way that I had trusted little else in my life.
Esther stayed silent, her lips puckered into a tight grimace, and I knew what she was thinking before she even said it. “I’m smarter now. He is…what he is. But I’m safer with him than I’ve ever been with anyone else.”
She looked unconvinced. “Come stay with me. Try something different,” Esther said, eyes imploring.
I didn’t entertain the thought, not even for a moment. Couldn’t entertain the thought of not being with him.
“I’m where I belong. With whom I belong.”
And I knew it to be true. It didn’t make sense, but it didn’t have to. I was where I wanted to be. I could see Esther struggle, knew that she wanted to argue, to try to persuade me. The girl I’d known all those years ago wouldn’t have held her tongue. But she did. And that made me wonder what other changes I’d missed. I planned to find out.
“One phone call, that’s all it will take, Fawn,” she said, pulling herself to her full height and crossing her arms over her chest.
“You’re gonna come in commando-style, rescue me?”
“More like nag-or-insult-the-big-scary-men-until-they-give-me-what-I-want style, but you get the idea,” she responded.
I laughed. “I appreciate it, but I’m not a damsel in distress. I don’t need anyone to rescue me. But I want you back in my life. I miss my best friend,” I said.
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought there was a tear in my friend’s eye, but if so, she recovered quickly and flashed me a bright smile.
“You won’t be able to get rid of me,” she said.
“I didn’t think so, but I’ll make sure to keep you away from Sorin,” I said.
“Who? The dude at the door?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah. The huge, kind of crazy Romanian dude you were barking at. You’re nuts, standing up to him like that.”
“I’m perfectly sane, and I was confident I could handle him if necessary,” Esther said, voice brimming with unshakable confidence. “But in the spirit of reunification, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. You gonna drop by this weekend?”
“I’d love to,” I said.
Nineteen
V asile
Two Months Later
----
“ A re we done here ?” I asked.
Priest nodded, and I stood, ready to leave.
“You aren’t hanging out tonight?” Sorin said.
I shook my head, and he frowned. “Going to play house? Again.”
“Careful, brother,” I said, letting a warning edge bleed into my voice.
“Suit yourself,” he replied, and then he turned and headed behind the closed doors to Priest’s inner sanctum.
I left without looking back, but while my steps carried sure and true to my destination, my mind urged me to slow down. Not that I paid it any attention or could have stopped myself even if I had. The urgent, clawing need I felt whenever I was away from Fawn ripped at me, and I knew it wouldn’t subside until I saw her again, held her body against mine so close that nothing else mattered.
She did that to me, made me think and feel things I hadn’t ever, made me more than clan and at the same time less. Made me a man, one who had become addicted to a woman. This ruse would have to stop at some point. She’d want her life, a chance to be away from me, away from memories of the monster I’d taken her from.
But until then, when she finally came to her senses, I’d take as much of her as I could.
I’d gotten her settled at my father’s estate. He’d acquired it from a prominent family that owed him, and he’d been so proud of it, the huge house and exclusive address proof to himself that he’d finally made it. He hadn’t enjoyed it long though, dying less than two years after he’d gotten it. But in just weeks, Fawn had managed to make it feel like a home.
Our home.
When I arrived and entered, I heard her in the kitchen, and as I came to her, she smiled at me, her eyes going soft. “Vasile, I…”
I cut her off with a hard kiss, covering her lips with mine and then swooping my
Esther stayed silent, her lips puckered into a tight grimace, and I knew what she was thinking before she even said it. “I’m smarter now. He is…what he is. But I’m safer with him than I’ve ever been with anyone else.”
She looked unconvinced. “Come stay with me. Try something different,” Esther said, eyes imploring.
I didn’t entertain the thought, not even for a moment. Couldn’t entertain the thought of not being with him.
“I’m where I belong. With whom I belong.”
And I knew it to be true. It didn’t make sense, but it didn’t have to. I was where I wanted to be. I could see Esther struggle, knew that she wanted to argue, to try to persuade me. The girl I’d known all those years ago wouldn’t have held her tongue. But she did. And that made me wonder what other changes I’d missed. I planned to find out.
“One phone call, that’s all it will take, Fawn,” she said, pulling herself to her full height and crossing her arms over her chest.
“You’re gonna come in commando-style, rescue me?”
“More like nag-or-insult-the-big-scary-men-until-they-give-me-what-I-want style, but you get the idea,” she responded.
I laughed. “I appreciate it, but I’m not a damsel in distress. I don’t need anyone to rescue me. But I want you back in my life. I miss my best friend,” I said.
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought there was a tear in my friend’s eye, but if so, she recovered quickly and flashed me a bright smile.
“You won’t be able to get rid of me,” she said.
“I didn’t think so, but I’ll make sure to keep you away from Sorin,” I said.
“Who? The dude at the door?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah. The huge, kind of crazy Romanian dude you were barking at. You’re nuts, standing up to him like that.”
“I’m perfectly sane, and I was confident I could handle him if necessary,” Esther said, voice brimming with unshakable confidence. “But in the spirit of reunification, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. You gonna drop by this weekend?”
“I’d love to,” I said.
Nineteen
V asile
Two Months Later
----
“ A re we done here ?” I asked.
Priest nodded, and I stood, ready to leave.
“You aren’t hanging out tonight?” Sorin said.
I shook my head, and he frowned. “Going to play house? Again.”
“Careful, brother,” I said, letting a warning edge bleed into my voice.
“Suit yourself,” he replied, and then he turned and headed behind the closed doors to Priest’s inner sanctum.
I left without looking back, but while my steps carried sure and true to my destination, my mind urged me to slow down. Not that I paid it any attention or could have stopped myself even if I had. The urgent, clawing need I felt whenever I was away from Fawn ripped at me, and I knew it wouldn’t subside until I saw her again, held her body against mine so close that nothing else mattered.
She did that to me, made me think and feel things I hadn’t ever, made me more than clan and at the same time less. Made me a man, one who had become addicted to a woman. This ruse would have to stop at some point. She’d want her life, a chance to be away from me, away from memories of the monster I’d taken her from.
But until then, when she finally came to her senses, I’d take as much of her as I could.
I’d gotten her settled at my father’s estate. He’d acquired it from a prominent family that owed him, and he’d been so proud of it, the huge house and exclusive address proof to himself that he’d finally made it. He hadn’t enjoyed it long though, dying less than two years after he’d gotten it. But in just weeks, Fawn had managed to make it feel like a home.
Our home.
When I arrived and entered, I heard her in the kitchen, and as I came to her, she smiled at me, her eyes going soft. “Vasile, I…”
I cut her off with a hard kiss, covering her lips with mine and then swooping my
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