Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (8 page)

“Well, James, I’m afraid I can’t trust you anymore. Find a new Swami. Give me your pendant, now.” Tom held out his hand, and the smile disappeared from James’ face. James pulled out a necklace from under his shirt and took the pendant off of it and tossed it to Tom. The pendant had a W on it with five rubies. One at each point. James scowled at him as Tom grabbed my arm, yet again. He swiftly took me out of the warehouse and to the car.

“You can’t be doing things like that. It will get you killed, Ava,” Tom lectured as we sped away. “If I hadn’t gotten to you in time he would have drained you. You must understand that even people who work for me are not trustworthy.”

“What was that pendant thing all about?” I asked curiously.

“New vampires must study under a Swami Vampire for their first two years. The Swami teaches the new vampire about the laws and ways of a vampire. New vampires must wear a pendant to show who their Swami is. If any new vampire is caught without a pendant, they have three days to find a Swami.”

“How can you tell if a vampire is ‘new’ or not?”

“The bright green eyes are a dead giveaway. After about two years, a vampire’s eyes turn dark brown or blue.”

“And what happens if you don’t find a Swami in the time given?”

“You’re killed. It’s our way of making sure that we live civilized and not like wild animals. Swamis are important and trustworthy vampires. You don’t get the title handed to you. You get it by being on your best behavior. Your record must be clean. When you’re changed, I will be your Swami,” Tom said. The words had a horrifying finality to them that produced a lump in my throat.

I sat and stared out the window. He said “when” not “if”. Another reminder that I had to escape. I’d almost wasted a whole day, and I was no closer to a plan. “How did you know where to find me?”

“I didn’t. I thought logically about where someone might take you. Outside is too risky, and I was toward the front of the warehouse, so I assumed you were at the back. All I had to do was get within range of you in ten seconds or less.”

“How did you even know that I’d left your range?” I pried.

“My beacon beeps when your wristband beeps,” he explained.

So he’d be alerted the second I left. Great. I needed more information in order to get away.

“You got to me quickly.”

“Yes, well we’re fast and strong. That legend is true.”

I pondered this for a while and checked Tom over for the “beacon”. He wore no necklace or wristband that I could see.

“It can’t be seen by humans,” he said bluntly.

“What?” I asked.

“The beacon. You were looking for it right?”

“No, I was just . . . studying you,” I said. I needed to throw him off the trail. “I know so little about you, so I’m trying to understand who you are and what you can do.”

“I’m surprised that you didn’t look for it sooner,” he said with a grin. He could see right through me. I needed to build his trust.

“Really, Tom. I only wanted to study you,” I said. Warmth washed over my cheeks and neck. I had to manipulate him the way he tried to manipulate me. “Tell me more about the vampire world?”

“Ava, my dear, you will have plenty of time to hear about it after you are changed. Now, how would you like spaghetti for dinner?” he asked.

“Okay,” I replied.

We arrived at his house, and then he got out and opened my door like always. We both sat on the couch again. After a few moments of silence, Tom started cooking dinner. Scents of vinegar, garlic, and boiled pasta filled the air.

“Time to eat,” he called to me after a while.

“I want to know more before you change me. I don’t like going into anything blind,” I said.

“I had a feeling you’d say something like that. I suppose I telling you some of the simple things and setting you straight on the legends won’t hurt. First, we do have reflections. That is a legend made up to give humans a false sense of protection. Second, garlic does not keep us away nor does holy water or crosses,” he said as he took a large bite of garlic bread and smiled for my benefit. “They’re all lies made up so humans could believe they had defenses against us. And, you already know about the sunlight thing. Also, we can’t turn into bats.” Tom gave a little chuckle.

“Can anything kill us?” I asked. I thought if I used the word ‘us’ he would think I’d accepted my fate and would trust me with this information, but he saw through the word as if it were made of glass. To my surprise, he didn’t draw attention to my failed attempt to manipulate him.

“That, dear Ava, will wait until after you are changed. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s part of vampire law. Also, vampire law states no vampire may kill another vampire unless a major crime is committed.”

“What are the major crimes?”

“Killing a vampire without cause. Killing another vampire’s prospect or drinking the blood of another vampire’s prospect. Revealing the secrets of killing a vampire to any non-vampire. There are other things, but that’s for another day.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Nothing he said helped me. The desire to kill him didn’t exist, but I wanted to get away from all this, and to do that I needed to learn his weaknesses. He took my wrist in his hand. His eyes roamed over it for a while. My wrist began to feel like a prized jewel, but his eyes traveled up to mine and he said, “Why don’t you let me change you now?”

His fingers curled and showed off his well-groomed nails on my skin. “Don’t worry. I won’t change you before the three days are up unless you ask me. Why won’t you let me do it now? You sounded like you wanted it a few seconds ago.”

“I—I just want to wait. I’m still afraid. Afraid it will hurt. Afraid I won’t be myself after,” I tried to lie as convincingly as I could, but the words came out forced, like baby birds being pushed by their mother to fly.

“Ava, I will do everything I can to make sure you remain your lovely self. I was still the same man after my transition. My personality remains intact even after two hundred years.”

One thought ran across my mind like a stock market ticker: How did he become this? With these thoughts, I realized I needed to beat him psychologically rather than physically to get out of this mess.

My voice took over and I asked, “Would you tell me the story of how you came to be a vampire?”

“If you think it would put you more at ease, I would be happy to. I must warn you, it’s not the most interesting story. You may even fall asleep,” he said with a smile.

“I want to hear it,” I said. My lips trembled as I formed a smile.

“I was born in 1794. What I told you about my parents was true. We lived on the east coast, amongst the historic American roots. After my mother died, I was devastated. I was 20 years old. Then, at 21, my father died. In 1817, just after my 23rd birthday, I met a man named Henry Orris. He offered to take me in. At the time, I was homeless, jobless, and lonely. I accepted his offer. He had me do odd jobs for him, but his plans for me were more sinister. I was with him for almost a year. On my 24th birthday, he changed me. I didn’t even see it coming.

“His bite stung. It spread to the rest of my body, and I became weak. He brought me a beggar, a man I’d seen many times on the side of the street. He told me to bite him and feed to regain my strength. At first, I refused. He told me I needed to drink or I would die . . . so, I drank. The decision came down to me or the beggar and I had a feeling that the beggar would die no matter what I did. I experienced hesitation to sink my teeth into him at first, but instinct took over. His skin broke and unleashed just one drop. Suddenly, I grew fangs, and with them came more blood. Soon it ran like a fountain, and I drank him dry.”

I put my hand up to my mouth and glanced down at my plate. Spaghetti didn’t seem like the right food for this conversation. He’d gone through so much. I realized his thirst wasn’t a choice, but a primal instinct. One that took over his body and would take over mine if I didn’t get out of here.

“Do you want me to stop? I’ve upset you.”

“No,” I said. I cleared my throat. “I want to hear it all.”

“Alright. After my transition, Henry taught me about the vampire world. He was my Swami. You might have seen him at the warehouse today. He was the one I went to talk to. Thirty-five years after my transition, I was put into business school after being introduced to the Emperor. The Emperor saw something in me and told me that I must learn everything I could for the greater good of the vampire world. He said that something big was coming and that I would be a big part of it. Psytech was created in 1990 and I was drafted to be a Texpert. And, just like I told you before, I worked my way up. The Emperor expected a lot from me, and I didn’t want to let him down. The politics of it are so complicated. If I had not excelled as expected I would have been disposed of. Once the Emperor appoints you as a leader—” He paused. “There is no choice in matters such as this. After I earned my position here, I was named a Swami. My symbol is the ruby-studded ‘W’ you saw earlier.”

I took a deep breath then said, “At least you told me most of the truth before. I’m sorry that I labeled you a liar in my head after yesterday’s events. I understand you a little more now,” I said. Some of the clouds in my mind dissipated and I understood why he acted like a monster before, but I still couldn’t agree with the way he lived.

“I’m glad that you understand now. I hope that you also understand why I must change you.”

I remained silent for a moment, then answered, “Yes, I understand why you want to change me. I just wish there were another way.”

“I do too. Sometimes I wish I had never been changed. At the same time, I’m glad, because I would have never met you if I hadn’t been,” he said, looking into my eyes.

“How can you say that? You barely know me.”

“I can say that because you are the first woman I’ve been drawn to since I changed. I have never kissed a woman the way I kissed you the other night. The intense attraction has been there since the first day our eyes met and since then I have done everything in my power to make sure that you were safe.”

“What do you mean? I haven’t been in any danger until the last couple days.”

“There was a night that you left work late and there were muggers stalking you. I put an end to that before they could get anywhere near you. Then, there was the time your house caught fire. If you’re still wondering how you got out after you passed out on the floor, I’m the one who pulled you to safety before putting out the fire.”

I flashed back to the night of the fire. I remembered someone—a shadow—standing over me and pulling me out. The fire started outside my bedroom door in the hallway. I was trapped. My window wouldn’t open and I passed out from smoke inhalation before I could break it. They told me afterward the cause was bad wiring. They weren’t sure who put out the fire or how I got out.

“That was you? But, why? Why would you do all that for me?”

“I just didn’t want anything to happen to you. You were always so kind and polite to me, no matter what. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let anything bad happen to you. Anyone who is as loyal and caring as you should live a long life. There aren’t many people like you around today, and if you stuck around, you’d rub off on some other people.”

“How do you know all this? How do you know the kind of person I am?”

“I looked into your financial records. I shouldn’t have, but I found that all the money in your account at the end of the month goes to a charity. It’s always a different charity. You try to help everyone. You’re selfless.”

I couldn’t believe his words. He’d been keeping tabs on me. His secret intrusion into my life made my head spin even more. He wanted to know me, but he was afraid to get too close to me. When he found out I would be asked to sign a contract, he brought me into his life to protect me, or at least that’s what he wanted me to think. My thoughts splintered into a million strands. Each leading me to a different conclusion about Tom. One strand stood bright red against the crowd of gray tones. This one formed the shape of a question mark tethered to all the others and made me wonder if he was being genuine with me or not.

“Would you like some wine?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you.” The strands dissipated into a smoke.

Tom prepared the glasses. He pulled out a different bottle than the one we drank from the night before. It was a red wine, like the one before but the bottle wore a different label. He poured the wine and brought the glasses and the wine to the coffee table.

One sip washed over my tongue and down my throat. The sweet liquid with a small bite woke my taste buds from a short nap. I took a few more sips. My mind raced with all the new information and my nervous drinking kicked in. Tom got up to find the remote to the stereo and allowed low music to fill the room. A high pitched violin sang a sad tune while a piano chased it with deep sorrowful steps.

I finished my first glass of wine then began to pour another, but Tom grabbed the bottle with such swiftness it disappeared before I grasped it. He smiled his sly grin and filled my glass halfway.