Blood Bride

Chapter Seventeen: Denial

IT was late in the afternoon when the sun had gone down, and Tobias decided to check on his master

"She cannot keep missing school. You might as well not send her at all." Tobias was giving him yet another lecture, not that Jon wasn't already used to this. He's been lecturing for years. Still, Jon chooses to do what Jon wants.

"She'll go in tomorrow, let her rest." Jon himself had been asleep in his armchair, the warmth of her covering him as a blanket would. She inhabited a scent that was one of flowers. It was as if they had been threaded through her soft locks for ages and the aroma was absorbed by each strand. "She's a smart girl, she doesn't need to sit in class to complete her work. She's doing wonderfully in school. Why are you worried?"

"Adult services will be called if the teachers grow worried, especially given the reason of all those bruises covering her from head to toe. To avoid that-"

"Tobias, don't worry about human services. We're vampires. It doesn't apply to us."

"We may be vampires, but that doesn't mean we can avoid the pestering of the human government. We don't need ourselves in any sticky situations during the war. Humans are relentless beings." Jon leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes again, listening to the hushed sound of her blood racing through her veins and into her pumping heart.

"If it comes down to it, I will have Ophelia removed from school and have her be taught at home with a tutor. As long as I can come up with an excuse for her missing days and her physical condition, it should not be a problem. Now leave, I'm returning to sleep."

Tobias noticed that Jon was spending an awfully large amount of time with his Blood Bride, which was normal considering he pampered both himself and Yami in the same way. When Jon finds someone he likes and feels they are devoted to him, he'll shower them with a subtle kindness.

Things between the three of them never stayed friendly for long. In fact, he has slept with both Yami and Tobias on multiple occasions. The two of them were fallen victims to Jon's lust, and still were. Being vampires, lust was a natural emotion. Neither of them were bothered by his polyamorous behavior between the two of them because it meant absolutely nothing.

What may be indifference for them, would be heartache for the human amongst them. Tobias noticed that Ophelia appeared to be traveling down the road both he and Yami went with Jon, which he hadn't expected.

She was still quite young and impressionable. She had a beating heart in her chest that carried emotion. Tobias had never thought Jon would have any interest in his Blood Bride. Never in his five hundred years of being a vampire has Jon ever been remotely interested in frail human beings. Tobias' logic was very wrong and now he was worried, but he wouldn't say anything.

If anything, Jon wouldn't dare to be with her. He still held his morals close to his dead heart and if they still were there, he wouldn't bother with the girl.

"Sleep well, Master Cross." Tobias gave a small bow and exited his study to complete his daily work in the Cross Manor.

_________________

Ophelia stretched in his loose grasp, her legs tingling from the lack of blood flow having remained in one position during the entire day. Her fingers trailed along what she thought was her pillow until she realized the fluffy material felt harder than usual.

Opening her bleary eyes, at first she did not recognize the room engulfed in pitch black, the shadows stretching over the room to blind her.

She focused on the curtains of the room, the distant light of the street lamps fanning through the material of the curtains. She felt something tighten around her waist when she shifted to look up. Once her chestnut orbs caught a faint hint of light against chiseled jaw and that's when she had come to the conclusion that it was indeed Jon.