“It’s not even lunch yet, and I’m already drinking.” I tried to manage a half smile as I handed him the empty glass.
He took the glass and set it softly on the nightstand. “It’s been a crapshoot of a morning. I think the etiquette gods will look kindly on you for this indulgence.”
“Will you hold me?”
“Of course, min kjaereste.” He shucked his shoes and crawled over my body, settling into the center of the bed. I moved to the offered shoulder, releasing a deep sigh as the arm beneath my head curled around my back and pulled me snugly to his chest.
He pressed his lips to my forehead and inhaled deeply. “You are so special to me. I can’t imagine living without you. You touch my heart the way only one other woman in centuries has ever done.”
The idea that he felt so strongly for me wasn’t scary. My feelings for him were strong, too. He’d found a way to get past the walls I’d put around my heart after I thought Kevin had destroyed it.
“You have the heart of a warrior, Bailey. To have fought and survived what your visible wounds proclaim is an untold feat in itself. I can only imagine the pain and scars you have yet to share with me. You must understand. I will protect you with everything I possess. No matter what the Oracle said, you have a choice. No one is turned against their will.”
Did that mean I would choose to die?
CHAPTER TWELVE
A quiet buzz stirred my mind from where it floated listlessly between consciousness and dream. Erick’s voice rumbled from deep in his chest. I could hear another male voice on the other end of the phone, but couldn’t tell who it was.
“She’s fine … No, it was the whip.” A low growl made me turn my head to look up at him. He avoided my gaze. “If I hadn’t been arguing with the Oracle, I would’ve been with her … No … She’ll deal when she’s ready … Fine. Give me a few minutes.”
“What is it?”
“There was a fire in the Lycans’ neighborhood.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yes, everyone is fine, but Rose felt a Djinn presence just before it happened.”
My heart leapt to my throat. Already? I didn’t want to leave him … any of them. Even with the weird crap with the Oracle woman, this place felt right. She’d recognized my parent’s family name and running from her may have been a mistake, but it was a knee-jerk reaction. I’ve solved all my problems with running.
It tore at me to think about leaving, but there was no other option. I couldn’t let a psychopath roam their streets hurting others just to get to me.
“Breathe, Bailey. I’m taking you to Calliope’s. You can pick out a few more clothes while I take care of business. She can sense other supernaturals, too. She’ll feel him coming long before he’s there. Other than Rose, she’s the best companion for you until we eliminate the threat.”
“Can’t I just stay with you?” I sat up and looked down at him.
“I want you inside a warded building. If not Calliope’s, then the Castle, but after what happened this morning, that’s not an option.”
I swallowed at the mention of the dragons’ lair. It truly was a lair, with its dark floors and walls, old-style chandeliers, and wall sconces designed to look like candles. Decadence and elegance mixed with darkness. Going back to that place wasn’t an option. Definitely not for a while.
“Calliope’s.”
Dimples showed on both cheeks as he smiled. “I thought as much.” He lifted his hand and caressed my cheek. “I’m here when you want to talk about it. I can help you.”
“Perhaps.”
***
Ten minutes later he was kissing me on the cheek and leaving me in the cutest boutique. Clothes hung everywhere, bolts of fabric lined the back wall, and shoes lined another. It was enough to make any woman forget her worries and I was no different.
The woman standing a few feet away was gorgeous and scary at the same time. Her eyes were golden brown and her creamy white skin was as flawless as porcelain. Long, black hair hung in smooth shiny waves well past her waist. She winked at me as a mischievous grin tugged at her lips.
Erick said she was a siren. What exactly that was, I didn’t know, but the woman made clothes to die for. The entire shop was filled with things that would make even the wealthiest women in the world swoon.
“Let her pick anything she wants, Calliope.”
“Oh, honey, I will shower her with things her mind can’t even conceive.”
He chuckled and slipped out the front door of the shop. The familiar blue shimmer of the warding spell dropped into place as the door closed behind him.
Calliope strolled over and turned the deadbolt. “Private shopping is my specialty. We don’t need any uninvited visitors.” A flick of her hand in the air drew the curtains closed on both front windows. “Now, what do you like to wear?”
I stared at the curtains. She’d moved them with a mere gesture. Maybe the citizens of Sanctuary really were capable of protecting themselves … and me. A little of the guilt I’d been carrying around slipped from my shoulders. I was safely tucked in this amazing boutique and told to shop to my heart’s content. My inner girly girl wanted to squeal out loud, but I contained myself and let my fingers run down a sparkly top, enjoying the silky feel of the fabric.
“Can you tell me more about the Sisters?” Erick hadn’t really explained a lot and neither had Rose. Maybe I could get a little more out of Calliope. It wouldn’t hurt. Especially with what they wanted me to do, I more than deserved the full history lesson.
“The House of Lamidae? They are seers.”
I chuckled and pulled a soft tank from a hanger. “That, I know.”
“I think the red would look better with your coloring, doll.” She pulled another tank from a shelf next to me and offered it up. I put down the brown one and took the red from her. “So, the Sisters are a strange group. They are human in every aspect that we know. They age. They die. They don’t heal like other supernaturals. But, they never have male children and most of them are more sexually active than rabbits.”
My mouth dropped open at the last comment, but somehow them living inside a fetish club made a lot more sense now. “Being horny doesn’t make them Others.”
“No, of course not, but the only female baby thing is kinda strange.”
“Who fathers their children?”
“Strangers mostly. The Castle is quite the destination for people in the lifestyle. The brothers have visitor day twice a month where humans and supernaturals from outside Sanctuary can visit and play.”
Play? Why would anyone consider being tortured, play? Though I hadn’t seen anyone upset while I was in the Castle. Maybe there was a bit more to this whole thing than I knew. Even so, I had no desire to ever feel another pair of cuffs or hear the clink of a chain or the crack of a whip. I shook my head and refocused back on Calliope. “Do the men just agree to father children?”
“I don’t know the particulars, but contracts are signed and the men are never told if they father a child or not.”
“But they only sleep with human men, right? Because otherwise, wouldn’t the children be … something else?”
Calliope belted out a laugh and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Oh, honey, those nymphomaniacs will sleep with humans or supernaturals. It doesn’t matter to them. Whatever makes them a Sister makes sure any children are just like them. Default programming or some strange shit. Like I said, they appear human and claim to be human, but most of us aren’t fooled at all.”
“And they see the future?”
“Sometimes.” Calliope shrugged. “Personally, I think the future is a lot more fun if you don’t know it ahead of time.”
“Do you know why Erick is called a Protector? And Rose a Sentinel? The woman, Arlea said I am to become the fifth Protector.”
“Shit! Really? But you’re human!” Calliope eyes widened. “Why don’t we go sit down and chat? Since Protector bomb has been dropped, I’m guessing that clears you to know j
ust about everything.”
Everything? How much more was there to know? I followed her to the wall of shoes, trying not to drool in the process. They were a pleasant distraction from the questions and fears swirling in my mind.
“Pretty aren’t they?”
I nodded. “They don’t sell shoes like these at ValueMart.”
She made an ugly face and shuddered. “Gods, I should hope not.”
A giggle slipped out and I sank into a soft, velvet armchair. The fabric soothed my frazzled nerves as I rubbed my fingertips over the smooth arm of the chair.
“So, what else did the old bitty say? I know she’s been spouting for years about the fifth Protector, but this doesn’t make sense. All Protectors have to be vampire. It’s part of the spell.”
“She said I would become the Protector. That it was my destiny.”
“So you have to die?”
“That was my understanding.”
“Do you want to die?” She cocked her head to the side, studying me, waiting.
“No!”
“Okay, don’t get your panties in a wad. I was just asking.” She crossed her legs and sighed. “Well damn, girl. I can see why Erick was so testy.”
“Erick said no one would turn me against my will.”
“He’ll make sure of it, too. I can vouch for that.” She rolled her head from side to side, vertebrae popping loudly. “Now Rose is something called a Lammasu, if she hasn’t already explained. She’s a really powerful supernatural being that was worshiped back in ancient Babylon.”
“Babylon?”
“Shit, they don’t teach y’all history anymore. I keep forgetting the U.S. dropped into the Dark Ages after the L.A. riots. All right. So Babylon is thousands of years in the past.”
“Is everyone in town really old?”
A snort of a laugh erupted from her mouth and she nodded. “Pretty much. I’m from around 1600 BCE.”
I scrunched my forehead, again not really grasping what she’d said. I’d never heard the acronym BCE.
“Like it’s 2096 right now. If you counted the years backward to zero and then kept going into the negative numbers you would eventually get to 1600 BCE.”
“You’re almost four-thousand years old?”
“Shhhh, don’t say it out loud like that. Damn, girl, you’re making me feel old. Anyway, Rose is from a species of supernatural that guarded a kingdom called Babylon and the portal to a place called the Veil, the original home of everything supernatural. One of her kind betrayed them and she and her husband were the only ones who escaped the massacre. Her brother-in-law, Xerxes, was the betrayer. He freed the king of the Djinn from his prison and helped him lead an army that succeeded in destroying Babylon for good.”
“Why would he want to destroy people who worshiped him? And what is the Veil?”
“The Veil is a Garden of Eden, of sorts. Untouched by humans. Beautiful. Perfect.” She looked at me and waited, but I didn’t know what to say. I’d never heard of a Garden of Eden, either. “You need to read some books, girl. Anyway, it’s a secret realm you can only get into with the key. We’ll talk about it later. As far as Xerxes goes, I just think he’s crazy. But the common story is that Babylon wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to sire half Lammasu, half-seers, control the world, and wipe out humanity completely. He’s pretty much as crazy as the Djinn king he freed.”
“I thought the Sisters couldn’t have supernatural children.”
“There’s always a loophole when it comes to the supernatural and the Lammasu are it. They are powerful enough to get around whatever it is that keeps the Sisters’ children from being hybrids. This is just what I’ve been told, but before all this went down and Xerxes betrayed the Sentinels, which was what the Lammasu were called in Babylon, he fell in love with one of the Sisters and got her pregnant. They broke all kinds of rules and traditions. The baby was a boy and he was recognized as a hybrid from infancy. The mother died in childbirth and Rose and the rest of the Lammasu hid the child from Xerxes.”
“So really it’s more of a revenge thing for him with a side of taking over the world?”
“Yeah, that sums it up nicely.”
“What are the Protectors for exactly? What spell were you talking about?”
“The Protectors are warriors dedicated to protecting the House of Lamadae. I don’t know the specifics of the spell, other than it will be permanent. Oh, and they need eight Protectors to complete it.”
“And Arlea says I’m number five.”
“Apparently so.” She stood from her chair abruptly. “You want a drink? I think it’s late enough for a glass of wine.”
“No, I’m good. Thanks.”
“Okay.” She shrugged and disappeared through a swinging black door into the back room of her shop.
I got up and walked over to look at a cute pair of red sandals. When she reappeared, a wineglass was in one hand and a bottle was in the other. She set them both on the counter and joined me by the shoes.
“You like?”
“I like a lot of things. That doesn’t mean I need them.”
“Pfshht, you are spending someone else’s money and he hasn’t paid attention to a particular woman for more than a fleeting one-nighter since the late Middle Ages.”
“When was that?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager.
Another heavy sigh preceded her answer. “I think he was married to her during the 14th century.”
“Has he ever talked about her?”
“Elinor? Some … I know she was very small, fair-haired, and stubborn. He always carried on about how stubborn she was. But I think that’s also what he liked about her. She was the only human he’s ever wanted to turn that forbade him from doing it.”
“Has he turned people?” I knew that’s how vampires were made. Other vampires turned them. But it couldn’t just be a bite or there would be a lot more vampires running around than there were.
“A few, I think, before he met Elinor. After she passed away, he went off grid for a while. Rose couldn’t find him. No one could. A few centuries later, he reappeared and rejoined Sanctuary … He doesn’t talk much about when he was gone, but I know he never had the chance to have a real family or kids and it eats at him. Elinor was a taste of what he missed out on.”
Calliope smiled and pulled the red flats from their display shelf. “You should see him though when one of the couples in town has a baby. That big, scary Viking is the first one on their doorstep with gifts and well wishes, waiting patiently to hold the new bundle of joy.”
My heart warmed at the image of Erick cradling a baby. It sounded like he would’ve made a good father. He certainly was compassionate and caring enough. Sure, he had a sharp exterior. Who wouldn’t after living as long as he had, but I felt completely safe with him. And after only one night. Hell, I left a bus station with him in a matter of hours after meeting him. Both were miracles, since I made a concerted effort to avoid the male species altogether, if possible.
“I think you should try on those shoes.”
“But they’ll form to me?”
“Exactly. Then we can pick out an outfit to go with them.”
Chuckling, I set the red flats on the floor in front of me and slid my feet out of the shoes I wore. Then slipped my feet into the red ones and watched, still awed by the magick as the shoes shrank to my size and width, fitting so perfectly I’d never want to take them off.
“Now, come this way.” She guided me to a line of racks and proceeded to walk up and down each, pulling off garment after garment—blouses, skirts, dresses, pants, and several pieces I didn’t think were meant for use in public. When my arms were sagging beneath the load, she threw a couple pairs of jeans on top and pointed me toward a curtained area on the other side of her shop. “Go get undressed and I’ll grab you a few more bra and panty sets, too.”
“This is too much.”
“Nope, you’ll need it. You’re gonna be here a while, doll.”
“But it�
�s too much money.”
“Erick has more money than he knows what to do with. Don’t worry about price tags. Plus, he specifically told me to spoil you.”
“He did not,” I shot back, pulling the curtain across the dressing area. I dropped the mound of clothing on the armchair in the area with me and pulled off the purple dress I was wearing.
“Yes he did, you just didn’t hear him.” Her voice was close, right on the other side of the curtain. Her arm came through the gap near the wall, holding out a variety of bras and panties. “Found these, too.”
Two hours later, after trying on and modeling each piece of fantastic clothing, she took all of them, wrapped them in tissue, and put them in three large recyclable bags. I couldn’t believe how many beautiful things were in those bags just for me. It was more clothing than I’d ever owned in my entire life and certainly nicer than anything I could afford.
“Hungry?” she asked, tucking the bags behind the counter. “We could head over to Rose’s. Erick texted a little while ago that they were still working.”
“What are they doing?”
“A Djinn has been popping in and out of Sanctuary all day. I get faint reads on him and then nothing.”
“How can you tell?”
“I’m a siren. We have a sixth sense about supernatural individuals. Kinda like a warning radar. Helps us with hunting.” She grinned. “Rose has it, too. If we can’t smell you, we can usually sense you another way.”
“Erick said that was one reason he was willing to leave you with me.”
She belted out a laugh. “Yeah, that and I’m a bitch with claws.” Her eyes darkened and I watched, spellbound, as her bright red nails lengthened into what could literally be described as claws. Holy crap!
I choked a little and took a step back.
“Sorry,” she giggled out. “I love doing that.”
My Viking Vampire Page 15
