Breathless Ch. 06

"Melissa --" he started.

"I'll go," she replied before he could even finish. She kissed Mary's bloodied but eerily compassionate face and then got in the passenger side of the car. She had an excuse ready that she shouldn't be separated from her creator, but Grom didn't even ask. No one wanted Sadie to feel alone.

The car-ride was a unnerving experience for Mel, as she watched the fire behind Sadie's eyes flicker and almost extinguish. She looked like she wanted to cry but had almost forgotten how. And she kept looking out the window and up to the sky. She wanted to be that free again, soaring amongst the angels.

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The next night . . .

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When Sadie got out of the patrol car after it pulled back into her driveway, she ran from it like it was a snake. She didn't mind cars, but didn't like being trapped in one. She didn't like not having a choice.

She had been forced to spend the day in jail while a very confused group of law enforcement personnel, lawyers, and reps from the Arbiter's Bureau tried to figure out what to do. The Arbiter representatives were firm in their belief that Sadie would be punished, but it turned out that saving a girl's life, however illegally, cut her some slack. There had been no one injured as a result of her actions, and there had been no planning or malice. Bail was set, and it was paid before anyone could even blink. A consortium of townsfolk from Gravestones, led by the werewolves, had hurried to her aid. She had thanked them so much that her jaws ached, and she promised them that she wouldn't skip out on them. It was Vladimir's sister Anya who had said something that made her heart feel a little less heavy.

"Girl, we KNOW you wouldn't skip out on us. That's why we're here."

Melissa had never left Sadie's side, sleeping in a cot next to the vampire's cell. Sadie knew that Melissa wasn't the one that needed comforting. She was stronger than most people realized. She was just there because Sadie needed comforting. Mel said that Mary wanted to come visit, but they both knew how bad of and idea that was. Bringing a wraith into a jail, even a city lock-up, was a monumentally bad idea.

Vladimir and Mary were waiting by the trailer when Sadie and Melissa got back. The rest of the pack had to get back to their lives, and the police were out on the streets in force. It turned out that Sadie wasn't the only one worried about the newly-discovered mass Turning, and a lot of folk were eying their fanged neighbors with hostility. Battle-lines were being drawn in the streets, and their was enough tension in the air to stop traffic.

"Hey," Sadie said, not really meeting anyone's gaze. She was back on her own soil, and she needed a moment to collect herself.

Mary floated over, touching a finger to Sadie's chin with one hand while grasping Mel's hand with the other. "I'm sorry this has happened, and I am sorry for the loss of your friend Terrence."

"Did Dazza scream?" Sadie's voice came from behind the straggles of hair covering her face.

Mary looked dazed for a moment, like she was remembering what it was like to be drunk on rich red wine. "Oh yes," she whispered, touching one of her now clean fingers to her mouth, "he screamed."

Melissa trembled. However inadvertently, she had caused that man's death by willing vengeance upon him. She'd never had anyone's blood on her hands and soul before.

Suddenly, Sadie was next to her, eyes fixed and burning with a kind of anger that Melissa couldn't comprehend. "Do . . . not . . . mourn him," she hissed. "He brought this on himself."

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"I'm . . . slightly sensitive to you right now. It will pass. I think it will."

"You think?!" Mel was a little freaked out. "You can get in my head like that and you THINK it will pass?"

"What? Mary's good enough but I'm not?" Sadie still sounded angry, but it was more of a general anger.

Mary got in her face. "She's scared," the wraith said coldly. "She's had a lot to deal with, and you're the one who needs to help her through it. I remember what being a vampire is like, but I'm not one anymore."

Sadie sighed. She just needed a target, and Mel had been it for a moment. "Melissa, it won't be a problem. It shouldn't last too long, and if you concentrate on it, you can shield me from your thoughts in the meantime."

"What do you mean 'shouldn't last'?" Mel said, a little panicked still.

"I've only ever Turned one person before!" Sadie said, her throat choking on the excuse. "And it was a long fucking time ago!"

Vlad stepped in, not wanting things to get uglier between the two friends. "How long?"

Sadie stopped. Mary and Mel knew some of the truth, but they hadn't told Vlad. He deserved to know.

"Longer than you think," she whispered. "Vlad, before you risk your neck for me, you should know that --" She paused, unable to force the words out into the cold night air.

"Know what?"

Mel stepped forward. "She isn't exactly who you think she is." She stood beside her vampiric mother. "When Captain Grom told me to find her birth certificate for Frost to get him off her back, I found something else." She looked at her friend.

Sadie had to take the next step. "Sadie Hewitt . . . isn't my real name. Sadie Hewitt died a hundred and twenty years ago. I took out the rogue that killed her and took her name."

Vlad cocked his head. This was NOT something that he'd been expecting. "And your real name is --"

"Better not said out loud," she replied. "There are reasons I hid, Vlad. Frost isn't the first vampire in this world that wanted me out of it."

Vladimir gritted his teeth. "So this has all been a lie?"

"No," she said firmly this time. "This person . . . Sadie Hewit . . . it's me now. I say what I think and what I feel, and that hasn't changed. Not about anything or anyone."

The werewolf simply didn't know how to react. "How old are you? What are you running from?" That was a question that scared him. Sadie didn't strike him as someone who'd be afraid of much.

She looked at him, then and Melissa and finally Mary. "Come to the Halloween festival," she said. "Next week, I stop hiding."

Everyone around her heard exactly what was veiled in her speech: a threat.

'She's not afraid,' Vlad thought, countering his earlier beliefs. 'She's angry.'

"Melissa, it might be better if you stayed the day with Mary. You are strong enough to survive --"

It was Mary shaking her head. "I do not fear losing her heart, even though it no longer beats. Melissa my love, proximity to your parent will make you whole. But as always, the choice is up to you."

Sadie watched the two lovers discuss the issue without saying a word, with the dancing of their eyes their only form of communication. She looked to Vlad. "I'm sorry," she said. "After all the crap I've given you about needing to be yourself . . . it's almost ironic. You're a good man, and I hope you find happiness."

Vlad sensed that she was genuinely sorry about lying, but he was equally as convinced that she hadn't lied about everything. She was as genuine of a person as she had ever been. There was just more to her story than he'd guessed. He stepped forward, grabbed the sides of her face and kissed her.

Sadie was in too much shock to do anything initially. His strong hands kept her face pointed directly at him and his lips were firm and demanding. She melted into her own lips and desire rising to meet him like a beach welcoming the waves. She couldn't remember the last time she'd given herself so utterly to something as seemingly innocent as a kiss, but she felt herself being swept into it until her mind could no longer get its feet underneath her.

Vlad let her go. He wasn't normally a Casanova, but he was no slouch either. He'd been out of practice though. "Stop talking as if you aren't going to be around anymore. You're the most interesting woman I've ever met. I may not know you completely, but I want to." His voice was low and husky, and it held warm promise.

"But you're married --"

"I had a little discussion with Teresa right before I took over the pack. I really think that relationship . . . isn't good for either of us anymore." Saying it out loud should have pained him, but it didn't.

"But your word to your friend . . . her brother --"

"I did everything I could. I denied everything that I was and wanted to be what I thought he expected of me. I hope his spirit forgives me when the day comes and we chase the stars across the sky . . . I think he will forgive me. Teresa didn't deserve a brother who cared for her so much, and she doesn't deserve me."

Sadie's skin was growing very warm. "So, are we expecting a messy divorce?"

"No. I told her I knew about the affair and that I'd take everything if she decided to keep being a bitch." He smiled. "That's right, I get to call her a bitch now. Anyway, I'll make sure she gets enough to get started. Most of my important possessions are tied up with the pack, hence untouchable by human law."

"So," she said, shy for the first time in a long time. "you're going to be single? Soon?"

"Very much so," he said, liking the way her body fit against his.

Sadie felt sadness and joy wrapped tightly around her heart. Joy because Vlad was free to hunt and be wild again, and sadness because she knew it unlikely now that she could ever experience him the way that she wanted. If he even wanted to be near her in a week . . . if she was even still alive. She had to tear away, because she didn't want to now give him hope when none was warranted. She wouldn't hurt him like Teresa had.

"Happy hunting," she murmured, pushing away from him, obviously unhappy about it.

Vlad growled. He didn't understand this at all. He knew how she felt, and he damn sure understood his own feelings and desires. Then he felt Melissa grab his arm as Sadie retreated to her sanctuary.

"Don't give up the hunt," the newly-made vampire said, glancing at the doorway, "because no other catch will be as rewarding. She's messed up in the head right now. Is this even how you would really want her?" Melissa had suspected that Vlad had stronger feelings for Sadie than he had been letting on, but nothing compared to what she saw in his eyes now. She had freed the wolf, and it was powerful and it was hungry in more ways than one.

His shoulders trembled, but he nodded. "The wolves will patrol the area to make sure she is not harassed in the next week. Cops too, though technically they're unbiased."

"Gravestones cops?"

"Yep."

Melissa smiled. There wasn't a cop she knew of that would move against Vlad and Sadie. They loved their wacky Arbiter because she loved them. Then she got an idea.

"That biker friend of hers . . . Frankenstein?"

"Frank? What about him?"

"Call him. Sounds like he and his boys are a bit fond of Sadie and they don't take kindly to authority --"

"Authority like Frost?"

"Like Frost."

Vlad actually hugged Melissa. She didn't remember him ever being that friendly with her in the past. He'd always been very respectful, but not huggie.

"You're a smart girl. Nice to know we won't be losing you too. You coming into work this week?"

She nodded. I think that would be good. I want to find out how Frost knew what we were up to, though I've got a pretty damn good guess."

Vlad looked at her and then snarled, "Bart?"

She nodded again. The demon had been bound to serve the police force for some "unspecified" crime and wasn't able to physically hurt anyone, but there were many other ways to cause harm. If she could connect him back to Frost somehow and then showed that his actions, even indirectly, caused the death of Terrence, they could have his sentence revoked and simply banish him straight back to hell. And she had heard fearful whisperings about what happened to wayward demons who were finally brought back home.

"He's been stalking me on and off since my first time with Sadie. And it sounds like something he would do."

"If so, he won't make it to trial." Vlad was positively glowing with rage.

"Let him, and do it with a smile. The forces of hell are much more creative than we are, and they aren't bound by any laws but their own."

And THAT made Vlad smile. He went back to his car and Melissa gave Mary a long, deep kiss before following Sadie inside. Her mother needed her more than her lover that night.

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A week later . . .

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'An hour to go,' Sadie thought, her thoughts as cold as her blood. She had put an her "dress" for the evening, and had one more accessory before festivities began. She grabbed her bed and shoved it to one side, barely hearing it collide with the wall of her trailer. Directly underneath where the bed had been was a safe, complete with fingerprint ID scanner, retinal scan, and ten digit combination. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail so the retinal scan would go more smoothly, then placed her hand on the pad. So far, so good. She struggled to remember the combination, since she didn't open the safe hardly at all. She did have her dark moments where she gazed into that tiny vault and remembered . . . oh the things she remembered. An unflattering smiled played across her heavenly face, and she wondered what Frost's face would look like when he finally realized what he had wrought.

She punched the last digit and heard the bars retract. She pulled the door open and lifted a small sack from the dark recesses. It felt . . . wrong . . . in her hands, and that was just the feeling she got muffled through the harsh fabric.

"Well Dad, it's time to finish this."

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At the Halloween Festival . . .

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Melissa was getting more than a little bit nervous. The ceremony was supposed to begin in just a few minutes and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of Sadie. Apparently, new vampires were expected to be "presented" to the Court by their creators, something Melissa hadn't known until she had arrived. Of course, she hadn't gotten an official invitation until the day before, since a lot of vampires were unsure what to do about her. Over the course of the week, she had become more comfortable living under the stars, though she seemed to have inherited some of Sadie's immunity to the sun after all. She could go about for several hours during broad daylight with no ill effects, but she couldn't stay out indefinitely. It was fun, not needing help to open pickle jars or needing to catch a breath while jogging. Being undead had its perks.

She was in hostile territory, that much she knew for sure. The elite of Midian society was in attendance, as well as some honored guests, including senators, mayors (including the mayor of Midian), and many heads of business. There was a smattering of private security, but the West End Police Department was out in force. They were the best financed and most spoiled department in Midian, and they were definitely in the literal and proverbial pocket of Frost and the council. Melissa had drawn the eye of several attendees, and she felt like a single fish in a school of sharks. It was generally accepted that if a new vampire lost his or her creator, then they were taken under the wing of someone more experienced. Apparently, there were several people getting ahead of themselves and checking out the merchandise.

'Screw them,' she thought. 'They want me, they can go through Mary to get me.' She grinned. She doubted any of them were willing to tangle with the wraith for ownership.

Without even seeing her, Melissa felt Sadie's presence, then felt a hand slip into her own.

"Thank goodness that --" Mel stopped. She stopped. Sadie was dressed in some simple, bizarre dress that looked like it had been pulled out of a history text, made of plain cloth with a belt made of old rope. A hood completely encompassed the older vampire's head and she was keeping her face pointed towards the ground. And she had a sack of some kind tucked into the crook of her arm.

"What's going --"

"Don't say anything," Sadie whispered. Her voice sounded like pure pressure, hissing at the edges and looking for release. "Just keep looking forward. Don't blink. Don't show fear."

Melissa had just gotten ahold of her fear, but now it was Sadie scaring her. But her mother had demanded silence, and she realized it wasn't the time to question her.

Frost took his place at the podium. "Welcome friends, family, and honored guests. Welcome to those who embrace the night and a better way of life for its denizens. This is going to be a memorable night for us, and for the world." He paused for a round of applause. "Over the last several years, the number of vampires who walk under the night sky has diminished due to unfortunate accidents, as well as our continued persecution by the . . . other . . . races."

Sadie clenched her hand. She knew what Frost had wanted to say instead of "other." He'd wanted to say "lesser."

"Tonight, we bring our numbers back up to what the were meant to be. We have found a crop of enlightened, educated, and talented entities that have shown sufficient merit to walk amongst us. One hundred new souls will belong to the vampire world tonight. One hundred people will be reborn." His look soured. "We had one hundred-and-one planned, but we caught a defective model late in the design cycle," he said, earning a chuckled from the crowd.

"But first," Frost continued, his voice low and bordering on humble, "I feel it my honor, my duty, and my privilege to introduce our guest of honor for tonight. He has walked the earth for seven thousand years, has outlasted civilizations, defied time and nature, and survived the Betrayer. He has bled for all of us . . . his children . . . since human 'civilization' was in its infancy, and when the wolves still cowered in the woods and chased rabbits." He stood, looking at a darkened pavililion that stood nearby. "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to . . . Solomon, the Blood Saint!"

There was a feeling on manic awe that swept over the crowd as an enterouge emerged from the dark recesses of the canopy. There were a full circle of witches, all of whom glowed with power. These were Solomon's Blood Rampart, and their job was to prevent Solomon from being targeted by magic. There were thirteen young men and women dressed in red robes, and those were the Well of the Saint, and the were there to provide a supply of blood for Solomon. Then there were six vampires of massive size and power. Just looking at them, Melissa had a feeling than non of them were less than fifteen-hundred years old. All of them were dressed in identical sets of riot armor, and all had cleanly shaven heads. You could never tell one from another, as their identities had been stripped away. They were the Blood Brood, and there entire reason to exist was to guard the body of Solomon, and they would defend him until the death.

But nothing could have prepared Melissa for the sight of Solomon himself. The Blood Saint was, well, the most beautiful man that she had ever seen. Men shouldn't be beautiful. They should be strong, muscular, handsome, but he was so much more than any of those things. His rich brown hair flowed down past his shoulders until it reached his knees. His face was a picture of symmetry, and his skin was pale and perfect. His eyes were such a dark blue that they were almost purple, and his lips were pale but full. Everything was balanced exactly right, except . . . over his right eyebrow was a cut about an inch long that was oozing blood, leaving a crimson stream running over his eyebrow and down the side of his face. One of the members of the Well was constantly attending him, making sure that no drop of blood ever fell on his pristine white robes.