by Lynsay Sands
“I don’t know whether you made alternate arrangements, but we stocked up on blood for you,” Brunswick announced as Edward stepped over to the refrigerator and opened the door to reveal several bags of blood inside.
“We’d rather you didn’t bite the locals,” the officer added firmly.
“That won’t be a concern,” Harper informed him quietly, avoiding Victor’s gaze. “It is against our laws to bite mortals unless in case of an emergency.”
“It is?” Brunswick frowned, obviously considering that their Elvi was biting mortals. Then he straightened his shoulders and said, “Well, I’m glad to hear it, but I’m the law here in Port Henry. If you have a problem, come see me. If you are a problem, you can expect I’ll come find you.”
As a threat it was effective, Victor thought, or would have been if the man weren’t mortal. It seemed obvious that they’d lived so long with their tame Elvi that they now assumed all immortals were as agreeable. The man had a lot to learn. Fortunately for him, Victor had no interest in teaching him.
“I’m going for the car,” he growled, turning to head back down.
“Do you want company, Victor?” DJ asked, catching up to him in the second-floor hall, then grinned and added, “I could act as lookout, make sure you don’t get caught and get yourself in trouble with Captain Brunswick.”
Victor smiled faintly at the teasing offer, not surprised DJ understood he’d feed along the way. He shook his head.” No need.”
“Okay. I’m going to grab a bag in our room while you’re at it, then,” DJ said, continuing on up the hall and around the corner while Victor started lightly down the spiral staircase.
Wondering over the comment about being a lookout to keep Victor from getting in trouble, Elvi started to straighten from the keyhole she’d been peering through, but paused as two more men appeared from the stairs to the third floor. One was a tall fair-haired man. The other was a couple inches shorter and dark-haired. Both were good-looking. She eyed them curiously as they walked past.
“I was not expecting all this,” the dark-haired man commented. “The Elvi, she did not mention there would be others here.”
“You mean Mabel,” the blond corrected and reminded him. “Mabel is the one who wrote the e-mails.”
“Si. Mabel.”
“I didn’t expect competition either,” the blond now admitted unhappily, and then shrugged. “Such is life.”
“Yes,” the darker man murmured and then added, “I do not mind Victor or you so much, but Edward, he is a prick.”
“Hmm.” The blond nodded. “Let’s hope he can read her, or that she gives him his walking papers quickly.”
The brunette shook his head. “He will be the perfect gentleman in front of her. It is only behind her back he will be shoving his thumb at us. Just look at how he is sucking up to her friend Mabel to get on her good side.”
“I think he’s slipped into her mind to exert some influence there,” the blond said.
“You think?” he asked with surprise. “Well, that’s hardly the fair play.”
“All’s fair in love and lifemates,” the blond answered dryly.
Elvi didn’t hear the other man’s response. The two were out of sight on the stairs and no longer within hearing distance.
“I do love this house. The Victorians had their faults, but architecture wasn’t one of them.”
Elvi’s eyes slid back to the end of the hall as the fifth and final man started up with Mabel and Teddy.
“Oh, I couldn’t agree more, Edward,” Mabel enthused, and Elvi frowned at the gushing tone to her voice. Mabel never gushed. And this was the Edward the men had mentioned, she realized, eyes narrowing. “I think he’s slipped into her mind and exerted some influence,” the blond had said. Elvi had no idea what he was talking about, but intended to find out. She wasn’t having her friend toyed with.
“I should go get my car,” Edward murmured as they passed the door where Elvi crouched, watching through the keyhole.
“Teddy can drive you back to get it,” Mabel offered, and Elvi’s expression tightened further. It just wasn’t like Mabel to volunteer others for a task. If anything, she would have offered to take him herself.
“Uh…sure,” Teddy agreed, obviously equally surprised at Mabel’s volunteering him. “But then I have to head back to the station.”
Straightening, Elvi turned away from the door as her mind worked. Was Edward controlling Mabel’s mind? And what was this Victor up to that his friend thought he would need a lookout? What the hell had Mabel got them into, inviting these men here? So far the only two who didn’t seem to be up to something were the tall, Nordic-looking one and the shorter, Italian chap.
Supposing she wasn’t going to find out anything by staying in her room, Elvi straightened her shoulders and moved quickly to the door opposite the one she’d been eavesdropping at. She slipped through the dark sun porch attached to her room and hurried down the stairs to the lower deck.
Seven
“Elvi? Is that you? What are you doing in the bushes?”
Cursing under her breath, Elvi stepped out and crossed to where Teddy stood by his police car. Trying not to sound embarrassed at getting caught lurking, she said, “Hi Teddy.”
She tried to decide how to explain her behavior. The truth was, she’d rushed down to the deck and around the house to see what the man called Victor was up to. She’d come around the corner to find him already half a block up the road, headed for Main Street.
Elvi had started to take a step forward to follow, but the blonde and the Italian had come out of the house and she’d ducked into the bushes to avoid being seen. Unfortunately, that was when Teddy had come out heading for the driveway and his car. Of course, he’d spotted her.
“I was, just checking for…er…aphid damage,” she answered lamely.
“Oh.” He looked uncertain, and then glanced toward the house when the door opened and Edward, the blonde with the British accent, came out.
Elvi shifted as he approached. She really had no wish to meet him yet.
“Well,” she said cheerfully, taking a step back. “I have to check the plants at the side of the house. See you later, Teddy.”
Turning abruptly, she hurried around the side of the garage, and then stopped. The street was empty. There was no sign of any of the men anymore. It seemed she wouldn’t be following anyone.
“Damn,” Elvi muttered as she continued on around the house to the entrance to the lower sun porch and passed through the room to reach the back deck again. A glance toward the driveway showed Teddy and Edward pulling out onto the street.
“Oh, there you are!” Mabel stepped out of the kitchen and smiled. “I wondered where you’d got to. Are you feeling any better?”
“Yes,” she lied. The truth was she had a bit of a headache, probably caused by frustration, she thought on a sigh.
Mabel nodded, then glanced upward, taking in the starry night. Her gaze then swung to the yard beyond the large deck and she commented, “I was thinking of having a fire.”
“The guests would probably enjoy that,” Elvi murmured.
“They’re all out, I think,” Mabel announced. “Getting their cars.”
Elvi was sure the bearded friend of Victor’s was still in the house, but didn’t say anything and simply followed Mabel to the woodpile to help collect wood.
“Why don’t you go get us some drinks while I get the fire started?” Mabel suggested once they’d moved a small pile over to the fire pit.
Elvi turned away and headed to the house. Mabel was better at starting fires anyway. She had finished pouring the drinks and was just trying to open the kitchen door without spilling them when an arm reached past her and pushed the screen door open.
“Allow me.”
Elvi paused and turned to glance at the man who’d helped her, the bearded friend of Victor’s.
“DJ,” he introduced himself with a grin. “And you’re Elvi.”
She nodded,
unable to resist smiling in return despite the blush that rose up on her cheeks. The man’s grin was infectious. “What is DJ short for?”
“Dieudonne Jules,” he answered promptly.
“Dieudonne?” she echoed, thinking it a beautiful name. “You’re the friend, not one of the…er…”
“Suitors,” he supplied gently.
She pulled a face, but nodded.
“Alas, yes, this is true. I’m just here to support a friend,” he said, then sniffed delicately and glanced down at the glasses she held.
“Wine?”
“For Mabel,” she explained.
“It smells good.”
“Yes.” She inhaled the scent and sighed with regret that she couldn’t have it. “It’s the house wine.”
“House wine?” he queried.
“We make it ourselves,” she explained.
“Really?” His eyebrows rose and he asked, “Am I allowed to have a glass?”
Elvi stared, caught by surprise. She’d thought he was a vampire too, but it seemed he was just a mortal, supporting his vampire friend like Mabel.
She’d barely had that thought, when Elvi recalled that he’d been heading off to grab a bag of blood when Victor had left for the car. Thoroughly confused, she opened her mouth to ask what exactly he was when the door to the garage opened and Victor entered.
Elvi’s gaze slid first to his ear and neck, noting the bandage was gone and the wound completely healed, and then her attention slid to the rest of him. She hadn’t paid much attention to his looks earlier; she’d been too upset by the iguana attack, and then startled by his being a vampire. Now she took him in properly, and felt herself inhale deeply. The man was gorgeous. Tall, with wide muscular shoulders and sexy as hell with that longish hair and the tight dark jeans and T-shirt he was wearing.
His most striking feature, however, was his eyes, a startling silver blue color she’d never seen before. They were beautiful, big and framed by long lashes. Women would kill to have his eyes.
“Breathe,” DJ whispered by her ear as he took the glasses from her suddenly shaking hands.
Elvi flushed and forced herself to look away from Victor. Reminded of DJ, she forced herself to concentrate on him and asked, “You want wine?”
He’d said as much, of course, but she was asking again just to be certain she wasn’t misunderstanding anything.
“If it wouldn’t be a bother,” he said with a nod.
“I’ll have one too, if you’re offering,” Victor announced, moving around the counter to join them.
Elvi blinked, but noticed that DJ also appeared surprised by the request as he glanced at his friend.
Victor shrugged at his amazement. “It smells good.”
Elvi wasn’t surprised he could smell it from across the room. Her own senses had become extremely strong after the turn. She was confused, however, by the request.
“Elvi?” Mabel opened the screen door. Her gaze slid suspiciously from DJ to Victor as she stepped inside, and she said, “You were taking so long I started to worry.”
“I’m fine,” Elvi assured her, then turned to glance from one man to the other and repeated carefully, “You want wine?”
When both men nodded, she exchanged a glance with Mabel. The other woman moved closer to her side and both of them crossed their arms over their chests as they eyed the pair.
“So, what’s the joke?” Mabel asked grimly.
When the men raised their eyebrows in question, Elvi shifted impatiently and said, “Vampires don’t consume anything but blood. You aren’t real vampires. So what’s this about? You thought it would be fun to—”
Her words died abruptly when DJ suddenly opened his mouth. His teeth looked perfectly normal…until his canines slid out and down, becoming long, pointy fangs.
“Oh,” she breathed.
“We prefer the term immortals to vampires,” Victor announced as DJ retracted his teeth. “And we can eat and drink things other than blood, though many of us stop out of boredom after several hundred years.”
“We can eat?” Elvi echoed faintly. It was really the only thing he’d said that stuck in her head. “I can eat?”
“You didn’t know?” DJ asked, his teeth now back in place.
“Dracula never ate,” Mabel pointed out, confusion and concern on her face as she peered at Elvi.
“Dracula is a fictional character,” Victor said dryly.
“Elvi, are you all right?” Mabel asked worriedly, touching her arm.
Elvi was silent, her head bowed. When she lifted it, she had to blink to see through the tears blurring her eyes. “I can eat.”
“Yes, honey, it would seem so.” Mabel patted her shoulder.
Elvi closed her eyes, her head spinning. She hadn’t eaten a thing in five years and that more than anything else had set her apart from others. It was only after her turning that she’d realized how much people relied on food for social occasions. Birthdays, weddings, showers…they were celebrated with feasts, or cakes, or some form of food. Friends even met over coffee or drinks. Every meeting between people somehow revolved around food or drink and that had left her always on the outside. Unable to do either, or so she’d thought, her presence at such functions had often left the others feeling uncomfortable and guilty as they ate or drank in front of her.
That was the emotional side of it. The other side was that Elvi loved food. She always had. She loved the smell, the look, the texture, the taste. She loved to cook and she loved to eat. Going without the last five years had been like some sort of torture. Needless torture if what these two men said was true. She could eat.
That thought screamed through her head like a banshee, drowning out every other thought in her head with its howling. Elvi suddenly turned to the refrigerator and dragged the door open, only to stare at the contents with dismay.
“Oh, Mabel,” she moaned unhappily.
“What?” The woman moved to her side, but seemed to understand the moment her eyes moved over the refrigerator contents. Voice apologetic, she said, “I’m on that diet Dr. Wilburs put me on.”
Elvi just stood shaking her head mournfully. Her mind was shrieking cheesecake and the refrigerator held nothing but green things; lettuce, celery, spinach, broccoli. She so wasn’t having something green and healthy as her first food in five years.
“I need to go to the grocery store,” she decided, slamming the fridge door closed.
“What?” Mabel asked with surprise. “The grocery store is closed at this hour.”
“Not A&P,” she said, pushing through the trio to hurry around the counter. “It’s open twenty-four hours.” Stopping at the door to the garage, she whirled around and asked, “Where are the car keys?”
“Just a minute, I’ll go with you,” Mabel said abruptly. “I just have to find my shoes and purse and—”
“What about the fire?” Elvi asked. She really didn’t want to have to wait while Mabel got ready. The woman would insist on changing, and freshening her lipstick, then she wouldn’t remember where she’d left her purse and so on, and by the time she was ready to go, Elvi could have been and returned and eaten half a cheesecake.
“Oh, damn. I forgot about the fire,” Mabel muttered. “I can’t leave it unattended.”
“That’s okay,” Elvi assured her. “I can drive myself. I won’t be long.”
“You won’t be driving your car. The garage door is blocked by my car,” Victor announced, moving toward her. “I’ll take you. DJ can stay here and help Mabel with the fire.”
“I don’t need any damned help with the fire,” Mabel said with irritation.
“I’m sure you don’t,” DJ said soothingly, then grinned and added, “but I bet between the two of us, we can make it burn hotter.”
Silence fell briefly in the room. Mabel appeared too stunned by the suggestive comment to respond. Victor appeared a bit surprised himself. As for Elvi, while she was a little startled by it as well, the thought of food was on her mind and c
rowding out everything else. She wasn’t going to get into whatever was going on between DJ and Mabel, and she wasn’t going to argue about Victor driving her to the store either.
“Let’s go,” Elvi said abruptly and charged out of the house. She felt absolutely no guilt at abandoning Mabel to DJ’s tender mercies. It was Mabel who five years ago had pointed out that vampires don’t eat and insisted Elvi not even try because she didn’t want to “hold her head when she vomited it back up.” At that moment, she was blaming Mabel for five years of missed cheesecake, ice cream, and chocolate.
“Cheesecake, ice cream, chocolate,” she muttered, charging through the garage and to the side door.
“Is that your grocery list?” Victor asked, sounding amused as he followed her out onto the sidewalk that ran around the garage to the driveway.
“Part of it,” Elvi acknowledged, scurrying around to the driveway, only to come to an abrupt halt. The car she supposed must be his was there, a big, silver BMW. But two more cars were presently pulling into the driveway. The Italian and the German were back and blocking in his car.
Victor took one look at Elvi’s face and moved past her to the driver’s door of the car behind his.
“Harper, don’t turn off the engine,” he said, pulling the driver’s door open. “This is an emergency. We need to get this lady to A&P, but you’re blocking my car and I don’t think she can wait for you to move it. Will you drive us?”
“Of course.” Harper smiled at Elvi through the window and redid the seat belt he’d just undone.
“Thanks.” Slamming the door closed, Victor waved Elvi forward and moved to open the back door.
“I’m coming too,” the Italian announced as he got out of his own car. She didn’t care. They could all come if they wished…so long as they didn’t slow her down. The very idea of something sweet and silky filling her mouth, coating her taste buds and sliding down her throat to her barren stomach, was threatening to make her drool like a baby.
“What kind of emergency is it?” the Italian asked, slipping into the backseat on the passenger’s side even as Elvi climbed in through the opposite door.
