Fire Nectar (7 page)

 
“Thank you
– so do you! You feel cold though, honey,” said Anjelica, pulling back
with a concerned look.

 
“Runs in the
family.” Dani expertly changed the subject with, “So, is everyone doing shots?”

“Okay fine! You talked me into it,” Billy announced.
Adrian threw back his head, let out a laugh explosion and left to get the
glasses, including one for
himself
.
 

It didn’t occur to Daniella that he’d had five drinks in
a half hour.

14 June 1812

The fire boasted a healthy blaze now and she moved
closer, to allow its heat to soothe her. Hypnotically, the flames reached up to
the chimney and danced before her tired eyes Her father had gone up to bed, his
words still hanging in the air around her mind. “It’s okay dear.
 
I’ll win and we’ll buy the rubies back.
The luck will shift again. I am sure of it.”

The scene from the night previous jumped into her mind as
she sat in quiet contemplation. She heard again, in her memory, the loud thud
in the hallway. Jumping out of sleep at the sound.
Covering
her long nightgown and venturing into the hall.
Finding Lord Harcourt on
the floor. Taking the bottle from his hands which were scarcely able to cling
to it - they no longer had the strength.
The stench of liquor
upon him and how it had wafted into her nose.
He was not a drinking man
most days.
 
But on those nights
– those in which he’d lost more than he could bravely admit to...

“Just a touch of a bad run, you know. Don’t pay it any
mind…only thing to do is keep going until it turns,” he parroted himself from
the floor but his eyes told of shame and apology.

Last night, like many of those before it, she reached
forward and helped him
up,
bearing the brunt of more
weight than her little frame should carry. Trudging together up the stairs
they’d get him slowly, safely, to his bedchambers. Once on a previous occasion,
she’d not been able to bear his weight and, on that night, had watched in
horror as he fell down the long staircase. It became a blessing in disguise
– as he’d broken his leg. One cannot gamble if one cannot leave the
house.

And on those nights, unable to find solace in sleep,
she’d thumb through the jewelry box and decide which heirloom to sell. Never
was it an easy choice. At first she’d chosen to sell her grandmother’s
necklaces and ear bobs. Then her grandfather’s jewel encrusted snuffboxes and
pins. His sword went after. Finally, and with the heaviest of hearts, she sold
her mother’s jewelry, her only connection to a mother long passed. As each met
its new master, the sacrifice tore her to shreds and she’d pray, “Please dear
Lord, I have enough strength.
 
Please give him some of mine. Please help him turn away from the doors
when the cards call out his name. Help him come home.”

A spark from the flames burst onto the rug at her feet,
shocking her back to the present.
 
She gave a little yell and stomped it out as quickly as it had arrived.
Was she still alone, she wondered? Quietly she walked to the door, opened it
and peered out into the hall, listening for movement.
 
Her ears met only silence.
 
Her father was very likely asleep. The
innkeeper preferred his private quarters after hours.
 
She listened a moment longer and when
she felt sure she was indeed alone, she quietly closed the door.

Crossing to a large vase in the common room, she reached
up and brought it down onto a table. Carefully she pulled the dusty silk
flowers from within it and gingerly placing each on the table.
 
It was plain they hadn’t been cleaned or
touched in a year, maybe more, which suited her purpose exactly. She reached
deep into the vase’s mouth and produced from it her mother’s rubies, hidden
secretly within.
 
She held the
glorious necklace into the air and watched the flames fragmented through
it.
 
The jewels glowed brightly as
she turned, admiring their beauty.

I could sell them, she thought, but this would be the
last. Lowering them, she placed them into her left palm, filling her small hand.
She didn’t want to sell them.
 
Could
she? No. She could not. Resolution filled her heart and she decided then and
there to stand up for what she needed. A loud sound in the distance caused her
to start, her eyes darting to the door in fear that it would open. No one must
know. Hurriedly she hid the necklace safely, placed back the flowers and the
vase as quickly and quietly as she could.
 
Breathing heavily, she snuck upstairs to bed.

2012

An hour later the bar was packed and their group had to
yell over the din to be heard.
 
Stewart told them about a diva client who wanted M&Ms in his trailer
for every film - but only the blue ones.
 
Someone always had to separate the M&Ms and put only the blue ones
into a sealed container so they wouldn’t stale.
 
As Billy tried to get him to give up the
name of the client, the lights went dark and the room got quiet. Dani still sat
at the bar, surrounded by her friends and Billy.

 
“Okay,
kiddies,” he bellowed loudly. The regulars of the crowd joined in and yelled
with him, “Don’t try this at home!” Adrian stood on their side of the bar with
the trainee, Brian, on the other side. Dani squirmed in her seat, unsure what
to do. She wanted to get up. She was too close to that which could kill her and
everything inside her told her to run.
 
So she stayed.

Exactly like before, both men dunked their index fingers
into a shot glass filled with Bacardi 151.
 
They drank the shot – holding it in their mouths as they each
picked up a lighter and lit their finger like a human candle. Both at once
blasted the 151 from their mouths onto the flame causing two huge explosions of
fire that met in the middle.
 
Dani
froze, the heat of fire shredding her sanity.
 
One of the two things that could take
her life, and there she sat only a couple feet away from it. Paralyzed, she
stared forward even after it was gone, even after everyone, the noise, the
stereos, the glasses clinking – were back to normal. Her eyes flew to
Adrian and caught his. The sexy way he looked at her, the way the fire had
ripped from his mouth and through her mind, tore through her façade of human
normalcy. She heard Billy say in the distance of her mind, “If you don’t tell
me who Mr. M&Ms is, I won’t go home with you tonight.”

 
“Excuse me.
I’ll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom,” said Dani, quietly.

There wasn’t a line to the bathroom stalls.
 
This in itself felt like a godsend and
miracle combined.
 
She entered one
of the two stalls and closed the door quickly. Standing inside, she held onto
the walls.
 
She felt like an
animal.
 
Like she’d just been turned
yesterday.
 
She wanted to bite his
neck and suck the life force out of him so badly and was on the verge of doing
exactly that no matter who saw it.
 
She silently repeated in her mind, “Calm...
 
Calm…Calm…” Her fangs were at their full
length and refused to go down.

 
“Is it
because I want to taste him, make him my lover…or because I just want to kill
him so this out of control, mind-spinning feeling will go away?” she asked
herself with no hope of knowing an answer.
 
Her mind reeled and she thought of how she could get away with dragging
him off with her in front of everyone.
 
Ridiculous.
 
Control it.

She reminded herself to think of Stewart and Anjie. She’d
been their friend for years now and had never been in danger of exposing her
secret.
 
Plus she didn’t want to
move to another city. Not yet.
 
Control it.
 
Control it! No,
I don’t care, she argued. I can move. I can cover it up.
 
There’s always a way. Control it. A dark
memory of Gene came to her.
His running from her - terror in
his eyes.
She shook her head trying to clear out the lust. Control it.
She didn’t want to see Anjelica look at her like Gene had.
 
She didn’t want her friends to be afraid
of her. Dammit. Control it!

A couple of girls came into the bathroom just then and
she used this to her advantage by forcing herself to listen to their
conversation, to bring her focus back to something tame.

 
“I’m just
going to get a small one. Like this,” explained the one.

 
“Dude, your boobs
are fine.
 
MY boobs – they
need a little help,” said the other.
  
Still in the stall, Dani rolled her eyes.
 
Only in Los Angeles, she thought. She
didn’t think they knew she was there.
 
Fangs, go down!

“No, ever since I’ve been working out, boobs – gone!
 
They’re nothing like they were I
promise,” clucked the one, putting on her lipstick and talking through it.

 
“I’m telling
you, your boobs are perfect.
 
If you
need a boob job then I need a boob job.
 
And I don’t think I need a boob job,” concluded the other, adjusting her
hair with her fingers.

This conversation made her want to gut
both
of them, or
at least give them a scare. Okay, this wasn’t good.
 
She was not in a good space.

 
“I’m only
going to get a nice small ‘C,’” explained the one, not really looking for
approval as she placed her lipstick back in her bag.

 
“Oh! Well,
then do it,” said the other.

Not able to stand the banality anymore, Dani stepped
out.
 
The two girls, early twenties,
froze mid-sentence. From the look in both of their eyes, Dani knew she had
murder on her face.
 
Her fangs had
retracted – what was the big deal?
 
She forced a smile, but it looked as odd as she felt. The One shut her
hanging mouth. The
Other
uneasily smiled back.

 
“Excuse me,”
Dani said with her mildest purr.
 
The girls just nodded, silent.

Trying to act normal, Dani crossed to the sink and washed
her hands.
 
She dried them and used
the paper towel to open the door – as though for protection from germs
she no longer needed protection from. She’d seen a woman do the same, once, and
thought it was a great cover.
 
Turning with a small bow – odd – she gave them her kindest
smile, and left. Through the door she heard them whisper, “She
creeped
me out.”
 
“Totes.”
 
“She was like
gorgeous and everything but she had the crazy eyes.”
 
“Right
?!
”

Stunned, she walked through the bar and straight out the
front door. Dani hadn’t scared anyone in a very long time.
 
At least, not without
intent.
 
She didn’t say
goodbye to her friends.
 
She didn’t
look to the bar because she didn’t trust herself if she saw him.
 
She didn’t want to chance him calling
out and drawing attention to her.
 
She had to leave and she had to leave immediately.
 
She could text her friends later and
tell
them she’d gotten sick which was in a way, the
truth.
 
They’d understand

She left the bar, turned right and ran smack into
Adrian.
 
He was outside smoking a
cigarette – the first time cigarettes have probably ever saved a
life.
 
The doorman was with him
– also a blessing.
 
She set her
jaw stubbornly and nodded hello at them.
 
He motioned for her to stop as the doorman finished, “They found him
just north of Malibu.
 
He was killed
by a shark.”
 
Adrian raised his
eyebrows in response but stepped away to talk to Dani.

 
“You’re
leaving?” he asked with mild disappointment on his face.

She nodded. “Yes, just got a work text.
 
My assistant needs me to set up a shoot
- the magazine’s bugging him so I have to go and schedule…” She stopped the
rambling and looked down. Dammit, Dani, go home.

 
“Magazine.
You’re a photographer?” he offered in an attempt to hold her there.

 
“I am,” she
said. The doorman had gone back to checking the ID’s of a couple of guys in
their early twenties. Come back, it’s not safe for him without you here, she
thought. Then Adrian stepped closer. She could feel his breath. She wanted to
tell him he was in danger.
But how?

 
“Are you any
good?” he asked.

 
“Very,” she
said.

 
“Oh really?”
He smiled, his eyes mischievous again.
 
She smiled back but stayed where she was.

 
“Yes,
really.” She couldn’t stand it. He smelled so good. He smelled
so good
.

“You’re staring at me.” He dropped his cigarette on the
ground and put it out with the firm rub of his heel, running his fingers though
his long hair to sweep it back. The musk of him intoxicated her.

 
“I was just
looking,” she asserted. He let out one of his laughter bursts at that, and she
couldn’t resist a smile.

“You don’t ‘just look’ at anything, Miss Daniella. You
stare. Like you’re drinking it in. And hey, there you go – you made me
laugh again.” He stepped past her and said over his shoulder with infuriating
detachment, “Have a good night, darlin.”

The doorman stared after her as she walked to her Jeep
and drove off. As she drove her phone chimed, indicating a text. It was from
Anjelica and it read: Where are you? If you’re driving – don’t answer
this until you’re safe.
 

Daniella nearly threw the phone. I’m not safe, Anj!
 
I’m not safe at all, she almost yelled
out. She texted back: Left.
 
Work
emergency. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She hit send. Then turned off her phone.

Back in the bar Anjelica read the text and showed it to
Stewart. He grabbed it and showed it to Billy who was in danger of lying on the
floor at any minute, true to his prediction. Billy didn’t know what the fuss
was about and said, “I need a bed.”
 

Stewart frowned, rolled his eyes and said, “Not mine,
honey. You need a cab is what you need.”
 

Anjelica brought the conversation back to Dani, “Oh, she
is such a liar! She didn’t hear a word I was saying and was staring at him the
entire time.
 
Did you see
that?”
 

 
“Oh, I
saw!”
 
Stewart said.

Billy asked if it was time to go home yet.
 
Stewart motioned for Adrian to come over
which was cue for Billy to put his head down on the bar and close his eyes.

Stewart asked him point blank, “Are you dating
anyone?”
   

“I don’t swing on your side of the playing field, my
friend,” replied Adrian.
 

 
“Well, duh.
And who says I want you?” Stewart threw back.

 
“Sorry
– I get hit on a lot.”
 
They
stared at him. “Bartender,” he said, pointing both his thumbs at his
chest.
 
They saw his point, nodded,
and he continued, “But I am single, yes.
 
What’s Daniella’s story?” Adrian looked at them for an answer as he
poured himself a shot. He offered them another round, but they declined.
  

Anjelica and Stewart both simultaneously answered in
their own way with, “Well, Dani…” “Hmm, Dani…”
 

Anjelica took over. “Dani’s single, yes.
 
But she’s very much a loner. We only see
her once a week and we’re her closest friends. We think.”

Stewart shot out in his loyal and protective way, “A
loner sounds bad. She’s not a loner, per se, just different.
 
She’s got the confidence of ten girls
and we love her so don’t even think of hurting her or I’ll pay someone to kick
your ass.”
 

Anjelica added, “Oh, you’re being such a dad! So cute.”
She beamed her huge smile and turned back to Adrian, “She’s not easy to get to
know but once you’re in, you are IN. She’s very loyal. And protective of us,
too, wouldn’t you say?”

 
“Oh, totally.
Do you remember that time the critic bad-mouthed that painting of yours? It was
her first showing, and her work is great, by the way.
 
Really beautiful and
raw.
We couldn’t even hear the guy – he was talking under his
breath to a friend – but Dani heard him. She heard him, went over to him
and, as cool as an ice queen, asked him to leave.”

“It was amazing: ‘I’d like to ask you - and your lack of
taste - to leave,’” Anj said, doing an over the top impression of Dani.

Stewart nodded emphatically and finished the story with,
“She asked him what magazine he worked for. Called the next day, told them he
was a
liability
to their art section. They fired him. Yeah. You do not
fuck with Daniella. I’ve never seen her scared.
 

Anj agreed, “Not once.”

They watched as Adrian soaked all this in, nodded and
walked away.