Authors: Heather C. Hudak
“Please,” I begged, tasting the salt of my own tears on my lips. “Don’t hurt me.”
I struggled to break free of his grip, but he held firm. I could feel his muscles rippling beneath the flannel of his shirt, and I knew there was no use. Still, I fought hard, wrestling against him with all of my strength and refusing to subside. I would fight to the end.
“Hurt you? Why on earth would I want to do that?” Balthazar asked incredulously. “I just want to talk to you.”
Balthazar released his icy grip and took a few steps back. He dropped his hands to his sides, and I could tell that he was putting careful consideration into his next words and actions.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that we don’t have much time,” he explained. “Your friend is already inside looking for you.”
Eli would be freaking out.
“Then, why did you jump me like that?”
“I thought you were trying to leave, and I wanted to talk to you first,” he explained. “I apologize. Sometimes, I don’t realize my own strength. I don‘t mingle much with your kind.”
I nodded in acknowledgement. It seemed reasonable given his true nature, but unacceptable no less. Kicking at some loose stones on the road, I waited for him to speak again. He took a moment to collect his thoughts.
“Chaseyn told me about you,” he explained. “Of course, Alexei is well known amongst our kind, and I have always anticipated your existence, but Chaseyn made you real to me. Before he found you, all we had was the knowledge that one day, someone would be born to fulfill the curse.”
“He was here?”
“Not recently. No. But, he writes me often.”
“Like with a pen and paper?”
Balthazar laughed at that. While most vampires made a concerted effort to familiarize themselves with modern technology, many held tight to the practices of bygone years. While Chaseyn and I had texted all the time, he had always been very considerate of the fact that others like him are more resistant to change. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine that he would tailor his preferred method of communication to best suit his audience. With Balthazar, he chose old-fashioned penmanship.
“He’s always been like a son to me. I would do anything for him, and he would do anything for you. He told me as much in his letters,” he explained.
Though I was still uncertain I could trust his back story, I raised an eyebrow and urged him to continue.
“Hasn’t he ever mentioned me before?” Balthazar asked, but the slight upset in his voice hinted at the fact that he already knew the answer. He shook it off and continued quickly before I could respond. “Never mind that...all that matters is that you’re here now, and we can take this opportunity--albeit brief--to get to know each other.”
“Did you and Mina ever…were you a…,” I didn’t quite know how to ask without the potential for opening old wounds.
“Mina and I go way back, but we never took it to the next level,” he laughed, wiping at his brow absentmindedly before whispering, “not for lack of effort on my part.” He raised his shoulders and gave a nervous laugh. He had a southern drawl that was as slow as molasses in January and as smooth as a 20-year-old scotch.
“Your accent--you’re not from around here, are you?”
“I’ve been here a long time, but not always, no. I’m from New Orleans, actually,” he said.
“That’s so--”
“Cliché,” he cut me off, laughing.
“Yeah,” I said, returning his smile and relaxing my shoulders. So, he had a sense of humor about the Anne Rice novels. I figured that was a good sign.
“Chaseyn told you about this place, didn’t he?” Balthazar asked. “But he didn’t tell you where to find us. You did that all on your own.”
I listened intently as he explained that a handful of humans were drawn to the club--almost like a magnet was attracting them to it. Typically, those humans had a sixth sense or had experienced some sort of paranormal phenomenon. Sometimes, others stumbled inside in search of directions or a quick drink. Most often, the other patrons used their “abilities” to convince those people to leave before they could clue in to the uniqueness of their surroundings.
“You fall into the first category, Lia,” he said, brushing a stray hair behind my ear. I winced and shivered at his touch. Can someone say
creepy
? “I’m sorry. You’re just so beautiful and innocent…”
Balthazar explained that, while he knew Chaseyn had been reluctant to disclose the location of the club to me, he and the others had a strong sense that I would find it on my own. Of course, Chaseyn would have known the likelihood of it as well, but he had wanted so desperately to keep me as far as possible from this dark side of his life that he had been hopeful I would walk right by if I ever found myself in the “neighborhood.”
“Chaseyn…the eternal optimist,” Balthazar said seriously and laughed. I chuckled too, but only because the Chaseyn I knew was anything but optimistic. “Anyway, Mina let us know you would be arriving here this week, and so we cast out a few pawns to help us in our ply to ensure that you were
attracted
here.”
“Pawns? What do you mean?” I asked.
“We knew you would go to the clubs tonight--who could resist on their first night in London? Though, I had to admit we were getting worried when it was nearly midnight and you still hadn’t made an appearance.”
He explained that a few of
his
kind had been monitoring high-traffic areas, hoping to catch a glimpse of me. They followed Addie, Eli, and myself to the club, and, following last call, they instructed the bouncer to lead us astray, suggesting we visit a fictitious after-hours club that would leave us stranded in this area.
“But, why?”
“Because Mina asked us to keep an eye on you during your travels,” Balthazar replied. “She knows how much you mean to Chaseyn, and she wants to be sure you’re safe. If anything happened to you…well, I shudder at the thought.”
His philosophy was sound. Mina knew every detail of my trip and had, in fact, offered recommendations to visit some of her favorite places. And, it seemed perfectly reasonable that she would be concerned about my wellbeing. She felt terribly responsible for Alexei’s actions, and she and Chaseyn had made a vow a long time ago to keep me safe.
“Makes sense,” was all I could think to say. “Thank you for doing your part. I will be sure to let Mina know that you kept a careful eye on me while I was here in London.”
I extended my hand to him then, signaling the end of our conversation.
“It was nice meeting you, but I
have
to meet my friends or they’ll flip out.”
“Do they know?” he asked. “About
us
.”
By “us,” I knew he was referring to the vampire race in general.
“Eli knows, but Addie is clueless, and I would like to keep it that way, if possible.”
Balthazar nodded and smiled.
“That will make things a bit trickier, but I’m sure we can work something out.”
I was thoroughly confused, but I nodded in agreement anyway. I figured it was safer to appear amicable than to piss off a vampire. And, I was certain he would eventually get around to explaining himself--sooner rather than later considering how little time we had until
someone
realized I was officially missing in action. If he hadn’t already. Though, I suspected the
others
were doing their best to detain Eli and Addie while Balthazar and I wrapped up our little chat. We stood there in awkward silence, staring each other down for a moment while Balthazar considered his next steps.
Just then, I heard the deadbolt turn over in the door behind Balthazar, and Eli burst through. Sweat was dripping from his brow, and a look of sheer panic was plastered across his face. At the sight of me, he pushed past Balthazar and wrapped me in his arms. Balthazar raised an eyebrow in question. I could tell that he wanted to know if I was stepping out on Chaseyn, so I silently answered with the slight shake of my head. No need to cause any more alarm…or a broken nose for Eli.
“I was going out of my mind trying to find you,” Eli gripped me by the shoulders as he spat the words. I wasn’t sure if Eli had forgotten about the man he had pushed aside to get to me, or if he simply didn’t care. “Do you know what Chaseyn would do to me if he found out that I had taken my eyes off you for even a moment--especially here?”
“I’m so sorry. I never meant to upset you. Besides I wasn’t gone that long,” I said in my most soothing voice.
“I’m surprised at you. It’s not the length of time that matters. You know as well as I do that your entire circumstance can change in as little as a split second. What are you doing out here, anyway?”
He was right. I had learned that lesson earlier in the year, when Alexei made his appearance in Amarillo. Alexei was Chaseyn’s father. He was also a bitter vampire who had spent years trying to fulfill a curse of his own making.
At one time, Alexei had been in love with my great great great grandmother, Lorelei. Lorelei was a redheaded aristocrat who was betrothed to another man. When she chose to marry him instead of running away with Alexei as they had planned, Alexei was so distraught that he asked his guardian, an ancient vampire, to turn him into one as well. Years later, he appeared to Lorelei on her deathbed and asked her to spend eternity with him. When she refused, he vowed revenge. He swore that the next crimson-haired girl to be born to her family line would become his undead bride. I was that girl.
When Alexei had appeared at my grandmother’s house in Amarillo, along with Chaseyn’s sister Frost, the surprise attack happened so fast that there was barely time to react. But, Chaseyn had been there. He had saved me that time. This time, though, Chaseyn wasn’t here, and there was no way for him to get here fast enough if Alexei chose to make another appearance. I considered that for a moment and decided that I needed to make smarter choices. Wandering into a dark alley alone was just plain stupid.
“Who’s he?” Balthazar grunted, pointing his chin at Eli.
“Who am I? Who the Hell are you?” Eli asked, his voice fuelled with anger. “And, what are the two of you doing out here alone with the door locked?”
Balthazar took a territorial step toward Eli so that they were standing no more than two feet away from each other. Despite his above-average height, Eli’s eyes came only to Balthazar’s chin. A solid minute passed with the two of them in a stand off. Neither one seemed willing to give in, and I could sense the tension mounting. Eli shifted slightly, nervously, but he held firm, even going so far as to take a slight step forward. It wasn’t a big movement, but it was suggestive, to say the least. In that moment, it was crystal clear. Eli was a boy. Balthazar was a man. And, if I didn’t intervene soon, the boy was going to get his butt kicked by the man.
“Eli, I would like to introduce you to someone,” I said, motioning toward the handsome brute of a man with his arms crossed against his chest. Even to a big guy like Eli, Balthazar had to come across as intimidating. “This is Balthazar, and he’s one of Chaseyn and Mina‘s closest friends.”
Eli contemplated the words for a moment, and the muscles in his jaw flexed several times. Finally, his shoulders relaxed, his lips curved up in a smirk, and he gave his head a quick shake. Similarly, Balthazar relaxed his stance and uncrossed his arms. I let out a deep breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding. Eli made the first move after that.
“Well why didn’t you say so sooner? Good to meet you, man,” Eli said, extending his hand to Balthazar. Eli was quick to forgive and forget, and it appeared he had already forgotten his anger over my disappearance.
“Like the lady said, the name’s Balthazar, but most people call me Balty,” he replied, offering his hand to Eli in return. “And, might I say, either you’re a complete fool or you’re head-over-heels in love with this girl. You know what I am--at least I think you do--yet you were still willing to take me on to protect her. Good man.”
Eli looked down shyly. He smoothed a hand across the back of his head and ruffled the hair at the nape of his neck. At first, I thought he was trying to decide if he should take a shot at Balthazar, but then I heard him chuckle.
“You’ve got my number, buddy,” Eli laughed. It was a deep, throaty sound that lifted the dark mood. “I’m both a fool, and I’m in love with her.”
It was the first time I heard him say the words out loud, and it had a strange effect. I knew he had feelings for me, but I had never contemplated their depth. I felt the color rise in my cheeks, and I averted my eyes. Suddenly, my shoes were the most fascinating thing in the world.
“And, Chaseyn’s okay with this?” Balthazar asked, pointing his question at me instead of Eli. I still felt too awkward to reply, so Eli stepped in.
“You bet. In fact, he practically forced me to come on this trip…not that it took much convincing.”
He winked at me. I hated when he did that. It always made my knees a tad bit weak.
“If Chaseyn trusts you with his girl, you must be a pretty decent guy.”
I’d had about all I could take of their little sharing circle--talking about me like I wasn‘t even there.
“Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing more I would like to do than stand here all night watching you boys bond, but I have to ask…where’s Addie?” I posed the question to Eli.
“She took a cab back to the hostel to change. I told her to meet us out front in 30 minutes,” Eli explained. “That gives us about 22 minutes to get to know each other a bit better and to come up with a cover before she gets back.”
“That should give us just enough time to work out the finer points of how this is all going to shake down,” Balthazar said more to himself than to either of us. And, I couldn’t help but wonder what was up with all of his cryptic murmurings.