CHAPTER 6
B
efore opening the front door, I braced myself for the very real probability that my guest on the other side would not be in the best of moods. I didn't know if Aleksei was the type to hold a grudge, but I couldn't count on him not still being pissed at my refusal to let him in. I thought about asking Anasztaizia for tips on dealing with a ticked-off vampire, but I wasn't sure how objective she would be
.
Squaring my shoulders, I told myself to ignore the fact that Aleksei was a vampire. I should treat him like any other guy with a chip on his shoulderâin his case, a really, really big shoulder.
The first thing he did was snarl at me. The second was drop his fangs. So much for trying to ignore the vampire part. He apparently had no intention of letting me forget exactly what he was. I took a step back and began rethinking the wisdom of inviting him inside.
“Aleksei . . .”
The voice coming from behind me shifted his focus, and I was stunned at his transformation. Hostile attitude and fangs both disappeared at the slightly disapproving tone in Anasztaizia's musical lilt, allowing me to see their relationship wasn't at all one-sided. Completely smitten, Aleksei would do absolutely anything for this woman.
“It's all right, Rowan,” Anasztaizia murmured from behind me as she placed her hand on my shoulder. “He's just a little unsettled.”
Unsettled?
A dozen different adjectives to explain the big guy's state of mind bounced around inside my head. Every one of them was normally used to describe an act of violence.
Unsettled
wasn't one of them.
“Please,” the exotic blonde continued in a low voice, “you have to invite him in.”
Swallowing, I looked at the vampire standing on my cheery ho-ho-ho Christmas doormat and, taking a deep breath, asked, “Aleksei, won't you please come in?”
He stepped over the threshold and brushed past me, almost flattening me against the wall. In a way I could understand his reaction. If vampires were as possessive as Anasztaizia had said, then being kept waiting on my porch must have been absolute torture for him. He was looking for reassurance that his girlfriend had not been harmed by walking into the proverbial lion's den, alone and without his protection. The fact that she had done so of her own free will was completely irrelevant. My actions had made it a necessity. It was something I didn't think he was going to forgive, or forget, anytime soon.
After closing the front door, I turned to see Anasztaizia being swallowed up inside the army greatcoat as Aleksei wrapped his arms around her. Low murmuring was interspersed with chaste kisses administered to her forehead, temples, and nose. And then a decidedly unchaste one was placed on her mouth. I could almost feel the raw heat as I quickly lowered my gaze. Was that what Gabriel and I looked like?
“You sent me away,” Aleksei growled, glaring back at me over the top of Anasztaizia's head.
“Well, you lied to me!” I shot back, using whatever bourbon was still in my system to be reckless. “So I guess we're even.”
Extricating herself from his embrace, Anasztaizia caught hold of Aleksei's chin and spoke to him in a sharp tone. I didn't understand the words, but I caught the general gist. She was telling him to knock it off. His chest moved as he took a deep breath, and I felt a palpable drop in the tension. Taking his hand, Anasztaizia led him back to the kitchen.
Aleksei pulled out a chair, took off his coat, and draped it over the back. He then set about moving it next to his girlfriend's so the two chairs were now side by side. I hid my grin by covering my mouth with a hand before resuming my own seat. Anasztaizia busied herself making a fresh pot of the delicious coffee.
“You are first person never to have believed me,” Aleksei grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. “And I am sorry to lie to you,” he added with a sigh.
I knew the apology was being given at Anasztaizia's behest, and I got the feeling it wasn't something that happened very often. I decided I could be magnanimous.
“Apology accepted,” I told him.
He grunted and stared at me. I told myself he was regarding me with newfound respect, but who was I kidding? He was probably calculating how much pressure it would take to snap my neck, and judging from the size of his hands, it wouldn't be much. But he
had
underestimated me earlier. Something I was sure he wouldn't do again.
“Gabriel has told me to answer questions.”
“What sort of questions?” I ventured warily.
“About vampires,” he said with a scowl. “There are things you are wanting to know, yes?”
Although Anasztaizia had assured me that if my demise was something Gabriel wanted, I'd already be pushing up daisies, I hadn't totally believed her. I did now. It was plain to see Aleksei was not thrilled by the prospect of being my go-to guy for all things vampire. And I didn't see Gabriel wasting his second-in-command's time making him play twenty questions if he was only going to kill me afterward.
“So, what do you want to know?” he asked.
“About vampires?” I stared at him for a long minute before giving him a sly smile. “How about . . .
everything
.”
Of course I didn't need to know that much. I already knew at least three things about vampires that couldn't be disputed: drinking blood was necessary to their survival, daylight was a big no-no (which explained why Gabriel never stayed the night with me), and they had to be invited to cross a threshold. But it was good to see the big guy momentarily flummoxed by my answer.
“Actually there are only three things I want answers to,” I said, holding up the appropriate number of fingers.
“Only three? You are surprising me, Rowan.” Aleksei being sarcastic, who knew?
“Yeah well, they're kind of biggies, so don't get excited.”
“Tell me.” He smiled, first at me, then at Anasztaizia, who put mugs of hot, steaming coffee in front of us.
“What does it mean . . . I'm Gabriel's Promise?”
Anasztaizia's sharp intake of breath took me by surprise. Apparently they hadn't been expecting that. Score one for me. Their hesitation and the way they surreptitiously glanced at each other made me even more curious. And also scared.
“You do not know?” Aleksei asked quietly, spooning sugar into his mug.
I sighed. “Would I be asking if I did?”
“This I cannot tell you. Ask me different question.”
Not the informative start I was hoping for, but I wasn't about to give up just yet. “You can't tell me
anything
?” I prodded stubbornly.
He glanced at Anasztaizia, who made the tiniest movement of her head. “All I can tell you is you are bound to Gabriel by ritual. One that cannot be broken.”
“What exactly do you mean by
bound
?” I wasn't sure if he was referring to kinky leather restraints or something with matrimonial implications. Neither prospect gave me the warm fuzzies.
“I don't know,” Aleksei said, looking angry. “Talking about a Promise is forbidden.”
“You're kidding, right?” We hadn't even begun to play twenty questions and he was already shooting me down. “You can't tell me about it even though it involves me?”
Ignoring me, Aleksei raised his mug to his mouth.
“Why not?” I asked, sounding like a bratty kid who can't get her own way.
“Because it is not permitted,” Anasztaizia said firmly, taking her seat next to Aleksei and patting his beefy bicep. “No vampire is allowed to talk of a Promise. Doing so, even among themselves, means punishment.”
These were vampires we were talking about, and from the little I'd seen, they were a pretty resilient bunch. Katja had actually pushed her dislocated shoulder back into place while crab-hopping down a hallway with a swollen knee. What kind of a punishment could they possibly be given? Lock them in a room and make them listen to Justin Bieber CDs until their ears bled?
“So who
can
tell me what being a Promise means?”
“Gabriel,” they both said together. Right. Should have seen that one coming.
“So, what is second question?” Aleksei had obviously decided we were done with the whole pesky Promise issue, and he was ready to move on. My feelings didn't seem to count for much, but as I was already treading on thin ice with him, I let it drop.
“How does someone become a vampire?” I asked. “Do you just have to bite them?”
He rolled his eyes, and Anasztaizia reached for his hand.
“Rowan! You smart girl saying stupid words!” he chastised. “Think about what you say. If this is how vampires are made, then the world would already be full of vampires.”
Embarrassment made my face burn. He was right, of course, but in my defense, the prospect of vampires running rampant across the planet wasn't something I generally thought about. If all it took to create a vampire was simply being bitten by one, then both species would have died out centuries ago. No wonder Aleksei was annoyed with meâI was annoyed with me! Hadn't Anasztaizia shown me where her boyfriend had had a little nibble earlier? And she was very definitely not a vampire. Good Lord, what was wrong with me?
“And you should know not every human can be made vampire,” Aleksei said. “Only those possessing the proper marker can be turned.”
“What's a marker?”
It was Anasztaizia who answered me. “Think of it as a recessive gene.”
Did I really look like the type of girl who reads
DNA Digest
or
Genetics Weekly
? What did I know about genes, recessive or otherwise? I counted myself lucky to remember enough basic biology to recall how many pairs of chromosomes were in the human body.
“It makes it possible to survive the transition,” she clarified, “and helps with adapting to a vampire existence.”
I brought my gaze back to Aleksei. “And do I have this marker?”
“No,” he said very decisively.
“How do you know?”
“You are a Promise.”
“And that means I can't be turned into a vampire?”
“Exactly!” He looked positively smug.
“So I'm bound to a vampire,” I said slowly, “but I can't be turned into one.”
Two heads nodded at the same time, and though I felt sure this was a good thing, I was uncertain which one of us the distinction affected moreâGabriel or myself. The idea that a vampire would be bound to a non-vampire, and vice versa, struck me as potentially problematic. However, the look on Aleksei's face suggested I'd have more luck asking my toaster oven for further clarification. This dealt with my being a Promise, and I decided not to annoy him by asking questions he wouldn't answer. Gabriel was going to have a lot of explaining to do. “So how do you change someone?” I asked instead.
“Vampires cannot change a human,” he said. “It is something only a Fallen can do.”
“A Fallen? What's that?”
“They are the Original Vampires,” Anasztaizia said, keeping her voice so low I almost didn't catch what she was saying, “and they are the only ones who can let you look death in the face, but not take his hand.” I appreciated the romantic spin, but it didn't really tell me anything. My feelings must have been evident because she gave a small sigh before continuing. “To turn a human into a vampire, the process must begin at the exact moment of the final heartbeatâtoo soon and the body will not respond. The skill is in knowing which beat will be the last, and only the Fallen possess this knowledge.”
For the next few moments the only sound I could hear was the low hum of the motor in my fridge. It sounded like it was only a couple of revolutions from conking out.
“And Gabriel is one of these Fallen vampires, isn't he?”
“Yes,” Aleksei said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“And he turned you into a vampire, didn't he?”
“Yes.” He jutted out his chin as if daring me to dispute it. Why would I? It hadn't been that difficult to figure out.
I looked at Anasztaizia. “Is he going to make you one too?”
She shook her head. “No . . . I cannot be turned.” The regret in her voice said she would like nothing more, and seeing her hand disappear inside Aleksei's huge paw, the reason why also wasn't difficult to figure out.
“Did he make Katja a vampire?” I asked.
“No,” Aleksei said with a shake of his head. “She was turned by Ryiel.”
The rush of relief I felt was quite unexpected and very intense. If Gabriel had turned the exotic beauty into a vampire, then, to my mind, her feelings for him would border on the creepy and incestuous. “So . . . who's Vladimir?” I asked.
“You know Vladimir?” Anasztaizia looked at me with surprise.
“He was in the house,” I told her. “He asked Katja who I was.”
“And she told him?” Anasztaizia seemed stunned by the idea.
I nodded. “Yeah, but I got the impression he wasn't very happy at me being there.” I paused and looked at both of them. “He told her that if things went south he wouldn't be able to protect her.”
“He said that?” The blonde pursed her lips, looking faintly troubled.
“Well, not in those exact words,” I said, “but I'm pretty sure that's what he was implying.”
“I didn't know Vladimir was there,” Aleksei said, his mouth becoming a grim line.
“Maybe I've got the wrong guy? Tall, aristocratic-looking. Like a movie star from the fifties with a great widow's peak.”