We could…but I didn’t want to invite them inside mine and Ava’s apartment. I didn’t want them in our personal space, and I didn’t trust them around Ava, especially Gina.
Ava must have sensed my struggle, because she proposed, “How about we all go have dinner together at the new Italian restaurant? Have you guys eaten yet?”
Blythe smiled winningly. “That would be lovely.”
So we edged around the man-made beach as we made our way to the restaurant, passing stores, cafés, bars, other restaurants, the bowling alley and nightclub. Ava, her hand in mine, was practically skipping – a bundle of unlimited energy. She chatted non-stop about absolutely nothing… ‘That store over there sells the best shoes. I love shoes. Especially stilettos. My favourite pair are red. Isn’t red a great colour? It’s not my favourite colour, though. My favourite’s yellow. Or maybe blue. Hey, isn’t the water a gorgeous blue?’ On and on it went.
When she wasn’t talking, she was humming. Or singing totally off-key, getting the lyrics mixed up. Will, Blythe, and Gina no doubt believed she was kooky and whimsical. But I knew exactly what Ava was doing. Still upset about what happened at the party, she was getting some payback.
Who needed to argue and exchange insults when you could just annoy the hell out of someone by being overly friendly and bubbly? Only Ava could have pulled it off.
Finally inside the restaurant, I sat beside Ava, which placed Will, Blythe, and Gina opposite us. Gina was glaring hard at Ava, playing on every protective instinct I had. I shot her a ‘back the fuck off’ look, which she returned with a self-satisfied smile.
“Ooh, this looks good,” Ava practically purred when the server set her ravioli in front of her. She shot him a grateful look that had him grinning at her like an idiot. So I growled at him. That got him moving. Ava just rolled her eyes at me. Humming, she then picked off what looked to me like little green leaves from her ravioli and put them on a napkin. Realising that Will was looking at her oddly, she said by way of explanation, “They’re green.”
I probably should have found it weird that she refused to eat anything green for no apparent reason, but I strangely found her little quirks kind of endearing.
Blythe took a bite of her pasta before speaking. “You must have impressed your Grand High Pair in the try-outs to earn a spot in the legion, Ava.” It was a prompt for information. Clearly they hadn’t watched the ascension over V-Tube. Sam had announced that she was forming an all-female squad and that Ava – among others – would be given a place.
Ignoring the prompt, Ava gave her a shy smile.
“I’m assuming you have a substantial gift.” It was another prompt. But I knew that Ava wouldn’t reveal her gift to someone she didn’t trust. The knowledge could be used against her; if a vampire ever decided to come at her and knew what her gift was, they would know that she needed bodily contact to harm them. As such, they would know to keep their distance and attack her from afar.
Gina sneered. “Being a Sventé, I can’t see that being possible. No offense, child, but vampires of your breed” – said with scorn – “tend to have defensive gifts.”
Ava didn’t seem in the least bit offended, but I knew any slight on her breed would gall her. I was also betting that being referred to as ‘child’ would annoy her. To a vampire as old as Gina, though, that was exactly what Ava was – something young, weak, and vulnerable.
Whatever her true feelings were on the matter, Ava just shrugged. “Even defensive gifts can be substantial.” She held a forkful of ravioli to my mouth, dismissing – and thereby irritating – Gina. “Here, try some. It’s so good.”
Stifling a smile at her ability to piss someone off whilst looking the personification of innocence and pleasantness, I indulged her by taking a bite.
Blythe sipped her red wine-flavoured NST. “Where exactly are you from, Ava?”
“Originally, Seattle. But my brother and I did a lot of traveling and eventually ended up in London.”
“Is that where your nest is?”
“Um-hm.”
“Who is your Sire?”
Ava waved a flippant hand. “Oh, Victor’s dead.”
Blythe’s brows flew up. “Dead?”
Ava nodded cheerfully. “Sam killed him when he wouldn’t free her from his hold.”
“Oh, you’re both from the same nest?”
“Now I see how you got a spot in the legion.” Gina snickered. “Doesn’t it bother you that you didn’t earn it, child?”
Ava gave her a fond smile and leaned in, as if about to tell her a secret. “I used to know a woman who’s like you, putting people down a lot because she has low self-esteem. Anyway –”
“I do not have low self-esteem,” growled Gina with a snap of her teeth.
The fond smile turned patronising. “Of course you don’t.” And now Ava was humming again.
“Gina, enough,” Blythe quietly scolded.
If I didn’t know Blythe as well as I did, I’d have thought she’d warmed to Ava and was defending her. That wasn’t it at all. One thing Blythe loved to do was make alliances, become friendly with ‘the right people’; people who could give her something, help her become friendly with more ‘right people’. She’d seen how everyone had gathered supportively behind Ava at the party. She’d seen that Ava was well-liked here; that she would be a good person to have on side. And she was doing her best to win Ava’s trust and friendship.
Sadly for Blythe, that wouldn’t happen. Ava wasn’t the flaky, oblivious girl she was showing them.
Will spoke then. “This is a very beautiful place. The Hollow, I mean. Very peaceful.”
“It is,” agreed Blythe. “The best decision we ever made was coming here. I can see why you didn’t return to us, Salem.”
“How do you find being part of the legion?” Will asked me.
“Good.”
“Was it very long before your squad was sent out on assignments?”
“Ooh, that’s classified information,” said Ava. “We can’t share stuff about assignments with anyone outside the legion.” She rolled her eyes, as if it was pathetically dramatic.
“I see. Are there many trainers within the legion?”
Ah, so Will wanted a spot in the legion. I should have expected that, really. In truth, the legion didn’t have ‘trainers’. Each commander was responsible for the training of their own squad. As Ava had said, though, we didn’t share anything about the legion with outsiders. “That’s something you’d have to speak with the Grand High Pair about.”
“Surely there’s always room for more trainers.”
“Like I said, that’s something you should speak with the Grand High Pair about.” A spark of frustration buzzed down our blood-link.
Blythe smiled. “It would be good for you to find work, Will. You’re not the type to sit around. I’m sure Salem could put in a good word for you.”
“If you want to be employed by Sam and Jared,” began Ava, “you have to prove yourself.”
Gina shot Ava a condescending sneer. “And what could you have possibly done to prove yourself? Or maybe you just giggled until their heads hurt.” Her curt, abrasive tone caught the attention of a waiter and some of the other diners.
Ava snorted softly. “Who lit the fuse on your tampon?”
Eyes bulging in anger, Gina went to bark a retort when Will banged his fork to get her attention. He shook his head; making Gina grind her teeth.
Will turned to me with a smile, but I sensed that he was far from happy at that moment. “I’m guessing your interviewers were very impressed by your control at the try-outs.”
“Salem does have very good control,” remarked Blythe. “Thanks to you, Will, of course. You’d make a good trainer for the legion, without a doubt.”
I was rapidly losing my patience with this conversation. “I can’t imagine why you’d want to work in the legion when you didn’t approve of me coming here.”
His expression hardened. “I didn’t support you
coming here because I didn’t support the idea of you punishing yourself.”
“Punishing myself?” I echoed, confused.
“You blame yourself for what happened to your parents. The only thing that gave you the incentive to live was vengeance.”
Gina spoke to Ava. “Has Salem told you why he became a vampire? How badly he wanted revenge? That the reason he joined the legion was to die? To die with honour, granted. But still to die. I cannot say I’ve met many suicidal vampires.”
Shocked, I snapped, “What?”
“The problem was that once you had revenge,” began Will, “you lost your sense of purpose. Even though I made you one of my fighters, it didn’t help. You gradually deteriorated. Joining the legion was, in effect, a suicide mission for you.”
He and Gina were so very wrong about that. Admittedly, the matter of whether I was dead or alive had ceased to mean much back then. But I never took the easy way out of anything. I had a number of reasons for joining the legion, but killing myself wasn’t one of them.
“Threatening to cast you out of the nest was unforgivable of me,” continued Will, his tone sad. “But I hated the motivation behind your leaving and…I just wanted you to live.”
“I wasn’t suicidal,” I rumbled, “and you know it.” And the fact that he was implying it in a public place – where people were deliberately listening to the conversation – pissed me off even more.
Will held up his hands in a placatory gesture, but his satisfaction was streaming down our link. “I’m merely trying to point out that I can see this is no longer the case; that the legion has clearly been good for you.”
“No, you’re not.” Ava’s tone was no longer cheerful and breezy. It was hard and glacial. And it had our three companions blinking in surprise. It also had some of the surrounding vampires on their feet, creeping toward the table.
“E-excuse me?” stammered Will.
“You’re jealous,” accused Ava.
“Jealous?” Will scoffed. But I realised that she was right; his frustration came from the fact that he was jealous.
“You practically reek of envy. And why shouldn’t you be jealous? Here’s this guy who you Turned, took into your nest, taught control, and trained how to fight. Did he stick around? No. He took all that and he did something huge with this immortal life you gifted him with – and he did it without you. If he deserves this success, surely then the person who trained him deserves to have it too, right?” She leaned forward. “Wrong. It takes a lot more than good control and the ability to fight well to be accepted into the legion.”
Blythe cleared her throat. “Why don’t we all calm –”
Ava raised a hand. “Blythe, we’re not gonna be friends so you might as well switch off the sweetie pie act.” She looked at Gina with utter distaste. “And you…don’t you have a hole to crawl into?” Ava pushed out her chair, and I followed her lead. Before she could move to leave, however, Gina was around the table with her hand clamped around Ava’s arm, fingernails digging into the skin.
Ava effortlessly shrugged off Gina’s hand with a fancy move, and wagged her finger. “Nu-uh.”
Gina looked shocked for a moment but quickly recovered. “You think you have him, child?” A devious, spiteful grin crept onto her face. “Has he told you how far back him and I go? I was there when he was Turned. I was the first person he fed from. His first sexual experience as a vampire happened with me.”
Ah, shit. “Shut the fuck up.” I planted myself between the two females, as if I could protect Ava from Gina’s words.
“Good in bed, isn’t he?” Gina’s devious grin widened. “There’s nothing better than when Salem lets go in bed. But I suppose you wouldn’t know that. He probably has to watch his strength with you.”
That would have been true if Ava’s gift didn’t give her a strength that matched mine, but obviously I had no intention of discussing our sex life with anyone else.
“Does it hurt you that you’ll never have all of him, child? Does it hurt to know he’ll always hold back with you – physically and emotionally?”
I turned to Ava, intending to lead her away. Her lips began to tremble, and her little face scrunched up in agony. “It hurts so badly.” She threw her arms open wide at Gina. “Hug me.” I’d honestly never seen anyone back away as quickly as Gina did then. Ava exchanged a heart-felt laugh with the vampires that had gathered around. She was still laughing when she strolled outside, shaking her head.
I looked at Will and Blythe. “We’re done.” And I meant for good, and I could see by their expressions that they knew it. “I’ve got nothing more to say to either of you.”
Anger fairly radiated from Will. “I’m your Sire.”
I snorted at him. “It doesn’t mean anything to you that I’m one of your vampires, so why should it mean anything to me that you’re my Sire?” I glared at Gina. “Stay the fuck away from Ava.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You must want to die.”
CHAPTER NINE
(Ava)
“Did she really pop your vampiric cherry?” The shy question was enough to make Salem pause in his pacing. Finally. Seething, he hadn’t said a word since we left the restaurant. He’d just grabbed my wrist, led me to the apartment, plonked me on the sofa, and then took to pacing in front of me. I’d said a number of things in the hope of snapping him out of his ‘I’m gonna kill Will’ zone, but nothing had worked. Until now.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” he eventually responded.
I snorted. “What a guy thing to say. I take it she was also telling the truth when she said she was the first person you drank from too?”
“Technically, Will’s the first person I fed from.”
“He gave you his blood to Turn you. That’s not the same as your first feed. Was it Gina?”
“Yes,” he bit out.
My stomach dropped. I didn’t want those images in my head, didn’t want to think about Salem drinking from her, or touching her the way he did me. But knowing the facts was better than not knowing. Maybe I should have given my jealous harpy full control and choked Gina with her own intestines. “What about the ‘you becoming a vampire to get revenge’ comment? Is that true?”
Salem looked at me helplessly, and I thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he cursed and quietly muttered what sounded like ‘Jared was right.’ Shoving aside one of my cushions, he slumped onto the sofa next to where I was sat, cross-legged. He didn’t look at me as he said, “When I failed to pay off a gambling debt, the bookies locked up and barricaded every possible exit of my parents’ house. Then they burned it to the ground. My mother and my stepfather were trapped inside.” He’d spoken in his deceptively apathetic tone, but I could sense his pain and anguish.
Twisting in my seat, I took one of his balled-up hands in mine and propped my chin on his shoulder. “I’d say I’m sorry, but it’s too inadequate.” Was there really a right thing to say, something that could actually help, when someone was grieving?
“So, yeah, it’s true that I wanted revenge and that I blame myself for their deaths. In theory, it wasn’t my debt. But the blame still lies with me.”
“What do you mean by ‘in theory’?”
“It was my half-brother’s debt. He was only seven-fucking-teen. He got into gambling because he was following in my footsteps. He ran up a big debt with the wrong person. When he couldn’t pay it off, he bolted. So I was expected to pay it for him. I didn’t have that kind of money, and the bookies weren’t interested in it being paid in instalments. They put a gun to my head, told me I had forty-eight hours to get it. But there was no way I could do it.”
In my opinion, then, the blame didn’t belong to Salem. His half-brother had chosen to run up that debt. And the bookies had chosen to react by targeting his parents. I was about to say as much when he spoke again.
“I expected them to come after me. I was ready for that. Going after my mother was the worst thing they could have done. I found o
ut who started the fire. I killed them both. But that made the others retaliate, and they almost killed me in an alley. Will found me there, dying. Maybe he smelled the blood. He offered to Turn me. All I was interested in was making the others pay. So I said yes.”
“I hope they paid in full. With interest.”
His expression took on a faraway quality. “I could hear her screaming.”
Oh, God. I scrambled onto his lap, straddling him, and tucked my head under his chin as I leaned into him. His arm curled loosely around me.
“One of the neighbours called me when the fire started. I couldn’t get inside. I told my mother that I’d get her out. She kept screaming for me, but when she stopped screaming…Shit, I’m not sure which was worse.”
Now I understood what Fletcher had meant by Salem’s grief and need to atone. He hadn’t been able to save the people who he cared for, so now he was determined to save as many others as he could. It also explained the intensity of his protective streak. And I was obviously going to have to handle it, because it wouldn’t ease.
“I told you I’ve done a lot of bad things. I meant it. One of the very few good things I’ve done is join the legion. And Will just took it, twisted it, and tried to make it into something bad.”
I pulled back to meet his gaze. “But it didn’t work. He just showed himself for the envious, spiteful shithead that he is. He wants what you have, and he resents you for that. He was goading and punishing you.”
“Like Gina was goading and punishing you.”
Yeah, and it had partly worked. Of course I’d been quite aware that he wasn’t a virgin. But knowing Salem had a past and actually being face-to-face with that past – hearing the things he and Gina had done together – were two very different things.
My jealousy must have been apparent in my expression, because his eyes narrowed and he gripped my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I told you the night of the beach party, she doesn’t matter to me. Only you do.”