Fire Light by J. Abram Barneck

Author:J. Abram Barneck [Barneck, J. Abram]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-9898109-1-3
Publisher: J. Abram Barneck
Published: 2014-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Silence

“We are so bad at this!” I laughed despite my tense muscles as we failed once again to join our magic. Alexis agreed with her own laugh. We’d been practicing the enchantment for hours. It wasn’t exactly going well. I didn’t mention to her that her distracting outfit was part of the problem.

“We should take a break,” Alexis decided. “It is time to eat anyway.”

Chills rose up my spine and spread into my scalp. When a one-fourth vampire says it is time to eat—even one who looks like Alexis—it can be unnerving.

Alexis must have noticed because her smile faltered slightly.

“The servants prepared us a meal,” she explained, her voice a hint defensive. “Will you accompany me to the dining hall?”

She held out her hand. I glanced at it, and yes, this time I got the cue and offered my arm, which she took. The protection stone did its job well. Her allure did little more than brush against me. Even still, despite both the crystal’s power and a long-sleeved black shirt, I remained quite aware of the way her hand and fingers held to the crook of my elbow.

I tried not to continually glance at Alexis’s outfit as we walked. I guess I didn’t try very hard because I had to glance up to notice when we reached the dining hall.

The chandelier once again lit the spacious room. I could see its muted reflection off the table’s dark wooden surface. Like before, only two places were set, one at the head of the table and one just around the table’s right corner. A doily-like place mat sat under stacked plates with two forks on the left and two spoons and a knife on the right. A stemmed glass sat at the top right of each plate. I was pretty sure that the setting had been similarly laid out the first time I’d eaten in this room, but I hadn’t really paid attention. Being aware of the perfect place settings did not make it more likely I’d used them correctly. I’d still screw this up by using the wrong fork or by putting my elbows on the table again.

I pulled my elbow from Alexis’s hand and pulled out my chair. Alexis sighed and pulled her own chair out. Oops. I quickly changed direction like I was juking a linebacker and hurried over and helped slide her chair in before sitting down myself.

I looked at Alexis and tried to think of something to say. Nothing really came to mind except for questions that I knew would be offensive such as asking again how many people she’d killed or something a little more vulgar like do vampires use the bathroom. I wisely kept my mouth shut.

The servants brought us salmon over rice covered in a mix of sauce and veggies diced so small I couldn’t be sure what they were. They’d given me two salmons and about three times as much rice as Alexis had. They poured wine in Alexis’s glass but didn’t offer me any as if they already knew I’d turn it down.

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