Building From Ashes

  “Sure! That’d be great.”

  “Okay.” Brigid rose and walked to the small corner opposite where the bedroom door was. A small kitchen was open to the sitting room, and she plugged in the electric kettle she’d been about to start when she decided her shirts just had to be pressed. “So, are you from Dublin, then?”

  “Born and raised. You?”

  Brigid had been born and raised for the first ten years in Dublin, but she didn’t count that part. “Wicklow. My whole life.”

  “Ah. Earth vampires?”

  “Yes.” She focused on preparing two cups of tea. Two mugs. Two teabags from the box.

  “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  Brigid was tempted to burst into laughter, but she didn’t. “Um… no. Definitely not.”

  “Oh, do you have a girlfriend, then?” Emily gave her a mischievous wink, and Brigid blushed.

  “Uh, no. I like… boys.” In theory.

  “Oh, do you like…” She trailed off, and Brigid looked up to see Emily digging two fingers into her neck like fangs. “I mean, I never have, but I’ve always wondered. It’s supposed to be ama—”

  “No!” Brigid could feel her face heat and her temper begin to rise. She looked back at the tea and carefully calmed herself. “I’m not into that, either. I may wear a lot of black, but that doesn’t mean I like to… you know.”

  “Okay.” Emily leaned back against the couch and looked around again. “So, Brigid Connor, are you always like this?”

  Brigid blinked and looked up. “Like what?”

  Emily looked like she was about to laugh, but it didn’t seem mocking. “Prickly?”

  Brigid let out a breath and set down the mug she was crushing in her hand. “Honestly? Yes.”

  “Ah.”

  “But I’m trying very hard not to be.”

  “If you don’t want company—”

  “No!” She squeezed her eyes closed and concentrated on breathing for a moment to cool her temper. “No, that’s part of why I came here, you know?”

  “To school?”

  “And to the city. To… meet new people. Get out of my comfort zone a bit. Try new things.”

  A cautious look of understanding crossed Emily’s face, and Brigid relaxed. “Well, that’s good. I’d like for us to be friends.”

  Brigid bit the inside of her lip again and nodded as the kettle started to whistle. She quickly poured the water and looked back up to Emily with a smile. “I’d like that, too.”

  January 2005

  “Come on, Brig! End of first week. We need to go out.”

  “No, you go ahead. I’m just going to…”

  “What?” Emily lounged on her sofa as Brigid grabbed two drinks from the fridge. An ale for her and a cider for Emily. “What are you going to do, Brigid Connor? I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. Nothing. It’s Friday night, you’re a gorgeous twenty-year-old girl who’s just celebrated her birthday, and you’re going to hide in your cave, listen to depressing music, and read a book. Maybe write some bad poetry.”

  Brigid rolled her eyes. “Why do I like you?”

  “Because I make you go out for fun.”

  “I just don’t feel like being around people right now.”

  “You never feel like being around people. That’s the point of all this, right? Have a drink. Loosen up a bit, then we’ll go out to this new club I keep hearing about. It’ll be good craic and we need some fun. You’ll love it.”

  Brigid sneered. “No I won’t.”

  Emily paused. “Okay, you won’t. But it’ll be good for you. It’s a nice place. Not too crowded. Maybe we can dance a little. Meet some guys.”

  “Emily…” Brigid tried to keep her temper. Her first week of second term had been brutal. She knew she was pushing herself, but she was finally taking some classes that challenged her. She was exhausted, but invigorated as well. Maybe…

  “If I was as pretty as you, I’d have men eating out of my hand. I don’t care what crazy color you dye your hair, the hot guys always notice you.”

  “Right, they just don’t touch. And at least you have breasts.”

  “And a huge butt. And chubby thighs. And—”

  “Piss off. You get plenty of attention, Em.”

  Emily whined. “I won’t get any attention unless we go out!”

  She sighed. The few occasions during first term that Emily had dragged her to the numerous pubs or clubs of the Temple Bar nearby hadn’t been all that bad. As long as she could keep some distance from the more crowded clubs where people pressed up against her, she could keep her anxiety from getting out of control. And with the right amount of alcohol, she could almost have fun. She looked at the bottle of beer in her hand and quickly drank it.

  “Okay. I’ll go.”

  Emily bolted up with a huge grin. “Really?”

  “Really. I’ve conquered going to classes. Maybe this should be my project this term.”

  “Yes!” Emily stood and did a little happy dance around the room, pulling her friend up into a quick hug. Brigid tensed instinctively, then deliberately tried to relax. She held her arms around her friend. One second. Two seconds. Three.

  “Okay, that’s enough.”

  “That was good! Have a few more beers and eventually you might get laid.”

  “Shut the feck up, and let’s go before I change my mind.”

  “Oh…” Brigid peered into the flashing lights of the club and began to back away. “Oh no.”

  She felt Emily’s hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Inside.”

  “Too loud. Too crowded.”

  “It’s Friday night. Of course it’s crowded.”

  She could feel her heart begin to pound. “Emily, this isn’t a good idea.”

  “It is, it is. Let’s get you a drink and we’ll hang out for a while. It’s most crowded on the dance floor, see? We don’t have to dance; we’ll just get a booth.” Emily shoved her inside after giving a wink to the bouncer at the door. Brigid wondered if this was one of Murphy’s clubs. Seeing numerous people from Parliament House scattered around, along with a few trolling vampires, made her think it was.

  To most people, the elegant immortals wouldn’t be obvious. But Brigid had spent the previous ten years of her life living among earth and water vampires, the two most common types. All of the elements, earth, water, wind, and fire—not that she’d ever met a rare fire vampire—shared recognizable characteristics to the eyes of a knowledgeable human. Brigid could spot their preternatural grace and carefully concealed speed. A crackle of energy, their amnis, always surrounded them, and they avoided modern technology that would short out if they got too close.

  Once upon a time, she was told vampires had lived at ease among oblivious humans, but these days, the surest way of spotting a vampire was asking to borrow their mobile. Want to know whether that cute lad with the devilish grin was really an immortal, blood-drinking monster? Just ask to borrow his phone, then wait for the quick smile and the brush across your skin, wiping any memory of the encounter from your mind.

  Most of them kept to themselves. In a way, Brigid was more at home in the vampire world than the human one. She snorted when she saw two clueless girls cozying up to a tall, blond vampire who was eyeing their necks and brushing his fingers along their skin.

  “Dinner is served,” she muttered, looking around the club for Emily. She spotted her at the bar, chatting with a boy from Parliament House. This was definitely one of Murphy’s clubs.

  “Hey there!” She heard a friendly voice over the pounding music and looked to her right to see a smiling boy about her own age. He was a little taller and had a slim, runner’s build. Brown hair fell over his forehead, and he wore a pair of thick-framed glasses around beautiful dark eyes.

  Brigid smiled. “Hi.”

  “I like your shirt. Have you ever seen them in concert?”

  She looked down at her black Buzzcocks T-shirt. “Um, no. I wish.”

  “Me, too. I’m Mark.”

&
nbsp; “Brigid.”

  “Can I get you a drink?”

  She looked around. Emily was still at the bar, still talking to their neighbor. “I think my friend’s getting me a drink, thanks.”

  “Cool.”

  Brigid was standing against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, wishing she could flirt like Emily. Wishing that the thought of Mark crowding her didn’t make her heart race in terror.

  “Do you want to dance?”

  Yes.

  No.

  Do you want me to throw up on you? “I’m not really a dancer, but thanks.”

  Faced with the prospect of a still-as-a-board companion, Mark seemed to lose confidence. “Well… um, it was nice meeting you, Brigid.”

  She couldn’t help but feel the pang of disappointment. “You, too.”

  He held out his hand, but she just looked at it. In her mind, Brigid imagined reaching out. It would be warm. Mark looked warm and comfortable. Friendly. Safe. In her mind, she reached out her hand to take his, but then his hand squeezed tight. Tighter. Until her knuckles were crushed beneath his strong grip. She could almost feel the phantom pain in her fingers as her throat constricted.

  Mark blinked and stepped back, tucking his hand into his pocket and retreating.

  “Well, like I said. Nice to meet you. Great shirt.”

  She nodded and tried to smile, but she was afraid it came out more like she was in pain. The boy left and she stared at his back in longing. Why couldn’t she be normal? Then she bit the inside of her lip in disgust. Why did she even bother?

  Brigid was standing against a wall, avoiding eye contact with anyone who got too close, when Emily came back with a drink for her. Her friend shoved the pink concoction at her and grinned.

  “Try it!”

  She glared at the fruity-looking drink. “What is this?”

  “It’s a new drink that Mike was mixing at the bar. Really, try it.” She held up her hand. “See, I’ve got one, too.”

  Brigid took a sip. It was incredibly sweet. She hated sweet drinks. “Em, this really isn’t—”

  “Come on. One drink. Mike’s a friend, and it’s this new cocktail he just made up. He’s trying to get a bunch of people to order it to impress his boss.”

  Brigid looked over Emily’s shoulder to see a boyish-looking young man grinning at them. He waved his hand as his head bobbed along to the music. She sighed. “Okay. But just one. I’m not going to lie, this is disgusting.”

  “Just finish that one.” Emily was still grinning. “Trust me, you’ll love it.”

  They drifted through the crowd, sipping their drinks, until Emily spotted the blond vampire Brigid had noticed before. “Oh my God, that’s Axel!”

  Brigid frowned and looked around, squinting in the direction Emily was looking. “Who? Tall, blond, and…” Immortal. She looked around. “You know. The one in the booth?”

  “Yes! I heard he was amazing in bed.”

  Brigid snorted. “Really? After however many years and who knows how many girls, I’d hope so.”

  Emily slapped her arm, but for some reason, Brigid didn’t flinch. In fact, as she sucked down the last of her drink, she realized she was beginning to feel a little sick. Still, the sound of the music seemed to be more pleasant in her ears, and she was beginning to sway to the rhythm.

  “Let’s go over and say hi.”

  “What, to the blond one?”

  “Sure! I’ll tell him we’re friends of Murphy’s. If nothing else, maybe he’ll let us sit down. My feet are killing me.”

  “I told you not to wear those shoes.” Emily was right, though. All the black leather booths that surrounded the dance floor were filled except Axel’s. He had one friend—security of some kind, from the way the human was watching the room—with him, but otherwise, the vampire was alone. Brigid wondered what had happened to the two girls he’d been entertaining earlier.

  Maybe they weren’t his type.

  His blood type, she thought with a giggle.

  A giggle?

  Emily started toward the booth, and Brigid followed behind her. They came up to Axel, and he smiled.

  “You ladies are from Parliament House, yes? Friends of Mike’s?”

  He had a very slight accent, lilting and pleasant. He really was very handsome, Brigid thought. If he were tan instead of pale, he would have looked like a surfer or a lifeguard. He had been sired young, only a bit older than they were, and his face was boyishly handsome. His eyes were a vivid blue-green that Brigid found herself staring into. She shook her head as Axel held out a hand and motioned them into the booth.

  “What do you want to drink? I will get it for you. Anything for girls from Parliament House.”

  Emily giggled and slid closer to him. “Um… a Cosmopolitan for me?”

  Axel grinned at Emily, then turned his eyes to Brigid. “And for you?”

  “Nothing for me, thanks. Maybe just a bottle of water.”

  He shrugged in a careless way. “I told you, whatever you want. Valon?” The security guy turned to Axel and they exchanged quick words in some unknown language. Emily and Axel began flirting. Emily was telling the vampire about a holiday she had taken to Sweden a few summers before, and Axel was laughing along as if she was the most fascinating girl he’d ever met.

  Brigid had to hand it to him; the blond immortal certainly wasn’t lacking in charm. She nodded in thanks when the burly security guard returned with her bottle of water and another fruity cocktail for Emily. Axel, she noticed, was drinking nothing. But he was definitely staring at Emily’s neck.

  She tried not to be judgmental. It wasn’t as if Deirdre and Ioan had warned her off vampires, but she knew her Aunt Sinead wanted her to meet a nice, human boy her own age. Brigid thought anyone besides Cormac Riley would be an improvement. He was the only boy who had ever attempted kissing her, and according to Ioan, his arm had suffered permanent nerve damage as a result.

  She took a deep breath and realized that the nausea still hadn’t passed. She tugged on Emily’s arm, not wanting to brave the crowd without her friend. Emily looked away from Axel.

  “You okay?”

  “I don’t feel very well. I think that drink was too sweet. Where’s the loo in this place?” She smiled an apologetic smile in Axel’s direction, trying to be polite. To his credit, the vampire did seem perfectly friendly.

  Emily’s eyebrows immediately creased in concern, so she stood and guided Brigid through the crowd with one hand on her back. In the back of her mind, Brigid realized that something felt off. Wrong. Then she realized she wasn’t flinching.

  Emily had a hand on the small of her back, leading her through a crowded dance club, and people were brushing past and bumping into her.

  But Brigid wasn’t flinching.

  In fact, the more they wove through the crowd, the more Brigid realized that the music sounded good. Great even. She blinked and looked around, then turned to Emily.

  “Em.”

  Her friend was looking at her with a guilty expression. “What?”

  “What the feck was in that drink?”

  The color drained from Emily’s face. “You know… just vodka. Some cranberry and lime juice… and some…” Her low mumble was lost in the crowd, but Brigid caught the movement of her lips when her friend admitted the truth.

  Ecstasy.

  Brigid’s jaw dropped. She dragged Emily down the hall, past the bathrooms, realizing that she no longer felt the least bit sick to her stomach. In fact, she felt incredible. She pushed past a group of college boys hanging by the door to the alley and shoved Emily up against the back wall.

  “What the feck, Emily?”

  “Don’t overreact. It’s just a little—”

  “What in God’s name would make you do that?”

  Emily stomped her foot. “Oh, shut up! Do you realize you just walked through that whole group of boys without cringing? And, for your information, I had Mike put half a pill in. That’s it, Brig. Don’t be so high and might
y! What makes this any different than having a few too many drinks? You do that all the time to loosen up. Do you even feel sick anymore?”

  She was livid. “No, but Emily—”

  “No different. None! You have a few pints; you take the stick out of your arse. You have half—half—a pill, and maybe you do the same. It’s not dangerous, you know. You’re not going to get addicted or any shite like that. Half this fecking club is taking it right now. It’s practically on the menu at the bar.”

  Her heart was racing. She felt warm, but she couldn’t seem to care. “Half the club? Are you?”

  “Yes.”

  That brought Brigid up short. “But…”

  “I don’t seem any different?”

  She blinked and her eyes seemed to clear. “Um… not really, no.”

  Emily rolled her eyes and grabbed Brigid’s arm, linking it with hers while she pulled them back toward the main room where the music pounded. “That’s because I take it all the time. Well, not all the time, but when I’m going out? Sure! It’s really not a big deal, Brig. It’s no different from having a few drinks to relax. Now, how do you feel?”

  How did she feel? Brigid felt… amazing. A boy passed by and did a quick scan. He caught her eye and smiled, but she didn’t feel panicky. In fact, she smiled back.

  “I feel… I’m okay, I guess.”

  A sly smile took over Emily’s mouth. “Just okay?”

  “I feel…” Brigid took a deep breath and closed her eyes as they approached the dance floor. She felt the music as if it was a physical sensation. The bass stroked along her skin. She opened her eyes and the colored lights that lit the pulsating bodies mesmerized her. Her heart felt as if it beat in time to the music. The dance floor moved in one inviting motion. She let out a slow breath.

  “I love it.”

  Emily was forgotten on the edge of the crowd. She saw the boy from earlier, Mark, dancing in the middle of the floor. She lifted her arms and swayed, moving without a care as she made her way toward him. Each touch that brushed against her felt like a caress. She sidled up to Mark and caught his eye with a smile on her face.