“Haven’t you always known there was something special about you?” Gregor whispered fiercely. “All your life, that you possessed something no one else had? I’m going to take you away from here. You’ll come with me, meet people you’ve only read about, experience things you can’t imagine—”
“I can’t go anywhere,” I said breathlessly while my mind reeled. “I have school tomorrow.”
Gregor laughed again. He dropped down from the dozen feet we were suspended and spoke low and intimately in my ear. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know, ma chéri.”
The way he caressed the words while almost nuzzling my ear made me shiver. I hadn’t been in such close proximity with a man before. It made me nervous on top of shocked and confused.
“Mom?” I asked hesitantly.
“You have to go with him, Catherine,” she answered. “He’s a trusted friend, and he’ll take care of you. There are things I can’t protect you from if you stay here. Don’t worry about school; I’ll tell them you’re staying out of state with a sick relative. You’ll call me whenever you want to. You’ll be all right.”
This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Yet the arms imprisoning me weren’t my imagination. The very big, tall body next to mine wasn’t a hallucination. I had to go with this… man, creature, vampire? Leave everything I knew behind? Sure, I’d wanted to get out of this town, but never in all my imaginings did I think it would be this way!
“You’re—” I had to stop, lick my lips, and try again because my mouth was dry. “You’re really a vampire?”
Gregor’s face creased into a smile. “Yes.”
“And I’m…” Deep breath. “I’m not completely human because my father was a vampire? That’s why there’s something wrong with me? Why I’m not normal?”
“Oui, that is so.” Unperturbedly.
He hadn’t let me go yet. I didn’t know if I should ask, push away, or just stand there stupidly.
“You, ah, have your fangs near my throat,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh, trying for humor instead of demands. “Should I play the swooning victim or the indignant maiden? I feel like an actor who doesn’t know my lines.”
He didn’t smile again. The light glowed brighter in his eyes, and he leaned in to whisper against my shivering neck. “I’m not going to bite you, Catherine,” he answered. His hands dropped and he let me take a quick step away. “Not yet.”
***
“Passengers, please observe the Fasten Seat Belts sign and return your tray tables to their upright and locked position,” the flight attendant intoned in her falsely cheerful voice. “We’ll be landing in Paris in about twenty minutes. Thank you again for flying Air France.”
I glanced to my left where Gregor sat. He’d been sleeping since just before dawn. Normally I’d have slept as well, but my mind was whirling.
After the incredible pronouncement of my parentage, I was marched upstairs to pack. Or at least, my mother told me to. Gregor followed, took one look inside my closet and then crisply announced that I wasn’t taking anything with me. The disdain in his expression made me give an embarrassed look at my outfit, seeing it through his eyes. Compared to his upscale shirt, jacket, pants, and shoes, I suppose I did look like a grubby hick. Then I was shuttled out the door with barely a good-bye to my mother and grandparents, speeding away to the airport before you could even say white trash. First flight, nonstop from Cleveland to New York. Next stop after a two-hour layover, Paris.
Gregor barely spoke to me the entire time, talking instead in French on his cell phone. In the air, he’d texted nonstop until he decided to nap. It was just as well. I didn’t know a single thing to say. Oh, I had questions. A thousand of them. I just didn’t know if he’d answer me.
When we stepped off the plane in the afternoon sunlight and he didn’t burst into flames, there was one mystery dispelled. At the gate he was greeted by two pale-skinned men with dark sunglasses and equally thick accents. They each gave me an appraising once-over that made me uncomfortable. Gregor didn’t bother to introduce them. He simply grasped my shoulder and propelled me toward the exit. A car was waiting, and I turned to him in surprise when we climbed in the back and left the others standing there.
“Aren’t those men coming with us?”
Gregor said something in French to the driver and then turned his attention on me. “They’re collecting my bags and following afterward. Don’t concern yourself. I have everything arranged.”
In other words, zip it. I bit back a frustrated sigh and reminded myself that my mother said to trust him. Since she didn’t trust anyone, Gregor had to be really something. I wondered why he was interested in me. Was there a Vampire curriculum I had to learn? Would I meet other half-breeds like me? A friend would be so nice to have. Maybe here I wouldn’t be considered weird. Maybe here no one cared I was illegitimate. The thought cheered me.
Certainly it looked different. I’d never been in a big city, and Paris was magnificent. The architecture, countless people, buildings… I was dazzled. Soon I forgot to ponder my predicament and became engrossed in the sights as the car sped by.
“It is beautiful, non?” Gregor said. He wore a trace of a smile when I looked back at him. “We will see more of it tonight.”
“How’s that?”
But he only gave me a secretive grin and refused to elaborate.
Thirty minutes later we arrived at a tall, imposing building of dark gray stone. Gregor nodded at the structure and the driver hurried to open my door.
“This is where we will stay, Catherine.”
What should I say? Looks cozy? It didn’t. It appeared large and intimidating, much like the man next to me.
“H-how many people are staying here?”
He held my gaze. “Just us and a few of my staff.”
Oh! Immediately I felt uncomfortable and sought to allay my rising fears. This guy is how much older than you? Decades, at least. He’s big, blond, handsome, and he’s probably got ten girlfriends. You’re fifteen, ugly, and backwoods. Hell, he might just be fulfilling some promise to your long-dead dad and can’t wait to unload you.
“It’s nice.” Thank God my voice didn’t waver. “How long will we be here?” I didn’t ask what I really wanted to know. When can I go home?
Something snapped shut in his face and he gestured to the open door. “As long as it takes. Now come inside.”
Left with no other option, I took the hand offered to me and went into his home.
***
A woman with rich chestnut hair and full curves waited just inside. She smiled when she saw Gregor, clasping his hands and getting a kiss on both cheeks in return.
“Cannelle, all is prepared?” he murmured, drawing me back when I made to walk away.
“Oui,” she replied, dissecting me with her gaze. “Mon Dieu, is this she? Très es le enfant!”
I didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t seem like Hi, how are you. “I’m Catherine.” I introduced myself, taking a dislike to the way she eyeballed me. “Nice to meet you.”
She accepted my hand after only a second’s hesitation. As soon as her warm fingers touched mine, I had my confirmation.
“She’s human,” I stated the obvious to Gregor. “Are you the only… um, other one here?”
It suddenly occurred to me that I should watch what I say. Who knew if his undead status was a secret?
“Are you so certain of what she is?” he said, watching me closely.
I considered the woman in front of me. After a pause, I nodded. “No sheerness to her skin, her vein’s jumping in her neck, she’s warm… and she also doesn’t give off a vibe like you do. I’m a hundred percent sure.”
Gregor let out a satisfied chuckle at the astonishment on Cannelle’s face. “You see? She can feel my essence. You can’t.” Then he turned and suddenly grasped my bare upper arms. His eyes flashed with tiny lights. “Describe what you feel, Catherine.”
The intensity in his voic
e scared me. So did the way he was looking at me. From the curling of his lips, he liked my reaction. That frightened me even more.
“It… It feels like you’re shocking me,” I replied, fighting to stay calm. “Your skin tingles and vibrates.”
“Yes…” It was almost a hiss. “Yet I feel none of that from you, chéri. You feel utterly… human.”
The way he said it could have been disparaging. I was glad when he let me go.
“Cannelle will show you to your room,” he said. With that, he walked away, leaving me still trembling slightly from the encounter.
Once he was gone, Cannelle gave me a sharp frown. “Follow me.” It was thrown over her shoulder. “Mon Dieu, but you need a bath.”
My mouth dropped at the blunt slur. Anger replaced my confusion, and I resisted the urge to plant my foot up her butt. Instead, I reminded myself that this was where my mother wanted me and followed her up the winding stairs.
The bedroom she led me to was so beautiful I forgot to be mad. A canopy draped over the circular bed, all the furniture looked elegant, and the room was about as large as my grandparent’s whole house.
“This is awesome,” I breathed, reaching out to finger the tapestry on the wall. “Does this all belong to Gregor?”
“Who else?” came Cannelle’s short reply from the bathroom. “Take off your clothes. I will clean you.”
Huh? That snapped me back into reality. Europeans must have a funny way about showing hospitality.
“Er, thanks, but I’ve got it covered.”
She came out with her hands her hips. “I have been a lady’s maid for fifty years, and Gregor’s instructed me to wait on you. Don’t make me return to him and tell him I’ve failed in so simple a task. He won’t understand.”
The ominous way she finished that last sentence spoke volumes. Sure, I was embarrassed, but even if I didn’t think we’d be friendly, I didn’t want to get her in the kind of trouble she was implying.
“Can you, ah, let me use the bathroom? I’m sure he won’t mind my doing that on my own.”
Cannelle shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind her. The tub filled rapidly with water as I availed myself of the facilities. When I was finished, I undressed and sank in the tub, hugging my knees to my chest.
“Look, I’m all set here, so you don’t need to—”
Cannelle swept inside and stopped short when she saw me. “Sacre bleu! You look even skinnier naked. You have barely any breasts at all!”
Now I was mortified and sank farther into the water. Jeez, why didn’t she call me an ugly bastard next? Take away the French accent and it was like listening to my classmates.
“I’m a size five,” I answered defensively. “That’s not so skinny. And I’m just… petite in the chest area, but I could still grow.”
She gave me a look that plainly stated she doubted it, but rolled up her sleeves and settled herself on her knees next to the tub.
“We will wash your hair,” she announced. “Then put a mask on your face while you soak. And we must shave you at once. You are so hairy, Catherine; do you not shave your pussy at all?”
I felt my cheeks flame. Oh no, she did not just say that.
“Cannelle,” I managed through gritted teeth, “this isn’t going to work. Just sit in the other room and we’ll tell Gregor that you scrubbed me like a stain on the Pope’s robes. But you are not, I repeat, not laying one hand on my… my stuff!”
“If you send me away, he will know it,” she said darkly. “Even now, he hears us. There is no deceiving Gregor.”
At that, I whipped my head around before letting out a humiliated groan. Great. Gregor could hear everything? Then he’d caught Cannelle loudly trumpeting that I was a titless, scrawny wonder with a crotch resembling a female Sasquatch!
“Let’s get this over with. I’ll talk to him about it later,” I muttered, handing her the shampoo and mentally cursing up a storm. “You can help me wash my hair, but you’re not getting anywhere near my goods, got it? Some things aren’t happening no matter what you think of my shaving habits.”
“As you say,” she replied disdainfully before attacking my head like it offended her. “I am, after all, to obey your commands.”
***
“…oui…”
The muted cry woke me. I’d fallen asleep with surprising swiftness, but then again, I hadn’t slept the day before. A glance at the clock on the wall showed four a.m. Still dark out.
A moan sounded next, low and guttural. I sat up in bed. Somewhere on the first floor, a woman was sobbing. I was halfway to the door when the next series of noises stopped me and a blush seared across my face. Oh.
The metallic sound of a bed creaking made me cover my ears, but it wasn’t enough. I could still make out the feminine panting and masculine moans of a couple in the downstairs bedroom. It didn’t take me more than another moment to recognize the voices. Cannelle and Gregor.
I got back into bed, knowing I should stuff the pillows over my ears and try to sleep, but I didn’t. At least they were speaking in French when they were using words, so I didn’t know what they were saying. Gregor was probably telling Cannelle she was gorgeous. Sexy. Big-boobed and shaved like a baby’s bottom.
I kept listening, watching the time tick by with growing awe. Jeez. Really putting in a full day’s work, wasn’t he?
Finally, two hours later, he let out a culminating groan and the bed went silent. Cannelle murmured something unintelligible, and then I heard a door open and shut.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, padding down the hall on the same floor I was on. I stared at the doorknob with growing dread, willing my heartbeat to stay slow. Did Gregor know I’d been listening? Please don’t let him know.
Thankfully those footsteps only paused by my door before moving on to the other end of the hall. There was another opening and closing of a door, and then silence throughout the house.
I stayed where I was, clutching my pillow until weariness made my eyelids heavy and I fell asleep still facing the door.
***
“Good morning, Catherine. Sleep well?”
My head jerked up guiltily, but there wasn’t any sarcasm in Gregor’s face.
He gestured to the full plate opposite him at the table. “Eat something. Cannelle’s made blintzes and poached eggs.”
“She’s a talented one, huh?” It came out before I could curb it. Immediately I regretted it. None of your business, I reminded myself as I sat.
That scar near his eyebrow twitched with his frown. “You don’t care for Cannelle? She has offended you?”
“No.” Great, how to get myself out of this? “She’s fine. I mean, she’s nice. Sort of. I don’t like her giving me a bath!” I finished with vehemence.
An amused curl formed at his mouth. “Oui. I gathered that yesterday.”
It was all I could do not to defend my chest size, weight, and alleged hairiness. “And it’s not appropriate anyway, since she’s…”
I stopped, cursing myself again. Can’t shut up, can you?
“Since she’s what?” With unyielding resonance.
No use trying to weasel out of it. The way Gregor’s eyes were nailing me to my seat, I couldn’t just change the subject. “She shouldn’t be waiting on me like a servant since she’s your, um, girlfriend.”
If I thought he’d be upset, I was wrong.
Gregor laughed as if I’d told a joke. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
A steadily squeaking bed frame. “Oh, um, it’s just a feeling I have.”
“You’re lying,” he stated flatly. “Don’t lie to me; I can smell it. Answer me or Cannelle will.”
The way he said it made me remember her odd behavior when she said Gregor wouldn’t understand if she failed to do her “duty.” She was sleeping with him; he wouldn’t really be mean to her. Would he?
“I-I heard you this morning.” I had to look away when I said it, embarrassed to the bone. “I didn’t mean to. I hear things I?
??m not supposed to. Believe me, it’s gotten me in trouble my whole life—”
“You heard us in bed?” he asked bluntly. “Three floors down on the other side of the house?”
My cheeks were warm. With my head still bowed, I nodded.
“I see…” He drew it out thoughtfully, then his voice changed. Became powerful, raising the hair on my neck and arms. “Look at me, Catherine.”
Up came my head to meet his blazing emerald eyes. They seemed to hold mine in a grip.
“You heard nothing this morning. You were dreaming,” he said, his voice vibrating with power.
I blinked, taken aback by his intensity. “Okay. It’s none of my business anyway.”
That made him cock his head, like I’d just said something unbelievable. Gregor stared at me, almost bewildered, and then suddenly he was in front of me.
His hands grasped my face and didn’t let me turn away. “I said, ‘You heard nothing this morning. You were dreaming.’” His voice practically echoed and if his eyes gleamed any brighter, they’d leave burns on my skin.
“All right, you’ve made your point! I’ll forget I ever heard it. You don’t have to get all glowy and loud.”
He sat back on his haunches with a stunned expression, his eyes fading back to their normal gray-green. A sharp laugh escaped him. “Extraordinary,” he murmured.
“What?” Was I in really bad trouble for overhearing?
Gregor shook his head and fixed me with a bemused look before returning to his chair. His fingers drummed on the white table cloth.
“’Twasn’t meant for your ears,” he said at last.
I controlled the rude urge to snort, No shit.
“I didn’t realize your abilities were to such a degree, and so now I must explain.”
“You don’t have to.” Me and my big mouth.
“But I do.” Softly. “I don’t want you under a misapprehension. Cannelle and I are, shall we say, no more. She is in stewardship to me and on occasion, I have permitted it to go further, but this morning was… good-bye. She will stay on here, but our relationship will not alter from employee and employer again. Do you understand?”