The Vampire's Maid

Part 20. The Vampire's Maid

The humming of the car. It was the only sound that I'd heard for what seemed like hours. I knew we couldn't have been silent for that long because the sun was only beginning to crawl into the sky, lighting the trees that surrounded us with a feeble light. I unfolded my hands only to refold them for the hundredth time.

"Ashley," I started, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry." He whispered again. "I know it's unforgivable."

It was the first time he'd spoken since he'd re-entered the car and his voice was unnaturally quiet and hoarse. He didn't meet my eyes, as though he was scared to look at me. He was winding himself into this guilty state; his eyes kept closing for long periods of time and remorse was etched in his every feature.

"But I forgive you." I said truthfully.

The car swerved suddenly on the road and I gripped tightly to the car seat. The bright headlights, visible in the dark morning, zigzagged across the narrow road in front of us. Finally the car squelched to a halt in a muddy bank and I exhaled in relief.

"You do?" Ashley asked doubtfully.

"Yes. It's not exactly news worthy of nearly crashing the car." I told him dryly.

"But why?" He asked, confused.

We seemed to be asking each other that question a lot. There was so much that I didn't know about him, so much mystery behind his motives. What I hadn't expected, was that I was just as much as a mystery to him.

"Well, you can't help killing people. It's how nature works! And Jackson Placely deserved it more than most people."

"You're too forgiving! Too understanding! In my world, you're not going to last a minute." Ashley said angrily.

"It's my world too now." I whispered, "And by stopping me from getting involved with you, you're not going to remove me from it."

The words echoed around the car and Ashley's breathing was no longer steady. I slipped my hand over his; it was cold but still softer than imaginable. He clenched my fingers back, hard, but the dull pain was bearable. It was almost comforting.

"But what else can I do? How else can I keep you safe?" He asked and there was a sort of protective hopelessness in his voice that I hadn't heard before.

"You can tell me everything. Everything that could help me."

Ashley paused for a second, his eyes glazed over in thought as he stared out of the blacked out windscreen. Then he nodded. With that nod he seemed to lose his hard exterior and relaxed into a smile. The pain of his murder though, was still present in his eyes.

"There are lots of things you need to know. You are in more danger than I thought possible for a human under my father's protection."

"Protection?"

The idea of Goliath protecting anyone, especially a human, was laughable.

"He thinks that he owns you. He doesn't want to trouble himself by recruiting new staff." His face was full of hatred, "But our family is apparently one of the most prestigious amongst vampires and he's not going to risk that status to protect a human. So we can't depend on his protection."

"So I can't trust your dad. Now there's a surprise. What's this danger I'm supposed to be in?" I asked, trying to make my voice neutral.

"Isaac," sighed Ashley.

I nodded, slightly relieved. I'd known that Isaac was bloodthirsty for my blood in particular and so this horror was no surprise.

"I think," Ashley said sourly, "That he's going to ask my father's permission to buy you."

"WHAT?" I screeched, aghast.

Now it was his turn to cover my hand with his own. His thumb moved in soothing circles around my palm.

"Don't worry, Elizabeth!" Ashley comforted. "I don't know for sure that he is going to do that."

"But if he does then I'll die." I said but my voice cracked.

"No! No you won't. I won't let him buy you."

Ashley repeated the same words over and over again in my ear but hot tears were blurring in my eyes. Without knowing it, Goliath's house had always offered me some protection. The prospect of leaving it, not to escape but to pass into Isaac's hands, made me feel sick. Already tears were beginning to fall down my cheeks and I brushed them away, not wanting to seem cowardly.

"I won't let him, Elizabeth. I won't." Ashley repeated.

I buried my head into his shoulder and let his words wash over me, hoping more than anything that they were true. My sobs, embarrassingly loud in the silence, subsided. Ashley's fingertips lifted my chin up to face him. There was no guilt in his face anymore, just concern and, I hoped that I wasn't mistaken, desire. His cold fingers wiped away the tears that were clinging to my eyelashes, clumping them together.

"Just trust me?" Ashley asked.

He didn't have to phrase it as a question. The answer to it was obvious. I did trust Ashley more than anyone left to me in the world. I brought my lips to his without really thinking about it. I was so drunk with my tears that I had lost all of my inhibitions. And for a moment as he kissed me back, Isaac was washed from my mind. The effect Ashley had on me, his ability to remove thoughts from my head without saying so much as a word, was incredible. It also scared me a little to see how much power he had over me even if he didn't know it.

Isaac and all of the connotations his name held rushed back to me when Ashley pulled away from me. Despite Ashley's smouldering green eyes, I couldn't remove the thoughts from my head.

"We need to go home before Dane or my father wakes up. And then you probably have a few questions to ask me."

I nodded meekly as we drove off into the morning, heading through the anonymous countryside and back towards the house which was my prison and my life.

..........................................................................

Thank you guys for getting me up to #10 on the What's Hot. I'm aware that this chapter is super short but I'm running out of time to write :/ Don't worry- I'll still update but it might not be so much so often. Comment please :D