* * *
I couldn’t move.
Only this time, instead of the sharp scent of disinfectant stinging my nose, the tang of salt in the air led me to believe I was near the ocean. I opened my eyes to find myself lying low to the ground, on the same makeshift mattress I’d seen in the abandoned house on my search with Bishop. Bright sunlight shone through the windows and seagulls cried outside, in search of food. Had my Sire stolen me away from Bishop’s apartment? I’d already been moved in my sleep once, I wasn’t about to discount anything. I tried to call out, but I had no voice, the paralysis keeping me completely immobile, save for my eyes.
I heard low words with a prayer-like cadence in a language I couldn’t recognize, and I struggled to break free from my invisible bonds. Blue eyes appeared before me, arresting all of my senses. The eyes were tender and he touched the side of my face almost lovingly. This was him… it was my Sire, and he did look like a Viking, with long flaxen hair, pulled back into braids that framed his face.
“Logn,” he said, in a deep, soothing voice, and the fear that gripped me melted away as if by magic.
“I don’t know what you’re saying, but I don’t think you have the right person.” To my amazement, I was able to get the words out, and I saw his eyes crinkle in understanding. Whatever his language choice when he spoke, he obviously knew English as well. Though the fear had dissolved, that didn’t change the fact that I didn’t want to be his prisoner. “Please… let me go. You don’t have to do this, I won’t tell anyone who you are if you let me go. I don’t care if you’re an… Ella…” I couldn’t remember the word, “…Elder, I won’t tell anyone you’re here.”
“Tyna.” His brows drew together into a deep frown, eyes darkening as his fangs descended. My vision became blurry and indistinct, the light fading from the sky as he drew nearer. The sting of his teeth made me cry out in agony. This was nothing like the movies where the vampire bites and victim goes into a swoon, pleasure mingled with pain. I felt every tear of skin and muscle as he ravaged my neck, drinking deeply. On and on it went, until I felt myself start to drift, the light fading to near total darkness.
“Drekka.” He held his bleeding wrist to my lips but I turned away. “Drekka!” he thundered again. My mouth opened to scream, and I choked on the blood that filled it, feeling as if I was drowning, growing weaker and weaker. I was dying all over again, and this time… this time I would never open my eyes again.
Strong hands gripped my arms, holding me tightly and I struggled to break free from my captor.
“Anja! It’s just a dream,” Bishop’s voice came to me in the darkness, and I stilled, my throat raw from crying in my sleep. “Anja?” It was the note of concern in his voice that drew me out of the dark dream and back to the present.
I clung to him like a child, drawing in great shuddering gasps of unnecessary air. It wasn’t quite like waking from a nightmare like I’d had in my childhood. For one thing, the only person who ever comforted me after a bad dream was my sister Hanna, and she had never offered such a strong, calming presence. In Bishop’s arms I instantly felt safe, like there was no way my captor could reach me when he was there to protect me. But this dream also had the stain of truth to it, unlike my childhood dreams of giant spiders or mud people. Somewhere out there… was a real person who wanted me for his own twisted reasons, and that was enough to keep me from closing my eyes again for a long, long time.
Lastly, physiologically, my body’s response to the nightmare was different. Without a heart pounding, I felt… wrong. My breath came fast and shallow out of habit as I tried to reconcile the dream with where I was. “He was there, he took me…” I gulped.
“Who took you?” His voice was pitched low and intimate in the darkness, and I felt his hesitant touch on the back of my hair.
“I didn’t really see him clearly, or I did… but I can’t remember.” I struggled in vain to recall what he looked like, but all I could see were those blue eyes and the suggestion of blonde hair. Beyond that, he could have been in the room next to me and I might not have known him.
“Are you sure you don’t remember him? Think back, what happened?” he prompted.
“No… it’s all a blur… I couldn’t move… I could hear him though. He spoke in a language I didn’t recognize.”
“A foreign language, maybe something like… lat det sa har?”
“It’s hard to say, without you saying the same words, but that doesn’t sound quite right.”
“What about hadde det hores ut som dette?”
“Closer maybe, in the same family of languages.” Not having any idea what was said, I was at something of a disadvantage. “The last thing he said sounded like drekka.” I felt his body tense around me. “What does that mean?”
“Drink. It means drink in old Norse.”
Again with the Old Norse. Here I’d thought vampires came from Transylvania, but I was fast learning I couldn’t rely on books and movies to be accurate.
“I got you something,” Bishop said out of the blue, and I leaned back a little, curiosity replacing the fear that was fading fast.
“A present?” I brightened.
“Not exactly.” Reaching into his pocket, he produced a shiny new California Identification card.
I turned it over in my hands, studying the information next to my picture. “I don’t get it, I already have a driver’s license.” I’d never had a fake ID before. It seemed pointless since I was already over twenty one. I noticed the address listed wasn’t mine. Actually, upon closer inspection it looked like it was Bishop’s address. “Are you asking me to move in?”
“Ah no, I figured you wouldn’t want any stray vampires showing up on your doorstep, that’s all.”
“Oh, good idea.” I tried not to sound too disappointed, it would have been a little soon to think about moving in with the guy, no matter how drop dead gorgeous and capable he was. “Why does it say Anja Gudrun?
“I couldn’t use your real name if you’re supposed to be 400 years old, now could I? I decided to stick as close as possible to your regular identity to make it easier for you to remember.”
“Why Gudrun?” I couldn’t help but wonder if it had some special significance.
“You don’t like it?”
“No it’s fine, it’s great,” I assured him quickly. “Thanks for doing this for me, it didn’t even occur to me I might need something like this.”
“Okay, well… that officially ends my involvement in your welfare, you’re on your own now.” His hands came up in the exact same gesture I used to show my sister’s dog, Skittles, that I had no more treats.
On my own? There was so much I still didn’t know. “But I thought…” Hadn’t he listed his own address as mine? Talk about mixed messages.
“I have a dangerous life, Anja. I can’t be leading you around like a puppy on a leash. Trust me, it’s much safer for you if we go our separate ways.”
I didn’t see it that way at all. “But what if he comes back?” The dream still fresh in my memory, I couldn’t help but feel it held a mixture of memory at what had happened to me and a hint of what was yet to come.
“I’m giving you a chance to beat the system. If he shows up, tell him to get the requisite license if he hasn’t already. If he’s an Ellri… then I wish you many happy years together.” His words had a ring of finality to them.
“But what if he’s dangerous?”
Bishop laid his hands on my shoulders, looking me squarely in the eye. “You’ll be fine. You have to start thinking like a vampire now. You’re not the same girl who died a couple of days ago.”
“You could help me though, if I don’t want to go with him, couldn’t you?”
“Anja…” Bishop let out a long pent up breath, letting go of my shoulders. “I can’t, okay? I can’t get any more involved than I am now. This is it, this is where we part ways.”
; “Alright,” I nodded, “but what if I…”
“You’ll be fine.”
The rejection hurt, and I wasn’t as convinced I’d be fine, but I wasn’t going to sit there and beg. “Alright, it’s good to know where I stand. I guess if I ever get into a serious jam I could try Mason, he might help me.” I stood and slipped my shoes on, brushing past him on my way to the living room.
“Wait…how do you even know who Mason is?”
I didn’t bother to wait, he wanted me gone, I was going to go. “Mason stopped by looking for you earlier. He was very friendly.”
“How friendly?” His eyes narrowed.
A tiny smile touched my lips at his response. “Mason didn’t seem at all eager to write me out of his life. In fact, I got the impression it was the opposite.” Okay, so maybe I was exaggerating how the conversation had gone a little. But I couldn’t resist the chance to see if Bishop even cared. Plus, I had the impression Mason might actually help me if I really needed it, as long as he believed I was who I said I was anyway.
“What did he say to you?”
“He said you should meet up with him at the bleeding heart, and that you might want to bring me along.”
“How long ago was that?” Bishop checked his watch, any concern he had over me talking to his buddy evaporating as duty called.
“I don’t know, not that long. Maybe an hour? What is that, the bleeding heart?”
“It’s a bar other vampires frequent,” he replied, strapping on his various knives and guns and replacing his motorcycle jacket.
“Can I come with you?” Bishop didn’t even bother to answer that, and I tried again. “Oh come on, I’ll be good. I should meet other vampires, don’t you think?”
“You’re supposed to be laying low, remember?”
“I’ll sit in the corner and watch. I won’t even drink. What do they drink in vampire bars anyway? Blood or alcohol? Or both?”
“Just go home, you have some big decisions ahead of you and drinking won’t make it any better.”
“Big decisions like what?”
“I’m sure they’ll come to you given a little time to reflect.” Ready to go, he opened the front door, holding it open expectantly. “If anyone asks, you’re here visiting for an indeterminate amount of time. Make up any kind of history you want, but remember to keep it simple. If anyone from the Order asks, flash that ID and tell them you don’t have your papers on you. That should buy you some time. Can you make it home alright by yourself?”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not your problem anymore.” It came out harsher than I’d intended, my feelings just a little wounded for being shown the door.
“Anja…”
“I’m sorry, that was unkind of me,” I shook my head. “Thanks for your help, Bishop. I won’t forget what you’ve done for me.” As I passed by him to leave, I leaned up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. His lips turned towards mine and the corner of my mouth brushed against his on the way down, sending a frisson of awareness down my spine. I thought I might see something in his face to indicate he’d felt something too, but he was studiously looking at the floor when I looked back.
“Goodbye, Anja.”
“Bye.” With a sad smile, I turned away.
“Wait. If there’s an emergency, and I mean a real emergency…” He dug in a pocket and came up with a card with a number printed on it and nothing else. “Call this number.”
I took the card, glancing at it before sticking it into my back pocket. “Don’t worry, I won’t be the girl who called vampire, I’ll only call if it’s a matter of life and death.”
“Good luck, Anja. It was… interesting meeting you.” His lips twitched into a half smile.
“You too, Bishop,” I smiled back, hesitating a moment longer. “You know, if you change your mind…” I held my hand up as he started to protest, “…in a hundred years or so, and you ever want to talk, look me up. Forever is a long time.” With a hopeful smile, I turned around, setting off down the stairs. As I reached the bottom, I thought I heard him say you have no idea.