A Vision of Green (Florence Vaine #2) (20 page)

“
You've been out for hours, how are you feeling?” she asks.

My voice won't work just yet, so I pull myself to a sitting position and peer about. I'm on a couch in somebody's living room. Then I glance out the window and see the mobile home, and realise that this must be the house it's parked in front of.

“
I'm a little d-dizzy,” I finally manage. “Is this your house?”

“
Nah, I'm just a lowly lodger,” she grins. “Your friends are in the caravan with Rita, we brought you in here because there was more space for you to lie down.”

“
Oh thank you,” I rub at my forehead. “This has never happened to me before. That girl, Rita, she's not like other people. Her aura was too complex for me to fix.”

“
Complex is definitely a word to describe her. But you must have done something good, she says she's feeling a lot better than she had been. Although she's a little guilty that you ended up passing out because of it. Rita – well, she's sort of unique. I'm not surprised you found her more difficult to work on.”

“
Hayley said she's a powerful witch, a white witch.”

Tegan nods. “She's one of the few good ones I've met. The others have more
ambiguous
morals.”

Suddenly I'm reminded of Diana. “There was a coven of dark witches in the town where I live recently, n-n-nothing ambiguous about their morals,” I laugh half-heartedly. “They were evil though and through.”

“
They're gone now?” she asks, holding out a glass of water for me to take a sip.

“
Yes, thankfully. Only I'm beginning to think that once one bad guy leaves, another's always there ready to take its place,” I say, thinking of the unknown monsters in the Chesterport forest. Of my dad, who has all of the credentials to be a super villain other than the supernatural abilities.

A soft smile touches Tegan's lips. “You know I grew up there, in Chesterport, your town. Bit of a coincidence, huh? Seems like a lifetime ago.”

“
Maybe a lot has happened to you since then, that's why it feels like longer,” I suggest quietly, seeing the nostalgia flicker through Tegan's wonderful aura.

“
You're very wise for a teenager, anybody ever tell you that?”

I shrug and look through the window again, noting that it's dark out. Was I asleep for the entire day?

“
What time is it?” I ask.

“
Just gone past seven-thirty. You slept for a solid seven hours. Your boyfriend was pretty worried about you.”

“
He's n-n-not my boyfriend,” I tell her, a little too fervently.

Her smile transforms into a smirk. “You could have fooled me, I'm guessing it's complicated?”

“
Sort of.”

“
Thought so,” she says, as her eyes dart to the window, focusing on something outside it. She curses under her breath and mumbles, “I know the feeling, I've got some complications of my own.”

Before I can reply, there's a swift knock at the door and Tegan goes to answer it.

A moment later I hear a smooth male voice announce, “I'm looking for Delilah, is she here?”

“
It's not my job to keep tabs on your sister's whereabouts, Ethan,” Tegan answers. “And no, she's not here.”

“
You're hiding something,” says the man, Ethan. “I can tell. Delilah and I fought last night. I thought she would have come here so that she could avoid me.”

“
Well she's not here,” Tegan stands firm.

“
Let me see for myself,” Ethan retorts and a second later he storms into the living room.

I'm still sitting on the couch, slightly dazed, which is probably why I have a hard time taking my eyes off him. Tall, lean, blond and completely beautiful in a very male way. I've never seen a man like him before. His aura is scarlet and gold, definitely not human. Wow.

He seems to sniff the air in the room as he notes my presence. Finally he says, “You have elf blood. That's rare. Who are you?”

“
She's here with an old friend of Noreen's, they came to see Rita,” Tegan interjects, coming into the room and scowling up at Ethan.

“
Ah. How is the little witch faring?” Ethan asks, and when his eyes peruse Tegan there is undeniable lust seeping through his colours. Perhaps he's the complication she was referring to.

“
She's all right, as well as can be expected. Flo here's an Empath, she was working on Rita's aura, trying to ease some of the grief for her.”

“
Interesting,” says Ethan, turning back to me. “Is that the only elf trait you carry, or are there more?”

“
Elf trait?” I question, a little confused. What's an elf trait?

“
The elves posses many talents, one of them is the ability to heal and alter emotions. Others include telepathy, teleportation, predicting future events, telekinesis, speaking with the dead, etc. Mostly lying in the realm of the psychic.”

“
Telepathy, is that like r-reading thoughts and stuff?”

“
Reading thoughts and sending them, telepaths can read what another is thinking and speak silently in another's mind.”

That sounds a lot like what Frank and his brothers can do, but it also reminds me of earlier in the truck, when I'd thought I heard Frank saying something. The funny thing was, he hadn't breathed a word.

“
I'm thinking I might have a slight touch of that, but mainly I read auras. I've just always been able to.”

“
You are quite lucky then. If you are open to the idea, you should consider coming and working for me.” Ethan says, with a very professional voice.

“
Oh for crying out loud. You're always on the make, Ethan. Leave the poor girl alone. Do you ask everyone you think you can use to come and work for you?” Tegan grits out.

Ethan turns to her and his aura goes wild, the colours jumbling and changing, like he loves her and hates her all at the same time. It hits me strongly because he's not human. Without thinking, I blurt out, “What are
you
?”

Tegan bursts out laughing. “Ever heard of Count Dracula?” She gestures to Ethan and gives me a wink.

I stare gob smacked at the man, who is surrounded by his aura of scarlet and gold. “You're a v-vampire. That's crazy, and a little amazing.”

Ethan smiles and makes a bow, before stating deadpan, “I aim to impress.” He turns and looks Tegan up and down. “Is that shirt intended to provoke me? You know as well as I do that using garlic against vampires is a ridiculous myth.”

“
Everything about you is ridiculous,” she says, with what I imagine is an intentionally immature voice.

He grips her wrist and pulls her closer to him, whispering in her ear something like, “Be careful, or I'll rip the stupid thing off you.”

Woah. I'm feeling extremely uncomfortable witnessing this exchange. Fortunately, Tegan pulls away from him quickly. “Delilah's not here. I don't know where she is, so you can continue your search elsewhere.”

Ethan's stare could cut through steel. “Fine.” He stops to look at me. “Farewell, little elf. Consider my offer, won't you?”

I tell him I will, even though I have no intention of considering anything of the sort. Ethan is beautiful, but scary beautiful. Not the kind of person I could handle being around for a very long period of time. He's like a contained cauldron of feelings, too intense for a human to comprehend. Always on the cusp of exploding, but never quite getting there. I'd probably go insane if I had to take in his aura on a regular basis. I tick off the prospect of trying to befriend any vampires in the near or distant future.

Once he's gone Tegan drops down into an armchair and lets out a long sigh. “So, that was your first encounter with a vamp, eh?” she asks, somewhat sardonically. I don't think the sentiment is aimed at me though.

“
Um, y-yeah.”

“
First impressions?”

“
Intense. Mesmerising. Terrifying.”

She laughs, a loud guffaw that bounces off the walls. “Choice words, and very accurate. Do yourself a favour and make sure that your first encounter is your last. Vamps will suck you in, excuse the pun, mess up your life and act as though you deserved it.”

“
Thanks for the advice, I think I'll t-take it.” I say earnestly.

“
You're welcome. Now come on, let's get you back to your boyfriend,” she replies, helping me up. I'm a little wobbly on my feet.

“
He's n-n-not my..”

“
Save it,” Tegan interrupts. “I just spent the best part of the day with him fretting over you. Trust me, he's crazy about you.” She gives my shoulders a firm squeeze.

One part of me is dismayed by this information, yet another part is elated. A small secret smile touches my lips as Tegan leads me out of the house.

On the drive home, Hayley tells me all about how Rita's condition had gotten so much better after I worked on her. I tell her I'm just glad that I could be of help. Frank seems to insist that I let him do absolutely everything for me, treating me like a delicate flower that might wilt at any moment. On one level I'm filled with disappointment, wanting to have been able to heal Rita completely instead of just a little bit. After all, I did come all this way.

We stop off at a restaurant and have a late dinner. Hayley talks about how she'll be returning to the city tomorrow to help Rita with the funeral arrangements. I'm sort of in another world, going through the motions of eating. I'm completely consumed with thoughts of what Ethan said about me having elf blood. Now the idea is all too real, since I've had two completely unconnected supernatural beings confirm it for me.

Am I going to develop more and more abilities as I get older? Will I soon be hearing everyone's thoughts as well as seeing their auras? The prospect doesn't excite me. I'm just barely handling things as it is, I think if I had the gift of telepathy I'd just about go insane from overexposure.

I'm wide awake for the rest of the journey in John's truck, since I slept all day. My brain is far too alert for my liking. I don't want to have to think about any of this for a while. When we get to my house I notice that every single light is on. Then Frank rolls down his window and booming music assaults my ears. Great, Dad and Sal are having a party. I really wish I had somewhere else I could go.

“
Looks like there's a shindig going on,” says John, glancing at me in his overhead mirror.

“
Dad l-loves his parties,” I mutter, picking at my fingernails.

“
You know, you're welcome to stay at ours,” he continues. “I think Ross and Layla are having a movie night, I'm sure they'd love for you to join them.”

Frank gives me a little nudge of encouragement with his shoulder. I can see the worry in John's eyes. It makes me sad because there's fatherly concern in there too, and he's not even my actual dad. However, it's the pity that makes me uncomfortable. I hate that people can see exactly what my dad is like in the way I act. How I carry myself. John hasn't even met him and I can tell he sees the real picture all too clearly.

I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me, so I plaster on a brave face. “Thanks for the offer, but it's been a long day and I think I need my own bed right now.”

He gives me a fond look and a solemn nod, but doesn't argue.

“
I could come in and stay with you for a while, make sure you don't faint again. What you did today must have been a real drain on your energy levels.” Frank offers.

“
No, that's all right. I'll be fine. I'll see you on Monday,” I tell him and push open the door to get out.

Looking back at Frank, I notice his eyes are trained on the house. On the noise of people partying and the loud music blaring. He's angry, that much is obvious. Bits of black work through his flames and his jaw tightens. The black bits are his demon, trying to takeover.