Page 36 of Little Wing (Shades of Fairhaven #1)

“ I ’ve got to get going. We can resume later,” I whispered over my shoulder before stepping out of Silas’s office. While I worked to fix my hair that his hands were tangled in just moments ago, I stopped abruptly to find Quinn leaning against the wall, grinning playfully.

She tipped her chin at my hair and smirked. “Good strategy discussion?”

“Oh I—”

“Relax,” she huffed a laugh. “Not like I haven’t done worse all over the world with Mattie. Should have seen us in—” she waved her hand in front of her face and tsked . “There’s a group ready for you up front. Assuming you still want to talk?”

“Goodness, I’m sure we can… dig into that a little deeper, but I won’t keep them waiting. Thank you!”

Ever since Little Wing opened its doors in Fairhaven, weekly attendance from vampires of all ages remained regular.

People were booking counseling sessions and attending informative seminars designed to prepare vampires for a life they maybe weren’t expecting to be part of.

That was the main reason why I wanted to share my knowledge.

What I had to share came from first-hand experiences, but that didn’t make it any less valuable.

At least that was the impression I got each time I was asked to come back to speak, which was more than a few times now.

There was joy in doing this. I could share fragments of who I was and what I experienced because, while the circumstances were dark and often painful, I did survive. I made it long enough to describe world events that couldn’t be found in textbooks.

“Um, Lotus?” a young vampire woman raised her hand. She looked no older than twenty with her hair dyed a vibrant pink and clothes that looked like they had seen better days. “Did you use to wear all those corsets and stuff? Like, not for cosplay?”

“Wait!” another vampire chirped from the back of the cluster of seats. “How did you decide to come out when the treaty was signed? Who signaled that it wasn’t a trap?”

“Alright, alright,” I said, pointing to the young woman with the pink hair. “Let’s go in order, shall we?”

We were setup in the main area of Little Wing, where I could watch people walk in while enjoying the discourse of today’s topic, which just so happened to be the evolution of vampiric identity over the last three hundred years.

Not even ten minutes into our discussion, hands were raised and noise increased.

I took each question and answered it to the best of my ability.

As we continued to talk, I leaned back against the wall that separated the main room from the hallway. I was fascinated by their curiosity .

“Ms. Evans, what would happen back then if someone noticed that you weren’t getting older?” a young man with short black hair asked as he leaned forward in his seat. “Did people get suspicious?”

“Yeah, did they?” another young man sitting in front asked.

It was inevitable that questions like that would begin to come up.

While I wanted to keep the unsavory parts of our culture concealed, I knew that it was important information.

So many vampires made mistakes in their past. A lot of us committed crimes we were not proud of—all in the name of our survival.

When humans began to question our identity, we sometimes had no choice but to act.

I pondered the question and how I would answer before pushing off from the wall.

“Well, there was certainly violence involved in many cases, unfortunately. Even back then, all we wanted was peace. In my case, if people were turning their heads, then we—” I caught myself and cleared my throat.

“Um, I would end up moving somewhere else. Small towns were difficult for that reason, so I preferred living in a city back then. Less people paid attention to me that way.”

Satisfied with my answers, I returned to our main discussion.

The session continued flowing smoothly and as more questions were asked, our discussion branched off into much deeper topics.

Like how did vampires without a community survive so long?

How did we not lose ourselves in isolation?

Moments like that made me wonder what my life could have been like if Luca and I had more support and direction.

If we had a nest, like the one Mateo and Silas had, would it have made a difference in how Luca and I ended up?

Or were we always destined to live with one foot out the door, always ready to run at a moment’s notice when someone would finally catch on to who we were .

As I spoke, I allowed my eyes to venture around the room.

Because we were in the open, I watched as new guests came in or when they stopped by the cluster of chairs to listen in on the discussion.

But as I talked, I couldn’t ignore the feeling that someone was watching me intently.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, doing my best to remain focused on the next question that was asked.

But I couldn’t ignore the chills that ran down my spine.

Something isn’t right…

When the feeling did not go away, I braved a quick glance out of the corner of my eye where I saw a large shadow come into my peripheral vision.

The air suddenly felt heavier. It felt… wrong.

The comfort that I often felt at Little Wing was shrouded in something that made it hard to breathe.

In seconds, the shadow moved closer, pushing bodies out of chairs with such force that some people fell to the ground.

“Hey—watch it!” the pink haired woman exclaimed.

The shadow I saw just seconds ago was no longer a phantom lingering just out of my line of sight.

It was a man who stood tall with rage in his blue eyes.

He was dressed in a plaid jacket and blue jeans.

He didn’t look any different from the other vampires at Little Wing, but it was in the way his eyes refused to leave mine that unsettled me.

“May I help—” I started to ask before his finger wagged harshly in front of my face.

“You!” he hissed, his spit spraying onto my cheek. He rubbed his full dark beard that didn’t match the short blond hair on top of his head.

I quickly moved into de-escalation mode, trying to move the young vampires away from the enraged man. Not breaking eye contact with him, I tried to keep my voice steady.

“Sir, please lower your voice.” My words were soft yet stern. My eyes studied him closely .

Not human. Vampire?

He flashed his fangs in anger.

Yup. Vampire. Who was he?

“Who the FUCK let this murderous bitch in here?” he seethed, spitting again. This time instead of wagging his finger like a weapon, he closed the distance between us and backed me up against the wall.

Oh gods… No.

I spotted Quinn already rushing from behind the front desk and down the hallway to the back office where I knew she would try to get Silas’s attention. No, he was going to be busy. I could handle this. I could keep them safe. That’s why I volunteered. I came here to help not to cause a scene.

My breathing quickened as I tried to remain calm, but the brute’s breath smelled like crimson, and he was much bigger than me. I had to defuse the situation before he made more of a commotion.

“S-sir, there is no reason to yell,” I said, trying to negotiate my way from the dead end of the wall behind me. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but I assure you that these are good people you are scaring. Why don’t we settle down and we can talk peacefully.”

He scoffed and refused to look away. Fire continued to burn in his eyes. Fire that was directed at me.

“Thought you’d leave and we’d never find you again, whore?” He shoved me harder against the wall and gripped my bicep roughly.

“Ow!” I yelped as he yanked me forward enough to wrap his hand around my throat. “Y-you’re hurting me!” As he squeezed harder, I tried to push him away. “I’m not who you t-think I a—”

“I can fucking SMELL him on you, stupid bitch! I can smell that traitorous bastard. Where is he?” the man howled. “Where is your coward of a brother? I’ll bathe in his blood once I’m done with you!”

My eyes widened. Oh, my gods. He knew me .

He recognized me.

My mind immediately rushed with guilt for having stopped wearing my makeup that Luca instructed me to wear. But even with it, this was bound to happen, right? I just never expected that it would be at Little Wing, somewhere vampires of all circumstances could feel safe.

The man squeezed harder around my windpipe. I had no doubt I’d be left with dark bruises there as well as my arm. I suppose it wouldn’t matter if he was close to crushing me anyway.

“HEY! Get your fucking hands off her!”

Silas…

“Fuck off!” The man hollered, looking over his shoulder. “Did you know you’re letting a fucking traitor to our people near our young vampires?!”

I couldn’t see Silas beyond the man whose anger and hatred could be felt in his firm grip. However, I could hear him. Silas paced and whispered instructions to the volunteers and Quinn. He sounded stern, rushing them along before I felt him come closer.

The furious vampire didn’t listen. He didn’t let up.

He yanked and squeezed me like nothing more than a rag doll.

He knew nothing about me other than the accusations that were spread nearly a century ago.

When the elite vampires could not locate my brother, the vampiric citizens took justice into their own hands, tangling my fate in that of my brother's.

Even I longed to punish him for all that he had put me through.

But did anyone ever listen beyond the stench of Luca’s scent on me? Did anyone bother seeing that I was his victim too?

“I fucking said…” Silas growled. “Take your hands off her!” He stepped forward, bringing his hands up when he watched the man adjust his grip around my throat.

“You have an issue with who volunteers their time at my facility? Be a man and talk to me about it without as saulting innocent women.” I could hear the rise of his rage in his voice.

I could smell the intensity of emotion. Would he feel the same way once this brute fed him the poison of my true identity? Would the rage turn on me?

“That is Lotus Everett. You dumb fuck! You had this bitch under your nose and didn’t turn her in?” He slammed me back against the wall. My head ached, but all I could listen to were the gasps that sounded around the room.

Before he could say another word, a pair of quick fists swung at the man’s face, knocking him off balance enough for Mateo to pin him to the ground.

He blew a strand of his hair away from his face and bobbed his head for me to get to safety.

When I stepped away, I could still feel the eyes of everyone in the room settle on me.

Many stared in shock, some in disgust, but most… in fear.

No… no… this was not supposed to happen.

“Luca Everett—ring a bell? Two human women murdered and he’s still fucking out there!

This bitch is just as guilty as him," he roared beneath Mateo, fighting to throw him off his back.

He lifted his head enough to stare at Silas.

“Do yourself a favor and stick her out in the sun, put a bullet in her skull, and do a fucking—”

Mateo slammed the man harder against the ground with what appeared to be his last burst of energy.

He struggled to keep my aggressor down, but as he called for Silas, he didn’t move.

He stood frozen as other volunteers rushed to help Mateo, quickly working to pin the vampire’s arms behind his back while the others worked on calling the authorities.

Silas was still silent and I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. Without another word, I turned on my heel and ran out of Little Wing.