A VOW TO KILL

Chapter 3

Dalinda felt like she was running around like a headless chicken. Her feet moved around her studio in every direction as she picked up one item after another. Even the thought of how disorganized she was at that moment made her wince in embarasement. Surely after more than two hundred years of life, she would be more coordinated.

But it was not the case. It was the exhibition night and she was not ready, as hard to believe as it was. They had spent the day loading and unloading all the art pieces into the truck for transfer them to the art exhibition.

Dalinda would have gladly carried all the heavy canvases, scalptures and framed work without even breaking a sweat. But that would have raised a lot of eyebrows, especially from Deborah. So she had been forced to act the lady and stand back and watch the hired men do the heavy lifting. Only problem was, the men that were hired were all muscle and no brains. They knew next to nothing about lifting art works, meaning they turned a thirty minute job into a three hour frustrating marathon.

By the time she got back to the apartment with Deborah, time had flown by. Now they had to get ready and present themselves as decent as possible back at the show in less than twenty minutes before the organizers started the show in thier absense.

“Debs, twenty minutes!” she shouted through the open door.

“Geez, I know already,” she responded, walking through the very door just a minute later, desperately trying to zip up a black dress. Over her curvy body. “Give a friend a hand, will you?”

Dalinda dropped her hands from her hair and went to help her friend. Then she turned around and headed back to the mirror to do the finishing touches on her simple makeup. A habit she had picked up a few years ago. It had the advantages of changing her appearance every few years. The last thing she needed was for some old human to remember her from decades ago.

“Damn!” she heard Deborah exclaim to her retreating back. Her friend's voice brought a smile to her face. She knew exactly what had warranted that reaction.

“I thought we were going to exhibit the art work on the walls not our bodies,” Deborah stated with a chuckle.

Dalinda looked over her shoulder and said, “Art is art, all beauty needs to be appreciated.” They both burst out laughing.

***

Cain followed Nathan reluctantly into the building. The National Museum smelled just like any museum should, old and dusty, even though it was clear every inch of the place had been scrubbed clean for the event.

The old walls that looked more than five decades old had been repainted recently. But Cain could still smell and see just how delapidated the old building was. It was very large and open. Big enough to accomodate more than five hundred people, the perfect destination to hold a show, all things considered.

It was clear the organizers had gone to a lot of trouble to beautify the place and make it presentable to all the important people they were expecting there for the show. Considering the aim of the show was to sell very expensive art works, he would say the effort was warranted.

“I have no idea why you insist on dragging me to these things,” Cain complained under his breath.

“Relax, Cain, it’s only art show. Something to please the eyes and smooth the soul,” Nathan drawled with a wave of his hand encompassing everything around him.

“You do even still have a soul?” Sarcasm flowing on the question.

Nathan frowned and faced his brother. “Fine. Be like that. But I won’t let you spoil my evening. Find your own company.” He stormed off leaving Cain looking around lost.

“Shit.” He mumbled under his breath. Left with no other options, he began walking around taking a look at the art pieces on display.

He managed to grab a glass of white wine from a tray that passed by. He blended into the crowd and casually walked around. The art was rather interesting, he could feel the vibrancy in the paintings and found himself contemplating buying a few.

He was transfixed looking at an interesting piece, a portrait of a naked woman covered in beads. Half her face was obscured and every other sensitive parts were also not on display, but artfully concealed. One would think with so much hidden, the piece would look boring, but it only drew more attention and made it even more erotic in nature.

Cain swallowed the last of his wine and cleared his throat. He definitely was buying this piece. He turned to search out the stuff walking around assisting with the purchases. That was when his eyes landed on the back of a woman standing across the room. Cain felt the air leave his lungs.

The woman stood tall in a pair of nude high heeled shoes. Cain’s eyes followed the path from the shoes, up her firm calves and the hem of a tight yellow dress. The dress looked like it was painted on her body. It left no curve undefined, not that she had many. Cain was still struggling to get the air back in his lungs. His brain was so distracted it seemed to forget it had to instruct the lungs to work.

His eyes finally came to rest on the bare back of the woman. The sinful dress left her entire back open, Cain could not even see a strap of a bra, not even the ridiculous invisible ones he had come across before.

But what had him staring shamelessly at her was not the lack of a bra, but the giant tattoo that covered her entire back. From the bottom of her neck to the top of her ass, a colorful tattoo of a dragon stared at him. The tattoo work was magnificent, Cain could almost see life in the art of it.

Of their own accord, his legs began to move him forward, the painting all but forgotten. His attention was now fixed on this beauty on legs. And what a pair of legs they were, Cain was still running his eyes over them. Her arse wasn’t bad either. She is a masterpiece, he thought and he hadn’t even seen her face yet.

When he was close enough, he heard her laugh at something her companion said. The sound washed over him in warm waves. He hadn’t even noticed she was with someone, now quickly throwing his eyes to her side, he noticed a young man standing by her side.

He had his eyes fixed on her and was discretely licking his lips. Cain knew exactly what was on the man’s mind and he could not blame him, but he wasn’t going to tolerate it. Suddenly feeling possessive, Cain cleared his throat and gave the man a hard stare.

The young man looked shocked and puzzled by Cain’s stare when he looked up and clashed his eye’s with Cain’s . But it was enough for him to quickly mumble an excuse and walk away without a backward glance.

Satisfied with clearing the way. Cain casually covered the remaining distance and took the position of her former companion.

Dalinda had no clue what had just taken place, one minute she was chatting and laughing with a charming young man, the next the man was walking away as though his pants were on fire.

She was about to move when someone stepped in front of her where the young man had stood just mere seconds before. Still in a pleasant social mood, she smiled and looked up at the person.

“Fuck.”

“Not exactly the reception I was expecting,” Cain drawled. He immediately recognized her, the angry woman in town two weeks ago. Looks like her mood hadn’t improved, he mused.

“Are you stalking me?” she asked harshly.

Cain took a step back. “Lady, you are paranoid. I’m just here to view some art.”

“Sure you are,” she responded sarcastically.

At that very moment, Nathan walked over with a smile on his face and clapped his brother on the shoulder. “I told you the art would be good.” He paused and noticed the woman standing next to Cain. “And the art is not the only thing beautiful tonight…Hello, my name is Nathan,” he said with a flirtatious smile and extended his hand towards her.

Dalinda hissed and recoiled before uttering, “Another one.”

Nathan was immediately put on guard. He dropped his hand and smile in a heartbeat. Tightening his hold on his brother’s shoulder, he turned and looked at Cain raising his eyebrows in question.

Cain returned his brother’s stare and shrugged. He then turned back to the woman and calmly asked, “Have we met before?”

He saw the heat in her eyes, this was one pissed off lady. Cain felt Nathan’s grip on his shoulder tighten some more, he had obviously also taken note of how enraged she was.

“If we had met before…I wouldn’t be here now, would I?” she asked with a sneer.

Cain and Nathan shared a puzzled look. Then Nathan took the bull by its horns and asked directly without beating around the bush, “Do you know what we are?”

Cain almost coughed up the wine he had drank just seconds before. He could not believe Nathan would just put it out there like that. He now stared at the woman, waiting for her response.

“Lifeless...cold, heartless, soulless, murdering cowards. That is what you are. Vampires,” she responded in a low voice so only they could hear. Then she finished with a lift of her chin, a clear challenge to them.

The three stared at each other. Both men completely shocked and the lady breathing out wave after wave of pure hostility.

Nathan was the first to recover from the shock. “You have us at a disadvantage, you obviously know what we are, although your definition may need to be revisited critically.” He ignored her scoff and went on. “But we don’t know who or what you are.” He tried to put up a tight smile and raised his brows waiting for her answer.

Dalinda did not believe him for a second, that they did not know what she was. Their kind had hunted them down for centuries. It just was not possible. Even now she knew she was risking a lot by confronting them, but she comforted herself in the knowledge that she would burn them to ashes together with this building before they managed to get within an inch of her heart if they tried anything.

With that in mind she gave them a smug smile and began walking away. Nathan quickly reached out his hand and caught her arm to stop her from leaving. Dalinda felt the heat raise up under her skin and immediately the man dropped his hand.

“Damn!” He sounded absolutely shocked and stared at his hand.

Dalinda gave the two men a hard stare and asked, “Who’s next?”