Chapter 7

A night of sitting on metaphorical pins and needles finally catches up with me. When the first bursts of morning light cascade across the green forest, Bogdan pulls me into his arms and tells me it's time to go.

Then he starts running.

It only takes a few minutes before my eyes become weak with fatigue. Bursts of green become blurred behind the constant, cool breeze slapping against my face. I try to stay awake, I really do. For all I know more vampires are just around the corner ready to bring us to our knees.

Yet somehow I manage to fall asleep in his arms. Romantic, right?

I wish.

Imagine sleeping inside of a cramped, cold, metal shopping cart. Ok, now imagine that shopping cart zooming through the parking lot, one that is devoid of any potholes, loose gravel, or human interaction. Smooth sailing, in other words. Alright, now picture that the cart emanates a delicious and seductive scent that both excites while lulling its victim into a false sense of calm.

That's the best way I can describe traveling via Bogdan's arms. There's no warmth to him. No softness. It's a smooth ride but far from comfortable. Maybe it's because it's such a smooth ride that I'm able to stay asleep, but when Bogdan finally urges me awake, my body is stiff and sore as ever.

"Human. Human!"

"Mmm?"

A hazy view of Kelly's apartment complex comes into focus. I squint at it, eyeing the window where only a night ago I was listening to my best friend strum on his guitar while nursing a beer. Red eyes stare back at me with a frenzied expression.

"The woman inside is upset," Bogdan informs me with a frown.

I follow his gaze to the shadow of a woman pacing back and forth in the living room. My heart sinks when I notice Fiona's familiar pink, fluffy slippers scraping across the carpet before coming to a stop at the patio window. Seeing them brings me back to the many mornings spent in their apartment after a night of drinking – listening to Kelly re-tell animated stories from the night before while overindulging on Fiona's famous pancakes.

It feels wrong showing up at their apartment without Kelly by my side. I suck my bottom lip into my mouth and look up at Bogdan. He's still frowning at Fiona with a curious expression. I expect him to set me on my feet, but he keeps me in his arms.

"Why is she afraid?" Bogdan whispers to me.

He sounds disappointed, disgusted even.

"She's worried about my friend, Kelly. That's his girlfriend."

"She's not the one in danger," Bogdan argues. "She is safe. Why does it matter?"

"Because Kelly has her heart," I explain. "Her emotional, metaphorical one anyway. She wants to know he's safe. She won't be happy otherwise."

Bogdan shakes his head. "Foolish. Such emotional creatures."

As much as I want to stay near Bogdan, seeing Fiona so distraught has me wriggling out of his arms to get free. My efforts are futile. Fiona leans over the railing and squints towards the trees. I almost think she sees us, but then she continues to glance around the area.

"I need to go help her," I grunt, still trying to get out of his grasp.

Bogdan hesitates only briefly before gently setting me on my feet. He tilts his head to the side, studying me from under his crimson gaze.

"I'll eventually be back with your friend," he murmurs and reaches into his pocket. Slits of sunlight bounce against the screen of my phone. "Though I cannot guarantee his condition."

My stomach churns. I knew Kelly was in danger when we were in the forest last night, but the weight of it feels heavier than before. I grab the phone from Bogdan's outstretched hand and stuff it in my pocket. Now that I don't have a pack of vampires on my heels, all my energy is focused on Kelly. The worry is enough to make me sick.

"Thank you for bringing me back."

Bogdan gives a final, fleeting look to Fiona. His fangs are elongated, his hunger returning after a night on the run. His angular features catch the light when he tilts his head towards me. He doesn't acknowledge my gratitude, but I don't really expect him to.

"Be safe, ok?" I whisper and am surprised at the genuine concern laced through my words.

Bogdan flinches and backs away from me. "Goodbye, human."

Those are his final words before disappearing into a chaos of grace and speed. My eyes sweep the area a few times, triple checking to see if he'll come back. Do I want him to come back?

I'm not sure.

I was only around my vampire for a night, and the immortal barely deigns me worthy of his company. Yet having him gone brings a new sensation of loss and unease that I wasn't expecting. Is that how it is between a vampire and their consort? Do other consorts feel any type of connection with their vampire?

"Finn? Is that you? Finn!"

Fiona's pink slippers scuffle over the cement of the patio. Even from here I can tell she hasn't slept all night. Her eyes are wide with terror and worry as she squints down at me. I offer up a weak wave of confirmation.

Each step feels heavier than the last while I make my way up to the apartment complex. It's one thing to arrive here without Kelly. It's another to openly admit that the reason I'm here alone is because I abandoned him.

Fiona meets me on the second staircase. She flings her small arms around me and begins to sob. When she nuzzles into my chest, I get a faint waft of coconut and stale cigarette smoke from her hair. Fiona is an ex-smoker, but on rare occasion she still succumbs to the urge of the nicotine stick, as I like to call them.

Her wails of cry echo through the stairwell, rippling in spirals down the metal handrail. I've never seen her so upset, not even when Kelly forgot her birthday the first year they were dating. That was another night I smelled cigarette smoke on her hair.

"I'm s-so-so glad you're alright," she sniffles.

"Shhh. It's ok. Let's just get back up to the apartment."

"W-wait. Where's Kelly?"

We stop at the top landing. I glance around the stairwell, suddenly paranoid that someone will hear what I have to say. A security camera is fixed to the top right corner of the wall. It's pointed directly at us, waiting with bated breath.

"He'll be home soon," I answer, practicing Bogdan's example of choosing my words carefully. "Let's discuss it when we get inside, alright?"

Fiona pulls away from me with a sniffle. Her blood shot eyes study me. She knows there's something off. I wish it wasn't me who had to tell her about everything that happened last night. Even if Kelly's alive and well, I'm not sure she'll ever forgive me for leaving him behind.

"C'mon," I say again, opening the door and urging her through first. "We have a lot to talk about."

______________

I tell her everything. Well, almost everything. I leave out the odd moments of normalcy (or in my mind, intimacy) shared between Bogdan and me. The rest comes spilling out of my mouth with as many details as I can remember.

I tell her about the hungry vampires just after I dropped Kelly off at the house. I tell her about how the humans have started an uprising, refusing to uphold their role as consort. Then I explain how Bogdan and I barely escaped from a pack of hungry vampires, traveling most of the night in order to go undetected.

By the end of my story, the tears streaking down Fiona's face have all but faded. She sits across from me with a frozen expression, a bite of pancake hanging on the edge of her fork. Drops of syrup slip over the slightly burned pancake crust and fall back onto the plate.

"I'm so sorry, Fiona. I thought he'd be safe. And I would have died out there. I know I should have stayed, but I didn't know what else to do."

"Your vampire," Fiona says quietly. "He brought you back here?"

I nod.

She sets her fork down. "So he knows where we live."

It's stated as a fact, not a question. I open my mouth to object, but nothing comes out. Of course Bogdan knows where we live. He's the one who brought me home safely, isn't he?

"Well, yeah..."

Fiona's cheeks redden and her eyes narrow in frustration. "Finn, do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be alone with a vampire?"

"I do."

"Did you think it was a good idea to spend an entire night with one?"

My defenses spike hearing the accusation in her tone. She's making it seem like I was having the time of my life last night. Besides, with her accusation also comes a dig at Bogdan. Wasn't she the one reassuring me weeks ago that he'd get in touch with me? She was the one defending me and now....what? She hates vampires too?

"He saved me, Fiona. If he didn't help me, I would have been eaten alive. Literally."

Fiona looks away from me and takes a deep breath. She closes her eyes, her nostrils flaring every few seconds. The coloring in her face begins to soften, and she eventually picks up her fork again.

"I'm sorry. Finn, I love you. You're like a brother to me and this is not the time to start bickering. I'm just...I dunno. I'm so angry."

Her fork clatters against the plate.

"I just. I can't believe Kelly allowed you to go with him. He should know better."

I frown and lean forward. "But Fiona, I wanted to go with him. His vampire was hungry and needed a feeding. Kelly said it was urgent. I would never let him go into vampire territory alone."

"I know, sweetie. I know you wouldn't."

Fiona's eyebrows relax into an arched curve of sadness. It's the type of look you'd give an old woman who was trying to find the keys to a car she sold ten years ago.

And suddenly the last half an hour feels wrong.

I spent so much time explaining what happened last night that I really didn't focus on how the information was being received.

Now that I think back on it, Fiona never once looked surprised. She never once looked frightened. She didn't ask many questions along the way, but even the ones she did never pertained to Kelly. It was like Kelly wasn't even a thought in her mind when I rehashed the details from the night before. It was like everything I said...Fiona already knew.

I stare down at my empty plate. Dribbles of leftover syrup stick to its surface, frozen raindrops of maple sugar.

"Fiona," I say with a growing knot in my stomach. "What do you know that I don't?"

Fiona reaches across the table. The warmth of her palm spreads over the coolness of the back of my hand. Her frown deepens.

"I know about the movement, Finn," she whispers. "So does Kelly. We both have for a while."

I jerk my hand away and stare back at her incredulously. "You what?"

Fiona grimaces and stands from her chair. Her nervousness comes out in the form of movement, and she bustles around the kitchen to begin tidying up from breakfast.

"It's been going on for a bit now," she explains. "The movement of revolt, I mean. We heard about it from Professor Adams. He – "

"Wait." I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep breath. "You found out about all of this from Leo?"

Leo – as in the man I've been sleeping with for the past month?

I bite back the second question and swallow it down. It's not like Leo and I are anything serious, but I still figured he would have told me something like this. Was that why he was so curious about me meeting my vampire?

I thought he'd asked out of concern for me, but maybe it was for a different reason entirely. Maybe he was gauging my reaction to see if I'd fit into whatever stupid anti-vampire cult he started.

"We found out about it from Leo, yes," Fiona confirms. "He's one of the people who helped start the revolt in the first place."

"Not surprised."

She pauses to peek at me over her shoulder. "We asked him not to tell you."

It's like the woman can read my mind. I square my jaw, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why not?"

"Because, Finn...you're just so...peaceful. You don't like to cause waves. It's not like we were going out of our way to keep it from you. We just didn't want you getting tangled up in this with the potential of getting hurt."

I slam my fist down onto the table. "And you don't think I could have decided that for myself?"

I'm practically screaming. All of this information is too much. I came here this morning thinking Fiona would be just as confused and scared as I was. I came here thinking the focus would be on Kelly – my best friend who is still in vampire territory without rescue.

Instead this breakfast has taken a drastic turn, and my sense of reality is crumbling by the second.

Fiona grabs my plate and sets it in the sink. Her back is facing me, and I watch her shoulder blades shift as she fidgets with the scrub brush.

"I wanted to tell you," she whispers apologetically. "Kelly was doing it for your own protection. So was Leo. None of us want to see you get hurt."

I think over Fiona's confession, but there's still one piece that doesn't make any sense to me.

"Kelly was going to feed his vampire last night," I say slowly. "I read the text, Fiona. I know that's what was happening. He couldn't have faked that. Why would he go and help his vampire if he's a part of all this?"

Fiona flips the water faucet on and begins washing the dishes. We sit in silence for a while until she has the courage to face me again.

"She hasn't been refusing his blood," Fiona finally admits. "His vampire – she doesn't despise his blood at all. He's been starving her."

My jaw drops.

Fiona glances at the floor, and her pink slippers nervously slap against the tile. "So when he showed you the text about her being hungry, that was real. She was. But he didn't go to feed her..."

The silence is deafening as I piece it all together. When it all starts to make sense, the sudden shift of reality hits me in the chest hard enough to leave me breathless.

"He didn't go to feed her," I repeat in disbelief. "He went to kill her."