My lips curled into a smile. "Nana!" I said as I turned onto my side. Sure enough, I came face to face with one of the smallest women I’d ever met. Nana stood only 4 foot 10 inches and was probably in her early eighties.
"Well there, Shorty. You managed to give us quite a scare! As soon as that no-good grandson of mine called me, I came right over here to see to your needs. You can’t trust him to do anything. Men are like lemons. You can put them all in a bag, shake’em up, pick one out, and you still get a lemon. Men!"
I started to laugh. When Nana had learned that I broke off the engagement with Ken, she immediately blamed him for it. I didn’t correct her, because she was right. Even though Ken was her blood, she had sided with me. Ken knew better than to argue with his grandmother on the issue. He feared her wrath too much. Nana was a witch. She had been born to a witch and was one herself. She had had only sons, and they in turn had had only sons, so she was unable to bond with a daughter and share her secrets. She’d tried to pass these things on to Ken, but he’d never much taken to it. He was more interested in hearing her stories about demons and other creatures of the night. Because of her, he had been introduced to the seedier side of life at a very young age. Ken’s mother had never liked Nana. She, of course, had never believed that Nana was a true witch.
No one could prove it, but everyone suspected that little old Nana had something to do with the fact that Ken’s mother had had three nervous break downs in the span of ten years. Hey, the woman was good, and I loved her dearly.
"Nana! It’s so good to see yo--" My head spun slightly and I had to collect my thoughts before I could go on.
"Relax there. You shut your body down, you know. You plum shut it right down. You barely had a heartbeat. I told Ken no hospital. I told him you’d be all right. I had to convince him that shutting down is what powerful people have to do sometimes to avoid burning out."
"I really wish you’d quit telling me how powerful I am. I couldn’t light a candle on demand if you asked me."
"Hey there! I’ve told ya plenty of times before that lighting a candle with magic takes skill and years of practice. You can’t keep beating yourself up over things, Gweny. You were not raised with the guidance to control and use your gifts." Nana stood, slowly, and filled a small glass of water for me from the pitcher on the night stand. "I’m not saying that it’s your parents’ fault any. They did right by you the best they could, but you needed to have someone with the gift workin’ with you."
She handed me the glass, and since my throat felt like I’d swallowed a bag of cotton balls, I gladly accepted. I brought the glass to my lips and spilled some down the corner of my chin. I had never mastered the art of drinking while lying down. I’d seen it done perfectly on daytime soap operas, but I had never been that suave. Nana just smiled and handed me a tiny white washcloth she had been holding.
"You’ve been blessed with more gifts than I’ve ever seen before. The things you can do are nothing short of amazing you know!"
I felt my cheeks grow warm from embarrassment. "But Nana, everything I can do only happens at random. Whenever my emotions are running high, my ‘wonderful abilities’ get all out of whack and I’m lucky to escape with my life." I sighed deeply as I told her this. It was no exaggeration. When I was a junior in high school I had been madly in love with Scott Mines who was the star of the basketball team and a senior. He of course had no clue that I even existed. Whenever I caught a glimpse of him in the hall, I suddenly got very flushed and nerves would get the best of me and cause me to do the most embarrassing things. Once I had seen Scott walking with some of his fellow teammates after a practice. He turned and looked up at me, our eyes met. For one brief moment I wanted profess my undying love for him. Instead, my bottled up emotions manifested themselves in the form of a mini-earthquake. I could feel the energy rising forth from my body. I had no control over it. It oozed out of my skin and crept into everything around me. The lockers all fell open. Books flew out at us. The light fixtures cracked and popped before plummeting down and crashing onto the floor. I took an Algebra 101 book to the head and ended up with two stitches. Worse yet, Scot ended up bearing the brunt of a falling light fixture, and had to have his head shaved, twenty-four stitches, a tetanus shot and no chance at competing in the next three games. He missed the rest of his senior year’s basketball season due to the injury, and the team never made it to the finals. Officials from all over came to verify that it had indeed been an earthquake. Since I lived the Midwest, it was a scientific marvel and led to many nights worth of local broadcasting about our state being on a major fault line and numerous eyewitness accounts from the surrounding area. As it turned out, I had managed to push that out to the adjoining county as well.
"It won’t always be that way! It takes time, and you’ve only been around people who understand these things for a couple of years now," Nana said in her ultra gentle tone. I was sure that it had taken many years of practice for her to sound so incredibly calm all the time.
I was feeling much better. Nana always seemed to be able to bring out my inner peace. I wished I could bottle her up for an instant remedy. I let my head fall gently back onto the pillow. I had no idea how long I had been at Ken’s house. I was supposed to meet Pallo to discuss the hellhound murders at dusk. If I didn’t show up, I was pretty sure that our one and only lead would not be speaking to us again. It didn’t feel like I had been out for days, but losing time is par for the course when losing consciousness.
"Nana?" I turned to look at her. "How long have I been here?"
She seemed to take a small breath while she turned her head slightly to the left. "Hmm, well, Kenny called me around eightish. I got here as soon as I could. He had just finished getting you out of the bathtub." As soon as I heard her say that my face went slack. Ken had given me a bath. Yes, I had been intimate with him, and yes, we had been engaged, but I did not want the man giving me baths now. My shock must have showed, because Nana started to laugh. "Now, now, your friend Sharon handled the private moments and Ken simply supplied the muscle to lift you to and fro."
I felt my body relax. I had no problem with Sharon handling that for me. She was my oldest and dearest friend. I trusted her with my life, why not my body, too? "So, what day is it?"
"Oh, for goodness sakes, child, all this happened just today. I put a little extra Lemon Verbena in the juice to ward off anymore destructive magic for awhile so that you could come out of your state sooner." She gave a small nod--obviously pleased with herself. "If I hadn’t forced Kenny to give that to you, you’d sleep for a week straight. My friend Ida did that once. I didn’t know near then what I know now, and sure enough the girl slept for one week straight. She frightened us all. We had half a mind to go looking for Prince Charming to come and kiss her on the lips."
I had to grin. I sat up and looked towards Ken’s bureau. His alarm clock said it was quarter after seven. I still had time to make it down to Necro World if I hurried. I swung my legs around the side of the bed and started to stand. The room spun for a moment, and I’m pretty sure that I did as well. Nana made remarks of disapproval. I hated to ignore her, but I had talk with Pallo. Since my dream about him I had an overwhelming need to be near him.
I looked around the room. It had been six months since I’d given Ken my key back. He was reluctant to take it, but in the end he did. He had been equally as reluctant to give me some of my things back. I knew that he was holding out hope for reconciliation but it wasn’t going to happen. I walked quickly over to his black dresser. The top drawer had been mine to store things in for those nights when I didn’t make it home before work the next day. I opened it and was pleased to see some of my personal items in there. I had no idea what I had left. I was in such a hurry to get out when I caught him with the redhead that I didn’t stop to pack anything up. I just left. My black Capri’s were folded neatly on top. I had to rummage around a little to find a top to go with them. I settled on a black spaghetti strap tank top. Even though it
was summer, the lake breeze chilled the night air to the point that sweatshirts or jackets were often required. I didn’t have anything remotely close to that in the drawer, so I turned and went for Ken’s closet.
"Could you add some color while you’re in there?" Nana said from her chair. She had always been on Ken to get out of the habit of wearing only grays and blacks. I reached in and pulled out a white, long-sleeved dress shirt. I slid it on, cuffed the sleeves, and tied the shirt at my waistline. I started searching around for my sandals. I hesitated before I opened the door to the adjoining bathroom. Visions of bloodstains filled my head. I opened the door and found nothing but Ken’s perfectly spotless white and black bathroom.
"Kenny took your clothes with him to drop off at his cleaners. He cleaned your shoes up and put them behind the door," Nana said from behind me. She had startled me because I hadn’t heard her get out of the chair. "I think he knows that he did wrong by you. I think he knows that he loves ya."
I grabbed my black sandals from behind the door and turned to look at Nana. I could feel how much she ached to have me as part of her family. I knew how much she longed for me to be the mother of her great-grandchildren. I knew all of this because at one time I wanted it as much as she did. No, I had wanted it more. I bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Her hand slipped up and gripped my forearm. "You take care of yourself, Shorty!"
"Yes, Nana," I said as I kissed her gently again.
Chapter 4
I was forced to call a cab to pick me up. My car was still at the theme park because I had caught a ride with Sharon. I had no clue where my purse was, so I had to grab cash out of Ken’s hiding spot. I knew he wouldn’t care if I took it. Nana tried to get me to stay and rest, but I couldn’t.
The cab dropped me off in front of the main gate for Necro World. It was pushing eight o’clock, and the sun was beginning to set. The crowds weren’t due in for another half hour or so. I passed the ticket window and waved at the zombie-boy. He had given up the dead act with me and smiled and waved back. I made my way past the flower beds lined with herbs, and stopped to take note that the herbs planted were those used to ward off evil magic. Interesting. I continued on and went through the red door and down the stone stairs. I reached the bottom and knocked softly on the metal door.
The door opened and Caradoc’s green eyes and white head of hair greeted me. "Welcome, Ms. Stevens."
"Are you the official door-opener?" I smiled sweetly at him.
He looked perplexed. "No, we have no official door-opener."
"We really have to get you out more."
"Good luck with that." As I entered, I saw James standing close behind Caradoc. He was dressed in black from head to toe again. I still couldn’t get over the fact that he had his tips dyed pink. He was pretty hip as far as vamps went, at least of the ones I’d met so far. "Caradoc doesn’t do anything without checking with his master first. Do you?"
Caradoc’s face went slack. Anger crept over it slowly. He opened his mouth to speak when Pallo walked in. Pallo turned and looked at James. "Telling tales again, are we James?" The tone in his voice spoke volumes. It was a threat, plain and simple.
James nodded and bowed his head slightly towards Pallo. "I was just yanking his chain, that’s all. No harm, aye?"
Caradoc stepped to the side and looked intensely at James. There was a definite bad vibe going on in the room. I walked past them both and headed for one of the red sofas. I didn’t feel like waiting for an invite. At the rate they were going they would have left me standing in the doorway all night.
Pallo walked towards me. "Please be seated." It was more of a command. All the same, I let it slide. He looked wonderful in his black jeans and gray muscle shirt. I could make out tiny freckles on his shoulders. The shirt enhanced his muscles. I knew he possessed inhuman strength, but even if I hadn’t known he was a vampire I would have still thought he could kick some serious butt. He caught me checking him out and looked pleased with himself.
"I’m happy that you made it. I did not think you would come after your ordeal this morning."
I looked at him as I sat. "I wasn’t aware you had connections in the PR department."
"I have my ways of finding things out." He made no attempt to deny it. At least he was honest.
"What can you share with me about the hellhounds?" Being around Pallo made my skin ache to be touched by him, so the quicker I got down to business the better.
"You certainly waste no time, do you?"
"That’s me--Ms. Efficient. Now, what do you know?"
His brown eyes twinkled with delight. "I know that you are a very impatient woman and I like that about you." I rolled my eyes and started to interject, but he continued. "I also know this Keeper you speak of personally. I do not think the Keeper is someone you should go seeking. Leave that up to your friend."
"What friend?"
"The one who is in charge of bringing justice to the undead."
"Ken?"
"If that is his name." The way that he said it made me certain that he knew exactly who Ken was, but was just being a jerk.
"Yes, that’s his name, thank you very much. He’s my boss and my fiancé." I don’t know why I said that, we hadn’t been engaged for over six months now.
Pallo looked like I’d slapped him across his face. He turned his head slowly towards Caradoc. "What is it?" I thought he was talking to me at first, but Caradoc answered him.
"She is not being truthful with you, Master."
Pallo turned and looked at me. "How did you do that?" I asked.
"Do what?"
"How the hell did he know that, and how did you know he knew it?" I was starting to confuse even myself. Pallo just smiled at me and crossed his legs. I noticed how shiny his black boots were, he liked things nice and neat, you could tell that right off the bat. He was definitely a man who was used to getting what he wanted.
"I’m sure that you know, Gwyneth, vampires can sense when someone is lying to them."
"Then why did he sense it and not you?"
Pallo tensed up a little. I don’t think he expected me to catch that one. "I thought it best not to exercise that gift, shall we say, with you."
"Why?" It was a legitimate question that I thought needed to be asked.
The side of his mouth curled upwards. "Would you have been angry with me if I had?"
"Yes! No, well I don’t know maybe." I was hurt and still in awe of what vampires were capable of.
"My apologies, I was trying to be a gentleman." His smiled faded away. "Now, tell me why you felt the need the lie to me about this Ken."
I had a sinking feeling in the bottom of my gut. I didn’t know what to say. I did the only thing I could think of, I told the truth. "Ken was my fiancé. I broke it off with him, and I guess I just thought it would be safer to tell you that I was committed to someone."
Pallo shifted on the sofa. He leaned towards me. "Do I make you feel threatened? Are you that afraid of me?"
I looked into his dark brown eyes. They swam with possibilities. My mind raced to my dream of him holding me in his arms, kissing me passionately. I didn’t know how I felt about him. "I … I don’t know." I felt that honesty was the best policy, especially now that I knew his sidekick Caradoc was scanning my every word. I shot a nasty look over in Caradoc’s direction. I caught his eyes with mine, and I let my stare go icy. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. How dare he read me without my permission? How dare he violate my mind? I could feel my hands grower colder. I was so angry with him I wanted to walk over and slap his face for that, but I sat still and just glared at him. My body tensed up and I could fell the tiny hairs on my arms rise up. I could feel the energy dancing around my fingertips. Tiny wind guts started to swirl close to my skin. Oh, no! I knew all too well what that meant. Something was going to happen, and I was sure it wasn’t going to be good.
"Run!" I screamed at Caradoc. His green eyes widened as he looked at me. I turned and saw one of the c
andle sticks shaking slightly on the cherry end table. I looked back at Caradoc, stood up, quickly mirrored by Pallo, and screamed for Caradoc to run. James crashed into him from behind, and the two of them went tumbling onto the floor. The candlestick flew into the wall with such a force that it was embedded into the stone at least three inches.
"Get off of me James!" Caradoc said.
James pushed himself off of Caradoc’s back, and stood slowly, staring at the candle stick. "That was chest level Caradoc. She would’ve staked ya through the heart." He touched the candle stick. Smoke rose from the tips of his fingers as he let out a small yelp. He turned and looked at me with a mixture of fright and admiration.
Pallo was standing directly in front of me. He put his hands on my arms. I didn’t push him away. I just stood there staring at the candle stick and thinking about what James had said. "I could have killed him." My voice was small and weak.
"But you warned him instead, did you not." Pallo’s hands moved past my arms, and onto my waist. My focus moved down to the floor where Caradoc was getting up from. He rustled his long white hair from his face, and then stared at the wall then me. He said nothing, he didn’t look angry with me--he looked alarmed.
"I did not mean to upset you. I only did as I was ordered to do," he said.
I looked at Pallo. He had told Caradoc to tell him if I lied to him? He acted like he didn’t want to upset me by doing it himself, yet he had no problem having someone else do it. Then it hit me, I would have unleashed my anger at him if he had read me. Oh, God! Pallo had been sitting on the sofa right across from me, so I would have had less time to warm him. James would have never made it in time to push him out of the way. I would have killed him. I would have killed Pallo with my anger. My breathing got shallow. I almost murdered someone--all right technically vampires were already dead but still. I couldn’t explain it, and there was no sense denying it, he meant a great deal to me. I started to feel light-headed. My breathing was so irregular that it drew the attention of the others.
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