Ten

December 1995

A modest gathering of vampires on this the Longest Night. It was a poorly lit room full of cold, suspicious creatures wearing youthful masks, trying to hide their contempt behind sips of blood wine and empty conversation. Their bright eyes flicked slyly left and right.

Looking through the crowd of black suits and elegant dresses, Abberline's eyes met Celsia Verain's from across the room. Now don't look at me like that, her voice was like a frigid breeze through his psyche. His lip twitched. You needed the distraction.

"…Eh, Cebren?"

He looked down at the child-faced vampire who had speaking to him for the last several minutes. Deceptively young, but then they all were. The boy, Christobal standing beside him was several hundred years old, his skin vibrating with Power and his eyes brimming with the melancholy of experience.

"I have no political design." He replied concealing his boredom behind a fallacious smile. "And don't call me by that name."

Christobal giggled, high pitched and embarrassed before he chugged down his glass of blood. "Rumour has it the old cheese has discovered his son."

Abberline's face became smooth, expressionless, exuding no sense of opinion, no room for them to sense weakness. "Now that is very interesting." Any scrap of news about Hunter Redfern was considered currency in these circles.

"Time to leave I think." Celsia slipped her pale arm in his and gently tugged him away from the conversation.

The vampire boy scowled at them as they walked away, his eyes lingering on Celsia's long, creamy pale legs.

Thank you. His expression remained blank as they made their way through the club, striding past the bar and into the street. "What are old friends for?" Celsia's smile had a razor edge.

The air was thick with currents of magic and it made Abberline's nostrils clog, his throat itch. "What are we going to do tonight of all nights?" He asked wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

Celsia put her small, cold hand in his and they walked in silence, enjoying the balmy night though they couldn't feel a thing. Celsia sighed softly but Abberline barely seemed to notice, he had been preoccupied a lot lately.

"Tell me you haven't thought about her." Celsia whispered.

Abberline froze, his body shaking with barely restrained rage. Her. Saben Mariley Frost. The very thought of her name made his insides smoulder, memories of her consumed him at night, her soft human flesh, her sweet scents and husky voice. He had thought about her, again and again and again…

Celsia detached her hand and with an eerie glow to her icy blue eyes she spoke. "I know what she was."

"What do you think she was?" His voice was deceptively calm though he continued to shiver.

Celsia bared her teeth. "It's not a secret with the Old Powers rising, Cebren."

He hissed at the sound of that name. She was goading him and hew knew this but he wasn't going to reveal a thing. He kept his memories, his obsessions, his desires close to his chest. He could only bring himself to half-regret not killing Saben Mariley Frost. As if killing her had ever been an option.

"What does it mean though I wonder?" She continued to walk on.

In a flash he had a hand around Celsia's throat, putting enough pressure to crush her windpipe. "Nothing. It meant and means nothing to me, do you understand?"

Though a smile formed at the corners of her mouth, her eyes drank in the seriousness of his expression and she gave the barest of nods. He released her.

She rubbed her throat.

He continued to walk down the street and she had to jog to catch up to him.

"Ah, this is a night for witches and sentimental fools." Celsia said slipping her arm through his. "What say you to gate crashing Lord Descourdres soiree?"

Abberline lifted his face to the sky and laughed.

*

The Night was sparkling with beautiful People. Just as Saben had imagined: their eyes, their gowns, their jewellery, They were as bright as the city at night time. It was a fragrant gathering, the sickly sweet stench of magic. Saben felt dizzy from it all, tears formed in her eyes and discreetly wiped the leaking snot from her nostrils.

She was enveloped in the infectious feeling of mirth, as if a spell had been woven in the air but there was an underlying sorrow and beneath this her own suspicion.

Tobias had left her side as soon as they entered the grand amphitheatre where the festivities were being held. Phosphorous light, burning with magic lit up even the most secretive crevices of the hall and the People dappled in the beams.

Some were dressed in masks, showing their support without revealing their faces. They gathered in clusters, conversing and entertaining one another with wine in one hand or punch in another.

They had stared as she had entered on Tobey's arm and she recognised some of them, the girls all glared at her. Malice and cool hatred shining in their alien eyes. She could hear some of them talk. Tobias' charity case. Taking pity on the poor lonely human. Tobias' pet stray.

She wanted to turn and confront them, to scream and fight but they were all predators, she was surrounded by sharks and her heart was an open wound.

Saben was dismally alone and she avoided the roving eyes of half-recognisable people. Though the place was beautifully lit it had the same crawling dark unease as the Black Iris clubs had. She couldn't shake the feeling of danger, of not belonging.

She moved from alcove and pillar trying not to attract attention. She felt ridiculous in her dress, her step obstructed by the skirt preventing her from running or even moving too fast.

She was given a candle by a petite blond who wore a simple white shift, a witch surely, Saben thought. She had fresh violets woven into her blond hair. "Merry meet." She murmured and looked deep into Saben's eyes and quickly walked away with a furrowed brow. Saben sneezed as she departed.

After long moments of excitement a hush fell among the crowd and lights swelled on the stage. A group of old women and an aged man stood on stage and they were joined by Blaise, the candle-giving blond and eventually Tobias.

"We light these candles in memory of one of our greatest leader. Edgith Harman's legacy lives on in our lives and hearts." The candles lit altogether and Saben was shocked by it. Witch magic. She shivered and dropped the candle.

As the gathered surged forward, she used the opportunity to back away, wanting to run but instead stepping back slowly to disappear to the outer darkness of the amphitheatre.

She backed up into someone and turned an apology hot on her tongue when the sight of the blond woman with icy blue eyes made her apology turn into a cry of distress. Warning bells were going off in her mind, she knew this woman, knew her and knew enough to fear her.

Saben wrenched herself out of the woman's feeble grasp and plunged into the crowd, she ran into a circle of arms, looking up to a masked stranger. Blue eyes shone out more familiar than even the woman's. Her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't scream. There was a strange and pervading feeling like heat swirling in her solar plexus.

She could already taste him in her mouth, as if he were touching her everywhere at once. He grasped her wrists with gloved hands and drew her into some secluded shadows.

His eyes met the blond girl's from across the room as they went. They seemed to be speaking wordlessly and a pained expression lit the woman's face.

"What do you want?" Saben stammered, dimly annoyed at the feeble sound of her own voice.

There was no response just the cold, smooth mask.

"Answer me." She reached up and ripped down his mask. The face behind it was familiar and yet she had never seen his face, surely. He was mortified. His milky pale fangs fully extended and resting on his bottom lip. Are you happy now? A voice slithered into her mind.

"Who-"

He stared into her eyes as if searching for something, it was as if she could feel prying fingertips in her mind. She was mesmerised, tipping into the electric blue heaven hell of his gaze.

"Stop that."

He drew back but only for a moment and seemed overcome by emotion, before Saben could open her mouth to ask another question he ducked forward to kiss her. Her mouth was suddenly invaded by his tongue, his fingers plunged into her pink hair and another spread across her hip.

He held her as if they were lovers and was surprised to find herself relax in his hold, giving her weight over to him completely.

A strange kind of pain possessed her then. A jagged feeling like pins being dragged on sensitive skin. It made her shiver and tears slowly leaked from her eyes. It hurt to touch him.

*

Celsia was perched on a balcony overlooking Thierry Descourdres' expansive driveway. Each bush trimmed to perfection, each blade of grass mowed to perfect height. Night blooming jasmine wafted around the building barely disguising the thin shimmer of magic, spells of protection, of hearth and healing.

The party seemed to thrum through the very bricks and she swung her legs, resting back on her palms which were planted on the slim balcony rail waiting like a portrait of mock patience.

"You knew she was here." Abberline's voice was low and angry though she was never truly worried. They were very old friends.

Celsia didn't bother to turn or reply.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I was serious before. Wouldn't it be interesting if we Turned her?" She said conversationally continuing to swing her legs.

"Celsia."

"It would be very interesting."

"You will not touch her."

"Is that an order?"

Abberline shook his head. He could not admit to Celsia what they both knew to be true, she had said it herself, the old powers were rising. If anyone were to find out he had tangled with a mortal he would lose his footing in the Night. The House of Cheber would fall.

If anyone were to find out he had a human soul mate they would both die.

*

Saben came too. Her vision cleared and she was startled to find herself surrounded by People, some wearing masks. As she gathered her wits she had the frightful feeling she was being set upon by beasts. She screamed and thrashed until someone grasped her hard.

Tobias got hold of her. She clung to him suddenly pressing her face into his arm, against his warm living flesh. "He's here." She whispered.

Tobias didn't understand but he cooed gently in her ear to calm her down. The People made a path for him to quietly lead her out of the theatre where many eyes stared after them. Curious. Angry. Inconvenienced.

She climbed into the passenger seat of his car and leant back against the cool leather seat. Shame made her cheeks burn and fingertips tingle with the need to write. "What's going on, Saben?"

She couldn't reply. She simply didn't know what to say. She had seen someone, someone that she was frightened of. Someone that invaded her nightmares, her dreams. Someone she couldn't remember but was all too familiar. She still had the taste of him in her mouth. The feel of his hands made her shiver and not all with fear.

She began to cry silently.

Tobias offered a tissue but when she didn't move to take it he leant forward to help mop the tears from her cheeks. "You've been through a lot."

She didn't say anything because she couldn't remember it all. Yes, there had been a lot but even the little she knew was becoming hard to remember. She didn't want his sympathy. She wasn't a child that needed mothering she should have known better than to come to this place where she didn't belong.

"Where do you want to go?"

She shook her head, her voice husky. "Anywhere."

He began to drive to no where in particular. She hated the desert. She felt numb as the sun crept up over the horizon.

Her head drifted to stare at Tobias' profile, remembering months of him romancing his women, preening and juggling like a shallow play boy. A prince among witches. What he was doing here, with her, she could not fathom.

She could still taste the stranger, feel his hot breath on her face, the horrible feeling of his mind pressing upon hers. She closed her eyes and it only made the sensations more real. It was easier to stare at Tobias, his chest rising and falling with each breath, his knuckles turning white from a tight grip on the steering wheel, his eyes intensely focused on the road ahead.

Parts of her were missing, she knew this. Something had happened and her subconscious was both blocking and vomiting events into her consciousness until she didn't know her up from down. She was haunted, maybe even descending into madness. Maybe her family had a history of it…

"I used to be in a band." She said softly and the sound of her voice startled him. "The last thing I did was walk out on them."

"I can't remember what happened after that."

He nodded but kept silent. Listening and looking to the road.