"Money can get you anything," I said angrily, slamming the refrigerator door so hard it rocked a little.
"Don't try to heat it, it will kill the nutrients and make you ill," Gavin said. "You have to drink it cold."
"So, just pour it in a glass and add a stalk of celery?" I asked sarcastically.
"If it makes you feel better, go ahead. And you won't upset me if I see you drinking it," he added.
"Yeah, figures," I grumbled. "Gavin—the man that nothing bothers."
"Lissa, not everyone is your enemy."
"No? Point out somebody who isn't," I flung out an arm as I turned and stalked back to my bedroom.
I ran out of books to read on Sunday, so I took the keys to the Cadillac. Somebody had found it and driven it home. I didn't even ask or tell anybody where I was going, which meant there was the usual committee waiting on me when I got back.
"I went to Barnes and Noble. Vampires read. Get over it," I said, holding my bag of books up when I got out of the car. Fortunately, Phil wasn't a member of the welcoming party. I'd have thrown the hardcovers at his head if he'd been there. I wouldn't have missed, either. As it was, Gavin, Winkler, Davis and Glen were all there. Whitney had gone back to school—Gavin said that Todd had taken her to Austin while Sam had gone back to school in Corpus Christi. They were going to see each other on weekends until the end of the semester. Sam and Todd had been the bodyguards Winkler had assigned to Whitney, and that's how the two had gotten together in the first place. Winkler might be a genius, but that didn't prevent him from having blind spots. I thought about throwing books at him, too.
"What will make you not angry with us?" Winkler asked as I brushed past him, heading toward the guesthouse stairs.
"Nothing comes to mind," I said and ran up the steps.
Gavin told me later that Winkler decided to stay in Port Aransas for a while. He wanted to be closer to Whitney and Port A was a compromise. A crew drove all his equipment down on Tuesday afternoon, and then helped set it up for him in one of the extra bedrooms inside the house.
I also had a letter in the mail from Whitney. I found it on the kitchen table when I rose on Wednesday.
"Lissa," the letter began, "I am so sorry for what happened to you. My brother says you won't even talk to him now and Sam feels responsible. We were so afraid Will was going to send me off to Daryl Harper that we had to do something. I should have known better. I'm sorry.
Whitney"
I had to dig through several drawers in the guesthouse before I found paper and a pen to write an answer. "Whitney," I wrote back, "I would never have come after you if I hadn't been scared to death that your brother was going to kill somebody. I had no idea Phil would turn out to be more trigger happy than your brother. I can't say whether I appreciate it all that much or not. Don't worry about me. Study hard. I hope things work out well for you and Sam—Lissa."
"Here," I slapped the folded note in front of Winkler before I went to work. "You'd more than likely read it anyway before it got mailed so I'm saving you the trouble of steaming it open. Please see that it gets to your sister." My back ached a little as I walked the perimeter afterward. I didn't speak to Gavin at all while we worked and he barely looked at me when we passed one another. I saw Glen when he relieved us in the morning, but Phil wasn't anywhere around. I hadn't seen him since he shot me, and that was more than fine.
Winkler was sitting on the end of my bed when I woke Thursday night. "Very nice," I said angrily. "Just walk right in when I can't defend myself. Is this your way of making me feel special?"
"Lissa, I just came to apologize. For everything." Winkler picked at the comforter that I'd kicked to the foot of the bed. "No," he held up a hand, "I can't let you go. You're important. You've done more for me in the past few weeks than most people have during years of employment. I can't let that walk away, Lissa. I understand that an irresponsible vampire turned you and left you out in the cold. There's nothing I can do about that. What I can offer, though, is as much safety as I can during the day when you sleep. I always have guards around me, Lissa, and they'll guard you, too, just as you do me at night."
"And just how many of them do you intend to tell about what I am?" I demanded. "All of them? If so, you might as well stake me right now or cut off my head."
"Lissa, the only ones who know are the ones who are here now. Me, Phil, Glen, Davis and Gavin. That's it."
"Phil," I snorted. "Did he take shooting lessons from Dick Cheney?"
Winkler ducked his head to hide the smile. "Lissa, he's been reprimanded."
"That ought to improve our relationship," I said tartly.
"He's doing his best to stay out of your way," Winkler went on. "Lissa, we miss you. Glen, Davis and I. I can't speak for Phil."
"Yeah? I spoiled all his fun by living over it, I'm sure. Who dug the bullets out, by the way? I vaguely remember somebody digging around in my back. It wasn't a pleasant experience."
"Gavin did that," Winkler said, rising from my bed. "And he shouted at us the entire time." Winkler walked out of my bedroom.
"Fuck," I said and slid off the bed.
The waves were washing up just a few feet from where I sat on the beach, digging my toes into the sand during my break later. There was the barest sliver of moon overhead, but with my enhanced eyesight, I could see clearly. Gavin came to sit beside me.
"So," he said. "Care to tell me now about your life before?"
"Not really, no," I said, refusing to look at him.
"I can do research and find out for myself."
"No doubt," I snapped in irritation.
"Actually, I already did," he told me. "The Lissa is correct—you were Lissa Beth Workman, who disappeared on January fourth. Haven't been a vampire long, have you, Lissa Beth?"
"Nope. Died on the same day as my husband, but you probably know that already," I said. "Did you know I was a bar bet?"
"A bar bet?" Gavin didn't understand. Neither did I.
"Those two who turned me? I found the cocktail napkin they wrote the wager on in the cellar where I woke up. One was agreeing to pay a million pounds if I took less than nine days to turn. Isn't that great? Those two must have been a barrel of laughs. And now they're out there somewhere, searching for me so they can make me very, very, dead. Too bad they don't know Phil. So far he and the sun in a wheat field almost did me in."
"You were burned." He didn't make it a question.
"Yeah. I figure that if things become unbearable, that's my ticket out. I know how painful it is, now. And how quickly it can happen. I was able to dig into the ground and cover myself up in that field. Next time it'll be on purpose and I'll stand in the middle of a concrete road to do it. Poof." I fluttered my fingers.
"You almost sacrificed yourself to dig Winkler out of that field."
"Yeah. Stupid, huh?"
"Lissa?"
"What, Gavin?" I turned to look at him, then.
"Don't talk about walking into the sun to me. Ever again." He stood and stalked away.
* * *
"We're going to the movies and that's that." Winkler had gathered us inside the beach house. Phil was there but I was doing my best not to look at him. Why was Winkler doing this to me? He didn't need more than three or four people and now he was taking Glen, Phil, Davis, a new hire named Leon, and then Gavin and me.
"Calm down," Gavin whispered in my ear. I wanted to slug him. Winkler picked the film, of course. We all piled into both SUVs and went to the movies. At least it wasn't a horror flick. I hate those things. They sling buckets of fake blood around and slice off body parts made of animals or something. I don't find that entertaining. It was an action/adventure and almost as bad—it still had fake blood and improvised body parts in it. I just turned my head while that was happening. Gavin, who sat next to me, started stroking my spine until his fingers were at the small of my back and then he made slow circles there. I shivered. Nobody had touched me that way in a long, long time. Don had heart problems and with
the medication and everything, the risk was too great. It had been more than seven years since I'd had sex. I missed it at first, before resigning myself to the fact that that part of my life was over. Gavin was trying to wake something that should be left sleeping. I gently removed his hand and he didn't try again.
Winkler wanted to eat afterward, so we ended up at Outback Steakhouse.
"Why didn't you just order an entire cow?" I asked Winkler. There was enough beef on the table to assemble a cow, I figured.
"Can you survive on beef blood?" Phil chewed a huge chunk of steak.
"I have no idea. Can cows have orgasms if a vampire bites them?" Gavin snickered beside me.
"Is that what happens?" Glen was now interested.
"I leave everybody with a smile on their face," I said.
"You're kidding?" Davis said in disbelief.
"Not kidding. And no, I'm not about to let you find out in person."
"Do we need to have this discussion now?" Winkler cut into his steak.
"Hop Along started it," I nodded at Phil. "You know, I went to a restaurant in San Francisco, once," I went on. "And they brought out this huge, live lobster on a tray so everybody could stare at him and decide if that's what they wanted for dinner. My husband, God rest his soul, stood up and shouted Let my people go! Of course the restaurant asked us to leave."
"You were married?" Davis asked.
"I was, for twenty-three years. He died the same day I did."
"I knew that already," Winkler said.
"Lissa, enough," Gavin admonished.
"All right. If I leave now, I can be home in a few minutes. Let me out, Gavin." I bumped my hip against his so he'd let me out of the booth.
"No. You will sit there and be polite," he informed me. "I don't know what has gotten into you."
"Me either," I muttered sullenly.
"Lissa, you should be more circumspect. You never know who may be listening," Gavin lectured me later after we drove home.
"I know," I mumbled, ashamed. "It's just that there hasn't been anyone to talk to about any of this, nobody to tell me what's right or wrong and I've had to hold it inside me all this time. It hasn't been easy and there are still times I want to scream my lungs out because I'm so angry. I didn't ask for this, Gavin. And now, my brother-in-law and his wife have everything that was mine that I worked for—everything I put together and held together, even when my husband was too sick to work anymore. I'm here because Winkler still wants to use me, there are two out there who want to kill me, possibly three—Phil would still like to take me down, I figure. I have nobody who wants to be friends because they like me or anything. I'm a useful tool, Gavin. That's what I am." He didn't say anything or argue with any of my statements. Swell. I walked away from him to make my rounds. Any other guard would need a flashlight to do what I did. I didn't need one. Useful tool, indeed.
* * *
"You cannot allow this!" Gavin was shouting again.
"It's already done," Winkler said, resignation in his voice. "He called this morning. The arrangements have already been made. She'll be back in two weeks."
"Tell me why you agreed to this." Gavin was growling, now.
"I don't have a choice. I take orders from him, in a manner of speaking. I have to abide by that."
"This is untenable," Gavin stalked out the French doors.
"Lissa, Winkler wants to see you," Gavin announced when he walked inside the guesthouse.
* * *
"What does he want?" I asked. "Cookies?"
"I wish it were cookies," he said. "Go. Find out for yourself."
"What is it?" I asked, the minute I made my way inside the beach house.
Winkler was sitting at the kitchen table when I walked in. He looked a little rumpled, to be honest. "Lissa let me start out by saying that if I had a choice in the matter, I would have said no. As it is, Weldon Harper is an important man and I have to follow his orders. He will be flying you to North Dakota where he lives and you will provide security for him as a personal bodyguard. You must do this, Lissa. You must guard him and his son, if he desires, as zealously as you ever guarded Whitney or me. Do you understand?"
"Does he know about me?" I swallowed nervously.
"He knows. He knew when he was here. He hasn't become powerful by being stupid, Lissa. We will ship blood with you. If you run out, he will provide for you. All right?"
"No, it's not all right," I huffed. "But since you're pulling the strings attached to your little vampire puppet, I suppose I have to go."
"Lissa, you know that's not what you are," Winkler raked fingers through his hair. He was sitting at the table near the kitchen and turned his dark eyes up to me. "Life isn't fair, Lissa. Ever. Do I wish it were better for you? Yes. I do. But wishes don't go very far, do they?"
"Where and when?" I asked. He'd given his permission. I had to go.
"I have to take you to the airport tomorrow evening. The private jet will fly you to Grand Forks. Someone will be there to pick you up."
"Fine," I grumbled and walked away.
* * *
"Honored One, they are sending her to act as bodyguard to Weldon Harper. I know you recognize that name. She called herself a puppet to the secondary. He disagreed with her but that statement is not far from the mark. Things should have been different for her. She should have had a solicitous sire. She has nothing. She might count the taking of her life in the end as a blessing.
G."
* * *
"Lissa, he said only two weeks. That's not forever," Winkler told me as I jerked my rolling bag across airport tarmac. Winkler walked beside me, carrying a second bag as we made our way toward his private jet. I was getting the whole thing to myself this time, except for the pilot and co-pilot. He'd also loaded me up with more clothing, including a warm coat—the weather in North Dakota was still cold and unpredictable.
"Why should you justify yourself to me?" I snapped. I was owned and I knew it.
"Lissa," I held myself stiffly as he pulled me into his arms and held me, kissing the top of my head. "Lissa, don't. Just go." He turned me loose and pointed me toward the jet. I carried my own bags up the steps. They were as light as a feather to my vampire strength. The co-pilot shut the door behind me and we took off shortly after that.
Daryl Harper was there to meet me when the plane landed, and there was snow on the ground so I needed the coat. Not because I was truly cold, but because I would stand out. I shrugged into it. Driving north out of Grand Forks, Daryl turned west onto a gravel road after a while and then traveled another ten or fifteen miles. We were in the middle of nowhere when we stopped, except for the huge log house that stood there. Smoke curled up from the chimney, giving off the smell of a fragrant wood fire inside. Daryl and I hadn't talked much on the trip. I'd considered asking questions about the scenery and the nearby cities before thinking better of it. Why the hell did they need a bodyguard? Were they getting attacked by grizzlies?
"Dad?" Daryl called, the minute we stepped inside the house. At least it was warm inside and well insulated.
Weldon Harper came out of the kitchen, a cup of coffee in his hands. "Here's the little vampire, now," he said. I wanted to tell him that not long ago I'd been human and hadn't believed vampires existed. Now I was getting the second-class citizen treatment.
"Yes. Your vampire is here. At your service, and all that. Last time I cooked for you. What do you want now?"
"Gets right to the point," Weldon nodded at me. "We're having a meeting of sorts in a couple of days. There'll be lots of people here, setting up tents and the like right outside. You and Daryl will be going out with me. You only at night, of course, just to be an extra set of eyes and ears and to help out if somebody decides they want a piece of me."
"You think that might be an issue?" I asked. "They're your guests."
"Yes. They are, aren't they?" Weldon smiled at me.
Daryl showed me to a bedroom. The windows had been boarded up and heavy curtains hung
over them. At least they'd made preparations for a vampire to sleep there. Daryl also brought in a mini-fridge along with my cooler of blood. I immediately transferred the blood over to the fridge. No sense wasting the stuff—there wasn't a plethora of warm bodies walking around to feed from if it became necessary. The bedroom was a twelve by twelve square with a single bed, a nightstand and a chair plus a small closet off in the corner adjacent to the door. The nearest bathroom was down the hall and I figured we were too far away from civilization to have city water and sewer. It had to be on a well and a septic tank. The bed was covered by a hand-made quilt in creams, browns and yellows, sewn in a fan pattern. A hand-woven Navajo rug covered the wood floor at the side of the bed and there was a deer's head hanging on the wall. Ugh.
I still had some books to read from my last visit to the bookstore. Pulling one out of my suitcase after unpacking everything else, I settled down to read. Weldon and Daryl went to bed around three; I heard them padding down the hall at the time. Nothing disturbed us during the night—I was reading with one ear open and never heard anything other than the wind and perhaps a coyote or two.
Beds don't matter much to me anymore. Not to sleep in, anyway. Dawn comes and I'm unconscious, it's as simple as that. No way to tell then if the mattress is lumpy or if the pillow's too thin. There wasn't a lock on my bedroom door, either. Nothing to keep anybody from walking right in and shoving a stake through my heart, or to stop them from carrying me out to the bright sunlight and dumping me in the yard just to watch me burn. Yeah, I'm full of cheerful thoughts, nowadays.
"Look who's up." Weldon sounded almost happy as I came out of my bedroom for the first time in sixteen hours.
"You're not one of those triple-P persons, are you?" I frowned at him.
"Triple-P?"
"Perpetually Perky People. They make me want to tear my hair out. I've worked with five during my lifetime. I'm pretty sure they ought to pass a law against them or something."
Weldon grinned. "I'd ask if you wanted coffee, but I know better," he said.
"Good. I'm going out for a bit," I said, pulling on my coat.
"It's snowing a little," Daryl was shoving a huge log into the fireplace. Actually, I was wondering if I'd freeze if I turned to mist while the temperature was freezing. Maybe I'd give it a try. I'd thaw in the spring, just in time to get fried by spring sunshine.
Blood Wager (Blood Destiny #1) Page 12
