Published: March 9, 2020

10

KAYLA

What was taking them so long? Minutes stretched into hours as Kayla stared at the exposed wooden planked ceiling of Marnie’s dark, damp, stone walled basement waiting for her and Garrick to return.

At first, the basement seemed to amplify what happened upstairs.
Their footsteps were like thunder when they’d walked above their heads. Now, while
they were in another part of the house, the room remained eerily silent.

It was a bad idea following her father down here.

Her stomach lurched.

Her father lit a lantern, then moved across the tight
space to light another.

He hadn’t said anything to her since pulling her into
the basement, but there were a ton of questions she still wanted to ask. But at
the moment, all she could think of was the fate of the vampire who followed
behind Marnie.

Her gut twisted.

He’ll be fine. She tried to calm the panic rising
in her chest. Her father said that as long as he stayed in the house, he would
remain safe. Garrick didn’t seem like the foolish type, so fretting over him was
only going to give her an ulcer.

Restlessness made her sit up on the cot she’d taken up
residence on and looked around now that it was lighter.

They hadn’t been Marnie’s first visitors. Several thin well-used
cots lined the walls, an old coal stove sat in the opposite corner, while a
pile of blankets was neatly folded in another.

It was clear this was some ancient no-tech version of a
panic room. Thick walls cordoned them off from the rest of the basement. The
home upstairs spanned much wider than the small rectangular box they were
currently in.

She should make herself useful. Popping off the bed and over to the stack of thin blankets kitty-cornered between two cots, she grabbed them and began dressing three beds. No matter how hard she tried to remain focused on tucking the linens, her mind raced.

She was still no closer to the truth than she had been
since she’d been taken. The more questions her father answered, the more she
had.

She glanced at her father after tucking in the last corner
of the bed she was probably going to sleep in for a long time. Then the
realization hit her: she wasn’t going to be sleeping in her own bed at school
two doors down from Breanne. A thick motion started to cake at the back of her
throat as the night’s events set in. A tiny sob left her throat.

“Is everything okay, Kay-Kay?” her father asked softly
using her childhood nickname. It was meant to be comforting, but it only made
her feel worse.

“Why is this happening?”

The question came out through choked sobs like her body was going to let loose an ugly cry. She could feel the tears coming but swallowed them down along with the lump in her throat. If she started crying now, she wouldn’t be able to stop. She plopped back on her bed and focused on her father.

He sighed, then flossed a hand through his salt and
pepper hair with a despair that matched her own. Yet, his despair was shrouded
in guilt. He sat on the cot directly opposite of her and interlaced his fingers
and seesawed them back and forth.

“I’m so sorry to put you through this. As a father…” he sighed again, suppressing his guilt. “It’s my fault we’re here. I tried everything I could to protect you.

“For a long time, I thought that was what’s best. The
less you knew, the safer you would be. I see now that that wasn’t the case.

“I’ve been on the run for a long time. Since long before
you were born. Since, well, since the day I met your mother. Do you remember
how we met?”

Kayla nodded. “During Carnevale di Venezia.”

He smiled softly. “Yes. On the night of the big masquerade
festival. She was wearing the most elaborate mask and underneath I could only
see her big beautiful green eyes and a smile that would light a thousand rooms.”

Kayla’s small smile skirted her lips at the fondness in her father’s face. He’d never talked about her like this her entire life. She sat on the cot facing him and wrapped her arms around her shins as he continued.

“That night was the most perfect night. As crazy as it
sounds, that was the night I fell in love with your mother. I knew she was the
one for me as we danced and kissed under the moonlight. I even asked to marry
her right there on the spot.

“Unfathomably, she agreed but wouldn’t without a ring.
She also told me a nearby shop sold costume jewelry and that a ring from there
would work for now until I could afford the real thing.

“In a rush, I darted to the shop and in the most broken Italian
I had in me, I asked the owner if I could purchase one of the rings. I told him
I’ve fallen in love with the most beautiful woman at the festival and she’d
marry me if I gave her one of his rings. He offered me one for free and a
blessing of good luck.

“With the ring in hand, I raced to be back by your mother’s side so I could propose, but when I returned, two men were forcing her away from the square. There were so many people and it was so loud; I don’t think anyone realized she was being taken.

“I did. When I saw them taking her into an alley, I ran
after her. What met me on the other end was not a foe I’d ever seen before.”

“The rogue?” she squeaked, pressing her chin into her knees.
Her father nodded, the fondness in his face had vanished. At the corner of his
eyes, fear was starting to emerge again.

“That is what we call him, yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he is both a mage and a vampire.”

She gasped. “That’s not possible, is it?”

“It shouldn’t be. It defies nature. According to the old
texts, if a mage becomes vampire, they lose their power. He somehow found a way
to keep his by becoming Syste.”

“H-how do you know?”

“I’ve seen it. By the time I reached the place he’d
taken your mother, there were more than half a dozen mages lying dead at his
feet. All of them with the signs of syphoning—dark protruding veins, ashen
skin, and eyes that seemed several shades paler than normal. But with him, he
ripped their throats out after he’d finished taking their magic. I could only guess
it was so they couldn’t take their magic back.

“Until then, I’d never seen a vampire Syste before. He wanted
to syphon from a mage, so I offered my magic instead of hers,” he raked a hand
through his hair again. “My plan was to get close enough to touch her and get
her out of there. I can travel much farther than most mages. All I needed was
to touch her hand, and I could take her far away from him. So, I offered myself
to him as a way to get closer to her. Once my fingertips grazed hers, I took
her and we vanished.

“Except, you can’t run from a Syste once they’ve tasted
your magic. It’s like a beacon to them. He was able to syphon from your mother
before we left and had been on the hunt for her ever since.

“When your mother died, he turned his hunt to me. By
then, I had you and you were the most important person in the world.

“He is the reason why you’ve been guarded so heavily
your entire life. I hid you in plain sight. Used shields and guards and a strict
routine to make sure he couldn’t get to you. Somehow, he’s found us again.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, but he has a grudge against me and
vampires hold grudges for a long time. I know he won’t stop until he’s retaliated.”

She gasped in horror, but her father was already reassuring
her. “He’ll never get to you. I promise.”

Her father stood up and crossed the room, if she had to guess
for something to do because he got to the stove, then turned back around and
crossed it again.

Her father offered her an apologetic look. “Tonight, has
been an ordeal already. We should get some sleep.”

Sleep was the last thing she was going to do, but the
footsteps above her head prevented her from pressing it further. They were back.
Everything brightened when she saw Garrick’s footfalls making their way down
the stairs after Marnie’s.

“You’re back,” she rushed over to him and threw her arms
around his neck in a hug before she realized what she was doing.

Garrick stiffened.

Mortification crept up her neck and settled on her face.
She was probably beet red.

This was more awkward than when she’d peed on herself
during her second-grade school trip coming home from the zoo and was forced to
sit in a pee puddle in the front of the bus two seats down from her crush.

Put your hands down, she ordered her limbs that didn’t
seem to want to move. Why couldn’t she let go of him?

“I’m sorry…” She murmured, but as soon as her arms
started working again, she forced them to her sides. She took a step back, but
he caught her hand and pulled her body flush against his.

He felt incredible as he buried his face in her neck and
drew her close in silence. He was strong, there was no doubt about that as his colossal
arms wrapped around her. She felt tiny in his arms. But there was something in
the way he held her close to him. Like he knew exactly the right kind of comfort
she needed.

Her father cleared his throat loudly from behind her. Both
of them seemed to catch themselves and bolted upright. This time when she stepped
away, he let her.

Her father glared his disapproval, but it was Marnie who
spoke. “Tonight, you can sleep here. Tomorrow, we seek the councils of the
elders.”

Again, more confusion tightened her eyebrows and it was
Marnie’s turn to look at her father with disapproval. “Have you told her nothing
of our ways?”

“I will tell her when it is time,” her father urged,
cupping a hand under Marnie’s elbow and leading her away.

It wasn’t very far. Their portion of the basement was
only so big. When he saw her staring he waved his hand at his side and their
whispers were silenced.

If only she could read lips.

There was a rogue out to get them, they were holed in a
safe house and now there was a council of elders.

Could her life get any more complicated? She looked at
the vampire beside her. Yes, apparently it could.

“You seem in need of rest,” Garrick said, drawing her
attention away from the pair conspiring in the corner. “I know your kind…” he
paused, then corrected himself. “Do mages require as much sleep as humans do?”

“We do, but right now I’m too tired to sleep.”

“Ah, bonlight.” At her questioning look, he explained.
“It is the name we use when someone is so tired, it feels like they have lightning
in their bones.”

“Yeah, I feel like I can sleep for a year, but at the
same time never sleep again.”

“It helps to count until the stars meet your eyes,” he
offered.

It must have been the vampire version of counting sheep. She stared at the cot she’d taken up as her own and laid on it. She was exhausted but was nowhere near close to wanting to fall asleep.

She looked at the vampire across from her. For the first time since he’d freed her from the airplane hangar, she really looked at him. She’d never met a vampire before but wondered if they were all just as handsome as he was.

He had conventional looks. Dark eyes, inset in a scarily symmetrical face, a strong jaw, perfect teeth, and swagger that she found completely fascinating. She’d seen soldiers move like him—precise and assured. He did call himself a legion. She’d only heard the term in reference to a group of soldiers from the Roman empire. Based on his physique alone, it wouldn’t have been far off to think so.

He sat on the cot opposite her and casually let an arm
rest on one bent knee. The position displayed his built thighs and hips to
perfection. They’d probably do wonders inside of a bed.

Foremages, why was she getting turned on by his hips in
the line of sight of her father?

“You’re not counting to bring the stars,” his brows danced in amusement as if he could read every word coming from her filthy mind.

“Not tired remember?” She looked over to her dad and
Marnie still huddled in the corner. She didn’t look pleased by whatever he was
telling her.

“The mage thinks you have a right to know the truth,”
Garrick explained seeing her tilt her head to look at the two of them.

“You can hear them?

“No. I can see the words on their lips.”

“Can they hear us?” She asked, but neither of them looked over so she had to guess that was a no. Interestingly, his little force field blocked sound from both sides.

“Doesn’t appear so,” he responded.

“Well, what are they saying?”

“They speak mostly of you. The mage is angry that your father
is withholding things from you.”

“What isn’t he telling me?”

“They did not say.”

Garrick had gone quiet and faced her, but Marnie and her
father were still talking.

“What else are they saying?”

Instead of answering, Marnie nodded toward her. They
instantly stopped talking. Her head whipped to face Garrick but the deed was
done. They’d caught her.

“Time to go to bed,” her father said. “After breakfast,
we’ll talk with the council.”

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