Chapter 5: News and misunderstandings
Annika was thrilled; Gallowglass' return was approaching after two months in which they had seen very little of each other, only a few weekends.
Keeping a long-distance relationship alive was not at all easy, especially if it had just been born.
Eva also supported by her friend Elena had tried to distract her from the idea of searching for her family of origin, and she had agreed so as not to upset her.
In the meantime she continued her search, aided by her former classmates in the foster home with some of whom she had maintained good relations. Borat was a professional dancer, also a product of Elena's teachings.
They were contemporaries, he too was a wizard and had been adopted by a family of wizards shortly before her.
He remembered Annika being scolded for asking to be taken back to her mother and siblings, while caregivers and Sister Maria Novak tried to explain to her that her mother was gone and that she had no siblings.
She had told him about her DNA tests and he had not been all that surprised. She had always been different from him, stronger and more bad-tempered.
He had also undergone DNA tests in Chris's lab to support the research.
On that November day the air was crisp, on leaving the office Annika decided to take a short walk before returning, but soon realized she was being followed by two men.
She made her way quickly to her car.
She started the car.
A black jeep began to follow her. Annika tried several times to call Gallowglass, but he did not answer.
She did the same with her mother and got the same result. Probably, she was still with some students, she thought.
The jeep pulled alongside her, the man sitting in the passenger seat signaling her to stop.
Annika accelerated as much as she could, pulled away from the population centers and headed toward New Haven.
The jeep hit her side several times. Annika tried to keep her cool, reasoning out how to use her powers.
She conjured fire toward the jeep's engine and instantly melted it. His pursuers had to surrender.
Within a couple of hours he found himself in New Haven at his mother's house.
When the latter returned home, he found her in a pitiful state. Visibly upset.
She told her mother everything, who immediately called Baldwin.
Annika did the same to Gallowglass and sensed his fury from miles away.
He was very stern and questioned her about what she had done that day. Admonishing her for not being careful.
Annika stopped him coldly; if that was the kind of support he wanted to give her, she did not need it. She quickly closed the call and found herself in tears.
She was bewildered, not knowing with whom to confront.
Gallowglass regretted being so harsh. His protective instincts had prevailed and he had not been sympathetic at all.
He was already planning his early return to Boston for the next day.
The following day Baldwin picked up Gallowglass at the airport.
The grandson wanted to see Annika as soon as possible to apologize for the misunderstanding of the day before.
They arrived at Eva's house to find mother and daughter embracing on the couch.
Annika ran to meet Gallowglass who held her in his arms and tried to calm her down.
He promised her that he would never leave her alone again.
They went out for a walk to work off the excitement and clear up the previous phone discussion.
Annika told him everything that had happened.
They went back and Annika asked Eva to accept the search for her mother and her past.
She could wait no longer; someone knew and had to tell her where she came from.
Eva reluctantly gave her daughter her support.
Inside she feared she had not been enough.
"Eva, Mom," Annika suddenly said with a smile, "these last 18 years you have made me feel loved and desired, you have done nothing wrong. I am a woman satisfied with what she has built, I just want to give an explanation to the first 10 years of my life. I hope you can understand that."
"Gallowglass, be sure to keep an eye on her. She will not give up and that is why I am proud of her." The two women smiled at each other and hugged.
The following weeks passed rather quietly. Annika and Gallowglass were increasingly taken with each other, although both were reluctant to declare themselves.
She for fear of abandonment, he for his previous unrequited love.
It was Fernando who gave the push to his nephew to declare himself, asserting that Annika would not wait for him forever and that it was time to see him mated.
What better occasion for Gallowglass than the Christmas holidays to tell his beloved in detail how vampire marriage worked.
Annika, a modern and independent girl, replied to him testily, "Eric, you don't think I'm going to bow down to these ancestral traditions? I care that we love each other and want to be together.."
" Honey, it doesn't really work that way between vampires. Now that I have mated you are my wife," he interrupted her.
"But I will decide if I want to get married, not a thousand-year-old vampire tradition...and anyway I want to keep my last name!"
Gallowglass realized there was no need to argue about that and left her to her independence monologue.
He was worried. He realized that in the previous days someone was still tailing Annika.
He could smell them near the front door. He had vowed to figure out who it was before the Christmas vacations, but he was out of luck.
Nevertheless, the Christmas season was particularly peaceful for everyone, almost everyone for better said.
Jack had never accepted the relationship between Annika and Gallowglass. The latter had tried to console him, explaining that he understood and that he had been through it first.
He had begged him not to tell Annika about his unrequited love. He tried to be as transparent as possible with her, but he feared she would feel like a second choice.
Jack promised Hughes' son not to say anything. However, his instinct to find a mate drove him to betray that promiseā¦
One evening they were out drinking with Marcus and Phoebe who had finally returned from their interminable honeymoon and he let slip a few too many words while he and Annika were left alone and the other 3 vampires could not hear them.
Annika very disappointed did not show it for the rest of the evening. She fulminated Gallowglass with her gaze only once when he returned, but he took no notice.
Back in her Boston apartment she poured out all her disappointment on him, after asking him if what Jack had told her was the truth.
He admitted everything and tried to justify himself, but she was now a river in flood.
"I have told you all the most painful things in my life and you omit something so important? I can't trust you anymore. Please leave."
Gallowglass left the apartment to allow her to blow off steam. He was pretty sure that the storm that was bearing down on Boston was because of her.
The following days he tried to make it up to her, but Annika was a tough cookie. As expected, she felt like a second best, the same feeling she initially had after Eva had taken her in.
Jack called her a little sorry and a little hopeful, but she quickly dismissed him by advising him to grow up and mature.
Not quite what he expected.
The truth was that she was in love with Gallowglass, but she was also very proud and did not want to let him get away with it.
She made him suffer her silence for a while until he came to her with a suitcase telling her he was there to stay and would not leave for any reason.
