Blood Rose Ch. 04

"All right everybody, you can go home now," Dorian said as he got out of the shotgun seat. Keith and Jade turned to get to their own cars without a second's hesitation. Ethan actually lived at the headquarters, so he simply headed for the upstairs landing. Kaeli watched as Dorian followed him up.

Andy put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you coming?" he asked. She turned her head and looked into his eyes. "Your place or mine?" he said, tilting his head suggestively.

Kaeli shook her head. "Not tonight Andy. I'm not up for it right now."

His look sobered. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'll see you tomorrow."

He looked almost wounded as he turned and left. Kaeli felt uncomfortable, thinking she'd probably been a bit harsh. She'd make it up to him tomorrow. She'd make it up to him in a very big way. But right now she was more concerned about somebody else.

She moved up the stairs to the landing, where Dorian was finishing his brief discussion with Ethan and was just turning to leave himself when he saw her coming up. "Something on your mind Kaeli?"

"Actually I was going to ask if there was something on yours."

"Like what?"

Kaeli rolled her eyes. "Dorian, don't play dumb with me. I know you better than that. For God's sake, we lost a target tonight, and you're acting like all that happened was you lost a nickel down a storm drain. You should be throwing a fit right about now."

"You'd actually prefer me to throw a fit?"

Kaeli paused. "Not so much, but the fact that you're not says to me something's wrong. It's just very anti-Dorian Steel for you to not be fuming over an escaped vampire."

Dorian fell solemnly silent. He turned to the railing of the landing and leaned on it with his hands. "I guess I've just found something that's more important."

Kaeli sighed. "Electra."

She looked up into his eyes, which were not focused on her. He was just staring off into space in another direction. And in the faraway look in his eyes, she again understood something that had begun dawning on her last night. "This isn't just about bagging a powerful vampire, is it?"

Dorian looked at her. Then he reached into the pocket of his jacket, and pulled out the last thing she ever thought she'd see in the hands of Dorian Steel. It was a gold locket, its sparkling luster marred only by the tiny spot of blood it had been stained with. He handed it to her, and she opened it. Inside was a picture of a younger Dorian with a big smile on his face, next to a lovely young dark-haired woman holding a baby. Dorian's family. He never said a word about them, or anything about himself for that matter. At this point, he didn't have to. "She killed them, didn't she?"

She looked at his face—and the look on it perplexed her immeasurably. It was more than just the look of someone recalling painful memories of loved ones lost. He looked wounded. He remained silent as she returned the locket to him, but she suddenly knew there was something else he wasn't telling her. "There's more to it than that, isn't there?"

He said nothing. He put it back into his pocket and moved past her and headed down the stairs. "Dorian!" she called after him. "What did she do to you?"

Dorian stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her. He stood there for a few seconds, and finally said, "Good night, Kaeli." With that he turned and went to his car.

"Dorian!"

He was already gone. He was simply refusing to open up. She was hardly surprised by that, but it still made her sad. Dorian Steel may have been cold, unsociable, and prone to fits of anger, but that hadn't stopped him from being like a father to her ever since her own father died when she was sixteen. All she wanted was to help him get whatever was plaguing him off of his chest, but he didn't want to let go of it.

Kaeli sighed. Psychology had never been her field of expertise. There was really nothing she could do right now except go home and get some sleep—

She shivered at that thought, remembering the dreams she'd had after she got home from their trip to the club last night. The eyes of Electra Rose were still haunting her even now. The sinister violet glow was so overwhelming... and yet she couldn't help this eagerness she was feeling for next Friday to come when they would return to that club again. The scary part was that she didn't really know why she was so drawn to return to it. Either she felt compelled to face the thing that had frightened her so and overcome it, or else—and this was the scarier notion—she had gotten a taste of something she wanted more of.

Kaeli forced herself to forget about those thoughts. She moved down the stairs to go to her car. This was going to be a long week.

***

It had gotten to be Wednesday by now, and Elizabeth still hadn't quite gotten the hang of Annabelle's second lesson. She'd been following Annabelle's instructions, and meditating every night while breathing the smoke from the herbs she gave her, but she couldn't quite see what Annabelle had tried to teach her to see, no matter who she practiced on. She'd looked into the eyes of both her parents, Sylvia, Harrison, and a few random people she passed on the streets (one of whom got pretty freaked out and asked what her damage was before he ran off), but so far she'd seen nothing but people's eyes.

She was on her way home from school now, and had just parted company with Sylvia, who had been talking to her about her wonderful date with Nathaniel, and the next one she had scheduled later in the week. Elizabeth was wondering at this point if she should go back to Annabelle's mansion tonight to work on the technique she was trying to master—

A drop of water landed on her shoulder. Then another on top of her head. She looked up in time for another to land on her nose. And there were more steadily beginning to patter on the pavement.

Ah, crap.

She began running, holding her bag over her head. She always wondered why it only seemed to rain on nights when she didn't bring an umbrella. At this point she definitely wouldn't be taking the trip to Annabelle's place; she was going to get drenched as it was just making the distance to her house.

A light blue Chevy pulled up to the curb next to her and stopped. When the passenger window began rolling down, she stopped moving and bent down to look inside.

"Need a ride?" said Tyler.

She gaped at him in surprise. "Tyler? What are you doing here?"

"I'm offering you a ride is what I'm doing," he said half incredulously. "Are you gonna accept, or would you rather just stand in the rain and get soaked?"

She studied him for a moment. She really shouldn't, she knew that, but getting into his car was definitely a preferable option to walking home in the storm. She opened the door and got in.

"Why weren't you using this thing on Saturday when I found you?" she asked as he pulled away from the curb. "It certainly could have helped you avoid those goons, couldn't it?"

"Which way do I go?"

"Oh, go straight for three blocks, then make a left."

"Thanks. Yeah, it could've helped if I'd had it. This is actually my cousin's car. When he took a look at my face after the beating I took, he loaned me this car for a while so I could avoid another black eye. And then I was driving around tonight when the rain started up, and I just happened to spot you running for shelter."

"Oh, well... thank you."

She saw a slight smile appear on his face. It was almost midnight, and the guy was just driving around and happened to find her. Something about it was just a little too convenient.

She guided him the rest of the way to her house, realizing as he pulled up how big a rule she'd violated.I just showed a human where I live. This is getting out of hand. "Well," she said, picking up her bag from the floor, "I guess this makes us even now." She reached for the door handle.

He sighed as she opened the door. "Well, yeah, I guess it does. But I still was kind of hoping you'd be interested in a cup of coffee or something."

She stopped and looked at him, seeing him looking right into her eyes. Those eyes were so gentle, and innocent, and—she was seeing something else through them. The world around her disappeared, leaving only that pair of eyes. She was looking into him, and what she saw was beautiful. She saw this boy named Tyler, this innocent, kind-hearted person who just wanted everyone to approve of him. Without even trying to, she had accomplished the next step in Blood Rose, and suddenly Tyler wasn't just another human. Suddenly she knew him. And he was a beautiful person.

"You know what," she said, involuntarily starting to grin, "maybe a latte or two would be okay."

He grinned widely in response. "Okay, um... Friday?"

"How 'bout Saturday?"

He shrugged. "Sure, Saturday's good. How does seven sound?"

"Works for me."

"I'll pick you up right here!"

"I'll be here." With that she got out and shut the door. She walked up to the door and turned to wave as he drove off. She found herself unable to remove the grin from her face.I just got a date!

...With a human! Her grin faded as that thought occurred to her. This was so wrong... and yet she couldn't have been happier about it. Even after the kinds of things she'd started doing at Annabelle's mansion, a simple coffee date with a guy like Tyler was enough to get her excited.

Lord, is my life crazy, she thought as she turned her key in the door.

To Be Continued...