A Vampire Bundle

by Alexandra Ivy

  As one, Arnold, and Chaz, and I all turned to look at Sara. I think I was more surprised than either of them.

  “Carol invited me. I wasn’t about to turn down the chance to make things right with Shia.” He turned back to look at me, his gaze softening and deep voice turning faintly pleading and cajoling with that hint of a growl to it that I’d once thought sexy as hell. Now realizing the guttural quality was due to his being an Other, it just gave me the shivers. “You know I never meant to scare you like that. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”

  Chaz was adorable. He had a look of such contrite longing with that edge of question and desire that it was difficult to remember why I needed to say no.

  Shifting while we were alone and postcoital was quite possibly the worst method imaginable he could have used to break the news. A few drinks and the afterglow did absolutely nothing to stifle my shock, not to mention my fear at having a monster straight out of a fairytale appear in my living room—even though said monster had not long before done such boyfriend-esque things as pick up tampons and watch While You Were Sleeping with me.

  I don’t know what got into his head that he decided to spring it on me at the time. We’d worked our schedules to align so that we had that night and the whole of the next day off together. I made dinner, we had some wine, and I put a movie on in the living room we didn’t bother to watch. Afterward, he insisted he needed to tell me something that couldn’t wait. There I was, getting excited and thinking he was about to pop The Question. Instead, he got up and stood next to the couch. Before I knew it, after a short series of sickening pops and creaks and a rush of fur, there was this big, gray wolf with Chaz’s eyes staring at me.

  I screamed bloody murder and had a fit. It took me a few minutes to get brave enough to grab one of the throw pillows to cover myself while I opened the door and booted him out. He didn’t do anything but whine and put his tail between his legs, skittering out of my apartment like a kicked puppy. It was rather incongruous since as a wolf he was roughly the size and dimensions of an exceptionally buff Saint Bernard. None of my neighbors had called the cops or done more than peek into the hall before slamming their doors shut.

  I mailed his clothes and a few of his things he’d left at my apartment back to him a week later, and wouldn’t talk to him for over a month afterward, vowing I’d never date the lying furball again. What if there was something else he was hiding? If we were ever to sleep with each other again, I’d have to sign one of those freaky contracts binding me to him. It would leave me open to the possibility of him turning me Were—with or without my consent. His deceit throughout the entirety of our relationship made trusting him impossible.

  He got off light under the circumstances. Me screaming at him and kicking him out was a cake-walk compared to being jailed and, in all likelihood, killed for his indiscretion. The justice system didn’t take kindly to Others who ignored the legal requirement of Weres and vampires to contract anyone they got “intimate” with—in any sense of the word. I hadn’t filed a formal complaint, but that didn’t mean I was open to fooling around with him again. Bad enough I was about to be contracted to Royce; it was time to put my foot down.

  Even though that look of his made me blush like a schoolgirl, I didn’t turn away. Instead, I took a deep breath to steady myself, eventually managing to find my voice. “Doesn’t matter. We’re done. It’s over. Move on.”

  Arnold seemed immeasurably pleased at my words, though he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. Chaz’s shoulders slumped and he trudged over to a recliner, sitting on the edge and leaning forward expectantly.

  “I wish you’d reconsider. At the very least we can still be friends. It’ll kill me to see you with a mage, but as long as I still get to see you now and then, I’ll be happy.”

  Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell was this? Chaz was never the sentimental type. I was instantly suspicious, though unfortunately I couldn’t seem to suppress the growing attraction I had for him.

  He’d been a sweetheart (if a bit of an egotist) before we’d split up. Not so much in the flowers-and-chocolates kind of way as the hold-the-door-and-pick-up-the-tab way. And damn but did he ever look good; he had everything I liked. Muscles, intelligence, and a touch of the bad boy—a formidable combo when it came to my hormones. At least I knew now where the hint of danger in his personality came from. It didn’t help said hormones any that he was eyeing me like he was wondering just how close Arnold and I had become and what his chances were of getting back in my pants. Yeah, I recognized that look.

  Knowing he could probably smell the first stirrings of desire on me, I gave a little frustrated curse under my breath before shoving myself off the couch and walking toward the kitchen. If he’d been human, maybe, maybe I would have been able to sit there and bear his scrutiny, but knowing what I knew now about Others, I couldn’t deal with it. Not this soon after Royce, and especially not on less than six hours of sleep in the last forty-eight.

  “Chaz, I can’t talk about this right now. Just stay here, I’ll discuss it later.” I could almost feel the three of them—Chaz, Arnold, and even Sara—starting to protest. “Don’t even get me started. All of you stay here, I’ll be back.”

  I had to talk to Mom about this.

  Chapter 20

  My mom was putting sodas and beer on a tray when I came in, her back to me as she rummaged in the fridge. She almost dropped the bottle in her hand when she turned around and saw me, her eyes widening with surprise and a measure of guilt.

  “Oh, sweetie, you startled me. Help me carry this in to the boys.” The words were rushed, and she started to bustle around like she was going to run out of there and avoid me some more.

  “Mom, hold up a sec.” I walked over and put a hand on the tray to keep her from grabbing it and rushing out. “Why did you invite Chaz over? I know I told you we broke up.”

  She sighed, leaning her hip against the counter and folding her arms. “I want grandkids, Shia. You and Chaz seemed to be getting along great, and frankly I don’t see Mikey or Damien settling down before you do. Chaz is a nice boy. I can’t understand why you didn’t try to work things out with him.”

  A spot of red betrayed her embarrassment, but she sounded firm and sure of herself. That was something we both shared; when backed into a corner, even if we were afraid or embarrassed, we usually came clean about what we were thinking.

  “You were with him for almost five months, that’s the longest I’ve seen you with anyone since high school.”

  Oh God, not this again. “So you thought by inviting him over today we’d just magically end up back together?”

  I knew it came out snotty, but at that point I didn’t care. I hated it when my mom tried to set me up with someone, more still when she was sneaky about it.

  “Well, I didn’t think you’d be bringing another boy over,” she said defensively. “I was starting to worry about you. Spending all your time with Sara makes people wonder, honey. I just want the best for you.”

  It felt like my cheeks had suddenly caught fire. My face must have looked about as red as my hair. Even my mom thought I was into girls now? This was getting well and truly embarrassing, not to mention annoying.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. I date, Mom, I just don’t usually bring men over! The minute you start talking grandkids, you know they’re going to run for the hills.”

  She gave me a pitying look and I remembered again why I never brought boys over to the house. “It’s okay, I believe you. Just remember, you’re not getting any younger and neither are me or your dad. We want to see you safe and happy with a family of your own, that’s all.”

  Safe? With a werewolf? I remembered guiltily that I hadn’t told her that part about the breakup, and it made me feel even worse since I couldn’t say anything about it now. She’d have conniptions if she found out there was a Were in the house. My parents aren’t so déclassé as to be White Hats or part of the less vocal, but just as obnoxious, Concerned Human Citi
zens. However, they aren’t exactly supportive of the equal rights movement for the Others either. As long as none of them moved into the neighborhood and they stayed out in the city, my parents would tolerate them, but that was about it.

  “Yeah, well, Arnold’s a great guy, too. He’s looking out for me.”

  I truly hoped I wasn’t digging myself a deeper hole by telling her this. If she somehow found out later that Arnold was a mage, she’d kill me. Probably not so much because he could do magic but because, even if we somehow ended up together, the chances of us having kids was slim to none. Not that I was considering actually dating him. Yikes.

  “You should let him take care of you, then. Your line of work is dangerous, honey. Dealing with monsters should be left to the experts, like the police. That stunt last month almost gave your dad a heart attack.”

  That made me cringe. I hadn’t realized they knew about the thing at the Embassy.

  She continued, “The last thing we want is to see you or Sara get hurt.”

  I reached over to grab one of the beers, feeling more than shitty about having to hide what was really going on in my life. I just couldn’t see a way around it; the truth really would give my parents a stroke. Especially if they found out about Royce and the papers. My dad would probably try to stake Royce himself if he found out. Who knows what my mom might do.

  Keeping my gaze off her own, I held the cold beer to my forehead for a few seconds, hoping to cool the burning heat of embarrassment while I also tried to swallow down the guilt and think of something useful to say. That’s when I remembered I was supposed to leave my car here and had a cover story to match.

  “That’s part of why I’m going out of town. We’re going to take a vacation in the Hamptons for a week.” God, I was so going to burn for this later, I just knew it. “Look, I know my job is dangerous but it is my job, and I can’t just fob off the dangerous stuff on someone else. I won’t ask Sara to take the dangerous stints for me.”

  She frowned, busying herself with the cans and bottles again. “I don’t want you to give all the dangerous jobs to Sara either, I want you to give them to the cops where they belong.”

  I threw my free hand up, trying to convey my exasperation. “The cops won’t take the jobs we take, Ma. That isn’t what cops do. We track people down and do surveillance, not arrest them. Most of the time I never even talk to the people I’m tailing. It’s not as bad as you think.”

  Most of the time. Except when dealing with magi, Weres, and vamps, it wasn’t that dangerous at all.

  “All right, all right. No need to get in a huff about it.” Finally, she was backing down. “I only bug you about it because I care about you.”

  Twisting the cap off the beer, I took a swig and stared out the window. There was a fat squirrel on the bird feeder in the elm tree, stuffing itself silly on stolen birdseed.

  “Can I leave my car here in the garage until I get back? I don’t want someone breaking in again.”

  That much was true, at least. I had just spent a ridiculous sum fixing the broken window and replacing the stolen radio and would hate to have to go through that hassle again.

  “Sure, that’s fine. I just wish you’d think about a career change. You know your dad and I would be more than happy to help put you back through school if you want to do something different.”

  “I like my line of work, Ma. I’m going to stick with it.” Turning my gaze back to her, I smiled to soften the blow I knew those words were trying to make light of it. “At least I’m not a cop, right?”

  She laughed, obviously heartily amused by the thought. Yeah. Funny.

  I felt really bad about hiding things from her, especially how dangerous my job had actually become in the last few days, but at least she was nodding agreement now instead of badgering me about my love life.

  “You always were headstrong, doing things your own way.” Her wry grin of amusement dragged one out of me in return. “Got it from me, you know.”

  I chuckled, feeling another pang of guilt, fear, and heartache that I wished more than ever I could share with her. Especially since, after next Monday night, I might never see her again. Tears stung in my eyes, and I turned away so she wouldn’t see.

  “Yeah, Mom, I know.”

  Chapter 21

  Throughout the rest of the day, things settled down into an uneasy peace. Chaz and Arnold threw a few verbal salvos at each other, but never outright clashed or degenerated into anything physical. They were actually civil to each other over dinner on the deck, sitting across from one another at the picnic table. I wasn’t sure if it was for my sake, or for the sake of blending in with my family. Probably the latter, since the survival of the Others had depended upon their ability to pass for human prior to their announcing their existence to the world. Hard to believe that happened less than ten years ago.

  Once Angela woke up and joined us, she had, as predicted, chattered up a cheerful storm about the case her boss had won against Mikey. He groaned and complained and tried to get her to shut up about it, smiling the whole time. She also took a keen interest in Arnold and managed to glean some interesting tidbits from him, like the fact that he had graduated from a very upper-crusty institute of technology, was from a well-to-do family from Seattle, moved to New York just over a year ago, and was overly fond of cheese fries.

  Fortunately, he didn’t say anything about magic or dice or Dungeon Quest or whatever the heck it was he played.

  Damien cracked up over the movie when he unwrapped it, and I promised to come over and watch it with him soon. Once the cake was eaten and the last of the presents unwrapped, I said it was time for us to go back to Sara’s.

  Chaz was the only one who protested, though only mildly. I think he knew he was pushing my buttons by hanging around tonight. The good-byes were quick and relatively painless, my dad making it a point to invite Arnold over to watch the game on the big screen the next Sunday with him and my brothers.

  Weirded out by the strain and awkwardness of the day, I slid into the back seat of Arnold’s car and shut my eyes, too tired and drained by two nights of almost no sleep to think anymore. Sara offered to put my car in the garage and grab my stuff, and I was quick to take her up on it.

  A few minutes later, she tossed the bag into my lap, waking me from my stupor as she slid into the front passenger seat. Arnold had already started the car, and the faint sound of rock music drifted out of the speakers. I shifted around as much as I could to get comfortable, closing my eyes again as he pulled out.

  “So, Shia,” he said, “that was remarkably awkward. You dated a Were?”

  I growled a curse under my breath before answering. “Yes, I did. Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “Your life is my business right now. Anything else like that I’m going to have to field if I’m hanging around you the next few days?”

  Sara cut me off before I could speak. “Of course there is. This is Shia we’re talking about.”

  I flipped her off, not that she could see it. “There is a lot I need to tell you. But you promised to tell me something once we got in the car. You go first. Spill it.”

  His grip tightened on the wheel so hard I could hear the leather squeak. Touchy.

  “Okay. Veronica asked you to find an object called a focus, which grants powers to the holder. Depending on what type of creature is using it, the powers it grants are different. It’s never been in the hands of magi so far as I know, but when a Were uses it, he can summon and force the transformation on other Weres around them. It augments the strength of the pack in possession of it, and can actually bind other packs temporarily into one much larger force, all working toward whatever the holder’s goal may be. When a vampire uses it, he or she can also summon, control, and force transformation on a Were. However, it doesn’t do much else for vamps and they have a harder time calling more than a few Weres at a time.

  “This thing was supposedly destroyed before World War One. I have no idea how Royce found it
, but we got a tip that he was using it about four months ago. Veronica was in Acquisitions. She was assigned to get it from Royce at any cost, but quietly and discreetly. Before she got in touch with you, she had tried contacting Royce directly. When he refused to sell, she sent someone in to steal it.”

  He muttered a faint curse, coming to a smooth stop at a light and once more throwing me a quick glance.

  “The focus was hidden and the mage who tried to get it was killed. It was hushed up and a directive came down that Veronica needed to find a way to smooth things over with Royce and a different method of locating it and getting her hands on it without any more losses to the coven. Hence her hiring you. I’m assuming Royce found out somehow that you were working for us, and that he’s the one responsible for Vero’s death.”

  Though I’d been on the verge of falling asleep when he started speaking, by the end of his little speech I was bolt upright in the cramped back seat. What he’d just said meant that spilling my guts to Royce about working for The Circle effectively sealed Veronica’s death warrant. I don’t think it was possible for me to feel more heartsick or guilty than I did at that moment.

  Knowing it would come out sooner or later, I gritted my teeth and just said it. “I was the one who told him I was working for The Circle. He knew about it before I said anything, but I confirmed it. Some girl named Allison came in, the one who works reception at your office. She told him about the belt you gave me and after that he thought I was sent by The Circle to kill him. I didn’t go in there intending to tell him anything, but when he looked like he was about to go for my throat, I couldn’t help it. I spilled and told him what I was really there for.”

  Arnold didn’t move and didn’t look back at me. His gaze seemed faraway and his attention elsewhere, because the light had turned green and he hadn’t taken his foot off the brake. Since we were still in the ’burbs, no one was behind him honking for him to get a move on yet. Eventually he came back to the present, flooring it and jolting me back.