Lover Tamed

 

 

Chapter 4

Eve’s brain came back online in a slow process. She would weave up into semi-consciousness then a soothing slightly recognizable voice would ease her back into a deep slumber. It happened a few times that she could remember. But this time she had built up enough strength to get her eyelids to flutter open. Trying to blink her eyes was like trying to lift a two hundred pound weight glued to her eyelids.

The string of words came at her in an almost incomprehensible blur. She picked out the words “among the living” but that was all she could wrap her mind around. Everything was moving in slow motion. It was like every cell in her brain was covered in a thick, viscous sludge. 

Eve opened her mouth to ask the voice to repeat whatever it had rattled on about, but when she went to try out her voice her parched throat wasn’t having any of that. She coughed hard, air wheezing painfully in and out of her lungs; it felt like someone had poured gasoline on them and set them ablaze. When she was finally done with her coughing fit, she felt worse than before.

“Here,” the voice whispered, the sound distorted like someone was holding her head under water. What was wrong with her? She tried remembering what had happened, but those memories were shrouded in a fog of amnesia, scattered in dark shadows. She could not recall what the last thing she had done was. She couldn’t even recollect where she was. By the way she felt, she wondered if something happened that landed her in the hospital.  

Something was pushed against her dry, cracked lips. She groaned from the sting but that was washed away when something cool and wet trickled on them. Not knowing what was being forced upon her, Eve tried to turn her head away, gurgles of protest scraping through her sore throat. The liquid she refused to drink cascaded down the sides of her face and neck, absorbing into her hair and the sheets beneath her.

“Shhh,” the voice came. “It’s just water. Drink some and you’ll feel better. I promise.” The congestion in her ears was easing up, the sound coming clearer. It sounded vaguely familiar, still there was difficulty placing it.

The same object was thrust against her mouth again. She parted her lips slightly and cool relief poured down her aching throat, soothing the dry irritation. Eve began to drink greedily, a driving thirst clawing from within. Way before she was ready, the water was pulled from her.

“More,” Eve moaned. The water had done her body good, washing away some of the grime coating her brain. Her thought process was running a little better, the fog diminishing.

“Easy. You don’t want to make yourself sick,” the voice admonished.

She cracked her eyes open with every intention of protesting. It took a moment for the bleariness to fade. White eyes churning with concern peered down, set in a hard face of ethereal beauty. A shred of that hardness softened when he seen her looking at him. She knew this man. Where had she seen him before?

Lassiter…

The name popped in her head out of nowhere.

“Lass…it…er,” Eve slurred, haltering on all the syllables.

“At least someone around here remembers my name,” he said amusedly.

“What,” she paused to swallow around a lump, “happened?”

He grinned, that look of mild amusement becoming more apparent on his face like he had unlocked all the answers to the world but got entertainment out of watching everyone walk around in ignorance. “Do you remember anything that happened to you?”

“Ooph, no. But I feel like I’ve died…and gone to hell.” Eve tried to think about what had gone down to make her feel like this. She remembered waking up that day. She went over to her mother’s home and got sucked into going out with Megan and Gina. Bleh. Something she did not want to do. It was Friday, her night off from work. The music was too loud, the lights were too bright and flashy, and the people were just…

A fragment of her cloudy memory slipped back into place. The crowd of bizarrely erotic people lined up to get into ZeroSum. She had already been there. Everything came back to her in a rush; going inside with three huge guys, leaving after an argument, Blay catching up with her and then walking her home. Only she never got home. They had been ambushed by those rank paled out men who had tried to kill them. She was stabbed.

Eve panicked as she recalled that nasty bit of memory. Her hands clumsily groped for her belly, looking for the slices. Warm hands encased panicked ones, stopping her from raking at the sheets to touch the damage.

“Calm down. You are all right,” Lassiter soothed, squeezing her hand gently to stop the jerky movements.

“Where am I?” she asked in an unsteady voice.

“Somewhere safe. Do you recall that happy little family reunion with your father?”

The recollection was front and center on her brain in an instant. Everything from waking up on that beach to the rushed goodbye with the man who had said he was her father. Eve blinked her eyes close and nodded once.

“You are angel now,” he said quietly.

Lavender flashed up to meet white. “‘Scuse me?”

“You are a half-breed, but the blood of an angel flows through you now.  Now rest,” he commanded.

Eve was about to protest, but exhaustion settled like a heavy blanket. The questions swirling in her thoughts got jammed on the rusty cognitive wheel as she slipped into sleep once more.

When she awoke again, the first thing she became aware of was that the calming warmth was gone. Eve couldn’t feel the presence of anyone else in the room with her. It was dark and quiet. Fumbling around, she pulled the sheets off of her body and noticed that she didn’t have a stitch of clothing on. She brushed her hand down a flat stomach feeling nothing but smooth flesh the whole way down.

Alive.

She was alive.

Eve pushed herself up from the mattress, the springs protesting softly with the shift of weight. It seemed like forever before she was able to swing her legs off the side and attempt to stand. Her head spun in a dizzying flight and she nearly fell back to the mattress. It was even harder to navigate the room because it was pitch black. Nothing could be made out in the inky depths.

Eve felt around the bed trying to find a side table, something that would have some sort of light source on it. In her blundered shuffling she stubbed her toe. Her balance shifted and she went tumbling down to the cold floor. With a groan, she managed to reach over and touch the wall and use it to stand back up. The sense of touch was the only thing to help her as she groped blindly along hoping to find something. It was so dark she couldn’t even tell what direction the bed was anymore.

Along the wall, Eve’s fingertips brushed against something cool and hard. She grabbed on to it and found a doorknob. She opened it. The lights were on but dimmed, giving some illumination to a bathroom. Stepping inside Eve closed the door and leaned against it, taking a moment to steady the quakes rattling up her legs. A few shaky breaths later, and she was able to toddle over to the vanity.

Eve looked at her reflection in the mirror. Dirt and smudges of blood were speckled all over her body, her blood having dried in brown patches were her cuts had been. There was also the black blood of those men mixed in with hers. Whatever they had been, they hadn’t been human.

Swallowing hard she turned away from the reflection, the evidence of violence and death just too much for her to look at any longer. There was a large shower to the right. With desperation to get clean, she pushed herself to shuffle over and turn the water on.

Once the water was just shy of scalding, Eve stepped under the spray. Puffs of steam billowed around her in thick little clouds. She took the soap off the tray and started washing her skin with a wash cloth. The water flowed rusty red, brown, and dark grey. The more she thought about what happened, the harder she scrubbed her skin.

It was like she couldn’t get the scent off. The cloying sweetness of the black blood overwhelmed her, sending waves of nausea churning in her gut. She scraped and scraped at her skin until it was stinging and crimson, but nothing seemed to work.

Something in Eve snapped, her emotions blending together to form a tempest of rage and sorrow.  She threw the wash cloth against the cream tiled wall and buried her face in her hands. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling as she slid down to the floor, no longer able to hold herself up. Everything came back to her in a rush, the past and present running together in a blur of dark ruin.

               

Eve watched as her mother, Dina, swirled rouge over her cheeks creating an artificial healthy glow of life. But it wasn’t to look younger or prettier; it was to hide the bruise blooming underneath.

“Why do you let him do this to you?” Eve asked her primping and pampering mother.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Dina said, feigning ignorance to avoid the question. She set down the makeup brush and turned her head from side to side, checking for flaws in her work. Seeing none, she went about putting her powders, creams, and blushes away.

“Mom, he hit you! Why would you stay with someone like him? He should be locked up,” Eve argued angrily.

Dina stepped in front of her daughter. With a fragile hand, she reached out and brushed a lock of Eve’s hair back. “I’ll be alright, sweetheart. You just worry about you, okay. Michael is a good guy.”

Eve scoffed and stamped her foot into the peeling yellow linoleum on the bathroom’s floor. “Oh, yeah, getting punched in the face is the most endearing way to show your love for someone. Mom, you need to leave him. He isn’t going to stop and I don’t want to lose my mother to some abusive creep that’s a deadbeat.”

“I’m home! Where is my lovely lady?” Called a voice followed by the closing of a door.

“Michael!” Dina chirped, walking around her daughter to greet her boyfriend. “How did the job search go?” Eve folded her arms and rolled her eyes as she followed the older woman out of the cramped room.

“Good. I found a few promising places but I don’t really want to say anything until I’m sure I got the job. You know how much I want to make you happy and proud of me.” Eve watched as Michael wrapped his arms around her mother and kissed her forehead. He looked through Dina’s hair and glared at Eve before slipping free of the embrace.

“Oh, Damn! You know how much I would love to stay and talk about your day, but I have got to get going to work before I’m late. You know how bad traffic can be at this time of day.”

“You should just call off and spend the day in with me.”

“I can’t. You know that. I have to have this job because there are bills that need to be paid.”

“Calling off one day isn’t going to hurt anything.”

“I need the money,” she said as Michael pulled her to him and started nuzzling her neck. “Please, Michael. I need to go.”

“And I need you. Come on baby, don’t you love me?”

“Of course I love you, but I have to work. I just can’t call off whenever I feel like it. Don’t worry. I only work to eleven tonight. I should be back before you go to sleep and then we can have some ‘us’ time,” Dina told him, leaning up to kiss him on the lips.

“Yeah, whatever,” Michael muttered, glowering like a spoiled child not getting his way.

“I’ll see you later, Eve.” Dina went to the front door, retrieved her coat, and slipped it on. “Oh, your brother is sleeping over at a friend’s house tonight, and dinner is in the fridge. I made a tuna casserole. All you have to do is put it in the oven. You can do that for me, can’t you, Eve?”

“Yeah, mom.”

“Okay. I’ll see you two later. I love you both. Bye,” her mother said then slid out the front door.

Eve followed the path that her mother made to the door. She grabbed her messenger bag that way lying on the floor and strapped it on.

“Where the hell are you goin’, Evey?” Michael barked.

“Out,” Eve crisply replied.

“No, you’re not. You have to make my dinner.”

“Yes, I am. You are not my father. You have no guardianship over me whatsoever. I don’t have to listen to you. And you’re not handicapped. You have two hands. Make your own damn dinner,” she retorted indignantly.

“You little bitch! You think you can do whatever the fuck you want without any consequences. Your mother lets you get away with too much shit. I outta –”

 But before he could finish his spiel Eve opened the door and closed it on the string of hot words. She just couldn’t be home alone with him. Not because she was afraid that he would try to hit her like he did her mother. But because she was afraid that she might snap and kill him for the abuse he was putting her mother through.

No matter what Michael does to her, she always makes excuses for him. Eve was sick of it. One of these days something horrible was going to happen if her mother stayed with him. She could feel it. She just hoped that her mother would come to her senses and realize that Michael doesn’t love her. That he was just a parasite along for a free ride.

Eve walked out of the apartment building and into the wet city. It was the time of year when spring was giving way to summer. It was chilly and rainy. Water collected in the cracks in the concrete left behind by the harsh winter and Eve had to dodge around large puddles of water. She still ended up getting the bottoms of her jeans wet no matter how careful she had tried avoiding all the water.

Her destination ended at Chaos, an art studio in downtown Caldwell. Besides school and home, this is where she spent all her time. Art was her escape and she used it to its full advantage. She would stay there until the owner, Isabel, closed up shop for the night. Isabel let her come and go as she pleased, and in return Eve helped her teach students to use different mediums and techniques. They had developed a close friendship over their love of art. Isabel knew of the problems the Eve had with home life, so she opened her doors as a sanctuary for the younger girl any time she needed to escape.

The rain was coming down hard by the time she was making her way home so she rushed just to get out of the wicked weather. It was nine and her mother wouldn’t be home for another two hours. That meant she would be home alone with Michael until then. Oh, the joys. He was probably drinking himself in to a stupor. Then he would probably start a fight with her mother if he hadn’t passed out by the time she got home.

Eve opened the apartment door to the stench of booze, a familiar stink that caused her stomach to roll nonetheless. She shook out of her wet coat and put her soaked things by the door. She tried to stay as quiet as possible as she made her way to the back of the apartment where her room was. There was bound to be a confrontation if she caught up with her mother’s boyfriend given the way they had parted. With him drinking it was sure to escalate things into something much more than a simple argument.

In the sanctuary of her room, Eve got ready for bed. As she was changing into pajamas her door was wrenched open revealing a dark phantom in the doorway...

The pounding on the door had Eve jumping out of the past and back into the shower. The water had gone cold, leaving her skin the temperature of ice. With teeth chattering away, the girl hoisted her body up and turned the water off.

“Eve,” came a quieted voice from the opposite side of the door, “are you okay?

Dripping wet she stepped out of the glass stall and looked in the closet closest to the shower. She found towels that were more like fluffy white tarps and wrapped one around her body.

The door to the bathroom creaked open and Blay’s face popped into view. Eve clutched the towel to her chest to make sure it didn’t come loose. “Blay,” she whispered.

“Oh, sorry, I…W-when you didn’t answer I thought something might have happened.” Blay turned his head to the side, embarrassed at her state of undress; his cheeks heated up into a brilliant ruby red.

“You okay after what happened?” she asked quietly. She noted that the cuts and bruises on his face were gone as if he hadn’t been beaten at all. Just like the wounds on her stomach. Obviously there was more to him than meets the eye. She wondered if he was the same as her and Lassiter, an angel.

He risked glancing back in her direction, blue eyes peeking under thick lashes. “I’m fine. Nothing but a few scrapes and bruises. Do you remember what happened in the alley?”

Eve gave a tiny nod of her head, trying to shut out all the gruesome images that surfaced in her memory. “Those guys had attacked you, and I tried to stop them but –”

“I just wanted to thank you for coming to my aid. You put your life in danger to save mine, and I just…well, thank you.”

“S’okay…All that matters is that we both came out the other side alive and mostly intact,” Eve told him, her hand going to her stomach.

“My god! I forgot you were stabbed. Here, let me help you back to the bed. You shouldn’t be up.”

Eve held up a hand to stop him from coming toward her. “There is no need. They are all healed.”

Blay’s brows puckered together in wonderment. “I didn’t think humans healed that fast.”

“Well, they don’t. But I guess I’m not human anymore.” Her lips half curled into an awkward smirk as she shrugged.  

The frown on his face deepened as he scanned her from head to foot, all embarrassment from walking in on her gone. “What exactly are you now?”

“I guess I’m an angel now; part angel, anyway. And judging by the serious healing your body did, I’m guessing you aren’t human either. Are you an angel, too?”

“God, no!” He denied in disgust then seemed to remember who and what he was talking to. “Sorry. I mean, no…no, I’m something else.”

Eve cocked her head to the side and stared at him for a moment. “What are you then?” she asked when he didn’t elaborate.

“I’m a vampire,” Blay said very matter-of-factly. 

“Vampire? Vampires exist, too.” Her cold fingers came up to rub her eyes then squeeze the bridge of her nose.

“You okay?” he asked gently.

Was she okay? No, not really. She felt like Alice lost in Wonderland. She had just fallen down the rabbit hellhole and was discovering that all these creatures she had thought of as science fiction were popping up out of the woodwork of reality. In fact, she turned out to be one of those said creatures. Her brain was being overloaded with information causing a headache to take up res behind her eyeballs.

Not only was her mind loading up on supernatural information, it was also dishing out all of the horror films she had ever seen of vampires devouring people, sucking the blood out of them, and tearing them limb from limb, tales of abductions to creepy old castles to become food for monsters. She thought of things lurking in dark recesses, waiting to jump out at their victims and consume them.

Rationality crept in to throw those gruesome thoughts out of the way. If these vampires were going to hurt her, they had plenty of chances. Besides Lassiter had said she was somewhere safe, though, she was beginning to believe that was a relative term. He had sworn to her father that he would keep her safe. Hopefully his word was his bond.

“Maybe you should lie back down. You aren’t looking too good,” Blay suggested.

Eve shook her head, refusing to get back into bed. She had already spent enough time under the covers. She had to get her shit together and get the hell out of wherever they were keeping her. “Do you know Lassiter?”

 Blay frowned. “Yeah, he lives here with us.”

“You and the guys you were with, John and Qhuinn?” Eve asked.

The redhead jerked his head up and down. “Among others.”

“Others like you?”

“Yes,” he said.

“I know Lassiter said I had nothing to worry about and everything, but I’m not going to become a midnight snack for any of you, am I?” Not that they would tell her the truth if that was the case.

“Don’t worry. Your blood wouldn’t sustain any of us. We feed from other vampires, not humans… or angels,” he added.

“Good to know,” Eve muttered.

“You’re not reacting how I expect you would. I would think you would be a little more upset about this whole situation,” Blay told her, a hint of a smile forming.

“Do you think I should be breaking down the door and running out of here screaming my head off? I don’t think I could move that fast and my head hurts too much to scream. Come to me later when I’m not in a state of shock and have a little more energy. Then I’d be happy to oblige,” Eve said.

Blay chuckled, a deep throated laugh that echoed off the walls. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

She was quiet for a second, trapped in a thousand different questions reeling around in her mind. There were a lot of things she could ask him. A lot of things she wanted to ask him. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answers. Instead she asked, “Do you think you could find me something else to wear beside a towel?”

“Sure. It might take a while though. A robe might have to do for right now,” he said.

The two left the bathroom and Eve sat in one of the chairs pushed up against the wall. It was better than lying back down on the bed. She gave Blay her measurements and he left in search of clothing. He returned some time later with a soft robe. It was made out of fine silk, undoubtedly the finest fabric that had ever brushed across her skin. After changing, she had tried to finger comb some of the snarls out of her hair, but it was thick and had a slight curl to it so that was nearly impossible. She did look somewhat presentable though.

“I need to take you to someone,” Blay told her once she came out of the bathroom.

Eve’s brow puckered. “Who?”

“Our leader. He would like to discuss some things with you.” There was something hidden behind the respect that carried in his voice. Regret, maybe?

Eve’s heart gave a little flutter of nervousness. The tone made her curious, but that curiosity was yielded by suspicion. “What would he like to talk about?”

Blay shrugged. “About what happened, I suppose. He asked me if I would bring you to him.”

“Then I guess we are off to see the Vampire of Oz,” she muttered quietly.

 “Just don’t let him hear you say that.” Blay flashed a little fang then offered her his arm, which she accepted.

When they left the bedroom and entered a hall filled with statues, Eve’s breath caught in her throat.  “Wow,” she breathed, her hand going to her neck. “Are these yours?” She turned her face up to his while she waited for an answer.

Blay looked down at her then shifted his gaze to the Greco-Roman statuary. “The statues? They belonged to Darius. He loved art and was a big collector. He owned this house actually.”

The young woman reached out her hand and touched the smooth surface of the marble. It was a depiction of a man draped in a flowing cloth. “Gorgeous. They are absolutely gorgeous.”

“This is nothing compared to the other pieces Darius had. Maybe after the meeting I’ll take you on a tour of the place and you can see the rest of his collection,” Blay offered.

“I would love to.” Sighing, she took her hand away from the cool stone though she didn’t want to. There were four other statues that she would have liked to examine but Blay seemed to be getting anxious, so begrudgingly Eve turned away from the stone masterpieces and followed the vampire to a large office.

The huge mountain of a man – er, vampire – sat behind a delicate little desk that seemed so out of place for someone so large. He was bent over the paperwork scattered across his desk, a magnifying glass clutched in his beefy hand. When the two came in, he put the glass down and slipped dark wraparound sunglasses back over his eyes. His face was harsh, nearly cruel in a way that made him handsome. Long hair fell around the sides of his face in a black waterfall. Though she couldn’t see his eyes behind his dark glasses she could tell that they were boring into her, studying her like a specimen under a microscope.

“You can leave now, Blay,” Mr. Dark and Mysterious’s voice commanded.

Eve could feel the hesitation in her companion. He wanted to stay but didn’t want to disobey an order. She looked over at him and nodded that she would be all right. With a tiny bow of his head he turned then slipped back out the door. As he was exiting, four others were entering. All of them were well over six feet with a build like a brick shithouse.

The first one to enter was a guy with gorgeous waves of multicolored hair in hues of blond, brown, and red. The next was a blond followed by a goateed man. The last mammoth sized figure to stroll through the door was by far the most frightening of them. There was a large scar that carved from his forehead to his upper lip, distorting it. But his hardened face was softened by bright yellow eyes.

None of them looked at her. They all nodded to the man behind the desk, all of them showing high respect. They all seemed to crowd around her without actually standing beside her. Hair took a seat beside Bossman. Goatee parked it in a sketchy looking couch. Scar scowled from the corner of the room and Blondie sat down in the empty seat next to her.

“V, you got the report?” their leader asked.

“Cop is bringing it and will be joining us in a minute, my lord,” Goatee responded.

Eve took a sideways glace at Blondie next to her. He pulled out a tootsie pop and was munching on it noisily, doing his best impersonation of Mr. Owl. When he noticed that she was looking at him, he pulled the stick out and flashed a pearly white fanged grin. She gave a nervous – probably freakish – smile back. Her eyes darted back and forth between the brutish vampires. All of them were now looking at her with quiet interest and caution.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Eve asked, anxious to get the show on the road. The faster they wrapped this up that faster she could leave.

“I’m surprised Lassiter didn’t tell you,” Dark and Mysterious said.

“Speaking of Lassiter, where is he?”

“I, for one, am happy the motherfucker isn’t here.” This came from Goatee.

“He tends to come and go as he pleases. I’m not hunting him down. And while he is away you become my priority.” Dark lounged back in his seat and folded his arms and hands behind his head.

Just then the door opened and another large man came barreling through. Eve turned to look at him. His face was definitely familiar.

“That should be everything,” the newcomer said as he threw a thick sheaf of papers on the vampire boss’s desk.

That voice, Eve thought taking a closer look. That voice was deep and gravelly. But that wasn’t the only thing that stood out, the Bostonian accent was a sure giveaway, though he looked so different from the last time she had seen him.

“Butchy?” Hazel eyes focused on her and Eve got to her feet. “Why are you…you’re a vampire, too.”

“Uh, how the hell do you two know each other?” Blondie questioned.

“I’d like to know that myself, Butchy,” Dark’s voice grumbled from the background.

“We have a history. What the hell is going on?” Eve asked.

 “He was the one that essentially saved your life,” Goatee snorted, rubbing his cheek with a gloved hand. On the side of his face she noticed tattoos at the corner of his eye. “If it had been up to me, I’d have left you there to die. In fact, I still say we get rid of her. We can’t keep picking up strays. This isn’t the fucking pound.”

“V!” Butch snapped. “Listen Eve. I know this has gotta be frightening and all, but nothing bad is going to happen to you. I swear.”

“You don’t want to make that kind of promise, cop,” Dark warned.

“Come on. She’s just a girl,” Butch pleaded.

“You remember how it was when you first got here,” Dark said.

“Yeah, and you let me stay,” he replied.

“That was a long time ago, too, when we had more room. V has a point when he says we can’t keep taking in everyone,” their leader said.

 “You’re not going to kill her,” Butch murmured.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. You’re gonna try to kill me? That seems a little, I don’t know, extreme,” Eve responded.

“We have to keep the safety of the race.” Dark said, shrugging his massive set of shoulders.

 “And you think I’m this giant threat. I’m barely the size of your forearm! I’m pretty sure any one of you could squish me like a bug with one hand.” This was sooooo not the conversation she imagined they would be having.

“You could talk.”

“And who do you think is going to believe me when I start babbling on about vampires with no proof? I’m sure someone would totally believe me if I walked up to them and said ‘Hey. Guess what? Vampires are real. Oh, and you want to know another cute little fun fact. I’m a fucking angel, too.’ Yeah, I’m sure that conversation would surely lead to the discovery of your kind,” Eve retorted, rolling her eyes.

“You might want to recheck that tone while you’re in my fucking space,” Dark growled venomously.

Eve took in a deep, calming breath. It didn’t help much. “It’s not like I asked for this. I was just trying to save one of your people. Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t think that would warrant being murdered.”

Dark sighed, unwinding his hands from behind his head and setting them on the desk. “That is the only reason I will grant you any amnesty. But everything you have ever known, everything that you ever loved and cared for, your whole world no longer exists. You can never go back among the humans.”

“What do you mean I can’t go back?” Eve asked in a low, wary voice.

“You’ll remain with us in secrecy away from the human population. Any contact with your former life ceases from this moment on,” the vampire leader explained to her.

“So, no matter how I look at it, my life is over,” she whispered sadly.  

“Look, Eve, it isn’t all bad. I gave up everything to be here. I’ve never been happier in my life,” Butch spoke from behind her.

Eve turned to face him. “And how much did you have to give up? How important was your life to you before any of this?” She let out a frustrated breath, and then raked a hand over her face. She felt completely and utterly defeated. “I’m not you, Butch. I don’t know if I can give everything up that easily.”

“Tell you what. I’ll give you a week to decide what you want to do. I want an answer by next Saturday. If you haven’t decided, we will make the choice for you.” Dark sighed, then massaged at his temples.

“Bullying those that are smaller than you again I see.”

There was a steady stream of aw-fucks around the room as Lassiter strolled through the door with his graceful gait. He seemed just as calm and beautiful as the last time she had seen him.

“Nobody is bullying anyone, angel.” Dark gave him a deadly glare, which the angel ignored. Or maybe he just didn’t care enough to be offended by it.

Lassiter surveyed the room’s occupants and inclined his head slightly. “Was there a need to have this many of you bloodsuckers to keep her at bay?”

“We don’t know what she is capable of. She could be a dangerous threat. Our king’s safety comes first and foremost.” This came from the guy with all the glorious locks. It was the first time he had ever spoken since entering the room.

“With this thin, weak human body and overwhelming stature of a little over five feet, I can absolutely see how she would strike terror in the hearts of trained warriors like you.” Lassiter’s voice was pure sarcasm.

“Hey!” Eve snapped. Last thing she needed was to be insulted on top of everything else, and by her only sort-of alley nonetheless. 

“You know, I’m getting really fucking sick of you. I think it’s about time you get the fuck out of our lives.” Goatee got up from the couch and started moving a little closer to Lassiter. The others in the room also took a few steps closer, but it looked as though they were ready to break up the dueling pair if it came to blows.

“Oh, here I thought we were going to become besties, eat ice cream, and giggle over boys we think are cute and shit.”

“Enough! Jesus Christ, it’s getting so that you two can’t even be in the same county without finding some way to argue about something. Lassiter, take your girl and get the fuck out of my office, would you. And if you pull another one of your disappearing acts, make sure you let me know about it,” he demanded.

“Well, since you asked nicely.” The angel nodded his head in the direction of the exit. After a moment’s hesitation, Eve followed him out of the office. Once out in the hall, he turned to face her. “I see you are feeling better.”

“Not by much. Where were you, by the way?” Eve asked.

Lassiter got serious for a moment, staring at her with his white eyes. “I expended a lot of energy keeping you tied to this side. I had to heal.”

The anger faded from her voice. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Lassiter replied.

“I have a question. What are you doing here with vampires? They don’t seem to like you very much,” Eve said.

“You think so? And here I thought I was a dear friend,” Lassiter said acrimoniously.

Eve let out a frustrated breath. She could sort of see why they were jumping down his throat. He was beginning to annoy her as well. “I need to ask you about all of this, about what I am now.”

“Come on. Let’s go back to my room where we’ll have at least a semblance of privacy.” And back down the hall of statues they went.