Fighting Destiny (Central Coven) (10 page)

“Alright, I’m convinced you aren’t evil. So how do
non-evil
vampires survive?” He smiled deviously, “You mean what do I eat?” I nodded yes.  “I get blood from a friend at a blood bank.  I haven’t killed a person in several hundred years.”  “I believe you…but I’m not convinced I should spend more time with you, non-evil or not.”

“Can I kiss you?” he asked. “Why should I let you do that?”  “Because I am trying to convince you
why
you should spend more time with me.”  “Hmmm, well, I guess I should collect all the evidence before I make a decision,” I smiled, and gently stroked the side of his face. He leaned forward and kissed me gently at first, then deeply with his tongue caressing mine.  No more discussion was necessary, and I didn’t need any more convincing.

Chapter Ten

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Grey said as he closed my car door in the dorm parking lot. I cocked my eyebrow and allowed green sparks to dance at the ends of my fingers.  “I think I’ll be okay.”  “I know you will, but the gentlemanly thing to do is to walk you to the door.”  He reached out and lightly brushed his bone white finger over the top of my hand.  I turned my hand over, and he laced his fingers with mine. 

I played with my keys at the door, trying to extend our date even just a couple of minutes. Grey moved closer to me, “Can I kiss you goodnight?”  “Are you going to ask every time you want to kiss me?”  He smirked, ran his finger across my lips, tipped up my chin and then leaned in and kissed me lingeringly.  “Good night beautiful Chloë.” “Mmmhhmm,” I incoherently replied.  He chuckled and vanished out of sight.

I entered the lobby and saw Finn sitting on one of the uncomfortable sofas with a small crowd of girls.  All bleached blondes, with push up bras, too much make-up, and too little clothing.  I’m
sure
he was interested in them for their witty conversational skills. 

I gave him the best fake smile I could muster, and nodded, but Finn barely acknowledged my presence.  I no longer cared,
much.
Most of the girls glowered at me venomously. They may be dimwitted human trollops, but they could still sense my power.  My paranormally enhanced beauty was not inspiring them to like me either.  I try not to flaunt it, most of the time, but it doesn’t mean they don’t notice just the same.

I climbed the stairs, opened the door to my room, and walked in on Anita and Dean waiting to ambush me.  This day certainly had its ups and downs.  “Have you lost your freaking mind?” Anita demanded.  “No, and I had a really good time,
mom
,” I replied sarcastically.  “I thought I told you, that you understood, about the dangers involved in associating with a vampire, not to mention dating one,” Anita ranted.  “I appreciate your concern, but I want to find out if there is more than just physical chemistry between Grey and I.”  “
Chemistry
?  I can’t believe you let it get this far.  So is there no way to talk you out of this?” Anita asked.  “None,” I answered flatly. 

“I have a question,” Dean interjected, “Finn doesn’t have a chance with you anymore, does he?”  I narrowed my eyes. That was hitting below the belt. I mean seriously, I didn’t cause this rift. 

“Dean, I don’t think he wants to have a chance with me.  He’s down stairs, right now, with a bevy of blondes. All rocket scientists, too. C’mon, he didn’t even acknowledge I was there when he saw me, and he
did
see me. I’m not one to sit around and wait to see if he gets out of this funk.  You know if I really give it some thought, I’m not sure I am willing to give him another chance.  I guess that is a long way of saying no, he doesn’t have a chance.” 

“You’re going to choose a vampire over him?” Dean asked.  I laughed briefly, “I am choosing a man interested in me over someone who could care less.  I am choosing someone I am interested in, over someone who seems to think I have the plague.  You tell me, is that wrong?”

“I don’t think so,” Grey replied.  Anita turned quickly toward the window, “Damn it Grey! You have to stop coming in like that!” Grey bowed slightly toward Anita, “Terribly sorry if I frightened you, but I have urgent news.”  “What is so important you couldn’t use the door?” Anita asked irritably.  “Another student disappeared tonight.  This time from the fourth floor of the library.”

Dean glared suspiciously at Grey, “How did
you
find out about this?”   “Calm down shifter, I didn’t cause the disappearance.”  I moved next to Grey and grabbed his hand.  “What happened?”  He gave my hand a slight squeeze.

“I was going to my car, after I left you at your dorm. I saw the police around the library, on my way to my car and I decided to take a closer look.  I heard them talking to a couple of students about a young man in their study group.  He had stepped away from the group to fetch a book and never returned.  They called the police because he left all of his belongings at the table with the other students.” “We should probably go and see if this is connected to Vanessa’s disappearance, and if there is any evidence of magic,” I stated.

“Go tomorrow.  The library is crawling with police tonight.  Access to the fourth floor is nearly impossible,” Grey advised.  “Should we ask Finn to join us?” Dean asked.  Grey scoffed.  I shook my head at Grey, discouraging him from saying anything around Dean.  “No. I don’t think he would want to anyway.  Besides he doesn’t know how to use his powers, and he would just slow us down.  This isn’t the time to learn,” I answered. 

Grey nodded at me and smiled.  He wanted me away from Finn.  That irked me, but I wanted that also.  However, I would not tolerate being controlled. My mother tried it, and then my sister when I left France.  I decided right then I would enjoy his company so long as it was enjoyable.  After all, I’m only eighteen.  

At seven the next morning I awoke to insistent knocking on the door.  Bleary eyed, I opened the door in my green silk pajamas. I was prepared to yell at whoever woke me up, until I saw Dean, wide-awake, holding three cups of coffee.  I smiled at him.  Never bite the hand bearing coffee is my motto.  “Thank you.  You are an angel among men.”

Dean looked over at Anita, who had tossed her covers over her head. “Not much of a morning person is she?”  I laughed, “Do you know many vampires that are?”  “She is only half-vampire,” Dean pointed out.  “Yeah, well her vampire half prefers to stay up all night.”  “Don’t talk about me like I can’t hear you,” Anita growled. 

“Dean, why exactly are you waking us up at this ungodly hour anyway?”  “We need to go check out the library before too many people have gone through there, remember?” “Oh, right. Damn.” “We need to get dressed,” I told Dean.  “Better hurry up, besides you two are already prettier than all of the other girls here.”  Anita reached out her hand, “Well then you better hand me that coffee”  “Hang out we will be back in twenty minutes,” I said.  Anita and I grabbed our toiletries and clothes and headed for the girls bathroom.

“Another disappearance. I knew this was going to keep happening, but I don’t think I will get used to it.  If I had something they touched I might have a chance at seeing what they were planning.  I feel so useless.  Now two innocent people are likely dead, and I don’t know why.”  “Only if they are lucky,” Anita said under her breath.  “What was that?” “I said if they are lucky they are.  You don’t want to imagine what Alexander will do if he decides to take his time.  He is a truly sadistic bastard.”  We finished dressing in silence, and hurried back out to Dean.

“Is there a reason I am being kept out of this?” Finn asked coldly, as he stepped out from behind a pillar of the library entrance.  “Definitely. You have made it quite clear you do not want to accept what you are.  Also, you don’t seem to want to talk to either Anita or myself.  So we assumed you wouldn’t want to help with this,” I told him.  “You didn’t give me the choice.  This could affect me too, am I wrong?”  “No, you’re right, but you have to accept you are one of us before you can really be any help.”

Finn pushed back his thick hair, to show the top of his pointed ear. “It isn’t as if I have a choice, but to accept what I am.”  I smiled at him and touched him gently on the arm.  “Relax, you aren’t deformed, you’re an elf.” “Yeah, that is what every normal boy grows up dreaming to be,” Finn responded with disgust.

“You don’t know what it means to be an elf, because you wouldn’t hear an explanation.  Elves, fairies, pixies and nymphs have magic that effects nature. All other races, especially humans, are drawn to elves because of that magic. You personally belong to the strongest elvin family there is.  This is nothing to be ashamed of, and everything to be proud of,” I snapped.  “Then why did my parents keep it a secret?” Finn bit back.  “That is a question only your parents can answer, but we have to find them first.  So if you want to help, help, otherwise get the hell out of my way.”

“How is searching the library going to help me get my parents back?”   “If I am right, then they were taken to prevent you from discovering your abilities.  There are necromancers and vampires after all of us and we need to figure out why.  We also need to figure out where these missing students come into their plan.  So if you don’t mind I would like to start investigating before someone else goes missing.”   He nodded, “Alright, I am ready to learn.” “Fantastic, I guess we will have to find time to teach.”  I spun around and stormed into the library.

The four of us used the stairs to go up to the fourth floor instead of the elevator, that way Anita and Dean could gage if there were any scents that did not belong.  Once we made it to the fourth floor, the odor changed from antique texts and dust, to a mingling of the dry scent of vampires.  Anita’s fangs pushed out when she caught hold of the scent. She ran deep into the stacks in the back where hardly anyone ever goes.

“We better catch up with her.” My eyes flashed green, and since no one was on the fourth floor I teleported to where I sensed Anita had stopped.  “Do they always get around like that?” Finn asked Dean.  “You’ve known them as long as I have,” Dean shrugged.  “Can you smell that?” Finn asked.  “Clean, like rain, but also dry and really strong?” Finn nodded yes. “Yeah, I smell it. That is the smell of a vampire,” Dean explained.  “Not what I would have expected.”  “Well, they don’t sweat.  Their skin is hard, and cold.  So they smell like being outside.  But for some reason the smell that lingers is the smell of rain,” Dean answered.  “How do you know that?” Finn asked confused.  Dean chuckled, “I spend all of my free time cuddled up to Anita. She smells like a spring shower.”

Finn gestured toward the direction Anita and I went, “Should we go over there?”  “Might as well. We can’t let them have all of the fun.” They walked to the back of the room where Anita and I were examining a shelf that appeared cleaner than the others.  I pointed it out to the guys.  “Look, no one would clean only one shelf would they?”

The smell also seemed to linger in this spot.  I waited for Anita to explain what she told me, but she stood there staring.  “Anita says she is sure a vampire came up from behind the student here and pulled him back into the janitor’s closet in the back corner.”  “We should check it out,” Anita said in a flat trance-like voice.

Grey was right, this really was the perfect time to investigate.  Not only was the trail still untainted, but the librarians weren’t even up here at this hour.  We made our way over to the closet, and I unlocked it with my wand.  “What do you expect to find in here, a body?” Finn asked uncertainly.  “No, nothing like that. I hope I can find a trace of magic, or maybe Dean and Anita can pick up the vampire’s scent.” I peeked inside and on the ceiling was access to the roof.  “That is how they got him out,” I said pointing to the panel on the ceiling. 

“We can’t talk here.  Let’s go get breakfast,” Anita suggested.  “Anywhere specific?” I asked.  “Lets go somewhere off campus, there are too many students up and about right now,” Anita suggested.  We all climbed into Dean’s truck, and headed for the Chateau, a popular restaurant and bar in town.  At this hour only a few of the regulars were there. Mostly they were old men that come in after an early morning of fishing to catch up on the town gossip.

“Why did we have to come all the way off campus this morning?” Finn asked.  “I thought it was time you all knew who we were up against. You are hearing some of this for the first time Finn, so I’ll catch you up later. I told you Alexander is behind this, but a name doesn’t tell you anything. You need to know what he is like. I’m not sure our plan is going to work like we had discussed before,” Anita said.  I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the worst.  “Perhaps you better enlighten us.” 

Anita took looked down at her hands.  “After we order I will tell you everything. I really don’t want a human to overhear this story.”  While we waited we caught Finn up on what he had missed in the last week.  We only had to wait fifteen minutes, and then it was time for Anita to tell us her story.

Anita closed her eyes, and exhaled forcefully.  When she reopened them they were glowing a fluorescent yellow, like an animal’s reflecting light at night.  She grinned showing her fangs.  “I wasn’t born like this.” The theater class was bringing out her dramatic side.

“The summer before my senior year I went to visit some friends that were going to the University of Washington.  I liked to party, I was immature, and in with the wrong crowd. Naturally, when they suggested we go out I thought it was a great idea.  We were having a lot of fun, except I had drank too much.  I did many things back then I’m not proud of,” she looked nervously at Dean.  The corner of his mouth quirked up, “I don’t scare easily, and I’m not going to judge you.”