Forever and Ever Amen
Chapter 14: Temptation
Vicki woke and sat bolt upright on the sofa in her office. The quality of the light seeping around the edges of the blinds spoke of a cold winter evening. Night was coming. Night….
With a small start she remembered her dreams. The empty, snow-bound park. Mike, Henry and Mick. Getting pulled into a van. The castle and its dungeon. The pain. The terror. Death. And…blood.
She rubbed her eyes. Even in the gloomy light the room looked clear and brilliant. Every minuscule detail down to the dust collecting on top of the filing cabinets lay open to her. She was drowning in a three-dimensional world she had never known—not even when she could see.
No dream then. It had happened. She touched her mouth, remembering more, remembering Mike and the taste of his blood—and his love. He had survived her thanks to Mick. She sighed and sent up a silent prayer of gratitude.
Mick had left Beth in Mike's care for the day, tasking him with getting her cleaned, fed and to a doctor. Much as it clearly troubled him, it was obvious that the girl needed human company. And Vicki clearly needed supervision by someone who could tie her down if need be. They had stopped at her place to clean up, Mick waiting semi-patiently in the living room until she was done showering and changing. He interrupted her hypnotized stares into mirrors with frequent exhortations to hurry up already.
Mick was in and out of the bath in 2 minutes flat, rinsing away only the most glaring gory stains. "Goodness. Am I keeping you from something?"
"Dinner," he growled.
"Oh."
At Vicki's office, Coreen was at the reception desk as usual for a Monday morning. "Oh hey, Vicki," She greeted. "Thought you were taking a long weekend without telling me."
"It's been a long weekend all right," she said, her attention instantly and mercilessly locking onto the human girl's bare skin and the fine web of veins beneath it.
"So you've worked this new case then? How is it going?"
"Concluded," said Mick, grasping Vicki's elbow and stirring her away from the temptation to commit murder.
"OK. You do know there is a coffin in your office, right?" Coreen called after them.
"Yeah," Vicki replied over her shoulder. "And you said he was 'ordinary'!"
"Sorry."
Mick closed the door behind them and headed for the mini fridge. They raided the veggie bin in tandem. Mick forced her to use a glass when she was about to suck the blood out of the bag with the handy built-in tube straw. Vicki drank the first helping so fast she might as well have poured it directly into her stomach. Mick, however, matched her, which is when it occurred to her how much she must have taken from him and how ravenous he must have been ever since. But he had controlled the hunger just as she had to learn to control it. In light of this, she made a concerted effort to pour them both a second glass at a more measured pace.
Mick clinked his glass to hers. "Here's to eternity then. May it be all you want it to be."
She watched him drink, forcing herself to slow down and even stopping as he did, halfway through. He nodded approval. "You were a stronger mortal than I have ever known, Vicki. You will be a very powerful vampire."
She smiled at him. "You proud of me, Daddy?"
"Very," he said and pulled her into an embrace. She trembled in his arms without knowing why. The tears came like a dam breaking. She let them go. He held her.
Some time later, when she had regained her composure enough, she informed Coreen that she and Mick would be catching up on sleep for the rest of the day and were not to be disturbed. Coreen, who had surely heard her sobs, looked a little bewildered but didn't argue. "OK."
"Long night. Rough night."
"OK," Coreen said again, wide-eyed.
"No interruptions."
"OK."
"OK then. See you later."
"OK."
Mick had offered to share the coffin, but that's where Vicki drew the line. "Over my undead body, mister!" she hissed.
"All right. But don't get sunburned on that couch, and don't go anywhere without me."
And here she was now, on the couch without blankets even though the room was icy and refreshingly cold. She smiled in wonder at all the things she could see. It was like having the volume turned up on a mumbled drone that had lasted years only to now be drowned by a crescendo of orchestral glory. Her vision was only the most obvious change but all her senses had been heightened considerably. She touched her ear, concentrating. Yes, she could actually hear Coreen breathing in the next room and the hush of a pen as she wrote on a paper pad. Recalling a conversation she had with Henry months ago, she hurried to the window and opened the shade. Night had not completely claimed the sky as yet, but there they were, the first stars, shimmering and pulsing in a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns that caught her breath. What beauty in this awesome universe! And she now one of the few to see it fully. And forever.
She took a deep breath, relishing her new strength and freedom and was immediately confronted with the price she had to forever pay for these. The warm, sweet scent of human blood entered her awareness from the girl in the next room. Her hunger rose and sharpened almost instantly. With her tongue she probed around the wicked teeth extending into her mouth. Every nerve in her body tingled with the impulse to go and take the girl into her arms and drink her fill. Her name is Coreen! She's my friend! Yes, but why not? Henry fed from humans all the time with no ill effect and she had some evidence that Mick could also—if he put his mind to it.
She glanced at the fridge. The bagged stuff was all right, all in all, but it couldn't match the heady experience of a beating heart driving blood into the mouth. Coreen wouldn't mind, surely. And she could stop...
Vicki spun on her heel and went for the fridge. Pouring a glass, her hands shook with her need for the blood, but she stubbornly refused to give in. She was going to do this the civilized way. She was going to retain her humanity. She was, damn it, she was!
"I thought I heard you moving around in here."
She froze. She had so completely pushed her awareness of Coreen out of her mind, she had now completely missed the girl coming into the room. Oh, did she ever have a lot to learn. Bumbling idiot of a vamp, I am.
"Vicki?"
She looked up. Coreen gasped, covering her mouth with both hands and taking a hasty step back. OK, so this wasn't a reaction she would learn to treasure. Vicki held up a finger to Coreen to hold on a second, picked up the glass and drank it down. Then she closed her eyes with blessed relief, feeling the gut-wrenching need release her.
"Oh. My. God. Vicki…."
"Coreen," she said with as much dignity as she could muster while wiping the blood mustache off her lip.
The girl smiled tentatively. "You…you're…."
"A vampire. Yes."
"Yes! This is wonderful! But how? I thought Henry was in Vancouver?"
"He's back. But, no, it wasn't him."
Coreen frowned, confused. "Then...?"
Vicki indicated the casket where the lid was creaking open. "I don't think you've really met Mick St. John, my not-so-ordinary client for the weekend."
Coreen pivoted in place. "Why no, I guess I haven't." She beamed at the half-dressed man climbing out of the coffin. Clad only in jeans, Mick was a sight, Vicki had to admit. "Hi. I don't suppose you would turn me too?"
Mick gave the giddy Goth a long, hard look. "What is wrong with you?"
"Coreen, it was an emergency. It was either this or die, so…." She made a face and indicated a scale with both hands.
"Wow! Does Henry know?"
"Not yet." She glanced at the window. "But he will soon, I'm sure." Now that she thought of it, she had no idea what to expect from him. Given how he had reacted to Mick just feeding from her, all bets were off at how he would feel about this turn of events.
Mick stepped around the girl, shrugging into his shirt as he went.
"Wait a second," Coreen puzzled. "I saw you come in here during the day. What gives?"
Vicki explained what very little she knew about the creature she had become, including the ability to endure limited exposure to daylight. And "endure" was the right word. What little she experienced on the way from the castle had nearly tied her in knots with pain. She had checked herself repeatedly for smoke and flame. Still, she was able to look upon daylight at least, and for this she was grateful.
"That is so cool!" Coreen gushed.
"Yeah. A never ending carnival ride," Mick groused as he poured himself a glass of blood.
"You're an evening grouch, I see," Vicki murmured.
"I am before I feed, yes."
Coreen sped to his side. "Wait. What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"But I am here!"
"Your point being?"
"Coreen give it a rest. We're not going to feed on you," Vicki said with cool authority. "Not that you're not tempting..." Oh, so very tempting!
"Well then?"
Mick turned to Vicki. "This is a problem."
"She's been trying to force feed Henry for as long as she's known him."
"She's insane," he concluded and drank down his meal.
"Am I really that repulsive to vampires?" Coreen all but stomped a petulant foot.
Vicki could tell that the girl was beginning to grate on Mick's nerves. Hers as well for that matter. But unlike herself, Mick was operating in a very different emotional sphere right now—a place where he wasn't about to humor nonsense.
So when Mick turned back to her, his eyes glittered brightly with an ominous appetite. No doubt it was what he felt for the petite human girl, but Vicki suspected that having consumed a helping of blood already, he let her see it to frighten her into some sort of common sense more than anything else. She could have told him there was no use trying.
"Wow!" Coreen said, bouncing in place. "I've got plenty!" And with that she tilted her head to one side and pulled down the edge of her sweater.
Mick lost it. He struck at Coreen with the speed of a snake going after prey, latching onto her throat and drawing the warm life force from her in huge gulps. Coreen yelped with surprise. Vicki watched with her mouth agape, painfully aware of the scent of the girl's excited blood and feeling her own fragile control beginning to slip.
It was then that the door swung open. "Well, well, well. Finally getting the hang of it, are you?"
Vicki's breath caught. "Hi Henry," she said blankly. Her world stopped. She had never seen him like this. If she had, she was certain, she would not have been able to resist him for as long as she had. How absolutely beautiful he is, she thought. It was obvious to her now that he wasn't human. She could tell by the cool quality of his skin's glow, the slow rhythm of his heart, and the strange musty undercurrent of time in his scent that clung to him like a cloak. Even newborn as she was, his power and age compared to Mick were glaringly obvious. His very presence filled the room and held her spellbound. It was as though she had only known his shadow before now.
He smiled at her. "Vicki." But his attention quickly swerved back to Mick and Coreen. She turned to them herself, forcing her heart to steady. He didn't know. Not yet. Her close proximity to Mick and Coreen apparently cloaked the true state of affairs from him.
Mick pulled away and wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist. The girl grinned and wobbled on unsteady legs. "Oh. Wow." Cutting into his finger, Mick smeared some of his own blood on her neck, erasing the evidence of his indiscretion. She giggled. "Thanks."
"You're insane," Mick told her flatly.
"I know," she agreed brightly.
"I'm glad to see you've come to your senses, St. John," said Henry, coming closer. Vicki heard his words, but they didn't register with her, not really. She could only stare at him and barely remembered to breathe. "But you really need to learn to appreciate the hunt more. There is no challenge in low-hanging fruit."
"Great. Now he tells me," Coreen muttered.
Henry graced her with an indulgent smile. "Good to see you again, too."
She grew bashful and shot an askance look at Vicki. "I think I'll wait outside."
Henry watched her go and then turned to Vicki. "I'm glad you're all right."
"He threatened me with bodily harm if anything happened to you," Mick told her.
Vicki swallowed. "It was close, but Mick did all he could, Henry. Literally...all he could." She held his gaze and waited. There was a long pause before his thoughts started mirroring in his handsome, suddenly unguarded face. The slight narrowing of his slanting eyes, the tightening of a corner of his sensitive mouth, and finally the slackening of his jaw and long, astonished exhale of breath. He whispered her name, dumbstruck.
Vicki lifted her chin. "What do you think?"
Henry slowly looked her up and down, taking in every detail. "Why?" he finally managed. Vicki had never seen him so disconcerted. That on top of everything else she was now aware of about him made her feel adrift in an unknown sea. He only looked like the Henry she knew, and that is what she focused on tenaciously. That and breathing.
"She was attacked and had nearly bled out," Mick explained. He hovered beside her, a towering guardian, ready to strike in her defense if need be. "I had no choice."
"It was my choice," Vicki said quietly when Henry remained silent. "I asked him to." She had no clear recollection of the moment, but she did distinctly remember wanting to live—at any cost.
Henry moved closer, thoughtful. Whatever he was feeling, Vicki registered some relief to see that attacking her did not appear to be at the top of his list just now. He came very near, taking in her scent and studying every nuance of her face. He was overpowering, more frightening than ever, but she gamely stood her ground. As a mere human she would never have backed down. She certainly wasn't about to start now. But in retrospect she realized what a very dangerous game she had played with him—and how much he must care for her to have let her get away with as much as she had.
Her senses filled with him to overflowing when he touched his face to hers, smelling her skin, his breath curling against her cheek. His hands moved up her arms, across her shoulders and caressed her neck. She swallowed. How easy for him to kill her if he considered her a threat. But maybe that was all right. Being this close to him, drowning in him, she knew that she wanted to walk the night at his side or not at all. "Henry," she whispered. "I love you."
Inhaling deeply and slowly, he took her face into his hands and met her wide eyes, searching. There was no trace of the vampire in him, nor her. They were two creatures discovering themselves suddenly in the same reality after months of watching each other through one-way mirrors. Lightly he touched his mouth to hers. She returned the kiss carefully at first, then more strongly. Within moments they stood entwined, oblivious to all but each other—and this time when he cut her lip and tasted her blood it was on purpose and she relished the sensation with a shuddering sigh. He lingered over the new taste of her like a connoisseur over a fine wine. Combing her fingers into his thick, curling mane of hair, Vicki kissed his smiling face over and over gain. He was as she most loved to see him—innocently happy as the boy he had once been—a vision that lifted her own heart with joy.
Stretching back his head, Henry exposed his muscular neck to her mouth. His blood was like white light beneath his skin and a siren song to her hunger. Instinctively she accepted his invitation and bit down, drawing an intoxicating dose of his essence. It tasted like white light, too—pure energy distilled through centuries of time. This, she knew, she could never get enough of. He pulled her close, and she heard him breathe a tiny rolling growl of pleasure, a sound she had never heard from him before. After four or five gulps, he gently pulled her away and looked at her with undisguised amazement. She licked her lips. He smiled.
"OK then," Mick broke in. "You two are going to be friends, right?"
"Oh, I think we're a little beyond that, Daddy."
"A little," Henry agreed.
"No territorial issues, right? I need to know you'll take care of her, Henry."
"Nothing insurmountable, no. This might actually work." At Mick's heartfelt sigh of relief, he turned to him and asked, "What sort of monster do you take me for anyway, St. John?"
Mick's expression froze. Vicki bit her lip. "I take all of us for monsters, Fitzroy. Just make it mean something, you and her. That's all I ask."