The vampire and the assassin

Chapter 24

I didn't have to go too far down the path to find that Dan had been the one who had shouted at me. Dan had been one of the guys that we often hung out with on free days. Dan was... How do you explain Dan in a word? Unique, I guess I would settle for. He liked to think that because he was Helena's favorite, every single woman wanted to sleep with him. Mara had warned me about being alone with him, as there had been a lot of rumors swirling around him, but none of them had ever been told as being true; he always maintained they were all made up.

"Everything alright?" He asked as he was leaning against a tree. "I saw Dorian walking you back to the house." I couldn't read his face in the darkness where he was standing, but I felt a little on edge and just wanted to get out of the situation. I just wanted to go to bed on my own so that I could forget about today. I hoped that by talking to him, he'd see I was tired and would just leave me alone to go back.

"Oh, yeah, we ran into each other. I got summoned to the main house." I shrugged as if it was nothing, as I really didn't want to get into it with him of all people, considering that Helena thought of Dan as her favorite male human in the house, which I found pretty funny considering she'd scolded me over Xander treating me as his favorite. One rule for one sprung to mind.

"Helena didn't give you a hard time, did she?" He asked as he stood upright, looking at me with concern, but I knew the look too well; there was more to that concern than simply the worry he'd hoped to convince me he had. I'd seen it many times with Liam when we had been sitting with his victim.

"Yeah, I just got told off. Although I'll admit, I don't really understand why."

Dan began to laugh as he seemed to relax a little. "Don't worry about it, when Xander is away, sometimes she likes to remind people she's in charge. I've lost count of how many times she's "reminded" me about it. She's just jealous, Rosa; don't worry about it."

"I got that impression," I muttered as I stifled a yawn. "So, what's wrong?" I asked simply.

"Oh, I've been bored on my night off, and it seems everyone's been really busy and I haven't been summoned so..."

"You want to be thankful you have a night off tonight; they've had a party. I was doing normal cleaning while the others were trying to stop it from spilling over into other rooms." I laughed. "So what are you planning on doing then to keep yourself entertained?" I asked, trying to keep my yawning to a minimum so I didn't seem rude, but I couldn't help myself.

"Hmmm, not sure. Want to go for a drive to burn some time?" He asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

I'd been with Dan for a drive before but not on my own, and when we had been for a drive and I had sat up front with Dan, I'd felt very uncomfortable with him with his comments and the way I noticed he'd look at me sideways, so I wasn't going to give him that chance.

"How about a walk? I might fall asleep in the car as I'm getting tired." I muttered, hoping he'd bite and remembering we were in the grounds and vampires would be all over the place, so if he tried anything, I'd just shout blue murder and hope someone would come. Despite that, I was pretty sure that if I screamed, Dorian, my vampire best friend, as he'd taken to calling himself, would come and be my knight with fangs and strength.

"Sure." He offered his arm to me, and I put my arm through his as we walked. We headed towards the woodlands but kept close to where we could still see the house as we walked. The conversation was general, about how the night had gone cleaning. We laughed about Sarah and the others as well, but then the talk seemed to get a little heavier and more personal—too personal for my liking.

"So if you're working here, I'm guessing that means you have no partner?" Dan asked as we stopped, and he turned his full attention to me.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, tilting my head to the side and looking at him.

"Well, the whisper is, you can from Lucian's household. So I'm guessing you certainly don't have a boyfriend if you've been there. Everyone knows what Lucian is like." Dan grinned as if he were pleased with himself for knowing that simple fact.

"What about you?" I asked, turning tables, as I really didn't like the turn of conversation. It had honestly felt like he was expecting something of me, and that should have been the point at which I'd turned around and left, yet I didn't; stupid me just stayed put, waiting to see where he was going. Not only that, but my brain told me if he did try something and I was forced to fight, I was on an equal playing field with Dan considering he was a human like me.

"Nope, no partner for me; I prefer to be single and get what I want from who I want." That simple sentence put me on edge even more. I found myself now pleased that I didn't go for a drive with Dan, as things would have turned darker, I got the feeling.

"So what about you?" He asked again.

I bit my lip, hoping I was reading too much into it, so I tested the waters a little with him. "There used to be someone before I ended up in Lucian's service," I answered.

"So what happened? Lucian made you leave your nice, kind, and caring boyfriend?"

"No, things came to an end eventually as... it was toxic between us." I looked at Dan wondering if he'd question me anymore about it.

"You shouldn't let that stop you from dating or having fun. You're a very beautiful woman, Rosa, and you seem like you have an amazing personality. I'm sure there's someone out there, and until you find that person, why not enjoy yourself?" He walked towards me as if he was going to come on to me, so I backed up until my back hit a tree, and I had nowhere else to go as he got into my personal space. My mind began to slip into fighting mode, and I could feel my instincts beginning to come to the forefront. Who needed a vampire knight when I could deal with this low life on my own?

"Enjoy myself?" I laughed as I looked up at him.

"Yeah, you know, cut loose with someone..." He leaned down and kissed me on the lips, and I pushed him away from me. He might have been taller and stronger than me, but that didn't stop me from defending myself. I was sure that as a teen I'd taken on people much taller than him, brought them to their knees, and made them regret teasing me.

"Dan, you've read the situation all wrong. I'm sorry." I tried to move to the side, but he came back to me and put his hands on either side of the tree to block me in. I'd given him his chance to walk away with his dignity intact, but he'd decided not to take it.

"Cut the crap; everyone knows at Lucian's you have to sleep with vampires, and if you're happy to sleep with a vampire, then you're sure as hell going to be happy with me." He moved one hand on the bottom of my dress near the hem as if he had planned on pulling it up to get what he wanted.

"Stop Dan." I'd used the same dark tone that I'd used with Helena to warn him.

"What will you do? Shout and scream? The vamps are partying; they won't hear you." A familiar, cold smile crossed his face as my head began to see Liam in him. Giving into my instincts, I jerked my knee up to his crotch quickly, and as he doubled over, I took off running. I didn't care in what direction; I just ran in a random direction to get away from him. As far away as I could.

As I ran, the ground under my feet in the denser forest was slippery from the rain. I couldn't remember it raining in the night, so it must have rained hard in the daytime when we'd been sleeping. As I ran deeper into the woods, I lost my footing in a bog of mud, slipped on my backside, and landed in the mud. I got myself up and leaned against a tree as my breath started to come hard and fast and my chest began to hurt. I could also feel that the adrenaline in my system was starting to leave as I was out of danger. I leaned against a tree, wincing a little at the fact that I'd sprained my ankle, I turned it lightly and winced again. It wasn't broken or anything; I'd be able to walk on it in a few minutes or so. I let myself catch my breath and then looked around. I quickly realized that I was deeper in the woods than I should have been, and that was when Xander's voice sprung to mind. The grounds around the main house can get dangerous at night. On the boundaries of our land is a wolf pack that has large grounds. You could have easily run into their grounds and found yourself prey. A cold shiver ran through me as I thought about those words. I had a feeling I was no longer on the vampire grounds, but I was now prey in the pack lands. As if to confirm my thoughts, a wolf howled in the distance.

I took a deep breath and turned around to try and figure out the way I'd come, but I couldn't see anything but trees and darkness. I had no choice now but to keep moving while it was dark, and in the morning I'd figure out the direction to get back. I'd just have to hope that someone realized I was missing and sent help to find me.

Feeling a little more confident with a plan, I began to keep moving in the direction I had been running in, to begin with. My hands touched the tree as I walked until a clearing opened up to me. I managed to stumble into the clearing, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could make out the shape of a house. I walked to the door and knocked, thinking there were people in the house who were just asleep, but when no one answered, I pushed open the door, and it opened for me. I carefully and slowly walked in.

"Hello?" I called as I looked around. The house was abandoned. There was stuff littering the floor as I walked in. I'd take the shelter for tonight if it meant I wasn't out in the open where wolves would be able to hunt me. I had to get back to the main house tomorrow; otherwise, I knew I was going to be in big trouble. Just how would I explain this one away? Dan would have gone running to Helena, turning it all into my fault, and Helena wouldn't have cared enough to do anything about the fact that I was missing. My only chance of any hope of getting back was either Xander or Dorian.