fly. Although as a vampire, it’s perfectly natural.”

She nodded. “So, what do I do about it?”

I moved to stand in front of her and took both her hands in mine. “Close your eyes,” I instructed and for once she did as she was told. “Now try to relax every part of your body. Relax your arms, relax your legs, let go of any stress you might be hiding in the back of your mind.” I had closed my eyes after I’d instructed her to close hers, but I couldn’t resist taking a peek. She didn’t look completely relaxed, but she looked more at ease than when she had first flung herself into my arms in the great hall. “Are you relaxing?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, suppressing a giggle.

“Good. Now try to concentrate,” I told her, keeping my voice calm, but a little stern. I intended to be a strict teacher. “I want you to think, ‘I am a vampire’. Just say it over in your head. ‘I am a vampire. I am a creature of the night. Gravity no longer confines me to the earth. I am free from its grip and I can now soar among the stars’. Things like that.”

I tugged a little on her hands and we both began to levitate into the air. “Gravity is only a state of mind. Once you know you are its master then it can no longer control you,” I told her while we rose higher and higher.

As we approached the ceiling, I tugged her down a little so she wouldn’t bump her head. She was as easy to guide as a helium balloon. “Okay now,” I said. “I want you to keep concentrating. I want you to remember that you are a member of the undead. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she whispered, giving my hands just the hint of a squeeze.

“Okay then,” I told her. “Haley, open your eyes.”

Chapter 8

Haley

“Gah!” I let out an involuntary shriek and then lunged for Dorian, wrapping myself around him like I was trying to climb a coconut tree. I had known my feet were no longer on the ground, but I hadn’t realized how high we had risen.

“Haley, it’s fine. It’s fine,” Dorian assured me, but he still held me firmly so that I felt secure. “I didn’t mean for you to be startled. I thought you realized we were in the air.”

“Yeah, I kind of did,” I told him. “I mean, I knew we were up in the air, but I didn’t realize we were
up
in the air.”

Dorian chuckled. “It’s perfectly fine,” he assured me. “Just try to center yourself and remember what I told you. Gravity doesn’t affect you anymore. Not unless you want it to.”

He encircled my waist with his hands. “Put your arms around my shoulders like we’re slow dancing,” he said.

I felt wobbly, but I did as I was told, assuming he wouldn’t let me crash to the ground.

“What’s your favorite waltz?” he asked, once I was in position.

“Uh…” He had me there. I wasn’t even sure I knew any waltzes. “Isn’t there that one by Strauss?” I hedged. I thought the name was somehow waltz related.

“
The Blue Danube
?” he asked. “That’s usually most people’s favorite.”

“Sure.”
The Blue Danube
sounded fine by me. “Is that your favorite?”

“I probably prefer
The Waltz of the Flowers
, but I think
The Blue Danube
is easier to hum. Don’t you think?”

“Yes,” I readily agreed, although I had no idea how to hum either one.

“Okay then.” Dorian kept one hand on my waist and moved the other to tug my hand away from grasping his broad shoulders. He held our arms out away from our bodies so that we were in classic waltz position.

I kept saying over and over to myself,
I am a vampire. I do not bend to the will of gravity. And Dorian won’t let me fall.
Much to my surprise I found that it became easier to support myself. It felt almost like I was standing on the air.