Heirloom Magic (Paranormal)

Chapter Four

"Don't lie, you wanted me dead just like everyone else—you voted to have me staked," a male voice hissed, stirring at Harper's subconscious.

"So what if I did? You deserved it," another voice argued back, adding a low growl to each word for emphasis, and Harper struggled to find the light at the end of the very dark tunnel. She blinked several times, her head aching like someone had taken a hammer to her skull. She felt nauseous, and all around her reeked of booze.

Her groan alerted the two men that she was awake, finally, and the vampire came to lean over her expectantly. Harper finally got her eyes open for good, and her world came sharply into focus, bringing with it a splitting headache. She stared at the two men looking down at her and remembrance flooded back.

Harper opened her mouth and let out a girly scream that made her headache increase tenfold. "You're m...monsters!" she stuttered, trying to sit up, but only succeeding in giving herself the spins. She grabbed her head and sank back down onto the pillow. She was pretty sure she had a concussion. If they were going to kill her, she had no way of stopping them.

Mr. Bell came over and sat down gently on the chair beside her bed, making it creak loudly in protest. He was wearing a large floral sheet wrapped around his hulking frame, toga style. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Harper would have burst out laughing.

"This isn't the way we wanted to introduce you to our world," Mr. Bell said, shaking his head in remorse. Harper stared at Mr. Bell. He looked completely normal now, well, minus the toga, but it was almost easy to think she'd dreamed the whole thing.

"Is this a dream?" she asked, praying it was true, and the man they'd found chained to the wall nodded emphatically.

"It was, yes," he told her at the same time Mr. Bell shook his head.

"It was not," Mr. Bell shot the man an angry look. "Jasper, you shouldn't lie to her. It will not help in the long run," Mr. Bell said, aiming the last part at the stranger.

Jasper shrugged and walked over to lean against the dresser as he watched her.

"What are you?" Harper asked, staring at the man in morbid curiosity. He looked much better than he had when they'd found him chained to the wall. He had been pale and gaunt and looked on the verge of death, but now he had filled back out. He was well muscled, though on the lean side, and his skin had a healthy rose glow.

Jasper looked at Mr. Bell as though for permission, and the wolf gave a quick jerk of his head like it pained him. Jasper grinned down at Harper and flashed just a hint of fang. "To answer your question, love, I'm a vampire," he said, waiting gleefully for the shrieks of terror. They didn't come.

Jasper glanced down at the young woman on the bed and frowned. "Why aren't you screaming?" he demanded, making Harper shrug helplessly.

"Why did my grandmother have you chained to a wall?" she fired back, but the vampire just shrugged, refusing to answer.

"All I'm saying is, you screamed when you saw the werewolf... why wouldn't a vampire make you scream twice as loud?" he continued like she hadn't just asked him a question, and Harper blinked at the man... no, vampire, she corrected herself. It still seemed too crazy to be true. He seemed so genuinely upset that she didn't find him as terrifying as Mr. Bell that Harper briefly debated giving him a pity scream, but at this point it would probably just seem forced, and more importantly, it would hurt her head.

"How long was I unconscious?" she asked, trying to get past the terrifying hurdle that she was tucked into bed next to two supernatural killers—at least in books and movies they were killers. So far they hadn't made any moves towards her.