Chapter 5
Willow
No sooner had the single syllable word passed my lips than plates full of food were hastily dropped in front of us. Vie dropped his hand away from my chin and rested both hands flat on the table.
“Enjoy,” the server said, then rushed away, casting a wary glance at Vie. Everyone around us did that. They either only glanced at Vie and quickly looked away, or avoided looking at him altogether.
I felt nothing but comfortable with him, but it seemed he had the opposite effect on everyone else. There was probably some deep, primal instinct that told the people around him to avoid eye contact and stay away.
Knowing what he could do, I didn’t blame them.
“Eat,” he ordered.
I could feel his eyes on me even as I picked up a fry and popped it into my mouth. I would’ve liked some ranch dressing to dip them in, but I doubted I could get the server’s attention.
His hands rested on the table on either side of his plate. His pale fingers seemed abnormally long, but then again, he was very tall. They were probably proportionate to the rest of him.
That made me think about what else might be of equal dimensions.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, his hands edging closer to my side of the table.
I stared at his hands. “Why do you ask?”
I couldn’t resist laying my hand down so my fingertips were almost touching his. We were so close I imagined I could feel heat emanating from him.
“Your scent changed.”
I was so distracted by his hand that I didn’t hear his answer at first. When the words registered, I raised my eyes to his.
“What do I smell like?”
His head tilted, the hood keeping his features in shadow except for those faintly glowing eyes focused on me. “Delectable.”
“You wouldn’t, uh,” my throat went tight and I had a hard time speaking. I grabbed my water, almost dropping the cold, condensation-covered glass.
“Your scent changed again. I don’t like this new smell,” he said, his voice clearly displeased. “Why?”
“Because you said you were going to eat me,” I whispered in a rush of words. “Like you did with those guys.”
My words were so rapid and jumbled that I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer right away.
He probably couldn’t make out what I’d said.
Did I have the courage to say everything again?
It was one thing to flirt with danger, but to actually ask him if he’d ever literally consume me one day might be a step beyond what I was capable of.
He must’ve worked out what I said because his head jerked back a little. “No!” he exclaimed loud enough to make a server at the other end of our row of tables jump and drop a glass.
“Sorry,” I called out to her. She didn’t look at me or acknowledge our table. If we ever had dinner together again, we’d need to do a take-out situation. Forcing Vie on unsuspecting patrons wasn’t nice.
Although it would be a fun thing to do to that one restaurant that “lost” my birthday reservation last year.
“You must believe me, Willow,” he said, his voice back to his normal deep tone instead of the startling otherworldliness of earlier. “I’d never hurt you. Ever. I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. Not that I’d ever want to.”
He spoke quickly, but unlike my word vomit, he was easy to understand.
“You said I smell delectable,” I reminded him.
He went silent for a moment before answering. “The way I want to taste you is much different from how I eat. I’m drawn to you in a way I’ve never been drawn to anyone before. I want to spend time with you. Talk to you. Care for you.”
He nodded his head at my plate. “Please, eat. I can sense your hunger. Your body needs sustenance."
I picked up another fry and popped it into my mouth. He could be lying, but I didn’t think so. There was nothing to do but see where this went. While I was at it, I might as well ask all the questions swirling around in my head.
“You say you’ve never been drawn to anyone,” I said after finishing the fry. “Why me?”
“I don’t know.”
Right, I guess that was fair. How did you explain attraction and love? They were complex emotions, and his “specialness” didn’t simplify anything.
“How long, I mean, how, um,” I thought better of my question and tried to think of a different one. My hand was still resting on the table, my fingertips almost touching his. He nudged his hand forward until our fingers were touching.
Gooseflesh broke out on my arm that had nothing to do with the air conditioning kicking on in the diner. It was like I’d put my fingers into a warm bath when they’d been a little cold. It was uncomfortable, but in a good way. Like the anxious tingles you get before doing something exciting.
“Ask me anything,” he murmured.
“Where did you come from?” The words popped out of my mouth without me really thinking about it.
“I don’t know where my kind comes from,” he said.
“Your kind?” I asked. “Is there a name for what you are?”
“We’re called wraiths.” As he spoke, he moved his fingers over mine. “At least my oldest brother named us such.”
“How many of you are there?”
He paused, as if considering. “I’ve met over a hundred in my lifetime. There are more of us, but I don’t know how many.”
“So I guess you guys don’t have a wraith’s Discord server or Facebook group,” I teased.
“Not that I know of,” he answered seriously. “Of the few brothers that live in this area, I know one likes to play something called D&D with some humans every Friday. Eat another bite, and you can ask me another question.”
I’ve never chewed and swallowed so fast. A supernatural creature that played D&D with unsuspecting humans?
I was fascinated.
“Do wraiths have mothers? Or are you like vampires, and you bite humans to make more of you?”
He laughed. It was low and brushed across my skin like gossamer threads.
“Vampires aren’t made with bites. The process is more involved than that.
As for wraiths, we’re created during times of great misery.
I came into existence when Julius Caesar was slaughtering millions of Celts in Europe.
I was born when the souls of the Celts cried out for vengeance.
The first person I ever ate was Caesar, although it took me a few years to find him. ”
History wasn’t my best subject in school, but I was pretty sure Julius Caesar didn’t die by being consumed by magic mist. “I thought he was stabbed to death in the senate?”
Even though I couldn’t see Vie’s face, I could tell he was smiling with satisfaction. “That’s what the senators decided to tell everyone. After I’d finished eating, they feared I would come for them if they spoke of my existence.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” I said. “After your job was done, did you wander around?”
“My job wasn’t done,” Vie explained. “After I ate him, I hunted down all his generals. They fed me for years.”
That sounded like the plot to a horror novel! “Was that when all of you were born?”
“No, only me. My younger brother Pain came into existence when plagues ravaged the Americas in the 1500s. Disease wiped out millions of Native people as the Europeans claimed their land.”
“He eats people who are sick?” I couldn’t keep the disgust out of my voice.
“He takes their pain away,” he explained, his tone soothing. “If someone is terminally ill, he can eat their pain and give them peace for their remaining days.”
“Oh, that’s, um, kinda sweet,” I said.
Vie pulled his hand away from mine, making me feel cold. “Sweet?”
I couldn’t stand not touching him. Before he could withdraw his other hand from the table, I grabbed hold of it. He didn’t try to pull away, but his hand remained limp in mine.
“I only meant that it’s nice that he can do that for people,” I explained.
“I can’t,” he snapped. I didn’t think he was angry. Was he jealous?
“No, you don’t take away pain, you create it,” I agreed. “But you do it for the right reasons. Those men deserved what they got. I don’t need pain taken away. I need someone to fight for me.”
“I’ll always fight for you,” he answered, his fingers flexing to grasp my hand back.
Those words felt like a promise.
I wished his hood wasn’t up. I wanted to see his face again. I wanted to gaze into his eyes and touch more than his hand.
Even though I’d been famished earlier, I felt no hunger now.
Well, at least I wasn’t hungry for food. I craved more of him.
“I’m finished here,” I said, pushing the food away with my free hand. “Would you come home with me?”
His fingers tightened on mine. “You’re inviting me into your sanctum sanctorum?”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “But you can come back to my apartment. My roommate won’t be home for a few more days, so we have the whole place to ourselves.”
The whole place implied it was larger than it was. There was no way he’d fit on my bed, but the couch could be unfolded into an uncomfortable bed that would fit both of us.
“I would like that,” he said. “Are you sure you’re not hungry? You didn’t eat much.”
“It’s weird, but touching you makes my stomach feel full,” I said, noticing that for the first time.
“If that’s the case, let’s leave this place,” he agreed. He pulled some bills from his hoodie pocket and tossed them on the table. It was three times what our meal was worth, but the staff deserved a big tip.
We kept our hands clasped as we wiggled out of our seats. We walked out hand in hand, and without needing me to guide him, he turned us toward my apartment building.
I tugged him to a stop. “It’s too far to walk. We need to go back to my shop. My car is parked there.”
He hissed out an annoyed breath. “Yes, you’re right.”
We changed direction. I could feel impatience radiating from him as we made our way to the shop. I hated to do it, but when we got there, I led him to the shop door instead of my car.
“Give me one minute,” I said. “I have to make sure the order I put in earlier went through, otherwise, I’ll be screwed.”
He was silent as I unlocked and relocked the door behind us. I really didn’t need to worry about intruders with him here, but it was a habit.