Of Dragons & Vampires

Chapter Thirteen

Evander had to jog to keep up with the dragon's long strides, Abel's hand still gripped his wrist as he tugged him further and further from great hall. The whispers and murmurs of the islanders fell into silence as Abel pulled him out of the townhall and into the Island's main square. A gush of hot wind hit Evander's face and he couldn't help the content huff that left his lips, the heat made a change from the often drab weather of England.

"I'm sorry about that," Abel began, slowing down and letting Evander walk beside him as they wove through the hilled streets. "After Atlas killed my grandfather, other supernaturals, especially the ones on this island, haven't been the most trusting of vampires."

"I understand," Evander pined. He did, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt having people call for your death and judge you on the actions committed by others of your species.

"Hey," Evander caught Abel's arm, spinning him around to face him. "You never told me...about your dreams? You recognised me the first time we met, you said you'd been dreaming about me," he studied Abel's face, "care to elaborate on that?"

Abel sighed, rubbing a weary hand through his thick raven hair. How to begin?

"I don't know where to start, Evan."

Evander quirked his eyebrows at the use of his nickname. Only Charvi, Brae, Jack, and his siblings used that. He felt his heart twitch at the thought of everyone he'd left behind, he already missed them, Damien, and Danae most of all.

"You can start by telling me when they began."

Sighing, Abel caved. "They started when I turned eighteen, in human years of course, so...a year and a half ago. You would just appear in my head, you never looked at me. Sometimes I'd see you drawing or reading or listening to music. You were always by yourself...you barely smiled, but when you did, I always noticed your dimples." Abel smiled, pulling his hand away sharply as he realised he had risen it to Evander's face, his thumb gently grazing the deep dimples on his cheeks.

"I didn't think much of it, my sister's just thought perhaps you were a mortal projecting unknowingly, a psychic. I didn't tell them about your violet eyes, they were a dead giveaway to what you were. But then a woman started to appear in the last six months, tall and pale, with the same purple eyes. She was so beautiful, raven dark hair, red lips-"

"Danae?" Evander cut him off, his face mask of confusion.

"Who?"

"It sounds like Danae...my sister. But how would she project?"

Abel shrugged, "I didn't think vampires could do that...but she could. She'd look at me, straight at me, telling me you needed help. She looked just as sad as you. That's when I decided to do something about it, we scryed for you and then bam, here you are a week later."

Evander grinned, twirling back around and slipping his arm through Abel's, pulling him back down the street. "Well, I don't know what to say if it was my sister but...I'm happy she told you to help me. If not, I wouldn't be here." Evander beamed, looking around the winding streets and cobbled pavements. It reminded him of Venice, just without the canals.

"Want a tour of the place?" Abel stared down, his dark blue eyes meeting violet ones.

"Sure, as long as you promise I won't get staked by someone."

Abel grinned like a Cheshire cat, tugging Evander down the streets and pointing out every little detail. The townhall and clocktower in the main square, the small cafes, restaurants, bars, and clubs the islands had. Evander soon found out most of the residents had boats to travel the short distance between islands, and the population was far bigger than Evander could have imagined. A forest populated two large islands, while a sprinkle of thick trees were spread out on the others.