CHAPTER 26

Farian rocked gently on his chair and watched as Nate and Nia walked back into the room, an embarrassed look on both their faces. The look quickly faded when they saw the two girls on the floor, motionless. 

"Are they...dead?" Nate asked as Nia fell to her knees and held one of them in her arms trying to check her pulse.

"I'm not some savage beast Nate, they are merely unconscious," he informed. 

"So," he leaned back and looked at the two with bright eyes. "How was it?"

Nate and Nia shifted their gaze from him and looked at each other, wondering how to best answer the question. The teenager could see Nia try very hard to conceal a smile that threatened to form on her lips. 

"We're not discussing this with you." Nate declared in a firm voice. 

"I respect that," Farian laughed. "I know that wasn't conventional but all that matters is she got you to loosen up."

Farian stood from his chair and walked to where Nia was, he held her by the shoulders and got her to stand facing Nate. Then he spoke, "Come give it another go."

"It's no use, I already tried. It didn't work." He sounded more angry with himself than disappointed.

"Don't worry young Nate, you have the rest of eternity to figure it out." He scoffed and made the girl face him. Looking into her eyes, he started to say, "Forget everything that-"

"Farian!" Nate interrupted and waited for the vampire to look at him before he went on. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

The two walked out the room and down one of the hallways of the massive mansion. "Please don't make her forget."

That request caught Farian by absolute surprise and he stopped walking. Nate stopped too and faced him, studying his face, trying to read the man's thoughts. It was blank, like most of the time, conveying no emotions at all.

"Some sex that must have been!" He smirked. "What exactly happened in there?"

Nate tried to speak but found himself stammering.

"Don't tell me you like this girl Nate. You've known her for what? Two seconds? A couple of rounds of sex with her and you're already mushy about her?" 

"It's not about that." Nate murmured.

"What then? Because there are a ton of other girls you can be with if that's the case." He explained and watched the teenager. 

"I don't know Farian, there's just something about her. I can't quite explain it but-" 

Farian interrupted, taking a step closer. "Listen to me Nate, she is nothing more than a harlot! Trust me, you're better off without her."

"Then why did you let me have sex with her is that's all she is?" 

"Because you needed it. And it was just sex, you weren't to go fall in love with the girl." Farian argued. 

"Well it wasn't just sex. Why can't you just make an exception this once? It's just one girl Farian. One!"

Farian sighed and held Nate by the shoulders. "It's not just one girl young Nate. What if I let her keep her memories and she has friends, one Friday night when she is wasted at some bar, she ends up blurting out everything she saw here? What then?" 

"What if I promise that she won't tell anyone?"

"You can't make that promise. The answer is no. I can't risk her exposing me to-"

Nate cut in, "So this is about you? You selfish prick! You don't care about anyone but yourself. You take whatever you wan't whenever you want but when I ask for something, you immediately shoot it down. It's not fair." He scolded.

"Remember who you are talking to young man. And you are right, I don't care about anyone but myself, because no one has given me reason to care about them and I'll do everything I can to protect myself from the world. If that means breaking your little heart by making a one night stand forget you then that's what I'm gonna do." 

He didn't wait for Nate to reply, just turned and walked back to the girls. The two who had passed out were conscious, on the couch next to Nia. He walked to them and made them all stand, to the first one, he said, "Forget about this place and everything that happened here." 

Walking into the room, Nate watched him compel the second girl to forget all that happened in that house and the girl gave an involuntary nod. He then stood in front of Nia, who looked back into Farian's eyes.

Farian turned and looked at Nate before doing the deep. He was well surprised to see in the teenager's eyes that he genuinely cared for this girl, he saw his hurt as he watched and waited for him to take away the girls memory. 

With a deep breath, he turned to Nia, stepped closer and looked into her eyes. "You will talk to no one about what you saw or did in this house for however long you'll live. Carry the secrets inside these walks to your grave." Farian held the girls gaze for a while longer then took a step back. "Now go." 

The girl nodded slowly, seeming a little bit dazed. Farian turned his back to her and walked towards Nate who had an expression of relief all over his face. 

"Thank you," Nate whispered to Farian as he watched Nia and the other girls left the room.

"I hope you know what you're doing Nate. You're treading on very dangerous ground by disclosing what you are to some stranger girl." He paused and took a step closer to Nate and whispered in a low grunt, "Fuck this up and it will be last thing you ever do." He warned and Nate gave a quick nod.

"You can show yourself out," he finished and brushed Nate's shoulder as he walked past him. 

Nate stood in the hallway for a while longer, watching as Farian's figure retreated. He then followed the girls out, finding Nia waiting for him by the door. She had a wide grin that spread across her face as she spoke, "What the hell just happened? Why did he let me keep my-"

"Because I asked him to." Nate answered before she could finish speaking.

"Why?" Asked the girl, her heart warming up. "Was is the sex?" She whispered.

Nate laughed, looking at her, Gods she was beautiful! "No Nia, it wasn't the sex. But I also can't say it wasn't a factor," he smirked.

"Well, whatever the reason is, thank you for whatever you said to him." She rose to her toes and kissed him gently on his cheek. Before she could fully pull away, she caught his eyes and looked into them for a while. He leaned in and she closed her eyes, feeling the touch of his lips on hers. She tied her arms around his neck and kissed him back, with more passion than he had expected.

"We should probably go," she chuckled pulling away from the kiss.

"Yeah, you're right," he sighed. "I'll drive you home." He offered, pulling the door open for her.

Back inside, Farian watched from a window as the two got into Nate's car and disappeared into the night. He took a sip from the wine glass he was holding. A flicker of doubt crossed his mind about the two, something told him that leaving Nia with her memories was a risk he didn't need to take but he quickly dismissed it, confident that all would be well. Besides, he had compelled her not to share anything with anyone, all was well. He returned to his massive library and poured himself another drink before sinking into his chair.