by Lisa Olsen
“Oh, you set his ass on fire and toaster-caked him.”
“Good.” Maybe that made me bloodthirsty, but I didn’t care. “What about the Lodinn guy? Did Jakob stop him?”
“Uh huh, after you stabbed his ass with Odin’s spear.” Mason’s voice grew deeper, his usual smile fading to a grin line. “I wish I could’ve been there to twist the knife after what he did to Hanna.”
“What did he do to her?” I asked, my heart in my throat.
He swallowed back a lump of emotion. “Without going into all of the grisly details, Lodinn compelled her to love him and took advantage of her. And he killed Marcus, left me for dead, and almost killed Rob while you watched. That’s how you ended up turning Rob, after Lodinn drained him dry.”
“So much death,” I murmured.
A fragment of a memory struck, more of a feeling than anything else. Bishop holding me, comforting me as I cried. I remembered my thoughts echoing the words I’d just said – so much death. And for what? If only I knew why my loved ones were being targeted, then I might be able to process it all. There was just an overwhelming sense of misery, too much to think straight.
I knew now it’d been these enemies, Volkov or Lodinn, I wasn’t sure which one of them was responsible for that particular bout of misery. They were both gone now, but my friends – no, my family – was still gone. And nothing I did or said would ever bring them back. What else would I remember losing if I did Nell’s memory spell?
Maybe it was better to wait on recovering all of those painful memories until we could focus on them? Or maybe it would be better to get it all over with, like pulling off a Band-aid? I just didn’t know. There were good memories too, I knew there were.
I glanced up at Bishop, catching him looking at me. Something that might’ve been embarrassment crossed his features before he turned his attention back to his laptop.
“He loves you, you know,” Mason said.
I caught another flash of memory, this one far more pleasant. It wasn’t much, just me lying on a river bank in the grass, looking up at Bishop, with the stars overhead. Did Bishop still feel the love I saw in that gaze? Or was that all in the past?
I shook my head. “Maybe he did once, it’s hard to know what either of us feel with most of our memories gone.”
“Some things you can’t forget.”
I did feel a pull to Bishop, but how deep it went, I had no idea. “I wish I could remember. I mean, we weren’t together this whole time, were we? How does Rob fit into things if Bishop and I have this grand passion together? Can you tell me a little about it?”
“I can give you the play by play, sure,” Mason nodded, starting in on his second beer.
“Go back to the beginning. Tell me everything.”
“First the Earth cooled, and then the dinosaurs came – no wait, that’s from Airplane,” he said with a loopy grin. “I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version. Once upon a time, there was a guy who was all about the job, we’ll call him Bishop. Bishop worked for the Order, upholding vampire law, such as it is.”
“Oh, so he’s not a regular cop?”
“Nah, the Order’s like vampire police, which is way cooler.”
“And you’re one too, aren’t you?” It explained why Mason and Bishop would be such good friends, and the fact that the guy had at least three weapons on him that I could see.
“Yep. I’m sort of on sabbatical, but that’s another story. Anyhoo, Bishop’s whole life was duty and responsibility, because he got royally fucked over by his Sire, a heartless wench who lives for mind games.”
“Let’s call her Carys,” I said, and he nodded his approval.
“You catch on fast, sis,” he grinned. “Thankfully, the thundercunt takes a dirt nap for about three centuries, leaving Bishop thinking she’s dead and there’s no more love in the world. All the classic, brooding hero junk. Enter this hottie onto the scene, a total biscuit who hits him harder than a Mack truck. I mean bam, one look and he’s a goner, a totally smitten kitten. Only he’s too uptight to make a move on her, especially since she’s an illegal with no papers and he’s supposed to end her, not bang her.”
I couldn’t keep the frown from spreading. “I don’t think I like this story.” I didn’t want to hear about Bishop banging any hot chicks. “When are we going to get to the part about Bishop and me?”
“That’s you, dummy, the hot biscuit.”
“Oh.” He thought I was hot? Kind of a weird thing for my sister’s fiancée to say, but whatever. “Go on,” I prompted.
“So he’s kind of a tool for a while, but eventually you wear him down and you get together. Jakob comes between the two of you for a while, but you tell him to go jump, and he lets the two of you be together.”
“Jakob let us? Why should he have a say who I’m with?”
“Oh, only because he’s an Ellri, and he can do whatever the fuck he wants, and we’re all supposed to sit around and kiss his ass.”
First the curse and now this? The more I learned about my Sire, the less I liked him. “Well, I’m not kissing any ass, Ellri or not.”
“Atta girl. That’s pretty much what you told him at the time, and weirdly enough, he stepped aside.”
“Then Bishop and I were together.”
“Yep, until he fucked it up. In his defense, the guy hadn’t had a relationship for over three hundred years, and that one was with Carys. So you can see how it was only a matter of time before he blew it.”
“What did he do?”
“He pushed you away, and Rob was waiting with open arms.” Mason took another long drink. “Rob’s a good guy and all, but I never did get the two of you. Not a lot in common, and sexual chemistry will only take you so far.”
It’d seemed that way to me too. Not that we’d had a whole lot of time to get to know each other, but beyond an attraction (because who wouldn’t have been attracted to Rob), he’d seemed a little too violent for my tastes. “And I have a lot in common with Bishop?”
“Oh yeah, fuckloads. Music, art, travel, movies, books, music…”
“You said music twice.”
“It’s a big thing for you guys.”
“He’s a Browncoat,” I murmured, remembering that kinship I’d felt with him in the kitchen over something small, but relatable.
“Huh?”
“Nothing, just something else in common I recalled. But I remember loving Rob too, even if we didn’t get married. Why did he and I break up?”
“Marry him? Hell no,” Mason laughed. “As to why you broke up, you walked in on him neck deep in your best friend, Bridget. You sorta forgave him after that over the whole curse thing, but then there was that threesome with Carys and…”
“Rob had a threesome with Carys and who?” I blurted out too loudly. Horrified, I caught Bishop’s gaze across the plane. He froze, stricken, and then his eyes closed in silent self-recrimination, and I knew. “Oh…” I murmured, my cheeks flaming bright red.
“It wasn’t their fault tho, see, cause Carys’…”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m guessing that had something to do with why I stabbed her with a pair of chopsticks.”
Mason snorted. “No doubt. So then…”
Bishop was suddenly there in the aisle beside us. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
“Telling Anja your greatest hits. You know, sort of helping fill in the gaps.
“Stop helping,” Bishop ordered, his voice low.
“I was just getting to the good part. You know, all the gooshy love stuff. In fact, Bishop was about to pop…”
Bishop’s hand shot out, catching Mason around the throat, cutting off his air supply. “Stop. Helping,” he bit out.
Mason’s eyes bulged in surprise and alarm, and he nodded as best he could with Bishop’s hand clamped around his throat. Bishop let go, and he sucked in a quick breath. “I think maybe I’d better go check on Hanna,” he mumbled.
“Do that.”
“Later, sis,” Mason said with
a half smile for me, before he squeezed past Bishop on his way to the back of the plane.
I didn’t know what to say to Bishop, what he had or hadn’t heard about our conversation, or what he felt about any of it for that matter. Still, I didn’t want him to blame Mason for the resulting awkwardness. “He was only doing what I asked him to,” I pointed out.
Bishop nodded, settling into the seat Mason had left behind. “How come you didn’t want to do the memory spell if you’re curious about the past?”
“Because there are some things I’m definitely not ready to remember.” Even getting the CliffsNotes was too much to process.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
Bishop scratched at the side of his neck. “I heard most of that. It sounds like I’m responsible for a big chunk of those memories you’d rather not remember.”
Aw, that was pretty sweet of him to say. “Actually, all the memories I’ve recovered about you have been good. Okay, so sometimes they were about bad things, but the part where you were there for me, those parts were good.”
“Same here,” he said, his discomfort fading when I didn’t buy into the blame game. “I thought I was going nuts back at the house. Here I was supposed to be with Carys, and all I could think about was being with you. I remembered loving her, but I didn’t feel it, not with any part of me. But when I thought about loving you, it felt… right.” He smiled at me, and all I could think was how beautiful he was. The perfect smile, the gorgeous green eyes, just the right amount of beard without going lumberjack, even his eyelashes were sexy. But it wasn’t even all about what he looked like, it was the way he looked at me that caught my breath.
Was he saying he still loved me? I was too chicken to ask. “Mason says we have a lot in common. I wish I knew what those things were.”
“Besides an appreciation for Firefly and hobbits,” he grinned.
“Right, though those are pretty important,” I smiled back. “He said something about music.”
“I found something in my phone, it’s called Anja’s Song.” He dug for his cell and brought it up. The phone’s sound quality wasn’t the best, but the melody was strong enough on its own to captivate my attention.
“It’s beautiful,” I sighed, my eyes sliding closed, the music greeting my soul like an old friend.
“So are you,” he murmured, and my eyes popped open to find him watching me. Electricity flared the moment our eyes met, the music swirling around us. Bishop leaned forward, was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to? Yes! a tiny voice inside me screamed. He moistened his lips, and I did too. I was ready, so, so ready. “Anja, I…”
The pilot’s voice came over the cabin’s speaker. “We’ll be touching down in Oslo in approximately ten minutes. Please return to your seats, and make certain to have your passport and customs forms ready.”
Qingwa cào de liúmáng. I couldn’t catch a break! “So, you were, um… saying?”
Bishop’s eyes flicked to the time on his phone. “I guess we’d better get ready for landing.” Not that we needed to mess with customs, since we could just compel our way out of any paperwork. It’d made leaving the country without any passports possible so far.
“Right,” I nodded, letting out a long breath as Nelleke and Jakob stretched themselves awake. The moment was ruined.
“But, ah… after this thing with Jakob is done.”
“Yes?”
“We’ll talk some more?” he asked, his smile hopeful.
“Shiny.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
While Bishop and Mason monkeyed around with transportation and customs, I decided to try Aubrey one last time. I’d been calling him steadily at every stop along the way, trying to reach Carys in a last ditch effort to bring her into the plan, in case Bishop needed it. So far, he’d been ditching my calls, but this time he picked up, and I ducked behind a potted palm for a spot of privacy.
“Aubrey! Finally. Didn’t you get my messages?”
“Can’t you let me have this one thing?” he hissed. “I’ve wanted Carys my entire life and for once, she’s mine. Can’t you just leave us be?”
He must not have listened to any of my voicemails. “I’m trying to keep her yours. I want Jakob to compel her not to love Bishop.”
“Truly?” Aubrey sounded intrigued, and I laid out the plan for him.
“No good, I can’t get her to set foot in the vale, not after Jakob shunned her.”
“What did he shun her for exactly?” I still wasn’t clear on that.
“It hardly signifies.” Aubrey neatly dodged the question. “The point is, she’s been left alone and unprotected ever since.”
“I thought you said you’d never left her side?”
“That wasn’t strictly true. I wasn’t there when she was cast out, and it took a while for our paths to cross again and I was able to set her up on my country estate. But believe you me, she’s suffered plenty over the past year. Needless to say, saving Jakob is not her top priority at the moment, nor am I convinced it should be yours. If he dies, you’re set free.”
“How do you mean, set free?”
“It would erase his compulsion over you.”
I looked up at Jakob, who sprawled across three seats while Nelleke fussed over him, and lowered my voice. “Jakob compelled me? To do what?”
“He compelled both of you not to be able to compel other vampires.”
“I can compel vampires?” I sounded like a parrot, just repeating everything he’d said.
“Yes, all progeny of Ellri have this ability. You’re special, Anja. Wouldn’t you like to regain that exceptionality?”
“Why would he compel us not to be able to do it anymore?” It sounded like a pretty big deal. Had we abused it, is that why he’d taken it away?
“The point is, you were made for this, it’s your birthright,” Aubrey persisted. “He had no right to take that from you.”
“Maybe so, but he’d have to die. I couldn’t do that to him, he’s my Sire.” Even if there were things I’d found out about him that I didn’t like, I didn’t want to see him dead.
“You wouldn’t have to do a thing, that’s the point. Do nothing, sweets,” Aubrey crooned into my ear, his voice taking on a soft, lulling cadence. “Simply let nature take its course. Jakob’s time is over. How many Ellri remain? Less than a handful.”
“I’m not having this conversation,” I snapped. “The question at hand is getting Carys here to keep Bishop from dying if the curse goes back into effect. That’s it.”
“I think he’s fairly safe, she hasn’t spoken of him once since we left that infernal prison.”
Fairly safe wasn’t good enough. “Maybe, but eventually she’ll get her memories back. What if she is still harboring feelings for him? What do you think is going to happen then? If she finds out you had a chance to save Bishop’s life by telling her about this and you chose not to for your own selfish reasons – do you seriously still think she’ll want you?”
“That’s a chance I’m prepared to take.”
“Then you won’t even tell her about it?”
“I’m taking my shot at happiness, Anja. I suggest you leave Jakob to rot, and do the same.”
“Thanks for nothing then,” I yelled, stabbing my phone with the tip of my finger three times before I caught it right and hung up. The others all looked at me with varying degrees of interest and surprise. “Wrong number,” I mumbled with a tight smile. Whatever the outcome, we were going to have to do this the hard way. If Bishop was willing to risk it, I had to trust that he knew what he was doing.
*
We landed in the smaller regional airport in Florø. From there we took two cars for the hour and a half drive to the snow capped hills just west of Vadheim. Jakob sat higher in his seat, the closer we got to the vale, and I could hear his heart pounding from across the car.
“Is any of this ringing a bell for you?” I asked, as he pressed his nose to the glass like an eager puppy.
“It seems familiar, yet I can’t recall a specific place. Still, I feel… I’m… we are close, are we not?”
“We are nearly there, far,” Nell smiled over at him, patting his knee lightly before returning her hands to the wheel. She drove on, bearing straight for the fjord. More than once I started to doubt we were on the right track, but then it opened up below us like a hidden jewel. There were no cars, no power poles, no modern conveniences visible, and the lights shining in the windows flickered from natural candle or fire light.
“I am home,” Jakob whispered, his eyes misted over with tears.
Nell pulled over by a copse of trees, and Mason pulled in behind us. “We must approach on foot, nothing from the outside world is allowed in the village.”
“What about our phones?” Bishop asked.
“And our clothes are definitely new,” I frowned, not wanting to even bring up my laptop.
“These are fine if you are keeping them out of sight. But there is no power, no internet, not any phones in the village.”
“Yeah, there’s definitely no signal around here,” Bishop reported, holding up his cell. “Alright, let’s go.”
We started on the rocky path down to the valley below. Jakob set the pace, being slower than all of us, but I didn’t mind. It gave me more time to look around. Though there was no snow on the ground, it was bitterly cold out. Jakob and Nell both turned up their collars and shoved their hands deep into their pockets, and I was glad that cold didn’t affect me at all. My breath didn’t even fog the air the way theirs did.
“Anything else we need to know before we cruise into town, or are we good as long as we’re with you?” Mason asked, carrying Hanna in his arms as if she weighed nothing more than a feather.
“There is no feeding allowed.” Nelleke’s voice became more authoritarian, her shoulders broader the closer we got to the village.
“No bitey, got it,” he nodded.
I felt a shiver along the length of my spine as we passed a certain point, and I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, if I hadn’t heard Bishop’s soft intake of breath at the same instant. “What was that?”
