Chapter 5

I shifted uncomfortably in the leather seat of his fancy sports car, annoyed that it creaked and groaned with my every move. I was pretty sure that he was revving the engine to drown out the noise of the seat also but there wasn’t a way to prove that.

I wanted to tell him that we were going too fast, but then I looked at the mischievous grin on his face and his relaxed posture in the driver’s seat. I realized that he was trying to make me smile and that I must have liked this before. So I swallowed my pride and my own fear of being brutally maimed in a car accident, rolled down the window despite the rain, and held my face to the cold night air. The drops, of course, hit me like having stones thrown at my face but I forced my expression to stay fixed on joy and freedom.

He saw right through it.

Rolling up the window, he hit the brake and sighed.

“I’m sorry, I’m acting like a tool. How about coffee? We can sort of start over.”

I nodded before using the bottom of my shirt to wipe my face. I would have to do better if I was going to play along and get out unscathed.

“I think you’ll like this place, and maybe it will jog your memory.”

He parked the car in a public parking garage as if he were trying to blend his high-end sports car in with the assorted economy cars. Then he got out and raced around to open my door before I could get out without his help.

“Where are we?” I asked, taking his outstretched hand to exit the car.

“The place is up a block. I hope you don’t mind a short walk.”

I quickly shook my head, watching him pull an umbrella from behind my seat. “I actually meant the city. What city is this?”

He shut the door and paused to see if I was serious or joking. “It’s London, which explains why the rain doesn’t stop.”

I nodded, walking next to him and trying to act normal as we left the parking garage. I remembered having wanted to go to London but also that plane tickets were too expensive for me. So how did I get there?

He opened the umbrella before we stepped into the rain, pulling me close to him by the waist so that neither of us got wet. I smiled at him and buried the unease I felt as deep as it would go. For a girl of introverted tendencies, it seemed strange to have this tall muscular man wrapping himself around me.

I tried not to look around too much because I wanted to play my part, but I didn’t remember London and things were new to me. Also, there was the umbrella, blocking my line of sight and Leo hurrying me along the empty sidewalk. Why was no one moving to get somewhere? Where had all the people gone?

It wasn’t until we passed a shop with a television on in the window that I began to realize how late at night it was. It was probably one or two in the morning if I had to guess.

What were we doing out so late and why was I even awake?

We ducked down a narrow alley with brick buildings on either side with a single metal door that had no handle somewhere near the middle. Water pooled and flowed around my feet, trying to make its way through the alley and to wherever it finally disappeared down a sewer grate.

Leo knocked on the metal door and we stood there in the rivulet until the door finally opened. On the other side, I saw the face of a grumpy man dressed in the grey uniform of a security guard.

“What do you want Leo? You’ve already cleaned out my wallet.”

“I’m not here for money or playing games. I was hoping for a favor. I’ll pay all your debts in the pit if you let us go through the museum.”

“Again? You were just here like a month ago. She made a pretty big mess and we nearly didn’t get away with it.”

“Look, we’re standing in a river here. I’m not bringing anything in. We’ll just grab a coffee and not touch anything else. I promise.”

With a sigh, the security guard let us into the dark office space where he watched the monitors in what must have been a very boring night.

“No touching anything. Seriously. I don’t care how much she loves it.”

Leo nodded, closing the umbrella, and I’m pretty sure that there was a wad of cash given to the guard. Then he took my hand and we made our way up to the main floor of the museum. I wasn’t sure that we should be doing this at all but when the guard turned on the lights, the beauty took away my worry. It might as well have been a palace with its vaulted ceilings towering above us and the statues placed around the space. There was even a royal-looking red carpet, laid out like a single vein in the white marble all around us. I was in awe, but it all felt familiar at the same time. Had I been here before?

As if to answer my question, Leo spoke. “This was our first date. I thought it might bring back some memories,” he said as he pulled me toward the small cafe. “You didn’t like me then but I made you a good coffee and we walked through this place in silence. I think you were mad at me when we left but it was worth it.”

He left me to duck behind a counter and went straight to the stack of cups on the other side furthest from the opening. I didn’t watch long enough to find out what he put in the cups, though. Instead, I turned my back on him to look at the expanse again. Why couldn’t I remember anything?

“What are you thinking about?” he called as he came out of the cafe a few minutes later.

I looked over my shoulder at him, not really sure what to do or how to explain the questions rolling around in my head. I didn’t remember him and I didn’t remember ever having been there, let alone in this country.

Everything felt wrong.

“Have a coffee and stop freaking out about everything. Nothing is going to explode.”

I took the offered coffee and sipped cautiously before following him into the museum itself. While it might have been interesting to wander aimlessly and look at all the art, there were too many questions in my head and not enough answers.

“Can I ask some questions now?” I mumbled nervously.

“Mhm,” he answered with a mouth full of coffee.

“I need to get this all straight in my head so don’t laugh at me okay?”

He nodded, staring at a painting.

“We’re dead, vampires exist, and this is London. Correct?”

“All correct.”

“Okay,” I sighed, nodding to myself while that sank in. “Warren made me a vampire, I live in his house, and he calls me his daughter?”

“Still correct.”

I hesitated with my next question, unsure how he would answer. “How did he… umm… well, how did I…”

“You want to know how he made you?” he cut me off, saving me from a stuttering mess.

I nodded watching him carefully.

He sighed and faced me. “I don’t know an exact answer, but my theory is that he saved you from an attack. You have bite marks all over your body that you used to pretend not to notice. Have you seen them yet or were you pretending again?”

I hadn’t noticed yet.

I looked down at my arms and didn’t see the crescent shapes right away. They were so light on my already light skin that I might not have noticed them for a long while. Leo took my left hand and ran his thumb lightly over the pad of my thumb where a crescent was.

“You didn’t like them before either, but the fact that you survived that many bites show your incredible strength. You’re amazing, Raven.”

I pulled my hand away and turned away from him. He made me uncomfortable and I was pretty sure that I was blushing, but I still had so many questions.

“I really just need answers right now.”

“I get it. I’m sorry,” he replied quietly.

We were silent and still for a long moment. It felt as if we had become statues ourselves; living marble figures torn between a past I didn’t know and the possibility of a future that could not be seen by either of us.

I broke the stillness by rubbing my arms against a sudden chill then I moved down the hall toward more artifacts. Leo followed after a moment and caught up with me.

“Who is he?” I asked, stopping at another landscape painting.

“Warren?”

I nodded and we walked along.

“Warren is the boss. He’s in charge of all the vampires in this part of the world. Here in London, he owns a bunch of clubs and bars, which gives him some influence over what goes on with the humans as well. He likes to parade you in front of the men he does business with, knowing just how dangerous you can be. It makes business go smoother for him.”

“I must be pretty scary, then,” I said, trying to make the mood lighter but the tension stayed between us.

“You could go crazy sometimes,” he returned dryly.

More silence.

“Do I have a job or something?” I took a drink of coffee and moved on from the painting.

“You were about to join the guard. You’ve been training for a while.”

I kept walking because he was making it hard to ask questions. The air between us was so thick that words were stuck in my throat and refused to come out. We kept walking in silence until I stopped and pretended to look at a painting while silently willing myself to not look at the shape of his body and marvel at him like I would one of the statues. Why did he have such power over my physical responses? How involved had I been with him?

Do vampires get married?

Then suddenly, while my mind whirled, Leo grabbed my face with both of his hands and kissed me.