A VOW TO KILL

Chapter 2

A gasp escaped Dalinda. His touch sent a shiver down her spine as the ice-cold grip of his hands lingered. He'd already stepped back, creating distance between them, but she mirrored the move, taking a step of her own just to be sure he wasn’t close.

Looking up, she was met with golden brown eyes on a breathtaking, handsome face. She blinked and took him all in from head to toe. The man was at least six feet tall. He wore a suit. Dalinda did a double take, what kind of an i***t wears a suit in this weather? she thought to herself with a frown. But then she remembered his touch and the cold that had felt like a burn and she knew exactly what kind.

She looked him up and down one more time. The man was lean but not skinny. He had broad shoulders that accentuated the perfection of the expensive suit. That was all she could tell about his build under that gray suit he wore.

With a face reminiscent of a movie star, he sported a well-defined jawline adorned with a stylish five o'clock shadow. His pitch-black hair, a few inches in length, cascaded in curls over his head. The man was undeniably handsome, Dalinda begrudgingly acknowledged. And he exuded a certain charm that was hard to overlook.

He was staring at her with wide-eyed shock. She knew it was her body temperature that had set him off. Just like her, he couldn’t have missed such a telling sign. Alarm bells rang in her head. Her fight-or-flight instinct suddenly made her heart beat faster. She had a pretty good idea of what would happen next.

Regardless of the danger she knew she was in, she lifted her chin in a challenge. “What is your problem?” her voice came out more hostile than she had intended but it could not be helped.

Cain blinked, taken aback by the raw hostility she was dishing out. He had experienced different first-time reactions from ladies over the years but this was the first time one openly despised him at first sight.

However, despite her foul attitude, she was beautiful, just as he had suspected she would be. But she was glaring at him. Cain quickly collected his thoughts and responded to her question. “Excuse me, but you bumped into me.”

“And you just happened to be standing right there?” Before he could respond she went on. “And do you just go around touching people without their permission?”

Cain’s mouth fell open, he could not understand what her problem was. He had done nothing wrong as far as he could tell. “Would you have preferred I let you fall and land on your ass in the middle of town?”

“Where my ass lands is none of your business. And I would have preferred you did not exist at all.” Her voice had dropped as she finished her statement almost to a threatening whisper.

Cain was immediately put on his guard. Something was up here and he could not quite understand it. He began to suspect she knew exactly what he was, but how could she know? Unless…

Seeking answers, he took another sniff of the air. They stood on a busy sidewalk with a multitude of scents around them, but he caught her scent. She smelled of paint, wild trees, and something else he wasn’t quite sure of. If she could tell what he was that could only mean she was not fully human as well. But to his frustration, he could not determine what she was.

Cain lowered his voice, “I have done nothing to you.” Even as he spoke he saw the rage fill her eyes, whatever her problem was, he was sure it did not start with him.

Before either of them could say anything further, a security guard approached her side cautiously. “Everything ok here, madam?”

She gave him another disgusted look then turned to the officer with a tight smile. “Yes, everything is fine. Excuse me.” She walked away without even giving Cain another glance.

***

“Dalinda?”

“Ya, it’s me,” she answered as she entered the front door, quickly reassuring her friend, Deborah.

“Say, Debs… have you seen my phone? I can’t find the damn thing.”

Dalinda heard her friend burst into a laugh before Debs came around the corner in her usual baggy jeans holding her missing phone in the air. “You left it next to the paint tray,” she said, still chuckling. “It’s a wonder this thing still works.”

“Oh please, like you are any better?” Dalinda couldn’t help a smile of her own, the incident in town was quickly put on a back burner.

“At least mine is not partially covered in paint as well.”

Deborah had a point, Dalinda was terrible with gadgets. This was already her third phone this year. Softly chuckling to herself, Dalinda walked into the studio and put down her purchases.

Debs and Dalinda had shared the art studio for over a year now. They were not only friends but also housemates in a flat found just above the studio. When the offer on the place had come up it had made the most economic sense and they hadn’t regretted it since they enjoyed each other’s company.

Debs was the very definition of a starving artist, but she never lost hope and inspiration. Dalinda didn’t have the heart to tell her friend that she was actually financially secure. For one, it would raise a whole can of worms in the question department that she was not ready to answer. So Dalinda played along as a struggling artist too.

Debs followed her, watching the items she was putting on the table. Picking up a tube of paint, she caught sight of the price tag. “Damn art products cost a foot and an arm,” she drawled, running her free hand through her short spiky hair.

Dalinda chuckled. “You say that every time we buy new supplies.”

“And every time it is true. I need to find myself a man who can take care of me and give me access to his bank account,” she said seriously.

“Ha huh, and let me guess, you will blow the account on art products?”

“Oh, most definitely! And maybe a few pairs of jeans and a car,” she responded with excitement.

Dalinda shook her head at her friend. “Poor man. What happened to the one you went out with for lunch today?”

Deborah’s round face immediately morphed into a frown and her voice dropped. “Don’t mention that one. It is never a good sign when a man removes a calculator to split the bill.”

The answer made her pause. Dalinda’s eyes slowly widened in shock. “You paid for your own meal?” she asked in disbelief.

Debs only nodded quietly. Dalinda tried to hold back her laughter but it was too much. “I’m sorry…” she said while laughing.

“Oh, you can laugh…I am still waiting for you to bring over more than just paint. When are you going to find yourself a man?”

Dalinda’s smile faded as an image of the man in town entered her mind. The moment he had touched her, she knew what he was. A vampire. His scent had confirmed it. He was part of those lifeless, heartless beasts. Just the thought of him, she felt anger fill her once again and bubble over.

“Hey!”

Dalinda was startled back to the present. She blinked and found her friend looking at her as though she was crazy. Deb's eyes went down to her hand and Dalinda followed her gaze. The paintbrush in her hands had splintered, broken pieces falling to the floor.

“Do I even want to know?” Debs asked cautiously.

“It’s nothing. It was probably broken before I bought it, I didn’t check,” she explained while busying herself to clean up the pieces.

Deborah didn’t seem to buy the excuse, but thankfully she didn’t push it. Once the broken pieces were cleared away and all the new items put in their rightful place. They each settled at their tables, turned on the music loud enough to shake the windows, and continued their current projects; they had a deadline to meet.

***

Cain made his way to the golf club, his mind was still replaying the words of the angry woman in town. ‘I would have preferred you did not exist at all.’ He sighed on an exhale and murmured to himself, “Some women are just vile.”

Attempting to clear his thoughts, he shook his head. It was after all just a random woman in town, nothing special to dwell on. Even though he couldn’t help but wonder if she knew what he was, and if so, what was she?

He pulled his blue Ford Raptor into the golf club parking lot and parked. Cain was almost surprised to find so much available parking space. It was a Friday, usually anyone who was anyone came out on a Friday afternoon to play golf.

Although to say ‘play’ was rather misleading, Cain mused as he left the car and headed inside. The game of golf was more like a boardroom of the biggest deals in business. Cain didn’t play, he had never had an interest really, he just came over to make some good investments on his money.

A few minutes later, he walked into the bar area and immediately spotted his younger brother, Nathan, seated with a glass of bourbon already in hand. He appeared to be completely relaxed with his long lean legs stretched out in front of him, but Cain knew looks could be deceiving, his brother was very much alert to everything around him.

“Is there a market crush or something? The parking lot is almost empty,” Cain spoke when he reached his brother before dropping his long body into the empty chair opposite his brother and stretching out his legs to match his brother’s.

Nathan scoffed and took a sip of his drink. “Not everyone is obsessed with making money like you, brother.”

Cain made a performance of being offended with a shocked look and a hand to his chest resulting in both brothers bursting out into a laugh a second later.

When the laughter died down, Cain shot a disapproving look towards Nathan’s glass. “A little too early, don’t you think?”

Nathan did not pretend not knowing what his brother was referring to. He made a point to finish his glass in one swallow before responding. “Would you rather it was a glass of O positive?”

At Cain’s silence, Nathan mumbled, “I didn’t think so.”

Cain decided to ignore his brother’s sly comment and looked around. He recognized all the usual patrons, nothing surprising. He turned his eyes back on his brother and found him giving him an amused look.

“You could at least pretend to be normal,” he stated with a hand swipe indicating his own laid-back dress code of denim shorts, a plain white t-shirt, and flip-flops. As usual, Nathan took relaxation to the extreme.

Cain simply shook his head and answered, “I had a meeting with Ben.”

Nathan scoffed again, it was becoming a very annoying habit in Cain’s opinion. Unexpectedly, Cain’s thoughts returned to the lady. Her face flashed through his mind followed by her words.

Weighing his options briefly, Cain decided to talk to Nathan. “What other paranormal races have you come across, Nate?” he asked in a low voice.

Nathan was in the motion of raising his hand to signal the waiter when he heard the question. Immediately dropping his hand, he looked around cautiously before leaning forward in his chair to bridge the gap between them.

“Where is this coming from?”

Cain shrugged, showing nothing majorly serious. “Just an incident in town having me wonder.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “What sort of incident?”

“Really. It was nothing. Just a very ill-tempered but beautiful young lady who made a comment… gave me the impression she knew what I was,” he explained quietly.

Nathan’s jaw nearly hit the tiled floor as he gaped at his brother. “And what was she?” he asked cautiously.

Cain scratched his stubble thoughtfully. That was the million-dollar question. “I have no idea.”