Bite Shift

32

When I crossed the threshold, I walked around the door, into the hallway, and used my back to push the door shut. Walking backwards, my body weight closed the entrance until I heard the click. I started to shake and leaned against the cold wood for support.

What have I done? How will I tell Rhys?

I knew I had to tell him. Even if he wasn't the one who turned me, and the only person to tell me what to do now, he was going to see me in a man's shirt and know. I couldn't deny it. I had banged the most powerful vampire in the city and destroyed the clothes that Rhys had just bought me. It seemed like one of those was definitely worse that the other.

He will be so disappointed.

That one thought hurt more than all the rest. Rhys had saved my life, given me his home, sworn to protect me and trusted me with so much. All he asked was for me to say one thing and come back. I couldn't even do that. The thought of his disappointment stabbed me in my not-beating heart.

You can't stay here forever, Kate. It is only a matter of time before someone comes to see Sorin or he steps out of his office.

The walk down the stairs took just as long as the climb up. I could believe that was only an hour ago. It felt like a different life time, or like a movie I watched, not my life. I guess it was pretty stupid of me to think I could sneak out of a house full of vampires. I reached the bottom and faced all three, in the room where I had left the bodyguards. Tamela was standing to the right of Edwin, and Naseem stood to the left. They were all staring at me, wide-eyed and surprised.

They are shocked at how easy you are. Or, worse, used to seeing half dressed women come out down the stairs and shocked that so many women fall for their Master.

Edwin broke the silence. "I don't know what you did up there, but it felt great."

My expression must have shown exactly what I was thinking because Tamela answered the question. "We could feel the energy. It hit all of us like a wave. It was powerful and a little bit unexpected."

Great. No more sneaking into a room with a sweetie. Every vampire nearby will know what you're doing.

Tamela stepped forward and raised her arm in an offer, what looked like, friendship. "Let's talk. Just us girls." I walked into her and she put her right arm around my shoulders. I followed her down the hall and through a swinging door. On the other side, was the biggest kitchen I had ever seen. In the center sat an island that two men could lay down on, toe to head. She motioned for a stool on one side and I sat, still clutching my shoes and binder. I dropped the shoes to the floor, below my feet and rested the paperwork on top of the counter in front of me.

She moved through the kitchen with that same dancer-like grace that Sorin had. I hoped that, one day, I would move like that. She rested a large glass in front of me. Next, she turned to two large refrigerators, side by side. Opening the one to the right, I felt the heat roll out of it. It was a heating unit, not a cooling one. A large pitcher was brought out from it and the contents were poured into the drinking glass before me. The blood smelled amazing and I was suddenly, acutely, aware of how hungry I was. I tried not to gulp the drink down, attempting to look cool in front of her. She poured me a second helping and returned the pitcher to the heater, closing the heavy metal door.

She sat down across from me and watched me sipping at the second glass. "After what I just felt," she started, "it's a wonder you have any energy left."

I was so embarrassed. I wanted to slide to the floor and crawl away, out of sight, never to return to this house again.

"You're new," she continued. "I know you think it is shameful for a woman to have wild, unattached sex but, Kate," she reached out and gripped my hand in hers, "you are not human anymore. You have to let go of those ideas and embrace what you are. Your vampire spirit will lead you to what it needs, what you need."

"Vampire spirit?"

"It is what I call the part of us that makes us what we are. It is the part that animates us when we should no longer live. It is older than time and, now, it has chosen you."

"Rhys chose me." I changed my thought. "Scratch that, my attacker chose me."

"Make no mistake, girl. The spirit chose you to be vampire. It put your maker in front of you when you needed him, and whispered to him that you were deserving. Everything is planned by something bigger than us. Even what happened upstairs."

"What do you mean?"

Tamela paused, looking for words. "The energy that came down that stairs and flowed through the house, it was not ordinary. I have never felt anything like it. You and Sorin.... melded. You turned into one, great, power. Your union felt like, I don't know how to put it into words, like I stepped too close to the opening of a volcano. It felt like it was too hot to survive but I still had the urge to jump in, to see what the lava would feel like. It was dangerous and inviting."

I put my face in my hands and rubbed them up and down my cheeks, pressing the palms into my closed eyes. I wanted to reset my thinking and clear my head. Talking to her was just making me more confused.

"Tamela, I appreciate you taking me aside and trying to make me feel okay with all this. I appreciate the blood and the whole big sister routine. But, don't cover for your master. I know I am not the first girl to come down those stairs with less clothes than she went up with, and, I won't be the last. You are very sweet to make it sound all, special, but I know better."

"Oh, Kate." She shook her head side to side and looked so earnest. "I don't do 'covering' and I don't do 'girl talk' or 'sweet'. Make no mistake, this is me, doing my job, and looking out for the best interest of Sorin and his people. Sorin has had women, yes. However, you need to believe me when I tell you, he has never had anything like that; not as long as I have been with him. None of us have ever felt the energy of his.." she paused and looked for the right word, again. "Escapades."

"With that," I stood and gathered my items, "I need to go."

"Don't be offended, Kate. I think, when the shock wears off, you need to consider exploring whatever this is between the two of you."

I dropped the glass in a sink. I may be a vampire and doing the walk of shame but, I was raised right and I don't leave dirty dishes at the table or on a counter. Especially not in someone else's house. Tamela didn't move to follow me out of the kitchen, down the hall or to the front door. The men had disappeared and I let out a sigh of relief. The front door swung open to reveal a night full of the undeniable post-thunderstorm clarity. I didn't hear any bird or crickets, so they must not have come out from their hiding yet. The slam of the door, as I pulled it shut behind me, echoed through the darkness. The gravel between the bottom of the front steps, and the smooth asphalt of the driveway, was wet beneath my bare feet. It felt wonderful. Climbing into the car felt like being free. I shut the car door and turned the keys, still sitting in the ignition. The sound of the engine was subtle but a sound of escape. I didn't need to turn on the headlights to see but I knew it would draw attention to me. I flicked them on at the end of the driveway and made a left to leave Sorin's house behind me.

It had only been 90 minutes since I pulled in. 90 minutes had changed my entire life and made me question so much. Would Rhys be angry? Would Sorin take no for an answer? Would I survive the monster hunt or would all of this be in vain? Would Rhys ever trust me to be alone again? Did I want to be alone again?

And, the really scary question; Who would be the next victim?

As I struggled to control my unruly thoughts, I made the drive towards the little blue cottage and whatever awaited me when Rhys found out.