Chapter Twenty-Three #2
I stare at him. I’ll never get used to vampires worrying about my blood, instead of wanting to drink it.
“You have quite a piercing gaze, Miss Smith.” I glance away from him, feeling my face burn. I mumble a quiet apology and place the box he gifted me in my satchel. And for some reason, I feel a little safer than before.
Later that night, as I sit in a class on vampires’ influence during the French Revolution, nausea sweeps through me. It’s so strong I barely feel the itch in my neck. Even with Gustavsson’s cross in my bag, I feel as though I’m being hunted by something.
To make matters worse, Elia, who I’d not spotted in this class before, decides to sit down beside me, her silky brown hair brushing against my arm.
Elia may be immune to garlic, but she isn’t immune to my blood. “You weren’t exaggerating,” she whispers, far too close. I tighten my fingers around my pen, fighting the urge to stab her. “I’d hate to break the treaties. But you might be worth it,” she adds.
“Do you want to die?” I say, and her only reply is light laughter. My heart thuds. I knew what I was getting myself into.
I’ve asked Penny more than a dozen times why Type-S blood smells the way it does, and she doesn’t know.
It’s something I could investigate here in Tynahine; I’m sure I’d find the answers.
But I must find The Book of Blood and Roses first. I can’t focus on what the lecturer is saying, her voice grating as she scribbles on the chalkboard.
My dream plays in the back of my mind, Aliz reaching through the hedge, pulling me into a tangle of thorns.
I feel her hands slipping under my nightgown. Her fangs burying into me while I welcome every new bite.
I leave class early. Vampires stare at me as I walk past them in the hallways. I rush outside, into the light rain.
I can’t shake the feeling, even as I trek into the pine grove, away from the busy hallways, that I’m being watched. I press my hands over my ears, trying to stay calm. But I can see them. Hear them. Every vampire that’s chased me. Every vampire I’ve killed.
Delicious, they say.
Fear is not an option. I knew damn well what I was getting myself into.
Aliz takes a sip of blood, legs dangling over her coffin.
The hours I spent in class, she spent down in the tunnels.
“I found the flat tunnels,” she says. She’s mixed Marcus’s blood with a higher amount of synthetic blood to make it last longer, and so far, this new cocktail proves to be working. “But the walls didn’t speak to me.”
“They didn’t speak,” I say, staring down at my map. “The words were written on the wall.”
My neck itches, and as I rub the scarf over my skin, she jumps down from her coffin, striding across the room. The saltward around my bed is still there.
“If I touch the mark, the pain will go away, won’t it?
” she asks. Her eyes are black. She can’t overpower me.
“Will you let me through?” I don’t want to risk it.
For some reason, the thought of Aliz sitting on the bed with me seems like a terrible idea, so I get up, walking over to my desk, and sit there instead.
She doesn’t complain, placing one hand on the desk at my side, and slipping the other beneath the fabric of the scarf.
She can feel my pulse quickening but doesn’t say anything.
We’re close. I stare at her collar, trying to keep my mind on track. It would be so easy to look up, to fall under her spell. I glance at her grey waistcoat, my hands restless. I want to touch her. But I can’t. “The Halloween Ball will be in the hunting lodge,” I say, breaking the silence.
“Yes,” Aliz whispers. I’m not sure if she’s paying attention to what I’m saying. Her breaths are shallow, few and far between. Her thumb grazes the mark, rubbing my skin until she raises goosebumps. The hand on the desk inches towards my thigh, and before she takes that risk, I say:
“I thought this was torture.” I study the cut of her clothes, each seam lining up perfectly with her lean frame. I’ve already kissed her neck in dreams. I know what she’s done to me in hers.
“As you said,” her voice is strained, “I need to get used to you.”
Not that long ago, Aliz Astra was taunting me.
And in my boiling rage I’d wanted to spill my blood, weaken her senses, have her at my mercy.
Right now, as she cages me against my desk, leaning her head gently against mine, I know I should have never wished for such a thing.
I thought I’d have power over her, just as I have with every other vampire.
Instead, the only power I have, at least right now, is restraint.
“The hunting lodge,” I say, peeling her fingers from my neck. I clear my throat, inching back on the desk. This gesture is a wall, cutting through the fine line we were walking seconds ago. Aliz stands straight, coming to her senses. “I want to go there. I know you said you’ve already looked, but—”
“Sure.” She walks over to her coffin. I can’t see her eyes. I wonder if they turned red. Maybe they still are. “How does tomorrow night sound?”
“It would probably be better if we could go during the day, but I understand that’ll be hard for you,” I say, jumping down from the desk. My legs feel numb, as though I’d been sitting there for hours instead of minutes.
“I’d rather not go up in flames, if that’s all right.”
She places a second cup of blood in the microwave, and when she looks at me, her eyes are a dark burgundy.
I don’t know what expression I make, but she averts her gaze immediately, turning to the microwave.
She drinks her dinner in a couple of gulps, with a thirst I’ve never seen her display back when her synthetic blood wasn’t laced with Marcus’s.
The following night, Aliz and I set out for the hunting lodge.
We leave the campus village behind, heading to the stone bridge that leads to the woods.
She’s in a coat she stole from her father before leaving Hungary, and despite having to walk through mud, instead of wellies, she’s wearing a pair of oxfords.
“Do you own anything that isn’t a suit?” I ask, as the cobbles are replaced by large slabs of stone, and the lampposts that fringe the stone bridge grow brighter.
“I was only allowed to wear skirts and dresses growing up,” she says.
Her tone is light, but I can sense bitterness beneath the current.
“So as soon as I got here, I chopped my hair and raided Faust’s wardrobe.
His clothes were too big, of course. But he soon gave me an allowance to get my own suits. ”
“Really?” I ask. I can’t picture Nocth being anything other than an insufferable arsehole.
“He’s always had a soft spot for me,” she says.
“Right. What about jeans?” I ask. “Or tracksuits?”
“Life is too short to dress casually,” she says, grinning at me.
“You are quite literally immortal,” I point out. Aliz laughs, giving me a push as we make our way over the river. “Why are you letting the university host the Halloween Ball in your palace?”
“Elia is the one who organises it,” she says. “I suppose it’ll be a good thing if she cleans it up. It’s been empty for five years.”
“Was it your idea?”
“No. But Elia never asks for permission,” Aliz says.
“Like, a few years ago I had a crush on a French student, and Elia stole her from me before I even got a chance to get her number.” She glances down at me, hesitant with what she’s about to say next.
“And even though neither of us like humans, if she thinks I’m interested in you, she’ll pursue you as well. ”
Aliz clears her throat, and I take a careful breath. I know it’s just the mark, but she’s certainly shown interest.
“You’ve never slept with a human?” I ask.
“Of course not. I only fuck vampires,” she says, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
I swallow, ignoring the jealousy twisting inside me.
Aliz puts her hand on my shoulder, and I make the mistake of looking up at her.
Her gaze is far too magnetic. “What’s wrong?
” she asks, voice dropping to a whisper. “Want me to make an exception?”
I gawk at her, and Aliz’s lips part, knowing she said something she shouldn’t have.
“What—” I shove her hand away, my cheeks aflame. “What the fuck, Aliz?”
“I’m kidding,” she says, letting out an awkward laugh. “That came out wrong,” she adds, and I take a sharp breath, wishing I could carve the words back out of my eardrums. “Sometimes I don’t have a filter.”
“You don’t say.”
“What were we talking about?” Aliz’s voice is thin. “Elia?”
My heart’s beating too fast.
“Aye,” I say with an aggravated sigh. “I never imagined you two would fight over girls. Aren’t you an item?”
“Hell no,” Aliz says, and I fixate on the soft sound of our steps on the damp fallen leaves, ignoring the pleasure that runs through me when I hear her say that.
“When I first came to Tynahine, I was obsessed with her. I mean, you’ve seen her, haven’t you?
” I bite down my irritation, but nod, hoping she’ll change the subject.
“But Elia ignored me completely until I turned twenty. I kept sneaking into her parties. She was furious with me, told me she hated the Astras with a vengeance, and…”
“And?”
Aliz’s cheeks darken, and she scratches the back of her neck. “The rest is a tale too explicit for your innocent ears, Cassie.”
“Sure,” I say. My chest stings. Aliz pursued her for three whole years. Elia was able to resist her. Meanwhile, I’ve known her for a month, and she’s already undone every thread of common sense that used to run through my body.
“Anyway! Elia said from the beginning that she wasn’t looking for a relationship. I was upset at first. But then I discovered that we could have much more fun without committing to each other.”
“And did it ever cross your mind that you were at a university, where most people come to study?”
“What about you?” she asks, ignoring my jab. “You and that blond girl have something going on, don’t you?”