Chapter 4

The next morning, I woke up to find myself still partially submerged in the bathtub. This actually happened somewhat frequently, because if I was injured, it was the fastest way to heal. At least my wrist and my shoulder were no longer messed up. I still felt like shit though, and of course, the water was cold, so I immediately jumped out and wrapped myself up in fluffy towels.

Back when I lived in Montana, we had this dinky little house in the middle of nowhere, and the place had to be at least a hundred years old. There was no insulation in the walls, just horsehair and sand. You could hear mice scurrying around beneath the plaster. This made the place like an icebox in the winter. I'd sometimes wake up in the tub to a thin layer of ice on the water's surface. One time as a joke, Lilith dumped fifty boxes of lime Jell-O in the tub after I had fallen asleep. I woke up jelled. I could hear Lilith laughing, hiding away somewhere. I yelled at Ezra as I walked out to the living room, still pulling globs of green Jell-O from my hair. "Did you tell her to do this?"

Ezra didn't even lookup. He was sprawled out half-asleep on the sofa, while Maria knelt beside him slitting his wrist with a razor blade so she could drink his blood. He let her too, which always surprised me, because back in Africa, no vampire would dare touch him, including Lemmings. Yet Ezra had a soft spot for Maria, maybe because she was only a hybrid.

"You know Lilly," Ezra said in his deceptively soft voice. "She thinks up this shit all on her own. She's devious."

Yes, Lilith was devious. To think she saved up her allowance to buy a boatload of Jell-O just for a joke, simply amazed me. She was also very smart, not book smart, but a crafty and perceptive, sneaky kind of smart that made me always wonder what she was thinking. I know she got it from Ezra because let's face it, I was an open book, and Ezra…well, he wasn't.

I loved my devious daughter though. I missed her.

You should go get her, Feather told me, and I seriously contemplated it every day. I just kept thinking about what Ezra told me. He said with my blood being the way that it was, I was a vampire magnet. Even a hundred fifty miles out, they'd catch my scent and since the Prometheus Institute was now using vampire trackers, I was easy to spot. I would be putting Lilith in danger. So I left.

A part of me died though when I left.

Drying myself off, I put on a t-shirt and jeans, brushing out my hair. I spent the next hour investigating the room, opening drawers and moving furniture. There was some notepaper, so I spent an hour or so doodling a picture of Aro, somewhat abstract, trying to capture his insane gaze and knowing smirk. It was kind of cute. "You're a psycho, Aro. You know that though, don't you?"

That's why you're attracted to him, Feather whispered.

Crumpling up the drawing I threw it in the trash.

Later in the day, I started to get restless and very hungry, pacing the room. Weren't they supposed to come beat me or something? Yet nothing happened. It was so boring, and my stomach was growling. I started looking for books to read, but practically everything was in Italian. I did find a few books in French though, one of them being L'Homme qui rit or The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo.

I love that book, Feather said.

Yeah, but doesn't it have a sad ending?

Yes, but you get to immerse yourself with the character of Gwynplaine. I adore him. If he were real, I would search the world to find him and then hold him in my arms.

That was high praise coming from Feather. So I laid down on the bed and started reading chapter one. Hugo can be somewhat longwinded, but it didn't take me long to see why Feather adored Gwynplaine. He was a character who face was sliced and mutilated into a perpetual grin by gypsy comprachicos when he was just a boy. He was a manufactured circus freak like us. I almost was afraid to finish the book for I loved Gwynplaine as well, and I didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

Day two was mostly full of the same thing. I paced, I doodled, and I read some more until about midday when a soft knock on the door drew my attention. After a couple of seconds, a stunningly beautiful vampire walked in. She was wearing a tight red, strapless dress that showed off her breasts and legs, and her long black hair was pinned to her head with curls coming down around one side of her shoulder. Her black heels gave her a couple of inches on me. Looking me up and down, she made a slightly disapproving face.

"You have ten minutes to dress appropriately," she said condescendingly.

Clearly, fetching a human captive was far beneath her.

I disliked her as soon as she waltzed in, but then I disliked most vampires, especially ones like her where superiority was a key trait. "Where am I going?"

"You'll see," she said snootily, rolling her eyes impatiently.

"Who will I be seeing?" I cut her off before she could make a snarky replay. "I swear to God if you don't give me a straight answer, I'll smack all that pretty makeup off your face." I was in no mood to freaking deal with this right now.

Her eyes narrowed into slits and in a blur of motion, she grabbed me by the throat and slammed me against the wall, her fingers choking me.

In return, I went for her throat, my sharp fingernails penetrating her crystalized skin, digging into her esophagus. I then wrapped my fingers around her larynx.

Her eyes widened in shock. Obviously, she wasn't expecting this at all. In fact, I'm convinced she was thinking of browbeating me, but instead, we had this little Mexican stand-off going with each of us grabbing the other by the throat. I knew it was highly unlikely that she would rip off my head. Vampires hate to waste blood and the Kings would be displeased.

"Twenty dollars," I said hoarsely, coughing due to the pressure on my throat.

She stared at me in confusion.

"Twenty dollars says I'll rip your fucking voice out and crush into to dust before you can snap my neck." I glared at her to show her I meant it, my fingers tightening.

She seemed to know it too, but she hesitated, probably pondering how Aro and Caius would react if she seriously hurt me.

Reluctantly she let me go, and I pulled my hand out of her throat leaving her larynx intact.

Immediately, she ran to the mirror to make sure her throat repaired itself.

"Who will I be seeing?" I repeated.

It took her a minute for her to get her voice back but she finally answered me. "You will be seeing Master Marcus," she said with gritted teeth.

I went into the bathroom and ran a brush through my hair and then walked back into the bedroom. "Let's go," I said, standing before her in my bare feet, my frayed jeans, and my Seattle Seahawks t-shirt.

She looked at me aghast. "That is not proper attire," she snapped, and she said it with so much reverence, I almost laughed.

"I don't care," I replied, and I didn't. I wasn't one of their guards or their servants. I'll wear whatever the hell I want.

She put her hands on her hips than shook her head. "Fine, don't look your best for him. I hope you realize how disrespectful you are."

This actually made me think twice. Not because I was intimidated, but because a tiny part of me wanted to look nice for Marcus. But I wasn't about to give in.

"Follow me," she said patronizingly and walked out with a fast pace.

I figured she wanted me to chase after her, but I didn't even bother trying to keep up. I just watched her go down the hall, her high heels clicking over the polished limestone floor, and then turn the corner. A couple of minutes later she came back. "You are on my last nerve."

I laughed. "You must be the low vampire on the totem pole to be stuck taking care of me."

This really ticked her off. "How dare you? Who do you think you are? You caused a situation where we had to eliminate our staff due to your prima donna tendencies, and now you have the gall to show us contempt, dressing like a street person." She shot me a dirty look that successfully got under my skin.

"You really need to stop talking," I warned, "because I'm starting to regret not tearing your throat out when I had the chance."

Furiously, she spun around.

I ignored her venomous glare and continued to follow as she worked her way through the maze-like halls. After what felt like hours of tense silence, she stopped abruptly.

"Go to the end of the hall then go right- it's the third door down. May I say that you deserve whatever cruel thing they have in store for you?"

To her annoyance, I just shrugged.

When I turned down the long hallway, the polished floor turned into red carpet and there were massive paintings of vampires in different period garb hanging from the walls. I saw a blood-red door with an intricately-designed 'C' inscribed on it in black and gold.

Seriously, they monogram their doors? Feather murmured.

Obviously, they did.

Dear God, were these the king's private chambers? I wasn't expecting Marcus to rape and kill me, but I did feel more than a little uncomfortable. To be honest, it seemed odd to think of any them having a sexual attraction to me. I mean hello? I'm not society's vision of beauty by any means. At least not like the secretary I saw yesterday. I assumed their interest had to be my specialized blood, but with what Caius said yesterday, I really wasn't sure. There's no way I could be his mate.

Trudging down the hallway, I looked over the paintings, some of them were really macabre with pictures of vampires feasting, but then I spotted one that took my breath away. That's because one of the people standing in the background was none other than Dr. Lemmings. Caius and Aro were in there too. They were standing in a great hall, and there was this massive upright aquarium. It sort of reminded me of Houdini's Water Torture Cell, and in the aquarium was what looked like a mermaid. Only she wasn't like the beautiful mermaids you see in children's stories. No, she was vicious-looking with dark greenish hair and skin that looked like smoke. Her face was somewhat amphibian, and she had a full set of teeth that looked like it could tear somebody apart. Her neck had a surgical scar on it as if something had been removed and I had a pretty good idea what that was.

"Ah, Miss Amaryllis, are you an admirer of great art?" A voice said behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Aro placed his hands on my shoulders. "Oh my dear, please forgive me, I did not mean frighten you," he said, turning me to face him.

My eyes drank him in while I held my breath. He wore only a black button-up and slacks that highlighted his nearly translucent skin.

His smile widened. "You're certainly transfixed by that painting."

"Yeah, I guess I was," I mumbled. Just being this close to him made my heart race. "Is it real?" I asked breathlessly, lamely pointing back at the painting. "I mean, was there really a mermaid?"

"Why yes," Aro replied. "It's really quite extraordinary. Dr. Baltazár Lemmings brought us that specimen. He was a genius, you know. He discovered that merfolk are practically immortal because they have such accelerated healing capabilities. He had this idea of mixing their DNA with that of humans, with the hope that this would create an immortal food supply for vampires."

I didn't know what to say, but I had to say something. "Did he succeed?" I asked, fully knowing the answer.

"Yes, he did."

"What happened to him?" My hands were trembling now and I desperately did not want him to see, so I tried to keep my expression neutral. It was so hard though. His eyes were so compelling. Did he know who I was?

Aro chuckled. "Well, you know how it is. You should never play God. I warned Baltazár, but he ignored me. His creations turned on him and slaughtered him."

"What happened to his creations?"

Aro shrugged. "Who knows? They scattered to the winds," he said with a wave of his hand. "The remaining members of the Prometheus Institute are still desperately trying to find them. A few have been neutralized, but some of the most dangerous ones are still missing. It's quite a problem. What could Baltazár have been thinking, making creatures more powerful than himself?"

I knew what Lemmings was thinking. He thought we would always obey him. Of course, I couldn't tell Aro that. In fact, I desperately wanted to get out of there. Fortunately, Aro seemed oblivious to my deception.

Standing there, I tried to come up with something intelligent to say in response. Unfortunately, Aro's scent was driving me crazy. Why did vampires always have to smell so heavenly? It wasn't fair. Not to mention, he kept moving toward me in a predatory manner, which made me keep stepping back until he backed me into the wall. It was so unnerving. I was almost stumbling over my words, but yet he turned me on so bad. "Was this Lemmings guy a friend of yours?" I stammered.

Aro chuckled. "Absolutely not. Baltazár was a thoroughly unscrupulous individual. He'd murder his mother if it benefited him, and in fact, I think he did exactly that. Enough about him though," Aro said, pulling me into his arms. "I think we need to get to know each other better, don't you?"

"Well, I…," I mumbled

Aro cocked his head, his eyes narrowing as he examined my throat. "Did something happen to your neck? It looks all red and blotchy. Did Sophia injure you?"

So that was the bitchy vampire's name. "No," I lied.

His eyes studied me. "I take it I will have to find out this information from Sophia."

"Do you have to know everything?"

"Yes I do," he replied, and then to my complete and total shock he kissed me. It wasn't a normal kiss either. It was a kiss of possession.

My body melted into him, and the room started to spin. I was tingling all over from my fingers to my toes. My hands made their way down his spine, feeling the lean muscles in his back, Leaning into him, I heard him chuckle. "Ah my lovely flower, you have no idea how much I desire you." He then turned me and dipped my body backward, almost lifting me off my feet. I felt like I was being upended, and I found myself giving up control. It was a terrifying feeling, like a giant wave pulling me under. His kisses were so powerful and passionate.

Slowly, he moved down to my throat, and then lightly bit my neck, which made me jump.

When he pulled away, he was smiling, setting me back on my feet. "Darling, let us go to my bedroom, and I'll remove those hideous clothes you're wearing." He pointed toward a black door with a golden designed 'A' on the front.

I almost said yes. Seriously, I was that far gone, but then I remembered, I must keep a clear head. "I've been summoned by Marcus," I said weakly.

Aro frowned. "Really?"

I nodded.

"That is unfortunate. I was hoping to be the first to get you alone. Ah well…" he backed away and offered his arm, "I shall escort you to my brother. It's the least I can do."

I froze for a moment which seemed to displease him.

"Are you refusing my hospitality?" His voice held an edge and his eyes gave a deadly warning. "Ah, I get it. Marcus is your favorite. Maybe you're going to offer to warm his bed in exchange for a meal? I didn't expect you…"

Before he could finish, I took his arm and leaned my weight against him. "What is it with everyone grating on my nerves today? The only reason I paused was that I was surprised. You strangle me one day and then kiss me the next. What the hell am I supposed to think?"

"Ah, still sulking over your punishment, eh? You know if you just behave, you won't have that problem."

"Whatever," I grumbled, pulling away from him, but then he pulled me back.

"Oh, no, I have you now and I have no intention of letting you go." Holding me in his arms, he now was laughing. At first, I shot daggers at him, but his smile seemed so genuine at that moment that I was dumbstruck. It was hard to stay mad after that.

"Don't you know it has taken every ounce of my power to not throw you on my bed?" Aro said sweetly. "Your scent is intoxicating, and to think that you're going to use those charms to seduce Marcus irritates me to no end."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you think if I was planning to seduce Marcus I would have dressed the part?" I told him, pointing to my shabby clothes.

"Yes, why aren't you dressed properly? I had all kinds of beautiful dresses delivered to your room." He looked at me somewhat nonplused, as if I was a complete and total mystery. Don't women like beautiful clothes he seemed to be asking?

Sorry, Aro, I'm not one of your little glamor pusses. I didn't tell him that though. I liked confounding him.

After a second or two, he sighed. "I suppose it's probably a good thing. If you were dressed to the nine, I don't believe I would've let you get past my room."

I tried very hard to not show how his words affected me, but I felt him tense slightly.

Giving me a brilliant smile, Aro held out his arm and I took it. "Very well, I will take you to my brother. I think there may be hope for you yet."