The vampire and the mistress

Chapter 2

I glanced over at Dorian and shot him a dark look at the amusement that he seemed to have plastered all over his face. I loved Dorian to pieces, but at times like this, I could cheerfully kill him and not feel any remorse in the slightest.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I muttered as I looked over at Marie. She seemed to be busy doing whatever it was she was doing.

"I was going to, but Xander told me on the phone to let you sleep in a little as he'd planned on ringing you." He looked over at me with a grin. I was really beginning to hate both of them for plotting against me like this. They both knew what Marie was like, and they both knew that if I was late, Marie would torture me to teach me to never be late again.

"You knew, but you never told Marie." I looked at Dorian in anger. I was fast losing respect for my vampire best friend and my mate tonight.

"Enough talking." Marie snapped. "We need to make up for lost time tonight." Marie slammed down a book in front of me on the table. "Now, let's get on about the wolves so that you at least know what to do if the Alpha and Luna turn up here."

I rolled my eyes and sat down, looking down at the book. I hoped that I'd simply be able to get away with just looking down at the book the whole time that she was ranting at me. I really couldn't concentrate today; my mind was still missing Xander, and the dream I'd had about him had made me miss him even more.

I don't know how long I'd been sitting with my head down, looking at the book, as I glanced up from time to time to look at Dorian, who still seemed engrossed in whatever he was reading.

"Are you even listening?"

"Marie, even I am finding it hard to listen to you drone on about werewolves and the pack tonight." Dorian muttered. "Give her a break; at the end of the day, she's been here every single night listening, learning, and asking questions about things; one night messing up won't hurt her." Dorian closed the book and looked over at Marie. "Besides, Xander was the one who told me to leave her to rest and sleep in later tonight."

"It doesn't matter." Marie turned her attention to Dorian, and I couldn't keep my eyes away as I wanted to know who was going to win this argument. "She has a lot to learn if she's to stay alive, especially with Lucian on the loose out there. What happens if she's alone and runs into Lucian?"

"Before she goes, she should have her dagger." Dorian countered. "I can't imagine Lucian wanting to fight with a silver dagger-wielding human. I know I certainly wouldn't want to take my chances."

"Not everything has to be sorted out that way." Marie muttered.

"When it comes to Lucian, violence is the only thing he understands." I chimed in and instantly regretted it as both Dorian and Marie turned and looked at me. Dorian gave me a look of pleasure that I'd stood up to Marie for myself, and Marie gave me a look of anger that I'd spoken out. "Ok, sorry, I spoke," I muttered and went to get up.

"Sit down!" Marie shouted. "Fine, what do you suggest I teach her then?" She looked at Dorian.

"Don't ask me; you're the teacher, and Xander asked you to teach her." Dorian picked up the book again, clearly pleased he'd rattled Marie so much.

"Fine, what do you want to learn if you're bored by werewolves?" Marie folded her arms over her chest. I wasn't sure if this was the point at which I was supposed to talk about what I wanted or if this was the point at which I was to shut my mouth or say something along the lines of whatever you think I should be learning; however, I knew my mouth was going to get me into trouble.

"I'd like to learn about the chaos." I told her. It had been something that had been plaguing me for a while, and it had been something that I'd never felt comfortable asking Xander, as I hadn't wanted to upset him, as I knew that if we'd had that conversation then it would have eventually turned to the subject of Lucian.

"Rosa..." Dorian began.

"No." Marie answered, looking me in the eyes.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because one, I am not going to be the one who upsets you and gives you nightmares about what happened to you during that time, and two..."

"There's not much known." Dorian finished off. I looked over at Dorian to see him put the book down, get up, and come to me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Rosa, that is not something you need to be digging into. As Marie said, it will bring back the bad memories, and that is the last thing we need right now."

"No, it will make me remember what Lucian did and will make me want to put an end to all of this much sooner." I answered as I got up myself. If these two are standing together on this matter, then maybe there's something they know but aren't telling me, or has Xander told them not to tell me anything? I didn't know, but I wanted to find out just what had happened.

"Rosa, you don't need to fight this anymore."

"Lucian is hunting me down because of what I didn't do." I snapped as I lost my temper with them both. I understood that they were trying to protect me, but Marie had asked me what I wanted to know, and now she was going back on it. "This is personal to me. A lot of these scars." I showed the pair my arms. "It's what he did. It is personal to me."

"I said no. I am not discussing this anymore." Marie slammed her hand on the table as Dorian and I kept our eyes locked on each other as if we were debating which one of us was going to back down first.

"Fine, then this lesson is done." I turned and walked out of the library, slamming the door behind me. I didn't care about the fact that they were trying to protect me; what annoyed me was what gave them the right to think that I wasn't able to handle what had happened. I just wanted to understand what had happened, and if they wouldn't tell me what happened, I'd find out another way.

I wasn't sure where I was actually going, I just walked and knew I had to get away from the main house. My head was reeling over what had happened, but I shook my head a little. I had to stand my ground. That's what they'd all told me when Xander and I came out about us, so here I was standing my ground. You know Xander didn't mean against Marie and Dorian; this is just rebellion, and you know it.

I walked into the human house and looked around. It had felt like a lifetime since I was last in the house. I knew most of the humans were in the main house, tidying up as they did, but I also knew who was in the house and who wasn't working. I knew that Sarah wasn't working tonight, and neither were the girls. I went to the stairs and climbed up them to go to what used to be my old room in hopes that Sarah was still there, if she wasn't then I had no clue what I'd do with myself.

I stood in front of my old room's door and knocked. When Sarah didn't answer at first, I began to wonder if I'd made a mistake in coming. I didn't belong here anymore. I didn't belong to these humans any more. I knew from when I'd first arrived that I'd been very different. I went to turn away, deciding I'd just sulk in my room in the main house, when the door opened and Sarah stood looking at me, confused and shocked.

"Rosa?" She looked down the hallway and then back at me. "Is everything ok?"

"Are you expecting guests?" I asked, wondering if I was disturbing something. "If you are, then I'll come back."

"No." She took my hand and led me into our old room. "I'm just getting ready to go out. We're heading out to the movies. Come with us. If something is wrong, I'm sure the others won't mind you coming with us." Sarah grinned, and I couldn't help but smile and laugh. I'd really missed Sarah in moments like this. She was the one constant in my life since I'd gotten here that I knew I could count on to help me forget my troubles for a short time.

"I need to go and get my stuff..." I began, but Sarah gave me the look that said, really?

"My treat. Come on!" She finished getting sorted and then opened the door and began to drag me out. This hadn't been how I'd planned my day, but I certainly wasn't going to say no to a bit of wind-down time, especially if I was away from Dorian and Marie too. That was an extra bonus. I just knew when I got back I'd pay heavily for walking out of my lesson and leaving without telling either of them where I was going. Right now, I didn't care. I just wanted to rebel and show them both that I was me.

Sarah and I walked down the stairs again to Mara and Claire's room, where Sarah knocked with a grin on her face. She was just excited that I was there and that I hadn't forgotten her, despite everything that had happened.

"So what brought you to visit little me?" She grinned.

"I missed you, and I needed a friend," I answered.

"You thought of me; I'm honored." Sarah laughed as she put her hand on her heart in a mock shock, looking at me. "How's Lord Xander been treating you?" She looked my way as if she were expecting a certain answer from me.

I'd gone to answer when the door opened, and Mara stood looking confused between us for a moment.

"I hope you don't mind; I've brought an extra body."

I noticed the way Mara seemed tense and then smiled. "No, you know the saying, the more the merrier." Mara glanced around at Claire with a nervous look. "Claire and I had just been talking about you." Mara moved aside for both of us to go into the room. "We were wondering how you were."

I shrugged as I felt the tension. "Same old, same old," I muttered as Claire came out of the bathroom and saw me, but the smile that I'd gotten from her felt fake. What had I done to upset them? Nothing, maybe that was the problem. I didn't know, I just had to hope that I could figure out the problem before it got even bigger and caused a lot more trouble.

"Rosa." Claire smiled, but I noticed the darkness that seemed to cloud her eyes. Just what was wrong with her and Mara? I wanted to ask when Sarah stepped in.

"Are you two nearly ready to go, or we'll be late." Sarah scolded as if she were really looking forward to whatever movie they had made plans to go and see.

"Yeah, we are. I just need my keys." Claire sighed and went to grab her keys and bag. "Like you said, let's go." Claire seemed to walk past me and out the door. I bit my lip, as I didn't want any more arguments tonight, but just what was her problem? I had no clue, but I was pretty sure sooner or later I'd find out, and if I had to ask Sarah what their problem with me was, then I'd do it.