Shawn & Lavigna Part.III
“Are you going to kill me?” I murmured, more out of curiosity than fear. I wouldn’t have pushed her away either way. Yup, this girl had seriously fucked me up.
I felt her soft laughter against my neck and shivered. “No, silly. I already told you, I like you.” Her lips brushed my neck as she kissed the vein buried beneath the skin. I tensed. My body was hyper aware, and not just of her delicate curves pressed up against my body. No, this was a bone deep fear, one that had the hairs on the back of my neck in fighting stance. I was prey. A mouse in a very enticing game. Lavigna, for all her innocent beauty, was a predator. I shook my head to dislodge the thought, but Lavigna had already sensed my indecision. Her gaze flicked up to mine. “Shall I stop?”
“No,” I croaked. I hesitated, wondering if she would mind, then let my arms creep around her waist. I had to slip my fingers beneath her wings to lay my palms on the small of her back. I could feel their cool silkiness against the backs of my hands.
She laughed softly and this time when her lips touched my neck I could feel them curved up in a smile. “So brave,” she whispered. Then she struck.
“Oh, God!” I shouted as her fangs punctured my flesh, but the pain quickly subsided. It was a deep kiss that almost tickled; I could feel her pulling the blood out of me. You never really realize which way your blood if flowing – until it gets sucked out backwards. I felt myself relax into her, my concerns melted away. I was right, I thought satisfied, if she’s going to drain me, it will be an excellent way to go. Slowly I was filled with a sense of supreme sereneness, as if happiness was warm syrup poured into my chest. The feeling spread until I could feel the stupid grin on my face. I fought to control my face, but lost. My eyes drooped closed. I felt high. Giddy. Lovestoned. I laughed out loud at that, but it sounded a little off. I could feel the beat of the song banging sluggishly through my brain. I think that she knows, oh oh. I giggled, fucking giggled. The second I realized what I was doing I broke off and cleared my throat. Maybe she hadn’t heard. Maybe she knows, I think that she knows… I felt my smile spread wider.
I was half aware when Lavigna’s grip softened and she ran tongue over the wounds. I could still feel myself grinning, my eyelids still at half mast. What the hell was going on, anyway? I couldn’t possibly still be feeling the drinks from the club. It didn’t really feel like blood loss, either. When I was younger, I’d cut my forehead open trying to double with a friend on my Spiderman bike. We were ten and showing off for the neighbour girls. By the time my dad found me sprawled out across the sidewalk and gotten me to the hospital to stitch it up, I’d lost a lot of blood. But I wasn’t dizzy now. I didn’t have a headache, or feel woozy. In fact I felt damn good.
When I glanced down at Lavigna through cracked lids I saw her face turned up to mine. Her tongue flicked out to catch a drop of blood from the corner of her mouth. My blood. In her body. For some reason that knowledge led my thoughts down a different path than I would have expected. A thought that made my arms convulse around her waist and pin her to me. I was sure she could feel what her touch was doing to me. I knew, somewhere in the static that had filled my head, that I should let her go. Instead, I leaned in to her. I didn’t so much as kiss her as fall on her face. Smooth, Shawn. Swooning like a drunken bastard. Yup, all women just love that.
But I couldn’t stop myself, in a very literal sense.
Lavigna splayed her hands over my chest. I think she was trying to push me away, but I couldn’t seem to stop staring at her tiny hands on my pecs. So delicate. Fragile. I should take my shirt off. The random thought hit like a hurricane, startling awake my snoozing conscious that seemed to have receded to the back of my mind and . The voice forbade me to take off any clothes, mine or hers, but I still couldn’t make myself loosen my arms around her. The voice echoed through my head, telling me to let her go. The part of my brain that I still recognized as Shawn realized the voice was right: Lavigna was not a girl for a casual tryst. Nor is that what I wanted; my feelings went beyond basic lust. But at the moment the voice had very little control over my body.
It felt suddenly too still in the room. Lavigna wasn’t struggling to get away anymore so I dragged her across the room with me to the desk. “Do you like music?” I asked, hauling her to my side with one arms and flipping my shiny silver lap top open with the other. Too late I realized that I was crushing one her wings under my arm. “Crap, sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“No, you didn’t.” She replied, casting a look over her shoulder at her wing as if she hadn’t noticed it crushed between our bodies. “And of course I like music.” Part of me was relieved to hear that she didn’t sound stressed out about my erratic, possessive behavior.
I grinned down at her like a total utter fool. “Of course you do. Who doesn’t?” I sorted through my extensive list until I found what I was looking for.
“I know quite a few people who don’t, as a matter of fact. Many of the older vampires don’t care for it at all. Nothing clears out a house of ancient vampires like techno music.”
I laughed, half hysteric. She started at the sound and gave me a queer look. When the bass-heavy beat poured out of the speakers I felt her eyes examining my face carefully.
“Interesting choice,” she remarked.
I grinned. “I’ve had this song stuck my head all night.”
She leaned away from me, her rosebud mouth pulled down in a frown. Her eyes widened. “Oh, no!”
“What ‘oh, no’?” I asked, swinging her around to face me so I could slip my other arm around her waist. For someone ten times stronger than me she sure let me toss her around. ”The song isn’t that bad.”
“No, the song is not the problem.” She chewed her lip with a perfect fang.
I felt my grin falter. Some of the haze seemed to settle. Problem? Was I the problem? It would make sense; I had behaved like a heathen all night. The thought was sobering.
“I blissed you out!” She wailed.
I stared, my mind working overkill to understand. “I’m sorry?”
“That’s what Faine calls it: blissing humans out with my magic. I wasn’t even trying, I swear! Please don’t be angry!”
Angry? I was many things, but angry wasn’t one of them. Confused was fairly high on the list though. “I’m not sure I follow, Lavigna.”
“Every vampire develops a certain kind of magic. Faine can control electricity, Hayden controls fire. I control feelings, or more precisely, I control happiness! But I wasn’t even using my magic…I don’t think. You must be really sensitive.” She became motionless as she regarded me thoughtfully.
Suddenly the temporary lack of brain activity made sense. “Was it all just the magic then?” My heart plummeted in my chest.
“Well, yes…and no,” she said deliberately. “Yes because that feeling you just had, the ‘drugged-with-happiness’, was my magic. It must have just flowed right to you when I bit you.” She paused, expression troubled. “That has never happened to me. I have always had excellent control.” She lost herself in her musings at that and I waited for her to continue. “But I had no influence otherwise. Sometimes we like to put humans in thrall-” she looked at me – “it just saves time. But honey, you’re not in thrall. I haven’t purposely pulled a single vampire trick on you…yet.” She grinned wickedly.
My heart rate spiked. It was both a relief, and a concern. I wasn’t under any sort of magical influence, which means chances are I would be as drawn to her had she had no fangs or wings. And I was totally gone for her. And I was sure it was obvious. Pull your shit together, man!
Lavigna didn’t seem to notice my internal struggle. Or that I couldn’t stop staring at the fang she was running over her bottom lip. “I don’t understand how you could be so easily influenced by my magic. I’ve used it on humans before, of course, but it’s never just leaked out of me. I guess this must be similar to what happened between Faine and Alexa.”
I froze. My gaze flicked up to meet her eyes. “What?” I couldn’t hide the suspicion in my voice. I would kill Faine if he had put Alexa in some kind of mating thrall. Like she needed another supernatural asshole her life.
“Don’t fret.” She soothed, feeling the sudden tension in my body. “It was the hand of fate that brought those two together.” She laughed, a gentle tinkling that buried itself in my brain and diffused my mounting anger. “Speaking of Alexa…” She cocked her head, listening to something I couldn’t hear. “She is home.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” I mumbled, and hauled her back up against my chest. I could think clearly again, kind of. She still made me nervous, like a school boy with a girl in his room for the first time in his life, but at least I wasn’t grinning like a damn fool anymore.
Lavigna wrapped her arms around my neck and I felt my heart thud inside my chest. This beautiful creature is going to give me a heart attack; I could feel her lithe body stretched our against mine. Screw the blood loss: now I was lightheaded. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to do a lot of things.
Before I could redeem myself for slobbering all over her the front door swung open into the coat rack, knocking all the hats and jackets to the ground, then slammed shut. Even I heard the finality of the dead bolt sliding home.
“Something is the matter.” Lavigna remarked quietly. “She is nervous: her heart is racing and she is sweating.” She sniffed the air, then glanced at me guiltily, as if I’d caught her doing something embarrassing. “I’m sorry. That’s an odd thing for me to do isn’t it? I don’t spend much time among humans.” She paused, considering. “Would you like to go see what has happened to Alexa?”
“Not particularly. She’s here now, so she’s safe.” I leaned in to kiss away the worry line on her pristine forehead. It looked out of place on her milky skin.
“I must go; the night grows short.” Lavigna whispered, glancing at the moon glowing in the night sky. She leapt onto the window sill, balancing half in-half out of the open window. She glanced back over her shoulder, eyes gleaming in the inky shadows. “Don’t forget me, Shawn.”
“Never, “ I whispered fiercely. I couldn’t help smiling when I heard Lavigna’s faint laughter tinkling in the darkness.
Shawn and Lavigna Pt. 2
The wind pushed against me so hard as we blew away from the city that I felt like my body was being compressed. I struggled to control the muscles in my face. When I was a kid we had an English Bulldog named Francis who used to stick his head out the passenger side window when my dad drove. His jowls would get caught in the wind, drool would fly. That’s exactly what was happening to my face right now. I was relieved Lavigna was holding me from behind and wasn’t able to see my face. Though behind me wasn’t exactly a safe zone, either…saliva tends to get sucked along the air current.
It took every ounce of strength in me to throw my arm up and rub my sleeve across my face. Every drop of alcohol in my body dissipated as we flew, totally consumed by adrenaline. We rose higher and higher, until the city lights shrank to pinpoints and it felt like we were caught somewhere between the stars. If I was worried about Lavigna’s strength before, I was even more concerned now. But she flew with strong strokes, and her arms around my chest didn’t waver. She was so close. I could feel her chin resting on my shoulder, her breath warming my neck. From the corner of my eye I could see her wings, cutting out the starlight in slow, rhythmic beats.
We began to descend and I felt my ears pop. I glanced down and saw the familiar shape of my apartment building. It probably wouldn’t have recognized it if it wasn’t so memorable. It was square, with inner courtyard access to each of the five apartments on all four floors. Covered hallways wrapped around the inside of the courtyard for upper floor tenants, and there was a covered staircase in every corner. It looked more like a motel than an apartment building.
My feet brushed the ground gently. Seconds later I felt Lavigna brace herself. We landed gently, despite my extra weight, and she tucked her wings behind her back. I glanced around in amazement. We were in the courtyard, mere feet away from my front door. “How do you know where I live?” I asked, unable to mask my surprise.
One corner of her perfect rosebud mouth turned up in a deviant smile. “I know a lot of things about you, Shawn.”
My heart hammered in my chest and for the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything intelligent to say. “Would you like to come in?” Stammering. Nice touch, Shawn. If she didn’t think I was a total novice before, she would now.
“Really?” She asked. Her face lit up with her smile and her eyes shone with excitement. For some reason she seemed thrilled by the prospect and I began wondering if I had forgotten a vampire rule. Was inviting her inside secret lingo for ‘please, drink my blood’? Who cares. As long as she stayed a while first.
I nodded. Being drained by this beautiful creature would be a good way to go.
“I would love to come in,” she said, and skipped past me to the door. I followed, pulling the keys out of my pocket. My hands were numb and my knees were weak. If I didn’t didn’t find smoking so repulsive I probably would have litten up, just to calm my nerves. Alexa would be so proud if she knew. Not that I was going to tell her. She would just use it as an excuse to start smoking again herself.
I tried to put the key in the lock, and the key ring slipped from my hand. Lavigna whisked it out of the air before they hit the ground. “Let me,” she offered, and slipped the key into the lock.
Wow. I must have been invoking a hell of a lot of confidence in her. I couldn’t even get the key in the lock without her help…
She pushed the door open and stepped inside, tossing my keys over her shoulder as she went. Again, I followed, flicking on the hallway light and closing the door behind me. Should I lock it? Nah, she was a vampire. She could hold her own if we were raided, no doubt.
“I’ve never been here before, you know.” I could hear her moving through the apartment, but I had lost her in the darkness. “I like it though. It’s comfortable. Homey” Was she getting nearer? Her voice sounded close, and I swear I could smell cotton candy. “It smells good- like you.” Suddenly she stood before me, peering up at me. Except her gaze wasn’t on my face, it was fixed on my neck.
I could hear my pulse roar in my ears. Was she going to bite me? Did I want her to? “I smell good?” I heard myself ask from far away.
Instantly the tension broke and her gaze flicked up my eyes. She smiled. “Sure. Just like Sunday morning sunlight.” She spun away gracefully, snapping on the light in the living room as she went, leaving me to wonder what she meant.
Unsure of what to do, I put my hands in my pockets and followed her into the room. “Sunday morning sunlight?” I asked skeptically.
“Yup. Pancake syrup, fresh sheets, morning dew. I can’t really describe how sunlight smells. It reminds me of my mom.”
Great. I remind her of her mother? Just lovely.
She must have noticed the bleak look on my face and laughed, a joyous tingling sound that bounced off the living room walls. “That came out wrong. You don’t smell like my mother, you smell like home.”
Home. Okay…I was still baffled. What does that mean?
She was eying our coffee table in rapt curiosity. “This is amazing,” she murmured, stroking a hand along it’s surface.
I looked at the table. It was a swap meet special Alexa and I had dragged home years ago. In our boredom we had begun carving symbols, phrases and pictures into the old wood so now it bore a closer resemblance to a grafittied highway tunnel rather than a wooden coffee table.
“You wouldn’t find anything like this in the House. The Thorns have very expensive taste, as do most of the others.” She paused a moment, considering her words. Her eyes widened and a delicate hand flew to her mouth, as if horrified by what she had implied. “I am so so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that-”
“No worries,” I chuckled. I wasn’t bothered; I knew damn well we had only paid fifteen bucks for the table.
Light flashed from my right, and suddenly she stood in the middle of the lit kitchen. I could not keep up to this girl. Couldn’t even track her movements. It was slightly a little exciting, and more than a little alarming to realize that she could have me dead before I even saw her coming.
She smiled, taking in the tiny lime green kitchen with it’s two man breakfast nook. “This room is great.” She ran a hand along the stainless steel stove top. It was an industrial oven, with six gas burners. I need something reliable; Maine is infamous for it’s power outages during its six months of winter. Do you like to cook?”
I nodded. “I do. I took a bunch of cooking classes in college. French cuisine is my favorite, though I could do without all the strange animals they use. They have one dish that is basically liquified goose.” It was my turn to stare at her in horror. Oh good lord, I was babbling. About liquified animals. I decided to try again. “It’s a lucky for us that I can cook. If it were left up to Alexa we would eat Chinese take every night.” Wow. Brilliant, Shawn. Knowing you’re talking about another women. Isn’t that like, a cardinal sin in trying to attract a potential mate. Potential mate? Why did my thoughts suddenly sound like a discovery channel narrator?
Lavigna laughed again, the happy sound filling up the room. The kitchen actually seemed brighter. “Alexa is great. I can’t ever seem to figure out. I think that’s what first caught Faine’s attention- her unpredictability.”
I sighed a breath of relief. She wasn’t put off by my comment. Then again, she had no reason to feel threatened by Alexa. The mention of Faine made my stomach roll. “Lavigna, what happened? With Alexa and Faine, I mean.” I felt like a sneaky bastard, but I couldn’t resist asking. You’re doing it for her own good, I told myself. I couldn’t help her if I didn’t know what was wrong, and I sure wasn’t going to get any answers from Alexa.
Her expression became sombre. “He loves her. I’m pretty sure she loves him, too. Why they’re not together?” She put her hands in the air and shrugged. “I am as clueless as you. The rest is for Alexa to tell.”
I nodded, unsure what else to do. I knew why they weren’t together. Faine was a vampire. And Alexa was very anti-supernatural. A werewolf attack will do that to a person. But Lavigna was right. It wasn’t my place to hand out Alexa’s secrets.
“Where’s your room?” Lavigna asked suddenly, whipping past me. Just like that, all other thoughts vanished. My heart hammered in my chest again, and I followed her out. She paused and seemed to sniff the air. Before I could see her move, my bedroom door snapped open, stopping a second before it smashed into the wall behind it.
My hands were shaking again, so I kept them in the pockets of my jeans and leaned against the door frame. She stood in the center of the room. There wasn’t much empty space, I have a lot of stuff and the room was pretty small. The bottom half of the walls painted orange, the top white. Heavy orange plaid curtains hung over the single window, and an orange and yellow comforter was laid neatly over the top of the queen size bed. There was one small closet, hiding clothes, shoes and biking equipment. My bike hung from the ceiling by the door. She walked slowly to the low dresser covered with framed photos. She picked one up, gazing at it thoughtfully. My stomach clenched. It was a picture of Laney at her thirteenth birthday. Three months before she died.
“You’re sister?” Lavigna asked quietly. When she glanced up at me her face was filled with sadness. Could she read my mind?
I nodded. “Laney. She died shortly after this picture was taken.”
“I am sorry. It is terrible to lose a sibling.” Her voice was quiet her thoughts distant. Something about the way she said it made me think she was speaking from personal experience. Her gaze flickered to my face. “What happened?”
I drifted back, for some reason willing to share with Lavigna something I had never spoken a word of since the funeral. It’s been years since the last time I even thought about that day, but the memory was still as fresh, raw, as if it had happened yesterday.
“Laney was at the lake with her friends. She was a great swimmer, and loved the water. The summer was so hot, we were there almost everyday. The lake was pretty big, and it was sectioned off with colorful ropes with buoys, you know? The boats and jet skis were supposed to stay in their own area, but sometimes they drove so fast they didn’t see the ropes. Laney got caught in the current under some rich guy’s speed boat. They couldn’t get her out fast enough and she drowned.” The memory hurt all over again. I saw Laney’s young face in her casket on the day of her funeral. I threw pink carnations into her grave; they were her favorite. She said the pixies were born in pink carnation blossoms.
I felt myself shudder. Lavigna lay on my arm. “I lost my oldest sister.”
My gaze focused on her face. She ran a fingertip over Laney’s smiling face behind the glass. “I was young at the time. Syriah was sixteen. There were complication with her change; she didn’t make it.”
Her change? I thought vampires were born vampires. I caught the question before it catapulted out of my mouth. A single clear teardrop rolled down her ivory cheek, and without thinking, I leaned forward and kissed if off. It tasted salty, like a human tear. She gasped, and I pulled back quickly. Then froze. Her eyes were wide with shock, but the corners of the mouth turned up in a gently smile. I felt the relief flood through me.
Lavigna put the picture of Laney down gingerly, and took a step closer to me.”I like you, Shawn.”
She took one more step. We were toe to toe again, and my pulse was starting to race. “You’re so kind. So good. So real. There is something so familiar about you. Do you believe in destiny, Shawn?”
“I’m starting to.” I mumbled, totally numb. As in, brain-dead.
She tipped her head back and laughed softly.
“Are you going to bite me?” I asked. I felt hypnotized again. Coherent Shawn would have her back against the wall and her legs around his waist within the next thirty seconds. Coherent Shawn had checked out. This new, dazed Shawn, who’s heart was banging against his chest hard enough to hear an echo in the room, couldn’t move.
She smiled wide enough for me to see the tips of her fangs. So hot, I thought. “Do you want me to bite you, Shawn?”
Did I want her to bite me? Oh, hell yes. I nodded.
She stood on her tip toes and wrapped her arms around my neck, closing the distance between us. I pulsed jumped when I felt her pressed against my chest, and I started breathing hard. One of her hands moved to my head, her fingers tangling in my too-long hair. She pulled my face down to hers and brushed her lips against mine. She kissed the edge of my jaw lightly, then down my neck. Her lips stayed a second longer when she reached my carotid and my skin quivered.
“Are you going to kill me?” I whispered, more out of curiosity than fear. I wouldn’t have pushed her away either way. Yup, this girl had seriously fucked me up.
I felt her soft laughter against my neck and shivered. “No, silly. I already told you, I like you.”
For You
We’ve got action on the website front. Finally, some success. Picture me as the pathetic brother from Entourage crying VICTORY! Just need to work a few more things out, and we’ll be up and running. Hopefully by early this week.
Just thought I’d throw in a song. It’s an older song, but it was a major tone setter for House of Thorns, and plan to use the lyrics as the novel’s inscription, providing Ville Valo gives me permission to do. Anyone know how to get in touch with a rock star?
Shawn’s version of chapter 20
The music was too loud. Or maybe I’d had too much to drink. How many drinks had I had? I didn’t think it was that many…but then why was the dance floor starting to heave under my feet? I broke away from the bony brunette I was dancing with and tried to push my way through the crowd of writhing bodies. She didn’t protest, didn’t follow. She was so drunk she probably hadn’t even noticed I’d left. Someone shoved me and I staggered. Crap, I had had too much to drink. Time to find Alexa before I did something stupid.
I wish I could get her out here on the dance floor. She, of all people, needed to blow off some steam. But Alexa doesn’t dance. Hadn’t in all the times we had gone out together in the last three years. I tried to goad her into it once, told her it wasn’t that she didn’t want to dance, but that she couldn’t. She went home. Ironically, she was the one who sat at the bar pounding rum and cokes by herself, occasionally insulting someone, and I, stone cold sober, was the one making a fool of himself on the dance floor.
In my youth I drank a lot. Partied way too much. Hooked up way too often. When I drink I tend to get ‘overly friendly,’ as Alexa puts it. That’s why, these days, I usually abstain. Too many nasty girls, too many forgotten condoms. One day I wanted kids, a family, not random babies that were products of too much fun and not enough conscious thought. It was my decision, so I didn’t mind going out to party and being the designated driver. I don’t need to drink to have a good time; I can act like an idiot without any help at all.
But tonight was special. We had come by bus, and I had decided to help Alexa drink her worries away. God knew she needed to get out of the house and forget about Faine. Sitting at home pining, if that’s what she was doing, wasn’t healthy. Her depression the past few weeks had been freaking me out. Crying in her sleep, drinking way too much at night, and subdued as hell all day. Most women get bitchier than normal when they’re depressed. Not Alexa. When she isn’t bitchy, I know there’s something wrong, and these past few weeks she’d been a saint. She hadn’t even told off the pizza boy with the mullet for forgetting the garlic bread. That was like giving Alexa a loaded gun on a shooting range, but she just took the pizza and said she wasn’t paying for non-existent garlic bread. Didn’t tip the guy either. Still, he got off lucky; normally she would have had him in tears. I hated Faine for what he had done to her, though I still didn’t know exactly what that was. Since the day I’d picked her up in Rockland she had been a closed book.
So here we were. Neither of us had ever been to this club before. My usual club was closer, and played better music, but as you would assume with a nickname like ‘the blood bar,’ a good portion of it’s patrons were vampires. Most of the older ones stayed at home, but the ‘next generation’ vampires were starting to enjoy their public freedom. Even though she hadn’t said anything, I think she was trying to avoid running into Faine. It had happened before, so chances were decent it would happen again.
Man, is tonight full moon, or what? I thought as I fought my way off the dance floor. People were more aggressive than usual, a little wilder, almost like they’d just been let off their social leashes. Maybe it was just me.
I could feel the bass in my head, like my brain was swelling in time to the heavy beat and slamming against my skull. I shook my head, trying to rid my brain of the music, and the room tilted. I really needed to get a handle on myself. I’d promised Alexa I wouldn’t drink too much. She had always acted like she was cool with it, but I knew it made her uncomfortable when I brought girls home with us after partying. I totally got it. It might weird me out too if our roles were reversed. And that was the problem that arose when I drank too much: I forgot about everything the piece of tail I was chasing.
There was a bar on either side of the dance floor, but I knew I wouldn’t find Alexa at either of them. No, she would be brooding over her drink at the tiny bar tucked away for guests who weren’t into the whole bump and grind scene. It was around the corner from the central part of the club and separated by a small flight of stairs. I finally got through the rowdy crowd and found the stairs, almost tripping over the girl draped across the them. Her friend was trying to pull her up half-heartedly, both of them giggling uncontrollably. My first instinct was to flash them a smile and offer to help, but I knew where that would lead. I kept my mouth shut, my hands in my pockets, and stepped over them. Good, not way too drunk then.
Yeah, this is way more Alexa’s scene, I thought as I stepped into the room. The lighting was low, the walls dark. It was like a cave. It creeped me out. I hesitated, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dimness. After the all the dance floor strobe lights, it was like being blind. I squinted, searching for Alexa. There were a few other people at the bar, most of them sullen. There was a couple making out in the only booth in the corner. I took a few more cautious steps toward the bar, and only then did I see the dark heart shape of vampire wings. Uh oh. I felt my stomach turn to lead when I glanced around the wings and caught a glimpse of Alexa’s face. I never should have left her alone. Wait, was that Faine? Wasn’t he bigger the last time I saw him? But if it wasn’t Faine, why did Alexa look like she was contemplating the leap out the second story window?
I brushed past the vampire, glancing at her briefly before bending down to whisper in Alexa’s ear. “Are you okay?”
Her face was colorless, her eyes wild. I could practically see her crumbling behind them. She shook her head slowly. She was fighting tears, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why. I glanced at the vampire on the bar stool next to us again. And did a double take. Amazing. Like a life-size pixie, except way more beautiful than any picture I could remember. Her hair was a halo of blond spikes, and her wide blue eyes shone, actually shone. No embellishment necessary.
“I’m Shawn, Alexa’s roommate,” I said, offering my hand, wondering if she would take it. My heart beat harder in anticipation, and I was suddenly nervous.
“I am Lavigna, a friend of Faine’s. It is very nice to make your acquaintance.” She smiled, and I knew without a doubt that it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Focus, man! I scolded myself, remembering Alexa sitting next to me. This vampire, she was a friend of Faine’s. Lavigna. Her name rolled through my mind and I had to shake off the sensation. A friend of Faine’s…that must be why Alexa was acting so strange. I wonder what she had told her. I glanced at Alexa. Her pained expression helped me concentrate.
“Is he here?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound too nervous about her answer. I really doubted Alexa would be able to handle seeing him tonight.
“No,” Lavigna replied. Her tone was way too serious, her expression worried. I hated the look on her face and longed to comfort her, which was totally messed up. “He is preparing,” she finished quietly.
Preparing for what, I wanted to ask, but I felt like I should already know. Maybe Alexa should have filled me in. She’s been shutting me out since the day she met that vampire, I thought bitterly. We’d been rock steady since the day we’d met. I remember it like it was yesterday; the day she’d walked into the Munga Bean coffee-house I was now the manager of was like a bookmark in my life. I remember how her hair had been a mess of red and gold curls around her face. Her clothes were wrinkled and bunched like she had been driving for a while. Despite her disheveled appearance, she was still beautiful. Striking, with high cheek bones and arching brows over sharp hazel eyes. Her skin was pale bronze, like someone with ivory skin who spent a lot of time in the sun, and she had a sprinkling of freckles over her delicate nose. “Hi, I’m Shawn. I’m the stand-in manager. What can I do for you?” I had said officially. I had just gotten the promotion and been proud as hell.
Her eyes flicked over me for an instant. “I need a job.”
I blinked. I hadn’t missed the note of urgency in her blunt statement. “Well, we’re not hiring at the moment, but if you would like to fill out an application or leave a resume we can contact you when we have an opening.” Which might be sooner, rather than later. Chrissy, the day-time server at the time, was watching our conversation with avid interest rather that cleaning the tables like I had asked her to.
“Here,” Alexa had said, thrusting a sheet of paper in my hands, “read my resume. I’ve never worked in a cafe before, but I waitressed in high school. I can do the job.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I murmured, glancing at the resume. “Well, I’ll put it on file and we’ll let you know.”
“No. I don’t have time to wait three months for you to fire someone and call me. I just got into Maine, I have thirty dollars to my name and I’m living in my car. I need a job, and I’m not leaving until you give me one.” She put her hands on her hips, and glared at me. That’s exactly how Laney used to look when she was being stubborn. The thought startled me. I hadn’t thought about Laney in a long time. It still hurt too much. This women, who couldn’t be much older than I was, looked nothing like my blond-haired, blue-eyed sister, but there was something in her eyes, a fierceness, that felt so familiar.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked, suddenly unsure.
“Sorry.” I said, snapping back to myself. “Anyway, I’m sorry about your situation and I would like to help-”
“Good,” she interrupted. “I’ll wait here until you figure something out, talk your manager. Whatever you need to do.” She dropped her bag on the nearest table, rifled through it’s contents and pulled out a wallet. “I’d like a coffee, as well. Large. Black.”
And she had stayed the entire day, and shown up the next morning looking even worse. She was living in the backseat of her Dodge Charger and really had needed the job, and a place to stay. I’d convinced the manager to hire her and offered her my extra room. She’d only lasted two weeks in the cafe before I’d had to fire her for insulting customers. I don’t think it surprised either of us. Alexa doesn’t mean to say half the things she says; they seem to slip out all on their own. Sometimes even she seems surprised by them.
Alexa banged her empty tumbler on the bar and I blinked. Lost in another memory? God, what was with me tonight? I took a nasty fall out on the bike trails this afternoon, but I didn’t think I hit my head that hard.
“We were just leaving.” Alexa said, jumping off her bar stool and swaying as she tried to step between Lavigna and I. She grabbed my sleeve to steady herself. “Come on,” she mumbled, pulling me with her.
I hesitated, and glanced at Lavigna. I might never see her again, I thought abruptly, fighting the urge to panic. My chest actually tightened. I shook my head in disbelief and let Alexa pull me through the bar to the stairs.
“See ya, Lavigna.” Alexa shouted, without bothering to stop or turn around. I couldn’t figure out why she was being so rude.
“I am leaving as well,” Lavigna said happily, and hopped gracefully off her stool.
I felt myself smile. She was so delicate. It was probably stupid to think of a vampire as delicate; she could probably beat the living hell out of me. I almost wished she would.
I felt her fall into step close behind me and couldn’t help but shiver at the proximity. So close. She was so close. If she were taller I would feel her breath on my neck. Alexa pushed open one of the big double doors at the front of the club and strode out into the darkness. It wasn’t far to the bus stop; I could see the bench from here. I paused awkwardly under the florescent lights shining from the club’s black awning and glanced back at Lavigna. She stood outside the flood of light so that she was framed by the night. It was so dark I couldn’t even make out her black wings arching above her narrow shoulders. She shadows hugged her face, but her blond spikes were still brilliant and her eyes glowed electric blue. I felt myself slip into her gaze.
“It was nice to meet you.” I said blankly. The inside of my head felt like Warshak painting, like my brain that had been splattered on a piece of paper, then folded, repeatedly, to create an image to reflect my subconscious thoughts. What do you see, Shawn? A raven. Okay, definitely too much to drink. “Maybe I’ll run into you again sometime.” I couldn’t hold back the inflection that turned it into a question. Again there was that feeling of loss. What if I never saw this beautiful creature again? I had the distinct feeling my life would be… meaningless. Suddenly, I understood what Alexa was going through. I also understood how seriously messed up we both were.
Lavigna smiled, and it was like she radiated joy. Her eyes glowed brighter, and as her smile spread tiny fangs were revealed. God, that is so hot, I thought, right before realizing how far left field the thought was. I never would have thought I’d find fangs attractive. I’d seen other vampires before and it had never even occurred to me. Packaging makes all the difference, I guess. “That would be lovely…unless of course, you need a ride home?” She asked sweetly.
From anyone else I would have thought that was a pick-up line, but there was no hint of motive on her face. The piece of paper my brain was splattered into the abyss with the rest of my mind. My heart sped up in anticipation at the thought of having her alone, even for a little while. Strangely enough, this mind numbing attraction wasn’t sexual. I just wanted to be near her, get to know her. It like I was hypnotized. Maybe I was. I didn’t care.
“Well…um…that would be great…” I glanced at Alexa, waiting for me near the bus stop. “Uhhh, I came with Alexa, though…we came on the bus…” Could I really send her home on a bus, alone, at this time of night? “Oh, hm that might not be safe…” It was too dangerous. Definitely. But it wasn’t like she was the only one on the bus. And the bus stop was really close to home… “Hmmm, maybe I could call her a cab…” The real question was if she would ever forgive me if I made her go alone.
“Forget it Shawn!” Alexa yelled. She had heard me babbling, watched me struggle with my indecision. Her expression was an odd combination of shock and fury. “I’ll take the bus! I love the bus!” She turned away and stomped to the bus stop. I knew I should follow her, but I couldn’t seem to make myself take a step in her direction. A step in her direction would be a stay away from Lavigna.
My mind was made up when Lavigna moved toward me. She stopped an arm’s length away and looked up at me curiously, like she couldn’t quite figure me out. After a moment the corner’s of her rosebud mouth turned up in a gentle smile. “Don’t fret, Alexa will be fine. Shall we go?”
I threw one more glance at Alexa. I could just make out her shape perched on the back of the bus stop bench. This was all wrong, yet I found myself nodding numbly. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was wondering where Lavigna intended on going and how she planned on getting us there, but I couldn’t seem to form the question. Lavigna took a step closer. The toes of her thigh high midnight blue boots were flush with my white K-Swiss sneakers. The top of her head was even with my chest, so she had to tip her head back to look up at me. The nearness made my breath come quicker, and my whole body vibrated with excitement. She smelled sweet and salty, like cotton candy at the beach, and the faster I breathed, the more her scent went to my head. “Are you afraid of heights?” She whispered.
I couldn’t seem to find my voice. I shook my head once. I couldn’t figure out why I was so nervous. She was just a girl, albeit a girl with wings and fangs, but I still shouldn’t be acting like a sixteen year old on his first date. Hell, I hadn’t even been this nervous on my first date.
Without warning, her wings began to unfurl. They rose in elegant arches from between her shoulder blades and shimmered blue black in the cruel florescent lights. I never would have guessed, but at full span each wing was probably a good six feet. My gaze flicked to her face. There was a determined look in her eyes, like she had just solved a complicated problem and was ready to test the theory. She walked around me slowly and pressed herself against my back. My breath hitched at the sudden contact, and I actually gasped, when she smoothed her hands down my shoulders. She slid her palms along my rib cage, hooking her arms under mine and wrapping them around my shoulders. Her hands didn’t quite reach my collarbone and she seemed to rethink the hold. After a moment she crossed her forearms over my chest, splaying her hands on my pecs.
“Perfect,” she murmured, and before I could take my next breath we exploded off the ground.
Cover Art
This is Cover Art for House of Thorns. A very good friend, and one of the only people who has read the entire House of Thorns novel, said the book inspired her to paint this. She gave it to me for my birthday, and even though it was a few months ago now, I’m still touched everytime I look at it.
