Chapter 200

Tessa’s POV

“You’re going away?” Ruby asked on the other end of the phone, her voice sounding sad.

“Only for a few days,” I told her. “Maybe most of this week. But I’ll be back before you know it.”

She sighed.

“I was hoping we could do some shopping,” she said softly. “Graduation is in a couple of weeks and assuming we are both graduating, we need the perfect outfit.”

“We are going to be wearing graduation robes,” I reminded her, a bit of humor in my voice.

As I spoke to Ruby, I was packing my suitcase. It was the morning after Joseph suggested we go to the mountains. With my newfound title of witch, he thinks there might be some vampires, or prophets, who could help me understand things.

It’s not like my father was any help; he won’t even tell me where I can find my mother’s old coven. I was completely on my own and it was exhausting to think about. Thankfully, Joseph didn’t make me feel as if I was alone and I was beyond grateful to him for that.

“I meant for the after-party,” she told me with a chuckle.

I froze when Ruby mentioned the after-party. It was the after-party that Brian typically threw after big events, but Brian hadn’t been at school in weeks. I don’t even think he’s going to graduate because of how much school he’s missed.

“I doubt there’s even going to be an after-party,” I murmured. “Brian’s not around to throw it and usually he’s the master of parties.”

“Don’t say that,” Ruby whined. “Somebody else will throw it. There must be an after-party.”

I sighed but I didn’t say anything more about the topic.

I felt like there was something wrong and I wanted to ask her about it, but I decided against it. If she wanted to talk about it, she’d tell me. But I could tell from the long stretch of silence and the way he tones sounded, that she was hiding something.

I stared down at my full suitcase with a frown; I think I packed enough stuff. It was going to be difficult to move this bag down the stairs of my apartment. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 6 am.

It was still very early, but Joseph was adamant about us leaving promptly at 6:30.

“Rubes, I have to go,” I told her. “But I’ll call you later.”

“You better,” she said just before she hung up the phone.

By the time I got my suitcase zipped and threw my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, I heard a knock on my door. A jolt of excitement coursed through my body and my heart started to race in my chest as I made my way toward the door, knowing that it was Joseph ready to take me away.

I grabbed the doorknob and took a deep breath; I wasn’t sure why I was suddenly so nervous. But something about seeing him again excited me to the point where I was shaking violently in my own skin.

I swallowed down the bile I knew was fear and I pulled the door open.

Joseph stood, leaning against the door frame and staring down at me with a sly grin across his face, making my cheeks flush under the intensity of his stare.

“Hey,” I breathed, stepping aside for him to enter.

He did so and then turned to face me.

“Are you almost ready?” He asked.

I nodded.

Joseph wore a long coat that covered most of his body and a pair of sunglasses. It was odd that he wanted to leave during the daylight and not just wait until tonight.

“Remind me again why we aren’t just leaving tonight so you’ll be more comfortable,” I told him as I led him into my bedroom so he could help me with my suitcase.

“I’d like to get there as early as we can,” he answered.

He grabbed my suitcase with such ease that my cheeks grew warm. He was so incredibly strong, and it was very attractive.

“There’s some business I need to take care of that Bernard’s been on me about and it really can’t wait much longer. The faster we get there, the faster I can get that done,” he continued.

I furrowed my brows at him.

“What kind of business?” I asked, curiosity piquing my interest.

“There are a couple of vampires fresh out of the academy that just joined our tribe. “I’m typically the one who helps them get settled in, but I haven’t been there. The others have been too busy with their own duties to really pay them much mind and apparently one of them has been getting themselves into some trouble.”

“Trouble?’ I asked, raising my brows. “What kind of trouble?”

“One of them is a male, and Bernard caught him kissing and drinking from a blood slave.”

“What?” I gasped. “I’m surprised he’s still alive.”

My thoughts shifted to Ryan; if Ryan ever caught anyone else drinking from Fae, he would kill him, and then probably Fae as well.

“Thankfully, John is pretty decent,” Joseph explained. “It was his bloodslave, but because another vampire drank from her, it made her blood taste a little different and her scent was off. It’s off-putting when you’ve had the same bloodslave for so long. Of course, her scent will go back to normal eventually. But it causes an inconvenience.”

“I don’t get why he would drink from her. Isn’t he domesticated now?”

“Yes; you can be domesticated and still want blood,” Joseph said, shaking his head at the thought. “But you don’t feel as if you need it anymore. Like he knows he’s not going to go insane without it; he’s not going to terrorize people for their blood and go crazy. But if given the opportunity, he would happily take it. In this circumstance, I think it was more of a sex thing than a blood thing.”

I nodded, understanding.

“And you are the only one who can deal with something like that?” I asked, raising my brows. “Isn’t Bernard the overseer?”

Joseph nodded.

At this point, we left my apartment and headed down the stairs to the main entrance where I could see Joseph’s car idling outside the front door.

“Yeah, but Bernard’s been so busy that he really hasn’t had the time to deal with it,” Joseph explained. “The other elders are busy doing their jobs as well. This one is technically my job and Bernard has been on me about not being around. Technically, I’m not needed here anymore, and he thinks I should abandon my duties as a professor and return to my duties as an elder.”

My face flushed at his words.

We stepped outside and Joseph quickly put my suitcase in his trunk while I got into the passenger side of his car. He slid into the driver’s seat and once we were buckled and ready to go, he drove away from my apartment complex.

“Are they upset with me for keeping you here?” I finally asked after a little while of silence.

“No, they are upset with me,” he answered. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

An unsettled feeling formed in the pit of my stomach and soon I was filled with anxiety. I didn’t want to keep Joseph from his duties, but I also didn’t want to lose him. I glanced at his side profile briefly; he was so focused and fixed on the road. He didn’t seem as if he had a care in the world, I loved that he could keep a cool head.

I wanted to be his bloodslave so I could continue to be with him. He told me he would think about it, but it hasn’t been spoken about since I brought it up.

My stomach clenched.

What if he still doesn’t want me to be his bloodslave? What would happen to us once I got old?

I didn’t like the idea of growing old without him; he would remain the young and attractive man he is right now, and I would shrivel up and die. I bit my lower lip to keep myself from crying and I kept my head turned toward the window so he wouldn’t see the pain and fears that I was sure were evident on my face.

The rest of the drive was quiet besides the small talk here and there. But a few hours later, we arrived in the mountain village. A place I never thought I would see again; especially when Joseph broke up with me.

The sun was still awake, so most of the village was quiet. Only a few humans, who I knew were bloodslave, walked around. They paused when they saw me approaching and their eyes grew large, but they didn’t say anything, and I didn’t say anything to them either.

I wondered if they remembered me, or if they thought I was just another one of them.

Once we were inside Joseph’s house, I felt like I could finally breathe.

“We will rest here until sundown and then I’ll take you to Anna,” he told me, wrapping me in his arms.

“Do you think Anna will know about this stuff?” I asked, worry lacing my tone.

“She had some witch friends back in the day and she might even still be in contact with them,” Joseph answered. “I think she might be your best bet for right now.”

I nodded, sighing as I buried my face in his chest. We went into his bedroom to lie down, and we remained in each other’s arms for the rest of the day.

At that moment, nothing else mattered. It was just me and him.

I had no idea what awaited me once the sun went down.