CHAPTER 26
Iro
Iro had expected Arwen back over an hour ago, and the few texts she had sent had gone unanswered.
She hadn’t paid attention to the location Arwen had mentioned for her meeting with Zara.
It was a coffee shop that the two of them went to sometimes, but she couldn’t recall if Arwen had given her the name of it.
She knew Arwen hadn’t given her an address, so as she paced in her living room, worried, she thought about calling the last person she wanted to talk to in Cassia because she didn’t have Zara’s number, and if something was wrong with Arwen, it was likely Cassia’s doing.
She wasn’t sure when they’d gotten this way.
When she had asked Cassia for another break years ago, Cassia hadn’t liked the idea, whereas in the past, she hadn’t had an issue.
Iro knew Cassia sometimes preferred being able to do whatever she wanted without her moping about and asking her to stop feeding on humans, even the willing ones.
The last time Iro had asked for a break, though, Cassia had agreed, but only for a year.
Iro had mentioned ten, and Cassia had countered with two.
They’d gone back and forth until Cassia had given in, which was a rare occasion, giving them ten years apart.
Iro had no idea why this time had been different.
They had been apart even for longer before, with Cassia having no problem staying at home in Florence or gallivanting around the world, having other women to satisfy her and humans to feed on, which seemed to be all Cassia ever wanted. Well, all she ever wanted besides Iro.
When the doorbell rang, she pushed all thoughts of Cassia and their centuries-long relationship aside and practically lunged to open it.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asked, seeing Arwen there, looking upset. “You’re late. I was worried. Didn’t you get my texts?”
“Oh, I got them,” Arwen said, walking into the apartment quickly. She looked around the open space and added, “I didn’t feel like responding after what just happened.”
“Arwen, what’s wrong? What happened?”
Iro hurried to her side and took her hand.
Arwen tossed it aside like it was scalding hot and said, “Someone named Cassia found me at the café after Zara left. She told me you know her.”
“Cassia…”
“So, you do? You know her?”
“Arwen, whatever she said to you doesn’t matter.”
“That she’s your wife. Your wife, Iro! You’re married?”
“What?” Iro said, sounding confused.
“She told me that she’s your wife; that you’re married.”
“She’s not my wife.”
“She’s not? Because she seemed pretty convinced that she was. She even had some kind of red stone on her ring that she showed me and said that you gave it to her.”
“Arwen,” she said and took a breath. “Love, can we sit down, please?”
“Love?” Arwen said, looking confused and hurt.
“Yes.”
“No, I’m not sitting down. You can talk to me here.”
Arwen crossed her arms over her chest.
“Cassia is not my wife. We aren’t married.”
“You’re–” Arwen stopped. “What about the ring on her finger, Iro?”
“I gave that to her, yes. I gave it to her a long time ago.”
“Then, you are married?”
“No, we–” She tried to take Arwen’s hand again but was rebuffed. “We never officially married.”
“What exactly does officially mean to you, Iro?”
“We never stood in front of friends and family and said, ‘I do,’ Arwen. We were together for a long time, though.”
“That’s a really interesting way of avoiding the fact that you’re, apparently, a vampire.”
Iro took a step back and swallowed. Being confronted about her relationship with Cassia was one thing, but Cassia had always wanted to keep their secret unless she could be assured that a human wanted to turn and wouldn’t tell anyone about the existence of vampires.
Now, Cassia had shared that with Arwen, and Iro didn’t know what to do.
“So, it’s true?”
“Whatever she told you–”
“Don’t tell me it’s a lie. She showed me her fangs, Iro. She told me that you’re hundreds of years old and that you two have been together the whole time.”
“Arwen, please…” Her heart pounded. “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
“You’re a vampire? You’ve killed people, Iro?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I am not proud of it, but I also don’t do that anymore. I don’t feed on human blood, Arwen. I haven’t in years.”
“Cassia said you two killed people all the time.”
“When I was first turned, we did. You have to understand, Arwen… We’re talking about the late 1600s and early 1700s. I don’t do that anymore.”
“You don’t kill people?”
“No. It’s one of the many reasons I don’t love Cassia anymore.”
The look on Arwen’s face was one of devastation, for some reason, which didn’t really make sense to Iro, but things were happening so quickly; she didn’t have the time to think about it.
“Arwen, I love you. I’m in love with you.
I was going to tell you – not tomorrow, but not in ten years.
I just wanted time with you first. I wanted us to be committed to one another and to know that this was what we wanted; nothing and no one else.
We made love last night, Arwen, and this morning.
I just wanted more of that; more of the lazy days in bed and nights by the fire where I read you poetry and we talk about–”
“I don’t want that,” Arwen stated.
“What? Arwen, we can talk about this. I know it’s a lot, and I’m sure you never thought vampires would be something you’d talk about like this, but, Arwen, I love you. I’d never hurt you. I’ll never hurt anyone. I just want to live a normal life with you.”
“You’re right: I can’t believe I’m having this conversation. But here I am, Iro, and it’s because of you. You made me like you. You used some sort of supernatural abilities on me. How could you?”
“I didn’t make you feel anything, Arwen. Whatever you feel for me, you feel. That’s not me, I assure you.”
“I feel nothing for you now,” Arwen replied.
Iro took another step back, the words and the tone with which they were delivered hitting her hard. Her home swirled around her, and Arwen was still standing there, but the look in her usual hazel eyes was cold and dark.
“Arwen… I love you. We can handle this.”
“You don’t age. I didn’t even need Cassia to tell me that. You live forever.”
“Yes.”
“I won’t. I’m human. What were you going to do, Iro? Make me one of you eventually? Would you have forced me to drink blood?”
“No. Never,” she said quickly. “Arwen, if you want to grow old as a human and die one day, I want that for you. I know how that sounds, but it’s the truth. Everyone should have the choice of how they live their life. My choice was taken away from me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I loved someone once a long time ago. Her name was Mary. I was human, and so was she. We lived in a time when she and I couldn’t be together, so she married after years and years of trying to avoid it.
She got pregnant shortly after, to produce an heir for her husband, which was all women were good for back then, according to men.
I asked her to run away with me, Arwen. I wanted her and only her, but she chose to stay with him because she was scared, and she died in childbirth.
” Iro waited for Arwen to say something like she was sorry for her pain, but she didn’t, so Iro added, “I met Cassia then, and she turned me. It wasn’t my choice, Arwen. ”
“She told me you asked for it. You wanted it.”
“I didn’t. I mean, I might have. I had had a lot to drink that night, and I didn’t know what I was saying. I didn’t understand it, Arwen. I was in pain, and she offered to take it away, but I didn’t know what I was agreeing to.”
“You said yes, though.”
“I did, but–”
“Then, you chose it. You chose to drink blood and kill people.”
“No, I didn’t. Arwen, if you ever wanted to really talk about this in the future, what it means and how it all works, I will sit down and explain everything, the good and the bad and the terrible, too, but you have to know that Cassia is not a good person.
It’s taken me way too long to know that, but she does kill people, and she drinks from humans.
She’ll turn anyone she wants. I’ve tried to get her to stop, but–”
“She said you do those things, and she’s tried to get you to stop. So, who am I supposed to believe, Iro?”
“Me!” she yelled. “You’re supposed to believe me because I’m your girlfriend. I just told you that I love you, that I don’t love the woman I’ve been with for three hundred years anymore, and that’s why she’s telling you these things.”
“You’re describing a very petty woman, Iro.”
“She is petty. She only cares about what benefits her; nothing else. Arwen, don’t let her do this to us. If you need time, take it.” Iro walked toward her again. “I’ll be here. We can talk about anything you want, anytime you want.”
“I don’t want this,” Arwen said and pointed back and forth between them. “I could never want this.”
“Arwen, please… Just take some time.”
“I don’t need time. I need to go,” Arwen replied. “Don’t follow me, Iro. Don’t call me. You and this Cassia woman deserve each other, and I hope you leave DC and never return. You leave me and the people I care about alone, or I’ll tell everyone about you.”
“Arwen, don’t…”
But Arwen didn’t listen. She walked past her and out the door, slamming it behind her, and Iro was left standing there, trying to remember how to breathe.