Rise of the Fallen (16 page)

“Come this way, if you will,” Markos said, having moved to the far left corner of the empty hallway.

He was holding open a dark wooden door and was gesturing for me to enter the next room. As I walked towards him I noticed the immaculate condition of the inside of the house. The wooden floors were a perfect dark walnut colour, and the crisp white walls looked almost grey in the darkness of the house. I walked into the room first and I was met with the fiery light of a candle placed on a wide, antique desk that was cluttered with unmarked, leather-bound, hardcover notebooks. Behind the desk was a large black leather chair, and on the opposite side of the desk was a smaller black chair. I heard the door close behind me and I had barely turned to look back when I noticed Markos was already sitting behind the desk.

“Please sit, Emilie,” Markos said cheerfully, gesturing to the chair opposite him.

I sat down as quickly as I could and stared at him. I have to admit I have always had a fascination with vampyres. They had always seemed so powerful and irresistible, though obviously my image was influenced by the romanticised Hollywood version. Markos, however, had surpassed every expectation I had, based on everything I had known about vampyres. He was something else; there was something about him that seemed so powerful and graceful.

“You look deep in thought,” Markos noted, reaching for a book.

“Sorry,” I said quietly.

“Don't be. If you don't mind me saying, you are quite beautiful,” he smiled.

Beautiful? Me? Ha. Oh that is very amusing, what was he crawling for?

“May I ask you a question?” Markos asked me while looking down at the book, leafing through the pages.

“Yes,” I whispered, looking at the book. The writing was in another language, and my curiosity was piqued.

“Have you ever seen the sky on fire?” His voice was calm as he settled on a blank page of the notebook.

I shook my head. To be honest I didn't even understand the question, was it even possible for the sky to catch fire? Or maybe it was a metaphor; either way I was completely lost.

“Hmm … I have, and I believe that I will again very soon.”

I looked up at him but he didn't notice. He was leaning over the book and writing quickly with a black pen. My curiosity overwhelmed me. I had to ask him what he was writing.

“Memories,” he replied, looking up and smiling.

Markos shut the book and leaned back in his chair to stare at me.

“So you forget things then?” I asked. My confidence was returning.

He smiled but didn't move. “Not exactly, I actually have a fairly good memory for my age. I simply prefer to have things written down in case I want to revisit them in detail.”

The second he stopped talking I knew the next question I wanted to ask.

“How old are you?” I blurted out.

He laughed loudly and shook his head, “Older than you.” I smiled and leaned forward a little. “How old?”

He continued smiling. “I've been alive for more than three millennia.”

“Wow,” I whispered.

“Indeed,” he smiled, “Do you have any other questions, Emilie? I don't mind, honestly.”

Of course I had more questions, but the answer to the age question had stunned me into silence. The only thing I could think of involved Savine, an extremely personal question.

“It's a personal question,” I said looking into his eyes. His gaze was intense – something I'd never really experienced before – and I had to break contact.

“I don't mind,” he replied.

“Are you in a relationship with Savine?” I asked and looked away. Markos chuckled, but refrained from laughing loudly. “That wasn't that personal, and no, I'm not.”

“Oh …” I said with a nervous smile.

“Don't be afraid of me, please. I thought Soul would have told you that I'm on his side,” he said, leaning forward and placing his hands on the edge of the desk.

“He did tell me, but I'm not scared.”

He chuckled again. “Au contraire, Emilie. Your scent and heartbeat say otherwise.”

I hadn't even noticed my quickening heartbeat until he mentioned it. I suppose the scent was a vampyre thing.

“I don't know what to say,” I said honestly.

He walked around the desk to sit on the edge in front of me.

“Perhaps you should exchange your fear for something else.”

I leaned back in the chair. Markos stopped smiling and leaned forward, his face only inches away from mine.

“Something wrong?” He moved a little closer.

“No. No, nothing's wrong.” I shivered, my heart beating faster.

I was tempted to close the gap between us but I knew that probably wasn't the best idea. My willpower was weak, but it was
strong enough to think “no”.

Didn't quite work out though. He had moved too quickly for me to stop him, and he leaned forward and kissed me more passionately than I could possibly have imagined.

I could feel myself losing control. I pulled back. When the kiss was broken he looked at me with a playful grin on his face.

“You can't say you didn't want that.”

I laughed in disbelief and shook my head. I couldn't speak. This was wrong, so very, very wrong. Markos leaned forward and kissed me again, holding my face to his. His hands dropped to the back of my neck, pulling me closer and deepening the kiss. His hands were warmer than I had expected, though I'm sure they were still fairly cool by human standards. Lucky I'm not a human then.

He dropped his hand from my neck and picked me up in a swift movement, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I almost forgot that I needed to breathe, and we broke the kiss; both of us taking a gasping breath. He smirked at me as I kissed his neck, just above the bite marks. I heard him push the books from the desktop just as he threw me off him and on top of the desk. I laughed loudly, and reached out for him. He was above me in seconds and once again we were kissing.

I wasn't one bit scared. I guess he was right; all I needed to do was exchange my fear for something else. If this was it then I was fine with it. Whatever this was, it probably wasn't normal. I didn't mind though, and I'm sure that Markos didn't either. I reached out to his shirt and pulled slightly, he immediately took it off. I smiled up at him for a second before his lips went to my throat. I should have been afraid, a vampyre so close to my throat. He could have killed me in an instant, but I knew his thoughts were elsewhere. His kisses on my neck continued, deeper than before. I pushed him away slightly and he looked at me in confusion. I leaned up and kissed him on the lips, and
once again he understood.

His hands were at the bottom of my shirt when we heard the voices of Soul and Savine in the next room. We stopped kissing immediately and both stared at the office door. I was a little concerned about what would happen if they walked in, but it seemed to only excite Markos more. He turned back to me and kissed my neck, reaching for my shirt once more. I continued staring at the door, listening to their voices as they moved around the house.

“It was far too easy to take care of Vashel,” Savine was saying to Soul.

“Where's Emilie? I need to talk to her …” I heard Soul's voice, it was quieter than Savine's.

Markos gently nipped at my jaw, slowly pulling up my shirt.

“I doubt you'd really want to see her right now anyway. I know Markos. He was just waiting for you to leave so he'd get his chance, if you know what I mean.” Savine's voice was playful but also getting harder to hear. She was obviously moving further away.

“But she wouldn't …” Soul said, his voice also getting lower.

Markos growled softly, “Can I have your attention, please?”

I wasn't ignoring him on purpose; I was just not ready for the conversation that would follow if we were caught together.

“How do you know? Markos can be very persuasive,” she laughed. Oh, she had no idea.

I heard nothing else from Soul but a door closing in the distance. With Markos' lips upon my neck I fought for control. I pushed him away, standing upright and making my way quickly to the door. I looked back into his shocked eyes and smiled ruefully.

“I guess I do have some self control left.”

CHAPTER 14

It was still quite light outside. I walked out onto the dark grass and stared up at the almost-setting sun. It was beautiful. I couldn't imagine living without light, for fear of death.

The trees were close together, casting shadows on the forest floor. It was growing darker and I could sense Markos beside me. A beautiful orange light lit up the entire sky, bathing all the trees in the same stunning glow. After the sun had fully disappeared from sight we stood in silence.

I turned and looked up at Markos. He didn't look down to meet my gaze, he just continued staring out at the sky. He had been able to walk out in the dim light of the sun, and as far as I could see there was no damage done. He turned to me in confusion as I took a step back.

“What is it?” he asked, his expression tender.

“Nothing, none of this should have happened. You know that, right?” My regret was beginning to show. “Because Soul is …”

“Soul is the one you want. That's obvious, and I doubt this
almost
indiscretion will come between you; it's not like you're together just yet. Come on, Emilie, stop feeling guilty all the time.”

Was that it? The feeling I get in the pit of my stomach that almost makes me nauseous when I think about Soul and what I almost did with Markos? It was as though Markos was reading my mind … or my
emotions, but I knew he was just taking wild guesses.

“He's right, you know.” Soul's voice startled me.

I turned around and saw him leaning against the stone frame of the door, with Savine only slightly visible in the dim light of the hall. She was smiling slightly, looking from Soul to me and then to Markos. There was nothing in particular to say to that, so I remained quiet. At my age I am more than aware of people's tendencies to tell you what you want to hear, especially if it's beneficial to them. We were now engulfed in darkness, with crickets and cicadas chirping around us, joined with the ever-so-quiet rustle of leaves. The only thing I could see of Markos was the slight glow that radiated from his smooth skin. It was captivating, but strangely off-putting. It was unnatural, but I'm not one to talk.

“Perhaps we should get our meeting started, Markos?” Soul spoke, breaking our silence.

Markos nodded and gestured for me to go ahead. I walked quickly past Soul and Savine, trying to keep my gaze from theirs. Savine had a playful grin on her face, joined by a knowing look in her eyes. I could tell that she would sell her soul just to say something … If she had a soul, that is.

Markos and Soul walked past me and I followed. After Soul shot Markos a look of irritation when he suggested his office, they settled on the dining room. The table seemed to stretch on forever and was set with fine china and wine glasses at each seat. There were enough place settings to sit at least two dozen people, which seemed oddly extravagant for two vampyres. I suppose, long ago when Markos and Savine were humans, they would have had a great deal of friends and hosted dinner parties. I wondered why they wouldn't remove the place settings when they were not in use. Markos sat at the head of the table and gestured for Soul to sit on his left, and for Savine and myself to sit on the right. The chairs were elegant and obviously
antique. Nothing was said until a few minutes after we were seated and settled.

“Lilith is overstepping the boundaries and we should act soon,” Soul began, staring directly at me, though he was clearly talking to Markos.

“I agree, but we should decide how to go about this first. Going in half-cocked will only get more of us killed,” Markos warned.

Soul's glance hadn't moved from me. He spoke again, “Of course, which is why I'm here. Do you have any ideas?”

Soul's eyes were gentle and he smiled at me, mouthing the word ‘relax'. I smiled slightly and shook my head, focusing on the empty end of the table.

“Is there something you'd like to ask, Emilie?” Markos said loudly with a grin.

I blushed and shook my head. “It doesn't matter, this whole thing is more important.”

“I insist you ask, if you do not I will not allow this meeting to continue,” Markos smiled with a sly wink.

Savine rolled her eyes and looked at me expectantly. Soul merely continued smiling at me. With all the smiling it was hard not to laugh out loud at the absurdity of the situation.

“I was just wondering why you had so many place settings, but like I said, that's pretty trivial compared to what you came to talk about.” I tapped the table slightly with my fingertips.

“Not trivial at all, love,” Soul said, rocking back in his chair. With a small thud Soul was sitting up straight in his chair. He glared at Markos, who looked at him blankly.

“It's impolite to swing on one's chair,” Markos said genially, with an almost sadistic smile on his face.

“Oh, bite me,” Soul mumbled, looking away irritably. “Just get on with answering her.”

“Don't tempt me,” Markos said, smiling at me once more, but his eyes darkened slightly. “And I will answer her. Now it's a long story, but it's the main cause of my resentment of Lilith.”

“Come on, we don't have all day,” Soul said.

Savine threw him a dirty look and kicked him under the table. He grimaced but shrugged it off.

“We had a large coven, twenty of us, though our most treasured were the two children, Anna and Maria. They had abilities that posed a threat to Lilith. Actually, the threat was to Samael but Lilith will do anything to protect him. It came to a fight and the coven defended the children, but lost their lives in the attempt. Only Savine and I survived. It wasn't enough to stop her from slaughtering my children in front of me.” Markos' voice was mournful, and somewhat distracted.