Author's Note: I received a question about Aingeal's shifting appearance. As a response, I very dutifully answered with more information than I probably should have given away. For the rest of you, I've included as much information as is pertinent to the story line as of now. It is in this chapter. Oh yeah, and sorry for how long it has taken for me to post...AP classes and what not (I got a 105 on a AP Calc. test and a 9, on a 1-9 scale, for an essay in AP Lang.!!!)... Well, as always, read, enjoy, review!
4
Aingeal awoke and pressed her palms into her eyes to erase the green gaze that had haunted most of her rest. It was with her hands hiding her sight that she realized something. This rising she felt…different. Less chaotic.
Her eyes snapped open at the revelation. Normally her dual magic warred inside of her, Carpathian and mage powers both seeking dominance. For the moment, however, they seemed to be working in concert with one another. She looked inside of herself for the answer.
A third power, foreign to herself, seemed to wind itself through her magic, connecting her two halves. A curious frown crossed her face and she followed the curling trails this third presence seemed to weave through her bloodstream. What she found surprised her enough that she flung the covers away to examine her right shoulder with her physical eyes.
A silver dragon was nestled in the hollow of her collar bone, its tail winding down towards her chest. She ran her fingers lightly over the new adornment. Her right side was still mostly covered in a severe sunburn, but the area closest to the dragon was completely healed. She was in awe of this silent magic. Where hers raged and demanded recognition, the power of this quiet dragon went about its business unpretentiously.
In fact, all of the Carpathian's seemed to have this calm well of strength. Yet, it appeared they respected her shallow talents. For, her powers were unexpected but certainly not extraordinary. The humanity of these "vampires," as she still thought them, overwhelmed her. Even her mother had not been so accepting.
A vision pressed at her with the thought of her mother, but it was not very insistent. She frowned inquisitively at the dragon once more before crossing the room to the closet she suspected Raven had filled with clothes in her size. Sure enough, the wardrobe was bursting with garments in every fashion. Aingeal simply could not process all of the conflicting styles bombarding her senses. There was everything from high end dresses to jeans with holes in the knees.
Aingeal chose something simple, a black off the shoulder shirt and a pair of the jeans. She found underwear and socks in the dresser and clothed herself in front of its large mirror. She looked like any other teen in the world and it was a new experience for her. The young woman in the mirror quirked a smile at her before walking out of the frame. The girls Aingeal had seen had seemed more painted.
In the bathroom she rummaged through drawers to find the little containers of makeup. She was laughing hysterically by the time she had managed to open one of them in a sudden puff of powder. Obviously, this required some skill and, as luck would have it, Skyler had arrived with her family for a visit.
Is this some sort of torture device? Aingeal inquired jokingly of her friend as she inspected a tool that looked suspiciously like a guillotine attached to scissor handles.
Skyler's reply was a mental shake of the head. Put that down before you hurt yourself. I will be up to rescue you in a moment.
Aingeal rolled her eyes at the sarcasm in Skyler's response, but she complied, stepping away from the growing pile of cosmetics she kept finding in the drawers.
Skyler's pleasantries with the Prince took longer than Aingeal's curiosity would allow, though, and she was soon back to fiddling with the makeup. An idea sparked in her head and she decided to play a little prank on Skyler. She liked to see Skyler laugh and she knew exactly how to accomplish that goal. So, she picked up a few of the odd ends lying scattered on the counter and began to brush powder and various other cosmetics on her face with inexperienced hands. By the time she finished, Aingeal thought she looked somewhat like a very gothic clown and so went to stand behind the door to wait for Skyler.
Her mind was so focused on her small joke that she was not as attentive as to who exactly was coming to her door as she should have been. Consequently, she missed the sound of the much lighter steps hidden beneath Skyler's foot falls.
"Boo!" Aingeal pounced in front of the now open doorway.
Skyler and Gabriel both erupted into laughter. Aingeal's full faced smile had evaporated as soon as she realized Gabriel was present, but she tried valiantly for a small smirk as it became apparent he was not going to condemn her for being a loon. Still, she attempted to conceal as much of her face as possible with her hair. Skyler soon recovered and pulled her friend along with her to the bathroom.
"That was horrible," Aingeal stated as soon as the bathroom door was securely shut behind them.
Skyler cocked her head to the side. "It was hilarious."
Aingeal gave her a deadpan stare. "He thinks I'm loony."
Skyler shrugged as if to say, 'Well, it's the truth' and dragged her to sit on the edge of the bathtub to remove the makeup from her face. As Skyler sat armed with makeup remover and cotton balls, a frown creased her brow.
"You look different."
"I feel different," responded Aingeal with a frown mirroring Skyler's.
Skyler inquired further as she removed the cosmetics with the tiny cotton swab. "I didn't really notice before, but your hair is almost blonde now, when it used to be black. Why is that?"
"Most of the time I feel like I'm two people; one is my father's and the other is my mother's. Sometimes one side wins out for a while and takes over my magic, leaving my appearance vulnerable. I think it's always been like that, but now," she grabbed Skyler's hand, "now, I feel like I'm my own. I'm still part of both of my parents but I'm not theirs. Do you understand?" Her eyes pleaded with her friend in a desperate plea for understanding.
Skyler's own eyes were haunted with the memories her guardians kept at bay and her voice was hushed. "Yes." She composed herself somewhat, "Why, though? I wasn't free from my father until long after he was dead and Francesca and Gabriel gave me the support I needed to become myself."
Aingeal adjusted the top of her shirt to expose her right shoulder instead of her left. Her eyes lingered on the small silver engraving before snapping to Skyler's gaze. "It has something to do with this. It feels like it put a piece of me back I didn't know I was missing."
Skyler reached out to brush her fingers over the silver head of the dragon. "Wow," was all she managed.
They sat in contemplative silence as Skyler finished removing the makeup from Aingeal's face. As she rose to collect the cosmetics she would put on Aingeal, she lingered with her back to her friend, fingers running lightly over the small collection on the counter as she broached the subject that had been on her mind since setting foot in the Prince's home.
"Aingeal…" she hesitated but Aingeal simply waited for her to continue as they stared at each other in the mirror. "Will you come live with us?"
Aingeal sighed and spoke very gently to her companion, knowing she was going to break her heart. "No, Skyler." Skyler's gaze dropped from the mirror, but Aingeal stepped closer to be able to stare into her tear filled gaze. "I love you, you know that, and I wish I could stay with you but I can't." Aingeal sighed again. "We both need to…I don't know, grow up? I'm not your whole family anymore, and, like you said, they are letting you be you. All I do is connect you to a terrifying past."
Skyler's eyes were hurt. "You are still a part of who I am."
Aingeal pressed her shoulder into her friend's. "I know, but you are all of me, at the moment, and it's not fair for you."
Skyler stepped back to look at her friend with slight defiance coloring her sorrow. "I don't care, you should at least stay for a while. It's almost my birthday and I barely have any friends."
Aingeal wanted to hug her friend, but she physically could not. She averted her eyes, speaking only loudly enough to be barely heard. "I won't leave you; I can't leave you. I just can't live with you." She made the mistake of looking up into Skyler's face again. "At least not permanently. I'll stay with you for a few days until your birthday. It will give me time to find a house of my own."
Skyler gave a watery smile and hugged Aingeal, ignoring both of their aversions to contact. She waved at the cosmetics littering the counter. "Come on, we better get this over with before they come to see if we've drowned in the sink or some such."
Aingeal shrugged and gave herself over to Skyler's ministering.
Gabriel had given up on waiting for the girls and had so gone downstairs to converse with Mikhail and Raven. He sat on one of the luxurious sofas with his lifemate Francesca as their daughter played with stuffed animals left over from Savannah's infancy. As all of them were fully Carpathian, they had heard every word of Aingeal's decision.
"What are we going to do with the girl?" Gabriel inquired to the room.
"She's too young; she can't just go live by herself," was Raven's reply.
"It would not end well, love, if we were to force her to stay with Francesca and Gabriel. She could very well retreat permanently if we did so," warned Mikhail. "She seems capable of reasoning for herself. We will simply have to persuade her."
So they waited until Aingeal and Skyler came to join them. When she was halfway down the stairs, Aingeal felt their intense gazes and nervously covered the dragon tattoo with her shirt.
Gabriel glanced askance at his lifemate. Without the foolish makeup, Aingeal appeared far different from the girl he had seen in Francesca's mind. Luckily, he was prepared for this by his eavesdropping.
All of the Carpathians smiled up at her, even the baby, but Aingeal still felt very self-conscious. The rhythm of her heart increased as she sat in an empty recliner, their eyes still fixated on her.
Mikhail broke the awkward silence first. "We have come to understand that you do not intend to live with Francesca and Gabriel. Where, then, do you wish to live?" Tact was the greater part of diplomacy and Mikhail feigned a lack of knowledge in the matter.
"I've lived on my own for a long time and I'm going to continue doing so." The reply was quiet but said in such a way as to imply she would not readily accept any alternative.
"In our culture, and it is the same with the humans, children do not leave their guardians until they are at least eighteen." Mikhail countered.
Aingeal smiled, a small gesture of triumph. "I will be eighteen just six days after Skyler's birthday."
"Very well," Mikhail was not entirely pleased with this information. "Until then, however, you are still in the care of our people. I believe you have made it clear that you will only stay with Skyler for the three days until her birthday. So what of after that? You are, after all, welcome in any Carpathian home, including my own."
Aingeal stumbled on the gap in her plan. "I…I don't know." She thought for a moment. "I've seen almost all of your people in visions, but I haven't met many. I-If it's alright, I would like to visit each of them."
She stared with timid concentration at the Prince, almost forgetting the others. His decision meant a lot to her, the possibility of finally meeting the fairy tale people she had visited so often with her chaotic powers.
Mikhail nodded once. "We will make the necessary arrangements. In the meantime, Raven and Sara have started a school of sorts and I believe it would be beneficial for you to attend."
That seemed to shock Aingeal somewhat. "You guys have a school?"
"Sort of," interjected Raven. "We recently started making arrangements for the males to tutor the children whenever they have time. I'm sure, as you stay with each of the couples, they wouldn't mind sharing their skills with you."
A light ignited once more in the depths of Aingeal's eyes. "You mean I could study music with…" Aingeal fluttered her hands, unable to recall the name she was seeking. "She's blind and plays the piano?"
"Antonietta?" replied Francesca.
She turned her eyes to the woman quietly playing with the infant now in her arms. Aingeal shook her head. "I can't remember, but that sounds right. So, can I?"
Aingeal knew she sounded ridiculously hopeful, but she could not help herself. One of the few things she remembered clearly about her isolation was, one day, stumbling upon the perfect flute and buying it when she was not even sure she could afford a home or the little food she required. The silver sang to her, coaxing and teaching her during her endless hours of practice. The music had welled up inside of her as if it had always been there, sleeping. So, she had worked her way through smaller orchestras until she was accepted in the New York philharmonic. She had traveled with them, earning enough to pay for her flute and a little to save besides.
"Of course!" responded Raven brightly, surprised by the girl's obvious passion.
Mikhail appeared thoughtful, however. "You do not remember your visions clearly?"
"No…"
Mikhail realized his tone made the girl wary and so changed his demeanor, a warm smile lighting his face. "I'm sure you can gain more control of your powers once you begin your lessons."
Aingeal knew Mikhail questioned that fact with more curiosity than seemed appropriate. After all, most of her life was a blur only interrupted briefly by highlights of significant moments. Prying at any fact for too long caused her mental pain, though, so she moved along the conversation readily upon noticing Raven and Mikhail seemed to be discussing it further, privately.
"Um, so when are we going?" Aingeal asked.
Gabriel answered as Skyler shifted her position to the floor so she could play with the baby she held in her arms. "After we collect your things, we can be off."
"My things…"Aingeal looked embarrassed. "But I can't repay anyone right now. My money is all in the bank and they're watching, OW!" She got an instant headache along with the resurfacing information.
Mikhail raised an eyebrow at his lifemate. Pain when trying to access memories and what sounds like the society watching, it seems like the all too familiar handiwork of Razvan.
Raven shivered.
"Do not worry, little one, Carpathians value each other more than any sum of money," Mikhail assured the girl.
"Carpathian, I think I'm starting to understand what that means," Aingeal announced.
Gabriel inquired of her gently, "And what do you believe it stands for?"
Aingeal blushed furiously, dropping her head to inspect the toe of her shoe. "Family," was all she mumbled.
She and Skyler had spent all of the time between arriving at the house and the present roaming around the dwelling. Consequently, Aingeal was sore, but still entirely captivated by her surroundings, by the time she collapsed on the bed that had been deemed hers. It was on the third floor across the hall from the room that Skyler had bounded off to in order to change into her pajamas.
So far, the dining room had dazzled her, the library had enthralled her, and her room had touched her. The prospect of leaving saddened her, as she could all too easily picture herself living here. Skyler broke through her morose reverie, though, as she reentered the bedroom looking ready for sleep. Aingeal glanced at the clock, 2:00 a.m., still relatively early for her to go to bed.
"So what did you think?"
"The house was wicked," replied Aingeal.
Skyler stared at her craftily. "Enough to make you want to stay?"
Aingeal sighed, for what felt like the billionth time, at yet another insinuation she should not leave. "Yes, it makes me want to stay even more, but I'm not." Her eyes were hard as she said the last bit, trying to impress upon her friend the truth.
Skyler's eyes misted for a moment. They did no more than that, however, as she had become accustomed to hearing the rejection. She simply was not going to stop as long as Aingeal was staying in their house. After all, she might change her mind.
Aingeal knew differently. She was going to leave and her friend was going to continue pestering her.
So she lied to avoid controversy. "I'm really tired, Skyler. I think I'll go to bed now."
"Okay, you want a stuffed animal or anything?"
"Sure." Aingeal followed Skyler across the hall to pick out one of the furry creatures. They were all beautiful and kept pristine one a shelf, all except one, a little gray wolf who looked very shabby indeed sitting next to his well groomed brethren.
Aingeal reached out to stroke his tiny felt nose. "Who's he?"
Skyler's hand snatched out like lightning, drawing the wolf safely into her arms. "Not him." Aingeal stared quizzically at her until she continued. "It was the first thing Francesca and Gabriel ever gave me. It came from Dimitri's wolf foundation."
"Don't worry, I was just wondering who he was. I prefer the penguin." She let her hand slide across the shelf until she could grasp the little terry cloth creature. The small tag attached to his hip declared his name. "Perky, eh? Still, what's the wolf's name."
Skyler's cheeks turned a delicate pink color. "Dimitri."
Aingeal turned to go back to her room before Skyler could see her radiantly happy smile. "'Night," she called as she reached the doorway.
"Wait! What do you want for your birthday?"
Aingeal was startled and blurted and answer before thinking. "Nothing."
"Come on, there must be something."
"I don't know, what do people normally request for their birthdays?"
Skyler was stunned for a moment by that response. It had been so long since she had not had a birthday celebration, it surprised her how far she had come as to be astonished by someone who did not know the mechanics of the birthday concept.
She finally answered. "Um, books, stuffed animals, just stuff you like."
Aingeal cocked her head and stared down at the little penguin in her hands. "Can I have him?"
"Sure," Skyler laughed, "but you don't officially get to have him until the party."
"The party? You mean the one for your birthday?"
"It's not just my party anymore, it's yours too."
Aingeal started hyperventilating, which scared Skyler. "My…party…too?" The shadow of a vision broke through her newly erected resistance, and she suddenly saw herself in what seemed like, to her, a swarm of people. "Oh, crap." She leaned against the doorway. "I really can't do that. I mean, I didn't even really plan on going when it was just for you."
Skyler hovered near her, trying to comfort Aingeal without actually touching her. "It won't be so bad. I mean there are presents and cake, nothing dangerous or anything."
"People. Lots and lots of people." Aingeal turned yellow eyes upon Skyler's face.
"You'll be fine. I will be right beside you the whole time, I promise."
Aingeal gave a queasy nod. She could go for a while as long as Skyler was near. "I'm going to bed now."
She suddenly felt real weariness at the prospect of the heavy burden of so many gazes resting upon her. She trod across the hall and snicked the door shot behind her in a zombie trance. She pressed her forehead into the cool wood of the door and her numbness faded, leaving behind a revelation. She would have to find a birthday present for Skyler. Her first thought was The Hunchback of Notre Dame but she had clearly seen that lying on Skyler's nightstand. So, her well of ideas was tapped.
She ran into the bathroom and threw up a little bit. She was unable to deal with any sort of social problem whatsoever, so, she pushed it from her mind. She concentrated, instead, upon the menial tasks of readying herself for bed, taking extra care to remove all of the sour taste from her mouth.
Amongst the things Raven had purchased for her, Aingeal found cotton sleep pants and a large t-shirt. She wrapped herself in these garments and fell onto the extremely soft bed, her mind still painfully aware of its awkwardness in a social crisis. And so, she fell to sleep, her mind shifting from panicked thoughts, to panicked dreams, and finally into a vision.
A blonde woman stood at the prow of an ancient ship; her two sisters, one red and the other black haired, stood beside her. They were traveling along on one of the Viking voyages. This particular journey would take them to the heart of Greece to seek out others with their talents. It was not uncommon, in their clan, to possess the gift of 'sight,' however, their powers had grown beyond those of even the oldest witch of their family. So, they were being sent away, banished really, until they could find a way to control the magic inside of them.
The vision shifted, resettling to depict the three women in the city of Athens.
At the moment, they were spinning thread to eventually weave into garments and sell. It was months since they arrived and they had still not found a teacher. In the meantime, they waited, making money in what ways they could. So they spun cloth and, as they spun, they saw visions for those who were willing to pay and brave enough to visit. Klotho would look into the past, Lachesis saw the present and future, and Atropos predicted deaths. Some of their patrons believed they made fates instead of simply viewing them. This is how they came to be known, and feared, as Fates. Of course, these were not their real names but titles attached to them by their somewhat unwilling sponsors.
Still, Lachesis was restless as their powers continued to go untamed, and so, the three followed rumors of mages into the Carpathian mountains.
The vision splintered into smaller images of what appeared to be countless hours of spells and, later, battle. As the three traveled home they were swept up in the first Peloponnesian war.
Aingeal, however, was taken away by her continued worry over Skyler's absent gift. A thread, much like that which the three sisters had spun, pulled her into yet another vision, this one of the immediate future instead of the distant past.
Aingeal watched as Skyler opened a miniscule silver wrapped box to reveal an engraved four leaf clover locket.
Aingeal opened her eyes, smiling at the future about to unfold. She was no longer wary of what was to come, she closed her eyes and slept without further visions of the past or future. Instead, she dreamed of the present and captivating green eyes.
Dominic was uncharacteristically distracted, his mind straying from his firm grasp to wander in search of some connection it never seemed to find no matter how far it reached. He ran his fingers through his already tousled hair before pressing both hands firmly into his weary eyes, blocking his vision of the ground he had been calmly searching for clues.
His first night free of injuries, he had sought out the mage's cave. It was, of course, full of vampires. He would have brought all to the justice of his Prince if his mission allowed, but the locating of his scattered family required a rather more subtle approach. So, the next night he had gone out hunting one of the lesser vampires, waiting for his chance to suck the parasites from the grotesque, walking corpse and pose as one of their number.
The trick was catching one alone, and tonight he had found some luck. Instead of locating a mere vampire he had chanced upon his great nephew Razvan. He intended to rip the knowledge of Razvan's children right from the monster's skull as he was distracted by feeding.
In the back of his mind, the knowledge he should feel remorse for the unwilling human sacrifice merely tickled Dominic's conscious thought. He did not have time for sentiment tonight. The Malinovs were near to their master, in case he should have need, or on the rarer chance he would allow them to feed again after their glaring failure to kill the Prince of Carpathians. Each night Razvan would glut himself on the human chattel, right in front of the ravenous eyes of his minions. Afterward, he permitted them to suck the dying drops from his victims, just enough to keep their minds and bodies ready to fight and more than necessary to teach them the price of failure.
A small lie of a smile warped Dominic's features as Razvan stepped out of the shadows, right on time. The woman did not have the time to scream as the vampire clamped his mouth onto her jugular. The pack of diapers she had rushed out to buy fell to the sidewalk as Razvan dragged his prey into the shadows. A mental gasp not his own sounded in Dominic's mind, releasing a burst of color and pity for the young woman being sucked inexorably towards her demise.
He leapt forward just before the person who had connected with him evaporated, taking all emotion with her.
Run. He commanded the victim in restored battle calm. His cool logic deemed his previous emotional response unacceptable. He reacted instantly to the new situation, however, not stopping to dwell on his single perceived mistake in centuries.
The three remaining Malinov brothers swept to their master's side as the woman shambled into a compulsory run. Failure was possible but not likely. With this thought, Dominic opened his arms to accept the trios first attack. They collided with him as they might a brick wall.
Before he could turn to dispatching them, Razvan began to slink away. Dominic turned his full attention to the mastermind, attacking and paralyzing with his thoughts before he pounced. Dominic powered through almost nonexistent mental barriers to grab at information. He did not have time for finesse as all three emaciated vampires had latched on to him, slowly drawing his great strength into themselves. They had been far too starved to go for a death shot when the replenishing blood of an ancient was so near, pulsing just below the thin surface of skin.
He easily found the faces of numerous women in Razvan's mind, all former lovers and potential carriers of his offspring. In fact, he found the information he sought before the blood loss had time to register. Yet, he stayed in the mind of his enemy as further knowledge tempted him.
Dominic did not hesitate, he plunged his fangs into Razvan's shoulder to grant him the time and strength needed to continue his looting. His original plan was unwittingly completed as thousands of parasites made their way into his bloodstream. Dominic carried on, unheeding of the microscopic army. He had found the plans for the Carpathians' demise.
Dominic finally released the wildly struggling Razvan. The Malinov brothers clutched with all of the tenacity of rabid dogs as Dominic attempted to shake them loose as well. As they refused to let go, he staggered under the effects of their combined weights and loss of blood. He tried to send the information by way of a mental call to Falcon, to Gabriel, to Anyone.
Shit. Apparently vampires came laced with paralytics these days.
The Malinov brothers loomed over him, temporarily sated by the ancient blood, as Razvan gave orders to return, with their prisoner, to the ice cave. Dominic shut down his heart and lungs, unable to do anything else at the moment.