CHAPTER 7
Declan watched her from the shadows, prowling just out of sight. Lena stuck out like a ray of sunlight beaming through grey storm clouds. Though he hardly saw the humans surrounding her, Declan knew how strange the scene was. No one was afraid of her, or looked at her like the danger she was. Her pale blue eyes held no hint of unease, no glimmer of fighting the blood lust that made her the creature she was.
But, Declan realized he should not be surprised. It was Lena, after all.
He had almost forgotten.
Though he wondered if she had an inkling of his presence, Declan was just as confident he could watch without detection outside of the Castle as he could within it.
Lena could be invisible to these humans as well if she had the desire to be. She had inherited the ability from him, though he never explained that to her. There was so much he never explained, so much information he denied her. It was cruel, he knew. But at the time, he believed it was necessary.
Young ones had to be given time to take to their new life. Telling them secrets too early was counterproductive. Colin reminded Declan of that almost every day, in the beginning.
From the old world, the old ways, Declan obeyed Colin and the traditions of his family. On good terms with Colin from the beginning, in Ireland where Charles, the Vampire King made the decision to brave the ocean to the so-called New World, Declan understood the reasons behind such traditions.
Or, at least he used to.
Before Lena, before everything he had come to believe was turned upside down, the way of things was clear. He was a vampire. And there were reasons for the rules they followed.
When Charles’s family of seventy-three started to branch out and span the as of yet vampire-uninhabited New World, Colin could not pass up the opportunity. Not long after they settled in New York around the end of the nineteenth century, Colin, always one for craving authority, decided it was time to expand his family, which at the time only consisted of himself and his partner Viola. He went to Charles and asked to be granted the honor of becoming a Master and permission to migrate west. His request was granted, though with some stipulations.
Colin would not lead a typical family.
A typical family was headed by one Master who has sired all of the males in the family. Because of this, usually only vampires who showed considerable skills were granted the honor. Since wise Charles knew Colin had no special skills, but also not being one to pass up a chance to purify his own household, Charles agreed. He gave Colin permission to sire only one new male, who turned out to be Henry, but would be required to take in another, already existing couple.
Declan too joined the new family, though taking on two not self-sired males into a new household was unheard of, and practically repugnant.
In the end, Declan suspected Charles placed him with Colin for two simple reasons. Charles was not Declan’s immediate sire, and Declan and Colin appeared enough like each other to pass as true family.
Declan’s existence may well have been different had he had dark skin and light hair.
Declan liked to think Colin grew to appreciate his company as they grew closer over the years and Declan became his trusted confidant. But he knew Colin would always harbor resentment towards Charles for the disgrace of not being allowed to have a true family. And towards Declan because he was a daily reminder of the disgrace.
Colin never warmed even a little to Lennox, the other male in the family he did not sire, and was particularly harsh with Annabelle.
Until Lena.
Able to busy himself with other things for nearly a century, Declan was not pestered much to find a consort at first. But once Lennox, Annabelle, Henry and Mary were assimilated well, as well as they would be, Colin insisted it was time for their family to be complete, for Declan to find his consort.
If their family were complete, Declan knew Colin stood a chance to earn the right to sire more males, allowing his true family to grow. Being loyal and honorable, Declan did as was expected despite Colin’s intentions of someday pushing the misfits, Declan and Lennox, out of the family.
But Declan remembered the first day he was sent into the world in search of a human woman. When he first saw her, he saw nothing that interested him. She appeared as plain as all of the other humans, dull and young and as nothing more than walking blood receptacles. He did not know how he was expected to find any of these expendable people even remotely appealing.
But he did watch her. Lena was the only girl in the group who sat still, who talked calmly. Her sly, easy smile grew when people were not watching her, which was not the case for the rest.
Though she was awkward, far less graceful than she was today, something about her air made people gravitate toward her.
And she looked at him.
Directly in the eyes, unflinching, no hint of fright, Lena looked at Declan.
Her eyes were hazel then, and reflected the colors she was wearing or the hue of her surroundings. Her shirt was white that first afternoon, but the grass all around her was vibrant green, lush in the mid-spring sun. Her eyes reflected that deep green.
Declan could see it as if it were happening all over again. Looking at Lena now, with her pale blue eyes cast to the ground and no smile on her cold, controlled face, Declan felt the wave of shame, the same wave he had felt countless times before.
She had been radiant then, warm and bright and fearless. Back when her eyes were hazel.
He had taken that from her, doomed her to the shell of a life she had led since that day. Every inch of him regretted the decision. No matter the reason behind it, no matter the selfish joy he had felt at the prospect of spending eternity with her radiance by his side, he should have resisted.
Declan shook his head slightly and pushed his shame away. Not sure what he was there to do, he had to focus on getting her alone. He could not knock her over the head and drag her back to the Castle.
Though, at that moment, it was Declan who was not ready to speak with her. He was losing his control. It had to be reeled in.
But he did have to warn her at the very least. He knew it would not be long before Colin and the others found her. It had been beyond easy for him, since Declan remembered her from before.
This campus had been her campus, this college, her college. For two years. The park where he had met her after her classes were through was only blocks away, and her vampire blood was dried on a big, dented oak tree not far from the highway off ramp. A trail of her blood led to an apartment. It was not difficult to follow her from there, to a dumpster, to a hospital, to a bench in a school building, to a bar, and then to this house.
Yes, she would be easy to find for the others. A chill went through him. Declan did not know what Colin would do when she was found.
Especially if he found her like this.
Declan made his attention expand to the group of humans at her table. A human male sat beside her, whispered to her, made the edges of her mouth rise slightly. A human couple, a red haired male and a bronze-skinned female, sat across from his Lena. They were all talking, and looking at her, smiling at her, leaning into her, gravitating toward her like they did when Declan saw her for the first time.
Colin would not like it.
Declan did not like it.
But the resemblance of this situation to when he had first seen her kept him staring, studying, searching for an explanation. Even though Declan knew Lena’s affect on people before he changed her, he did not realize she retained that ability now.
And realizing this enraged him.