A knock at the door had me up and as I walked over, I inhaled deeply; human, must be our delivery. I took a moment to calm myself, it wouldn’t do any good to scare him before I got him inside. I couldn’t forget I wasn’t alone on this floor any longer. Chasing a delivery boy and tearing into his neck in front of the elevator might earn me a bite on the ass from a nasty werewolf.
I opened the door just enough to welcome him in. He was young, probably only twenty, small in stature, but he had a confident, wide smile. His skin was the color of caramel and his light brown eyes looked me up and down, obviously liking what he saw. I was wearing pajama shorts and a tank top, my hair was all over the place, and I had no makeup on. I didn’t need to impress my prisoner, or the food that was walking in. “Delivery, Ma’am,” he said with a wink.
The small hallway from the front door to the rest of the condo was just long enough to keep him from immediately noticing I had someone chained to a chair. “Can you take it to the kitchen, please?”
“Sure thing, ma’am.” He was carrying two bags of food for Falcon, and a body full of blood for me. He had no fear in him, I could smell his relaxed state. Humans, so foolish, walking right into the lion’s den.
I listened to his easy heartbeat, it was a pattern unique to humans and it made my fangs run out. Even though I’d eaten last night, I was ready to indulge again. I shut the door quickly and he was no more than three steps away when I pounced on his back and bit into his neck, it was quick and painless. My fangs instantly sent a numbness throughout his body, he would feel as if he were floating on a sea of pleasure. A vampire’s movements were so fast, human senses were helpless to detect them, and if I desired, he would remember none of it. His skin smelled like human cooking, not pleasant, I didn’t like to be reminded of what I was no longer able to enjoy. Although, food had never given me the high pleasure that a mouthful of blood could, and since this wasn’t a fairy, I didn’t have to hold back. I drank deep and my whole body trembled with pleasure.
After I’d had my fill, I licked the wounds so they would heal quickly, then climbed off his back and turned him to face me. I stared deeply into his eyes. “You delivered the food and left. You didn’t come in; you didn’t see anyone else here.” I shoved some cash into his pocket, took the bags, and pushed him out the door. I caught the scent of animal in the hallway, and I may have heard a growl as I shut the door. If delivery boy was eaten by the neighbor, it wasn’t my fault. I walked happily into the living room, wiping a drip of blood from my chin.
“Hungry?” I called. Falcon was staring with wide eyes again, and he shivered slightly at the sight of my still extended fangs. I had no desire to hide what I was from him. This was my home, and he was my brother, he had no right to be disgusted by what I had to do to survive. It wasn’t as if I’d asked for this, I was forced into it! I could eat, or I could die, I chose life with every ounce of my being. Maybe that made me weak, maybe I wasn’t strong enough to kill myself because of what I’d become. One thing was for certain, I was strong enough to fight for a life I thought was worth living.
“D-did you harm him?”
I rolled my eyes and dropped the bags on the coffee table. “I never harm anyone unless they have harmed me first.”
“What do you call this!” He demanded, looking down at his chains. No longer concerned for anyone or anything but himself, as I expected.
“You harmed me, Falcon. When you refused to talk to me, when you cut me out of your life, when you told others I was dead rather than admit I’d become this!”
“I—” he stopped and stared at me, he had no response, no defense.
I took a calming breath. “I will take the chains off your arms. If you are careful, you can feed yourself.” I removed the chains slowly from his arms and wrists, watching him the entire time for any sign that he was going to lash out at me. He didn’t. He did grab the bags greedily and began devouring everything he’d ordered. I actually started to feel bad that I hadn’t given him anything to eat or drink before now. I hadn’t even thought of preparing for that sort of thing before kidnapping him. I was not good at kidnapping; I could live with that.
As Falcon finished eating, I checked my phone, still no messages. Either our father hadn’t gotten my message, or he really didn’t care about his son. I wondered how likely that was. He had let me go with no second thought and in all these years, he’d never made any effort to contact me. As if I were as dead as my mother, as he would rather I’d be.
There was a knock at the door just as Falcon was finishing his food and slurping down the last of his second bottle of water. I didn’t even have glasses for water in my kitchen, I was a terrible hostess for anyone except another vampire—another thing I could live with. I walked to the door and inhaled, I got the familiar scent of Jackie that was a mixture of herbs and magic. There was something else though, something I couldn’t put my finger on, and my body tensed. I opened the door with confidence, I was an apex predator after all.
Jackie stood there with a bright smile. Her short blonde hair was pulled away from her face in two cute buns on top of her head and her green eyes were sparkling with joy. She was wearing her usual work outfit, a pink cropped pantsuit with a black blouse, and black pumps. She looked professional and saucy. In her hands was something I had hoped to never see in my entire long life—a gnome!
I jumped back and held a hand to my mouth as I gasped for unnecessary air, trying to calm myself at the site. Gnomes were the sworn enemy of fairies, even worse than coming across an irritable werewolf in a dark alley, was a gnome! They were guardians of the earth’s most magic intensive gardens, places where fairies would kill, or die trying, to spend time soaking up the intense magic of the earth. Of course, it would leave behind dead spots, which is why the gnomes were such fierce protectors of them, and they fought with iron tools, which could instantly kill a fairy, and their bites were savage, causing terrible infections and even death. They never slept, and they could teleport across visual distances. They were two feet high or less, and they were creepy as fuck! Pointy hats, bright suits, and heavy white beards.
And there was one waiting to come into my house.
I shivered and the creepy thing blinked up at me with its black eyes and smiled smugly. This one was dressed in a red wool jacket, his pants were red and green plaid, and I could see under the jacket he wore a white button up shirt. His boots were shiny and black, and poking out the bottom of his jacket, I could see the points of his weapons, iron gardening trowels and rakes. His hat was a red that matched his jacket and was almost as tall as his body.
“Don’t worry, Viv, he’s a friend of mine. He owes me a favor, and I don’t think he can harm you anyway, you’re way more vamp than fairy.” Jackie spoke with an excited lilt and shrugged her shoulders.
I wasn’t so sure that was true, and I didn’t want to test the theory, but I didn’t have much choice. If this was the best Jackie could think of to help out, then I would take it. “Come on in. I was expecting a spell that would keep him in the condo, not a guard dog.”
She just shrugged and walked in. “It smells weird in your hall by the way, like some animal’s been marking their territory.” Jackie walked by me with a gnome in one hand, and a bag in the other.
I glanced down the hall and was shocked to see Sobahn standing in his doorway, staring again—more like glaring really—and he still wasn’t wearing a shirt. Today he was wearing just a pair of sweats, slung low on his hips, and I could see just the peak of his hip bones above the waistband no indication of underwear. My body reacted in a very traitorous way to the sight. Just looking at him was better than the pleasure I’d gotten drinking from the delivery boy earlier. I licked my lips and felt my fangs descend, I wondered what he tasted like, flesh and blood.
His eyes flashed with something intense, as if he could read my body’s betrayal, and he bared his own sharp teeth at me. He took a step forward.
“New neighbor,” I grumbled and quickly shut the door.
“Blade,” the gnome said in a gruff voice. It sounded like he smoked a pack or two a day, and part of his unidentifiable odor was certainly pipe tobacco, sweet and smoky.
“Excuse me?” I couldn’t fathom why he was asking for a blade. I could see he’d brought his own weapons and I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be necessary anyway.
“My name is Blade,” he said without inflection. “Who am I guarding?”
Jackie set him on the ground, and he waddled away toward the living room where I’d pointed. Seconds later I heard Falcon scream like a little girl, and I laughed heartily. “Thank you, Jackie, I really appreciate this.” I took the bag from her while she stood and stared at the scene. Falcon had flipped his chair again in his haste to try and get away from Blade. Falcon’s feet were kicking furiously in the air, and Blade stood beside his head with an iron shovel in his hand. Since Falcon’s hands were still free, he was trying to pull himself, and the chair he was attached to, away from Blade. It wasn’t working.
“Who’s the hunk?” Jackie whispered.
“My brother, Falcon Trifoli.”
“The prince!” Her voice was high and excited now as she rushed over to stare down at him curiously. “I have heard he dances like a dream!” She nearly squealed with delight and her whole body gave a little shiver. “I’ve never made it over to see though. Hi, I’m Jackie White, Viv’s bestie.” She turned to me slowly. “Did you say brother! You didn’t tell me you’re Princess Vivinity! I heard she—you—died like a thousand years ago!”
I shrugged. “He wishes, and besides, I thought you knew, same last name and all.”
“Yeah, but I just figured it was like, just a common fairy last name or something. Like you were all under King Trifoli’s rule, so you used that name. Maybe your parents were royalty fanatics, so they named you after the dead princess. Wow, you’re old!”
I glared at her for the old remark, and she shrugged. It was true, and I didn’t look it, so I forgave her quickly.
“Can someone call off the gnome!” Falcon said sharply.
“I’m Blade. I am going to watch your every move, fairy prince, and I am going to gut you if you even think of leaving… what are his parameters?” Blade didn’t turn from Falcon as he asked this, and I was surprisingly impressed with Jackie’s choice.
“He can venture throughout the condo, not in my bedroom, not on the balcony. He can sleep in the spare bedroom and use the guest bathroom.”
Blade blinked up at me and frowned, as if I were being too lenient with my captive. He nodded sharply and turned back to Falcon. “If you even think of leaving the laid out perimeter, you will feel the sting of my shovel and the bite of my teeth.”
“Fine, can I use the bathroom now?” Falcon addressed his question to me, refusing to speak to Blade.
“Of course, Blade will guard you everywhere you go though, so get used to it.” I looked at Blade and made sure he understood, he didn’t respond but stared at me, looking confident. “Hopefully you won’t have to for long,” I grumbled.
I righted the chair and removed the chains. Falcon didn’t move at first, just stared from one of us to the other. I saw him calculating his chances for escape. Luckily, he decided they were minimal. He stood on shaky legs. Jackie whistled at the site of him in nothing but a shining thong as the blanket fell to the floor.
“Clothes,” I said, handing him the bag. “The bathroom has everything you should need to clean up.”
He took the bag gratefully, then hurried across the room to the guest bathroom. Jackie watched him the whole time with glittering eyes and a gaping mouth. “Damn!” she whispered.
Blade appeared at the door right in front of him, Falcon jumped a foot high and screamed again. “Christ, creepy little thing! Move out of the way,” he demanded.
Blade laughed a deep guttural chuckle and moved into the bathroom. “No window in here, do I need to watch this fairy shower? Is he a suicide risk?”
“No, just standing guard outside the door should be fine,” I said with a laugh.
Falcon stuck his tongue out at Blade as he carefully scooted around the gnome and into the bathroom, shutting the door with a loud thud. Blade stood so still in front of the door that he could have been a statue.
I turned to Jackie, “Okay, now tell me why did you bring the gnome?”
“Like I said, he owes me a favor.”
“What kind of favor could a gnome owe you?”
“I was selling a house over on the west side about a year ago with a huge garden in the back that was completely overgrown. I was back there showing the gardeners what I wanted them to do and found Blade. He’d been spelled by a witch at some point and turned to stone. I could tell right away he wasn’t just a statue though, and so I took him home and it took a while, but I found a spell to undo what the other witch had done.” She leaned close and whispered in my ear. “The poor thing had no memory of his prior life, didn’t even have a name. He picked his own name; I think it suites him. He’s a big Westly Snipes fan.”
“Okay, I am going to shower and dress. The sun will be down soon, then I guess I need to get food, yuck, for my houseguests. I don’t even have any dishes! This hostage situation is getting expensive,” I grumbled.
Jackie plopped herself on the couch and turned on the television. “Sounds like a good plan.”
I rolled my eyes and walked into my bedroom, apparently Jackie felt like she was part of all this now. Maybe she would prove herself useful, especially if I had to go interact with humans and purchase food supplies.
“How could he have done this! Intervened at such a point! A thousand years he’s sat back and watched her suffer and now, this! I should pull you out and rip your throat open in front of him for this.”
Her voice was more agitated than usual, and I wondered if it was finally going to be over, the endless black the suffocating loneliness. My fragile mind latched on to something she said, was she talking about Vivinity? Was Osiris finally going to send her soulmate to find her? My heart could sit happy in eternal blackness knowing my daughter had love, that she was no longer suffering a lonely existence.
“No, that would be too easy.”
Her voice was calm now, deadly and if I could have, I would have shivered.
“I will have to do the unthinkable, the loathsome. I will have to travel to the other side of the veil, I will have to walk among the humans, and I will make sure her little plan fails. Don’t worry my dear, Zobeth, you’ll get to witness it all.”
She did something then that she’d only done when she thought I would be delightfully tortured by whatever sick thing she was doing with some disgusting male. It was like she was opening my eyes and ears beyond her. Suddenly I was looking out her eyes, and I was hearing the sounds of running water nearby and a chirp of a bird, but I still couldn’t move.
She moved, looking into a mirror, she lifted a hand to apply lipstick to her plump mouth and smiled viciously. I was going to bear witness to whatever atrocities she planned to deal my daughter. This new torture might be my breaking point.
I would do and have done, everything in my power to protect my child, was it all for nothing? In the end would she win?
She walked from the room and glanced at her bed, a tangle of sheets and a body there, a muscled back the color of dark chocolate. She hadn’t shared her carnal moments last night; it must have been too mundane to be considered torture to me. She entered a room full of clothing and sighed.
“What to wear in Vegas?” She ran her hands over countless dresses and pulled one out. It was blood red with gold threads shimmering throughout. “Perfect.”