by Lisa Olsen
“It is the magic barrier that is keeping our valley hidden from prying eyes,” Nell replied.
“But we can see the village just fine.”
“Only because you are looking for it,” she explained. “All others that pass by are keeping on their way without ever noticing us. It is also keeping out any with evil intent to our people.”
“That’s handy,” I nodded in approval, wondering if such a thing was hard to maintain, or if it was done once the spell was cast. “Who cast the spell?”
“Maeja is very skilled with magics. She is teaching me some, but I am not close to her power.”
Too bad. If the blood thing didn’t work out, we’d need a good spellcaster, but Maeja would hardly be the one to volunteer if she wouldn’t give Jakob her blood. “I think you did great,” I smiled at Nell, hitching my bag over my shoulder. It would be dawn in a couple of hours, and hopefully Nelleke had a plan for where we’d hole up for the day.
The air was perfumed with smoky peat from the fireplaces and the smells of horses and leather. Surprisingly, there were some people up and around on the streets, though they hurried on their way once spotting us.
“You are staying with me,” Nelleke declared, leading us to a house on the outskirts of town. “If you are needing it, I can provide sheep’s blood.”
“Nah, I brought a box of Pop Tarts in case I get the munchies,” Mason replied. “You guys go right ahead though.”
“No, thanks, I’m good.” I waved her off, the idea of animal blood turning my stomach. Bishop shook his head as well, but Jakob followed her outside.
Mason set Hanna down on the small sofa and peered out of the curtained windows. “Does anyone else here feel like we should pretty much hide out of sight to keep the villagers from coming after us with pitchforks and torches?”
Bishop went to another window, and I followed him, not sure what we were looking for out there. It seemed pretty quiet to me. “We should be fine as long as we don’t stray too far from Nell’s side,” Bishop said.
“Why would we have to worry about the townspeople coming against us?” I asked aloud.
“Because these people have lived their entire lives in isolation. I’m thinking they don’t take too kindly to strangers.”
“Especially the pointy-fanged kind,” Mason added, coming away from the window. “Should we sleep in shifts?”
“You guys sound like you’re expecting a full frontal assault,” I snorted, noting how they both seemed to be thinking along the same lines. All I’d seen was a quaint fishing village in the pre-dawn hours.
Bishop shook his head, going on as if I hadn’t spoken. “I don’t think it’ll be necessary, they probably won’t breach the house out of respect for Nell. It’s out there we’ll have to be careful. No going out alone, for any reason.”
“Yes, sir, commander, sir,” I said, giving him a crisp salute. “Permission to go to higher ground and, uh… reconnoiter.” I jerked my thumb toward the narrow staircase leading to the upper rooms.
“Permission given,” he smiled with a much more official looking salute. “Just don’t go too far.”
“I’ll stay within screaming distance, I promise.”
In addition to the larger bedroom with the fireplace, which I assumed belonged to Nell, since it was the only one with any personal things in it, I also found two smaller bedrooms. I chose the one decorated in shades of pale peach, setting my bag on the handmade quilt embroidered with tiny flowers and brightly colored, intersecting circles.
The view of the village was better from the second story window, and I spent a few minutes spying on the neighbors on their way down to the fishing boats. If any had paid particular interest to our arrival in town, they gave no sign of it, there wasn’t a pitchfork or torch in sight.
As soon as I decided there wasn’t much to see, I left to check the view from Nell’s bedroom, which faced the rear of the house. The rolling hills were spectacular, even in the moonlight, and I could only imagine what it must look like on a sunny day. I spotted Jakob and Nell making their way back to the house from a paddock, something fat and white slung over Nelleke’s shoulders.
When they got closer, I realized it was a sheep, probably Jakob’s late night snack. Nell stopped at an open shed in her backyard and hung the sheep up by its rear feet before continuing on to the house. Fresh mutton, cool beans. I went downstairs just as the rear door banged shut.
“Dibs on the peachy room next to the stairs,” I called out, plopping down on the hand carved rocking chair by the fireplace, where someone enterprising had built a fire.
“And I call the one next to that,” Mason chimed in.
“How many bedrooms are up there?” Bishop asked, and I gave him a sweet smile.
“Just Nell’s besides those two, unless there’s a hidden room I didn’t happen to notice.”
“No, there are just the three bedrooms,” Nell replied, drawing a furrow to Bishop’s brow.
“Then where am I supposed to sleep?”
“Hey, you snooze you lose,” Mason grinned, clapping his hands together and rubbing them together. “So, are we ready to go and see Maeja?”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Bishop replied, the furrow only deepening on his forehead.
“Then why did we come here?” Mason asked, confused. “I thought she owed you guys for taking down Lodinn?”
“Yes, but we don’t know how she’s going to react to Jakob being here,” he explained. “I’d rather this meeting take place with a few more hours between us and dawn, just in case there’s a problem.”
“Always thinking,” Mason grinned, tapping on his temple. “That’s why I’ve pledged my undying allegiance to you forever.”
“If you feel that way about it, you can give up that room.” Bishop raised a brow, and Mason clapped him on the back.
“Aw, you know, I totally would, man, but Hanna needs her rest.”
“She’s been resting for days now.”
“Girl’s gotta have her beauty sleep. That’s why you can stay up, Bishop. You’re already too pretty to be a guy.”
“Maybe the two of you should share a room?” I snorted, trying not to smile over the bromance. “Nell, do you think he’s right? Should we wait until tomorrow to go see Maeja?”
Nelleke paused to consider for a moment before she responded. “It would perhaps be best if we wait. Maeja does not customarily rise this early, and we will be finding her in a better mood in the early evening.”
“That seals it then,” Bishop said, vindicated. “Let’s all settle in for the day, and we’ll regroup at sunset.”
Jakob looked longingly to the windows. “I would like to look around the village some.”
“I don’t recommend that,” Bishop started to say, but Jakob cut him off, his voice taking on a wheedling cadence.
“The people here do not know me, and I am not a vampire like the rest of you, so they will not fear me.”
“Maeja sure knows you though,” I pointed out. “All it takes is for her to spot you out the window and we risk losing everything.”
“I would be back before Maeja wakes, there is little danger in this.”
“I will go with him,” Nell volunteered. “I will keep him safe.”
“Are you guys sure?” Bishop frowned, and I could tell he didn’t like the idea of us splitting up while we were vulnerable during the day.
“Yes, none will question him with me there. If any asks, I will say he is my relation, it is not a lie.”
“Right then, have a great trip down memory lane. I hope it sparks some more memories for you,” I said. “I’ll just go up to my room now. See you all tomorrow.”
I left Bishop and Mason talking defense strategy and how best to fortify the house in a worst case scenario. I thought about going down again to ask them if they realistically thought it was a possibility, since we could’ve stayed in Vadheim until the next sunset, but realized they were having fun. It was their version of hanging out to
gether, having some bro time. I left them to it, going up to lounge on my bed and look through my laptop.
Though we didn’t have any internet, I thought I might spark a few more memories of my own if I took a look through my files. Maybe I’d even find an online journal that could tell me more about my life. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything like that. Mostly there were a lot of boring files labeled petitions, and a master list of lists, that corresponded to a group of excel spreadsheets.
I had an entire folder labeled Operating Budget that I couldn’t make heads or tails of. It had nothing to do with a household budget, and I couldn’t imagine why I’d possibly need to keep track of personnel rosters for a security staff. According to the file dates, I hadn’t made any changes to them in over a year though, so whatever it was, it must not be all that important to me.
The same held true of my email inbox. I had over four thousand unread emails in there, but most of them were dated about a year ago, with just a few sent over the last few months from someone named Maggie, and a couple from a Leander. Leander wrote to tell me about a new referendum being proposed to allow feeder bars like the Bird in Hand in the West. Since I wasn’t sure what that meant, I skipped it over.
The last one from Maggie talked about an upcoming wedding, which she was still no closer to picking a venue for, and could I please forward her the pictures from the chapel in Madrid I’d told her about? I didn’t find any file folders with pictures on them, but I did find a folder in my email archive titled, Bishop. There were emails in there going back for a couple of years, and I couldn’t resist going to the first one to read our exchanges.
It was a little hard to follow, because apparently he preferred to write actual, physical letters and I’d write back via email, so I only got half the story unless he sent of a quick email response. It made for interesting reading, though it was like experiencing a book where everything happened to someone else, and it didn’t trigger any more memories. Still, it gave me a much better insight of some of our shared interests, as we talked about movies, books, and everything under the sun. Apparently he’d sent me a first edition of Jane Austin books once. And I’d sent him a case of scotch I’d gotten from someone named Mac.
The emails became much less frequent about a year ago as well. Was that because we’d drifted apart, or because we’d been so close we hadn’t needed to email at all?
There was a light tap on my door, and I called out, “Yes?”
Bishop poked his head in, his eyes sweeping over the room with approval when he saw the window shutters closed up tight. “I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Yep, I’m good. Ah, come on in,” I said, and we traded awkward smiles as he shut the door behind him. “Where will you end up sleeping?”
“I’m gonna bed down in the root cellar.”
Poor thing. “Isn’t that kind of creepy?”
Bishop shrugged. “It’s safe and it’s dark, pretty much the only thing a vampire needs. It’s not like I’ll notice during the day.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to offer to let him share with me, but I didn’t want it to get any weirder than it was between us. “Why not take the couch?”
“Because Nell gave her room up for Jakob, so she’ll be sleeping there. She said there’s too much light that comes in on the first floor, so I can’t easily crash on the floor. It’s fine though, like I said. I won’t notice where I’m sleeping while I’m out.”
I nodded, again, feeling a pang to at least let him sleep on my floor, but instead I showed him what I’d been doing. “I’ve been going through our emails. Well, mine to you. Apparently you prefer snail mail.”
“That does sound like me,” he grinned, taking a seat on the edge of the bed to scroll through the messages. “I’ve always preferred taking my time with correspondence.”
“You can do that with email too, you know.”
“Ink and paper can make you a lot braver without the delete button so handy.”
I watched him reading through the emails, the way his lips quirked when he read something amusing, or how his brows drew together whenever I mentioned Rob in my emails. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” I said after a few. “It’s a weird thing, knowing we end up together, but not knowing much about what happened in between.”
He looked over at me. “Is weird good or bad?”
“It’s a good kind of weird, I think,” I smiled. “Just odd knowing the facts, but not the emotions behind them.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I can’t complain about the emotions I’ve remembered so far,” he smiled back. “It’s the facts that I find troubling.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’ve been talking to Mason, our past sounds complicated, even more than the short version he gave you on the plane. I know the reason we haven’t been together this whole time is that I screwed things up, over something you had no control over.”
“What was it?”
“I found out you could compel other vampires, and I though that maybe you…”
My eyes stretched wider as I finally understood what came between us. “You thought I’d compelled you into doing something you didn’t want to do?”
“I guess I wasn’t sure what to trust,” he sighed. “I didn’t know how to recognize real love without adding some level of treachery to it. It’s what I was used to.”
I leaned back against the headboard. “Man, Carys really messed you up. I guess it’s understandable that you reacted the way you did.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about knowing Jakob had compelled me in the past either.
“She messed with both of us. That whole compulsion thing, that’s the reason for the, um… threesome. She deliberately set out to hurt you by bedding the both of us.”
I put up my hand. “We don’t need to talk about that, ever.”
“Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “I just… I wanted you to know that I didn’t set out to hurt you that way on purpose. It just sort of happened.”
“I wish I could remember,” I murmured. “Not the stuff you screwed up,” I laughed when I saw the look on his face. “I mean, how we got to here. There are so many pieces missing, so many firsts.”
“Oh, I gotcha.” He relaxed, leaning back against the headboard beside me. “Yeah, I wish I could remember the first time we met.”
“Our first date. Our first kiss.”
Bishop’s hand slid against mine, and I instinctively threaded my fingers through his. We both looked down at our entwined hands. I didn’t think I’d ever felt a connection like that through such a simple touch. Or maybe I had? Maybe it was why I felt so drawn to him, even though I’d only known him for a couple of nights.
“This is crazy, right?” I said with a tiny laugh.
“What is?”
“This.” I gestured between us. “I don’t know you except for in bits and pieces. I shouldn’t feel like this.” I was getting all of the crazy infatuated feels mixed in with the deeper, caring moments that made me think he might be the one.
“Like what?”
“Like… I feel it every time you look at me, even if I’m not facing you. And your voice, I’m pretty sure you have a voice you use that’s just for me, because I haven’t heard you speak that way to anyone else. And when you touch me…”
“Yes?” Yep, that voice was definitely just for me.
“I don’t want you to stop.”
“I don’t want to either.” His hand slid up my arm, and I felt the urge to claw the shirt away from my shoulder when I couldn’t feel him on my skin anymore.
“I mean, I was just married yesterday and I’m already having all of these feelings.”
His brows drew together at the mention of that. “You were never married to Rob.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know that. I thought he was the one I was supposed to be with. Even then, there was something about you.”
“There’s no reason to feel guilty for feeling
this way, we belong together.”
“But why? Isn’t love something that evolves? I don’t know you.”
“Yes, you do,” he smiled, and I shook my head.
Just because Mason had told us we belonged together didn’t make it real. Anything could’ve happened between the last time he’d seen us and now. Everything he told us was through the filter of his experience, it didn’t tell me what was in my heart right before I lost my memory. What if I let myself care about Bishop only to remember leaving him too?
“I only remember bits and pieces.”
“Your heart remembers me, even if your mind is still working on filling in the blanks. It’s that way for me too, and I don’t care if I never get my memories back, I’ll still know I want to be with you now. Do you want to be with me?”
Yes, the little voice inside me responded immediately, but she’d been wrong before. She’d wanted Rob too and look how that’d turned out. But the way he was looking at me – Lord, beer me strength. It sent a flash of heat pooling low in my belly without even touching me. How could I say no to wanting that?
“Could you maybe not look at me like that for a minute? I’m kind of trying to respond in a way that I’m sure isn’t completely hormone driven.”
Bishop shook his head with a smile. “I know how to fix this,” he said, angling his whole body toward me.
“How?”
“Kiss me.”
“How will that fix things? We’ll still have all these holes in our memories.”
“Because everything you need to know about what’s between us is in what you feel when you kiss me. If you only feel the physical stuff, then we’ll know it’s just a very intense attraction. But if you feel more…”
It wasn’t the worst idea in the world. I remembered kissing him plenty, and I remembered what I felt at the time, but it wasn’t the same as feeling it now. Plus there were worse things than having a guy kiss you into making up your mind. And if it was lusty and nothing more, then I’d know it was all heat and no substance. Okay, so maybe it was the best idea in the world, and I wasn’t saying that just because I wanted to kiss him so badly. “Sure, I guess we can do that.”
