I don’t know how we managed to fit all the bags into the Mini; there certainly wasn’t enough trunk space, so we made good use of the backseat. The headlights were the only things illuminating the street that we had parked on.
Brooke had already placed the sunglasses back over her eyes and I wondered why she wore them; it was winter after all. My toes were vibrating and had swelled in my shoes. The balls of my feet sighed with relief when I took my weight off them and collapsed into the passenger seat.
Traveling back, music blaring once more, I pondered on the conversation we had shared. I felt sorry for Brooke. If she fell in love with another one of her kind, which she already had, she could never be with him, not fully. Nor could she risk developing feelings for a mortal; she might end up killing him. That must be a bitter pill to swallow. I wondered when she had become a Vampire, questioning what kind of life she had lived prior to being changed, and who and what she’d had no choice but to leave behind.
As the buildings became spaced farther apart, I realized we weren’t far from Hedgerley, so I loosened the seat belt around my chest and turned the music down so that I could thank Brooke for her time.
“What?” Brooke snapped, before I had a chance to speak.
“Sorry?” I said.
“What. Is. It?” she enunciated. “I like that song!”
“I just wanted to, you know, say thanks for taking me shopping.”
Brooke wiggled her nose, causing her huge sunglasses to bob above her preened eyebrows.
“Can you see the road properly with those on?” I asked.
“Vampires can see in the dark, Cessie,” she said.
“Oh, like cats.”
“Christ! You’d do well to remember that we’re deadly predators, not house pets.”
I bowed my head and whispered under my breath, “I do remember.…”
I knew she heard me by the way she tilted her head, but she chose not to ask.
“I do bear a striking resemblance to Anne Hathaway, though—when she played Catwoman. Only hotter.” She snorted. “You don’t need to thank me for my personal shopping services, more for my benefit than yours.”
“Oh, how so?” I asked, stretching my legs out in front of me.
“I have to be seen with you. Plus, Gabriel said if any of the locals see you with us, they have to assume you’re a relative. And let’s be honest, right now you look more like our maid than a member of the family. You stick out like a sore thumb.”
The car jolted as Brooke swapped lanes, weaving in between the speeding cars.
I peered down to my scuffed shoes. She was right, I didn’t fit in, and I definitely didn’t look good enough to be seen by Gabriel’s side.
Brooke took her eyes off the road, long enough to see my cheeks blush red in embarrassment.
She softened, in a way that only Brooke could. “Don’t worry, Cinderella, you’ve got your glass slippers now, thanks to me. Just make sure you wear them.”
Shrugging, she turned the music back up to full volume and began singing out of tune along to Jessie J’s “Price Tag”—the irony was not lost on me.
NINE
GABRIEL SEEMED A LITTLE UNHAPPY when we reached the front door; nonetheless, he helped us carry all the bags inside.
“There’s a cup of tea waiting for you on the kitchen table,” he told me as he began taking the many shopping bags up the stairs to my room.
I made my way eagerly through the long hallway to the back of the house. Remembering my manners, I twisted around to once again thank Brooke, but she was gone; hanging up her prizes already, I was sure.
Sipping the warm cup of tea, the combination of the sugar and caffeine brought me back to life quickly. I hadn’t even managed more than a few sips when Gabriel appeared and took a seat next to me.
“Did you have fun in Windsor?”
I bought some time by blowing on the tea to cool it. “Brooke was in her element shopping. I’m sorry, I think the credit card took a bit of a beating,” I detracted.
“In Windsor?” he pressed again.
I said nothing.
“It’s okay, I know you were in town.”
I fidgeted a little and watched his straight face, not giving anything away.
“Yes. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset her or anything and we were perfectly safe,” I apologized bashfully.
“I know you were. I followed you.”
“You followed us?”
“Do you honestly think I’d let you out of my sight, given the choice? Ever?” His face smoothed and his eyes glinted, almost testing for a reaction.
“Oh, um … why didn’t you just come with us then?” I asked.
“I wanted you to spend some time with Brooke. You’re of a similar age, or at least on the surface of things,” he whispered. “I thought you should get to know each other, maybe strike up a friendship.”
“That’s wishful thinking; she’s still not overly fond of me,” I replied, clutching the handle of the sturdy white mug.
“Well, you also needed clothes and I’m afraid I’m not much use in that department. Plus she took you for tea, that’s a good sign,” he said.
A smile crept across his face and I went gooey inside.
“Maybe. She opened up a little, about her relationship with Jonah. And she told me that Vampires could never be with each other; that one would kill the other.” Now I was testing for a reaction.
Gabriel pondered on that for a moment. “She’s right. When one drinks from the other, a sort of fever starts. The blood fuses together and they absorb the other’s power. They become attached, forever. Until one of them ceases to exist, no one and nothing would ever compare.” Gabriel’s shoulders slumped and he skewed his face to the side, frowning. He seemed contemplative.
“Wow. That was a straightforward answer.”
“You asked a straightforward question.” He stopped for a moment and caught my eye; he kept me suspended there for what felt like an eternity.
Part of me wished I could crawl deep into his eyes and curl up and sleep in them forever.
“So how is it one comes to kill the other? By your reckoning, if anything, it sounds as though they fall in love,” I said.
“Either the one that drank the other becomes so obsessed with getting their next fix that ultimately no matter how deep the connection is, they will end up drinking the other to an end, or far worse; if they both drink from one another, the process is far more accelerated because neither can resist going back for more. One would always overpower the other. It’s actually very sad. I have never known any Vampire able to connect with another and maintain a relationship without a violent end being the outcome. From what I’ve seen, their addiction always wins,” he explained.