Twisted and Broken Things

There was no doubt in Hayden's mind that she had gotten herself into quite a predicament with Brendon. The following morning, he didn't return to the hotel room. Instead, she received a wake-up call from the front desk informing her that a car was expecting her outside the hotel in twenty minutes. She had changed quickly, packing both her own things as well as Brendon's, and had been waiting in the hotel lobby with time to spare. She looked around for Brendon until the driver approached her to collect her belongings, and when she realized that he would not be traveling back to the castle with her, she didn't bother masking her disappointment.

There was something strange about Brendon. She knew that he was arrogant and could be incredibly self-absorbed. But there was a small part of her that felt as though these habits were learned, not innate. As she thought back to their last encounter in the ornate hotel room of the Shangri-La, the only feelings that Hayden could recall were comfort and relaxation. Until she thought of the kiss. Thinking of the feel of his lips softly pressed against hers, the way that his hand had caressed her cheek, the way that he had looked at her as he leaned closer...

She knew that the Dandies were womanizers. She had heard all of the vampires in the castle laughing about the hoards of girls that had fallen victim to them based on their charm and dashing looks. But it didn't feel like she was being seduced by him. It was different from the night that she had first met him. The kiss had felt special.

She pushed the thought from her head as she slammed the door of the towncar shut. How on earth could it have been special? Brendon was a monster. And on top of that, he was inconsiderate, she noted in an irritated manner as she realized that she would have to suffer the entire drive by herself.

Leaving didn't cross her mind until the car slowed in front of the castle. She mentally scolded herself for being so caught up on the previous night to even think of the opportunity that she had been presented with. Ryan met her at the car, opening the door for her and greeting her with his typical warm demeanor. "How was Paris?" he asked brightly.

Hayden shrugged as she walked to the back of the car to collect her belongings from the driver. "Where's Brendon?" added Ryan, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Hayden faltered as she tried to pick up one of her suitcases. As Ryan was his right hand man, she assumed that he would know where Brendon had run off to and perhaps the reason that he had suddenly found being around her so undesirable. "Something came up," she mumbled as she gathered the rest of her things and hastily made her way towards the castle.

Ryan didn't follow her, nor did he inquire as to what the "something" that she had referred to was. In fact, he didn't even insist that Hayden join the rest of the castle for dinner that night. He seemed to sense that she was in a tumultuous mood, and a maid brought her some soup and bread to her room, along with Basil's meal.

She spent a few days sulking about the castle, wondering what was going on in Brendon's mind and when he was coming back before she finally got frustrated and decided to do something with her time. She realized that even if Brendon wasn't concerned with it at the moment, the castle was going to be filled with Dandies for the Christmas events, and no one was going to enjoy the dreary decor.

So she decorated. Ryan provided her with one of Brendon's credit cards, and Hayden racked up exorbitant bills, partially due to the fact that his prolonged absence was angering her and also because she loved Christmas time. She bought gifts for everyone, Basil included, and wrapped them ornately, all punctuated with enormous bows. She put a Christmas tree in every dining room, ballroom, bedroom, and living room in the castle. She and Ryan had an argument about the use of colored Christmas lights on the exterior of the castle, and eventually she was overruled by the vampires, who called the strings tacky and insisted that the lights would be white and softly twinkling or completely absent.

Christmas Eve approached without any news from Brendon, and although she knew that the other Dandies were extremely worried, none of them said anything. Ryan had decided that he would present Hayden as their tribute to William if Brendon did not return in time, thankful that the head Dandie would be absent so that he would not punish Brendon for not being at the Christmas party. "This isn't a big deal, really," Ryan insisted to Hayden. "It's just our way of scoping out each other's competition, really." But he still sounded worried about the added responsibilities that he might have to assume.

In a way, Hayden felt bad. She wondered if maybe she shouldn't have kissed Brendon, so that things could have gone on as they were. It wasn't that she regretted the kiss; in fact, just thinking about it (something that she did quite often) brought a silly smile to her face and caused her stomach to erupt in a flurry of butterflies. She just wished that she and Brendon might have been able to talk about it, instead of him just running away and leaving her incredibly confused.

After fixing an enormous red velvet bow around Basil's neck, Hayden dropped onto her bed, a little exhausted. She had spent the day overseeing the decoration of the largest tree, which was in the ballroom where tomorrow night's Christmas Eve party would take place, as well as going over room assignments for the Dandies that would be arriving at the castle beginning early tomorrow morning. The staff was all on edge about having so many vampires in the castle, but Hayden had tried her best to calm their fears with her clever idea of having a blood reception awaiting every vampire in their quarters so that his or her thirst would be satiated early in the day. The idea had gone over quite well with everyone, and Ryan had even sent Travis out for fresh blood, a thought which made Hayden's stomach cringe whenever she thought about it.

Basil hopped onto Hayden's bed, his ears cocked forward. "What is it, Bas?" she asked with a smile. "Hear something, baby?"

"Quite a watch dog you've got there."

She froze, unsure of how to respond to the voice that she had been dying to hear for weeks. She desperately tried to rack her brain for something clever to say or a witty comeback, but before she could help it, she had jumped into a sitting position and turned to see Brendon, a smile breaking out on her face. "You're back," she beamed.

"Right in time, it would seem," he noted. "I've just toured the castle and seen all of the improvements that you've made. It looks like quite the winter wonderland."

Although she wasn't sure whether it was praise or he thought it was gaudy, Hayden smiled anyway. "I think it will be nice," she shrugged. She bit her lip, trying to keep what she really wanted to say locked away within her. When she looked at Brendon, he cocked an eyebrow, knowing that she was holding back. "Where have you been?"

"Traveling," he answered vaguely as he picked up a bottle of perfume from her vanity. He sniffed the opening, wrinkled his nose in distaste, and returned the glassware to its place.

Irritation coursed through Hayden, caused by a combination of his vagueness and the subtle insult to her perfume. She pulled Basil onto her lap, stroking his soft fur in an attempt to calm herself and secretly hoping that he would try to bite Brendon if he approached her. She doubted it, though, as Basil had never shown anyone in the castle any ill will.

"I brought you something," Brendon murmured into her ear. She shuddered at their closeness, taken aback at how quickly he had positioned himself on the bed beside her. It was a brief reminder of just how lethal his breed was.

A black velvet box was suddenly in his hands, and Hayden couldn't help but release her fox so that she could take the gift. She lifted the lid and bit her lip to hold back the excitement when her eyes landed on the sparkling jewels. An incredibly well crafted necklace of emeralds was nestled into the fabric of the box. "I suppose I can consider forgiving your absence then," Hayden teased as she traced the jewels.

"Hm," Brendon mused, "Hopefully this can change your consideration to a more firm decision." Another box.

Inside were matching drop earrings. "Yes, it does," she breathed, too excited to think of a more eloquent response.

"Then hopefully this means you're happy to see me." A third box.

In reality, she was happy to see him before any of his extravagant gifts had been bestowed. But when she saw the emerald bracelet, she excitedly squealed and threw her arms around Brendon's neck. "Best Christmas gift giver ever," she dubbed him.

As she pulled away, he turned his head and caught her lips in a kiss. The bracelet box that she had been holding landed softly on her pillow, and she instantly wrapped her arms more tightly around him. It had been so long since she had seen him, even longer since she had kissed him, but it was just as she remembered. Her heart was pounding incredibly fast, her stomach was an angry mob of fluttering creatures, and she had to fight to keep her breathing remotely steady.

He didn't pull away. Instead, he pushed the jewelry boxes and fox out of the way and slowly lowered Hayden to the plush mattress. He hovered above her, his lips still soft, an arm wrapped around her tiny waist while the other hand traced the outline of her jaw.

She couldn't help it. As much as she tried to hold it back, she eventually blurted, "I missed you."

When he responded, "I missed you more," Hayden was certain that she had just received the best Christmas gift in the world.

He finally stopped kissing her, and she felt herself gasp for breath, her lungs irritated with the work out that she had just put them through. She blushed at herself as Brendon smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "I tried," he told her, his eyes growing somewhat steely.

"Me too," she sighed. She busied herself with closing the jewelry boxes, unsure of where their conversation was going. Brendon took them from her hands and placed them on her nightstand before removing his dress shoes and suit jacket and pulling down the blankets of her bed. He beckoned Hayden forward, and she bit back a huge smile as she snuggled into bed with him.

Feeling his arms wrapped around her was the best feeling that Hayden could have ever imagined. She wanted to close her eyes and drift off into what she was sure would be the most peaceful sleep she had ever experienced, but a larger portion of her wanted to savor the moment. Basil made himself comfortable between their legs, and she couldn't help but think of how perfect everything was at that moment. Until Brendon spoke.

"So I've decided that William simply can't have you."

They were both silent for the remainder of the night, and Hayden noticed that Brendon's grip on her tightened somewhat. As simple as his statement had been, they both knew that it was easier said than done. If William wanted her, there was no avoiding it. And if they tried, there would certainly be hell to pay.