“That’s hardly fair,” I said, facing him as he closed the door.
“It’s perfectly fair. He was given a job. He didn’t do it.”
“Are you always so intransigent?”
He lifted one eyebrow at me.
“Yes, I’m always so intransigent, “ he said, pronouncing it slowly as if proving he could. “Especially when it comes to doing a job.”
“Rehire him,” I said, taking a step closer. “Please.”
“I can’t. If I do, it’ll undermine the morale of my men.”
This conversation was disturbing on more than one level. I had the feeling he was saying more than I was understanding. Either that or I wasn’t getting the whole story.
Who the hell was Dan the Driver?
“Can’t you say you rehired him as favor for me?”
He stared at me. I suddenly felt like saluting him.
“If you don’t I have to leave,” I said.
“You can’t.”
I folded my arms and stared at him. “Like hell I can’t. It’s called kidnapping if you try to keep me here.”
He blew out a breath, looked up at the domed ceiling above us, then shook his head.
“If I rehire him his job is to look after you. If you leave again he goes with you. If you leave and he doesn’t know about it he gets fired permanently.”
Great, I’d just gotten myself a full-time bodyguard. I narrowed my eyes at him. If I didn’t know better I would think Dan had planned the whole thing. I was beginning to believe he was sneaky enough to do it.
“Okay,” I said, not exactly gracious in defeat. “Did you find Mutt?” I asked.
“No, I’m sorry. The manager didn’t know you had a dog. I’m to tell you you broke your lease by getting a dog without permission.”
I stared at him.
“You have until the first of the month to get your stuff out.”
Could this day/night get any suckier?
I was suddenly so tired I could barely stand.
“I’ve got to take a nap,” I said, glancing at my phone for the time. “There’s still plenty of night left for Maddock to come after me and I’m not up to par at the moment.”
“You don’t have to be. We’ll protect you.”
My eyes were getting wet again. I had to stop doing that. Maybe after some sleep I wouldn’t be so emotional.
He surprised me by grabbing my hand and holding it as we walked to the stairs.
He didn’t say anything. I glanced at him to find him looking at me, an expression in his green eyes I couldn’t decipher. I’m pretty good with people. Lousy with vampires and witches but good with people. Dan, however, was putting me to the test.
I couldn’t read him.
Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe I didn’t want to know what he was.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
The older they are the harder they fall
To my surprise, I slept twelve hours. So much for being on constant alert. When I woke, however, I felt more myself than I had in weeks.
I studied the play of sunlight on the ceiling.
Maddock was not going to leave me alone. He was going to come after me until he succeeded in getting me pregnant. I closed my eyes, unwilling to envision what a child of Maddock’s and mine would be like. Super-vamp times two with the added advantage of a father as evil as the devil and a mother who was a slave.
I could always have a hysterectomy and I thought about it. I’d wanted children once upon a time. Now I was torn. Even if my husband was human, what kind of offspring would we have? Would I give birth to a natural born vampire?
I tucked the idea of surgery into my mental folder called Possibilities. Right now there weren’t a whole bunch of pages in there. I needed time to consider my options. Time was the one thing I didn’t have. Not as long as Maddock was able to function.
That was the one thing I could change.
Fear can be a good thing. Fear can keep you safe. Fear can make you think of things you would never ordinarily consider.
I dressed, brushed my hair and put on makeup, feeling like it was warpaint. My blue eyes stared back at me in the mirror. This morning they were clear and guileless, the eyes of a woman without secrets, qualms, or regrets.
Oh, if that were only true.
I opened the door to find my new shadow, Mike, sitting outside my room. He stood and nodded at me.
“I have a woman I’d like to introduce you to,” I said.
Mike blinked at me.
“She’s a vampire, but she’s a good vampire.” Kenisha still scared me but I respected her, too. And I thought she and Mike would be perfect for each other.
“I don’t date.”
“Are you prejudiced?” I asked.
His mouth twisted, narrowing his full face. I wanted to call back the words, but I let them stand.
“You don’t understand. I don’t date.”
I closed the door behind me, about to question Mike further. He didn’t give me the chance. Instead, he looked to the left then the right as if seeking refuge. When none was forthcoming, he said, “Food.”
It was the one word designed to make me forget everything else.
Snacks were all well and good, but the small refrigerator in my room didn’t have pancakes and bacon and that’s what I smelled.
I hadn’t eaten since yesterday so I followed him like a puppy to a room that was an homage to Arthur Peterson’s love of hunting. A dozen heads were mounted on the nearest wall each of them some species of deer or elk. A moose head decorated the area over a fireplace. Just when I was getting used to the glassy eyed stare of all those animals, I turned my head to find myself being regarded by the largest stuffed head I’d ever seen, a rhinoceros.
“I thought that was illegal,” I said, but Mike had already pushed open one of the swinging doors and vanished into what I hoped was the kitchen.
I pulled out a chair and stared at the polished wood surface, anything but look up and apologize for not being a vegetarian. To be fair, I’d never eaten rhino, so maybe I shouldn’t feel guilty.
I was wrong. They weren’t pancakes I smelled. They were waffles and they were coming my way. I gave up any pretense of being cultured or sophisticated. I sat there, wide eyed, as Dan himself delivered a platter to the table.
He wasn’t what interested me. Okay, maybe slightly. He still wore a sleepy look around eyes twinkling at me. This morning he was dressed in a black polo shirt and a crisp tan pants, as preppy as anyone who ever lived in Alamo Heights.
Alamo Heights is our answer to 90210. The city is a small enclave inside San Antonio known for its overpriced cottages, trendy zip code, and pretentious air.
I would love to live in Alamo Heights.
No, what caught my attention was the stack of waffles on the platter, along with four pitchers of different kinds of syrup and bowls of assorted fruits.
Joy is a waffle topped with butter and syrup and never having to worry about the calories.
Maybe I should do what Robert Louis Stevenson said: “…do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.”
Okay, RLS, I’ll try that, just as soon as I fix a few things in my life.
Please pass the butter.
Dan totally ignored me.
You really are a very attractive man.
No reaction.
I could communicate with vampires, witches, and mortals. Just not Dan or Mike. Right now I was going to concentrate on waffles and leave everything else for later. One crisis at a time, please.
“Where did you go yesterday?”
I glanced at Dan, realizing I’d left him in the dark.
Although I’d made the emotional break last night, the words were difficult to say. Maybe I didn’t want to admit my mother so despised me she’d wanted to give me away then tried to kill me.
Marcie Montgomery, beloved by all.
I went through another waffle befo
re I answered him, concentrating on how good it was. I loved breakfast food at night: cereal for dinner, oatmeal for desert, even scrambled eggs. I’d much rather have eggs at night then in the morning. But these waffles I could have at any hour. And the bacon? Yum.
He sat there patiently, watching me over the rim of his cup. His eyes were definitely green this morning. They were also very intense, almost probing.
“My mother killed Ophelia,” I said, staring down at the remainder of the blueberries on my plate. For some reason I felt very sad for the cluster of three blueberries. Poor things, they didn’t belong. I speared them on my fork and ate them.
“She thought Opie was me, wearing my sweater. Of course, anyone with half a brain would have noticed the difference in our heights. But it was a tall truck, maybe she didn’t see. Or was too blinded by hate for it to register.”
“Are you okay?”
I was sitting in a castle love built. Arthur’s Folly had taken years to build, a labor of love from Arthur to his wife of forty years. Dan was the heir and I’d be willing to bet he came from a family who loved and cherished each other.
So it was a little difficult to nod my head and pretend, but I did it anyway.
“What are you going to do about Maddock?”
I wasn’t surprised by the question, only that he’d waited so long to ask it.
I’d thought about my options, only to discover I didn’t have many. Maddock was powerful enough people willingly overlooked the fact he was a vampire. I guess money could talk. Or, in this case, cloak someone in normalcy.
Because he was a Master, he was a damn important vampire, capable of swaying the Council. Therefore, anything he wanted to do to me would probably be allowed, including making me a breeder.
Therefore, anything I did to him had to be covert and untraceable.
“I’m going to kill Niccolo Maddock,” I said, pouring myself more coffee.
He didn’t say a word, just sat there silently.
I felt a little like I had when I was once sent to the principal’s office. I’d forgotten some form my parents had to sign three days in a row and had to explain why. My parents had been in the midst of their divorce and I hadn’t seen my father for weeks. After I tearfully told my tale of woe, Mr. Blankenship had stared at me in the same way as if he were trying to decide whether I was telling the truth. I had been and resented his suspicion.
There were two differences between my eleven year old self and now. I understood Dan’s doubt and I wasn’t close to crying. I’d done enough of that last night.
“How are you going to do it?”
I sipped at my coffee - another bit of heaven - before answering him.
“Vampires can die in a variety of ways, did you know that?”
“Yes.”
“The main way is anything to do with their blood. They can’t lose too much of it. Ergo, they try to keep their appendages and their head attached. They must keep their blood oxygenated which is why they drink the stuff.”
“Or use a donor,” he said.
I glanced at him.
“Willing or unwilling,” he added.
I knew about the countless number of willing mortals who offered themselves up to vampires for profit or pleasure, but were there that many unwilling victims? When I asked Dan, his face grew stiff.
“The number is growing.”
Why? How did he know? Exactly who was Dan Travis? All questions I needed answers as soon as my main problem was solved.
I returned to my explanation. “Another way they can die, easier than most people realize, is through a blood infection. They’re paranoid about it.” I remembered what Opie had said about vampires being hypochondriacs.
“Like HIV?” he asked, putting his cup down. The saucer made a delicate little clink like a far off bell.
I nodded, took another sip of coffee and almost sighed in pleasure.
“Maddock, especially, has devoted a large amount of money to a series of medical research facilities,” I said, and told him about MEDOC.
He probably knew everything I did, or more, but now was not the time to go on an “information is power” trip.
“Lots of studies pertaining to HIV which makes me wonder if AIDS has decimated the vampire population.”
He didn’t answer but he didn’t look away, either.
I felt wonderfully content right at the moment. I’d been fed; the food was delicious and I had a plan. What’s not to love?
Okay, maybe the fact I was still in Maddock’s sights, I’d had my mother arrested for murder, my grandmother was a powerful witch, I might be pregnant with a vampire’s child, and the jury was still out about what I was - goddess or genetic mutation.
But, hey, you look for the positive where you can, right?
“What are you going to do?”
When I told him, he sat back, coffee and breakfast evidently forgotten.
“Are you nuts?”
I shook my head. “Mutt gave me the idea,” I said. “I was thinking of making an appointment to get him his shots.”
Where was Mutt? Would he ever forgive me for my abandonment?
“Do you believe the manager?” I asked. “Do you think he didn’t know where Mutt was?” I wouldn’t put it past the guy to simply let Mutt out and let him fend for himself.
Dan brushed the question aside for one of his own.
“You realize the incubation period can be weeks or months?”
“Yep. But I’m a vampire.” At his look, I smiled. “Technically a vampire. If I do anything to Maddock, the Council will be my judge and jury. They have jurisdiction over vampire against vampire crimes. I doubt they’d be understanding.” Instead, they’d probably study me like an insect. “By the time it hits him,” I added, “no one will think of me and it will be too late for the vaccine. Maybe they’ll think he’s gone mad.”
“Rabies, Marcie?”
I nodded. “Rabies, Dan. I doubt his clinic would have prepared for that. HIV, yes. Rabies? Nope. Plus, because of the long incubation period, I doubt his regeneration abilities would come into play.” I studied the rhino. “Day by day it will be eating at him, changing him, destroying his brain.”
“I like it,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “But how the hell are you going to get it into him?”
I smiled. “With a needle.”
He looked as if he wanted to argue with me. When he didn’t, I looked longingly at the remaining waffles.
“I’m not letting you go back there.”
The idea of walking into Maddock’s house wasn’t on my top ten favorite things to do, either. I doubt I’d make it out of there as easily the next time, especially since now he knew I could walk in the sun.
My inner adult made me stop staring at the waffles. I had important stuff to do and I couldn’t be sick before doing it.
The phone rang. I answered.
“You’re awake?” The shock in my grandmother’s voice almost made me smile. The way I was going everyone would soon know I wasn’t affected by daylight. I could almost see the chyron: Vampire gets tan; news at eleven.
“Yes,” I said, wondering if she’d ask for details.
Evidently, my grandmother was capable of burying her curiosity better than me because she only sighed. Granted, it was an expressive sigh, one clearly stating I’d complicated her life.
“She agreed, Marcie. I’ll have it in less than an hour.”
“And the other?”
Dan glanced at me but I wasn’t about to illuminate him.
“That, too,” Nonnie said. “But you can’t come here.”
“Can I send someone to pick it up?”
When she agreed, I said, “Thank you, Nonnie.”
She hung up without a word.
I glanced at Dan. “I have a favor to ask.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Let loose the vampires of war
When Mike returned from my grandmother’s house, he handed the paper bag to me without comment.
<
br /> Dan and I were sitting in the Great Room. A dozen people could have sat on the couch where I was sitting. The fact Dan and I were next to each other wasn’t an accident. I was feeling a little scared at the moment. The presence of a living, breathing human being - or whatever he was - was reassuring and comforting.
“Let me find a way to do this,” Dan said as I peered into the sack. “You don’t have to do it, Marcie.”
Frankly I was all for someone protecting me. It was the single most alluring proposition I’d ever received. But it wouldn’t work. I was the one Maddock wanted and I was going to let him have me, but only for a moment.
I reached over and placed my hand on Dan’s arm, feeling his warmth, the muscles ready to leap to my defense.
“I’ll be safe.”
“You won’t be,” he said. “Let me protect you, Marcie. I promise to do better.”
I frowned.
“The drive-by,” he said. “If I’d been more observant, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“I doubt you were expecting a machine gun,” I said.
“It wasn’t a machine gun,” he said, smiling.
“It sounded like it.”
He stared at me so long I wondered if he was trying to commit my face to memory.
“I won’t go to him,” I said. “I’ll call him to me.”
“You can do that?”
I nodded and forced a smile to my lips. “I’ve even got the location,” I said. “The lake.”
The gazebo in the lake was the perfect place to summon Maddock and far enough away from Arthur’s Folly that Dan and his staff would be safe.
“He might not come alone,” Dan said, not giving up.
“He’ll be by himself,” I said, certain of it. “His pride demands it.” I wondered if Maddock knew how much his arrogance crippled him.
I looked at Dan and gave him the truth. “You have to let me do this. You might have other problems with Maddock, but this is my war.”
I wanted to hug Dan, but I didn’t. Instead, I walked away, up the stairs and to my room.
My grandmother had written instructions about the potion. Basically, it was guaranteed to prevent a pregnancy. I could go to the drugstore and get the morning after pill but I didn’t know if it would work on my metabolism. I was, however, certain anything Nonnie and her sisters of the faith conjured up would.
The Fertile Vampire Page 24
