by M. L. Briers
Shamus chuckled again as he lifted a bottle from the side and checked the label.
“Still a Scotch man, predictable brother.”
“Well, hello, it’s mother’s milk this side of the border. What did you expect- sherry?” I shot back.
“So, who is she?” Shamus’s eyes flicked towards Maggie and I felt the irrational need to rip them out of his head and stomp them into the flooring.
“I have no real idea,” I admitted. The man knew about mates- had one up until the time that she was killed by a psycho vampire named Cane- maybe he could be a little helpful-
“Good luck with that.” Shamus chuckled.
His broad shoulders moving up and down in silent laughter taunted me now that I was kind of out of my depth. Maybe not so damn helpful after all… He turned back and strolled towards me, deliberately keeping his stride even and his body relaxed- showing me that he was no threat to my mate. I accepted the glass and felt the urgent need to toss its contents down the back of my throat, but got a firm grip on myself.
“No words of wisdom? How unlike you.” I waited to take my first sip of the alcohol until he was seated again. He’d chosen a chair that was even further away from Maggie- the man was smarter than the average vampire…
“You need some?” Shamus asked as he leaned forward; his elbows on his knees and his eyes on mine.
“I need something…” I took a big gulp of the fiery brew and savoured the burn.
“She know what you are yet?” I considered answering that question- trouble was, if I didn’t take her as a mate then that just might sign her death certificate right there and then… “Guess so,” Shamus read my silence.
“Something about her family passing down word of me, I was just getting to that when you showed up,” my tone was sarcastic but accusing.
“I always did have good timing,” he grinned again, laughter playing in those Irish eyes.
“A human…” I’d said it out loud and heard Shamus chuckle once more. This time it grated on my nerves.
“Yep, and all that entails,” Shamus agreed, pushing back in his chair and looking a little older even though I knew that was impossible.
“Tips?”
“Don’t screw up,” Shamus offered back and I rolled my eyes in my head and groaned. The man was no damn help whatsoever.
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Shamus refused my offer of a room. It was kind of a lame ass offer, and I kind of meant it, but the man knew better than to stay around a new mate too long. He took himself off to the nearest hotel and I was left with the conundrum of her…
Don’t screw up…that sounded rational and of sound advice, but not really damn helpful at all.
I was a vampire, set in my ways and used to getting what I wanted at the drop of a hat. She was a human who- from the look in her eyes back at the car- held some fear of my kind. It was understandable, I could end her in a heartbeat- drink he dry, snap her damn fragile neck in a heartbeat and not blink an eyelid- if she hadn’t of been my mate… and I’m sure that she is…
I sat there across the room from her- not trusting myself to get too close while I had her under my suggestion- and stared at every line, every contour of her face, drinking it in and storing it in my memory.
A highland beauty for sure- and that fire red hair was going to be matched by a red hot temper- I might not have been back in the highlands that long, but the memory of a good Scottish female temper lived long inside of me. Even with those green eyes unseeing and expressionless- she had the look of a woman that you didn’t want to cross swords with…
“Ah, Maggie mine, what am I going to do with you?” I breathed out the words and got no response- wasn’t expecting any, but deep down I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her.
There wasn’t an inch of my body that didn’t want to take her, and the more I watched that steady pulse beating just under the soft skin of her neck, the more her blood called to me.
I was a coward. I’d never thought I’d hear myself say that, but I felt like one. I could have released her from the power of my suggestion an hour ago when Shamus had left, and yet there she sat- perfectly still- perfectly docile- no fire, no rage, and no fear… and that’s what I was afraid of, her fear- her rejection of me and who I was…
I should just get up, release her with a clean slate of a memory, and walk away- leave her to her mortal life… but then I’m selfish. I’d been alone, truly alone forever, and forever was a damn long time.
I’d never known a wife, a child, having a family of my own, and I’d often wondered just what that life would have looked like. To have a mate- akin to my very soul- that was a tantalising bauble that was being dangled in front of me now… How could I walk away from a happily ever after?
But what of my Maggie?
Could I condemn her to this life?
Would she even agree to be mine?
Would she even agree to become a vampire so that I could keep her forever?
If she stayed a human, could I watch her grow old and die in my arms or would I be tempted to turn her…?
I couldn’t answer any of those questions with her locked away under my suggestion. I needed to man-up and set her free, but it felt like a risk I didn’t want to take.
I allowed myself a moment more, then another, then still more time to drink in the sight of her- to argue with myself over what I should do… yeah, I was a damn coward alright.
I summoned the inner strength to do what I needed too. I looked into those green eyes and released her- the look on her face was priceless, but it hurt like hell- shock and fear rolled into one wide eyed realisation that she wasn’t in her damn car anymore…
I backed off as she pushed up from the chair and practically fell over her own feet to be away from me- like any kind of distance could keep her safe from a vampire… We were predators of the worst kind.
“What did you do?” Her eyes flicked around the room, surveying the exits and noting them- calculating the distances and chances to get there- smart lady…
“We needed to talk-”
“Ha!” the sound burst from her lips, but it wasn’t a good one. She’d need time- I wasn’t a fool, I couldn’t expect her to fall into my arms and beg me to take her, no matter how much I wanted it.
“We could talk or-”
That was as far as I got. She twisted her body, her hands snatched up a priceless vase from the polished oak sideboard, and she tossed it at me- my arm was already raised to bat it off, but the sound of shattering made me mentally click up the financial implications of not bothering to catch it.
“Or you could rearrange my furnishings,” I offered with a shrug. Her head titled on her neck and she stared back at me as if my fangs had just come down…
CHAPTER THREE
~
“You’re a fecking vampire, are you insane?” Maggie’s face twisted in disbelief.
“I’m getting there faster than I was before we met,” I admitted.
I took a step towards her and she jumped in place. That hurt too- not being used to putting people who knew what I was at ease- and a mate to boot- I got the feeling that this was going to be an uphill climb.
“Stay back,” she hissed.
“That line doesn’t work in the movies, what makes you think it’ll work here?” I couldn’t help see the funny side of this. Perhaps living a couple of centuries did that to a man, but I was hoping that one day we’d look back at this moment and laugh, right now- she was anything but amused.
“I’ll defend myself…” she bit out. Her eyes took a quick look for another vase…
“Let me guess, a cross- no, Holy water- wait, garlic, it’s garlic, right?” Maybe I wasn’t handling this in the best way…
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she spat out in disbelief.
“I wasn’t aware there was something wrong with me. Am I frothing at the mouth or…?”
“How is this a joke to you?” her eyes locked onto
the crossed swords above the fireplace. I’d give her bonus points if she was able to lift one- let alone swing it at me.
“I’m sorry if you’ve lost your sense of humour, but if you’d prefer we do this whole fangs and screaming thing, I’m open, but it’s not really my thing.”
She made a dash for the swords. Her fingers shook as she released the weapon and grunted at the weight of it, but she didn’t drop it, and it didn’t drop her- she was stronger than she looked.
“Fangs aren’t your thing?” she grunted in determination as she lifted the sword with both hands and the blade rested against her shoulder… she got the bonus points…
“Well, I have them- but I’m not prone to flashing them about,” I was trying to keep it light, and I wasn’t entirely sure that was the way to play it… “I’ve never been much of an exhibitionist.”
“You are crazy, aren’t you?” she gave me that look again- like I’d just grown another head on top of the fangs and the frothing…
“Not that I’m aware of- but out of the two of us...” I motioned to the sword that she was holding, “who would be considered to have lost it right now?”
“I- I’m not insane- you’re a vampire.”
I took another step towards her and her hands tightened around the handle of the sword.
“N-not another step,” she spat out.
“You know you’ll have to cut my head off with that to kill me.” I saw her flinch at my words. “Then burn the bits to get rid of my body, and the evidence that proves that you murdered me.”
“I can’t murder a dead man.”
“Justifying with semantics, trouble is; only you and I know what I am, so if you were hoping to use that as a defence- well, murderer or the rest of your life in the looney bin-”
“I don’t care- that’s not…” she shook her head- was she trying to justify the scene in her mind or was she thinking about cutting off my head and all that entailed?
I took another step towards her and she snapped back to attention. Her eyes rounded back up to mine, doubt, worry, fear…
“Make it a nice clean cut- I wouldn’t want to be walking round with my ear leaning on my shoulder,” she grimaced, “is there a problem? Is it the thought of how much blood there would be?”
“You’d be used to that- blood.”
I didn’t much like the accusation in her eyes- the hint of disdain in her tone, but I couldn’t expect much less. I think faced with a real life vampire and all that truly entailed, even vampire groupies that avidly read books and watched movies about us would balk when push came to shove- especially if they were unlucky enough to encounter a just turned or soulless vampire.
“Of course, but I’d much rather drink it than splash it all over the floors, furniture, my clothes- that would be… wasteful.” I gave her a grin, not too smug, I didn’t want her getting the wrong idea about me. Not that she didn’t have that already…
“Stop talking,” she hadn’t looked sure of herself to begin with, now she looked positively trapped and disillusioned.
“You’re looking a little green there, Lass.”
Those eyes narrowed on me- I could practically see her brain ticking over. She was feisty and I liked that, but was she a killer? Hardly.
“Let me leave-”
“I wasn’t aware that I was stopping you- you seem to be intent on attacking me, first with a rather expensive vase and now with a rather sharp sword-”
“You brought me here against my will,” she was back to the accusing look and tone again. I took another step and she shifted her weight, getting ready to swing that sword like a baseball bat, no doubt.
“You didn’t protest,” I shrugged. What could I say? Guilty as charged.
“I didn’t get the chance…” she looked horrified- realisation must have finally dawned that I could do it again if I chose too.
“There’s the door,” I motioned to the nearest exit, the door into the garden, and her eyes flicked that way.
I could have swooped in and disarmed her, but that wouldn’t have gained her trust any and we’d probably be back to square one or worse- there could be screaming.
“You’re not going to do any… vampire stuff?”
“Like- take a sip?” I couldn’t help but tease her. It had been a long time since I’d had a conversation with a human about what I was- it was kind of amusing in a strange sort of way. “Not without your permission.”
She looked shocked by that- I was kind of hoping for a little disappointment mixed in there somewhere but there was none.
“Never going to happen,” she bit out.
“Never is a very long time- trust me, I know, let’s just say we can put that on the backburner for now,” I smiled again and she snorted her contempt for me. It could have been worse, a lot worse- she hadn’t completely freaked out… yet.
“Aren’t you leaving?” she narrowed her gaze on me.
“This is my house,” I wasn’t sure what she meant.
“The area,” she shook her head as if to dismiss my stupidity, “aren’t you… vampires supposed to do one and disappear when people know what you are?”
“Actually, we’re supposed to kill people who know what we are, It’s in the vampire handbook.”
That went down like a ton of bricks. Her heart was pounding again, her hands fisted around the sword so tightly that she had white knuckles, and her eyes were back to scanning the area for the exits.
“Relax, Maggie. You’ve kept your mouth shut all of these years, I don’t see a reason to end you now.” That didn’t ease her mind. I’d been a damn fool to mention it, and yet, she had to know what would happen to her should she start shouting vampire from the town’s rooftops.
“Good to know,” she bit out.
“I’m a nice guy,” I offered back and she scoffed at that.
“I very much doubt that,” she turned her nose up at me, and I could live with that- for now.
“Don’t you trust me, Maggie mine?”
“Don’t call me that,” it was a tradition Scottish show of affection for the one you loved- although love didn’t come into it yet, it would somewhere down the line- if she didn’t kill me first.
“That’s where this gets tricky,” I informed her and she frowned harder- looking suitably confused and suspicious. “You see, in order for you to be safe from my kind- well most of them- you have to become mine.”
Maybe then wasn’t the right time to mention it. She still held the sword in her hands, gripped tightly. She still didn’t trust me, and that was more than obvious, and she was still coming to terms with being kidnapped by a vampire- let alone coming face to face with someone her ancestors took the trouble to warn her about…
“That’s…” she spat out on a splutter of disbelieving chuckles and I was sure that it was my turn to grimace. Ego crusher…
“Something I said?”
“I’m not a walking blood bank,” she bit out. Fear was still in her eyes, and that was my fault- I was stupid to bring it up so soon, but after all this time of being alone…
“Technically,” I tried to dismiss it with a smartass comment and she grunted in annoyance. “That’s not what we’re talking about it.”
“Don’t enlighten me- I’m leaving, and if you try to stop me…”
Stop her? This could turn ugly fast, and wasn’t ideal.
“With the sword?” I teased her with another smile that I hoped would be disarming in more ways than one. She looked at the blade as if she’d forgotten that she was wielding it. “Are we back to insane person running through the highlands carrying a sword?”
“I…” she looked lost. Her world had been turned upside down and I couldn’t fault her reaction so far, even if it wasn’t what I wanted from her. Now she had a decision to make- did she disarm herself or did she take the heavy blade with her, slowing her down?
“I get the feeling that you’d like to put that thing down, heavy, right?”
She scowled back at me.
> “No more of your mind games.” She bit out. “That’s how I got here, isn’t it?”
“It is, and forgive me for that, but it was so much easier than having this conversation in a parking lot.” I shrugged as if it was no big thing- she was still scowling back at me, but I could see that she did concede that point.
“But I’m free to go?”
“You are, but I hoped we could talk some more, about your heritage, about Moira.” I’d hit the nail right on the head as her eyes widened and then narrowed. She was Moira’s kin alright.
“How…?” she let the question die on her lips.
“There weren’t many who knew me for what I was- Moira was one, and you look like her. Same green eyes, same flame red hair,” I rolled my eyes, “same temperament.”
“She wanted to kill you too,” Maggie muttered and I had to laugh. She looked shocked by that sound.
“No, Moira and I were- more than friends.”
“Then why the warning?” she snapped back.
Was I really going to have to go into the details here and now? Maybe she would trust me more if I did- maybe it would lay her fears to rest about my motives, about Moira’s motives for the warning that she had left for her kin…
“I’m guessing it was for what followed,” I stopped trying to edge closer to her, it only seemed to make her more nervous and not more comfortable with me. I strolled towards the closest chair and sat down… when I brought my attention back to her; she was expectant.
“What followed?” she finally asked and that was a good sign- she wasn’t thinking of escape right then, and I had her full attention.
“We’re back to that whole pesky thing of her needing to die because she knew about vampires,” I remembered it well. The carnage that followed as they came for her. I’d been careless, trusted a vampire with the truth of our relationship, and he’d turned on me…
CHAPTER FOUR
~
“You tried to kill her?” Maggie accused.
“No, I had to save her from those that did.” I resented that accusation.
