Chapter Thirty
Chapter
Thirty
I feel her cool breath on the back of my neck. Slowly, my eyes flutter open, the room pitch black. Aliz has one arm around my waist, the other above my head. I breathe in, wondering if it’s just a dream. But then she stirs, mumbling incoherently against the nape of my neck.
“Morning,” I say, my voice coming out hoarse. Last night we got carried away. At least until the moon is in its first quarter, we can be together. Afterwards we’ll revert to being nothing to each other. I press my hands over hers, and she hums.
“Morning, Cassie,” she says, her lips touching my neck.
I sit up, yawning, and then stop cold as my muddled memories of last night take shape. I had sex with a vampire. Willingly. I expect to feel some kind of shame, guilt, anything at all to remind me that we’ve made a mistake, but it doesn’t come.
“Are you going to class?” she asks, stretching her arms as she yawns.
“In an hour,” I say, staring down at my phone, the screen far too bright.
For the first time, I don’t have to search for the library.
Instead, I must convince Elia to let me enter it.
As soon as I move to get up, Aliz draws me back into her arms. “At least let me brush my teeth,” I say, as her mouth meets mine.
“You might try to run away,” she complains but lets me go.
I brush my teeth in a hurry, drinking water, before heading back out into the room.
Aliz grabs me before I reach the bed, pulling me down and climbing on top of me, her lips hungry.
I wrestle with her pyjamas. Even if she won’t let me get her off, I still want to feel her bare skin pressed to mine.
Good thing that I’m not actually here for an education, I think, as she kisses her way down my chest. Every spot she touches is ablaze. “We should be careful,” she says, her fingers slipping between my legs. “I really wish you were a vampire,” she adds, finger prying inside me. I stare down at her.
“Why?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady. I dig my nails into her back, drawing her closer.
“I’m used to being rough,” she says, as pleasure rushes through me, and I struggle to keep myself from moaning. “I didn’t even know I could be this gentle,” she adds, keeping her touch light.
“You can be rough,” I say, breathless, waiting for her to quicken her pace. Instead, Aliz draws her finger out, and I release a groan of frustration. She tuts, meeting my gaze.
“No, I can’t,” she says, voice sharp. “You’re human. You’re considerably weaker than me, Cassie.”
“Then at least be a little less gentle,” I say, before gritting my teeth. I can’t believe she called me weak. But Aliz doesn’t know what I am. Her lips part as she considers my request. Then her mouth meets mine, a careful kiss.
“I’ll think about it,” she whispers after a short pause. “And close your eyes.” She resumes her gentle touch between my legs, her fingers damp with my arousal, and I moan against her, moving my hips to get more friction.
The sound of banging on the door draws us out of our stupor.
I open my eyes, and Aliz jumps up, stumbling away from the bed and almost tearing my curtains down in the process.
She looks at me, eyes wide, as though she’s only now realising what we were doing.
“Hide,” she whispers, and I run into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
“Well,” a voice says at the door. Elia. “That was fast.”
“What was fast?” Aliz still sounds a little out of breath.
“You sleeping with Cassie. I thought you’d hold out a—” She stops the moment I walk out of the bathroom, still wearing my nightgown. Her lips part as she looks at me, and a flash of hunger appears in her eyes, tinted by a faint red glow. “Can I have a bite, too?” she asks.
“Fuck off,” Aliz says.
Elia stares at her then at me.
“I have to talk to Cassie,” she says. This is it. What can I possibly offer Elia? My blood?
“When did you two get so close?” Aliz asks, sounding more than a little irritated.
“When you weren’t watching,” Elia says, throwing an arm around my shoulders, drawing me close. “We’re girlfriends now.”
“Piss off,” I say, pushing her arm away.
“Next time you need to let me join the fun,” Elia says. “Ada and I used to share humans, back before the treaties. We didn’t kill or compel our girls, of course. In fact, I was an ethical vampire before it was cool.”
“I really don’t need to hear about what your sex life was like with my sister,” Aliz says.
She puts the light on and searches around the room for clothes.
Elia’s expression changes slightly when Aliz isn’t looking at us, becoming cooler.
Accusing me of something. Is she jealous?
“And don’t tell anyone about us,” Aliz adds. “We got carried away, that’s all.”
Her words sting. “Yeah,” I say, trying to sound as if I believe her.
The windows in Elia’s house are shuttered, a dozen false ones showing the landscape through cameras. The narrow streets of the campus village are speckled with dappled shadows, for once free of rain. Elia stands by one of those false windows, not saying a word.
“I’ve thought about it,” she says. “I don’t want Aliz to be roped into this. Having a vampire hunter as a Familiar would be a living nightmare.”
I sigh, relief flooding through me as I sit on her couch. “Thank you.”
“But I also won’t let a vampire hunter near a single secret of Ada’s library,” she adds. “Not a whisper. Not through me, not through Aliz, and certainly not through your own eyes.”
“But—”
“So…” She ignores my interruption, walking towards me. Her chestnut hair sways, waves like silk. “Leave Callisto.”
I stare at her. For a moment, I focus on the itch in my neck. It’s the only thing that can keep me from laughing at what she just said. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Callisto is a genocidal cult,” she says. “And while I’m sure you think you’re different, you still report back to other members of your ‘organisation,’ don’t you?” Her voice is dripping with acid, and I stare at her, tightening my fists. “So, leave.”
“I can’t,” I say in a low voice. “I have to find out who killed my parents.”
“How long have you been hunting for?” she asks.
“Four years,” I say.
“Did vampires kill your parents?” she asks. I nod. “And you can’t find their killer without Callisto’s help?”
I stare at her. I don’t have an answer.
I’ve already made such a huge mess with Penny, who still hasn’t replied to a single one of my texts. She’s continued to ignore my calls, sending me a very clear message. Her silence can only last so long. Sooner or later she’ll have to forgive me.
But I can’t imagine myself going back to my old life. I’ve only been here for a little over a month, and yet—“They’ll kill me if I leave,” I say, and it’s only half an excuse. I know that hunters are not allowed to quit. We know too much about Callisto. Or so they say.
Elia sits down beside me. “You can stay here,” she says. “And I’ll help you find whoever killed your parents.”
“I—”
“I’m not expecting you to answer right away. But that’s my deal. Agree to leave Callisto, and I’ll let you into the library.”
I don’t say another word, my insides trembling as I exit her apartment. I walk out into the fading daylight, where vampires can’t reach me, and look down at my phone. There’s no way that I can leave. And I still haven’t heard from her.
Please just tell me you’re alive
I can’t betray Penny. Penny is the one who found me when everything was falling apart. She gave me a reason to live. A future to chase.
I stop next to a bench and stare up at the hills. Penny also made me a killer. A shell of whoever I used to be. And these last four weeks have changed me in ways I can’t even begin to fathom.
But still I can’t leave Callisto.
I can’t leave Penny.
She’s my family.
Ambrose Hall is busy, vampires walking past our table carrying trays stacked with blood, or the occasional human trying to balance bowls of soup as they run, looking for an empty table.
A month has passed since classes started, but aside from Stephan and me, most humans seem to be keeping to themselves, watching vampires from afar.
I stare down at the unanswered texts, then at my call log. Maybe it’s a good thing that Penny never replied. It’ll make doing what Elia wants a lot easier.
But can I really betray Penny? She gave my life meaning after I lost everything. But that meaning no longer makes sense. I can’t hate vampires the way she wants me to. Not anymore.
Julia is half asleep, deep shadows beneath her eyes. “Last night was my deadline,” she says, resting her head on the table. “I got fifteen minutes of sleep, but finally finished them.”
“Your murals?” I ask.
“Scenes of Adolescence,” Ife says with a little flair. “Is Traquair Hall open to the public yet?”
“I suppose so?” Julia says, leaning up slightly to look at her friend. “Though I’d much rather my work not be perceived.”
“But you’re an artist,” Stephan argues, and Julia forces herself to have a sip of blood.
“So I’ve heard.”
Despite her protestations, when Ife asks to visit Traquair Hall and see Julia’s murals, the blond vampire doesn’t say no.
I tag along, even though I can already feel myself growing restless without Aliz.
We reach the staircase where I crossed paths with Julia, not far from the maze, and we make our way up into a red-brick building that stinks of paint and melted plastic.
Traquair Hall has a diaphanous nave, with studios on each side separated by glass walls.
It reminds me a little of Ikea, if Ikea also sold abstract art that goes way over my head.
“I’m at the very end,” Julia says as we walk past installations and sculptures.
Stephan stops every now and then, distracted by what he sees.
The hall is surprisingly quiet. The finished projects won’t be appraised until later tonight, so most artists are trying to get a few hours of sleep.
“Oh, Julia!” Ife exclaims as we reach the end of the hall. “These are amazing!”