Chapter Text
We danced so close, we danced so slow
And I swore I'd never let you go
Bon Jovi - Never Say Goodbye
I ENTERED MY apartment flushed and warm from a recent feeding. I hung up my coat and locked the door, then turned to check my answering machine.
The first message was from Antonio, letting me know that he and Michael Moorecock, his other adopted childe, were going to Los Angeles on business.
The second was from my father, asking when I would be coming back up for a visit. I sighed, knowing that I should probably visit him soon but not quite able to look forward to it. I had felt awkward around Papa since the night I had met him in San Francisco. Papa had discovered I was still alive and I, of course, couldn’t remember him.
The last message made me smile.
“Christina, why did I give you a cell phone if you won’t carry it?” Jason’s voice chided me. “Look, I’d like you to come to San Francisco tomorrow night,” he continued. “Give me a call, my cell phone is on.”
Jason Kline was truly a product of the electronic age. He thought everyone should be reachable all of the time. I preferred privacy occasionally, especially when feeding, but I was glad that he had called.
He was something of an enigma to me. Well, to everyone, really. Jason was mortal but seemed Kindred, and lived by the belief that the less your enemies knew about you, the less power they had over you. And Jason’s ‘employer,’ Graves, had many enemies.
Being with Jason was like rediscovering my teen years. He was dependable, strong, romantic and very attractive. His many disguises and aliases only made him more interesting and mysterious. Jason had also saved my life repeatedly and without hesitation.
I couldn’t tell Jason how I felt about him; I lacked the basic boy-girl relationship skills to do so. That didn’t seem to matter because I could tell he knew how I felt. He didn’t try to take advantage of my feelings, and for that I cared about him even more. I knew without asking that he felt the same way about me.
My only regret about being a vampire was that I could never have a normal life with Jason, that I could never be a normal girlfriend or wife for him. We would never live in a house in the suburbs, we would never belong to a car pool, we would never watch our children run laughing in the sunlight.
I thought back to the first time that I had seen Jason, or ‘August,’ as he had called himself then. He’d burst into a hotel room to save my life, getting me out only moments before the entire building was engulfed in flames. When I’d asked why he’d saved me, he would only say he’d been instructed to keep me alive.
I brought my mind back to the present and picked up the phone to dial Jason’s number. I walked over to the overstuffed couch in my living room and sat down. He answered on the second ring.
“Christina?” he said with a mild Spanish accent. “How are you doing?”
“Fine, ‘Martín,’” I replied. ‘Martín DePorres’ was his current alias. “I just got home. How are you?”
“Terrible,” he said. “You must fly to San Francisco first thing tomorrow evening to make it all better.”
I laughed. “I hardly think my presence alone can cure what ails you.”
“You’d be surprised,” he told me seriously. “Really, I’d like you to fly in tomorrow. You’ll never make it tonight.” It was only about an hour before dawn.
“What’s up?” I asked. “Is there a hurry?”
“I have us booked on a flight to the Caymans the day after tomorrow,” he replied. “I’ve made all of the arrangements so you’ll be completely safe.” He paused a moment, then added, “I know you need some time away. Tell me how you are really doing.”
I looked up at a large painting above the television. It portrayed a young woman looking out over an oceanfront cliff at a brilliantly colored sunrise. A part of my mind wondered if I had ever seen a sunrise like that.
“Better,” I said honestly.
“No more nightmares about Salem?” he pressed.
Less than a week before, Jason had rescued me from a dungeon Salem, Massachusetts. The prince, Beth, had kept me locked in a room with a weak inner cell that held a human for me to feed upon. To her disappointment I had refused, knowing that the man was the father of a good friend of mine. Beth had died at the hands of Michael and Antonio.
“They are fading,” I said slowly. I didn’t mention that the other nightmares were still with me, the ones I’d been having for the past five years but never seemed to remember upon waking, shaking and drenched in fear. “Thanks for coming for me.”
“I could have done nothing else, remember?” he said, affection strong in his voice. “My life for yours.”
“I remember everything about you.” I told him with a smile. And I did.
Jason was quiet for a moment, then said, “Can you come, Christina? I’d really like to see you again.”
“I’d love to come, ‘Martín,’” I told him. “What time is my flight?” He gave me the necessary information. “I’ll be there,” I said.
“I’ll be waiting,” he replied.
I got up and went over to replace the phone in its base, then opened the drawer in the table and pulled out a framed picture.
It had taken me several weeks to convince Jason to let me take a photograph of him without any disguises. We had gone up to the roof of my apartment building and he had stood near its edge, the lights of Las Vegas spread out behind him. He looked so different without his disguises. His blond hair fell low on his forehead and his hazel eyes shone bright and clear in the camera flash.
I took the picture with me upstairs to the sleeping loft. I placed it on the bedside stand and went into the bathroom. I undressed and got into the shower. I closed my eyes and let the hot water ease my mind. Salem was never far from my thoughts, but I was beginning to put the hunger and the cell I had been a prisoner in behind me.
As I dried myself off, I watched my reflection. My long dark hair fell in soft waves well past my shoulders. My body would remain that of a twenty-three year old forever, tall and lithe. I had an athletic build from being a track star in high school and then in college, or so Papa had told me. I couldn’t remember.
I stood straight and turned first one way then the other. I wondered if Jason was attracted to me. I grinned. “Perhaps we’ll find out in the Caymans,” I promised myself.
I turned out the lights and lay down in the bed. I soon felt the sleep of the dead overtake me as the sun rose in the desert sky.
~*~*~*~
When I stepped off the plane the following evening, Jason was indeed waiting for me. His long dark hair hung past his shoulders and, once again, I was enthralled by his eyes. It never seemed to matter to me what color they were; his eyes always had the power to make me weak in the knees.
Jason kissed my cheek and handed me a dozen blood red roses. I smiled and hugged him. “Thank you,” I said.
“The limousine is waiting,” he replied. He took my hand and led me out into the warm California night. The driver opened the car door for us and Jason released my hand as I got in.
“Would you like to change before we go to dinner?” he asked. “I have reservations at a very nice restaurant on the bay.”
I took the time to change into a gown before we drove to the restaurant where we were escorted to a corner table with large windows and an excellent view of the bay. After we had been served the main course, Jason asked about my father.
“He’s doing well, I believe,” I said, smiling. “He was worried about our disappearance. I’m afraid I had to tell him we went off together on a romantic getaway.”
Jason grinned. “We did end up together. Are you still getting on well with him?”
“As well as can be expected given the circumstances.” I replied. “I think it would help if I could remember more of my past.”
After a moment, Jason leaned forward. “Christina, I haven’t asked you this before as I didn’t want to pry, but would you like me to look into his past? Or yours?” My face must have shown my surprise for he added, “Didn’t you ever think about it?”
“It just didn’t occur to me not to take him at his word,” I whispered, looking down at my food. “However, there are some things he won’t talk about.”
“The green-eyed boy?” Jason asked. “I’ve seen the picture. Roger still won’t talk about him?”
“No.”
I had found a picture of a dark haired boy in his early teens standing beneath a maple tree. The boy had dark hair and flashing green eyes. I could just make out a faint scar on his neck below his right ear. The boy was trying to look stern, but I could see laughter in his face. I had seen the same boy in one of the few nightmares I remembered, but my father refused to admit he even existed.
“I just assumed he was a boyfriend that Papa didn’t like from where I grew up.”
“Helena.”
“Yes.”
It was difficult learning about my mortal self and knowing I may never remember anything more about it than I already did. I was silent for a moment as I looked out the window without seeing the view. “Do I really need to know?” I asked softly. “Is it even relevant anymore? After all, as much as I used to be Christina Strong, daughter of Roger Strong and student at Berkley, I don’t remember any of it now. It doesn’t seem real to me.”
“It’s your choice,” Jason replied. “I won’t look into it unless you want me to.”
I met his eyes, my mind warring with my heart. “I guess you could do some checking,” I said at last. “Just don’t tell me what you find out until I ask you to.”
“Of course.”
“Unless there is something really important that I should know,” I added, not knowing what that could possibly be. I became aware of the bracelet on my wrist and again wondered where I had gotten it.
“Not a problem,” he said, then he sighed. “We do, however, have a different problem. We have to postpone our trip to the Caymans.”
“Why?” I was dismayed, having looked forward to spending time alone with Jason.
“My... ‘employer’ has asked me to travel to London for him, then transport an item to Mid-Eastern Europe. It should only take a week or so,” he told me, “and I thought it would give me a chance to show you the monastery.”
His ‘employer’ was Graves, a low generation Gangrel, and he frequently sent Jason away on missions. I had never met Graves, but I found it hard not to resent his infrequent intrusions into our lives. I had to remind myself that because Jason was Graves’ ghoul, he was obligated to do anything Graves asked him to, no matter what the consequences, but I really didn’t understand the hold the man had over Jason.
“The monastery?” I asked, confused.
“Where I was raised,” he said. “I would like you to see it.”
I was pleasantly surprised, Jason had never asked me to accompany him on a mission before. “I take it you want me to go with you to Europe?”
“Yes,” he replied firmly. “That is, if you would like to go with me. We could go to the Caymans, or the Bahamas, or wherever you would like as soon as the item is delivered.”
I smiled. “I’d be delighted to accompany you, ‘Martín.’”
“I have made all the arrangements,” he told me and my smile grew into a grin. “We’ll leave tonight and stay tomorrow in Salem. You will have a chance to see Brenda before we fly out tomorrow night.”
Brenda Thompson, my sister in that she was also Antonio’s childe, had visited me briefly before driving back to Salem. She was now studying with the Tremere Chantry there at the new prince’s request. Brenda’s father was the mortal that Beth had wanted me to feed from, and I had barely been able to resist.
“That would be great,” I said.
After we had eaten, the band played a slow ballad and Jason asked me to dance. With a smile I took his hand and followed him to the dance floor. We had danced many times over the past few months and I knew we moved together well.
Jason held one of my hands near his chest and put an arm around my waist. He spread his fingers in the small of my back and I put an arm around his neck to play with his hair at his nape. I looked up into his dark eyes and he smiled down at me affectionately.
As we moved about the floor, Jason pulled me closer to him until our bodies touched and his chin rested lightly against my temple. He hummed along to the words of love the singer crooned and I allowed myself to believe he meant the words she sang.
“Love, I want to hold you forever/Forget the cares of yesterday/Tell you how much I love you/And let the world fade away.”
Our bodies fit together perfectly as we moved around the floor. Slowly I inhaled the scent of Jason’s skin beneath his subtle cologne. Very faintly I smelled the Kindred vitae within him and I smiled. Jason was a wonderful dancer and I loved being in his arms. I enjoyed every movement, every touch of his body on mine.
That dance seems frozen in my memory now, as sharp, clear and real to me as my own skin. I’d never felt in my whole existence the way I felt in Jason’s arms. I wanted it to go on forever, needed it to, but of course it didn’t, it couldn’t. At the end of the song we walked hand in hand back to our table.
After we sat down, I asked, “Has anyone found Lucy?” Lucy was a little girl who had also been a captive in Salem. She’d gone missing after Jason had brought her back to San Francisco.
“Actually, yes,” he replied, leaning forward. “You might find this interesting. She turned up in Flint while Brenda and the others were still looking for Beth’s box. Get this: she’s Kindred.”
“What?” It is usually very easy to tell Kindred from mortals. I had spent quite a bit of time with Lucy before our capture, and if she were Kindred, I should have known. “When was she embraced?”
“Some time ago, it appears. She’s Assamite.”
Assamites are the assassins of the Kindred community. They could only be hired by princes, and always took their payment in blood. They were also experts at disguise. I had once nearly been killed by an Assamite who had been impersonating Jason.
“Who was she after?” I asked.
“Apparently she was supposed to keep Beth from getting the box.” Jason shook his head. “Michael was very upset about the whole thing until he discovered she’d been hired by Stuart Williams, the prince of Flint. He has since forgiven her for the deception.” He chuckled softly. “From what I hear, she talked him into going to an amusement park. Without a suit.”
“That I would have to see,” I replied dryly. I had never seen Michael out of a business suit, and he always looked impeccable.
“She’s sending me pictures,” Jason said. We both laughed.
Soon after, we left the restaurant and went directly to the airport. During the flight to Boston, Jason went over our aliases with me.
“I will be Philipe Roache,” he told me, “a French insurance salesman going home from an extended business trip in the states.”
We sat in the cockpit of the private jet he used when he was traveling. He had put the automatic pilot on only moments before, and now he turned to face me, a small jewelry box in his hands.
“You will be Christina Roache, my new wife.” He opened the box and took out a beautiful engagement ring and wedding band. The diamond on the engagement ring was very large, nearly a full carat. The wedding band was intricately engraved with vines and leaves; the leaves twined together in such a way that the two rings appeared one.
I sat stunned, staring at it; I’d never expected to wear his ring, even in this type of situation.
“We met in San Francisco and I fell for you instantly,” he continued as he slid the ring on my finger and raised my hand to his lips. His eyes told me that part of the story was indeed true. “We had a whirlwind courtship and were married in Las Vegas. Now we are on our honeymoon traveling through Europe before we return to Paris where we will live in bliss for the rest of our nights.”
I laughed softly at his words and studied the ring. The diamond glittered brightly in the cabin lighting.
“Don’t you have a ring to wear?” I asked him.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out another small box. “I thought you’d never ask, Christina.”
I took the box from his hand and opened it. The man’s band inside matched my rings perfectly. I took it out and reached for his hand.
“Are you proposing?” he asked half in jest.
I looked up at him in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“Well, I don’t wear just any woman’s ring,” he said with a smile.
I knew he was joking with me, so I decided to play his game. I shrugged and put the ring back into the box and tried to hand it back to him. “If you’re not interested....”
He refused to take the box from me. “Christina, you know I’d wear your ring with pleasure,” he whispered seriously. His eyes caught me and for a moment I could think of nothing else. Then he held his hand out to me.
I glanced at it, then opened the box and removed the ring. I took his hand in mine, enjoying the warmth of his skin. I slowly slid the ring on his finger and looked up at him. His sweet smile would have knocked me off of my feet if I had been standing.
I reached up and cupped his cheek in my hand. “Aren’t you going to kiss the bride?”
He grinned and bent closer to me. My arms went around his neck as he pulled me closer and kissed me gently.
~*~*~*~
We stayed over the day in Salem, and I had a chance to talk to Brenda. She was more than happy for the opportunity to study in the chantry there. It helped that Salem was so far away from Vegas and Michael, they’d had a falling out about her embrace and he still hadn’t gotten over it.
I also talked a little with Micky George. He was a childe of Elvira Van Dorn, the new Salem prince, and he seemed familiar to me somehow, but I couldn’t place him.
It helped my peace of mind to be back in Salem. I made time to go back to the room I’d been held in. Elvira had ordered the wall Jason had destroyed repaired and everything completely cleared from the room, including the bars of the inner cell.
I stood for a moment in the center of the room with Jason at my side and looked around. I closed my eyes, remembering the hunger and the pain. Then I let it slip away from me and was able to begin the process of dismissing the experience to the past. I didn’t have nightmares for several nights, and when I did, they weren’t about Salem, they were about Italy and Jason.
On the flight to London from Boston, Jason changed into his new alias. His hair was very dark, nearly black, and fell just to his shoulders. He wore very blue contacts and a mustache that tickled my skin when he kissed my cheek.
We arrived in the early morning hours and went directly to our hotel. Jason had arranged for us to have a suite that contained two bedrooms. I didn’t know whether to be happy that he had considered my feelings or not.
The next evening we exited the hotel to find a carriage drawn by a white horse waiting for us. Jason helped me up into the seat then moved in beside me. I could distinctly smell the blood in his veins and put the mild hunger I felt aside.
Jason had asked me not to present myself to the London prince, as is the usual custom when entering another city, so I decided to forego feeding while we were there. I assumed, correctly as it turned out, that Jason didn’t want anyone to know we were in London, no matter how briefly. He had offered to let me feed from him, but as I had drank my fill before we’d left Salem, I refused.
We rode through London holding hands, watching people and looking at the architecture. We stopped at a few places to take a closer look at the buildings at several tourist locations. At one such stop we found ourselves at a large museum. Upon reentering the carriage, a tall dark figure shrouded in long robes and carrying an ancient valise got in with us.
Jason introduced the stranger as Mr. Rawley. When the man kissed my hand in greeting I realized he was Kindred. While the hooded cloak he wore concealed most of his features, I was able to get glimpses of his face in the streetlights. He seemed to be average looking but completely bald and sounded like a native of England. I thought he might be Nosferatu, but couldn’t be sure.
We continued our journey, saying little, and at the next stop Mr. Rawley got out of the carriage while we remained inside. I noticed he left the valise behind, and when we pulled away Jason moved it closer to himself. I dismissed the valise from my mind when Jason put his arm around me and pointed out a pair of street mimes on the next corner.
Near dawn, we returned to the hotel and I watched Jason secure the valise carefully before I excused myself. I went to my bedroom and fell asleep as the sun rose.