by Lisa Olsen
Hanna tested her arms and legs, twisting one way and the other carefully, sitting halfway up before she gave up and lay back down. “My head feels like I drank an ocean of margaritas last night, but everything seems to be in working order. Did I really get hit by a car?”
“Yeah, you don’t remember?” Mason piped up. “The guy never even stopped. I woulda chased after him, but you started talking nonsense, so I figured I had to get you inside to lie down. The meds I gave you should kick in pretty soon though, so why don’t you take it easy and get some rest. I’m gonna get rid of your sister so we can have some privacy. I think we have a few things to talk over.”
She held fast to his hand, not willing to let him get away so easily. “Just so long as you don’t ditch me again.”
“Not a chance, darlin’.”
“I’ll see you later, okay Hanna?” I gave her hand a squeeze, not wanting to jostle her with a hug. “I’m glad you’re alright.”
“Sorry you had to come out here for nothing,” she sighed, snuggling deeper into the covers.
“You’re never nothing to me,” I replied, watching her for a half beat longer before Mason and I left her to rest. His easy smile remained fixed until we got back to the kitchen, and he refilled our glasses with Jack.
“I’m sorry,” he kept his voice low. “I know you said to leave her alone, but I couldn’t bring myself to lie to her face right now. Later, maybe when she’s feeling better, I can…”
“It’s okay, Mason. I understand,” I cut him off before he worked himself up too badly over it, and he blinked in surprise.
“You do?”
“I think I finally understand how much she means to you.”
“I don’t think you can, I hardly understand it myself,” he snorted. “When I saw her lying there…”
“She’ll be alright.”
“This time. You were right though, our lives are too dangerous to get her mixed up in them.”
“About that… I’ve been thinking, do you think maybe this has something to do with that woman, the one Bishop mentioned, whatsherface, Kursik was her Sire?”
“Nina?” Mason considered that over a long drink. “She does have dark hair, but why would she come after Hanna? Nobody even knows she’s your sister.”
“Somebody knows. I mean, what are the odds she got attacked by a vampire in your neighborhood? Anyone local has to know you live here, right?”
“That’s true,” he frowned.
“They wouldn’t risk random violence so close to your front doorstep. I think it was meant as a message to me. I killed her Sire, so she wanted to kill my sister.”
“I don’t know, Nina’s volatile, but to risk killing someone badass enough to dust Kursik would be a death wish.”
“Unless she somehow figured out my secret. How else would she know Hanna is my sister? She could hardly be my sister if I’m four hundred years old, could she?” The wheels spun a little faster as the pieces started to fall into place. “Maybe she thought she could get away with messing with me because I’m not really badass at all?”
“Well okay, you’re not all that old, but I hate to break it to you, kid, you are badass. You killed Kursik.”
“No, I didn’t,” I admitted, taking a sip of the harsh alcohol that still wasn’t growing on me. “Jake did.”
“Jake did,” he deadpanned. “Of course he did. And you, you sneaky wench, you’re reaping all the benefits,” Mason grinned, wagging his finger at me.
“I didn’t mean to, people made assumptions after he took off. What can I say, he protects what’s his,” I shrugged.
“Then Bishop was right, things really are over between the two of you, huh?” he sobered and I let out a long breath.
“I really don’t know. He’s the one who broke things off, not me. I’m not crazy, right? Bishop does still care about me?”
“Ah yeah, I’d say so.”
“Then why is he doing this? I don’t know how else to convince him that Jakob can’t come between us unless he lets him.”
“Maybe because we’re programmed to fear the fucking Ellri from day one?”
“What would you do if it was you and Hanna?”
“Oh hey,” he spread his hands wide, “you’re asking the wrong guy. I’m nothing like Bishop and she’s not a vamp.”
“Alright, but what if you were in our situation. Would you let him have her?”
Mason was silent for long seconds. “Hell no. I’d grab her and run off to Belize before I let him take her away from me.”
“What about the Order?”
He shrugged. “Maybe I’d take a sabbatical for a few decades, see what shakes down. You can’t hold Bishop to the same standards though, he’s a different animal.”
“He might feel something for me then, but it’s obviously not love.” I looked away, swallowing uncomfortably.
“Duty and the law have been drummed into him for centuries, you can’t blame him for putting it first.”
“Yes, I can.”
A knock sounded at the door, but instead of looking jumpy like I felt, Mason put down the bottle and loped to the door.
“Wait, who is it?” I hissed, following behind him.
“It’s Bishop.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“I texted him about what happened, I thought he had a right to know.”
“As well you should have,” Bishop replied, stepping through the door, his eyes barely pausing over me in his sweep of the room. “What have we got?”
“Female, Caucasian, dark hair, girly girl in heels, strong enough to toss Hanna around like a rag doll, but that’s not saying much. It happened practically on my doorstep.”
“Across the street in the alley,” I added, willing Bishop to look at me, but he brushed past me to look in on Hanna who slumbered on, blissfully unaware of all the fuss.
“She doesn’t look too bad,” Bishop observed.
“She had help,” Mason replied sourly, briefly recounting Jakob’s input. Bishop nodded, taking the news of Jakob’s involvement in stride.
“We can’t be sure it’s anything for the Order to get involved in, but I’ll check it out,” Bishop promised, and I bit my lip against mentioning that Jakob was already on the case. Bishop had entirely different resources and I wasn’t sure which one would prove better.
“Thank you,” I offered Bishop a smile, but he barely nodded in my direction. “Mason, if Hanna can stay here for a couple of days that’d be great. What I said before about staying away from her? Just forget it. In fact, if you could watch over her for a while, at least until we know more about who we’re dealing with, I’d really appreciate it.”
“I’ll stick to her like glue,” Mason promised, and I could see how much it meant to him to be the one to keep her safe.
“Hey, hold on a minute.” Bishop’s hand came up, his brows drawing together into a single dark line. “I need Mason out in the field, he can’t play babysitter for your sister indefinitely.”
“I didn’t say indefinitely, just until we catch whoever attacked her,”
“It’s not a problem,” Mason interrupted, “I can get Cage to cover my territory, or maybe Preacher can come up for a while.”
“See, it’s not a problem,” I beamed at Mason. “Mason can watch over Hanna and you have enough staff to pick up the slack.”
“You can’t order my people around like that,” Bishop’s expression darkened.
“I’m not, I’m asking for a favor. What’s the big deal anyway?”
“We don’t even know if this is something the Order should concern itself with. If there are personnel assignments to rearrange, that’s my call to make.”
“Whoa, guys…” Mason stepped between us. “It’s not a big deal, I can take care of Hanna just fine.”
“That’s not up to you, I’m your boss,” Bishop scowled and I wondered why the heck he was being such a jerk about it? Didn’t he want my sister to be protected?
“Fine, I’ll t
ake a leave of absence then,” Mason shrugged. “Besides, how do we know it’s not Order business? Unprovoked vampire attack in the middle of nowhere. What other motive could there be than someone fucking with Anja’s sister on purpose?”
“We don’t police vampire attacks unless they break the law and draw attention to our existence, you know that.”
“I don’t get what the big deal is.” I shook my head in exasperation. “If you don’t think it has anything to do with Order business, what are you even doing here?”
Bishop looked like he was about to go off on me with a blistering set down, but instead he let out a disgusted sigh. “Go home, Anja.”
“Why? You just made it abundantly clear that you’re not the boss of me. I’m not here on Order business and you’re not involved in my life anymore. Didn’t you order me out of your apartment the other day? Well, that’s the last order I’m obeying from you.” My chin came up in determination and Bishop looked like he wanted to hit it.
“Anja, would you just get the hell out of here and trust me to do my job?” he thundered. I shrank back from the outburst, trying to piece together the shards of my dignity. Somehow I found the strength to stare Bishop down.
“I have just as much right to be here as you do, don’t I Mason?”
Poor Mason looked like a dog caught between two masters, but to my surprise, he stepped up beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, you do,” he said quietly. “I’m taking a few days off. If that’s a problem, so be it, but I’m not leaving Hanna unprotected.”
Bishop’s jaw worked, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he gave us a curt nod and moved to the door. “I’ll let you know if I find anything,” he said quietly, slipping out.
“Hang in there, sis, he’ll come around,” Mason gave my shoulder a squeeze.
I stared at the door, wondering how Bishop could be so cold. “I’m not so sure I want him to anymore.”
Chapter Eighteen
For the next few days I lived in constant fear something else would happen to me or my family. Mason told me he’d have a couple of his buddies keep an eye on my parents’ house at night, and he went back to San Jose with Hanna after she felt well enough to be up and around again. Even so, I wondered if whoever it was would strike during the day or at their work. After all, at least one of the attacks on me had been during full daylight.
I didn’t hear anything from Bishop, but Mason called me with an update once a night, which was to say… they had nothing. I didn’t hear anything from Jakob at first either, until I sent him a text asking for a progress report. That led to a series of text messages between us, sometimes with updates, sometimes with an observation he found amusing and decided to share with me. I came to find Jakob had a very dry sense of humor when it came to the modern era, it didn’t stop him from embracing the technology though. I got quite a few pictures of interesting people he encountered with a single snarky comment attached. Still, he seemed no closer to finding the identity of my sister’s assailant than he had the night she was attacked.
Glad to have Rob hanging around 24/7, I drummed up excuses for Bridget and him to stick around the apartment instead of going out. My extra funds left over from Jakob’s bankroll paid for plenty of pizza and beers, ice cream and pay per view movies to keep Bridget happy, though I got the sense that Rob didn’t need much incentive to stick around.
Whether my increased manpower scared away the mystery woman, or she had other people to torture, not a hint of anything out of the ordinary cropped up for an entire week, and I started to relax a bit. Until Jakob showed up at my apartment, and my stomach instantly twisted in a combination of excitement and dread (partly because I knew he’d obliterate whoever was to blame and we might never find out why she did it, and partly because he was a reminder that someone out there hated me enough to attack my only sister).
“Jake, did you find anything?” I pulled the door open, waving him in. For some reason he seemed much taller in my own apartment, broad shoulders filling most of the doorway as he entered. Dressed casually in a pair of faded jeans and a pullover sweater pushed up at the elbows, I couldn’t help notice how tan his arms were. Did he spend much time in the sun? It probably didn’t affect him at all.
“No, regrettably I have not, but I still have people working on it.” I could see it was difficult for him to admit failure, and I offered him a sympathetic smile.
“It’s alright, I understand. Hey, I’m glad you’re here though, hold on a sec…” Ignoring the way he perked up at that admission, I left him to retrieve what was left of the money he’d given me from my bedroom. “Here, this is yours.”
Once he saw what I offered, Jakob lost his sunny smile. His arms folded in the age old gesture of “I ain’t touchin’ that”.
“Jake, please take it. It was from you, wasn’t it?”
“What of it?”
“Thank you, but I don’t want your handouts.” I shook the roll of money in his direction again, but he refused to take it.
“It’s my money to give, and I gave it to you. Consider it reparation.” His stance shifted a little as though he was uncomfortable. “I thought of what you said before, about my destroying the very thing I loved most about you in taking your life. I’m sorry.” Jakob looked like he found the word distasteful and I was willing to bet I could count the number of times he’d apologized in his lifetime on one hand.
“Thank you,” I said simply, finding my smile again. “I’m glad you understand.”
“I’m not sorry I chose you,” he added, completely ruining the sentiment, “but I am sorry if I caused you pain in the process.”
“Um, thanks,” my smile stretched thin. Shoving the money into the pocket of my jeans, I leaned against the back of the sofa. “So, was there a reason you came over tonight? Or just to report that there’s nothing to report.”
“I had hoped you would favor me with my raincheck.”
“Huh?” I blinked, not tracking him at first. “Oh, you want to go get that cup of coffee?”
“I would very much like the opportunity to spend more time with you, if it pleases.”
I bit back the automatic refusal that sprang to my lips. Why not go have a cup of coffee with him? It might be nice to spend time with a guy who didn’t push me away on a regular basis. “Okay, but no flying off to Paris in your private jet for the coffee, right? Just a regular date.”
“No jets or limousines, I promise,” Jakob raised his hand in a solemn pledge. “Just a regular date.”
“Okay, let me get some shoes on, I’ll be right back.” I took a moment to stop off in the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair and add a touch of mascara. Not that I wanted to tempt him, but I didn’t want to look like something he’d scraped off his shoe either. Pulling on low boots made of soft suede, I grabbed my denim jacket more out of habit than any real need against the chilly October night air.
“You look lovely,” Jakob nodded his approval at my small changes, tucking my arm in his as we got out to the street below. Not that I particularly needed to stay warm, but he poured off a ton of heat. Maybe I’d gotten used to hanging around vampires, but his body was like a furnace and my hand stayed pleasantly warm tucked into the crook of his arm as we strolled down the street. “I know just the place to go.”
Jakob steered me to one of my favorite hangouts, The Doormouse, a smaller tea shop that served a killer cup of cocoa. Strictly a mom and pop operation, it was hit or miss whether they’d be open that late, but luck was with us and the shop’s open sign hung in the window, surrounded by orange pumpkin lights.
“Have a seat, I’ll get us refreshments,” he offered, and I was glad to find a set of high wingback chairs available by the window. I considered telling him I’d rather have cocoa than coffee, but decided it wasn’t important. As I settled into the chair, I watched him charm the woman behind the counter with his easy smile. The older woman blushed as he complimented the shop and her pretty frock, the old fashioned word sounding perfe
ctly normal from his accented lips. In a few seconds, he returned to the table empty handed.
“It will take a few minutes for the tea to steep properly,” he explained, folding his large frame into the seat opposite me.
“I’m in no hurry,” I replied, and his smile stretched wider.
“How does your sister fare?”
“She’s doing much better, thanks for asking. Mason said she felt a little out of it for a few days, but she walked away with just a few bruises, thanks to you.”
“It was nothing,” he waved my thanks away.
“Not to me. She’s my only sister, I’d kind of like to keep her around.”
“I could ensure she stays around for a very, very long time,” he said mildly, and I nipped that line of thought in the bud.
“No! I like her just the way she is, thanks, alive and kicking.”
“As you wish,” Jakob shrugged, reclining as the shop owner brought a tray laden with goodies to our table. First she set out a fragrant pot of tea, filling his delicate teacup through a strainer. I waited for her to pour me a cup as well, but instead she set a mug of hot chocolate topped with a dollop of whipped cream, chocolate shavings and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
“Thank you,” I smiled warmly, pulling the mug close. I thought maybe the rest of the goodies were to be split among the other customers in the shop, but she unloaded each and every plate onto our round table until it was covered in every kind of muffin and scone they carried. The last thing she set down was a chocolate dipped macaroon as big as my fist. “Are we expecting your entourage to join us?” I quirked a brow and he laughed, fingers deftly breaking off a corner of a blueberry scone and popping it into his mouth.
“I have a weakness for sweets. Perhaps that’s why I find you so appealing.”
“Undoubtedly,” I murmured. Apparently Jakob had no trouble eating mass quantities of regular food, and I watched in fascination as various tidbits of baked goods disappeared between those smiling lips.
“You’re not eating. I chose your favorite,” he gestured to the cocoa and macaroon and I lifted the rapidly cooling mug to take a drink.
