I tried to think back to babysitting etiquette. It had been so long since I’d actually done it, I felt rusty.
“Does she have any allergies or medical conditions that I should know about?”
Sebastian’s tawny brows rose.
“No, but those are good questions.”
For some reason, his compliment made me feel sparkly and wonderful. I couldn’t help the smile of pleasure I felt tugging at my lips.
“What about a number in case of emergencies?”
“My cell’s under the magnet on the fridge.”
I nodded.
“I shouldn’t be too late. I know you have school tomorrow, so—”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m a night owl.”
“Me, too,” Sebastian said, grinning. “Alright, well, I’ll get going. Make yourself at home. There’s food and drinks in the fridge. Just made some fresh tea.
Help yourself. There are DVDs behind that shelf,” he explained, pointing to the built-ins that framed the gigantic fireplace. Then, as if deciding that was insufficient, he walked toward them. “Here, let me show you.”
I followed Sebastian to the left of the fireplace.
“It’s hinged,” he said, pulling on a discreet handle that lay at the edge of the shelf. It opened, revealing what probably numbered in the hundreds of DVDs.
“That’s cool,” I said under my breath, duly impressed.
“If you—”
“Daddy, just go,” Lilly said from her place on the carpet.
Sebastian chuckled. “Someone’s anxious to have you all to herself.”
Lilly rolled her eyes in such an adult way, in such a grown-up gesture, that I had to laugh.
“I want to show her my princess castle.”
“Well, far be it for me to stand in the way of that,” Sebastian teased. “You two have fun. Lilly, you be a good girl.”
“I will, Daddy,” she promised absently then took my hand again. “Come on, Ridley.”
********
Two hours, one tea (a real one for me, a pretend one for her), several hide-and-seeks and three stories later, I was creeping down the hall, away from Lilly’s room, where she’d finally gone to sleep. She was much harder to refuse than Sebastian made it seem. Something about that dainty voice and those shiny blue-gray eyes tugged at my heart strings and made it virtually impossible to say no.
I stopped a ways down the hall to listen, making sure that I didn’t hear her stirring or calling for me. As I strained to hear, a light in the otherwise dark room of Sebastian’s study caught my eye.
I stepped past the suit of armor, giving it a wide berth, and stood just inside the doorway, peering into the dimly lit room. A wide desk dominated the space. It was stained a rich reddish color that matched the cabinetry that covered the wall behind it. The intricately carved wooden shelves held hundreds of tomes. I could make out the titles of several of them, all whimsical works. None of them really surprised me, though, since Sebastian was a Professor of Mythology. Among the many rows and rows of books, however, one collection stood out from the rest.
It was a set of books that shared a deep red spine, each having gilded lettering that I couldn’t read from across the room. One book lay on a slanted platform, displayed under a light that shone on its old, leather cover. It drew me like a moth to a flame.
As I neared it, the smell of aged paper stung my nose. My fingers itched to open the dusty cover and touch the wrinkled pages. I leaned in close enough to make out the faded symbols stenciled across the front, though they meant nothing to me.
A shiver snaked its way through me and I thought I should probably get out of Sebastian’s personal space, but something inside me just wouldn’t let me move away from that book.
Compelled beyond reason to open it, I reached out with one finger and gently lifted the cover. The leather creaked and that musty smell wafted up to envelope me in a puff of stale air.
The first page was littered with a bunch of letters and symbols that I didn’t recognize. The second page was not much better, with its smeared images that looked like a collage of small, overlapping charcoal portraits. I paid them little attention, turning to another page instead.
Line after line of markings and symbols crossed the page, filling it with words I couldn’t decipher and content that I couldn’t understand. I flipped through several more pages and found nothing but the same.
I was just about to close the book when a crisp white corner caught my eye.
It was stuck between two yellowed pages about halfway through the book. I turned there.
On the paper was a list of the markings I’d seen on the previous pages of the book. Beside them were English words and phrases. It appeared that someone, presumably Sebastian, was attempting to translate the work into English.
I turned the page and there, tucked between the pieces of dry old parchment, was another sheet of paper. This one held sentences that I could actually read and understand.
It seemed as though the book was some sort of history of the vampire legend, a detailed accounting of where the tales had originated and how the “curse” had been passed down through time and generations.
…began with Constantine. Of all the guardian angels, he was one of the greatest in his choir. His works were many, his dedication unmatched. But, alas, as every great figure must, Constantine had a weakness, an Achilles heel. His downfall would prove to be another heavenly being, a messenger angel by the name of Iofiel.
Iofiel was the Angel of Beauty and Constantine loved her from the moment they met, just as Iofiel became enamored with him. It would only take days for their love to blossom into obsession, an obsession that would shift their focus from serving God and humanity and turn it toward one another.
This was sin in the eyes of God, an act of rebellion, for it was never His intention when He created the angels for them to love anything more than they loved God and man.
The second of their sins was committed when their duty began to interfere with their need to be together and, in direct defiance of God’s will, they left their posts as angels and hid amongst man, unwilling to continue to serve humanity if it meant being separated. During that time, Iofiel conceived and bore Constantine a child, a strapping young boy.
Infuriated by their third and final act of rebellion, God dispatched dominions to return the two angels to Him. When Constantine heard of this, he hid Iofiel and their child with the humans before he left to find and kill the dominions who sought to tear their family apart. His parting words to Iofiel were promises that he’d soon return for her and their son.