As I walked down the street I began to gather my will, forming it in a layer around myself like a custom made suit. With a bit of effort, I created a veil out of my will, turning me invisible to the naked eye. Anyone using their Sight would be able to see me, but that wasn't likely to happen. I knew there was a chance that Harry might find me here if he had come to see Thomas, so I used the opportunity to practice veiling myself, something for which I had a lot of natural talent. Since I had become Harry Dresden's apprentice, I had learned a great deal about magic, but where his skill was in large displays of force, mine was in the intricacies of finely and quickly crafted veils and other such spells. I wouldn't be much help in a firefight, but if subtlety was needed, I was someone you could count on.
I opened the gate to Raith Manor with a whisper of "offne" and a small exertion of will. My magic was based loosely on German. Slipping through the gate I closed it behind my and began the long walk up the curving driveway to the mansion, keeping an eye out for the Blue Beetle the whole way.
There was no sign of Harry as I reached the entrance to the gorgeous building. Once again I was able to enter with little effort. Making my way through the halls, I was careful to walk quietly, not wanting to be caught by anyone. The only person who knew I was coming (besides the person I'd come to see) was Thomas and he had sworn not to tell Harry about my visits; but anyone else was sure to tell Harry.
I had come to see Thomas's son, Darrien. Justine had managed to recover over the years and, although it hurt Thomas to be with her, the love he felt for her was greater than the pain caused by her love for him. They had only one child together, the other residents of the house were some of Thomas's sisters and brothers and their children.
I met the Raiths when I was only 14. My father was a drug addict and my mother had died during childbirth. I think my father blamed me somewhat for that. I looked just like my mother. There were a couple photos around the house of her when she was young and even I sometimes forgot that they weren't of me. The only difference was that where her eyes were a soft hazel, mine were a dark bronze like my father's. As I got older, though, I only began to look more like her, and my father grew more and more distant. By the time I turned 12 he had started doing hard drugs and I was taken away from him a few months before my 14th birthday. I was put into the foster care system and sent to live in a small house with 4 other foster kids. It was miserable. I ran away and that's when I met Darrien. He was on his way home from school, a boy only about a year older than me. He found me crying in an alley with only a backpack containing a few items of clothing, my toothbrush, and a picture of my mom and dad from when my mom was pregnant with me. It was the only picture of us as a family. Darrien took me home with him and asked if I could stay for a while. Thomas was kind to me. He took me in and cleared it with the foster people (my case worker was a young man who became very flustered upon seeing Thomas). When I began to show signs of magical ability, Thomas took me to Harry.
Harry said from the beginning that I had a lot of natural ability. I could craft intricate spells easily, but couldn't muster up a lot of power, though not for a lack of trying. It was decided that I should move out of the Raith house when I was caught in Darrien's bedroom. We had only kissed, but it made Harry and Thomas nervous. Darrien protested, but I knew I had to do what Harry said; I was his apprentice after all. So the Carpenters were kind enough to take me in. They knew what to expect since, after Molly, Matthew, Alicia, and Harry had all displayed magical ability of various kinds and had been trained to one degree or another by Harry Dresden. I was also enrolled in public high school, to which I protested greatly, but was overruled by Harry, Michael, and Charity. It was also agreed that I would not be allowed to see Darrien, since they were all afraid that he would hurt me. He had not yet had his first feeding, and, since the first one was always fatal to the one being fed upon, the adults were all careful to keep us apart.
I had hoped to see Darrien at school, but he went to a private high school. Until I learned to create a good veil, I had no way of meeting him. The first time I went to the Raith house was a week after my 16th birthday, a little over a year since my training had begun. I had managed to open the front gate, but I was unable to keep my veil up at the same time and had trouble getting it started again, so I was caught and taken to Thomas.
I was terrified. Not that Thomas would hurt me. The thought that he could never even crossed my mind. I was terrified that he would tell Harry. I had told the Carpenters that I was going to the library with a couple friends from school to work on a project and would be home late. I knew that if Harry found out I had lied to the Carpenters I would be in serious trouble, not to mention the trouble that I'd be in with Charity, who had become a mother to me.
Thomas said nothing as he sat behind his desk in his study. I looked at my feet, glancing up once in a while, but carefully avoiding his piercing eyes, which seemed to bore straight through me. I had never soul gazed with anyone but Harry, who had insisted on it as soon as I met him. Even Darrien and I hadn't, since I hadn't really seen him since my powers manifested.
After a couple minutes I couldn't bear the silence anymore, so I blurted out, "I'm sorry Thomas! I'm so sorry I tried to break in! I just wanted to see Darrien. I miss him so much."
He smiled at me. "I understand. I really do. But you have to understand that Darrien is not like you. Neither am I. Nor is anyone who lives in this house. We are vampires. We feed off emotions. And you have a lot of strong emotion inside. I think that is why Darrien was drawn to you in the first place. Why else would he have walked down that alley and found you? He could sense you in a way that even he cannot understand yet. I'm sorry. I don't want this life for him. I want him to have that chance I never got: the chance to live a normal life with someone he really loves. I was able to give Inari that. She found someone she loves who loves her back and he was her first. Darrien knows this, but if he becomes involved with someone who is not a true love, he will become a full vampire. I don't want that to happen, nor do I want him to hurt you, and that is why Harry and I think it is best if you don't see him."
"But I…" I trailed off, unable to find the words to express myself. "I think I might love him. Maybe. But how will we ever know for sure if I'm not allowed to be with him? And he might love me back. That's what you want for him, so why are you denying the opportunity for that to happen?"
Thomas didn't respond right away, giving me plenty of time to turn bright red as warmth spread slowly through my face, starting in my cheeks and branching out over my nose and forehead until I was sure I looked just like a cherry lollipop.
"I see what you mean," Thomas said finally. I met his eyes for a moment then looked away. "I suppose as long as you are just talking and someone chaperone's just in case, it would be alright. But Harry will never agree to it. Since he lost Susan he hasn't been able to… never mind."
"Can't we just not tell Harry? I can tell the Carpenters I signed up for an SAT prep class or something that meets once a week so I can come over. Please! I'll work on my veils so that no one sees me coming or going. And you can be there the whole time! We will just hang out. Please Thomas! Please!"
Thomas took a deep breath and let it out. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice in light of your feelings towards my son. And if I don't agree to this you might try to sneak in again and get yourself in even more trouble. You can come on Tuesday evenings for a few hours. I will be in an adjacent room the entire time you're together, and if I think there's even a chance of something going wrong I will put a stop to this, do you understand?"
"Yes! Yes I understand completely. Can I see him now?"
"He has homework to finish and so do you, I'm sure. But you can see him for an hour. I'll have someone go get him. You will talk in the library. I will stay in here, but I don't want any funny business." He stood to get Darrien.
"Absolutely. Thank you Thomas! Thank you so much!" Before I could stop myself I had run to him and wrapped my arms around him, giving him a huge bear hug. I heard him let out a small chuckle before I realized what I had done and pulled away, looking sheepishly at my feet once again.