Chapter 13
T he moment I woke up, the events of last night settled over me. I pulled my doona over my head. Vampires were real, and Matteo was one. I’d barely slept a wink since he left. Every sound had me worried that vampires were trying to break into my apartment. I’d even dreamed he was on my balcony, with fangs and blood dripping from his mouth, red eyes watching me. I brushed my tears and sat up. Determined to not let the existence of vampires get in the way of life, I dragged myself out of bed.
My reflection gazed back at me with dark shadows under my bloodshot eyes, my face pale. I pulled my hair into a braid and changed into gym clothes. I didn’t feel very energetic as I took the elevator down to the gym. Unable to stop yawning, I found Dan already on the treadmill. I set the speed and incline and focused on running.
‘Don’t run,’ Matteo’s voice was so clear that I stumbled.
“Quinn?” Dan’s worried eyes met mine. “You okay?”
I mumbled and slowed down the treadmill, taking an easier pace.
Dan left his treadmill and reached over to press stop. “You’re not in the right headspace to run today, I can see it clear as day.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered and started running again.
“Quinn, stop. Maybe you should go back to bed or something. You shouldn’t be here. It’s okay to take a day off.”
He pulled me from the treadmill and wrapped his arms around me. “Sorry, you look like you need a hug.”
I fought against the urge to cry into his shoulder. Dan, who’d tried to get me into his bed, was suddenly the safe option.
“You’re right.” I pulled out of his arms. “I’m going home. Sorry, I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
I left the gym, but not before I caught his reflection in the door. He was watching me. I returned to my apartment and contemplated returning to bed. Instead I sent a text to Lilith and Mia, asking them to come over.
Mia replied quickly. On our way.
I opened my blinds. In the light of day it seemed stupid that I would shut out such a view. My apartment had never been absent of sunlight shining through in the mornings.
Horror seeped into every cell in my body as I caught sight of something on the balcony, leaning against my chair. I stared at it, not daring to move as I searched for signs of him. He came back.
Finally, I stepped forward, curiosity compelling me to open the door. It was something flat, wrapped in brown paper, with a note taped to the front. I reached for it with shaking hands.
Quinn, I saw how you were drawn to this tonight, and you were able to see the pain behind my brush strokes. You were right, it is a memory of my last day in Venice as a human, in the fourteen hundreds. Please take this gift. If you ever change your mind about seeing me, please allow me to answer any questions you have over dinner. I promise to keep the fangs out of sight…unless you ask. Until then, I will respect your wishes and leave you alone. - Matteo.
“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” I muttered.
Re-reading the note, I shook my head in disbelief. Six hundred years?! I moved the painting inside and removed the paper wrapping. Once again, the strokes saddened me, almost as if I could feel his pain as he painted. His last day as a human. I surprised myself when a tear slid down my face. This painting had to be worth at least a couple million dollars, and he’d just left it on my balcony. Despite my fear, my heart melted slightly at his gesture. He’d taken a risk with a piece of art that clearly had meaning to him. Especially with the weather of Melbourne. If it had rained, this would have been ruined.
I leaned the painting against the wall and sat in my chair, staring at it. Lilith and Mia walked in then, and I quickly hid the note.
“Is that…?” Lilith stared at the painting. “Quinn, where did that come from?”
“He left it as a gift,” I admitted. She didn’t need to know exactly where he’d left it.
“He must really be trying to impress you. That is quite a gesture.” She moved over to the painting, kneeling down. “This is the one you kept going back to. Clearly he noticed.”
I didn’t want to talk about this with them. They didn’t know what he was, and they wouldn’t believe me.
“So, did you speak to him, then?” Mia asked hopefully.
I took a deep breath, trying to work out what to tell them. They were trying to push me into the arms of a vampire. It made Steven’s emotional abuse, narcissism, and cheating look mild in comparison. I needed to pick my words carefully.
“I’m scared,” I frowned. “I get myself into messes that take a long time to recover from. What if he’s like that?” I sat down next to Lilith, Mia on the other side of me.
“Then we’ll be here to help you through it, as we were last time. But you don’t know he’s going to do that to you. He’s willing to give you such a gift,” Lilith paused, glancing across at the painting. “Which looks incredibly expensive, by the way.”
Mia hummed in agreement.
“We know nothing about him,” I protested. “I’m tired of the whole ‘bad boy’ thing.” I’d initially been attracted to Steven because of his ‘bad boy’ look.
“I get it,” Lilith said. “You want safe . You want boring.”
I nodded, relieved that she understood.
“Oh, like Dan!” Mia giggled. “Then why don’t you go for him?”
Surprised at my rejection of the idea, I laughed. “No!”
Lilith turned around to face me on the couch. “Look, we saw the way you looked at him, and the way he looked at you. All you were doing was talking about art, but you looked so happy. I haven’t seen you look at a guy like that in months. There’s definite attraction there; how can you not want to find out if there’s more?”
“What if he’s worse than Steven?” I asked, tears welling up. “I can’t go through that again.” What if he’s a killer who drinks blood? I pushed back the panic at the idea that he wanted my blood.
Lilith’s hand rested on my calf. “I know. We just want to see you happy.” She lifted her phone to face me. “And that’s the happiest we’ve seen you in a long time.”
There was a photo of me clutching Matteo’s arm as we stood in front of a painting. We were deep in conversation, both of us smiling. The headline above it read, ‘New gallery owner Matteo Barone seen entertaining rising star Quinn Bailey. Love interest or just a shared interest in art?’