Violet just lightly sipped her tea. She didn’t know what to say. Honestly, she kind of felt a little sheepish now. She’d been so excited to tell her grandmother about the werewolf she’d downed. But now she felt kind of pathetic in comparison.
“I was riding that bloody horse for nearly four hours before it finally tired itself out,” Sofia said with a soft sigh. “If not for that charm of mine I would have been incinerated by those dark flames a dozen times. Even then when it finally collapsed I only barely had enough strength to pierce its dark, foul heart before collapsing. This is why I prefer planes.”
“That’s incredible,” Scarlet said, her eyes almost glimmering with awe. “How did you know it was a… a…”
“Cheval mallet,” Sofia said. “At least, that’s what the natives called it. I called it a bloody pain in my ass. I’ll have saddle sores for weeks. But now that it’s dealt with, those roads should be safe to travel again. Now, enough about my adventures. Violet, I want to hear all about what you’ve been up to.”
“I, uhhh, not a lot,” Violet said sheepishly. “You know. What with visiting Mom and then my hunt. I just, you know. I haven’t had a lot of work lately. I’ve put out some feelers to see if anyone needs me, but nobody really needs my help. So I’m mostly just keeping an eye on Scarlet.”
“Mmmm hm,” Sofia said. “How is that going, by the way? You two have been together quite a while now, going by what your mother has been saying.”
“It’s been like three days,” Violet said softly. “Your daughter always likes to exaggerate everything.”
Scarlet cocked her head to the side, looking between the two of them. “It’s only been three days? That can’t be right…”
Violet gave a soft sigh. “She’s not the most attentive thing. A shame, really. You know how I caught her? Net. She’d flown off like a bat. Worst part? She needs her glasses to see and she hadn’t taken them with her.”
Sofia gave a light snicker, a hand going over her mouth. “You mean those glasses aren’t just for show?”
Scarlet’s cheeks turned bright red. “No, they’re not. I’m just a little nearsighted is all.”
“She can’t see anything more than a few feet away without them,” Violet said. “It’s cute. She’s kind of a mess, though. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“Welllll, I wasn’t going to say anything,” Sofia said before glancing towards one of the corners filled with dust. “The place could use a bit of a fumigating.”
“I’m working on it,” Violet said. “Jasmine, that’s Scarlet’s servant, asked me to make a list of everything broken. Apparently she’s tried to get Scarlet to do it like five times. Oh, that reminds me. If you use the downstairs bathroom, you’ll need to jiggle the knob a few times. Don’t use the shower after flushing for a few minutes either. I nearly scalded myself. Hot water works, though. That’s nice.”
“Well, I won’t be here for more than a day or two anyway,” Sofia said. “I’ll actually be heading home to take care of some things, then I’ll be back off on another hunt.” She then cringed. “Oh, that’s just unfair. You can’t both look at me like that.”
“What?” Violet asked before her cheeks went red. It wasn’t her fault. Knowing her grandma was only going to be here for a day was bound to make her a little sad, how could she not pout a little bit? She was a tiny bit annoyed that Scarlet was making such a pouty look as well, though. “Oh, don’t mind her. She just thinks you’re the coolest thing ever. It’s kind of her dream to have you stab her.”
“Ah, well then,” Sofia said. “Perhaps I’ll make that dream a reality if you give my little granddaughter any trouble.”
Scarlet gave a light squeak, sinking down a bit more into her chair. “I promise. I will not get your granddaughter into any more trouble than she gets herself into.”
Sofia gave a light snort and shook her head before picking up her tea. “Ah, so she knows you well. She’s sweet enough, at least. You’ve been doing everything I’ve taught you?”
“Yes,” Violet said. “Salt, holy water, religious symbolism over the door. Even thought about scattering some rice at one point, but I didn’t want to get any more bugs than this place already has. Fumigation might not be a bad idea. I’ll suggest it to Jasmine.”
“What’s fumigation?” Scarlet asked.
Both of them stared at her for a few moments, before sharing a sigh. “Are all vampires like this?” Violet asked.
“Usually,” Sofia said. “Human minds aren’t meant to be immortal, after all. Still, at least she’s not trying to kill you or like that hunt down in Mist’s Edge.”
“Mist’s Edge?” Scarlet asked.
“Oh please, don’t,” Violet said with a soft whine. “I was still a rookie, Grandma…”
“Now, honey, we all make mistakes,” Sofia said with a light, teasing tone. “You handled yourself very well.”
“I don’t call that very well,” Violet said.
“You stabbed him, didn’t you?” Sofia asked. “Broke his charm at the right time.”
“Only barely,” Violet said, her cheeks burning red. “And his little charm on me wasn’t the only thing I broke.”
“Ummmm, information?” Scarlet asked.
Violet gave a soft sigh. Well, so much for her reputation as a badass hunter. “First vampire hunt. Grandma was my mentor, of course. This old jerk down in Mist’s Edge. Pompous McEdgelord or something. Real treat, that guy. Everything was over the top. Grandma ends up getting tricked into his dungeon with a-- what did he call it?”
“Death maze,” Sofia said with a roll of her eyes. “Complete with rolling spike pillars and pits of snakes. Bit pretentious, to be honest. He really should have just shot me.”
“Pretty much,” Violet said. “Meanwhile, I’m mesmerized, completely under his charm. Here we are, watching my grandmother fight through this big stupid maze of death, which she’s absolutely crushing by the way.”
“You’d have done fine,” Sofia said dismissively. “It was all flash, no substance.”
“And I’m over here thinking he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,” Violet said with a shake of her head. “And he’s just going on this looooong monologue. Then? I was so enraptured I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I’m so deep under his control I’m all like ‘Ohhhh, yes, please, kill my grandma, make me your queen, I want to have all your babies and be your undead lover forever! Tee hee!’ Ugh. Gag me with a spoon.”
“You’re too hard on yourself,” Sofia said. “It was your first encounter. Tell her what happened next.”
Violet’s cheeks got redder and she sunk a little into her chair. “So, right. Now I’m trying to seduce the guy. Keep in mind, he’s got me charmed and I’m acting like a complete tool. So I think ‘Oh, I know. What guy can resist this?’”
“It was very cute,” Sofia said with a small snicker. “Not the method I’d go with, but an A for improvisation.”
“Ohhhh, now I need to know what happened,” Scarlet said with a light snicker.
“Ugh… so, there he is. Monologuing again. Just will NOT shut up,” Violet said with a roll of her eyes. “And my grandmother is now IN the room, on the floor below and SHE starts giving this whole justice speech about how she’s going to come over there and ram her boot up his ass or something.”
“Not quite how I put it, but close enough,” Sofia said with a light snicker.
“He’s midway there when I come out in nothing but one of his robes. He’s about midway to pulling this lever when I throw off the robe,” Violet said, her cheeks burning bright red. “Naked as the day I was born and I kiss him full on the lips. Turns out? That? Right there? Is a very good way to break that kind of magic. Absolutely stellar way to find out you’re a lesbian, by the way. Naked, in front of your grandma, while making out with the guy trying to kill her.”
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“It was a very good distraction,” Sofia said.
“Oh, he certainly was distracted,” Violet said, the blush now so strong it traveled down to her chest. “But me, on the other hand? I was far, far too aware of where I was. Like getting an ice cold slap to the face. So I did the only thing I could do.”
“Oh? What was that?” Scarlet asked.
“I kneed him in the groin, grabbed his fancy knife, stabbed him and then shoved him over the edge of the cliff into the maze,” Violet said. “Landed right on one of those spiked death rollers he was so proud of. Grandma finished him off before he could climb off. I, on the other hand, took the longest shower I could and wished I could rub steel wool on my brain.”
“It was a valuable learning experience,” Sofia said. “You’re missing out on a valuable piece of that story.”
“I am?” Violet asked.
“Yes, you are,” Sofia said with a light chuckle. “That was the first and, as far as I’m aware, last time you’ve been charmed.”
“Well, kind of,” Violet said. “But that’s only because you’ve taught me how to identify them so well.”
“Wait, what?” Scarlet asked.
“Oh, my chubby cursed child,” Sofia said with a little chuckle. The red in Violet’s cheeks only grew darker; she hated when her grandma called her that in front of others. “You have no idea how hard that is. It takes most hunters decades to learn that. And you had it down in your teens.”
“You’re kidding,” Scarlet said.
Violet shrugged. “It’s not that impressive. Go ahead, try.”
“Wait, is this like that ‘hit me’ thing again?” Scarlet asked nervously.
“What?” Sofia asked.
“No, it’s not,” Violet said. “Go ahead. Try to make me do something. Something I don’t want to do!” she added quickly. Oh, the last thing she wanted was for Scarlet to start flirting with her or telling her to dance in front of her grandmother. Judging by the grin that formed on the vampire’s lips a moment later, she’d only barely nipped that in the bud.
“Well, very well,” Scarlet said. “Only if you don’t mind?”
“Oh, go right ahead,” Sofia said. “I’m always happy to see my granddaughter put all my lessons to work.”
“Then, Violet?” Scarlet said before batting her eyes to Violet. “Would you go get me a glass of water?”
Oh, of course she’d get her a glass of water. There was nothing that would bring her more joy. To go and serve such a wonderful, precious mistress like Scarlet. Violet was on her feet a moment later, walking to the sink.
“I don’t know, she seems pretty mesmerized,” Scarlet said with a light chuckle. Especially once Violet grabbed one of the glasses and filled it with water.
She seemed to believe that right up to the moment Violet had a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to say in a rather teasing down. “Now then, would you rather wear the water or should I just force it down your throat?”
The knowing smile fell off the vampire’s lips and she looked up at her. “Oh. You’re… uhhhh… not…”
“Go on, drink your water,” Violet said before holding it out to her.
Scarlet took the glass and stared at it for a few moments before looking up at Violet. “I… I don’t think I’ve ever felt so threatened by a glass of water before.”
“Thank you,” Violet said before dropping back into her seat. “I did consider throwing it at your head, but I felt that would have been rude considering I did tell you to TRY to mesmerize me.”
Sofia, meanwhile, was just snickering as she watched. “I used to think it was her natural talents that helped her break through them. But, over the years I don’t think it’s that at all. I think my little granddaughter has just learned to harness the most powerful tool in her arsenal.”
“What?” Scarlet asked, still staring warily at the cup of water she now held in her hands as if she was afraid it might jump out of the cup and bite her.
“Spite,” Sofia said.
Violet gave a small shrug. “I don’t know, probably. If anyone could teach me not to listen to what people told me in the way they meant it, it would be Mom. But I’ll be honest, after having my first charm shattered like that? Oh, that sticks with you. You just do not forget it. Trust me, I’ve tried. Felt like I had slugs in my mouth.”
“No, seriously,” Scarlet said sheepishly. “Did you bless this or something? What’s wrong with it?”
Violet blinked before reaching out and taking the cup from her hands and lightly placing it on the table. She then slid it away. “I’m not going to hurt you, Scarlet. Not in front of witnesses.”
“Please, you know I’d always happily be your alibi, dear,” Sofia said in the most grandmotherly of tones.
Violet gave a light snicker before shaking her head. “It’s been useful, though. Most vampires try it and it doesn’t usually work for more than a few seconds on me. Actually, I think you’re the first vampire to never even try to mesmerize me. Granted, you also didn’t try to kill me. Even though I almost killed you.”
“I mean, you didn’t try to kill me,” Scarlet said softly. “You captured me, but you never tried to kill me. If you had, I don’t think there would have been a lot I could do about it.”
“Probably,” Violet said. “Even still, you could have tried to take advantage after my mistake. But you didn’t. I appreciate that a lot.”
“Mistake?” Sofia asked.
“I fell down some stairs,” Violet said with a soft sigh, not wanting to admit the truth. The last thing she wanted her grandma to know was that she’d messed up such a simple, well, complex binding spell and then told the vampire to hit her in the face. “One in a million chance, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more stupid.”
“Fell?” Scarlet asked, confusion on her face. She yelped when Violet kicked her under the table. “Ow! What’d I say?”
Sofia blinked a few times, looking between the two of them. “Violet, what happened?”
Violet gave Scarlet a dirty look before smiling back to her grandma. “Nothing, I just--”
“Violet Kent Antonsen,” Sofia said in a tone that made Violet cringe and give a soft whimper. “What, exactly, happened?”
Violet gave a soft whine before, nervously, spilling the exact details of what happened on that night. Right down to the fact she’d made Scarlet slap her. Scarlet, bless her heart, tried her best to not make it seem as stupid as it was. But by the end, even her grandmother was staring at her like she was an idiot.
“I see,” Sofia said before shaking her head. “That is certainly a thing that happened.”
“I’m sorry,” Violet said softly.
“Dear,” Sofia said in a gentle, soothing voice. “Don’t ask a vampire to hit you. Especially not on the face. You need what little thoughts you can manage up there.”
Violet gave another soft groan. Yeah, she deserved that one. “I know. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Sofia said. “We all make mistakes. But there are certainly better ways to find out the nature of a vampire than having them concuss you and hope they don’t kill you once you’re vulnerable.”
“I know,” Violet said again. “Don’t tell Mom?”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Sofia said. “She’d probably come and try to kidnap you herself.”
Scarlet gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, I could have another room made up. Maybe your dad could come by too, have the whole family?” she asked with a nervous chuckle. The laughter died when she received nothing but silence. “Err…”
“Don’t have a dad,” Violet said.
“Honey…” Sofia said in a soothing tone, but she already knew what her grandmother was going to say.
“I don’t have a dad,” Violet repeated. “Let’s move onto a better topic. So, Grandma, why don’t you tell Scarlet about the time you stopped that necromancer from turning a city into a plagues realm while simultaneously stopping a civil war between a pair of dragon siblings?”
Sofia rolled her eyes. “You make it sound like I did a lot more than I did. If those two dragons had really wanted to fight, there wouldn’t have been a damn thing I could do about it. Stubborn beasts, dragons. Once they’ve made up their mind there’s not a whole lot you can do about it.”
“Tell me about it,” Scarlet said softly under her breath. “I wanna hear, though! So, a necromancer?”
Sofia nodded. “Very well. So, I got the job back when Violet was seven. I remember because she’d just done the cutest little science project about ancient liches. She’d actually made her own little skull with paper mache gems and everything, fortunately it wasn’t enchanted or anything, but it really was precious. She spent weeks on it and…”
Violet couldn’t help feeling a small swelling of pride when she heard her grandmother talk. Normally she felt pretty embarrassed hearing her grandmother talk about her tiny, childish accomplishments when compared to her amazing ones. But…
Usually people tried to get her grandmother to skip to the ‘good parts’.
Scarlet didn’t, though. In fact, she seemed just as interested in her grandmother’s gushing about her grandchild as she did the grand adventures of the Ash Maker.
Violet wondered if it was okay to have that make her so happy.
Oh gosh, she swore if the vampire was trying to mesmerize her again, she’d force feed her the cup of water and--
Wait, no, that was definitely not mesmerizing magic. She felt a little red flowing into her cheeks and realized she was staring at the vampire far longer than she should be.
Oh crap.
Scarlet was so going to use this against her later, she could almost feel it in her bones.