Izzie's eyes fluttered open as she was roused from her sleep by a rhythmic buzzing sound. There were signs of daylight peeking out from underneath the living room curtains, and she glanced at the clock only to see that it was already one in the afternoon. Last night had been all kinds of intense and she felt hung-over this morning, not just from the alcohol but also from the stress of it all. It appeared that they had fallen asleep where they sat, as she could see Jake sleeping soundly on the other side of the room. He was sat on the floor in the corner, propped up by the walls with his head resting on his shoulder. Brad was asleep on the chair that he was still bound to, his head thrown backwards and loud snoring emitting from his gaping mouth. The position didn't seem
Izzie was so startled that she dropped the phone onto Cassius' lap as she jolted her head up to look at him. He was staring down at her with hooded grey eyes, tired but content. He groggily retrieved his phone from his lap, frowning at it and he sleepily fumbled for the unlock button."Why did you have my phone?" he asked, as he seemed to struggle to put his passcode in. It really didn't appear that Cassius was any good with phones. His expertise seemed to end at making calls although he had proven in the past that he could spam te
As it happened, hell found a way.Izzie sat staring at her own reflection in her bedroom mirror, only able to see the top left quarter of her head because of the angle. From what she could see (as well as feel) they had to be almost done. The stylist (that Cassius had hired) seemed to be just putting the finishing touches on her hair with spritzes of hairspray. Her gaze occasionally flickered over to the body bag that was hanging from her door.Alright, that was a little dramatic.
Izzie fiddled with the chain on her clutch while she gazed out of the window, watching the headlights flash by as they hit the road out of town. She hadn't bothered to ask where they were going or where the party was taking place. Frankly, she was too nervous to speak at all. All of her confidence had evaporated as soon as she'd stepped outside and clapped eyes on the Aston Martin casually parked in her driveway. For some reason, she had envisioned them travelling in a chauffeur-driven car, in maybe some sort of limousine. Instead, Cassius would be the one driving them in his own luxury sports car and somehow that was worse. She had been so careful not to scratch the paintwork with her heels or catch the door when she was getting in. She'd never been in such an expensive car before, and the whole experience just made her feel uncomfortable, afraid that she may break or damage something. Then the whole weight of it had hit her as soon as the car had roared to life. This was really ha
The grand hall stretched out before them from where they stood on the raised balcony. They could see the full length of the room while the crowd danced and milled about below them. The room was a surreal mix of modern red carpet and Victorian ball. Some were wearing the latest designer gowns and looked like they'd stepped out of a movie premiere, while others were stepping out of time machine, with their tight waists and bell-shaped skirts that hid the layered petticoats. Everyone, from what she could see, was strikingly beautiful.Behind the hum of the chatter in the room, she could hear the gentle yet cheery melody of what appeared to be a small orchestra that was seated on a raised platform just to the left of the buffet tables.Izzie couldn't help the feeling like she was stepping into some strange Cinderella adaptation as Cassius led her down the curved staircase onto the main floor. Eyes began to fall on them as soon as they hit the bottom step.
"Isabelle, I would like to introduce my cousins, Esther and Myra Lockwood," he smiled at her pointing to each of them in turn, and Izzie immediately felt herself blush.Cousins?So they weren't old flames or potential future ones?Only then did she really look at the two of them without jealousy clouding her vision. There was a distinct family resemblance between them and Cassius that she was only now noticing, they had the same high angled cheekbones and straight-cut nose that he did, albeit a tad more feminine. Then the biggest giveaway of all...The two sets of luminous grey eyes that were looking at her curiously.That colour could not be mistaken.What an idiot she was for letting herself get worked up before checking the facts. What was it about Cassius that made her this way? She gave them a nervous smile, hoping to everything that was holy that they didn't realise what she had been doing as she released her gr
Izzie’s eyes widened as she stared at Myra in horror. Myra already seemed to know the gravity of the situation from the scared look in her eyes. If she was scared now imagine how she would feel if she knew that Izzie was a slayer. Somehow Myra managed to keep a respectful smile on her face despite being face to face with him. He was her uncle after all, she probably wasn't afraid of him more scared for Izzie and what would happen if he found out she was here with Cassius.Izzie kept her back firmly to him, but she could already feel the intense heat of his gaze boring into her. She probably seemed very rude to him right now, but she just couldn't bring herself to turn and face him.It didn't appear that she was going to have much choice, howe
There was the sound of crashes and smashes all around as if a bomb had gone off. Then came the tinkling sound of glass raining down upon the marble floor.Air rushed into Izzie's lungs as the grip on her neck vanished and she had the sudden sensation of falling. Her vision was fuzzy as she was on the brink of losing consciousness. Without warning she hit the hard marble ground, her head cracked down hard. As quickly as she had gotten it, she lost her breath again as the impact knocked the air out of her and she felt a warm wet feeling begin to pool at the back of her head.What the hell was happening?There was a ringing in her ears from the blow to the head and her vision was hazier than ever, as she tried to focus on the domed ceiling high above her. The golden arches that held the ceiling up were just no staying still and the harder she tried to focus the more her head began to throb. She had to force her eyes to stay open as her eyelids tri
Izzie's eyes fluttered open and snapped shut again immediately as the bright light brought the pounding in her head back with a vengeance. She groaned, her hands flying to her head to try and reverse the pressure she was feeling as she pushed her head further back into the pillow.Hold on.Pillow?She shot upright, tremendous mistake as the pounding became more like someone banging a gong inside her head. She forced her eyes open through the pain, though she could only manage a squint. The blurry image of a white room lined with beds came into view. She could hear the beeping and whirring of machines in the distance. At first thought, it appeared like she was in a hospital, but as her eyes began to focus she realised that she wasn't in the hospital at all.She was in a far more familiar room.The Guild's infirmary.She was at the Guild's headquarters.But how?She tentatively reached up touching the back
That's the last of it," Jake commented as she stood up holding yet another dustpan full of broken glass. He had personally tidied up most of the destruction in the living room. Cassius had helped a little where he could but had grown tired very quickly and needed to sit down. Neither male would let her or Esther help in the cleaning up, though Esther didn't seem overly concerned by that. Izzie, however, had begun to feel better and wanted to help but they insisted that she continue to rest until they were sure she was fully healed. Right now, she was snuggled up on Cassius' lap with her head leaning on his shoulder while his strong arms wrapped around her like a safety blanket. His leant his head on hers while they both watched Jake finish up the cleaning. Esther had long since disappeared into the kitchen, lord knows what she was doing but Izzie didn't care much as long as she was away from her. "Is there anything we can use to patch up that window?" Cassius asked as a shiver ran th
It was cold.Very cold.There's was nothing around but darkness.'Am I - am I dead?' Izzie thought and it seemed to echo in the vast void around her as if she had spoken aloud. She felt light as if she was made of no more than air. She was just kind of there, floating in the black.She must be dead.This was not what she expected death to be.She didn't know exactly what she had expected.Pain and suffering.
Vanessa didn't have time to react. A scream had just started to escape her lungs when the bullet hit. Given her strange angle over Izzie Jake hadn't managed to shoot anything vital, probably through fear of hitting Izzie, but it had been enough for Vanessa to fall away from Izzie.Izzie watched as Vanessa fell to the ground, holding her side as the blood began to ooze from it. Izzie saw the burn of the silver begin to smoke in her side, but if it was the same thing that had hit Cassius then she could still have a lot of life in her yet."Izzie!" Jake called, and she looked over just in time to see him kick her dagger back towards her. The blade slid elegantly across the floor, coming right for her and she instinctively put out her hand to catch it. It was almost like fate as the ha
Izzie spit out a mouthful of blood from what she hoped was Vanessa's final attack. She lay crumpled on the floor unable to move from the agony that she felt. Bones were broken and possibly a ruptured organ or two. Moving hurt, her insides hurt, her outsides hurt, hell, even breathing hurt.It appeared that vampy Barbie wasn't just a pretty face.She was an entire cold plastic bitch, through and through.Izzie had never been one to give up, but right now, death would be welcome. She forced her head up, her gaze locking on Cassius one more time as she felt Vanessa approaching behind her, getting ready to deliver the final blow.Those sad steel
Bang!The scream of agony came almost instantly as the shot was fired.
Jake was...Jake was a vampire...How?When?When she'd last seen him he'd been...She was in shock.She was unsure if this was better or worse than her zombie nightmare.Had that been a premonition?Vampires were technically be classed as walking corpses so her nightmare hadn't been far wrong, he was just a little less decomposed.Frankly, he was terrifying.Her best friend was leering over her, trying to fight his way to her throat with a crazed look in his eye as his bloodlust was taking over. New turns or fledgelings could be some of the most dangerous vampires. They hadn't learned to control their hunger yet and instinct would take over them. A fledgeling couldn't control how much they took either and almost every feed ended in death. When the blood lust took over they wouldn't even bat an eye at killing their own mother as long as they sated that hunger.There was a
Izzie's heart raced as she stared at the window. Even though she couldn't actually see out of it she just had this gut feeling that there was someone on the other side staring back. She didn't dare look away. She kept her gaze on the window as she started to back away from it, sidestepping her way towards to bedroom. She kept her eyes fixated on the dark beyond the window the entire time that she moved.Once at th
"What shall we do?" Cassius questioned from where he lay sprawled out across the couch. Izzie was sitting in the large armchair adjacent to him, curled up in her thick black blanket. She was currently in a food coma, with a belly being full to bursting. Cassius had really gone all out with her 'night-time breakfast'.She had only expected one, possibly two omelettes. Not only was there a cheesy omelette cooked to perfection, but he had also done her a side of bacon, toast and fried mushrooms. It was heavenly and she had cleaned the plate, even after her stomach had begun to protest that it was full. It had been just far too good to waste.She just shrugged in response. She was still heavily pregnant with her food baby and had just been happily enjoying his company. The thought of having
"Cas," Izzie mumbled sleepily, prodding him in the chest. He didn't even stir. She still found it so unnerving when he was asleep. The lack of breathing and heartbeat always made her fear her was dead. On the flip side though, he looked so peaceful. His dark hair was getting long and was scruffed up from a morning of fun with some strands draping down over his thick lashes. No lines furrowed his perfect face and he looked even younger when he was asleep.Not that she k