Authors: April Smyth
He smiles widely, picks me up in his arms and spins me around. Oliver looks on enviously as the two stunning men with their seductive French accents coo at me. I can understand why watching these two perfect specimens cuddle and play with my hair would be uncomfortable to him but as soon as I can I reach out my hand and squeeze his to let him know that even these gorgeous French supermodels could never steal my heart from him.
Rose leaves us to get the car rental sorted and Oliver excuses himself too and follows her so I’m left alone with Maurice’s ex-bodyguards. ‘What are you guys doing here?’ I ask. Don’t tell me they are witches too although it wouldn’t surprise me if they were supernatural because they are too delectable to be human.
Justin runs a hand through his shiny brown hair which has grown significantly longer since I last saw him, he’s grown a shaggy beard too but he doesn’t look unruly like Oliver does with his untamable hair and beard. Justin just looks flawless. If I didn’t love Oliver and if my feelings hadn’t been so complex for Gabe then I am sure I would have fallen head over heels in love with these two men.
‘Channing was seeing about an acting contract in Hollywood so when Rose called and told us you were coming to New York we hopped on a plane. We have been dying to see you again, Cassie,’ Justin’s thick French accent makes him almost incoherent but doubly attractive.
‘So you guys aren’t witches?’ I laugh.
‘Nope,’ Channing chuckles and tucks a stand of my hair behind my ear lovingly. I never noticed the fondness in their eyes the first time around. I think I’d been too wrapped up in Gabe drama, and trying not to be killed by Maurice, to notice how much they care about me but they must do if they were willing to risk their own lives to get me to safety.
‘I’ve missed you guys!’ I surprise myself by saying. It’s true. They remind me that this past year has not been entirely disastrous.
We sit down together, me in the middle of an incredibly delicious sandwich, and they tell me about how they have spent the last six months since escaping from Maurice. They have had to lay low because Maurice could still be after them so, unfortunately, they haven’t been able to do any modelling work that might result in too much exposure but, with Maurice’s life expected to end soon, they are planning to relaunch themselves. Channing wants to turn his hand to acting and I can’t see why any Hollywood executive wouldn’t cast him as the leading man in any film and Justin has fallen in love with a director of indie movies and plans to settle down with her and work on movies together.
I am filled with happiness to hear that their lives have not been destroyed by Maurice. They seem to have picked up the fragmented pieces of their former lives and built something even greater. ‘What about you, my sweet?’ Channing asks. ‘What have you been doing?’
My shoulders sag as I explain that my life has been fine. I gush about how good it was to spend so much time with my family, uninterrupted by vampires or witches, and how I managed to have a fairly normal life where I could go shopping with my friends and even had a sort-of boyfriend. The mention of boyfriend makes Channing say, ‘Is that your boyfriend with you and Rose?’
If it is possible for your body to shine then I’m sure that’s what mine does at the mention of Oliver being my boyfriend. I guess he is. We love each other and spending time with him is my favourite thing to do so I’m pretty sure that qualifies him as my boyfriend.
‘What about Gabe?’ Justin asks and his brother shoots him an aggressive look.
There is a lump in my throat as I think about Gabe, who I am soon going to have to face again, have I left him behind for Oliver? Yes. I don’t regret falling for Oliver one bit but I can’t escape all of these pervasive, judging glances as people struggle to understand how I can have moved on from Gabe so quickly.
‘He has Claire,’ is all I manage to say and I try to push it to the back of my mind that maybe the only reason I am with Oliver is because Gabe chose Claire over me. That’s not it...
The handsome brothers give me a pitying look before Oliver and Rose return with the keys to our car. Oliver places his arm around my waist and it is so comfortable to me that I wonder if I need him to be stuck to me always now. He looks Channing and Justin up and down before turning to me and planting a soft kiss on my cheek. I squirm as I realise how territorial he is being, is this a trait belonging to werewolves? Does he feel an animalistic urge to stake his claim on me and show the rest of the pack that he is the alpha male?
‘We ought to go,’ Rose says. She loops her arm around Channing’s waist and I wonder if there is something going on there. They seem to be awfully cosy and it would make sense. They are both exquisitely beautiful, kind, funny and brave. I could be wrong though because I had been under the impression that Rose had a crush on Oliver when really she was trying to push he and I together.
I give Rose a sideways glance. The amazing thing about a good friend is that you can look at them and ask them a question without saying a word. She nods bashfully and rests her head against Channing’s chest. I remind myself to quiz her around her relationship with Channing when we get a moment alone. Why hasn’t she mentioned this before? Surely if you were sleeping with an Adonis like Channing then you would be broadcasting it to the world. Well, I suppose things haven’t been particularly smooth running since we left Toulouse.
‘We will meet up for lunch soon,’ Justin tells me and kisses me on both cheeks. Channing follows suit then I blush as I watch Channing and Rose share a passionate farewell kiss. This is a new development. I got the impression Rose would never love after losing Dan. I guess I should know that we are not all limited to one great love in our life. She must have kept close contact with the handsome twins while she stayed here with Arrow and Gabe.
Leaving them is tougher than I thought considering I didn’t realise just how much I missed their charming presence in my life. I’m scared that Maurice will find them before the witches get the chance to kill him. It hurts to think of a world where two such classic beauties, inside and out, are extinguished and it hurts even more to think what it would do to Rose to lose another love. She deserves a long, happy relationship in her life.
We say our goodbyes and make our way to the car where I fall asleep on Oliver’s shoulder while Rose drives singing along gently to Christmas songs that are playing on the radio. Hearing the jingle and jangle of bells and the jolly vocals makes me think about last December when everything was different. None of these people had entered my life. I was lonely and I was bored and I was desperate for a way out. I moped every day, even Christmas day, and I didn’t appreciate how lucky I was to spending the holidays with my family. Now I would be spending Christmas day with a bunch of strange witches. I hope that my blood has healed Shannon and they can have a Christmas as a family even if I’m not there.
I expected our location to be a creepy cottage in the middle of a dark forest in the South but Rose seems to be getting closer and closer to the buzzing inner city where the lights are flashing and illuminating the black sky. I see signs for Manhattan and get giddy that I am visiting such a monumental city. It’s amazing that a horde of supernatural witches are living here and nobody notices then again America is the home of vampires now. We pass a vampire specific hotel as we drive and I stare in wonder at the gothic facade with no windows then feel cold as I think about the creatures waking up from their daytime slumber ready to chase me for my blood. I wonder how many of the vampires who stay in hotels like that are tracking me.
The witches own an entire apartment block in an affluent street in Manhattan. This is so far away from what I imagined their accomodation to be like. We park up and roll our luggage into the lobby of the building. The carpets are red and lush and there is a grand staircase and an old fashioned elevator. ‘Wow,’ Oliver takes the words out of my mouth. ‘And here I was expecting cauldrons and cobwebs and witches.’
Rose giggles and gives him a silly, disapproving stare as we push our stuff into the small elevator and press the button. There’s not room for our cases and all three of us to ride it as well so we leave our things to travel alone and we take the stairs. Arrow is on the top floor. It appears Rose’s second cousin is the head honcho here and stays in the penthouse suite with her witch boyfriend, Garrett, and their three year old kid, Cecilia. These were the things I’d learned on the drive and I had started to build up a picture of my saviour. I had once imagined Arrow to be a scary old lady with long grey hair and warts on her nose but now that I know Rose and June are witches I realise Arrow will just be a normal woman making a life for herself and her family in New York City.
I am getting breathless as we climb the stairs but I’m fit enough to know that it’s not the strenuous exercise, I’m losing my breath because I know that, behind one of these doors, Gabe is here. Only a thin wall separates me and one of the most important people in my life. Does he know I’m here or will it be a surprise to him? I try to imagine how he will look when he see me. I don’t think he’ll be too happy. Gabe doesn’t like not being in control; it frightens him and he tends to climb further into his hard shell when he feels under attack.
Arrow is waiting at the door of the penthouse suite when we make it to the tenth floor. It’s not obvious that she is related to Rose because she isn’t stereotypically beautiful like her second cousin but there is definitely something about the way Arrow looks that draws you in. Her eyes are almost feline and she has an otherworldly presence that I feel emanating as she reaches out to hug me. ‘It’s incredible to meet you, Cassie,’ she says and I look into the ghostly eyes of the woman who has protected me for the past six months. She is also the same woman who saved Gabe from vampirism and gave him back his memories.
Everything seems civil as Arrow welcomes us into her home and introduces to her husband and her gorgeous daughter before showing Rose one of the guest bedrooms and Oliver and I the other. ‘Rose said you would want to stay together,’ Arrow stifles a giggle and I feel Oliver squeeze my hand.
We put away our things and everybody is still avoiding the main concerns as Arrow orders in a pizza and eat together around Arrow’s magnificent dining table. You would never guess that witches lived her. These people seemed incredibly normal and so did their apartment. It was strange.
The issues are still not confronted until it gets really late and Arrow puts Cecilia to bed. She makes a herbal tea that I hope is not filled with some potion and we all sit on her plush corner sofa sipping away politely. ‘So let’s get down to a business, Cassie, I’m sure you have a lot of questions,’ Arrow is the last to sit down and her long fingers with pointed black fingernails wrap around her coffee mug.
At first glance Arrow seems like a normal city mother and wife but when she pulls her dark hair out of a bun at the top of her head and the long waves tumble down to her skinny ass I begin to inspect her more closely. She is wearing two sets of colourful beads around her neck and metallic rings on every finger. She is wearing a long swishy black dress that falls to her ankles, the kind of dress only a powerful witch could wear, and when she peels off her cardigan I see an intricate tattoo on her shoulder. There is no mistaking this woman is in touch with something not from this world.
‘So what’s going on with Maurice? Where is he?’ Rose speaks for me because truthfully I’m too overwhelmed by this situation to know what questions I’m supposed to be asking. All I can think about is how close Gabe is. I want to get it over with. I want to see him.
‘Two of the girls are near him. He’s about an hour away from the city but he stopped by one of the vampire hotels for a couple of days. We think he’s been conferencing with some other important vampires so that if anything happens to him... well, they could get revenge for him,’ Arrow says seriously. ‘The only consolation is that vampires are very unfaithful and it’s highly doubtful that they would carry out any requests of vengeance unless it works out in their favour. However, it may work out in their favour if they can get their hands on some Healer blood.’
Everyone looks at me at the mention of Healer blood and I blush. Rose is asking all the questions I should be thinking, ‘So how many vampires do you reckon are after her... I mean, us?’
I feel Oliver’s body tense at the thought of hungry vampires being after me and I know he is thinking about the attack yesterday and how he had to see my body almost drained and covered in blood yesterday. He wraps one arm around my shoulders and pulls me in tightly as if this small act will keep me safe from harm.