The Vampire’s Servant novel Chapter 139

[Sean]

Sleep was difficult. It felt like things were moving under my skin. Sometimes I felt like I was on fire and other times like I was doused in ice water.

My skin itched and every joint in my body hurt. Rosario didn’t seem to know what to do. His touch soothed me and I could only sleep with his arms wrapped around me.

It was after midnight when my body seemed to soothe and I fell into a deep and heavy sleep. It was like being dragged down inside myself. I couldn’t fight it and, frankly, I didn’t want to.

I dreamed of a field of wildflowers next to a forest. I heard a stream bubbling nearby. I was drawn to the sound of it.

This was a place unlike any I’d seen before. The sun was warm and inviting. The scent of the area was soothing and sweet.

As I walked, it was as if the flowers and plants moved aside to let me pass without damaging them. When I made it to the stream, it was beautiful. Crystal clear water rolled over a multitude of shining rocks and stones beneath the stream. There were some little fish swimming in it.

Sitting on the bank of the stream, I put my hand out to feel the water. I gasped as I realized my skin was now a light green. I wished there was a bit of water still enough to see my reflection.

“Hello again, Sean.” A familiar, soothing, woman’s voice said.

“Goddess?” I whispered and looked up.

It was daytime in the dream, but she seemed as ethereal as she had in the night scape of the last dream I had. Her hair seemed to hold a light all its own. She came down the bank and walked over the stream before sitting next to me. I wasn’t nervous. I felt super calm and wondered why she was here.

“I’m so glad you fought through your feelings and accepted everybody. It led you to becoming the man I always planned for you to be. Now do you see how perfect this family is? How perfect Rosario is for you?” She asked.

“I do. I love him so much. Thank you for giving him to me.” I smiled.

“You showed just how strong you are by taking that lashing meant for Rosario. You were very brave. I’m so proud of you, Sean.” The goddess replied.

“What kind of fae am I? What do I look like? And why are you here?” I asked.

“Here, let me show you and you can probably guess what you are. I will tell you the rest in a moment.” She replied, standing.

Following her lead, I stood as a mirror rose from the dirt. That was the first time I realized, I wasn’t wearing my glasses. I was able to see perfectly without them. I approached the mirror.

My skin was the color of a honeydew melon. My blond hair had turned the deep gold color I’d seen in my mom’s flower garden. I wondered if it was the same color as the melon’s flower. My freckles were still there and were now a dark green instead of brown. My eyes had stayed the same light brown, but there was something in them that made them seem richer and almost syrupy.

“You’re beautiful.” The goddess murmured.

I felt something flutter and my eyes were drawn behind me. Two sets of clear wings with green veins stood behind me. They looked like the wings of a dragonfly. They moved just like limbs. I didn’t even need to tell them to move, one wing just came forward and I touched it.

“I’m a pixie?” I asked.

“Yes. Good job! You got it on the first guess. The biggest positive about this, is that you don’t always have to have your wings out. Just think of them gone, and they will fold away. Try it.” She urged.

Looking in the mirror, I thought of the wings being gone. They folded against my body and seemed to disappear under my skin. In their place were markings over my back. They led down into my pajama pants.

“Amazing.” I whispered.

“A human sized pixie is rare. Your muscles, bones, and joints had to be reinforced to withstand flight. Dragonfly wings are best for supporting that weight. You’ll need a lot of practice before you can fly, but you should be able to manage it.” The goddess smiled.

“So are you just here to introduce me to my new form?” I asked.

Her smile faded. The mirror disappeared. She walked over to me and took my hands.

“Sean. Finnick will be asleep when you need to leave for the next piece of the curse. I need you to take Echo to visit your great uncle again tomorrow at noon.” She said solemnly.

“And my great uncle will just be fine with her doing whatever she needs to? I doubt that. He doesn’t want us resolving the curse.” I scoffed.

“He won’t be able to stop anything. He’s a very old man, Sean. Older than most witches live to be. The curse is starting to unravel as the individual spells that make it up are coming undone, and it’s fighting back. That was why Victor took a turn. It’s designed to fight off any attacks.” The goddess explained.

“Like a computer.” I murmured. “We’ve been deleting lines of code and the anti-virus is trying to stop us from destroying the whole program. Every change we make creates bugs and makes it function differently.”

“I don’t understand human technology, but that sounds about right. There are parts to the curse that can’t be found out in the world. You need the connection Finnick was talking about.” She insisted.

“What is it? Who is it? Can’t you tell me more?” I asked.

“No. I can’t risk the information getting out in the human world. The curse is on high alert for attacks now. Echo will know what to do when the time is right. I can connect with you better than I can connect with her. You were open to the idea of gods and goddesses. Echo is only just starting to be open to me.” The goddess told me.

“I’ll make sure she gets there. Noon on Saturday. Are we going to be able to save Victor in time?” I asked.

“I think so. I can’t be sure. Everything as little room for error at this point. Getting him into that cell will give you more wiggle room.” She replied. “Now, you’ve slept the whole night and your mate is eager to see you. Go on, Sean. Good luck.”

Everything faded into black and I opened my eyes. The room was dark, as always. I could feel Rosario’s hands skimming over my body in the dark.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Checking for extras. Arms, legs, vines, flowers. That sort of thing.” He answered.

“Find anything?”

“Your skin is softer, like flower petals. I love how it feels. It makes me want to roll around on you.” Rosario chuckled and rubbed his face in the curve of my neck.

“Let’s go use the mirror in the closet. I want to see.” I said, pulling away from him and getting out of bed.

We found our way to the closet and turned on the light. I could see myself in the mirror. I looked just like I did in the dream.

In the reflection, I could see Rosario’s eyes on my back. He reached out to touch me and the feeling of his fingers on the edge of my wings made my knees weak. I pulled off my pajama pants and let my wings out of my skin.

Rosario reached out again and his fingers traced over the cell like membrane of my wings. I let out a soft moan. It was like they had a direct line to my groin.

“You’re the most gorgeous pixie I’ve ever seen.” He whispered.

I turned to him and slipped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss. Rosario’s hand slid up between my wings and started tracing up and down my spine. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt. Rosario pulled away and caressed my cheek with his other hand.

“You kept your freckles. Have I ever told you just how much I love them?” Rosario asked.

“I think you’ve mentioned it a few times.” I chuckled.

“If I ever go a day without telling you how much I love those darling little spots, I want you to hit me, because I’m obviously an imposter.” He grinned.

“We need to get dressed. I have things to get done today. Important things.” I said removing myself from his arms and tucking away my wings.

“I thought we might spend the day in bed. Letting me get used to your new body. Letting your new body get used to me.” Rosario purred as he caressed my backside.

“We need to get to the office. I have to get Echo and go or we’ll miss our chance.” I said, heading toward the hall.

“Miss your chance for what?” Rosario asked trailing behind.

“I’ll tell everyone when we’re together. I don’t want to take too long by explaining it twice. Come on.” I replied.

“Now we have to go. I need to hear this.” Dillon said behind us.

I knocked on the door of the office and it opened. The smell almost knocked me over. It was that old book smell, mixed with the earthy smell that I had deduced was werewolf, and there was a smell like atmosphere. Something ethereal and electric.

“You all need to crack a window if all of you are going to be in here. Sean’s new to smelling everyone.” Rosario said, steadying me.

“You’ll get used to it.” Val chuckled.

“I don’t know. I’m still not used to it.” Harmony grumbled.

Echo was standing behind the desk with her hands on it. The map she had me mark yesterday was still spread out on the desk and she was leaning over it. Her uncle turned to look at me.

“You look the same.” Preston said.

“No, he doesn’t.” Echo told him. “Sean is thinner now and a little shorter, maybe an inch. His eyes are different and he’s not wearing his glasses.”

“I hadn’t even noticed.” Val said, moving in and looking at me closely. “Huh. I guess so. It would fool anyone, but my sister. Echo has always seen when we look even a little sick or sad. She’s more observant than most people.”

None of this was important, though, it was good to know I could fool most of the people and just tell them I was wearing contacts. I was betting people would buy that. I was dating one of the hottest girls in school, it made sense that I would change my appearance a little.

I entered the room and made my way to the desk. Echo looked at me with a raised eyebrow. She looked a little like Victor at that moment.

“We need to go to Uncle Fenton’s home. I had a dream last night. The goddess came to me and told me I needed to take you there by noon today and you would know what to do when we got there. It’s just after eleven now, if we leave soon we can make it. She said there’s very little room for error and we need to get this if we want to save Victor.” I insisted.

“Okay, Sean. Let’s go. Everyone, stay here and work on this problem. We need to know how to erase these wards when they keep fighting back.” Echo stated. “I’ll be back soon with more.”

She walked around the desk and looped her arm through mine. “Thank you, Sean.”

“For what?” I asked.

“For being a big help to us. I really appreciate all that you’ve done.” Echo smiled.

“It’s what friends do. Come on.” I said and we headed out the door.

“Wait!” Rosario shouted.

We turned to him. I didn’t know what he could want, we needed to go.

“Car keys.” He held up his keys.

I groaned. “Sorry. I forgot about needing a car.”

I reached out for them, but Rosario held them over his head. I was starting to get angry, when he turned his head and tapped his cheek. I laughed and gave him a little kiss before getting the keys and leaving.