The Blood is Love (Dark Eyes 2)

I open the window with some effort, the old metal latch having not been opened for some time, pressing the panes wide, the smell of exhaust and the ocean wafting in, wiping away all the terror of earlier.

The moth hesitates and then flies away, up into the misty morning sky.

“Odin, leave her alone,” Amethyst says, as the black pit bull shoves his nose at my hand. It might seem like he wants me to give him some much-deserved scritches, but every time I do so, he just snuffs and snorts and moves his head away. What he really wants are treats. Lots of treats. And I don’t have any at the moment.

“I’ll give you something later,” I tell him, and I swear the dog glares at me. He’s extremely well-trained for a dog—most of the time—and so hyper intelligent that sometimes I think he might actually understand English. He at least seems to talk to Solon in his head. I called him out on it once but Solon looked at me like I was ridiculous for even thinking such a thing.

Still, I wouldn’t be surprised. Solon isn’t your average vampire, plus he’s got a boatload of magic that he’s bartered for, more than I have in my humble witchy beginnings. So I wouldn’t put anything past him, including figuring out how to have a conversation with his dog.

Odin snuffs again and then gives up, leaving the room with that head hung low, disappointed walk that only a dog can do.

I’m sitting on the end of Amethyst’s bed while she does my makeup for tonight’s party at Dark Eyes. I’d say it’s become a fun, girly tradition between us, but it’s only happened twice before and neither of those events were “fun.” The first time was because I was about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder (though Solon insists he would have never gone through with it, I’m not sure I believe him), and the second time I was attacked by someone working for Yanik, which resulted in my beloved ripping out the vampire’s heart and setting it on fire.

And, actually, this time will be the first time I’ve been to Dark Eyes since I got back from Shelter Cove, so I’m more nervous than anything else.

“Are you okay?” Amethyst asks, her fluffy blush brush paused at my cheek. “You seem miles away.”

I try to give her my most reassuring smile, but from the way her violet eyes keep locked on mine, I don’t think she buys it. “I’m just…anxious. I guess.”

“I heard what you said to Solon earlier. That you thought you saw someone in your room this morning.”

And here I was thinking the vampires had the best hearing. For a human, Amethyst sure has them beat.

“It was nothing,” I tell her. “Seeing things.”

As soon as I got up this morning, I found Solon with Wolf down in Dark Eyes, talking about something that seemed rather important. As I had guessed, Solon had gotten up early that morning to take Odin out. Of course, I told him exactly what had happened, but he didn’t seem all that concerned, least no more than normal.

“Seeing things?” Amethyst says. “Well, I suppose it could be a ghost. Even I’ve seen them around here. Why do you think I have the brightest bedroom in the house?”

I look around, trying not to squint. She has all the curtains open, letting the evening light reflect off the cream-colored walls. Despite her rather goth style personality—I mean, she willingly lives in an old Victorian house of vampires—her room is a cheerful place (aside from the fact that she collects those American Dolls and she keeps them all in a closet—not in their boxes like a normal collector would, but stacked in there all loose, legs and arms akimbo. I opened it one time looking for a shirt she borrowed and I got the fright of my life, like I stumbled onto the world of Annabelle or something).

Anyway, when it came to what I saw that morning, Solon didn’t mention ghosts, but he did say it could be Shadow Souls. Those are the trapped souls of those lost in the Black Sunshine. I’ve seen them there, but he says it’s not uncommon for them to cross over into this world. Apparently they’re attracted to depression, which I guess might fit the bill when it comes to me. Along those lines, he also said that it might just be my imagination, since I’m having such a hard time processing everything that’s happening. The shadow could represent a guilty conscience.

I sigh as she dusts some blush on the tip of my nose. I hope I don’t look like a clown now. “But I’m mainly anxious about tonight,” I admit.

“Oh. Why?”

I shrug lightly as she puffs her brush into a large compact of bronzer. With my skin alabaster pale now, I will take all the bronzer I can get. “I don’t know. I guess because this is the first party I’ll have been to since everything happened. Everyone knows who I am now. Everyone probably knows I was kidnapped too.”