Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
JULIAN
Maybe I fucked up eating the priest. I’m willing to admit it. That’s a sign of maturity, isn’t it?
The entirety of Vesper Point is crammed into the vestibule of City Hall.
We’re talking wall-to-wall, ass to hip. They’re like sardines packed in here.
I’m standing off to the side, having just walked in from the cold.
I noticed the steady stream of humans making their way down Main Street and like any predator, naturally, I followed.
“They’re going to go over the murder in town,” the barista from this morning told me when she saw me studying the building from a few feet away.
“They know it’s a murder?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I heard and get this,” she comes closer after giving a quick look around like she’s scared someone might overhear and when she speaks, I know why, “all of his blood was sucked out. Like, just totally gone. I heard that the coroner’s office is saying it’s a vampire.”
Earlier, when Maris’ staff proposed it I brushed it off. They work at a newspaper, of course they’re going to say some crazy shit but now…
Fuck.
If any entire fucking town is going on about a damn vampire draining a priest I’m going to have the Varcolacus coming to town. They might overlook me being at a hospital that got raided by a greedy thief but this?
Not gonna happen.
Twice is more than enough for them to know who and exactly what I am.
All my careful living, all the work to stay under the radar and unconnected to Rosanna, is going to go down the tubes when they come to Vesper Point.
It’s not like they don’t know I’m a vampire.
Of course they do but to them, I’m just a normal, random vampire.
Not one connected to the vampire they’ve currently got on trial.
Even though I didn’t help Rosanna, it won’t matter.
To them, I’m guilty and guilty is a fast track to the Final Death.
I’m not dying now that I found Maris.
Speak of the devil, the second I think her name I see her. Her dark hair is a beacon in the wash of barely there humans. No one else compares to her. She’s in full color and the rest of them are background props. I see no one but her.
Maris is off to the side with one of her reporters.
She has a notepad and recorder in her hands, and whatever she’s telling the reporter is serious to her.
I say serious to her because the reporter doesn’t look like they’re going to fall in line.
Maris rolls her eyes and goes back to what she’s doing, which from the look of her is eavesdropping.
A second later, I see Maris jerk in surprise.
Whatever she’s heard has her on high alert.
What is she listening for? I start to make my way through the crowd towards her and the room falls into a hush when the Sheriff emerges to address the public.
I’m only half paying attention to what he’s saying but I’m tuned in enough to stop moving and bow my head with the rest of the room but the second I hear ‘Amen’ I’m back to making my way to Maris.
“Now, first and foremost I want to let you all know that we are working diligently and without ceasing to find the culprit in Father Paretti’s murder.”
Those are the words I hear before there’s a scream. It’s high, blood-curling, full of rage. I turn with everyone else to see a woman screaming and pointing.
“You did it! I know you did it!”
What the ever loving fuck is this woman screaming about? Who is she screaming at? The woman is older, in her fifties with ashy blonde hair and watery blue eyes. Her eyes are rimmed red, face splotchy and I swear to god when she lurches forward with a sob I can smell her from here.
Anyone can tell she’s been drinking and crying for hours.
“You killed him. You’re wrong, fucking cursed you death bitch! Everything fucking dies because of you. You took him!” She lurches forward, finger still pointing as she keeps screaming. “I s-saw you!”
Everyone is just as confused as I am and the Sheriff does his best to bring order back to his press conference. “Mrs. Sheep, Aria, now, I think you’re just tired. Can someone get her some water and take her somewhere to rest?”
“More like a coffee and a detox tank,” a man near me mutters. He shakes his head and watches as Mrs. Sheep continues forward in her drunken march.
“Take me out of here? She’s the murderer. You know she did it. She killed my Mike and she killed him!”
Wait a fucking second. Mike…Sheep. Mrs. Fucking Sheep?
Realization clicks in me when I understand who she is. Godfuckingdamnit. What did this bitch see? I look back towards Maris, the whole fucking room does in one coordinated movement and I watch as the woman I’m fated to lifts her chin and stares everyone down.
That’s my fucking woman.
“She’s a murderer you know. She killed poor Mike Sheep and everyone knows it.”
So Mrs. Sheep is a drunk. Not surprising. Grief does a number on people, but for all I know this screaming bitch was a drunk before her husband was murdered. She was married to the kind of man that would break into a defenseless woman’s home.
“And Mike blamed your father?”
“He blamed my family. That’s why he came to our house that night even though he knew he wouldn’t find anyone but me. How could he? Everyone else is dead, right? There was never going to be anyone there to stop him but me. He came for me.”
The Sheriff puts his hand over the mic in front of him but I still hear him. “Someone get her out of here.”
“I know you did it, you bitch!”
Who the fuck is this woman talking about? Father Paretti or her worthless son? I can’t tell yet and neither can anyone else, mostly because they don’t know about her son rotting in the ground with his head beat in but…details.
I stop trying to be gentle about getting to Maris and begin to move people out of my way with my strength. All it takes is a few people stumbling before they start to get out of my way. Smart humans.
“She’s a murderer!” The woman screams.
“And you’re a drunk,” Maris says.
Everyone in the room practically turns to stone when Maris speaks.
“Me? You made me this way. You killed my husband and you killed Brian!”
And there it is. So that’s her worthless son’s name.
“Maybe your worthless son killed himself, have you ever thought about that? I mean, stalking girls gets really boring after a while, right? Maybe he decided to change things up and do this town a favor.”
“You bitch! I’m going to kill you!”
“Come and get it, cunt. Your limp dick husband couldn’t get it done. What makes you think you can?”
I’m a foot away from Maris when all hell breaks loose.
Drunk Mrs. Sheep lunges at Maris with a scream.
She’s slow but still quick enough to get to Maris before the attending police officers can get their collective finger out of their ass to do anything about it.
Naturally, I’m the fastest thing in the room and Mrs. Sheep isn’t getting near Maris but that doesn’t mean I don’t see Maris drop into a fighting stance.
The look in her eyes tells me exactly how she put down father and son.
Maris is ready to die right now. If she were to get her hands on Mrs. Sheep, she’d go three for three as far as the Sheep family is concerned.
There’s a darkness around her that crackles, it falls around her like a shroud and the human version of Maris that dressed prettily and carefully applied her makeup is gone.
She’s the murderess now. Wild. Brutal. Cold.
In this moment, Maris is a weapon, sharp as a knife and poised to kill.
I’m not the only one that sees it. Instead of moving towards Maris and Mrs. Sheep to intervene, like some mindless hive, the nearby townsfolk take a collective step back.
They feel it too. That cheers my heart to know they see her the way I do.
To be feared and worshipped, far beyond their mortal comprehension. Fucking humans.
I make it to Maris’ side in the next heartbeat and sweep her behind me. Mrs. Sheep crashes into my chest and falls back to the floor. I feel a burning sensation in my side and look down. Blood stains my shirt. This bitch fucking stabbed me. Fury rushes through my veins.
She tried to stab my wife.
“Grab her!” The Sheriff yells.
Mrs. Sheep is tackled by not one but three men from the crowd. They don’t look like they’re police, just normal townsfolk stepping in.
“She’s got a fucking knife. Help me get it out of her hand!” One of the men yells. I think one of them punches her. Good. I’d do it if I could.
“I got it!”
Maris comes to my side and gasps at the sight of the blood. “Julian. Oh my god.” She pushes her hand to my side to stop the bleeding. “She stabbed him! I-we need a doctor!”
I almost smile when she yells that. I put a hand over hers. “I’m the doctor, Maris,” I remind her and force myself to wince and lean on her for support. “I’m fine. It’s shallow, whatever she had wasn’t big.”
“B-but, oh my god, she could have killed you.” Maris holds me tight and looks up at me with tear filled eyes. The look of concern is like a drug to me. I touch a finger to her cheek and wipe away the tears. “You could have died because of me.”
“I didn’t. Look at me.” I bring her closer, curl a hand behind her neck and make her look at me when she tries to cover her face. “I’m fine. I’m okay. One bandage and I’ll be right as rain, I won’t even need stitches.”
“B-but this is because of me. She’s right. Everyone around me dies. Everyone.”
“No. She’s drunk. Deranged,” I remind her. Right on cue I hear the woman scream bloody murder.
“She’s going to kill all of you! She’ll eat your babies! Fucking wear their skins.”
“See? She’s out of her mind on whiskey and pills.” I’m not making that part up, I can smell the sickly sweet stench of alcohol rolling off the bitch that stabbed me. She shrieks again and kicks one of the men trying to contain her.
Maris swallows hard. She doesn't look like she believes me, not even with the woman screaming and rolling around on the floor nearby. She looks haunted. There’s a camera flash and she jumps.
We both watch as her reporters go to town photographing the battle still raging between the drunk assailant and the odd mix of townspeople and police officers trying to subdue her.
“She’s a demon! Do you hear me? She’s a demon living in that house and she’s going to take us all to hell! She’s going to drag this town to hell, everyone! All of you!”
As insane as the woman’s ranting is, there’s a shift in attention from her to Maris.
One by one everyone starts looking at Maris like they believe what they’re hearing.
What the actual fuck is going on in this town?
I was stabbed and they’re acting like she’s telling the truth?
I watch Maris as she looks around the crowd and then back at me.
Her grip on my shirt gets tighter and she turns into me.
She knows I’m the only one she can trust. I’d be stabbed gladly a dozen times over for her trust.
What a gift she’s given me.
An EMT shoves their way through the crowd to me. “Doc, I’m here. We can get you patched up.” They kneel in front of us and start to open their kit but I stop them.
“I’m all right. It’s a shallow laceration. I suspect there will be more bruising than anything.”
“But the blood,” they say. They’re right, the blood does look bad. I’m wearing a light blue dress shirt and half my damn side is stained black. The bleeding has stopped by now, but I can’t let them know that. A human would still be bleeding, after all.
I press one hand to my side and hold my other out to them. “Hand me some gauze will you? It’ll hold me over until I’m home. We’re leaving.”
The EMT looks between me and Maris as they hand me the gauze I’ve asked for. I make a show of using it to pack my wound and then hold out another hand. “Tape.”
“Julian…” Maris clears her throat. “Maybe they should take a closer look.”
I lift my head from where I’m taping my side and give her a reassuring smile. “I spent a lot of years studying the body to know when one is in trouble and trust me, I’m fine. Let’s go home.”
I don’t miss the way her cheeks go pink or the pleased way she looks at me when I say “home.”
“Okay, let's go home,” Maris agrees. I hand the tape back to the EMT with a murmur of thanks and lead Maris through the crowd and out the door. I’m not sure who gets more attention—us or the woman they’re dragging away in cuffs, but if I had to bet, I’d say it was us.