by Olsen, Lisa
“But she’ll think we are now…”
“She’s not stupid, Bri.”
“Well, neither am I!”
I cleared my throat to get their attention once it became clear they wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise. “Um, ladies…”
“Yes,” they turned as one with brilliant smiles. One was dark where the other was light, and they both barely came up to my collarbone, their hair springy with shiny curls and their eyes bright. “Would you like to come in?”
“Oh, yes, of course! You must think our manners are terrible,” the blonde replied. I think that one was Bri, but I wasn’t sure.
“They are terrible, we haven’t even introduced ourselves,” the other agreed as she stepped up to the door, her hand outstretched. “I’m Riona and this is my sister, Briony.”
I shook their hands, ushering them into the parlor as they prattled on at breakneck speed about the décor the instant they crossed the threshold. Rob relaxed once they stepped inside, deemed not a danger by the house magic, and quickly excused himself to escape their chatter.
Not quite human, I could sense that at once, but not like Rob either. I didn’t want to say anything though. How do you come right out and ask a perfect stranger what they were? Besides, what if it was something common knowledge like werewolves, something a vampire my age should be familiar with? I resolved to ask Rob about it later.
“So, Cordelia sent you over, did she?” I ventured, trying to get them back on track.
“Didn’t she tell you?” Riona gasped.
“That was very naughty of her.”
“In the best way though.”
“Yes, we’re the best!” Briony beamed with pride. “She told us all about your needs.”
“Congratulations by the way.”
“That goes without saying.”
“Well, I’m saying it.”
“Say it then so we can get to work!”
“Congratulations,” Riona’s smile was beatific. “Everybody’s talking about your new position.”
“Everybody,” Briony nodded.
“Thank you,” I smiled weakly, still off kilter from their rapid fire conversation. “This is very nice and all, but you don’t really have time to make me anything before I have to leave for the Gathering, do you?”
Briony shook her head, blonde curls dancing. “No faith,” she sighed, opening her bag to produce a measuring tape taller than she was.
Her sister’s head bobbed in agreement, pulling out a pair of gleaming silver scissors. “That’s the trouble with people today, if you ask me.”
“She didn’t ask you, Ree.”
“Maybe she was going to before you opened your big, fat…”
“So, you’re saying you might have something in time for my trip?” I interrupted before they put those scissors to use.
“Something? More like many things,” Briony replied with smug confidence. The measuring tape was cast aside and she started pulling out swatches of fabric, sketches of designs falling to the floor in a flutter of paper. “What’s your favorite color?”
“She likes blue, I can tell.”
“No, blue is too expected.”
“You’re right, we don’t want to match her eyes, that’s passé.” The blues were cast aside and they held up an array of red swatches.
“Yes, I think that’s more like it.”
“Talk to me about fabrics.”
“I think it should move more when she walks.”
“No, something with some slink.”
On and on it went, and I realized they didn’t need my input at all until I looked down in the middle of their measurements to find Briony’s petite hands cupping the bottom of my breasts as if weighing them carefully.
“You’ve got a decent rack. Are they real?”
“Hell’s bells, Bri, you can’t just ask someone if they have fake boobs!” Riona gasped.
“I’m just saying, they’re the size I would get.”
“My sister has a poor body image.”
Briony let go of me to cross her arms over her own chest. “I do not, my girls are just smaller than I’d like.”
“She doesn’t care about your boob-envy.” A roll of the eyes was given before Riona turned to me with a bright smile. “Do you want to use them?”
“Um… I’m sorry, what?” I blinked, not understanding the question.
“Do you want to use them or cover them up?” She gestured to my breasts. “Or something in between?”
“She obviously wants to show them, who wouldn’t?” Briony replied, a touch of envy in her voice.
“Someone who isn’t a showy tramp?”
“Are you calling me a…”
“Ladies…” I interrupted again, starting to get tired of the bickering pair. “I’m sorry, I’m running short on time. I’m sure whatever you design will be fine. But for the record, no, I don’t plan to use them. I think I’d aim more for elegant than showy.”
“See, something with a little slink!”
“That should flow when she moves…”
In the immortal words of Andy Bernard – Lord, beer me strength.
*
I’d barely settled down with a calming mug of tea when a light tap came on the study door and Maggie poked her head in with a sheepish look.
“If they decide they need more measurements, they can wait until after I get back.” At that point I couldn’t care less if the sisters managed to sew me a single thing. I’d rather attend the Gathering dressed in the softer side of Sears before I let them back into the house after trying to keep up with the bickering chatter.
“No, it’s someone else. I know you said no interruptions, but he is on the list.”
“The list?” I stared at her blankly.
“The list you gave me to invite to the inauguration as a VIP.”
That had me sitting up higher in my chair. “Who is it?”
“Marcus. He didn’t say if it was his first or last name. Should I ask him to make an appointment? I could tell him you’re busy.”
“No, I’ll come talk to him.” I waved her away, heading for the hall just as Rob appeared.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Rob said with a quick wink and I couldn’t help but wonder what had him in such a good mood.
“And here I thought you’d run for the hills.” He’d been conspicuously absent from the moment the girls had started chattering.
“Was just looking out for your best interests is all.”
“How so?”
“Would’ve been a blunder to have to explain to Cordelia how her favorite seamstresses turned up missing, wouldn’t it?”
“In that case, I appreciate your restraint on my behalf,” I grinned. “Are you ready to greet our newest guest?”
Rob flexed his impressive shoulders, the t-shirt stretching tight over the muscles as his back made a series of popping sounds. “Yeah, give her a go, I’m ready.”
“Hello, Marcus,” I smiled evenly as Maggie pulled the door open. The charming vampire waited patiently, blue eyes sparkling with an eager light as I came into view. The artful tousle to his ash brown hair had probably taken an hour to style to perfection, and his suit was definitely not off the rack. “Please, come in.”
“Thank you, Your Grace.” He sketched a brief bow before entering the house without a problem.
“Please, call me Anja.”
“Thank you, Anja.” His smile stretched wider. “And thanks for seeing me without an appointment.”
“It’s no problem at all. Would you care for anything to drink?” His eyes flew to Maggie’s slender throat with a definite gleam of appreciation and I hastened to add, “Coffee or tea? Maybe a whiskey?”
“Oh, no thank you, I’m fine,” he replied with a touch of regret. If Maggie noticed his interest, she gave no sign of it.
“Let’s go into my study then, shall we?”
“Want me to come with?” Rob asked at my ear, but I shook my head.
“No, you go
ahead and get back to whatever it was you were doing. I can handle this guy.” Marcus followed my lead, and once we were settled behind closed doors, I leaned back in my chair. “So, what can I do for you?”
“You can give me a job, actually,” he replied, cannily matching my position.
“And here I thought you had plenty to keep you occupied with your own business interests.”
“Well, you see, I’d cleared off most of my calendar in anticipation of a new job, you might have heard of it, but that didn’t exactly work out how I’d planned,” he admitted, rubbing the side of his jaw as though I’d knocked him a good one.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine. I think the best person won.” His hands came up in a supplicating gesture. “Brilliant strategy, by the way. I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it first.”
“What kind of a job are you looking for?”
“I guess Warden would be too much to ask for.” He gave me an engaging smile, and I found myself smiling back at his over the top charm.
“Yes, it would. Sorry, but Felix has that position well in hand, and I don’t intend to make a change there.” But his willingness to travel gave me an idea. “Actually, I have something open right now. It’s a smaller role…”
“I’ll take it.”
“You don’t even know what the position is.”
“Alright, what is the position then?”
“Magistrate of the greater Northern California district.” I expected him to refuse. It was a much smaller job than he’d been shooting for, but he didn’t say no right away.
“That’s Byrne’s gig, right?”
“That’s right.”
The corner of his mouth curved into a bloodthirsty grin. “I’ll take it. Sticking it to Byrne is an extra bonus, but I’ll take anything that lets me demonstrate my value to you and places me close at hand.” Marcus gave me his best bedroom eyes, but I’d been wooed by far more intoxicating gazes.
“I won’t be close to your hands, I’ll be going to England for the Gathering.”
That didn’t seem to faze him. “I don’t suppose you’d consider taking me?”
“Sorry, the jet’s pretty full up. Besides, I’m counting on you to handle things for me while I’m away. Let’s be real clear on policy though. No bribes, no ‘evaluation fees’, every petition gets equal merit, regardless of its origin. You understand me?”
“I read you loud and clear,” he replied, sketching a brief salute.
“Okay good. You should be able to reach me via email or phone in case of emergency, I’ll have Maggie give you the details. Speaking of which – fangs off. Is that loud and clear?”
His hands came up, fingers spread wide. “Absolutely, she’s all yours.”
“Good. I’ll want you to spend some time with her before we go. She’ll be able to bring you up to speed on some of the things I’ve been working on lately that might need special attention around here. Can you start right away or do you need to go back to L.A. first?”
“No, I’m all yours,” he grinned, blue eyes sparkling. “Maybe we should have that drink now? Sort of toast to a new partnership?”
“Actually, for your first matter of business, I have a special task job for you.”
“What kind of a task?”
“You get to fire Byrne.”
His brows came up in surprise. “You don’t want that pleasure yourself?”
“Ordinarily I would, but I’m in a time crunch. Is it something you’d rather not handle?”
“Oh no, it’ll be my pleasure,” he readily agreed.
“Super. I’ll write him something up so he knows it’s official with the seal and all, but I’ll leave it up to you as to how public or private it is.”
“I know just what to do.”
“Something tells me I don’t want to know about it,” I frowned at the gleam that came into his eye. “Well, I think that’s all I need for now, but if any questions come up, let me know.”
“Absolutely, and thanks for the opportunity.” He rose and reached across my desk to offer his hand. “Like I said, I can’t wait to show you just how much value I bring to the table.”
I took his hand, meeting him square in the eye. “Good. Just remember… I am coming back, so be prepared to back up any decisions made in my absence.” That rattled his careful control, and he swallowed nervously as I let him go. “Welcome aboard, Marcus. Make me proud.”
Chapter Five
“Hurry now, Anja, you’ll be late.”
I barely registered the words as Maggie shook me awake. A bleary glance at my bedside clock showed it was after six p.m. Okay, so I’d overslept, but I didn’t think I had much going on until after eight. My sluggish brain tried to form words, but all that came out was, “Wha?”
“You have to get moving or you’ll miss it.” There was a current of excitement in the air as she pulled my robe out of the closet, and I shook off the remnants of sleep, running a hand through my tangle of hair.
“Miss what? Where’s Rob?”
The man himself appeared at the end of the hall, impeccably dressed in his suit. “Nothing to worry about,” he replied, the hint of a smile playing around his eyes as he came toward me. “But you’ll want to clean up before you make an appearance. Go and lay out some clothes for her, Maggie, there’s a good girl.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, as Maggie hurried to do his bidding.
“You’ve some admirers waiting, that’s all.”
“Oh. She made it sound like a big deal.”
“It’s a fair number of admirers.”
Still didn’t seem like reason enough to wake me up like that. Except that I really should get up and get to work. I was expecting Jenessa to come over to help me study up on some of the other Houses, and I wanted to get my busywork finished by then. “Well, okay then. I’m going to jump in the shower. Can you please tell them I’ll be out in a jiff?”
“Take your time, I don’t think they’ll mind waiting.”
Still, I didn’t want to linger, knowing there were people out there, so I hurried through a quick shower, hating that I had to take more pains with my appearance than I normally would because of my position now. Ordinarily I would’ve run a comb through my hair, thrown on a sweater and a pair of jeans, and gone to see what all the fuss was about. As it was, I forced myself to pull my hair up into a simple twist so I wouldn’t have to bother with blow drying it, and left my face bare while I put on the dress and heels Maggie laid out for me. Before I slipped out the door, I pulled on Rob’s locket, the one he’d given me at Christmas, relishing the feel of the cool metal hanging over my heart.
Upstairs, there was no sign of anyone, and I came to a stop in the deserted hallway wondering what the fuss was all about. Rob had made it sound like there were a bunch of people waiting for me. Had they gotten bored waiting and left?
Rob appeared at my elbow, a faint smile on his lips as he pulled the door open. “Time to go.”
“Go where? Where did everybody disappear to?”
“They’re all waiting in the cars.” His hand landed on the small of my back, propelling me toward the door. Outside there was a small procession of cars, with my security team squashed into the lead car and Maggie and Gunnar bringing up the rear. Rob guided me to his car, in the middle, handing me into the passenger’s seat.
“You’re all acting really weird,” I murmured, but he only dropped a quick wink as we pulled into traffic.
To my surprise, the procession continued all the way to Dolores Park where a huge silk tent had been set up, complete with twinkle lights, music, and tons of people.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked, peering out the window as we came to a stop.
“You are, of course.”
“Of course,” I murmured, spotting Jarrod and Leander directing traffic among the servers. “A party just for me?” How shiny was that?
“Why not? You’re the Elder, ain’t you?”
Th
e security team surrounded the car, and only then did he open the door to let me out. The crowd went nuts as I stepped into sight, and I froze with a deer in the headlights look. “It’s alright, they’re just here to wish you well,” Rob soothed at my ear, leading me down the candle-lit path. “Nothing to worry about, my boys have it all under control. Smile now, luv, you’ve got this.”
I unstuck my face and managed a smile, a surprised smile, but a smile all the same as he led me to the pavilion. Now that I had a better view, I spotted familiar faces, but there were far too many I didn’t recognize at all. Were they all San Franciscan vampires, or had they traveled to be a part of this surprise party?
I accepted a glass of champagne, but wisely chose not to drink that night, the memory of the last time I’d had too much of the bubbly drink still fresh in my mind.
Rob and Gunnar escorted me to a… a throne, I guess you could call it. A giant chair (big enough for me to have a friend or two join me) cushioned with plush, red, velvet set up on a small dais. I sincerely hoped they didn’t always go to so much trouble for me, but it was kind of fun to have all the fuss for just one night. Three more security guys set up a perimeter about ten feet from the chair, so I wouldn’t get mobbed by all the well wishers, letting the people in by my nod only.
“I wish you’d told me about this, I would’ve put some make up on,” I said to Rob in between visitors, glad the dress Maggie had picked out was a nice one.
“You look beautiful as always,” he whispered before straightening, his face impassive. It was enough to turn up the wattage on my smile for the next few guests.
If the crowd up in L.A. had been happy to receive me as the new Elder, the locals were ecstatic. Every single person who came up to greet me just about fell all over themselves to congratulate me now that I’d been named the new Elder. Okay, so probably most of them were trying to get in good with the new leader, but it was sort of neat to have that many people who even knew who I was. Well… who I pretended to be, at any rate.
Besides a lot of the regulars from the twins’ clubs (and Jarrod and Leander themselves), I spotted Jenessa talking to Frost and Cage. I even picked out Stone’s bald head in the crowd, and Corazon raised a glass of champagne to me from across the tent. For once the Order members left behind their tactical garb, maybe to blend in better, or maybe to avoid being persecuted in a crowd that size with so many anti-Order sentiments in the air. Either way, I wondered if it was indeed a social night for them, or if they expected trouble with a gathering of that size.
