“Well, take it outside. I don’t want to have to replace the wallpaper or light fixtures.”
“Sorry, Mr. Vernon. I think it’s over now.” Morgaine glanced around the empty hallway.
“We’ll be quiet,” Gwyneth answered.
“Good,” Jules said, and slammed his door shut.
Morgaine crossed her arms and stared at Gwyneth’s open door. It didn’t move. Eventually, she whispered, “Where are you, Gwyneth?”
Gwyneth faded in. When she was fully formed, she stood there blowing on her fingernails with a smug look on her face.
“Where did…How the…” Morgaine, never at a loss for words before, just stared at her student cousin.
“Didn’t think I was as powerful as you, didja?” Gwyneth touched the red spot on her cheek where she’d been hit and winced.
“I, uh…I always knew you had it in you. We’re both hereditary witches from the same grandparents, I just didn’t think you were spending as much time studying as I was.”
“Well, guess what? I was.” She swept a hand over her cheek and the red spot disappeared. She smiled, looking quite satisfied with herself.
“You didn’t seem that interested.”
“And you didn’t seem to give me credit for all the hard work I did to catch up.”
“Okay, witchy chicks. This seems to have ended in a stalemate, so why don’t you shake hands and try to cool it, for a while.”
“For once, Chad’s right,” Morgaine said.
“I agree.”
They shook hands and went back to their respective apartments.
“For once? What does that mean?”
Chapter five
Pungent evergreen shrubs outside the apartment windows scratched Vorigan’s face. Why couldn’t they have planted a nice, soft yew bush? But he needed the cover since the subject of his fascination could see and smell as acutely as he did. So, he’d have to endure spruce needles up his nose.
Sly Flores sat in a rocking chair inside the apartment, reading in the dark. He had opened the window blinds fully, perhaps to take advantage of the streetlamps. Vampires needed very little light to see well, but complete darkness would make reading impossible for anyone.
Vorigan wondered how the vampire he’d turned twenty-six years ago had managed to elude him for so long. He’d caught whiffs of his scent from time to time and tracked him like a wolf would track a rabbit. But his efforts always led to dead ends.
Long ago, he’d spotted the handsome Latino walking with a pregnant woman along a quiet street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He shadowed them until he was able to stop them in a secluded spot and ask for directions. As soon as he hadtheir attention, he used his powers of mesmerism and led them to an even more secluded place in a warehouse.
His mesmerism held until he fed on the woman, and she lost consciousness. For some reason, the handsome, virile male snapped out of it and began begging for his wife and baby’s lives. The sheer strength of will that took made Vorigan realize this man was someone special. Perhaps someone who could become his equal lover sometime.
So, he promised to help by turning him. He explained that he’d have powers of speed and strength beyond his comprehension—enough to get his wife and unborn baby to the hospital in seconds to save them. No matter how the man begged him to take her there himself, he refused. Why should he care about them? The only human he was interested in at the moment was this fascinating, drop-dead gorgeous man.
At last, the male allowed Vorigan to turn him in exchange for safe passage to the nearest hospital. And Vorigan kept his word. He stayed out of his way as he went through the change from life—to death—to undead. He explained that the change would be swift if he didn’t fight it.
Despite the pain, the brave husband went through it faster than Vorigan had thought he would or could. He lifted his pregnant wife and ran so fast, Vorigan wasn’t sure he could keep up with him. But he did. Right up until the woman was taken from the emergency room up to the delivery/operating room.
He planned to wait in the hospital lobby until morning if he had to. Vorigan had told the fledgling vampire that he would fall asleep wherever he was when the sunrise began and warned him to get to the lobby before that. He’d protect him and teach him what he needed to know about his new life.And Vorigan’s loneliness would be at an end.
Only something went wrong. He waited until the very last minute, and no vampire appeared. He barely got himself toground in time. Then as soon as the sun went down, he took up his post again. No matter how vigilantly he watched the hospital over the next week, the new vampire never appeared. He hadn’t even learned his name! Somehow his prodigy gave him the slip.
Now here he was—finally. He’d have to pay for leaving him like that. Oh yes. He’d punish him, but only until he understood how much better his life would be if he kept Vorigan happy.
Things would be better than ever before. He’d introduce him to the delights of the dark world. First, he’d help him discover his latent bisexual tendencies and hone them. It would be no use pretending he didn’t have them. All vampires did. At least, all the vampires he’d ever known.
