Chapter 2
1740 Words
2
Miss Leilah’s call hadn’t been the first time I’d heard of Avalon Island. The rock out in the harbor was well known as a wildlife refuge. It was not only rumored to be covered in bird crap, but in a near-constant fog that enveloped much of its environs. Most of the time someone from shore could hardly see the waterline, and a bunch of sharp rocks wasn’t exactly a sight to behold. As we neared the island the legendary fog bank rose up and swallowed us. I watched for those sharp rocks and grasped the railing with just a little more strength than I needed.
It didn’t help that though the bay was gentle, my stomach was less so. As we powered through the waves my innards reminded me that I had left my sea legs in my other pair of jeans. Good thing I hadn’t eaten in a few hours, or I would have gone through a rerun.
Leilah leaned toward me, and her eyes sparkled as she looked out on the dark waters. “Get ready for it, my dear.”
My pulse quickened as my thoughts filled with visions of both of us treading water. “Get ready for what?”
She nodded at the fog ahead of us. “You’ll see.”
I had only a moment to wait before we broke through the fog and into the eye of the white storm. The island of infamy rose up before us like a shimmering jewel in water. I leaned over the railing and gaped at the magnificent sight of a dozen tiers filled with greenery, and atop those a crowning jewel of a villa of marble.
Miss Leilah prodded my arm with her elbow. “What do you make of that island now?”
I shook my head. “This is… this is amazing.”
A soft chuckle made us look to our right from where Basileus approached us. “I’m glad you admire my abode so well,” he thanked me as he joined us at the railing to admire his own work. “It took many years to encourage the rocky soil to grow anything more than weeds, and your reaction was well worth the effort.”
More people joined us at the railing, and Miss Leilah turned her attention toward others of the party with whom she had an acquaintance. That left me alone with our host vampire, and his soft red eyes fell on me as I tried to focus on the beautiful sight before us.
“Might I ask you a question, Miss Connor?”
I grinned. “Only if you call me Adi.”
He smiled. “It has been a long time since I conversed with a mortal who was not completely immersed in our world. What do you think of us truly, Miss Adi?”
I stifled a snort and accepted the partial victory. “I think you have as many quirks as anyone else, but you guys have a lot longer to refine them.”
A pensive expression slipped onto his face as he raised a hand to the stunning night sky that shimmered above us. “That is very true. We are as set in our habits as the stars in theirs.” His eyes fell back to me. “But I wonder how you are able to move among our number without deigning to wonder how you yourself would change should you join us.”
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “How do you know I don’t think about that?”
His eyes sparkled with amusement as he leaned closer to me and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Yours eyes are a window into your soul, Miss Adi, and you are too honest to hide what you feel,” For a moment the red color in his eyes glowed softly, “and there is little I do not see.”
“Sir!” It was the captain who called to him.
Basileus broke eye contact with me, and I felt as though a spell fell away. I shook myself and studied the vampire with newfound suspicion and awe as he turned to his captain. “What is it?”
The captain saluted him. “We are about to land, sir, and there are some questions from the staff about the room arrangements.”
Basileus sighed. “Very well. Tell them I will meet them on the veranda to discuss the problems.” The captain nodded and hurried away. My host half-turned back to me with a mischievous smile on his lips. “I hope we might resume our conversation later, Miss Adi. If you will excuse me.” He bowed his head to me before he strode away.
Our conversation left me feeling uneasy, and I was glad for Miss Leilah’s idle chatter as she rejoined me. “My dear, we are going to have the most wonderful time!” she cooed as she looped one of her arms through mine. It never ceased to amaze me that that very arm could shatter mine in an instant. “And do you know what’s planned first? A lovely little get-together in the famous glass ballroom!” She paused and wrinkled her brow. “Of course, that won’t be such a novelty for some of us, but what fun we can have listening to the best gossip in the world!”
The ship docked at a long pier that jutted out of the rocky shoreline, and we disembarked. A dozen sets of long stairs awaited us, but the unnatural guests had little trouble ascending them. For my part, I used the breathtaking view as an excuse to stop at every tier to catch my breath.
Every tier was its own little world of greenery and artifice. Metal and stone archways guided us beneath a canopy of blooming vines and roses. Benches sat beneath towering trees that cast their shade over countless flowerbeds and gurgling fountains. As we ascended each of the tiers I could see no end to the step, merely a gentle curve that followed the natural slope of the hill and forced the tier out of my sight.
Eventually I made it to the top, the last of the guests to do so, and was presented with my first full view of the villa. It was an elegant home of marble with tall, ornate windows and a portico of decorative Ionian columns that surrounded most of the exterior. The pair of front doors were open and light spilled out from the long, narrow entrance hall. Laughter and chatter could be heard from inside those whitewashed walls.
I found Leilah waiting impatiently for me at the top of the final stairs. “Hurry along now!” she scolded me as she looped an arm through mine and half-dragged me toward the open doors. “The others are already chatting away in the ballroom!”
Leilah led me inside and we handed over our coats to a pair of waiting servants before she hurried me down the long main corridor. The house was a veritable maze of crossroads with large and small rooms scattered about in a creation that seemed to defy architecture and boggle the mind.
The ballroom occupied one whole corner of the vast house, and I was glad for the breather as Leilah stopped us at a group of old friends. We stood with our backs to the open French doors that led out onto a veranda. The gardens sat below the porch, enticing me with promises of sweet-smelling roses and the quiet chirp of crickets.
From where we stood, we had a full view of the ballroom and all its patrons. Basileus had invited about two dozen people to the affair, and all fit comfortably inside the confines of the large ballroom, even with the dining tables and buffet set out on one side.
Being the only normal person among the group, I had trouble keeping up with the conversations that sometimes touched over two hundred years of memories. That gave me ample opportunity to study the room and its large expanse of mirrors that gave it its name. They covered most of the walls except the exterior at our backs and revealed all the vampires among us.
Some of them reflected the stately columns that kept the ceiling over our heads, and as I examined them my attention fell on one in particular or rather the man behind it. He was the most handsome gentleman I’d ever seen. Everything retreated into the background as I admired his dark hair, the perfect features of his face, and his impressive height of six feet. The guy was about thirty with a sly, crooked smile that held a hint of something more than humor. A touch of sadness, maybe? His dark eyes swept over the room with a look of indifference mixed with tension.
Miss Leilah leaned towards me and shook her head. “Don’t look at that one, darling. He’s nothing but trouble.”
I shook myself from my sudden infatuation and turned to my companion. “Who is he?”
“Eric Haldor, a werewolf with a most mysterious past. Nobody knows his descent, or I suppose we should call it pedigree.” She laughed at her own joke.
I lifted an eyebrow. “His descent?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Really, Adi, you must keep up. All werewolves and vampires are descended from someone. Mr. Haldor’s descent has never really been confirmed, though I know from a reliable authority that he was seen in England two hundred years ago.”
My eyes widened. “Werewolves can live that long?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Yes. They can live almost as long as we vampires, though they rarely mind their futures. Most of them wander out into the woods and are never seen again. That’s why there’s so few of them left in the world. I dare say there’s less than ten thousand, or so I’ve been told, though heaven knows they don’t like to advertise their dwindling numbers.”
I returned my attention to Haldor, but the man had disappeared. Disappointment swelled up within me, but Miss Leilah was quick to tamp that down as she looped an arm through mine.
“That’s enough gossip for now. Let’s see what’s on the menu.”
- Writer
