17. Approval
Immortality:
The ability to live forever; eternal life.
Nero
Tessa had been staying with me for almost a week now and she told me that she had been seeing Rigel snooping around the building a couple of times. Though he didn’t confront her again but still, she was annoyed by the fact that the man was messing with her view.
Her view. Yep. That’s the kind of stuff that I’d hear her say sometimes. Random stuff that she’d say because it was not to her liking or she was uncomfortable with a certain situation, like me, sneaking out just before dawn to leave her to sleep alone. The thought that she’d want to sleep beside me and watch me basically lay dead until my body could function when the sunset was tickling my insides. I know she has a fascination with death and sometimes I think her being with me as a vampire, was feeding her cravings whenever I found her watching me with interest. Not just because she was fond of me, but because she was intrigued with my state of immortality.
“Aldrich, find out why Rigel is stalking Tessa, he’d been seen around the apartment building,” I instructed Aldrich once we arrived at the den. I just finished talking to my guards and greeted some of the den’s occupants before coming to sit in my work room. That evening, I left Tessa telling her I was going out while my little killer nodded. She was still busy with her drawings, sitting in the middle of the queen-size bed in the guest bedroom with the posts-it-decorated wall beside her. Tessa was pausing her wall project for her drawing. She was telling me that she needed to get back to it later when her mind was focused on the hunt.
“Of course,” Aldrich nodded then dismissed himself promptly, the vampire knew that I expect a result and I expect them quickly.
“Father,”
“Ammar, my son, I was not expecting you to visit me this week. Is this a pleasantry visit or do you have issues you want to discuss?”
“Actually, it’s a bit of both. I talked to Vesper a couple of days ago and he mentioned that you’re housing a female human with killer knife skills.” He paced his step leisurely across the room until he was seated in front of my desk.
“Ah… your little brother, he can’t stop himself from spreading the words can’t he? How’s he doing? Did you go to his place?” I decided to ask about my dearest Vesper first before Ammar started digging into Tessa and what has been going on between us.
“I did, Vesper invited me. He’s looking well, I’m proud of him for picking the house. My little brother always has a very fine taste, but I’m not liking the area, too many dogs. I can’t believe he chose to stay in the mountains voluntarily. That is another thing I’d like to discuss with you,”
“Vesper always likes to live dangerously, you know this, Ammar. I’ve ventured into the wolves terrain, and yes, I agree with you and I told him specifically not to cause trouble there. But he has his guards and I’ve been trying to push him to settle down, sire children, and strengthen my bloodline. At least now he has a house, hopefully, soon he’ll start doing what he was supposed to be doing many decades ago.”
My youngest does like to yank my nerves, he had been doing this for too long. Maybe he’s bored, but the way he had taken residence in the mountains so close to the dogs does make his sibling worry for him, and I know Ammar will be the first but surely not the last. I know I’ll be seeing my other children with the same concern toward Vesper.
“Yeah, I had a chat with him already. I know it’ll be a long shot but I’ll keep an eye on him and keep on checking in on his guards.”This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org: ©.
“Good… good,” I said agreeing with him, Ammar had been the more sensible and smart one out of all my children. He had sired strong vampires under him, warriors, a strength to be reckoned with. He makes me very proud of him.
“Now, onto the next issue, the female human Vesper had been bragging to me he’d met first. She sounded delightful, father.” Ammar constructed his words carefully.
“Ah, she is. I like her, and I’m glad Vesper did too. She’s having some issues and was hiding out in her rental mountain cabin when we met her. I ran into her weeks ago, and had been enjoying our time together since then.”
“Right, so she’s accustomed to our lifestyle?”
I know where he was going with this. It has been too long since I’ve taken a lover to stay with me and I know he was being protective of his sire and it warms my heart that his instincts did not fail him and that I have taught him well.
“She is somewhat aware, though she’s a bit careless in that matter. She’s different, special. I’m the first vampire she had ever met, then Vesper, and then Aldrich of course.”
“Careless?”
“She’s… an assassin, a contract killer for one of those human crime organizations and she’s very good at what she does. I watched her, she’s something, my son.”
“And you’re not worried that she’s here to kill you?”
I laughed it off, the thought of it was too ridiculous. “No, she’s too fixated on her wall of suspects to think about killing me. She has this obsession with finding the one behind her impending hit. She’s to be dead in less than three months. That’s why she was bugging out to the mountains, her city apartment was ransacked and now I’m keeping her safe in mine.” I shrugged, and the explanation seemed to please Ammar.
“She does sound interesting, I assumed you’ll give me the chance to meet her?”
“Why not? Vesper had met her and I’ve never treated my children differently. But I’m not bringing her here, it’s too early for her to meet the whole family, I still think it’s best not to get her all excited about us.”
Ammar raised his brow telling me that he was indeed interested in why she would get too excited to meet a den full of blood-hungry vampires.
Humans have always been blood bags for us, we kept them alive in numbers for sustenance and we like entertaining ourselves with them. But I know that Tessa was a different kind of human breed. Her bloodlust alone gets me excited to be with her.
“Tessa is a fascinating woman, she’s full of surprises and surely keeps me entertained.”
“Well then, it’s been a while since I visited your building. Maybe I’ll stay in one of the units tonight, and I’m feeling kind of peckish, we should stop for a feast. How about it, father?”
I looked at the time and nodded. I did not hesitate in introducing Tessa to Ammar, might as well be done with it and see how she reacts to my eldest. I know he can rub people the wrong way and honestly I was curious how they would converse because I know both have strong personalities.
We reached the apartment building two hours later after a quick feast of humans, leaving them half aroused and half drunk from the lack of blood in their bodies. We had just entered the living room when I saw Tessa through the floor-to-ceiling windows playing with her knife out on the balcony. The man was zip-tied, ankles and wrists, sitting uncomfortably on the outdoor sofa while Tessa sat her beautiful ass on the coffee table, looking all sexy and menacing while giving her threats to the man who was already bleeding, bruised, and battered.
“See what you did now? He’s here and you’re making me look bad. I’m supposed to sit all pretty and bored out of my mind, not sitting here getting excited playing with my knife on my day off.”
“Tessa, who’s this?” I asked walking straight towards her and kissing her cheek like I’ve done many times before as a greeting.
“Nero, welcome back, and who’s this?” She smiled prettily and hid her knife behind her back as if she was caught with a cookie before dinner time.
I chuckled and introduced them while the battered man kept on wriggling in his seat trying to get out of his restraints.
“Tessa, this is my eldest, Ammar.”
She gave him her smile and shook his hand, but Ammar who was always polite to everyone I hold dear took her hand and kissed her knuckles.
“Oh my, such a flirt, exactly like your daddy, aren’t you?” My little vixen winked and I laughed wholeheartedly and that’s when I saw it, a smile bloomed on Ammar’s face, the sincere kind of smile that let me know that he was okay with Tessa.