He leaned towards me and I looked at him. I heard his heart speed up. “We’re going to figure this out Gabrielle.” I could tell from the adrenaline rolling off of him and something fainter beneath that smell that he had more than just a simple crush on me.
I winced. I knew he liked me. But now I could tell that this was turning into something more than just like. I didn’t know how to stop it, and I didn’t know how to still stay his friend and partner if I tried.
I studied the headline on his desk. What I did know was that he and his family were important and respected members of the supernatural community. His feelings for me might be all that kept the Politia and my classmates from turning on me.
And as soon as I broke his heart, my world would come crashing down.
***
I watched the sun sink as I worked at my desk. I tried to focus on my homework for my politics of supernatural species class, but my mind kept going back to Andre, the murders, and my classmates’ outrage.
Behind me the door opened and Oliver walked in.
“Hey beautiful,” he said. “I wanted to check on you.” He plopped on my bed and fished around for my stash of chocolates. “You doing okay?” he asked, his back to me.
“Oh, just fine. Nothing that I haven’t already experienced.” That was a lie. The fear that oozed off my classmates was stronger and more cloying than ever before.
I closed my laptop and watched him grope around some more.
“You’re not going to find the chocolates,” I said. “You ate them all the last time you were here.”
He paused to give me a disbelieving look. “No way. I don’t eat that much.”
“Oh really?” This little fairy was in denial.
“Hmph,” he said, folding his arms and squinting his eyes at me, “that’s right Sabertooth.”
“Did you just call me Sabertooth?”
“This body is a lean, mean, man-loving machine,” Oliver said by way of answer. “I don’t just get great abs by laying around and eating chocolates all day.” He got up and peered under Leanne’s bed.
“Well I know that,” I said. “You burn all your calories gossiping. It takes a lot of energy to talk that much.”
“Now that’s just rude,” he said, pulling out an industrial size bag of Halloween candy from underneath Leanne’s bed. “Jackpot. I have just found the mother lode.”
I eyed the candy and thought about the seer club Leanne was a part of. She was there at this moment, pulling together some school activity to celebrate Samhain. The candy was probably meant for that activity. “I think she might be saving that.”
Oliver made himself comfortable on my bed. “There’s a Leanne-sized hole in the corner here,” he said, pointing to a fist-sized tear in the plastic. “Which means she’s not really serious about saving it. Plus, like I said, I only eat a few chocolates at a time.”
Before I could guffaw at this, my phone went off. I snatched it up. Oliver’s attention was now honed on me.
“Hello?”
“Where were we?” Andre said.
“I believe you were telling me to be careful just before the sun rose.” Oliver had scooted down my bed to be as close to the conversation as possible. He was now shoveling candy into his mouth at an alarming rate.
“What is it you wanted to discuss?”
I lowered my voice. “I think you already know.”
The other end of the line was quiet. Finally, “There are a great many things we need to discuss. What in particular would you like to talk about?”
“I think it would be better if we met up in person.” I bit a nail as I said this. I wasn’t sure how seeing Andre would affect me.
“I’ll be over there in an hour.”
“Uh, Andre, on the way over, you should probably pick up a newspaper.”
***
Almost exactly an hour later, there was a rap on the door.
Oliver squealed. “It’s your hunk of burning love!”
I threw Leanne’s pillow at him as I made my way to the door. “Can you please do me a favor and try to tone down your comments?”
“Never!” Oliver said, but his words were drowned out by the thrum of energy coming from the other side of the door.
I’d felt the current for the last minute or so, but now it was almost unbearable. Like a magnet, the closer I got to my counterpoint, the stronger the pull.
I opened the door, and my breath caught in my throat.
Andre stood in front of me taking up the doorway, and the vision of him almost brought me to my knees. Dark, wavy locks of hair framed those high cheekbones, square jaw, and arching lips that I’d dearly missed. But what captivated me were his glittering eyes. At this moment, they looked the same as they had in the painting that hung above his bed—the remorseful Andre who’d fought in the crusades.
Before I knew what I was doing, my fingers reached up and grazed his cheek.
He too brought his hand up to my face and wiped away a stray tear with his thumb.
“I hope this means you’re happy to see me,” he said, his voice low.
I didn’t respond; I couldn’t. I tried to remember that why I’d kept my distance for so long—he scared me. Only now, as he stood here and wiped away my tears, that reasoning seemed awfully fickle.
A voice cleared his throat behind me. “Trust me, she is happy to see you,” Oliver said. “Thought I’d throw that out there since she’s a mute right now.”
The spell was broken, and the rest of the world came back into focus.
Andre glanced over my shoulder at Oliver. The moment he did so, the remorse was gone, replaced by the powerful, self-assured man I’d first met.
I stepped to the side so that Andre could come in while I grabbed my coat and bag. He sauntered in, his gaze focused on the fairy sprawled out on my bed.
The two had met once, after Andre found Oliver, Leanne, and I in the woods near the entrance to Otherworld. That same location was now taped off, the scene of a horrific crime.
“Andre, you remember Oliver,” I said.
Oliver shook off the loose candy wrappers littered along his body and got up to take Andre’s hand.
“How could I forget?” Andre said, taking Oliver’s hand. Oliver was memorable like that.
“Gabrielle’s said so much about you,” Oliver said. “You know, since you two parted ways.”
Andre glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t worry,” I said to Andre. “None of it was flattering.”
He frowned, and I slipped on a jacket and slung my book bag over my shoulder. “’Kay, I’m ready to go.” I turned to Oliver. “Are you leaving right now too?”
“Hell no I’m not leaving,” Oliver said, walking back to my bed and making himself comfortable. “Sexy, naked men are showing up here at all hours of the day. As if I’d pass up that opportunity.”
Andre narrowed his eyes. “What’s this?”
I almost groaned. So much for progress. Andre hadn’t been here five minutes and the possessiveness was back in his voice.
Oliver smiled mischievously. “Oh Gabrielle has had a string of admirers who’ve shown up in this room buck naked—probably thought flashing her would land them a date.”
I put a hand to my face and began massaging my temples. This was so not how I wanted the reunion with Andre to begin.
“Really?” Andre said, his voice deceptively calm. Oliver, for his part, failed to notice how menacing Andre had become.
“That’s not even the best part,” Oliver said, still enjoying himself. “One showed up in her bed last night demanding to have sex with her.”
A muscle in Andre’s jaw jumped.
“When she said no, he didn’t take her rejection too well, so s
he had to throw him across the room.”
“Oliver, just—stop talking,” I said. He must’ve heard all of that from Leanne since I never mentioned these details.
“Did he hurt you?” Andre asked me. His voice was soft and lethal. His body tensed and that muscle in his jaw jumped again.
“Andre, no, calm down.” I practically pushed him out the door. It was time to go.
“Bye Oliver!”
“Bye! Have a good evening. Oh, and if you two do the nasty, I want to know—” I slammed the door on his words.
“Sorry about that,” I said to Andre.
His eyebrow was raised. “‘If we do the nasty?’ I didn’t realize you were that happy to see me.”
“Oh please, eat a slice of humble pie. You’re not getting lucky tonight.”
Chapter 5
I traced the upholstery in Andre’s car as we sped out of Peel and headed for his place. Considering that I now had to work my way back into the coven, I felt that catching up there would give me the additional opportunity to reacquaint myself with the vampire community—if, that is, they were still willing to have me. Knowing my luck, I’d probably end up as someone’s dinner instead.
“Where exactly is your place these days?” I hadn’t seen Bishopcourt since the night of the fire, but considering the extent of the damage, I couldn’t imagine the place was inhabitable.
Andre took his attention off the road to look at me. The streetlights glinted off of his eyes. “What do you mean?” he asked.
My eyes dropped to his lips, momentarily distracted. I watched them curl in to a smile and my heart rate increased. His smile widened, and I saw his pearly white teeth and a glimpse of fang, which probably meant he was turned on. My own slid out for the billionth time today.
“Where are we going?” I asked again, careful to not nick myself on my fangs.
“Bishopcourt,” he said, not missing a beat.
“Isn’t it . . .” Oh this was awkward. “Didn’t it burn to the ground?” That was the nice way of putting it. We had burned it to the ground—me out of clumsiness, and him out of anger.
“I don’t know if you know this,” he said, “but I have lots of money.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m so impressed.”
“Money can buy lots of things, such as expedited construction.”
Ah, so he’d spent the last month repairing and rebuilding the place. I couldn’t tell if I was more excited or scared at the prospect of seeing Andre’s mansion. I’d loved Bishopcourt, but my last memories of it had been gruesome.
When we pulled up, the mansion looked unchanged. I stared at the pristine lawn and the gray stone walls. “Wow.” He really must’ve thrown a lot of money at the construction company to get this place rebuilt so quickly.
As usual, Andre’s minions opened our doors. I tensed as I left the car. Did they hate me? I shouldn’t have bothered worrying. Their faces were carefully blank, but they also smelled human. Which meant that they weren’t the individuals who would want my head.
Andre came around to me and placed a hand on the small of my back. I had a sneaking suspicion that he simply wanted to be close to me. Unfortunately for me, the simple touch did all sorts of inappropriate things to my body.
We entered the mansion like that. I gazed around me. Everything had been masterfully replicated, down to the staircase I’d bled on and the deadly wrought iron chandelier.
Yet nothing was the same. Different priceless objects sat on display, and the tapestries and paintings that originally hung along the wall had been replaced with others.
Something about that made me immensely sad. Several pieces of art, of history, had burned along with the house, and I’d been partially responsible for it.
Eventually we came to Andre’s office. When I entered, I studied the reconstructed room. It was almost identical to the original.
“You didn’t redesign it!” I said. The last time I’d been in here, Andre has wanted to change up the room. I was surprised that he hadn’t used the fire as the opportunity to do so.
He gazed down at me, still not removing his hand. “You’re right, I didn’t.” He didn’t say that my opinion changed his mind, but his eyes seemed to.
I felt a blush creeping up my neck. I pulled away from him and wandered over to the opposite end of the room, behind his desk. Mounted on the wall was a map of the world. I reached out and touched the canvas.
I glanced over my shoulder at him. He watched me, his look heated. “I’m so glad you didn’t change this,” I said.
His eyes followed me as I moved away from the map and plopped myself in his chair. I swiveled back and forth.
“Why did you call me?”
I stopped swiveling at his question. I’d been avoiding this topic since he met me at my dorm.
“Because I needed to,” I said as he brought a guest chair around the desk and sat down, his knees grazing mine.
Andre leaned forward in his seat, his elbows resting on his knees.
“I work for the Politia.” Andre’s nostrils flared when I said the name. Must be a sore spot. “They placed me on the investigation into the recent murders.”
“They put you on the case?” His eyebrows rose.
“Why is that so hard to believe?” He was about one wrong comment away from pissing me off.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Gabrielle, you’re a teenager. You’re too young to get involved in this stuff.”
“I’m also too young to get involved with you.” That shut him right up.
“The general opinion is that a vampire is attacking these people,” I said. “And now that the murders have made the papers, the Politia thinks the community will be out for our blood—so to speak.”
When he didn’t say anything, I continued. “Earlier today the chief constable told me that this could dissolve the truce.”
“It could,” Andre said, not looking up.
“And if that happens, the Politia will hunt us down.”
Andre now met my eyes. “I promise you they won’t touch us,” he said, his voice fierce.
There was something foreign about him at that moment. It wasn’t that he seemed inhuman, or that he seemed cold, or that he came from a period and place that I couldn’t relate to. It was that time had made him something more.
I also knew that he meant every word. Andre hadn’t survived seven hundred years for no reason. And he hadn’t earned his reputation—as someone who was not to be crossed—for no reason either.
“I’d prefer to instead catch the vampire responsible,” I said. “That’s primarily why I’m here—so that we look for the killer together.”
“What’s the other reason?”
I didn’t answer right away. Instead I let the silence envelope us as I pulled together the courage to say what I’d built up in my mind for the last two months.
“I know about the prophecy,” I said quietly. Andre’s eyes widened—and why wouldn’t they? He wasn’t there when Theodore confessed. He didn’t know how much I knew. I continued. “I know why Theodore wanted to kill me. And I know we’re soulmates.”
Andre glanced down at his clasped hands. His hair hung in front of his face. He looked so much like a tragic hero. “I’m . . . sorry.”
I didn’t need him to clarify his statement; I knew he was apologizing for the fact that we were now stuck together. I could also tell that while he was surprised I knew this information, he wasn’t surprised to hear it. He’d known we were soulmates this whole time, he’d just never brought it up.
“I’m here because we’re irrevocably bound to each other.”
Andre lifted his head, his eyes sparkling. He was looking at me like I was his redemption.
“But—” I continued, “this link between us scar
es me. You scare me. And I still haven’t gotten over the fact that you killed all those people.” I remembered the heaps of clothing, all that remained of dozens of vampires. The memory still gave me chills.
“I will not apologize for my actions,” he said, “not even to you. I did what I had to do to save you. You can decide to stay away from me, but if you choose not to, then you must take me the way I am.”
I couldn’t accept that conscienceless behavior, but I also needed his help. An uncomfortable mixture of thoughts and feelings tumbled through my mind. I loved this man, but I hated some of his actions. I was disgusted for wanting to forgive him because what he did was horrific. I was worried that if I didn’t bring him back into my life, the truce might dissolve, I might get kicked out of school and the Politia, I might not learn to control my vampiric abilities, and I might be persecuted.
I swallowed. It wasn’t even a choice. I needed his help.
“I will take you the way you are,” I said.
His eyes smoldered. The current between us amplified, but maybe that was just my pounding heart.
Tantalizingly slow, Andre rose from his chair and closed the distance between us, his movements sinuous. He leaned in to me and slipped a hand through my hair.
His breath brushed over my mouth. But instead of kissing me, his mouth skimmed along my cheek and stopped next to my ear. “Listen,” he said, “us working together is conditional.”
I pulled my head away from him, so that I could better see him. I was about to flat out say no—I’d made enough concessions in the last minute—except I could tell from his expression that he wanted me to. He didn’t want to work together on the investigation. That realization hurt more than I would have liked to admit.
So I changed tactics. “Oh really?” I said. “Because you don’t need my help?”
“No, I don’t. And I’d prefer to leave you out of this.”
I folded my arms in front of me. “Well, that’s not going to happen.”