Heart of Ashes

My House

Sunlight flooded the room and Caine shielded his eyes. He sprang to his feet to close the curtains.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he exclaimed.

Evelyn reached for the curtain again, "That hurt?"

He grabbed her wrist and stood between her and the window. He'd fallen asleep at roughly six o'clock and it was a quarter to the thirteenth hour when Evelyn had disturbed him.
"Yes," he replied, "yes, it does rather."

Caine wouldn't have cared if he had never had a reason to see the sun again. It had caused him more pain in one day than he had faced in a week of battle.

"Well," she said, "do you think it hurt when you ripped my father's heart out?"

Caine smiled, "As I can speak from the experience of having it nearly happen myself, I can assure you that it hurt like the traitorous bastard your father was."

She drew her hand back and the smack rang out like a gun shot as her hand struck his cheek. He was aware of a tingling sensation in his face but she, on the other hand, visibly fought the urge to cry out. She had hit him hard. It was the kind of slap that hurt both the person receiving the slap as well as the person delivering it. Luckily, he thought, he wasn't a person.

"Do you enjoy slapping me?" he asked, "Does it give you some satisfaction?"

She glowered at him.

"Because if it does," he motioned to his other cheek, "please, do it again."

She grimaced, "Tempting."

Caine rolled his eyes, "Oh, for pity's sake, child, give me your hand."

She hesitated for a moment but eventually slipped her hand into his. Her skin was red and hot. He pressed his cool palm against her hot one for a while before letting go, "Better?"

She nodded.

"Now, what do you want?"

"Who the hell do you think you are, coming into my home and treating me like crap?" she demanded.

Caine studied her appearance for a moment. Her chocolate brown eyes blazed with fury and, though she was small in stature, he could easily imagine how she might be intimidating to anyone who.could be intimidated. She'd pulled her black hair back into a tight ponytail and she'd dressed herself in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, boots and a leather jacket. He recognised the jacket, he'd seen it in Alastair's tower room.

"Did your father send that jacket for you?" he asked.

She looked surprised by the question, "Yes, it's one of the few things that you lot actually let through."

Caine raised an eyebrow, he wasn't in the mood to tell her about how her father had been free to go for years but hadn't wanted to return to a life of dedication. How he'd wanted to spend his time making clothes and in the arms of the castle's ladies of more questionable honour and drink than with his family. How he'd ignored everything his daughter sent him and how he'd only sent the jacket because Vlad had instructed him to. Instead he smiled and offered something more venomous, "Yes, it seems it slipped past us."

Her eyes brightened with anger, "Don't avoid the question. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here on business," he said, "your father's treachery has caused a great deal of unrest all over the place but here especially. So I'm here to ease it.'

Evelyn laughed sarcastically, "They sent you? That's... so amazingly stupid."

Caine sighed, "I sent myself. There is no one left to send me. Another thing your father's stupidity caused was the death of two of the oldest vampires on Earth, both of which were my closest friends. I'm also going to have to tell a nice Irish girl's parents that their daughter is dead because of him and, oh yes, a legendary vampire slayer is also dead!"

Evelyn blinked, "Isn't that a good thing? For you I mean?"

"No! He was an ally," he clarified, "and a valuable one at that."

She shook her head, "Screw him, what are you doing here?"

"I just told you."

"No, why are you here?" she pointed at the floor, "In my house?"

"No, Evelyn," he replied, "you are in my house and we can live here peacefully while I stay here or you can shout at and slap me but either way, here is where I'll stay."

"But why?" Evelyn wrung her hands, "Why couldn't it be a guest house or something?"

"Because this is my house," he said, using his hands to emphasise his point, "I own this house. It's mine. I can rest here, we'll at least I thought I could."

"What the blazing hell does that have to do with my question?"

Caine released a long sigh, "Alright, Evelyn. I assume you've heard the legends about a vampire only being able to rest in a coffin?"

"Yes."

"It's akin to that," he explained slowly, "vampires rest better in houses that belong to them, otherwise they don't sleep."

"And they die?" the hopeful tone in her voice was unnerving.

"No, they get very grumpy."

Disappointment replaced her hopeful grin, "Like humans?"

"Worse."

"Oh."

"Yes, now, unless you wish to experience that, I suggest you leave me to ward the grumpiness away."

"One more question?"

She was getting on his nerves, "Yes?"

"Didn't you think that I would object to you staying here?"

"Of course I did," he steered her towards the door, she was starting to remind him of an over-eager Fledgling.

"But you came anyway, why?"

Caine nudged her out the door, "Not now. Later."

He closed it and she called from the other side, "Why?"

"Good day, Evelyn."

"Why?"

He turned the key in the lock and muttered under his breath, "Because I need to be here with you."