The Vampire Queen's Resurrection

CHAPTER FIVE: CRAVINGS

Aaliyah grimaced comically at the comment. “Well, technically I am her,” she joked mirthlessly. Sifting her hand through her hair to disentangle the mess, she hid her turmoil effectively. Without looking at Emir, she picked up a brush and started to comb through it and unravel the knots one by one.

He didn’t move for a long time, just stood at the door watching her with glowing eyes. Although his posture was casual, with his shoulder propped against the door frame, she was not fooled. The tension in the air was so tangible that she could cut through it with a knife.

She swallowed hard continuing with her menial task, pretending he wasn’t there. There was a gush of wind, and he appeared right in front of her in a flash which made her jump back with her hand on her throat.

The brush landed on the floor with a thud as she reigned in her fear with great difficulty. Her heart thundered in her chest, and she stared in the predator’s eyes in front of her with trepidation. It was queer - standing in front of a hunter whose nostrils were flaring like he was having a hard time controlling himself.

Fear and excitement caught up with her at the same time, causing a rush of heat to invade her. There it was again, that insane craving of feeling his skin, of smelling him, of tasting him. It was so potent that she could literally taste him on her tongue, but she couldn’t remember anything.

“You look like her. You smell like her. But you’re nothing like her,” he replied enigmatically.

“Is that a compliment or an insult?” she ventured boldly, and she was unable to hear herself over the loud poundings of her heart.

His nose inched close to her cheek, and she had the notion that he was sniffing her. She didn’t move as she waited for his answer or for his attack. “What do you think?”

Aaliyah’s heart somersaulted in her chest in a full swing. To be honest, she wasn’t sure whether he was flirting with her, or trying to resist her. Then, with horror she realized that she was a human, while he was a vampire.

While she’d been thinking of him romancing her, he was merely having a hard time trying not to snap her neck and feed from her! Oh crap! She gulped.

“I…I think that it’s a good thing,” she babbled nervously, her eyes wandering frantically towards the door as she tried to sidestep him. “I…I…mean you don’t seem a big fan of the old Aaliyah, so I figured…” She swallowed hard again.

“I can read your mind,” he simply stated, making her stop in her futile attempt. Her fingers dug at her back as she maintained her position without flinching. But she winced when his hand came up, and she belatedly understood that it was only to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you scared of me?”

Terrified, she wanted to say, but why poke the bear? “A bit,” she attempted lightly, choking on the lump which had lodged at the base of her throat.

His hand traveled to her cheek and lingered there in a light caress.

Another dart of fright mixed with ecstasy rushed through her causing butterflies to roll through her stomach. She had the impression that he was toying with her, exactly the same way a predator would with a prey before going for the kill.

“You should be,” he said slowly, and just like that all trace of fear vanished. A deep intrinsic instinct was telling her that she could trust that man, that he would never harm her. Which was ridiculous considering he’d just confessed that he was craving her and that she should be afraid.

“Do you want to drink my blood?” she asked boldly.

A flash of surprise appeared in his pupils, and a tug pulled at the corner of his lips in that tilted sexy crooked smile. “I am tempted,” he replied suavely. “After a long time.”

She blinked in stunned reaction. “What do you mean? How long?”

He sighed. “I haven’t drunk human blood for decades. Haven’t been tempted.”

She gasped. “I thought that not feeding usually weakened vampires. Is that true? You don’t seem debilitated though. That’s what Twilight said anyway.”

“Twilight?” Emir questioned with a double take.

“Yah you know that movie about a girl falling in love with a vampire. It was so romantic. But the bad vampires drinking blood were much stronger.”

This time, he couldn’t help it. A laugh escaped him, and it felt like music to her ears. It was raspy like he hadn’t laughed for a long time, and Aaliyah enjoyed the sound. “Aaliyah,” he said with mirth twinkling in his eyes. “You cannot compare us to a movie. Vampires are not some soppy romantic beings. We drink blood for Christ’s sake. Trust me, there’s nothing romantic in that.”

“What do you drink instead?” she kept on asking, wishing he would move away from her. It was difficult to concentrate on the questions when he was practically breathing down her neck. But she was hesitant to break the newly found coziness between them.

“Animal blood most of the time. But don’t kid yourself into believing that I am some sort of reformed good vampire. I was responsible for a lot of c*****e in the past. I turned to animal blood when I realized that I was strong enough to sustain without killing innocents.”

“Was I on a blood diet as well?”

Another chortle seemed to come out of him forcefully. “A blood diet?” he repeated in a cheerful tone. “I never thought I would laugh at that. But no. You were never on a blood diet. In fact, you were a very dedicated vampire, and that was the main cause of conflict between us.”

“Ah,” she drawled knowingly.

He frowned. “Ah? Is that all you’re going to say?” he asked in a befuddled tone.

Aaliyah shrugged. “What do you want me to say? Every time I ask questions, you clamp me up. Like I’m a child you need to protect. But then you hate that other version of me with such a deep intensity that I can’t figure out what’s going on with you exactly. So, I’ll say ‘ah!’”

His eyes roamed over her face with interest. “I don’t hate you. I could never,” he eventually replied with careful elaboration.

She rolled her eyes at his succinct reply like a child. All that mystery was driving her crazy, but she had to admit inwardly that it was part of his allure. His enigmatic personality was what was keeping her intrigued.

“So, what’s your deal then?” she asked hesitantly. His face was still practically hovering over hers with that predatory gleam in his vampire eyes. She must be demented still standing near a vampire who’d just confessed that he was tempted to drink her blood. But her feet felt like stuck to the ground as she was inebriated by his expensive cologne.

His hand moved over her cheek in an almost tender gesture, brushing her soft skin like he was cherishing her. “My deal is that I am not letting this version of you clouding my mind. I know very well. At some point, you will have your memory back..,” the rest of his words trailed in the air.

His eyes darkened to an amber liquid color, and she sucked in a breath at the anguish she could perceive there.

“Was I so bad?” she couldn’t help blurting out.

The hand dropped from her face, and she leant on at the loss of the warmth. “No, you weren’t. Let’s just say that the circumstances weren’t in our favor back then. The reason I’m keeping things away from you is that I believe the lesser you know, the better it will be.”

“Better for who? You or me?”

He regarded her with another deep stare. “Better for both of us. We’re too far gone to rehash the past now. I won’t be keeping you here for long. I’ve already contacted my acquaintance for your fake papers.”

The words seemed to break through the illusion that she’d been having in her head. What was she? A teenager who was hankering for the attention of a man who was clearly not interested in her? Was it really her fault? Or was he the one blowing hot one moment, blowing cold the next?

Whatever it was, she was done playing that game with him. If he wanted to keep the mystery over their past relationship or her previous persona, she was not going to beg for information.

“Yeah, I really need those papers if I want to maintain some credibility in this world. Once I’ll have them, I’ll be out of your way as fast as possible,” she informed briskly, and moved away from him.

He was quicker, He grabbed her arms when she was about to move, pinning her against the wall behind her as she struggled to escape. “Stop it!” she shouted angrily. “I am not a toy that you can play with.”

“Aaliyah…,” he began in warning.

She tried to break free from his grasp, but he held on to firmly to her with his vampire strength. “Let me go!” she wriggled against his grip frustratedly. “If you don’t want me around, then fine! I don’t think I need you to take care of me.”

He didn’t release her. “You never needed me to look out for you. Al, you were the strongest vampire, stronger than even me. You don’t need me to take care of you. Despite the loss of your powers, you’re no damsel in distress. I know you will survive if I leave you on your own. This is not what this is about.”

“Then, what is this all about?” she loathed the tears which she could not repress. “You’re not letting me go, but you don’t hide the fact that you are not happy with me staying here. What am I supposed to do? You tell me! Do I have to tolerate your hatred towards me and pretend that I don’t care?”

He seemed taken aback at her assault. “You care?”

She sighed in a deflated way, wiping away the moisture impatiently. “I thought you could read minds. Of course I care! I don’t know what happened between us in the past. I don’t even know what happened to me! Hell, only yesterday, you told me that I was killed. You think this is easy for me?”

The air left his body in such a rush that it felt like a deflated balloon as he pressed his forehead against her. Every cell in her body should have revolted against his touch, but she felt her body melting against his. It was the desperation in his eyes which was her undoing.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I am only thinking about this of my own perspective. Which is selfish. I am really sorry. Alright, here’s the deal. It’s not true that I don’t like having you around. Truth is that I love it too much.”

She didn’t respond when he paused, not giving him an inch for his odious behavior. He seemed to read her defiance for he went on. “The problem is that I think that the one or ones who killed you are still out there. I never managed to find out the culprit. When I inquired about the infamous night you died, I realized that a few things didn’t match up. So, I’m afraid that if they know that you’re alive and without powers, they will attempt to murder you once again.”

Her mouth dropped open – why hadn’t she thought of that?

“That’s why it’s not only important to give you a new identity, but also to hide you from the world. I’ll find a safe place for you soon, and we will shift there and lay low for a while.”

She breathed in deeply as her heart soared when he mentioned that he was not leaving her alone after all.

“Without your powers, you are defenseless. And they might be vampires who would crave for your life. You have the most powerful vampire bloodline remaining alive, and powers or not, you still have the same blood. Many would kill for a mere drop.”