Chapter 59

ELEANOR

I woke to the bright sunlight on my face and blinked, glaring at the open window. Outside, I could hear the city coming to life—the tram binging, voices calling, bikes squeaking by.

I rolled up, running my hands over my face and pushing my hair out of my eyes. My phone chirped, and I grabbed it quickly—a message from Aric.

Aric

Good morning beautiful. Did you sleep well?

Eleanor

Not as well as I did when you were here.

Aric

Don’t worry, I’ll see you tonight. I cannot wait to feel you in my arms again. I’ve missed you.

I felt my heart skip a beat, and I grinned down at my phone.

Eleanor

I’ve missed you more.

I felt my heart swelling, and I couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off my face.

I slipped out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom. I stripped quickly and stepped into the shower, turning the water almost cold.

It was so hot outside these days. I didn’t need to be any sweatier.

I washed my hair and shaved every part of my body. Only when I was thoroughly scrubbed did I turn off the water and slip out of the shower.

I flipped my hair up in a towel and went about my morning routine of moisturizers. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror quickly.

I knew I was classically attractive. I was taller than most, lean from running but still classically Latina with hips and an ample bosom.

My skin was tanned and warm brown; my glossy hair hung in natural ringlets.

Since I had found out that my ancestors had been Colombian and Danish, I had spent a lot of time online researching both cultures, trying to imagine who my parents might have been.

I tried to imagine what came from them. Did my mother have the same eyes? Did my father have the dark hair?

I knew that they were in Alaska. I knew that they died in the car crash, that Mother had fed on them. I wished I knew more.

I wrapped my towel around my body, letting my hair air dry, and moved to the kitchen to switch on my coffee machine.

While the coffee dripped down, I slathered a piece of toast with peanut butter and sat down on my sofa, fishing out my computer and flipping it open.

I was on summer break; the university had closed for August, but I still had a lot of work to catch up on and reading for my professor. I chomped on my breakfast while reading research papers.

It was late morning by the time I got dressed. The idea of Aric coming over to see me later was bumping around in my head.

I was giddy at the idea of seeing him, having his arms around me, and listening to his stories of the past.

As a child, he had been my best friend, my confidant, my crazy big brother who brought me on his adventures.

It blew my mind that he would be interested in me, but it also felt right. We fit together like two puzzle pieces.

I slipped on a light canary yellow summer dress that hugged my waist tightly and drifted into a floaty skirt.

My phone beeped, and I picked it up again. It wasn’t from Aric. It was from Mother. I opened her message, my heart racing.

Rose

Aric has said he’s going down to see you this evening. I have given him something for you. I love you, my darling. Also, could you paint this?

I scrolled down, and my heart skipped a beat. She had sent me a picture of her and Demetrius. Father.

They stood in a brightly lit room; their arms wrapped tightly around each other.

Mother wore a floor-length pale pink chiffon gown with her pale blonde hair hanging in soft waves down to her waist, entwined with little pink flowers.

She was gazing up at Demetrius, a smile on her rosy lips. Demetrius stood staring at the camera with a grin.

I felt my breath catch as I gazed at him. I had not seen him since I was a child, and my memory didn’t do him justice. He didn’t look much older than me.

He was a tall man, with curly auburn hair, bright moss-green eyes, straight white teeth, a sharp chiseled jaw, a straight nose, and full lips. He looked like Aric, or Aric looked like him.

They had the same grin, the same twinkle in their eyes, the same straight brows, and chiseled jaw—my father.

I slowly put my phone down, feeling an ache in my heart. I had not realized how much I missed them, how much I thought of them, how I longed to see them again, to hug them. My family. My parents.

It had taken me years to fit into human society. I knew it would always be a struggle for me to live with purebloods, but that was where I belonged and that I always had. They were my home.

Aric was my home.

Quietly, I texted her back, telling her how much I missed her and how much I wanted to see her again.

I chose a small canvas for their portrait and leaned it against my easel, sliding my box of paints, brushes, and various tools out from its place on my bookshelf.

I pulled on my painting apron, one that Dean had given me, made of thick canvas and thoroughly coated in a rainbow of colors. I fixed my hair up in a loose ponytail to keep it out of my eyes.

I brushed the canvas with a pale off-white then made myself another coffee while I waited for it to dry.

I then brought my stool over and began sketching with a very light pencil: a straight line for Demetrius’s pants, the soft curves and waves in Mother’s dress, the swoop of her hair, the thick lines of Demetrius’s eyebrows.

I leaned back to my computer, opened Spotify, and started an opera playlist, mainly Handel and Vivaldi.

I chose my colors carefully, mixing them with white or black until I was satisfied. My paintbrush danced across the canvas, a mixture of colors, layers upon layers.

I used my smallest paintbrush for their faces, streaking slight lines around the curves of their eyes, staring back at me.

I held my paintbrush between my teeth as I smeared my finger across the chiffon on Mother’s dress, mixing the light pink with a darker pink to create a shadow.

I leaned forward to apply the moss green of Demetrius’s eyes.

A sharp rap on my front door knocked me out of my concentration. I glanced up, noticing the sun had finally slipped down over the horizon, and the streetlights were being lit.

I jumped up, the paintbrush falling from my lips, smearing a line of blue down my cheek.

Cursing, I picked it up, placed it with the others, and my heart racing, I ran to the door.

“Aric!” I swung the door open, my heart swelling. I barely got a look at him before he had me in his arms, lifting me and pressing me against the wall, his lips crushed against mine.

My legs wrapped around his waist, my hand in his hair pulling him closer to me as I gasped for breath.

“I missed you,” he growled in my ear, making me shiver with delight.

I squirmed against him, nibbling at his bottom lip. A deep chuckle rumbled through his body, and he slowly lifted his head to press his forehead against mine.

I bit down on my already bruised bottom lip.

“Hi, beautiful,” he murmured, kissing my nose.

“Hi,” I managed, taking in his sapphire eyes boring into mine.

He cracked a smile that took my breath away. “I like you covered in paint,” he chuckled, running his finger down my face and showing me the blue on his finger.

“Oh,” I giggled. “Sorry, you got some here too.” I flicked his ear, and he hissed at me playfully.

I grinned at him. “I was doing some painting.”

He stepped back, allowing my legs to drop to the floor. I straightened my skirt, unfastening the ties to my apron while he went to inspect my painting.

“I know,” I said, folding the apron and pulling my hair out of its elastic, puffing it out a little.

“It’s not great. But I’m still working on faces. And theirs are so perfect...” I paused, gazing at Aric’s expression. He was beaming at the painting.

“It’s perfect, Eleanor,” he breathed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me against him. He planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Mother will love it,” he assured me.

“But the lines are too thick around here, and these colors are off. I’ll try again and—”

“Eleanor, it’s perfect.” He squeezed me. “Mother has something for you.” He fished around in his pocket then pulled out a red velvet jewelry box. He handed it to me.

“What is it?”

“Just open it,” he said, smirking. Scowling at him, I flipped it open. Encrusted in a delicate, ornate gold frame was a large, round blue-green opal the size of my thumbnail.

I felt my breath hitching as Aric slowly pulled it out, releasing the long golden chain attached.

“It’s stunning,” I breathed.

“This opal has been in our family for generations. Our generations. Mother wanted you to have it because it’s the exact same color as your eyes,” Aric said.

I was speechless as he fastened it around my neck. I felt the weight of it against my chest bone. My eyes stung with tears as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror Aric fetched from my bathroom.

“Aric, I...” Tears began to overflow as I clutched the gem.

“Eleanor.” His arms wrapped around my body, pulling me against him. “You are a part of our family, forever. This is rightfully yours,” he told me in a soft tone.

I hugged my arms around his waist tightly, burying my face in his solid chest.

“Aric, I miss them so much,” I gasped, leaning my head up to gaze up at him. I saw his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“I know, baby. They do too.” He wiped at my tears with the pad of his thumb. “I will bring them to see you again, Eleanor, I promise.”

“But that’s too dangerous,” I sighed, wiping furiously at my eyes.

“We’ll find a way, baby,” he whispered, pressing his lips against my temple. I held the opal up in my fingers, twirling it gingerly.

“So, does this have a long history?”

“Like everything in our family.” Aric grinned. “How about I tell you over dinner? Shall we head out?” He rubbed my back affectionately.

I glanced up at him and nodded. “Yes, please.”

Aric took me to a small garden restaurant nestled in a small courtyard in the center of town.

It was overflowing with pink, white, and purple hydrangeas. Fairy lights hung from the courtyard’s high walls and in the trees.

Aric led me to a secluded table by the crumbling beige walls. He pulled out my chair for me, then grabbed his own and dragged it next to me. His hand was placed firmly on my knee.

I ordered an ~entrecôte~ with a side salad, Aric got us a bottle of red wine to share.

He regaled me with stories of his childhood in the seventeenth century, moving to live in the Amazon with James where they could learn to hunt animals and humans without exposing themselves.

He told me stories of the twins when they were little, dyeing their hair and trying to trick everybody.

“This opal is from Ethiopia. It was given to my great-grandmother. You remember Diana.”

“That still blows my mind.”

“The opal was found in Ethiopia and traded all the way to Greece, where it was left at a temple. Before you ask, purebloods are vain creatures. If humans want to build temples and worship us, we let them.”

He snickered. “She passed it down to her daughter, who passed it to Mother. Now, it’s yours. It suits you.” His fingers traced the opal lightly, softly caressing my skin. His eyes never left mine.

“What about Mother’s mother? What was her name? I don’t remember you ever mentioning her before. Is she alive?” Aric’s expression darkened a little, and he shook his head.

“I met my grandmother when I was younger, once or twice. Mostly I heard about her. Her name was Dahlia. She was reckless. She didn’t care about exposing herself to humans.

“Eventually, her recklessness caught up with her.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means she went mad and got herself and her husband, Mother’s father, killed.”

“Oh. How?”

“She went on a rampage in Yemen about three hundred years ago. When day broke, she and her husband went to sleep in a cave. All the humans had to do was light a fire outside and push it in.

“They burnt to death.”

“No wonder Mother never mentions her.”

“No one ever does anymore. It’s very rare that humans kill purebloods. And even rarer that they kill noble purebloods.”

“That must have been terrible for Mother,” I breathed. Aric pursed his lips and nodded.

“It was a blow for the Blake family for sure,” he muttered, running his fingers through his hair and smiling at me. “I’m sorry, our family comes with a lot of baggage.”

“Oh, no worries. I’ve got plenty as well. I have severe abandonment issues, I can’t settle in one place, and I can’t stop myself from falling for the most dangerous man on the face of this planet.”

I winked at him. He let out a low chuckle and reached out to stroke my cheek.

“Falling for me, are you?”

“Well, that’s what I said. I—”

I was cut off abruptly as Aric leapt to his feet, his eyes flashing bright red and lips curling back, revealing his fangs, a low growl emerging.

“Come.” Before he’d even finished speaking, he grabbed my arm, tossed me over his shoulder, and leapt over the courtyard wall into the dark street behind.

Then he took off with me bumping painfully, barely able to take a breath of oxygen, not able to focus on anything as he moved with incredible speed through the streets.

He stopped abruptly and flipped me down onto the ground.

“Aric, what—”

“Shut up,” he growled. I scowled at him, he ignored me, staring at the building in front of us. “Get on.” He pointed at his back.

“Aric, what the ~fuck~ is going—”

“Get. On. Now,” he growled, pulling me roughly up onto his back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, locking my hands together.

“Don’t let go,” he said before taking a massive jump and latching onto the side of the building.

He scaled the building in seconds, finding invisible handholds, leaping meters in the air. The weight of my body was heavy for me, and each time he landed, I felt myself slipping down.

When he reached the rooftop, I was already hanging halfway down his back.

“I told you to hold on,” he growled at me, hoisting me back up.

“I’m not strong enough to hold on with you jumping up a building!” I snarled back at him.

He pulled me off his back, his eyes flashing bright crimson.

“Fine.” He picked me up again, bridal style, and began racing over the rooftops. I hugged tightly to his neck, my eyes wide. I felt like I was flying over the top of the city.

Aric’s face was set in a stoic, emotionless mask. He didn’t even glance down at me.

“Aric, what’s going on?” I asked.

His head was turning this way and that, never focusing anywhere as he gripped me tightly.

He glanced down at me for a fraction of a second, then jumped up again.

“Eloise is here.”