Page 46 of The Rising Dark
The cupboards were as bare as Michelle had expected, their gaping depths somehow depressing her even further, and it didn’t take long for them to find the mugs and teaspoons.Their emptiness only reinforced the feeling of absence of Lavinia, that sweet steady presence that felt so natural, soright.It was terrifying to think that they could be torn asunder, that Lavinia might not return from their hunt.
She tried to shake these thoughts from her mind.“What is it like, working for them?”she asked instead, sitting on the edge of an armchair.Zachary had sunk into the sofa, his legs outstretched, crossed at the ankles.Michelle envied his coolness and ease.It stood in stark contrast to the anxiety coursing through her.Still, it might be hours of waiting.She would drive herself crazy if she dwelled on it too much.
“It is both magnificently mad as well as surprisingly mundane,” he said.“It’s hard to explain.It’s easy to forget that they’re not human.They look like us.Talk like us, for the most part.They eat, and sleep, and are flesh and blood like us.But at the same time, they can suddenly seem incrediblydifferent, almost alien.They’ve got their own culture, their own customs, many of which make absolutely no sense to me.They’re intensely hierarchical in a way that feels like a thing of the past.But that’s it, isn’t it?It’s not even that far in the past for them.Many of them knew my great-great-grandfather and talk about him like he died only a couple of years ago.Probably feels like that to them.”
“Has your family been with them for that long?”Michelle asked, surprised.
“A couple of centuries, I think.Should ask Octavia, she’s really into history.Or Vesta, she never forgets anyone’s family tree.”He took a sip of his tea.“It becomes a way of life.We’re not bound to them in any formal sense.I don’t want you to think we’re forced to serve them or anything like that.”He flashed a brief smile.“No oaths of blood or anything that exciting.They’re generous, though.Paid for my university education, and that of my sister.Got my grandma the very best care available, no questions asked.Dad’s slowing down a lot now as well, so although he is supposed to be the groundskeeper, Lucretia has been gently pushing him to take on more help.I could leave, get a different job, whatever.But I don’t know, there is something about working for the Sisterhood.It’s not just that they’re vampires, or that they’re richer than anyone else I’ve ever met.There is something incredibly magnetic about them.I feel a bit like a moth drawn to a flame, sometimes.They shine so brightly, so brilliantly.”He shook his head.“I don’t know.It’s hard to explain.You must think I sound crazy.”
“No, not at all,” Michelle said.“Actually, I know what you mean.”They shine so brightly.He was exactly right.Michelle herself had been caught up in it so quickly, so easily.She had let herself be carried off into their household, had accepted their judgement on what was best for her.Had been star-struck by Lavinia: not just by her beauty, or her courage.There was a quality to her—somehow, she was like any other person, butmore.
Zachary studied her for a moment.“Lavinia really likes you, you know.”
A blush crept along her cheeks.It was embarrassing to talk about Lavinia like this, almost like she was a teenage crush.“I like her too.”
“I’m not sure you understand.Sheadoresyou.She would kill for you, cut down anyone that even dared to stand in your way.”He was quiet for a beat, looking for words.“Lust comes easily to vampires.They have no qualms about gender, mostly, and often have an endless string of bedfellows whenever it suits them.They’re a lot less inhibited about that, is what I’m trying to say.
“Lavinia is different, even among her Sisters.She holds herself away from those kinds of things.I have no idea why, and it’s not really any of my business.I just want you to know that I have seen how she looks at you, and it’s the look of someone who would tear the stars from the sky if she thought it would bring you joy.She will worship you if you let her.”
He fell silent as Michelle digested his words.
“It’s a dangerous thing, to be loved like that,” he said quietly.“Just be careful.You have to be sure.She won’t be able to live with any less.”
Michelle didn’t answer, and he didn’t seem to expect her to.He disappeared back to the kitchen, leaving her alone with her thoughts.She tried to sort through her feelings about Lavinia.Of course, she thought she was amazing.It wasn’t difficult to be smitten with her.Last night had certainly made that last piece fall into place.Everything had felt soright, so blissfully perfect that their night together now seemed like a distant dream.For one night, there hadn’t been questions about their future, about what would lie beyond the realm of their touch and desire.It had just been about them, in the heat of the moment, finding their release together.
Now, though, sitting in the harsh reality of their lives, it wasn’t so easy or clear-cut anymore.If she was honest with herself, completely honest, tearing away the hesitancy and what-ifs and rebuttals that her rational brain offered up, there was an irrefutable truth that had slowly been emerging.
She loved Lavinia.She loved her with an intensity that scared her.The thought of an ending between them, a reversion to their own separate lives, was heartbreaking.Michelle had never been impulsive, always taking the safe route through life.She took a safe path through school, went into nursing as a stable job.She was dependable, level-headed.Lavinia made her feel dizzy, off-centre, but in a delicious and heady way.A life with Lavinia, if that was even a possibility, would be a life of extremes.
There was Lavinia’s own steadiness, her fundamental goodness.But then there was also that other side of Lavinia’s life, which would always bring danger, violence, and death to their doorstep.Lavinia had dedicated her life to the Sisterhood.Michelle wasn’t sure whether it was even possible for them to leave or give up that role.Either way, she could never ask that of Lavinia.The Sisterhood was who she was—and if Michelle wanted to be with her, she would have to deal with the anxiety that came with it.She would have to be at home, wishing for Lavinia’s safe return, as she was now.Would she be able to do that if it meant being with Lavinia?She stared out at the London skyline covered with grey clouds.What would it be: a predictable life, or an adventurous one?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lavinia met her Sisters in the overgrown backyard of the house where the three bodies still lay inside.Luce was there, flanked by Octavia, Messalina and Brigh, the youngest member of the Sisterhood at only one-hundred-and-twenty-two.She was tall, even taller than Luce, and thickly muscular.Her natural red hair was cut short, and the gold of her eyebrow piercing stood out against her pale freckled skin.She had joined the Sisterhood only a decade ago.Still, within that short time, she had proven herself to be a reliable fighter.There had been whispers in society that Brigh had only been offered to the Sisterhood for political gain, a concession to the old families of the British Isles who complained of the Roman lineages dominating vampire society.Whatever the gossips said, whatever the intentions of the people surrounding Brigh had been, Lavinia knew one thing for sure: Brigh was a Sister of Twilight just as much as any of them.
Despite the cloud cover, Lavinia could feel the sun bearing down on them, draining their powers.It would be another six hours until sunset.Night would be both a blessing and a curse, a double-edged blade.They would regain their natural strength, but so would the rogue.They would have to be careful.
“Are they safe?”Luce asked Lavinia as she joined them.
“I took them up to the apartment.”She hoped Zachary could help keep Michelle calm.She had to be quite upset after what she’d seen.Lavinia wished she could have stayed with Michelle, her heart aching to be at her side.
“Good.”Luce surveyed the surrounding houses, making sure they hadn’t drawn any unwanted attention.“Quintia is scouting ahead.Vesta is with the witches right now and will bring them here if they ask to see the bodies.We don’t know what they’ll want to do beyond that.Pina is holding down the house.”
“She must hate that,” Octavia said with a smirk.“Missing out on all of the action.”
“Needs must.I won’t risk her in the field, especially as we don’t know what we’ll be dealing with here.How’s your leg, Vin?”
Lavinia tested the hip joint, putting her full weight on it and exploring the limits of movement.There were some stabs of pain, but no weakness or lack of control.“Good enough,” she said.
Luce’s dark eyes bored into hers for a moment.“Fine,” she said.“It’s your call.”
“What’s our plan?”Lavinia asked.
“I’ve already spoken to the Magistrate and gotten clearance to use whatever force necessary.The rogue poses an unacceptable threat to our safety and to that of the humans, and should be eliminated.They said to be careful to appease the witches, as this falls into a grey area of our treaty.
“The way it looks now, we will follow the rogue, pin down their location, surround the area, and go in armed.We will have to blend in while we seek.”It was one of the realities of modern life that humans were absolutelyeverywhere.Gone were the times when the vampires could easily move about without notice.This was London, and while Londoners were used to some level of eccentric behaviour, wearing full armour in broad daylight would draw too much attention.They would wear running clothing for now, an easy disguise.Later, they would have to regroup and arm themselves before confronting the rogue, wherever he had hidden himself.
Quintia returned and led them down a warren of streets behind the house.The scent of the rogue was easy to follow now that its contours had been imprinted onto their memory.Even the cacophony of smells of the city couldn’t easily obscure a scent trail once it had been latched onto by several master trackers.
