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“Quite sure.” Also sure were the niggles of doubt at the back of my mind. This couldn’t be good for the habits I’d picked up this week. My stalking was going to jump up a level, to right outside her home.
“And if you do find him lurking?”
“I’ll tell him to leave. Permanently.”
He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’ve already done that. That won’t be enough.”
“Relax, I’m sure once he’s introduced to Juniper, he’ll see things my way.”
“Who?”
I chuckled. He’d never actually seen Juniper, despite our friendship—a friendship strong enough that I even frequently sat in on his classes of my own accord, to stave off boredom and loneliness. I thought at some point in the past, I must have shown him, but apparently not. In any case, I tended not to summon her forth, not unless absolutely necessary.
“Watch this.” I opened my hand and focused on my palm. It began to smoke, then billow, the fumes resembling something between gunpowder and burning metal. Electric crackles coursed through my veins, popping, and fizzling from the tips of my fingers, the sensation feeling like a fleeting bout of pins and needles.
The smoke wisped away as quickly as it had spewed out, and I now clasped a weapon like no other. Drawn from the void, coated in the runes of the Fae royal bloodline, both blade and handle gleamed translucent green. It spiked from my grip, a large dagger, a foot of razor menace, curved like a scimitar, glinting intermittently from the glowing runes badged across its surface.
“Damn, is that a real ethereal blade?”
“Bravo, bravo. Only an educated man would know that.” This was one of the many reasons I liked Aaron so much. I brought it closer to him so he could take it all in, turning it to show off the runes, and the exquisite, rich, green hues. “Meet Juniper. Her keenness never dulls, she can never be broken, she cuts through any earthly material with ease.” I turned from Aaron briefly, pointing the blade horizontally, fencing style. “And I am the only being in existence who can wield her.”
“Absolutely incredible…I don’t think you should kill him though.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry, old chap. That would be a last resort, indeed. No, I’ll just slice off a sliver or two of vampire flesh, if need be.”
I tensed my hand, and the blade melted to haze, then smoke, which sucked itself back inside my palm, until no trace of the weapon remained.
“Relax, rest. Convince your bear to sleep. Juniper and I are on the case.”
I found the so-called secure communal door slightly ajar and sauntered straight in.
The apartment’s hallway was rather underwhelming. A blinking neon strip for light and a carpet covered in suspect stains. The university, like most private organizations in New Nebraska, clearly valued profits over their workers’ quality of life.
Treading stealthily, keeping my senses alert for the presence of vampires, I used the stairs then walked down towards the door number Aaron had given me. As I’d promised him, I wouldn’t knock or otherwise disturb the girl, but instead scan for possible threats.
The door was coated in faded red paint, a tad scratched and chipped, but with no obvious signs of anyone trying to tamper—oh, hold on now. Trying the handle, turning it painfully slowly so as not to cause noise, I found it felt slightly rickety, loose. As if someone had been interfering with it. Yet the door was still locked.
And I sensed an aura of note. Not human, definitely. Perhaps vampire, or something else, it wasn’t entirely clear. The energy lingered around the doorknob, trailing off out an open window across the hallway. I looked out, seeing the drop was a good forty feet, with no obvious way to scale up or jump down. If someone had entered or exited via the window, it was no human.
I’d patrol the vicinity and see what else I could find. I reset the communal door’s lock and closed it behind me. Sighing, sucking in the cool night air, I began a leisurely stroll around the block.
I sensed more of the same energy, strong, but a bit foreign to me, in a spot that provided a perfect view into Cecilia’s living room window.
That creepy fucker. Was it that vampire who’d been watching her or someone else?
As I tried and failed to figure out the energy source and suppressed an errant thought that I’d been watching her a tad creepily myself this week, my eyes took in a welcome sight: Cecilia. Safe and unharmed. She’d risen from the couch and was stretching. Wearing only a pair of sleep shorts and camisole, she arched her back, lifting her chest, then went to the kitchen for a glass of water.
My own throat felt a bit parched too.
Oh well. I would be as well sticking around and making sure whoever was interested in the girl and putting off such potent paranormal ability wasn’t going to make a return.
It was going to be a long night.
The things I did for friendship. And for Cecilia.
Cecilia
Soothing sun rays spilled across the couch, warming the blanket as I nuzzled my head into the pillow. I told myself just ten more minutes, then I’d get up. Or maybe fifteen. It was Saturday, after all.
