Thirteen…

Thirteen: Eternity

Vaclav gazed at her.

Her heart continued to thump, but now for a reason other than fear.

“Vaclav… you’re the leader of this clan?” She nearly laughed in disbelief. “My God, it’s hard for me to imagine you as one of these creatures, and now I find you’re their leader.”

“Yes, I’m the leader of the Haas clan. The others are the Shadow Clan. Haas is my surname,” he said. “Have you thought about me the last two years?”

He kinda snuck in that last question.

“Are you serious?” she quietly said. “I only thought about you every single day, up until I met Shawn.”

Familiar stirrings tugged at her heart.

“I went through hell getting over you,” Aubrey continued. Tears threatened to erupt. “And now I have to go through the same hell getting over Shawn.”

“I’m truly sorry,” he said.

“Are you?” she retorted. “It’s because of you that I’m here in the first place, right? Because of you, I have to get over Shawn again. What do you want with me, Vaclav? I have a right to know.”

“I lured you here to marry you, to have you become one of us. Together, we will find our son.”

“What? Marry you? Vaclav, we’re not the same people we used to be!”

“I’m the same. Exactly the same,” he said.

“You should’ve thought about that before you left me. It’s too late now.”

Vaclav didn’t respond.

“So how long have you known about my son?” she asked.

“Since the moment we conceived him.”

“How could you know everything that was happening in my life, and not choose to come back and be part of it? And how could you lie to me about being an angel? Did you tell me that just to get me into bed?”

“I lied at first, but then I admitted the truth. You knew I was a vampire, you just didn’t want to see it!”

“You—you can’t just leave me for two years, then lure me back by using Shawn as bait. How could you do that? I thought you really cared for me.” She angrily wiped the tear away. “Why did you leave me to begin with?”

“A war was going on in Shadowvale. I was forced to leave.”

“For two years?” she asked.

“Yes.” Vaclav’s tone made it clear he was finished with that part of the conversation.

Aubrey sighed and said, “I want to find our son just as badly as you, but I won’t marry you.”

“I don’t love you anymore,” she said to the nearby wall. “In fact, I hate you. I hate you for doing this to me.”

No. Don’t cry again.

Her eyes returned to his.

“Very well. Hate me all you want,” he said, then slowly approached her.

Aubrey backed up.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

His eyes were as cold as a wintery morning, glowing bright. His lips parted.

Don’t you dare bite my neck!

“You can hate me all you want, but I’ll still want you,” he said.

Her eyes widened.

His fingers ran through her hair.

“Vaclav,” she protested.

“Such beautiful hair, Aubrey.”

“It’s okay. Don’t be afraid,” he whispered, his lips nearing hers.

Shocked by his kiss, Aubrey gaped at him.

Vaclav continued to sensually kiss her; his mouth massaging hers, tongue flicking in and out.

His hands slid from her face to her hips, back to her waistline, his touch becoming a little more urgent, his fingers kneading and wrinkling the fabric of her gown.

As they slowly parted, Aubrey was left in complete shock.

“I have to leave,” she blurted. It was the only thing she could think to say. Her mind was totally blank except for the image of him kissing her.

“Don’t go.”

“I believe I know where our son is.”

Aubrey halted.

“He’s with the other vampires,” he said.

He drew up behind her, touching her hand.

“You mean he’s with the other vampire clan?” Aubrey asked.

“Yes,” he replied. He was so close, his cold breath sent chills down her spine.

“How do I know you’re not lying to me? How do I know you’re not saying this just to keep me here with you?”

“It’s true,” he said caressing her hand. “I do want you here with me, but I also believe our son is with the other clan.”

“Stay with me, and together we’ll find him. Your purpose here is to be a mother to our son, and I his father. It was always meant to be.”

It was just too tempting an offer to refuse. Aubrey’s dream for the past year was to find her son, to be reunited forever.

Indeed, it would be a dream come true. But why would the rival clan have him? What were they planning to do with him?

Aubrey found her way from Vaclav’s room in the basement back into the main residence.

She dressed in her old clothes and fell onto the bed.

She was actually glad to be in her ‘own’ room again.

As the sun rose, Aubrey thought about what Vaclav had said. She wondered if her son really did live with the rival clan.

She wanted so badly to find him and be his mother, but was afraid of another huge disappointment. She couldn’t take any more.

Then thoughts of Vaclav’s kiss swept through her. As always, he knew how to make her melt, despite her being in love with Shawn. It was a dangerous thing Vaclav had done, kissing her like that only feet away from his bed. Oh, how he could tempt her.

Aubrey awoke with the setting of the sun, having acquired the same horrid schedule as the monsters.

She ventured out into the hallway.

The only clothes she had was her old outfit, a nightgown and a formal dress. Aubrey needed to go shopping or else borrow something, and planned to see Vaclav about what she should do.

Vaclav. That bloodsucking asshole. Why does he have to be so hot?

Aubrey shivered as she felt a presence behind her.

She spun around.

The girl strolled toward Aubrey.

Oh, shit…

“You’re Aubrey, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah. Why? Who are you?”

“I’m Riley. Lucius mentioned you the other day, he said you were here because of Shawn.”

Lucius? Aubrey wondered. Who the hell is Lucius?

“Lucius is the one who drove you here. The grumpy one,” she said.

Now Aubrey was really creeped out. She tried to block any further thoughts, especially ones of Vaclav.

“Um, I have a problem. I don’t have any clothes, so I was wondering…”

“Yeah, I’ll get you some clothes and later we’ll go shopping.”

“Th—thank you.”

Riley smiled as she passed Aubrey and walked down the stairs.

So not only were they bloodsuckers, but they were bloodsucking mind-readers. Terrific.

After borrowing Riley’s robe, Aubrey joined her in the dining area. Lucius was also there.

The creatures sipped on glasses filled with blood.

“Have a seat, Aubrey,” Riley said.

Aubrey pulled out a chair.

I can’t believe I’m about to sit down with a couple of vampires. I must be crazy after all and this is my asylum.

Aubrey stared down at the table, but felt their eyes on her.

Briefly, she wondered where Shawn was.

The vampires looked up. Someone was coming into the room.

Aubrey started to turn around, but something Riley said shocked her.

“Oh, my God. I just had an orgasm. He should really feed more often. I almost forgot how good looking he is.”

Lucius shot her a look, then glanced up at Vaclav, who seemed to have changed his appearance yet again.

“Where’s my blood?” Vaclav asked. Then he snatched Lucius’ glass.

“I’d like to make a toast to our new guest,” Vaclav said.

“To you, Aubrey. My essence, Moje láska.”

Aubrey avoided his eyes, her heart skipping a few beats.

Streams of it ran down his chin.

“Tastes good,” he said licking his lips. Then he wiped the blood off.

Her stomach queasy, Aubrey looked at him in disbelief.

Lucius sneered at Vaclav, muttering “fuck you. Give me back my drink.”

“Would you like to wear this?” he asked.

A stare-down ensued. It grew very quiet, uncomfortable.

Vaclav set the glass down on the table. “I’m not that hungry anyhow.” He smiled, his eyes veering over to Aubrey. “But I am hungry for something else.”

Aubrey’s face grew hot.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Vaclav strolled up to her and grazed her hair with his fingers.

She forced a smile, but felt like turning around and hitting him.

Thankfully, Riley broke the silence.

“So have you been to the city yet?” she asked.

Aubrey shook her head.

“I really think you’ll like it.”

Vaclav took a step back and said with a disapproving tone, “what? You’re taking Aubrey to the city?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“The city’s too dangerous for Aubrey. She’s not going.”

“Vaclav, she has no clothes. She needs to go shopping.”

“Then I’ll go with her,” he said.

Riley sighed in annoyance. “Fine.”

Aubrey felt relieved when Vaclav left. Then her eyes drifted to Riley.

Riley returned her gaze, shrugging.

*

Chapter 14 coming on Friday, Nov. 5. Thanks for reading!! ♥