Redemption (Book 6)

9

The parties in this city raged until dawn, or so I had discovered. And when dawn began to break, the people dispersed and the vampires went to bed. Or at least, retired into the dark and hidden places they called home. Getting back, I felt a need that was ripping me apart. The bloodlust was satisfied but the lust simply was not. Isaiah, apparently, had the same feeling because as soon as we got back into the room, he shoved me against the table and kissed me. I shoved the jacket off his shoulders and undid his tie as he sat me up on the table and threw everything off it. He grabbed my thighs but the tightness of the dress kept my knees together. I laughed as he looked at me and grabbed the top of the gown. With one swift motion, he ripped the fabric from the bottom all the way to the hem and shoved it away from me. I wrapped my legs around his body as he leaned down so that my back pressed against the cool wood of the table. His lips crashed into mine and I grasped at his collar, pulling his shirt open.

"I love you, Claudia," he whispered.

I didn't say anything. What could I say? I wasn't in love, I just wanted him.

"You can't even say it?" Isaiah took a step back, his eyes cold.

Still, I said nothing. I knew how important this was to him, but it was an impossible situation. If I said I loved him, he would know I was lying and if I didn't say anything, he would be angry. There was no way I was getting what I wanted out of this.

"Do you want me to? I don't mean it. I can't feel anything," I cried.

"Sometimes, for just a second, I think I see something in your eyes that reminds me of who you really are," he said. "And I think you might be back."

"If you think that, I'm sorry I have to tell you this, but the real me? You're looking at her!" I exclaimed. "This is what you get; take it or leave it."

"I refuse to believe that," said Isaiah. "Someday, you'll come back."

I took a deep breath and grabbed the robe. "Fine. Then I'm leaving."

Walking out the door, I slammed it behind me and walked down the steps. Flopping down in one of the red leather chairs, I undid the heels that were still on my feet. Tossing them to the side, I picked up one of the books on the table next to me: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I had read that in the ninth grade and didn't remember much of it. I hadn't really been paying attention.

"It's a wonderful book," said a voice and I looked up to see Louis.

"I read it once," I replied as I set aside.

He sat down across from me and propped his feet up on the table. "You look like you're in a terrible mood. What's wrong in Claudia's world?"

"I want to have sex and apparently Isaiah can't do that if I'm not completely in love with him," I rolled my eyes. "I don't know why."

Louis stood and walked a few steps closer to me. "Some people are just more sentimental than you and me."

I sat up straight and stared up at him. "Some people just don't understand people like us, do they?"

"No, they don't," he moved his face down a little toward me.

Louis was so close to me, I could feel his warm breath. I looked up at him, silently asking him to kiss me. His lips came to just a touch away from mine.

"Isaiah loves you, Claudia," he whispered and I bent my head.

"Fine," I said and turned to walk away.

"Hey," he caught my arm. "He loves you. Neither of us can do this to him."

And no matter how much I wanted to deny it, a small voice inside of my head whispered quietly to me that he was right. I sat back in the chair.

"I really feel unloved tonight," I pulled my feet under my body.

He laughed aloud. "Whatever happens to you, Claudia, whatever misfortunes or occurrences befall you, there will always be someone who loves you. I can guarantee it."

"How are you so sure of that?" I asked.

"Isaiah talked a little about your situation at home," he said. "It sounds to me like there are more people who love you there than most people get in their whole lives, then most vampires get in eternity. People don't choose their family and they have to love you, but not very many people get to have that many people who chose to love them."

I scoffed. "Now you sound like Isaiah, like you're trying to get me to turn my emotions back on."

"Maybe I am," he sat down and waggled his eyebrows at me.

"No you aren't," I replied flatly. "You might like to think you are because you count yourself loyal to Isaiah, that he wants me to become the weak, emotional wreck I was before is enough for you, but it isn't. I heard you saying my recklessness is beautiful and elegant, and that fascinates you."

He smiled a little. "Well, I suppose I'm caught then. I do like you this way, but then again, I didn't know you any other way. Maybe Claudia with a heart is even better than Claudia without one. How am I to know?"

"Because I say so," I shrugged.

"And I can trust you to be objective," he said sarcastically.

"Why did Klaus and Isaiah leave this place?" I asked suddenly.

"Well that is a long story, but the short version?" Louis adjusted how he sat. "Isabelle and Isaiah had a relationship from the time they met and she became incredibly attached, thinking eternity when Isaiah simply didn't feel that way. So he cooled things with Isabelle, then began to fall for my sister Marie. This made a cutthroat competition between the two of them for his affection."

"I saw evidence of that, yes," I laughed thinking of the two of them. "Where are they, by the way?"

"Out still, I'm sure," he shook his head. "Finding a good time. But Isaiah left to keep my family together. Marie and Isabelle were going to tear us apart."

"He left to save you," I didn't know why, but that made me uneasy.