Yesterday
The winter wind was harsh, and the sidewalks were icy. I picked my way through the holiday crowds to a large, expensive hotel. I wasn't looking for a room though, I was looking for my heart, and a nice warm spot to sit and keep my misery company. Sounds like an inelegant thing to do, true, but I was feeling particularly sorry for myself at the moment. You'd think that in my long life, I would have practiced more caution, but no, I was as brash and impulsive as I had been in my youth. That's a rather rueful statement when you consider that I've had 350 years to learn better. But then, I was always a poor student. Ah, Jarrett, what have you done now? You've had your heart stamped on. Your supposedly cold, immortal heart. Oh well. Hindsight IS 20/20, as they say. I entered the dinning room of the hotel and hung up my coat, brushing stray snowflakes from my hair as I did so. A little note about myself before I proceed. I believe that it is only proper that we are introduced. My name is Jarrett, as I have mentioned. I did, at one time, have a surname, but it never really belonged to me, and I am not that man anymore, at any rate. I stand at an average hight for today, which was an impressive one in the 1600's. My hair is curling auburn and shoulder length. My eyes are a creamy jade. I am, on the whole, not stunningly handsome, but I have an....aura that attracts people. But that's quite enough about me. I sat at the table, head bowed, ordering nothing. After a while, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.
"Sir, are you all right?" the young waitress was a little taken aback when I turned to look at her. I must have seemed dreadfully ill to her, what with my pale skin and my face drawn as it was in sorrow.
"Yes, I'm fine. I just need to get warm. Thank you for your concern. It was true, the chill wind had cut me like a knife. My tone was gentle, as I did not want her to think she has upset me.
"Let me know if there is anything I can get you."
"I will......"
"Jenny."
"Yes. Thank you, Jenny." She turned and went back to the kitchen. When she was gone, I went up to the register.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"What would you like sir?"
"There is a waitress here, named Jenny." The man shook his head in recognition. "I would like you to see that she gets this." I took an envelope out of my pocket, and slipped in a fifty dollar bill. I took a pen out and wrote 'Jenny, Thank you again for your concern over my well-being. This world needs more people with hearts like yours.' I handed it to the cashier. "And this is for your trouble." I handed him a twenty. "Now will you see that she gets that?"
"Yes sir. Thank you, sir.
"It was no trouble." I went back to my table. In all fairness, I wasn't just sitting there mulling over my own hurt feelings, I was waiting for someone. I knew that he would come, it was only a matter of time. A little while later, just as I had predicted, a figure sat down in the chair across from me. "Daniel."
"What are you doing here, Jarrett? I thought you and Lee were living in Florida now."
"We were." I said sadly. "She left Daniel, she finally went."
"You knew she would. They always do. Jarrett, you can't show someone the kind of power you posses, and expect them to settle for just a taste. It drives them mad."
"That's what Lee said. I was making her crazy. That's why she had to leave."
"Jarrett, she won't survive." His voice was a hushed whisper. "She's not human anymore, you know that. She's a worse abomination than we are, for Christ's sake!"
"Than you are. I'm worse than she is. By miles."
"You forget yourself. Just because your powers shadow those of whom have lived for twice as long as you, does not mean you are wiser. You are headstrong, impulsive, and reckless. You don't think!"
"I know, I know." I sighed. "I've done it again. I need to talk to Alejó, if he'll see me."
"You think he'll be upset?"
"What? At me? For making Lee suffer as I have? Nooooo..."
"Cut the sarcasm, Jarrett. This is serious. If I were you, I would be worried. The Old Ones might be able to destroy you."
"Again, I have already thought of this. But I don't care. I really don't. Of course I love life, and I am so good at being bad, it's just that I love Lee, and I don't want to see her suffer. The best way to save her may be for me to die. If I'm not here to taunt her..."
"She'd go mad anyway." Daniel continued to protest my point. I sat there and watched him. His cobalt eyes, curling lashes, short white-blond hair. He was, undoubtedly the most beautiful vampire I had ever made. He was my triumph, and possibly my heir. I had found Daniel starving in the streets of Paris, and had taken him back to my home in Rome. I fed him, clothed him, and hauled him around with me. I loved him and he never questioned that, he never hated me. He was a reluctant vampire, true, but not a disaster like Janet had been. Ah, Janet. My beautiful monster who had thrown herself to the flames. A tear slid down my cheek, than another. I laid my head in my arms and wept like a fool.
"Jarrett, what's wrong? Shh, quiet. People are beginning to stare! Come on, I'll take you home." My home was a long ways away, so we went instead to Daniel's loft. "Now what was that display in the restaurant about?" he asked.
"I'm sorry I made a scene back there," I said. "I don't know what came over me. I was just thinking.....about Janet. "
"Ah.."
"Don't look at me like that. I know she was a mistake, and I've suffered for it. Every day I suffer for it."
"That's why you love Lee, isn't it? She reminds you of Janet."
"Yes. And I've done it again, only I've made all new mistakes this time. I don't care if the Old Ones do destroy me."
"Don't start on this again, Jarrett. You don't want to die, not really. Look at all you've been through."
I shook my head. "No. I'm going to do it. I'll go into the desert and destroy myself." Now Daniel wept, blood tears spilling down his white cheeks. How childlike he looked. Adolescent still. He had been no more than 17 when I had made him, and yet now boys were men at that age. He was an angel sitting there, an angel made of living marble with two horrid red streaks staining his saint-like face. "Don't cry, Daniel, don't cry." I said, as if consoling a child who had broken a toy. "It's all right. Please forgive me . I'll stay, if you wish. I won't destroy myself." He turned his back on me.
"No. Just go. If it is what you want, then go on, do it. I know you would anyway. You would stay for a while to make me happy, and after a while, you would just disappear. At least this way I'll know what happened to you."
"I'm sorry."
"No, you're not. You're never sorry. That's why I like you so much. You may have regrets, but given a chance, you wouldn't change a thing."
"True. You know me too well, Daniel. That alone is reason to leave this life. I don't surprise you anymore."
He chuckled at that. "Is that it then, Jarrett? You've run out of tricks, so now the eternal joker wishes to hang up his bells?"
"Ha! Never! I just do not wish to cause more suffering. I always do, no matter how unintentional. It is that fact which pains me most. No matter what good I do, it turns out wrong."
"That's not true. You make me happy, is that wrong? Lee, well, you made some mistakes with her. But for awhile she was happy, too. She would be dead without you , anyway. Perhaps you'll be forgiven. Hell, we all make mistakes." He paced around the room again. His sheer beauty kept distracting me. Damn. How could I concentrate, make my point, when he kept looking at me like that? I sighed and brushed a lock of hair out of my eyes.
"Fine. You've convinced me. Hell, I might even be able to save lee. Redeem her soul. I miss her. She made me human again, in a way. She used to sleep in my arms, you know. I never liked her to do it. I was afraid I would hurt her, but she insisted. I miss that now. I miss everything...." I was crying once again. Is this how it was to be human? I wasn't sure. I had never been truly human.
"Jarrett, you and Lee never....did you?"
"Goodness no. I don't think it's even possible. I may still have some human blood in these veins, but make no mistake, I am NOT human."
"Funny, isn't it? You're the half-blood, and yet, I'm a full vampire."
"No, not strange. The difference in me is....genetic. I have been reading up on scientific things. Because my mother was a vampire, I somehow inherited this. But not fully."
"I'm afraid I don't understand. Perhaps if you told me more....."
"Daniel, can it be? After all these years, I've never told you how I came to be?"
"No, never. I believe that in the early years, you were afraid to be discovered. I knew you were the half-blood, but after the confusion in New Orleans..."
"Ah, have a seat my friend. It is a story I have longed to tell in a full and proper manner. Not the way it came out in New Orleans. " I settled into my chair, and sipped a glass of wine, one of the few things I could stomach. "It begins, of course, before I was born. My mother was a woman of some standing at court, despite the fact that she was a courtesan. She had taken, as a lover, a most dubious man of the night. He was changing her slowly, without her knowledge. She was almost fully one of us when I was conceived. I have no inkling as to who my father was, no one did, I'm sure. My mother died in bearing me. It was quite horrific, I'm told. Me struggling to live, her struggling to die." I sat back and looked at him for a moment. "The coven knew of me, knew what I was. My mother's family took me to Rome. I discovered my true nature by myself. I had no teacher. And I hid, because I knew that I would be killed for being an abomination amongst abominations. You saw how they feared me. I could not knowingly bring another being such as myself into this world." I shook my head sadly. Lee and I had had such dreams, but normality was not for us. And now she was gone. I loved her, truly, and didn't wish to see her come to harm.
"How did Lee leave, Jarrett? Did she just walk away?" Daniel asked in a quiet tone. I could tell that he had no wish to upset me.
Two months ago
The beach house was lovely. Decorated in a cool, casual manner. Light linen and cotton fabrics, typical sea-side decor. The bedroom shuttered windows (to keep out the sun). A large bed with a canopy of soft mosquito netting. The furniture was plain, and on the whole, the room had a airy feel. The rest of the house was likewise. There was a small but functional kitchen, and a nice sitting room. Off the back of the house was a deck and patio, with a small walled in garden There were palms along with fragrant orange and lemon trees. There was an abundance of blooming flowers. But now, in the middle of winter, there was nothing but the white-capped waves pounding the deserted beach under a bleak gray sky. I could here the lonely cry of gulls as I backed away from the window, and the rising sun. I moved to the bedroom, but the loneliness was unbearable. She had left, and no amount of anger or regret was going to change it. I sat down heavily on the bed, the events of just hours earlier replaying in my head. It had started, as these thing usually do, with a fight.
"Why can't I come with you? You always used to let me. What's changed?"
"I have, you have. Our relationship....it's evolved into more than it was back then, Lee. I care about you and I don't want to see you hurt. These people, they don't like me, and I don't trust them. They could try to use you against me."
"I still don't see how things have changed. Since New Orleans, they have known all about us. Or have you forgotten that they tried to condemn you for that too?"
I sighed. "I haven't forgotten. Look," I said, gathering her in my arms. "I'll just see to this one thing, and then I'm all yours."
"Really?" She asked, a wicked grin spreading across her face.
"Within reason, Lee. You know that."
She stared at me angrily. "Oh, of course. Your rules." She said sarcastically. "I'm your ever humble servant."
I shook my head sadly. "It's going to be one of those nights, isn't it?"
"And just WHAT is that supposed to mean?"
"You're going to be difficult."
"Yes I am." She snapped. "If you have a problem with it, you know where the door is."
I pulled her to me again. "Look at us. Fighting like an old married couple. What ever am I going to do with you?"
"I can think of a couple of things.."
"Enough!" She jumped a little and backed away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice. " I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back in a bit. Then we can walk on the beach, whatever you want." Lee kept silent this . She glared for a moment, pulled away, and turned her back on me.
"Yeah, well, maybe I have plans."
"That's fine too." I left the house quietly, with her standing at the window, staring out at the turmoiltus sea. When I came back, the bags were already packed. She had left before, but it had always been spur of the moment, whatever she could gather before she stormed out. This was different. I panicked, and when I panic, I forget all that I have learned. "S'il vous plaît, je n'ai pas voulu crier. Je vous aime. Ne allez pas." [Please, I didn't want to shout. I love you. Don't go.]
"Speak English, Jarrett. I don't know French. One of the many things you never bothered to teach me." she slammed more bags down next to the door.
"But where will you go?"
"Away from you. I can't stay with someone who hates me so much. You must hate me, otherwise you'd never treat me this way." She was gone with a slamming of the door. So I sat in the last few minutes before sleep overcame me, thinking over her words. Hate her? How could she think that. I loved her, I had told her....I hadn't. I'd never told her except that one instance, and she hadn't understood. "God! I don't believe it! I never told her!" Then the sun rose over the horizon, and I sank into oblivion.
Yesterday
Daniel watched me in wide eyed amazement. "And you just sat there, wallowing in your own pity, for two months? You didn't go to her, or come to me?"
"I-I had never been dumped before. What can I say? In some ways, I'm too human for my own good."
"Still, I don't see what paralyzed you so."
"Fear. She left, and I feared that if I found her, she would have started a real life. Like the one she always dreamed of. That, and my nightmares."
"Nightmares?"
"Yes. Did you know that there have been attempts to make other half-bloods?"
Daniel shook his head. "They wouldn't...."
"They have. Truly abhorrent. Those poor women. Sometimes they're ripped apart from the inside out. They never live. And the monstrosities, terrifying. They're killed at sunrise. I dream that it's Lee..."
"And you wouldn't want to wish that on her." Daniel shivered. His normally pale face was white. "God, the animals. The coven, we were right to destroy it, weren't we?"
"Yes. If we had failed, I perish to think what they would have done to us, to Lee."
"I can imagine. Do you know where she is?"
"I haven't the heart to look for her. Daniel, could you find her? Look out for her?"
"I'll try. But if she moves by day..."
"I doubt she will. She was a nocturnal creature even before I met her."
"I'll go look for her, but you have to promise you'll stay here. No wandering off into deserts, got that?"
"I've 'got it'."
"Why don't you go see Alejó, do something with yourself. Just don't get into any trouble, hear?" He shook a finger at me.
"Who me? Never." I placed my hand over my heart. "Scout's honor."
"You were never a Scout."
" Hmm...You have a point there..." He just grinned and walked out.
Present
She had wandered up and down the same blocks for hours. There wasn't anything in London she hadn't done. The night life was dull to her, but that was because she has been here with Him. He was all she thought about. She could see him, dark auburn hair curling around his shoulders, jade-green eyes flashing. She could here his laughter. She entered another noisy club, just to occupy herself. She wouldn't sleep tonight, or again for awhile. The emptiness of her hotel room was just too much at the moment. That was why she was there, crowded in the dark with hot, sweaty bodies moving in rhythm to the pounding music. Eventually, she found her way out of the busy night streets into the cool green spaces, almost devoid of life at this time of night. She sat on the bank of the river, thinking. She briefly brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She stopped, wrapped it around her finger and gave it a tug. It was chestnut now, with burgundy undertones. It had been dyed purple when she had met him, wandering the streets of New York, cold, hungry and alone. At the time he had seemed like a guardian angel, watching over her. He kept her fed, kept her warm, had helped her kick the addiction that was slowly eating away at her. He had redeemed her, returned her to innocence. An angel. Ha. It really was quite humorous, now that she thought about it. An angel born in hell, perhaps. She stood up and glanced about. There was no one around. A scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet popped into her head. Juliet had just learned of Tybalt's death at Romeo's hand. "O serpent heart hid with a flow'ring face! Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave? Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical! Dove-feathered raven, wolvish-ravening lamb! Despiséd substance of devinist show! Just opposite of what thou justly seem'st- a damnéd saint, an honorable villain. O, nature, what hast thou to do in hell when thou didst bower the spiret of a fiend in mortal paridise of such sweet flesh? Was ever book containing such vile matter so fairly bound? O that decit should dwell in such a gorgeous palace!" She quoted. That was Jarrett, all right. a damnéd saint. She missed him terribly, she really did. Perhaps she could work on her feelings, get herself to stop thinking that she was being denied. He was, after all, just preserving her humanity. Such a precious thing to him. Perhaps that was because he had never had any. But how could she help but be envious at what he had? She knew he was different from the others, that she would never be what he was, but that didn't matter. A part of her wanted that power. The same part of her that had left her an addict, walking the streets in the dark. She shivered in the cold, and zipped her jacket against the wind. Maybe she could defeat that part of her personality, and find some happiness, weird as it might be. Some people dreamt of white picket fences, she dreamt of ....well, she wasn't sure, but she knew alone wasn't it. Never alone. And yet here she was. She headed back in the direction of her hotel. All this walking had made her thirsty. She needed a drink. She rambled on slowly, taking in the night sounds. The low pulse of music from the distant clubs throbbed in the darkness. She sat for a moment on the sidewalk, back against a brick building. She pressed her cheek to the cool wall. "I was a fool, Jarrett, Come back to me, come find me." She murmured to herself. There was a sound somewhere down the deserted street. She got to her feet, knowing that she wasn't safe here, and continued on her way to the hotel. The room was large, with a fireplace, a kitchenette, and a bath with whirlpool tub and shower. She lit the fire and, filled the tub and made a call to room service. There was a knock on the door a few moments later, and she brought the chilled bottle of red wine into the bathroom, remembering to put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door. If she did sleep, she didn't want to be awoken by the maid at nine. She was still on a nocturnal schedule. She set up her portable CD player and attached the small speakers she had to it. She slipped in the CD, and cued it to play her favorite song first. Where most would have opted for Vivaldi or Bach, she listened to David Bowie's greatest hits. Slowly the deep base beat filled the room, pounding out a rhythm like a heartbeat.
"See these eyes so green, I can stare for a thousand years, colder than the moon. It's been so long, and I've been putting out the fire....with gasoline!"
The beat suddenly picked up.
"See these eyes so red, red like jungle burning bright. Those who feel me near, pull the blinds and change their minds. You've been so long. Well it's been so long, I've been putting out the fire with gasoline, putting out the fire with gasoline.
See these eyes so green, I can stare for a thousand years. Just be still with me, you wouldn't believe what I've been through. You've been so long. Well it's been so long, And I've been putting out the fire with gasoline, putting out the fire with gasoline.
See these tears so blue, an ageless heart that can never mend. These tears can never dry, judgment made can never bend.
Well it's been so long......."
The song moved into the end chorus, and she sank down a little deeper into the warm water. She sipped her wine. She missed Jarrett, and listening to that song only made it worse. Her whole body ached for him. Had he been here, he would have washed her back for her, her hair, living on those small intimacies. She always insisted on sleeping in the same bed with him, even though he thought it was dangerous. There was no telling what he could do to her in his sleep if he thought she was a threat. But she insisted. She needed the small comforts she was afforded. It wasn't that his passion for her was lacking, that certainly wasn't a problem. It was his uncertainty, his doubt and worry that kept them apart. She sighed. Sometimes she wished he was a full vampire, it would have made things easier. One can learn to live with an impossibility. This.... was just unfair. But so was life. The CD ended, and the water had grown cold. She glanced at the wine bottle. Half-empty. She got out a toweled herself off, slid into a black silk nightgown and robe, and settled herself by the fire. Maybe the wine would help her sleep. she doubted it, though. After a while she gave up and turned out the lights. As she crawled into the bed, she could almost feel him there in the room with her. She quietly cried herself to exhaustion, and sleep, in the dim morning hours. ***
Daniel retreated in the growing dawn. Lee had been easy to track. She has Jarrett's blood in her, as he did. They were like opposite ends of a magnet, all he had to do was concentrate to find her. It had only taken a night to get to London, and from there it was a simple matter to track her down. She didn't have the faintest idea that he was there. Once, he had tripped, and the sound reverberated down the empty street, but she hadn't investigated. He would seek her out tomorrow night, try to talk to her. She was important to Jarrett, and that made her important to him. Besides, she was a nice person, if a little crazy at times. He didn't know if she'd listen, but it was worth a try. ***
The room was dark save for the light of a few candles burning on the side-bar. He was here, she could feel it. Her pulse quickened as she made her way through the room. There he was. Jarrettstood in the doorway, comfortably leaning against the door-jamb. He smiled at her, teeth flashing. How had he found her? Suddenly the earth seemed to give way, the motion sickening her. When she opened her eyes, she was kneeling on the floor. She gasped. Jarrettlay face down, blood spreading out around him in a pool of crimson that glinted in the candlelight. It stained her skin, and in her fist was clenched a knife.
"No! Oh, God! NO!"
Lee sat up with a jolt, heart beating at a frenzied pace. "Just a dream," she whispered, "just a dream."
The cold was biting. I knew why Alejó had chosen to live here in the mountains. It was a natural defense. Anyone who wanted to reach him had to travel by foot, and the cold weakened them. If they were looking for a fight, the odds were stacked against them. They would be fatigued and bone-cold, Alejó would be warm and well rested. Good strategy, though coming from Alejó it was hardly surprising. When I finally reached the summit, I stood in awe for a moment. The house was carved right out of the gray granite face, and I was sure the house extended far into the mountain itself. There were two immense wooden doors at the front, which I walked towards. I took the heavy, cold knocker in my hand and raped twice on the door. He would know it was me. After a moment the door opened slowly.
"Sometimes dreams are all to real," a voice spoke from the shadows. The figure stepped forward.
For one frantic moment, she thought she was still asleep. Still dreaming. Then she recognized Daniel. "Wha-What are you doing here?"
"Jarrettis like a father to me. Is my father, in a way. And that makes you my surrogate mother."
"Enough with the damn riddles."
He sighed. "I'm doing what every good son does. Looking out for you. You and Jarrettare fighting. Why?"
"Fighting? Oh, were past that stage." She said cruelly. "I'm tired of beginning treated like a child. I can't imagine that Jarrettwould care what I'm doing."
"That's not true. I just talked with him."
"And he sent you to check up on me. How touching."
"He asked me to come, true, but not for the reason you think. He cares for you a great deal. You mean a lot to him. To me."
And I should care, why, exactly? Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want to live like this anymore? That I might want to escape the nightmare my life has become?"
Daniel ignored her anger. She wasn't being very rational, which really didn't surprise him. Jarrettwas just too close to the situation to see what was happening. But how was he supposed to tell him that the woman he loved was going ever so slowly out of her mind? "Come with me, Lee. We'll sort this out, talk it over. We'll see what can be mended.
He stood in the doorway, shining like the archangel Gabriel, hallowed in the firelight. "Jarrett."
"Alejó. Let me come in. I need your help."
"Another problem, Jarrett?" He stepped aside to let me enter.
"Yes, as always. You remember Lee."
"Your mortal lover."
"She's not a lover, not really."
"The words do not matter. I saw you in New Orleans. Saw how you felt about her. That is enough."
I sighed. "I wish it were that simple. Why is it everyone knows how I feel except her? We, we're separated, I guess the term is." She went off two months ago, left me in Florida. I don't really understand it all. Lee was always a little 'unbalanced', but she was never this way. What is wrong with her?"
Alejo chuckled a little. "Well, for one thing, Lee is getting older. She probably feels that life is catching up with her, while you stay forever young."
"Lee is not old. She's only 27, for God's sake!"
"That's nine years older than when she met you. Most people are getting married, starting families. What does she have with you? You don't satisfy all her needs. You care for her, but one cannot live on feelings alone."
"We have no connection. We're on opposite sides of a glass wall, we can see each other but are always at arm's length. Is that it?"
"In part. Physically, and emotionally, there is a part of her that wants what those other people have. A marriage, a family."
"A family?"
I must have looked alarmed, because Alejó chuckled again. "Precisely. Things you cannot give her." Abruptly, his face turned solemn. "I have news as well." His voice was grave.
Daniel bought Lee dinner, but she wasn't particularly hungry. The salmon fillet was too salty, but the tomatoes and pasta were okay. She had eaten some of it, to make him happy, but was now only picking at it. He just sat and watched her. She set down her fork and pushed the plate away with a sigh. "Now what do you want to talk about?"
"About you and Jarrett. Why do you think he hates you?"
"I....it's...well he doesn't really spend time with me anymore. We used to do lots of things. We went all over the world, he and I. But after New Orleans, he seemed satisfied to simply sit in the beach house. I'm a restless person, Daniel, I don't like to stay in one place. Jarrett used to be like that too. Now....." Her voice trailed off in uncertainty.
"That's not all, is it?"
She blushed a little. "He used to, well, you know..." He just looked at her. She leaned forward across the table and whispered, "The little drink. You know!"
"I suppose I do. You said he changed after New Orleans. That is understandable. Jarretthas always been a loner, an outsider, as it were. In New Orleans, it was rubbed in his face." Daniel remembered well that hellish time not long ago when they thought they would all die. But Jarretthad found a strength inside himself, that, along with his love for Lee and Daniel and Alejó's help, had destroyed the Coven, and saved them all. "Maybe you need to tell him that, to let him know that you miss that part of him. I do not like to see him brooding, either." There was a gleam showing in Lee's eyes. A gleam that he hadn't been there before. It was hope. "We'll go back to New York. Jarrettshould be waiting for us."
A day had passed, and I was still stunned. What could I do? Sit and wait for Daniel and Lee. He had called late the previous night, saying that he was brining Lee back with him Lee had already been asleep, so we hadn't talked. It had been near dawn here in New York. They were flying in tonight, and time was on our side, as they traveled with the setting sun. I had practiced what I was going to say, but it was lost when the door burst open and Lee came running towards me. I grabbed her and spun her around as one might a small child. Then I just held her close. "Miss me?" She said as she buried her face in my shoulder. I set her down and took her chin in my hand, staring into her charcoal eyes. "Yes." I bent down and kissed her briefly on the lips. Then I straightened up. My face must have become very somber, because she asked "What's wrong?" I looked at her, then at Daniel. "They've reformed the Coven."
To Be Continued.....