The Vampire’s Servant novel Chapter 38

[Echo]

In the hallway, I paused. I didn’t know what to do. He kissed me and it felt so good and so perfect.

He’d been so close and all I could think about was feeling his lips on mine. I raised my hand to my mouth. I realized, I made him kiss me.

It made sense that I would have the ability to influence people if Harmony could. Victor was going to hate me when he realized I’d made him kiss me. I didn’t want Victor to hate me.

Tears started welling up in my eyes and I knew I had to do something. I went downstairs and gathered my things into my backpack. I needed to prepare the tray for whoever was feeding Victor tonight.

I went to the kitchen and started to get to work, hoping that would take my mind off it. Maybe everything would be okay and go back to normal. I just needed to act like I normally did and it would be fine.

The buzzer for the gate went off. I went out and hit the intercom.

“May I help you?” I asked.

“Silence sent me. The password is rosewood.” A voice on the other end said.

“Come through to the house and knock on the front door.” I answered.

I buzzed him in. A male made me as nervous as a female now that I’d had the experience with the hunters. I needed to figure out how to calm myself.

Victor came down the stairs dressed in slacks and a button down shirt. I smiled tightly. I hoped he wasn’t too mad at me.

“The donor is here if you want to wait for them in the living room.” I said.

“Thank you, Echo.” He replied and walked past me into the living room.

He hated me. I knew it. I had to apologize, but it would have to wait until the donor was gone.

There was a knock at the door, pulling me from my thoughts. I answered it. And a man stood before me. He was young looking with light brown hair and blue eyes. I didn’t get a bad feeling from him.

“May I have your name, please?” I asked.

“Branson. And you are?”

“Echo. Please come in. My master is waiting in the living room.” I said.

He entered the house and followed me to where Victor was waiting. He introduced himself and I wandered back to the kitchen. I pulled out the meat I’d had thawing in the refrigerator, then organized the snack tray and carried it to the living room.

“Have something to eat before you go.” I said, setting the tray on the table.

Victor sat in a chair and I sat on the ottoman near the coffee table. Branson ate very little, grabbed an apple juice and stood. He seemed nervous.

“I don’t normally sit around after this. I hope you’ll understand. Thanks for the snacks. I need to get going. Have a good night.” He said quickly and hurried off.

Once he was gone, I started picking up. Victor sat in the chair and watched me. When I glanced over, he looked away. I needed to figure out how to fix this.

“When you’re finished, Echo. I need to talk with you.” Victor said.

I nodded and carried the tray away. I worried as I packed everything away for the next time it was needed. What if he told me to leave? What if he didn’t want me anymore? Where would I go?

After everything was put away, I had nothing else keeping me from talking to him. I wanted to run away. I wanted to go to my room and not come out again. I shook my head. I needed to do this.

–

When I entered the living room again, Victor indicated the chair near him and I sat there. I couldn’t look at him. I was so ashamed of what I’d done.

“Echo, I am extremely sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.” He said.

I stared at him, startled. Of course he hadn’t realized I made him kiss me. That made it even worse. He thought he did this to me.

“It wasn’t your fault, Victor. I figured it out after I left. I didn’t mean to make you kiss me. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I won’t do it again.” I promised.

“You… you think you did this? Don’t. I was the one at fault for this. I’ve been… having feelings for you, Echo. I’ve been trying to control them, because you’re my friend and you’re still healing from what your parents did. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.” Victor replied softly.

My teeth itched. He had feelings for me? The same feelings I’d felt growing? He thought of me the same way?

“What should we do?” I asked. “I thought you didn’t want me. You told Rosalynn you didn’t want to marry me. You told me you didn’t want to have babies with me. Now you do?”

“I don’t know. Pushing the feelings aside was easier when Rosy was here. I had other things to focus on. When we’re alone, though, I keep thinking of how I want you, how I want to keep you, how I want to love you. I keep telling myself you’re my friend and servant, but that only keeps the thoughts away for a little while.” Victor said with a sigh.

“Maybe… maybe we could be friends who kiss sometimes?” I asked.

Victor chuckled. “That may not be the best idea. I want to do more than kiss you, Echo. I need to deal with these feelings. Kissing you might only make them stronger.”

“I don’t think I can stop feeling like this, Victor.” I admitted.

“Nor do I, Echo. Let’s just not give into it, and forgive each other if we do. It’s something we can explore once you’re an adult. I love you and I want to take care of you, but I won’t do anything to harm your progress. And Master Marius is also a concern. Right now, he seems overprotective. I don’t want to risk angering him.” Victor said.

I nodded. Making Marius angry wasn’t healthy. It was only a little under two months before I was eighteen. I could wait to explore this more. I needed to be healthy and strong before I would be good enough for a relationship anyway, and I didn’t want to lose my friendship with Victor over this.

“Can I have one more kiss before we go back to how we were before?” I asked shyly.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” He replied hesitantly.

“Please, I didn’t get to kiss you back. Just the one.” I promised.

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