Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-eight

“You’d have really slashed your wrists on the kitchen floor, wouldn’t you?” Hans asked when we were in the back seat of the limo.

In any other universe it would have been a crazy statement, but the driver didn’t so much as shoot us a glance.

“Yes,” I replied.

Hans nodded. “That’s quite something. It really is.”

I chanced a smile, loving how his face looked in the orange glow of the passing streetlights through the window.

“Yeah, well. If I so much as hear the word patience one more time, I’ll be doing it again.”

He laughed a little. “I’ll try to hold back from saying it.”

“Please do. It drives me mad.”

He squeezed my knee. “I’ve gathered that much.”

So, here we were, on the journey. My journey into the realms of the transition as Hans called it. I was going to die a mortal death and become a vampire, and I had no idea how that would truly feel – losing the life in the body you’ve always known.

“Not fantastic,” Hans said. “As I’ve told you, the body fights, even when the soul doesn’t want it to.”

“Mine can fight all it likes, I still want to be a vampire.”

I got another smirk from him.

“We’ve most definitely ascertained that.”

Even under the nerves and the tension of earlier, I was alive with excitement for what lay ahead. I felt the calling getting stronger with every mile we travelled. Who’d have ever thought that the place I’d run away from like a scared little puppy would be the place my soul would once again call home?

That’s what it felt like as the limo passed the Welcome to Herefordshire sign. Home.

I was seeing the place through totally different eyes as we passed Ross on Wye and began the final stretch. I’d been avoiding the ocean of where, what, why, how questions throughout the journey, because right now I didn’t want to talk in words, I wanted to talk in feelings. Hans’ feelings were strong enough that they touched my spirit. He was giving me love, and support and commitment without speaking out loud.

The silence was becoming a lovely thing. Self-assured and unassuming. Natural.

“Nearly there,” the driver told us as we hit the turning for Garway.

I looked up at the beautiful, huge stone manor at the top of Garway hill, and I should’ve known it. I’d looked at it plenty of times as a girl when I was in the church grounds, but I’d never stepped a foot on the private gravel lane that led up to it.

“Edwin lives there, doesn’t he?” I asked Hans, but it was rhetorical. Now I was getting used to my new heightened instincts, things were becoming clear.

I could feel the essence of life at the top of the hill, and I recognised the same presence as I felt in the blood house. Yes, it was Edwin’s house. Hans’ silent nod just confirmed I was right.

Edwin opened the door to the manor himself, swinging it open wide. He was genuinely pleased to see us, I could tell that from the huge smile on his face. His long, dark hair was tied back this time, and he was in a plain back suit, but he still had a ruffled white shirt underneath. I guessed they were a staple of his. He looked fantastic for it.

He pulled Hans into his arms, and I got a taste of the familiarity between them.

“Good to see you!” he said, and then he turned his attention to me. “Hello, Katherine.”

He kissed my hand, and invited us in with a sweep of an arm. I stepped inside and the décor was similar to the blood house. Almost identical. The huge, sparkling chandeliers and the plush, deep-red rug over mosaic floor tiles.

“Yes,” he said. “I was the designer. The London blood house was a creation of mine.”

“A great achievement,” Hans said, casting his friend a smile.

“Why, thank you. I’d hope you would think so, given that you’ve enjoyed it plenty.” Another familiar look passed between them, but I didn’t feel threatened by their closeness. Not in the slightest.

“Come,” Edwin said and led the way through to a dining room.

The table was huge but there was only one person sitting at it. He must have been two years older than me, max. And he was human. I could feel it. He was a lovely looking guy with a ruffle of dark brown hair, dressed casually in a long-sleeved t-shirt, quite at odds with the suits that Edwin and Hans were wearing.

“Hi,” he said, and gave me a wave. His t-shirt slipped far enough up his arm that I could see the bite marks. “I’m Daniel.”

“Hi, I’m Katherine,” I said back.

“Edwin told me you were coming. Nice to see you. I’ve heard a lot.”

I hadn’t heard a thing about him, but didn’t speak that aloud. I was still the newbie in a very tight knit crowd.

One I’d spend a long time getting to know. That was for sure.

Edwin put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, and holy fuck, I felt the connection between them sizzling across the table. Daniel was Edwin’s lover. A serious one. The lust between them glowed like a furnace.

“I’m sure you two will have plenty of time to get to know each other,” Edwin said.

Hans pulled out a seat for me on the opposite side of the table from them, taking his place beside me.

His friend didn’t waste any time before getting down to business, addressing Hans the moment they were both seated.

“I wasn’t expecting Katherine’s transition so soon. I thought you’d hold back at least twelve months.”

“You knew I intended to visit on Halloween, Edwin.”

“Yes,” Edwin replied. “But there’s a big difference between showing your love the place you were transitioned, and taking their life on the same spot.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say a thing. I was definitely becoming more self-assured in my silence.

Hans wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Katherine is very insistent, and very sure.”

“I’d hope so,” Edwin said, and wrapped his arm around Daniel’s shoulder to mirror us. “Daniel has been very sure for nearly two years now, but I’m still not certain it’s time.”

“It’s Katherine’s time,” Hans insisted, and they stared at each other for a few long seconds.

It was Edwin who broke the stare.

“Excellent. Then I guess this calls for a preliminary celebration.” He paused. “ROBERT!”

With that another man came in from a door off to the side. A butler, clearly – but a much older one than the one at the blood house.

He gave Edwin a bow. “Yes, sir?”

“Steaks, please,” Edwin said, before looking at me. “Assuming you like steak, of course, Katherine? I’d hope so. My apologies. I forget that not everyone may be accustomed to blood-player traditions.”

My stomach was crying out for some actually.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “And yes please, I’d love some.”

Robert the butler disappeared, then returned to present us with bottles of wine before our steaks. There were only two glasses on the tray he offered.

“Would you like some wine, madam?” he asked me, and I nodded with a thank you as I took my glass.

I felt like I was becoming initiated into traditions without even realising it.

“It’s merlot, right?” I asked.

Robert smiled. “Yes. It is.”

I looked over at Edwin and Daniel. “Merlot and steak. These must be the staples.”

“Not for you much longer,” Hans said. “Your days of steak and merlot are shortly coming to an end.”

I looked at his expression. Another hint of humour.

“Ah, ok. Did Frederick change your merlot for blood in the bathroom every single time, or just some of them?” I asked, and he smirked at me.

“He’s very good at it. Quite a professional. You’re the only one to notice in quite some time.”

“I’m hardly a detective. Not many people would be looking out for it, since they think vampires are nothing but fantasy.”

“Quite,” Hans said, and then Edwin cleared his throat from across the table.

“Are you truly ready to switch out merlot and steak for the immortal life of the undead?” he asked me. “I know the excitement of the transition can make people heady, but are you really certain? I’m sure the prospect of spending eternity with someone can seem irresistible, especially when they are a creature as divine as Hans, but honestly. He isn’t playing it down when he says you need to be ready. Daniel has been telling me he’s ready for two years now, but I’m still not so certain of it.”

Daniel shifted in his seat, and I knew that he must be pissed off about it. I didn’t blame him. I’d hate waiting two years for it. Fated mate, or not.

“I am ready,” Daniel said, and rolled his eyes at Edwin.

“Yes, yes,” Edwin said, and then he said the word that made my teeth grate. “Patience.”

Patience, patience, goddamn patience. I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud, and nudged Hans in the arm.

“It’s not just you, then?” I smirked.

Hans grinned. “No. It’s not just me. Patience is a term vampires use a lot with mortals.”

“Yeah, too right,” Daniel said. “I’m sick to death of it. It’s annoying as fuck.”

“But not quite so annoying when you’re fucking.” Edwin laughed and kissed his cheek. “There are plenty of times the term patience suits you very well.”

It was there again, that furnace. The images flashed in my imagination, and I could see Daniel on his back with Edwin’s cock in his ass, desperate to come himself. Patience.

The orgasm must be explosive.

“Well, well, well. You really are embracing your talents, aren’t you?” Edwin grinned at me from across the table. I blushed at the knowledge he could read my mind. “That’s very accurate. Maybe you’ll get to see it for yourself in the flesh one day. We’d like that.”

Hans shot him a glare. “Edwin!”

“What?!” Edwin was still grinning. “Oh come on, Hans. You brought her to the blood house already. She’s hardly an innocent. Sarah said she loved watching the games. I’d have Daniel up on the table right now if you weren’t being such a prick.”

“Ignore him,” Hans told me, with good humour. “My dear friend here is quite a character. You’ll get to know that.”

I hoped so. I already liked him a lot. He was funny.

“Come on, then,” Edwin continued, looking at me. “What makes you so certain you want to be transitioned? Is it Hans? Have you tasted his blood? Are you already a vampire blood addict? Don’t worry, we vampires still love it as much as mortals do, of course. I adore having a drink of vampire blood myself. It’s delicious.”

I must have looked blank. My thoughts were trying to catch up. Edwin laughed another light laugh, holding his hands up at Hans.

“She hasn’t even tasted your blood yet, has she? Fucking hell, Hans.”

“No, she hasn’t.”

“Extraordinary,” Edwin replied, still grinning as Robert returned with two rare steaks with sides of vegetables.

I got started on my steak, keen to ease the hunger. Daniel was as hungry as I was, both of us eating happily as Edwin and Hans looked on.

“You’re making me peckish myself,” Edwin whispered to Daniel after a couple of mouthfuls, and Daniel’s face lit up. He put down his cutlery and offered Edwin his arm. I paused with a forkful of steak, transfixed as Edwin tugged back Daniel’s t-shirt sleeve and sank his teeth into his flesh with a moan.

Daniel moaned right back, tipping his head back, eyes closed. I instantly knew he had a hard-on, and I couldn’t help it. I was thrilled by the sensations coming off them. I felt my nipples harden under my tight blue dress, and my thighs clenched under the table. Edwin knew it. He looked me right in the eye as he sucked on Daniel’s arm.

“Ignore him,” Hans said. “He’s winding you up on purpose. He loves playing the fool.”

“I’m mischievous, not a fool,” Edwin corrected as he pulled his fangs out of Daniel’s flesh and dabbed a napkin to his mouth. He had such a lovely grin. “Hans can be so bloody uptight sometimes. Finding one’s fated mate doesn’t always turn them into spoilsports.”

Edwin stuck a bloody tongue out at Hans and it was obvious they’d been laughing for centuries. I was looking forward to being a part of it. I loved the humour between them.

I looked Edwin straight in the eye, using the opportunity to convey my truth.

“Yes, I’m ready to be a vampire,” I told him. “It’s what I want. I’ve known that for ever, I just hadn’t realised it.”

Edwin held the stare between us. I could feel his mind whirring, but I couldn’t read his thoughts.

When his next words came, they knocked me sideways.

“And how about your father? Does he know about your transition yet? What was his reaction to it?”

What the fuck? My father?

I’d never even known my father. Mum and Grandma had never so much as told me his name. My blood ran cold, like someone had walked across my grave, and Hans slammed his fist on the table.

“Edwin! Stop being an utter fucking idiot!”

Edwin’s gaze flicked from Hans’ to mine and back again. He seemed genuinely surprised, and Hans seemed genuinely fucked off.

“Jesus Christ, Hans. You haven’t told her yet?!”

“No!” Hans replied. “She’s had more than enough to contend with already.”

“What?” I asked, heart pounding. “You know my father? Both of you?!”

I hadn’t heard a single thing about my father in years. Every time I’d asked Mum or Grandma about him they’d cussed and told me he was an evil nobody who’d left the village and deserted us. They were pleased about it. They said he was a sinner.

“Seriously?” I asked Edwin. “You know my father?!”

Edwin looked right at me. “Yes, of course I do. Everyone knows your father.”

Everyone except me.

Yet again, I felt like I’d been raised blind and dumb, blinkered off from the whole world and everything in it.

Everyone in it.

“You really don’t know who he is, do you?” Edwin asked. He looked agitated at Hans. “Have you told her a damn thing yet?”

“Yes!” Hans snapped. “I’ve told her plenty.”

“Hardly,” Edwin snapped back, and I wished we could whip time back so I was still watching him sucking on Daniel’s arm, not sitting with my heart pounding, scared of another trapdoor explosion.

Edwin took a breath, and put on a fake smile for my benefit, although he was still talking to Hans.

“How is he going to feel about it when he finds out you’ve transitioned his daughter without so much as courtesy visit?”

“I don’t care,” Hans told him. “This is between me and Katherine, it’s got nothing to do with Thomas. Or her mother or grandmother for that matter.”

Thomas.

I put my cutlery down and held my hands up.

“Will someone please tell me what the hell is happening here?”

The silence was deafening until Edwin moved. He tapped Daniel’s shoulder as he got up from his seat.

“Come on, lover boy, bring your steak.”

I stared in shock across the table.

“See you later,” Daniel said, and did as he was told, following Edwin out of the dining room with his plate in his hand. Edwin closed the door behind them, and I turned to Hans.

“Don’t bother with the don’t ask the questions unless you want the answers stuff,” I said. “I want the answers now, please. Who the fuck is my dad?”

“Edwin can be such an ignorant tosser at times.” Hans sighed. “I was waiting to introduce you properly when the time was right. Your father doesn’t even know you’re back in the village yet.”

“WHO IS HE?!” I shouted. “All I know is that he’s some asshole who fucked off and left Mum and Grandma with me!”

Hans’ eyes were piercing, but he didn’t speak, just let my mind chew over my incoming thoughts.

“That’s another load of bullshit they fed me, isn’t it?!”

“Yes.”

“Like everything else.”

“Indeed.”

I sighed to myself, trying to accept another house of cards tumbling down. I should be getting used to it by now.

“So, who is he then?” I asked. “Do I know him?”

“Not yet.”

My eyes must have been as piercing as his.

“How come everyone else knows who he is? Is he some kind of vampire celebrity or something?”

Hans shook his head. “No. But everybody has two family chains behind them. Yours has a lot on your father’s side, too. They will certainly help with your talents. As we said, you are a psychic, a ghost whisperer and a witch. You don’t generally inherit all of those talents from one side of the tree.”

My pulse was racing.

“My father’s side isn’t on your wall though, is it?”

“No, it’s not.”

“So WHY? Just tell me, will you? And if you say fucking PATIENCE I swear I’m going to–”

Hans sighed.

“Fine. He’s the head of the Templar Masons,” he told me. “A senior order of the Western Mystery Tradition.”

I was confused.

“And what does that mean?”

Hans didn’t hesitate.

“It means he’s a high level initiate. The very highest in England, in fact.” He paused as I stared at him. “He’s an occultist, Katherine. An extremely good one.”

I pictured an occultist as some kind of horror movie character, but Hans shook his head.

“No. Think of a wizard and you’d be much closer. Minus the starry sky robe and pointy hat, that is.”

I couldn’t quite picture it. “So, let me get this straight. My father is a head wizard in a group of wizards?”

Hans couldn’t help but chuckle. “Something like that.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh along with him, or freak out, or cry.

“It’s all right,” Hans said. “He’s quite renowned, and very, very well respected.”

I pulled a face, still trying to get my head around it.

“If he’s the leader of some kind of occult group, how the hell was my mum involved with him? She hates anything to do with magic, or weird stuff.”

I loved the adoration in my vampire’s eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart. She hates anything to do with magic, or weird stuff or anything that doesn’t fit in to her brainwashed idea of normal and holy, but she definitely didn’t hate your father. She fell in love with him, after all. She was devoted to him, just as he was to her. Love defies reason. Unfortunately, hate can dissolve it all.”

I felt a lump in my throat. I’d always figured he was a nobody who’d cast her aside.

“It wasn’t like that,” Hans said, and ran a thumb down my cheek. “Your father didn’t up and leave. Your mother turned her back on love, and on him, but that was because she had to. She wasn’t given the choice.”

“And my father let her, did he? He just walked away?”

“Your father didn’t have any choice without waging a war. He wasn’t the man he is now. He was a lot younger.”

“Why didn’t he have a choice? And what war?”

I was reeling so bad my heart was pounding. Another spin of unknown memories swirling around. I’d expected tonight to be a grand, mystical build-up to Hans giving me eternal commitment, not another slammer of revelations about my past, with an erotic kink on the side to go along with it.

Holy shit, what the fuck was happening to me? Maybe I should expect this from now on. Bombshells of revelations. Things I didn’t know jumping out from the shadows wherever I looked.

Hans took my hands and gripped them tight, pulling me back to him.

“It will be all right. This is another part of your journey back to yourself.”

I didn’t care about that, though.

“Why didn’t my father stay around?” I asked again. “What is the war you’re talking about? Who the hell would want to fuck him off and push him away if he’s all so good and brilliant?”

Hans’ eyes were fierce and cold. I got shivers at the anger in them, but it wasn’t directed at me.

His voice was full of venom when he answered me.

“Because of your fucking grandmother, Katherine. She’s the biggest bitch of a witch I’ve ever known.”