Chapter 6

Tyrus looks at Lilia as she goes up the stairs. Once she had left, he let out a deep sigh, placing his head on the backrest of the couch and covering his eyes with his hands. What a day it has been!

"Some day huh," says Damion, "by the way, did you know the vampire who attacked Lilia?"

"I think I do, and I have been trying to remember where I've seen him, but I can't recall." Brent pauses and then says, "Anyway, tell me about what you guys saw. Anything worthwhile?"

"Very," says Tyrus as he sits back up, all alert, "it was one of those full moon ritual attacks, just as we had suspected, but they weren’t Carl’s. It was some other clan. You know what this means”

“That there is one more clan which has joined the ranks of Carl,” says Brent in a tone of disgust.

“Exactly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been allowed to hunt in the area.”

“This isn’t turning out to be a good show,” says Damion, “the more werewolves that join Carl, the less we have left to persuade otherwise, and the numbers on the latter side are already thin. If he somehow manages to complete the ritual, then there would be nothing more that we would be able to do.”

“But what do you think this last ingredient that he wants is, before he comes looking for you?” Brent asks Damion.

“I don’t know. He already has the Alexandrite stone with the spell cast on it. Then, there is this second ingredient he is looking for that we don’t know, and then there is the third one which I have, but he doesn’t know.”

“If only we could reach the second one before him somehow, and destroy or hide it....” Tyrus muses.

They all sit there thinking things over. Finally, Brent says, "We can't do anything about the ingredients right now, but we can still do something about persuading people not to join him. I say we take some rest, it has been a long day, and a lot of things have happened. We will start tomorrow, afresh." 

The other two murmur an agreement and all of them get up and start to walk toward their bedrooms. 

* 

Brent starts walking up the stairs. The other two have their rooms on the ground floor. He turns left at the top of the stairs thinking about everything that had happened in the last couple of hours, but no matter what he thinks about, his thoughts circle back to Lilia. Her dancing close to him, their lips almost touching, and then the kiss, the feel of her soft lips. 

He tries to brush these thoughts aside. Even if she had felt something for him before, even a little bit, he knew that would have changed now that she knows who he is. Thinking so stings his heart. He wants her to feel something for him. He wants to feel her close to him again, but he knows that would probably never happen again. 

He sits on the edge of the bed with his hands on his knees and his head in his hands. After a few minutes, he looks at the clock, it is two o'clock in the morning, then glances out of the window, at the full moon. He gets up, unlocks the door to the balcony, and steps outside. It is a beautiful night with a light cold breeze. 

He is looking at the moon when he hears a door open and the sound of someone's footsteps. It is coming from the other side of the balcony, in front of Lilia's room. The mansion has a rounded balcony that goes in a semi-circle around the front of the first floor.  

He walks over to the other side and sees Lilia standing with her hands resting on the railing. She is wearing a light green satin nightdress with a shrug falling off one of her shoulders. Her hair is flowing lightly in the breeze. 

"Can't sleep?" He asks.

She jumps a little in shock.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you"

"It's okay. Yes, I can't sleep. You?"

He shakes his head and walks to stand beside her.

"How did you find me in the alley?" she asks.

"I went inside, and Tasha said you had gone out looking for me, so I went out. You couldn't have gone to the left because I was there, so I went to the right and there you were."

They remain silent for a minute. 

"I am sorry you had to go through that," he says.

"You don't have to be sorry." she turns to look at him, "In fact, I am thankful that you were there otherwise, I would have been dead." 

He looks at her intently.

"It scared the crap out of me seeing you like that."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why did it scare the crap out of you? It must not be the first time you saw someone being attacked".

"No, It wasn't."

"Then?"

"You are my friend and I care about you."

"Is that the only reason?"

She turns towards him completely and steps closer.

"What other reason could there be?" He asks.

"You tell me."

She moves a bit closer.

"You tell me what you feel when I come close to you." she is looking directly into his eyes.

He feels his heart pumping furiously and heat rising on his face.

"I-"

She is very close to him now. He can feel her breath on him. She moves her face back by a centimeter, but he can't control it anymore and presses his lips against hers. She responds with the same vigor. He places one of his hands behind her as the other one moves up into her hair, pressing her closer to him. 

Her lips feel so soft, and he feels her tongue exploring his mouth. She frees her hands from behind him and moves them down to unbutton his shirt. He removes her shrug and can almost feel her skin through the thin material. He turns her around, moving her hair to the front, kissing the side and the nape of her neck while his hands massage her hardened breast through her dress. 

She turns back around, and he pushes her back against the wall, nibbling on her ears and kissing all over her neck. She reaches down to unbutton his pants as he moves his hands under her dress, massaging her inner thighs. 

But then he steps away suddenly, "No!"

"What happened? What is wrong?" she whispers.

"This is wrong. I can't do this, you are human and I am a vampire."

"And I want you" she moves closer to him.

He steps back.

"No Lilia, I can't do this. This is not right. I am leading you on, blinded by my feelings for you. You and me, this is not right, and it cannot happen.

"But-"

"No, Lilia. I am extremely sorry, I shouldn't have started this. I am sorry. I should go." He turns around and leaves. 

* 

Lilia stands there for a few minutes trying to wrap her head around everything. She didn't understand what was so wrong about her wanting to be with Brent. Slowly, she picks up her shrug and goes back into her room.

The next morning, it takes her a few seconds to fully realize why she is feeling so anxious. Soon, the events of yesterday flood her mind: the attack, the vampires, werewolves, witches, and Brent. Her heart squeezes as she thinks about him. She has decided that she is not going to tolerate this behavior. She will go down and talk to him. She will tell him what she wants and ask him what he wants so that she can put this behind her. 

She gets out of bed, freshens up, and goes downstairs. Damion and Tyrus are sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast.

"Good morning," she says.

"Good morning"

Both of them turn to look at her closely.

"How are you feeling?" Damion asks.

"I feel okay"

"So, you are okay staying with us?" asks Tyrus.

"Of course, I am okay staying with my friends," she smiles, "even if they turn into wolves occasionally." 

Both of them laugh.

She fills her glass with orange juice, sits beside them, and says, "You guys took me in when I was at my lowest, and have been helping me since to build a life that I deserve. Not once in the past two years have I felt that I am not safe with you. You have shown me love, care, kindness, and empathy. It would be very ungrateful of me to turn my back on all of that just because you chose to hide your true identity due to a valid fear of not being accepted."  

She looks at both of them, then gets up and hugs them.

"Thank you for trusting me with your truth."

"Thank you for accepting us without judgment," says Tyrus.

"Well, that's a great start to the day!" exclaims Damion, "Hope it continues that way. Come Ty, let's go, we have work to do."

"Where is Brent?" Lilia asks casually.

"He went out early. Said he had some work to do, and he would probably be back late in the night."

"Oh, okay."

She waves both of them goodbye and sits back on the dining chair. He left early and would be back late. Does he really have work to do, or is he trying to avoid her after what happened last night?

"Well, let's find out."

She takes out her mobile phone and calls his number.

The bell rings.

He doesn't pick up.

This is the first time in two years that he has not picked up her call. She could think of scenarios in which he could be busy, but it was hard to believe. 

If this is how he is going to act, she thinks, then two can play this game.