By the time Amelia and Veela had descended the fire escape, the ground had stopped spinning.
“Never do that again!” Amelia said, smacking the Dhampir while she cackled wildly.
“Ah, my dear. That was the most fun I’ve had in a long time! How bout dinner?”
“I need to get back to my life! I’ve been tied up for a week.”
“Try three weeks!”
“What?”
“What?”
The Dhampir continued to sprint through the city, princess carrying her through alley after alley. Fast enough, where the buildings zipped behind. She nearly forgot how to breathe before they reached the waterfront, and what looked like a dozen locusts hovered above the Hudson Bay. Not locusts. Bats! They nearly took up the sky.
“Subway or taxi now!” Amelia said, her voice cracking.
“That might be a good idea, or we can always visit Brooklyn. The bridge isn’t too far away.”
“Enough with the dinner plans.”
“But there’s a really good hole-in-the-wall pizza place.”
“Veela.”
“Not even coffee?”
“Now’s not the best time!”
“Next time then.”
“We’ll see.”
Veela carried her to the top of the stairs. “Make sure to take the 4, 5, or 6 train to Grand Central and then you’ll be in the clear.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“If you think I’m heading into the subway with vampires on my ass alone, you must think I’m crazy. Please from woman to woman.”
Veela scrunched up her brow. “My dear, I hate to say this, but I’m not a woman. At least, not at the moment. But yes, I will accompany you. My servants will probably be lurking.”
Veela pulled her close, as if to shield her but they were nearly the same height. Amelia tried to quiet her beating heart. Was it fear? She blushed. No, you already have Selene. It would be wrong. Veela held her hand as they moved towards the line and escorted her towards the turnstile. Even from here it was hard to believe Veela was anything but feminine. His hair shone as if he had spent hours on it or it could have been a holy grail leave-in conditioner. His makeup was done impeccably well, not that he needed it. Now that she noticed it, he was not wearing fake-eyelashes at all. She was so jealous! His nails were dark purple, sharpened, not as long as Selene’s. And even his voice had a cute lilt to it. She wanted to ask him how he could speak like that so easily.
“Mademoiselle if you’re itching for company, or if you’re in any trouble at all. I will be near.”
“Is this when you give me some secret phrase or better yet a signal to point at the sky.”
“I put my number in your phone,” he said.
“How did you get past the lock screen.”
“Madame. 1-2-3-4-5 is hardly a code worth breaking.”
Amelia blushed. “It’s because I forget it all the time, okay?”
“Truly a cliché! Please text me when you arrive at your abode.”
“I will be waiting to see you safe.”
The Dhampir bowed, and a few strange looks were sent his way before he disappeared up the stairs and into the night. She wished he would have come with her.
The subway rocked as the train carried them through the night. Once or twice she thought she had caught the reflection of a bat in the window, but she tried not to pay attention as she desperately wracked her brains to send a text message to Selene. Trying to explain it all. “Hey, I was kidnapped by a vampire, not vampire.” No. “Hey, I miss you. Can we meet for dinner?” Maybe too sudden. “Hey I’m completely okay with what you mentioned about our relationship being a potential farce because succubus make it so they’re nearly impossible to resist.” She put her phone away. And glanced at the new contact as her finger hovered over the name. He had really put his full name in there. Kjula Van Moirte Vas. She sighed and then stared once more.
Then she sent a text to Selene, without thinking too much about it. “Hi my love.” No too formal. “I’m okay. I’m so sorry that I missed our date. I was kidnapped by a vampire.” She buried her head in her hands. It sounded so stupid. She picked up her phone, her heart thundering. Why was this so difficult? She selected the number and called. She waited. She just wanted to hear Selene’s voice. It immediately went to voicemail. She tried texting her, but the message hovered before not sending. Her heart welled in her throat. Did she block me?
No, you idiot. You’re on the subway. Aboveground, yes, but…she hadn’t blocked her. She couldn’t have. She reached for her purse, fumbling through it. Hands shaking. She pulled out an address. It was within the second week that they had started dating. Selene had said that if she could not reach her that she should go to that location.
It was either that or Central Park. Somehow this mysterious address seemed less intimidating. Logically it might have been better to take the line from Grand Central to Queens. To rest, get her head on straight and beg for her job back if she was fired. Most likely she was fired. It was a small magazine but it still meant so much to see it take off, and thrive, and yep sure enough there were twenty messages from her production manager.
The address was copied in her phone. It seemed like it was near Washington Square Park. She could go right now. Washington Square Park. She’d need to take Line 6 as soon as she arrived to Grand Central. Home would have to wait. She turned and moved towards Line 6.
***
Amelia moved amongst a flurry of people. Greenwich Village was most lively at night. Saxophone players were lost in their own music. The monument glowed. Amelia checked the address again. It was further in, a little bit up the pathway. A couple streets over and it was dark and vacant. Amelia had never been unsettled while living in nyc, not truly, but near the waterfront. Was this Christopher Street? She was beginning to feel a cold chill creep up behind her. This was such a stupid idea. Especially after being tailed by vampires. For a second she thought about sending a text to Veela. It was dark and damp. The corner hissed and the docks creaked. It was really pretty. And then she noticed a figure was hunched by the waterfront. “Selene?” she felt stupid for calling out and then the figure turned. Pale blue eyes. Wispy hair. Tall, very tall.
“Shit.”
She took another step back and the creature sauntered forward, an unnatural gait; it shook as it moved. Every time it ambled forward its limbs jerked as if nearly detached. As its torso swung forward it was as if it was dragging a bloated abdomen behind it. A rictus grin stretched across its face as it neared closer. It raised its claws and jolted backwards as it was pierced by a tree branch. It jerked backwards as something slammed into it from the side. It crumpled as the creature’s assailant continued to batter it with a blunt object. The tree branch continued to widen until the creature lay limp. Sam stood up, barely breathing, a fury caught in their eyes that Amelia had never seen before. “We should leave,” Sam said.
***
Amelia paused in the middle of Greenwich, afraid Sam would snap at her, but shouldn’t she be angry? Sam was the one who left. Finally, she found her footing .
“Sam, what was that?”
“Draugr. Mindless. Used to guard the domain of demons, or witches. I take it you were looking for Selene?”
A pang of sadness struck her. “Yeah.”
They turned, hurt in their eyes as they creased, looking her over, maybe not really seeing her at all.
“Amelia, where were you? You were gone for a week? Selene came to me, wondering where you were? She reached out to Nyssa to find you. But neither Nyssa, nor Bea or her other girls could find you. It’s like you disappeared.”
“You all cared that much?”
Sam softened. “Of course. You should have seen Selene. She was a wreck. When she thought she had been stood up, she was sad, but once she started sensing that you were gone, as in gone. I’ve never seen a succubus crumble to pieces like that.”
“Where is she?”
“Her domain.”
“Wasn’t that place hers—”
“No, never go there again, Amelia.”
“What was it?” she felt a chill.
“Nothing good.”
Sam steered her towards the train and soon they were silent again, deep in thought.
“Where did you go, Sam?”
“I don’t know,” the enby mumbled. “I didn’t want to leave it like that, really. I…I just got scared. I didn’t think I could protect you if more and more of my life slipped into yours. I would never forgive myself is something happened to you. I thought if I messed up once, I don’t think I could deal with that.”
“You didn’t trust if I could.”
“No, that’s not fair. But if it was the supernatural, it would have been easier, not easy, but manageable…maybe but there was a lot more to it than that. I’ve halted the deforestation of several forests. And they knew who I was. That’s why I was always moving. Your life would be ruined, Amelia. You would never find work, or safety again. They only knew that you were my weak point.”
“That’s not fair. You didn’t even let me have a say. You just left.”
“It was not fair. I would do it differently.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Their steps grew heavier as they disappeared into the night.