CHAPTER 19
Zara
Iro headed down the stairs of her brownstone, and Zara followed her all the way to the corner market and back, staying on the other side of the street and behind her so that she wouldn’t be noticed.
When Iro stopped for a second to check her surroundings, Zara hid behind a car so as not to be seen, but then, she continued her task when Iro resumed walking because Cassia had asked her to check in on the woman tonight, wanting to know what Iro was up to and if whatever it was would be involving Arwen.
Zara herself had gotten a text from Arwen earlier that day asking if she wanted to do something that night, and she’d declined, which likely meant that Arwen would be doing something with Iro.
Pretty soon, she found out that she’d been right about that because when Iro arrived at her front door, Arwen was walking down the street, probably from the nearest train station.
She was all smiles and looked almost giddy, from what Zara could tell.
Iro turned and smiled when she saw her, and her smile looked giddy, too.
Zara already wanted to throw up, but she had to watch Iro walk back down the stairs and kiss Arwen, and her stomach roiled.
She wanted to be the one to kiss Arwen. Her fangs began to emerge, and she bit into her bottom lip, tasting her own blood.
Finding that that calmed her enough, she let the fangs retreat and felt her bottom lip heal almost instantly.
Their kiss ended quickly, thankfully, but then, Arwen leaned back in, and that kiss, right in the middle of the sidewalk, lasted much longer.
Iro put down the bag she was holding and wrapped her arms around Arwen’s waist. Arwen had hers around Iro’s shoulders.
They stood like that, locked in a full-body embrace for a few minutes before they finally separated, and Arwen laughed while she continued to hold on to Iro and Iro to her.
Zara watched them for a moment longer, and the vision she had had for her life started to slowly disappear, along with Iro and Arwen, who went inside the house.
It really started to seem like Arwen would never be hers at this point, and Zara was immortal now.
She would never age. She’d never get sick again.
She’d yet to feel tired, and so far, she’d been having the best sex of her life and had been fed well, thanks to Cassia.
Of course, Zara also had a responsibility now.
Her name was Amy, and she was thirty-five years old.
She would now always stay thirty-five years old because of her.
Zara hadn’t meant to kill her. She had stopped when Cassia had told her to, or so she’d thought, but Cassia had said that she’d waited until the second command to stop feeding, and when Amy had only had so much blood left, those extra few seconds could make a difference.
Zara hadn’t been able to reconcile the fact that she had killed someone at first, so Cassia had had to remind her that she hadn’t killed Amy; Amy had been reborn.
In the hours since she had woken, she had already begun to adjust to her new reality, but sadly, she wasn’t into women.
Or, at least, as Cassia had said, not yet.
“All vampires become more open-minded at some point in their long lives,” Cassia had noted while they had watched Amy feed for the first time. “Now, I need you to go check on my Iro and your Arwen.”
Zara had followed Cassia’s command without a second thought, and she hadn’t even been concerned about that fact.
She had wanted to know what Iro would be up to that night as well and whether or not it would include Arwen.
Now that she’d confirmed her suspicions, and they were probably inside for the night, Zara leaned back against the post behind her and thought about what the two of them would be doing.
She pictured them in Iro’s probably overly expensive home, with lavish furnishings, if it were anything like Cassia’s place.
She thought about how they had no problem making out in the middle of the street, so they’d probably just carry on with that in the house.
The grocery bag Iro had carried would be on the floor, and Arwen would be on the couch or maybe even on a kitchen counter.
Their clothes would be off by now, and Iro would be inside her…
Zara growled at that thought because she didn’t want anyone else to touch the woman she loved.
Some guy walked down the street toward her, and her fangs reemerged again, indicating that she was hungry or angry.
She didn’t think she was hungry, but as Cassia had explained, she would probably always be hungry now.
She was angry without a doubt, but she still wasn’t over what she had done to Amy, and she also couldn’t just leave an accidental dead body on the street, especially right outside Iro’s house, so she walked past the guy and found her car.
◆◆◆
“Zara, love, come in,” Cassia said when she opened the door. “How did it go?”
Zara walked into the house and straight into the salon.
“They’re together,” she said. “In for the night, I think.”
She sat on the sofa.
“Would you be a dear and bring us a drink?” Cassia said to a woman who had just walked into the room. “Another of those willing humans,” she added when the said human left. “Her name is unimportant, but I haven’t fed from her since she arrived. I saved her for you if you’re hungry.”
“Where’s Amy?”
“She’s upstairs with Gigi and Miranda.”
When Zara lifted an eyebrow, Cassia laughed.
“They’re talking to her about being a vampire, not having sex with her. She’ll come around, though. It might be in a week, a year, or a decade, but she will. They always do.”
“Not everyone is into the same sex, Cassia.”
“Zara, darling, when you have forever to live, existing solely in the ways that best conform to society isn’t much of an option.
Society changes, after all. You and I can now walk down the street holding hands, if we’d like.
Yes, we might get some stares and maybe a random comment here and there, but try being as old as me.
I’ve lived through all the times I couldn’t even look at a woman fondly because that would mean someone could find out and try to hang me or, perhaps, burn me at the stake.
Imagine their surprise when I don’t die.
” Cassia winked at her. “Now, what else did you see?”
“They made out on the street. It looked like Iro had a bag of food. She went to the market, but I didn’t follow her inside, obviously.”
“She’s cooking for her,” Cassia stated and appeared in deep thought as the human walked back into the room and set down two glasses of wine in front of them. “Thank you, dear. Now, would you mind? My friend Zara here could use a little snack.”
The woman held out her wrist, and Zara saw a few old, scarred bite marks. She looked back up at the woman with concern.
“You want this?” she asked.
“Yes, I love it,” the woman replied. “Cassia found me and told me that if I wanted to turn, she would consider it if I spent time learning here first.”
“We need to make sure she’s a good fit for what I have planned,” Cassia said and picked up her wine. “Go on. Drink up.”
“What exactly do you have planned?” Zara asked and took the woman’s wrist into her hands.
“With my Iro, of course, I might need a few more spies who can keep an eye on her and won’t draw any suspicion.
You’re a vampire now. If she’s focused enough, or if you get too close for too long, she’ll figure it out.
I don’t need that, so I have a human spy, too.
” She pointed to the woman just as Zara bit into the warm flesh.
“She can be there whenever you’re busy. And, Zara, I’d love it if you’re busy for the rest of the night.
Perhaps, with me and maybe Gigi and Miranda. ”
Zara sucked and growled as her eyes stayed on Cassia’s elegant gray ones while the blood dripped down the woman’s wrist and onto the hardwood floor.
Cassia sipped from her wineglass but then set it down and nodded.
The human gave her her other wrist without a word, and Cassia bit down.
The woman gasped, and Zara looked up to see if she should stop, but the woman looked happy, almost euphoric.
“You should know that she’s also someone I fucked before you got home,” Cassia said when she stopped and wiped her mouth. “We had fun, didn’t we, sweetheart?”
“Yes,” the woman replied.
“Do you want to do that again?”
“Yes,” the woman gasped.
“Good. Then, leave us. You and I can talk about your reward later,” Cassia told her.
Zara withdrew her teeth from the woman’s wrist to let her leave and wiped her mouth before shifting into Cassia’s lap quickly, earning a big laugh.
“Now that you’re fed, want something else?”
“Yes,” Zara said. “Can you look like her again?”
“Ah, I see.” Cassia leaned back on the sofa. “You saw something tonight that angered you.”
“Yes.”
“And you want to take it out on me, but as Arwen?”
“I want to fuck you.”
“You want to fuck Arwen,” Cassia corrected.
“Yes.”
“Because you’re so angry with her for fucking Iro? Are they doing it right now?” Cassia asked.
“Probably. I couldn’t tell. But the way they kissed, it was like they couldn’t stop and had to get inside.”
“I see,” Cassia said and removed Zara’s shirt. “Here?”
“Yes. On the floor in front of the fire.”
“You want to fuck me, do you? Hard and fast, and maybe make it hurt, too?”
“Yes,” she replied before she pulled off her bra, stood, and removed her shoes, socks, jeans, and panties.
“You are certainly eager. It’s not usually my thing. I like it when a woman really, really wants it but resists just a little. How about this?” Cassia asked and spread her legs.
Zara looked down and noticed that she wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath her skirt.
“I rarely put them on around here anymore. Not much of a point.” Cassia smirked.
“You make me come with that sweet, sweet mouth of yours, and I’ll tell you a story.
I think you’ve earned my story. Then, after, I’ll let you fuck me as hard as you want.
I’ll look like her, sound like her; I’ll do anything you want. ”
“Fuck,” Zara let out and knelt in front of her. “What story?”
“I can trust you, right? I want to be able to trust you. I feel like I can. I trust so few people, Zara, but you seem different to me. You seem to want something so much that you’d do anything to get it, and that’s something that I can understand.
I’ve promised you that I won’t hurt your Arwen, even though she’s standing between me and my Iro. ”
“Because Iro wouldn’t forgive you, not because of me,” Zara noted, spreading Cassia’s legs farther apart. “Why do you smell so good to me?”
Cassia laughed a deep, throaty laugh and said, “Because I made you.”
Zara looked up in confusion.
“It’s not a special power or anything. When I tell you that Amy will probably be interested in women at some point in her immortality, that’s true.
But part of the reason why it’s true is that a woman created her.
We always love the scent of our creators.
It’s one of the reasons Iro gave in to me not all that long after she lost that awful human love of hers.
Now…” Cassia pointed between her legs. “My story is one that not even Iro knows. It was never important or relevant to tell her, and Iro has a way of judging, even when she’s trying not to, so I have kept this to myself.
I’m going to tell you my story because I believe this will bring us closer together, Zara.
I’d like us to be closer; to really know one another as we embark on this journey to get our loves back. Lick me, sweetheart.”
Zara looked down and leaned in.
“Yes, I love that tongue,” Cassia said as she sank back into the sofa.
“Now, what Iro believes is different than the truth, than my truth. She wasn’t as strong as you in the beginning.
Her heart was broken very differently from yours.
You see, the woman she loved back then had only just died, and Iro couldn’t handle the truth.
She could barely handle her own immortality.
Had I not loved her so and taken such good care of her, I think she would have put a silver stake in her heart.
The woman you love is still very much alive, and once Iro returns to me, Arwen will be all yours.
” Cassia placed her hand on the back of Zara’s head.
“I told Iro that I was born in Florence in 1450 to a noble family. Yes, just like that.”
Zara licked her harder, and Cassia seemed largely unaffected, outside of offering Zara words of encouragement.
“Now, that’s not entirely true,” Cassia continued. “And I’ll get to the real story shortly, but while Iro has been working on her investments, I’ve been silently working on things myself. Now, suck me hard.”
Zara did as she was told.
“Yes, like that, baby. So hard. Make it hurt.”
Zara sucked harder.
“Now, bite me. Suck there.”
Zara moved her mouth and bit down on the flesh of Cassia’s inner thigh.
“God, I love that so much,” Cassia said, pressing Zara’s head down into her thigh. “Don’t stop. Suck harder. I want it to hurt. I want to feel something. Anything.”
Zara bore down harder and sucked, grunting, groaning and wanting more.
“Yes. You like that, don’t you? You love the taste of me.”
Zara nodded.
“While Iro has been trying to make silly real estate deals, I’ve been turning influential humans around the world and making sure they know who gave them the gift of everlasting life. Yes, baby. Back to my clit.”
Zara moved her mouth back to Cassia’s clit and sucked.
“I’m tired of being in the shadows when we’re clearly the superior species. I mean, we can… live… forever. Yes, I’m coming.”
Zara sucked and stroked her with her tongue until Cassia came all the way down, which seemed to have happened very quickly. Then, Cassia pulled Zara by the hair and met her eyes.
“You love how I taste because I made you. You like how Gigi and Miranda taste, too, but you love how I taste because I’m the one who gave you this amazing gift, Zara.
I’m the one who made you better than you were before, and I want you to help me make the people we want just like us; to be better, to work for me and get me what I want. ”
“What do you want?” Zara asked, wiping her mouth.
Cassia pushed her out of the way and stood. Zara got scared for a moment because she wasn’t sure what Cassia was about to do, but then, she watched Cassia walk over to the fireplace and get down on all fours.
“Right now, I want to give you what you want,” she said as she transformed right in front of Zara’s eyes. “Zara, please fuck me, baby. I need you. Only you,” she added in Arwen’s voice.