Page 38 of Fangs and Family
We entered the house together before we parted ways. I headed toward Sara’s study while Adam went to Leszek’s office. Before he even closed the door, I heard the Lord of the Forest’s booming voice.
‘Adam, what the fuck were you thinking?’
‘Come here, Nina. The boys will need to beat their chests for a while yet. Hopefully, they won’t break anything too precious this time.’ Sara sounded strangely relaxed when there was such a tense atmosphere emanating from Leszek’s office, but after one last look over my shoulder at the firmly shut door, I shrugged and joined my friend in her study.
The sofa Sara waved me toward was arranged into a cosy nest that I knew she loved almost as much as the scarred cat curled up on the cushions. The area around the plush seat was a disorganised mess of half-opened books, most of which seemed to be written in ancient runes, with a few penned in Sara’s neat handwriting.
‘Studying much?’ I asked when Sara cleared the space next to her, and my friend smiled.
‘Always. You know I love to learn new things, and I feel I have to catch up for my misspent youth. There are so many things I have to learn after wasting so many years not knowing who I was and what was possible with my gift,’ she said before taking my hand. ‘What happened? Nadolny called this morning, and it was bad, Nina. Adam left behind a scene of absolute carnage in his wake, not to mention the drained body. Leszek is furious because he didn’t even bother erasing the camera footage. Adam can be violent, but he was never careless, so we are worried, especially Leszek. Whatever those two might pretend, they are as close as we are,’ Sara bit her lip, and I saw her struggle with her next words. ‘I shouldn’t ask, but… the two of you… I know it’s complicated, I get it, but did something happen? Were his actions triggered by anything unusual?’
I knew she was trying to be gentle and not upset me with her questions, so I smiled to reassure her before reaching for her hand.
‘Yes, he mentioned struggling with the hunger and that he was afraid he would hurt me. That’s part of the reason I’m here. I need to talk to you because I think I’m going crazy,’ I said, and Sara instantly went on full alert.
‘What happened? Did he hurt you? He didn’t bite you, did he? I will fry that motherfucker’s arse!’
‘No, he didn’t, but… I think I wouldn’t mind if maybe he did? Sara, it is so messed up. He’s changed so much, and I like it. I don’t know if I should, or maybe it’s just stress, but I like him, and he makes me feel all hot and bothered, which ends up with me saying crazy things. That’s why I’m losing my mind,’ I answered, frantically trying to gather my courage.
‘You know I wanted nothing to do with men after my husband. I just… it is so hard to trust, and without it, I didn’t see the point. I was happy with a vibrator and the occasional hook-up when needed, and that was it.’ I took a deep breath as the next part was even more difficult. Without even looking at Sara, I blurted out the next part as fast as possible.
‘Adam wants something I don’t think I can give him, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting it. Tell me why, when I met the perfect man, did he have to be an immortal vampire? I always wanted a man I could grow old with, but this one? Adam doesn’t even have a single wrinkle, and I don’t know what I want any more.’
‘He wants forever with you, doesn’t he?’ My friend was, as always, blunt and to the point. When I nodded, unable to find the words, she asked. ‘And you don’t know what this forever means for you. What do you know of the vampire Seethe structure?’
‘Not much. I know that there is an Alpha Baddie and his minions, and as Adam mentioned to me earlier, the minions would do anything to please their maker,’ I replied, and Sara chuckled.
‘It’s more complicated than that. The Seethe, as they call it, is built like a hive, with the monarch, soldiers, and workers. Most of them are created by one sire or swear allegiance to him or her. They are a family with such strong ties that, as the vampire matures, they inherit the supernatural traits of their maker.’ She said, and again, I nodded, absorbing the information.
‘Adam didn’t have a proper sire. He was abandoned, and the only semblance of family he had was Leszek. Adam has built a small Seethe over the years, but none of the vampires there are his spawn because Adam never killed while he was feeding. Until last night.’ She sighed, and I felt more deflated than ever. Guilt tore at me so hard that I felt tears building in my eyes.
‘He didn’t tell me the situation was that desperate. He was great one moment, and then he wasn’t. He stormed off, explaining nothing. I would have done it. I shouldn’t have told him I wouldn’t give him my blood, but after you unlocked the memories of my assault, it’s not something I wanted to do. Still, I would have dealt with it because it’s Adam, and it was my fault he ended like this in the first place.’ I closed my eyes, rubbing my temples with the knuckles to give myself a moment to gather my thoughts.
‘He scares me, not as a vampire, but as a man. When I’m with him, I start believing there’s a future for us. Then I remember what happened the last time I gave all my heart and trust to someone. He turned out to be an unfeeling bastard who thought visiting a brothel wasn’t cheating but a form of executive stress relief,’ I said, shaking my head before I bit my lips. ‘And, of course, there is the issue of time. I’m sure my immortal vampire would take great pleasure in fucking and feeding from a dried-up prune of a grandma.’
Sara moved closer, embracing me and stroking my back. We held each other for a moment before she pulled away.
‘Would it help if I told you his feelings for you are genuine? You are not the only one who keeps their guard up. Adam never let himself care for anyone, except maybe Leszek. That’s why we get alongso well,but he cares for you. I can see it even without my Seer senses.’ She said, rolling her eyes before she sighed. ‘If you really can’t deal with all this, I can ask Leszek to move Adam out of Tricity, or I can help you relocate somewhere else, maybe in the East?’
‘Why such extreme measures?’
‘Because I believe he loves you, and he won’t give up. Adam never pursued a woman, even if he fed on them or used them to warm his bed, but this changed since he met you. He hasn’t touched another female since you kicked him out, not even to feed. He’s been living off bagged blood. Now, with this incident? This behaviour will only escalate if you don’t come to some sort of agreement,’ she said, playing with a loose thread of her jumper. ‘Leszek asked me to see if you’d reconsider, but I won’t. You are my priority, Nina. I won’t let Adam’s unrequited feelings destroy you.’
‘They aren’t unrequited,’ I heard myself mumbling.
Sara raised her head, looking at me as if seeing me for the first time.
‘Are you sure? Don’t let anyone guilt trip you into this. Not Adam, not the situation with Pawel, and definitely not me.’ She said, and I felt like laughing.
‘Just because my emotions are a mess doesn’t mean I can be manipulated, and I know that sexy-arsed vampire is just as clueless about my feelings as I am, but he’s good to me. Ok, maybe not good. He is caring and considerate, and he makes me laugh. Even when we drove here, we bantered like there was no tomorrow, and I loved it, Sara. I fucking loved it. Each time I have a wobble, he steps away, respecting that just because I didn’t say no, it doesn’t mean I said yes.’ The more I talked, the more I realised I wanted to give Adam a chance, a real chance and that maybe my foolish kiss was a good place to start.
‘I know you understand me. How lonely it is to be constantly on guard. When Adam stumbled into my life during your troubles, it was too much, and he was so cocky and annoying and so convinced that with a few fancy gestures, I would fall at his feet in awe of his awesomeness. So, I started setting challenges and obstacles for him to overcome. I needed him to prove he wouldn’t hurt me and that I could trust his promises. I wish I knew how to stop it because he started calling me his Obsidian Princess. It serves me right for all those trials and tests I subjected him to,’ I said, thinking about earlier when I fed him a drop of my blood.
‘Obsidian Princess?’ my friend asked, and I saw amusement twinkling in her eyes.
‘Yeah, weird, but what can you expect from an ancient vampire?’
‘An obsidian blade can kill a vampire even better than an aspen wood stake, and a wound caused by obsidian will never heal on its own. I never suspected Adam had such a dark sense of humour,’ she said, and I rolled my eyes.
