by Chloe Adler
Setting my jaw, I turned to face him. "I get that most people like to be placated by touch, but I'm not most people. Being touched makes me jumpy. So please don't do it."
He withdrew his hand. "What then?"
I shook my head. "I don't know."
"Well, do you want to keep sitting here for a while?"
"Not really." I got to my feet and walked toward the dock entrance. Jared followed, slightly behind. Neither of us spoke. What was there left to say?
When we pulled up to the house, the sight of the moving truck with its back open lifted my heart a little. Casa Mañana. This was my home now, at least until Burgundy or Jared got fed up with me and kicked me out. I would make this work.
I had always hated the name Casa Mañana because it reminded me of Sadie. Of her perpetual avoidance of growing up and becoming a responsible working member of society. Always putting off what needed to be done today until tomorrow. Avoiding what was difficult, like responsibility and work and duty. But no, that's what Aurelia would say. Sadie had been the first one to move out. Even if she didn't have a conventional job, she did have one. Plus now she was studying at Distant Edge University to become a horticulturist or some such. Besides, Sadie wouldn't have named the house; it must have been Burgundy. It was her house after all, and she was the fluent Spanish speaker, a Nicaraguan transplant.
Iphi walked outside, saw me and waved. I got out of the car and met her at the back of the truck.
"Let me help," I offered.
"Sure, sis, let's take the boxes and let the men get the heavy stuff." She giggled. I wasn't sure why until I followed her gaze to Jared, who was standing a little behind me, flexing his muscles. At least he wasn't telling me to pack my things back on the truck and leave.
Iphi turned back to me, tilting her head with a sideways cast of her eyes. "What's going on?"
How was she so intuitive? "My powers got the better of me again," I said sheepishly.
"Oh, Chrys. Did anyone get hurt?"
I shook my head. "But they could have."
Iph reached into the truck and handed me a box and then took one herself. I followed as she walked toward the house.
"I'll see what I can do to help you contain them," Iphi called back over her shoulder.
She really was an angel. Always putting others first. Growing up, she had been the strongest of us power-wise, but then Sadie had gained her powers and surpassed us all. Sadie was a sesso, a sex witch, and Aurelia had put a dampening spell on her, so she'd grown up virtually powerless. That, plus the fact that apparently the only thing that could unlock her powers was an orgasm with her bonded mate, had kept Sadie's powers at bay for over two decades. She had a different father than Iphi and I. Aurelia had cheated on Taylor. I still couldn't wrap my head around that. She'd cheated with a sex witch, a male sesso, which was why Sadie was who she was and, I justified, why Mom had been bowled over by the guy long enough to have an affair. Sessos were quite charismatic.
Iphi's and my powers were not as strong as a full witch's. We were what was known in the Signum world as half-Sigs. Half human, half Signum. But since our mom was so incredibly powerful, we'd inherited capabilities that most full-witch Sigs would be jealous of. Iphi could cast a spell with the best of them, and her iron control over her abilities made her the strongest in our family. I remained flawed in that area; when I was angry, my craft reigned forcefully.
"Do you know how?" I asked Iphi.
"Well, no," she confessed, throwing her blond curls over one shoulder with a little shake of her head, "but it'll be fun to figure out."
"Figure what out?" Sadie asked as we entered my new room.
Sadie and Ryder were standing next to the closet in an embrace. I did not want to know what they had been doing. Of course that train of thought started others. How many times had Sadie had sex in this room? Was it as nasty as a hotel room? If I got a black light, would I find the most disgusting stains imaginable?
"Chrys?" Sadie was looking at me. I realized I'd been standing there with a disgusted look on my face, shaking my head. Obviously I still had some work to do on letting my resentment go.
"Nothing," I said. The last thing I wanted was my sister, new to her own powers, giving me advice.
Iphi looked back and forth between us, ever the diplomat, not saying a word. Sadie cocked her head, making it clear she wasn't going to relent.
"We were talking about exercising," I threw out. Iphi was an avid aerialist and I'd always wanted to try it.
Sadie laughed. "You? Exercising?"
"That's not very supportive, Sadie," Iphi said as she put down the box she was carrying.
Sadie didn't respond. She was never good at apologizing. She looked between us and then back at Ryder before grabbing his hand and heading toward the door.
"Fine. I know you're lying, Chrys. I'm just surprised you're covering for her," she said, pointedly looking at Iph. "You don't usually lie."
Iphi started to open her mouth but Sadie held up a hand. "Don't say anything. I'd rather you two tell me you don't want to talk about it than outright lie. We may not agree on everything but we're still sisters and we need to have each other's backs." She walked out of the room with Ryder.
"She's right, we shouldn't lie to her. It makes me uncomfortable," said my littlest sister.
"It would make me more uncomfortable to involve her. Now that she's the strongest, it comes across as self-righteous."
"I respect your need to keep it between us but if I don't get it right, we may need her help."
"Can we try it ourselves first?"
"Sure." She offered me a placating smile.
"Thanks for helping with all of this . . ." I motioned around the room. It was covered in boxes. "I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now." Iphi followed my gaze.
"I'll help you organize," she said, "if you come with me to circus school and try one of the apparatuses."
"A bribe? You?" She was just being playful and trying to help but I did not like to exercise. That was Iphi's obsession.
"Call it that if you like but you know, now that you're moving out, I won't be seeing you as much. Instead of sharing a house with me, you'll be halfway across town. If you came with me to circus classes, we could hang out and I could share that part of my life with you." She batted her long lashes at me.
"Fine," I shot back, getting a little annoyed.
"Maybe it'll turn out to be your favorite thing in the world and you'll thank me." Iphi was wearing a heart-melting grin but I wasn't buying it.
"That'll be the day," I responded. Hadn't I just been thinking about wanting to try Iphi's aerial arts? I didn't know why the idea of going to her classes with her upset me but it did. Spark. I was never the athletic one in the family. I was the dumpy one. Iphi was athletic and Sadie was kind of like a bitchy supermodel, obsessed with clothes, makeup and hair. Me, I was the mousy one. That's what Sadie always said. I was lucky to also be the artistic one but that still made me kind of a geek. An art geek. Plus I'd gotten the short end of the powers stick too. And everyone around me was always trying to tell me what to do, what they thought would be best for me, as if they truly knew. Flare.
There was a loud shriek outside the door to my room. I looked at Iphi in alarm.
"What did you do now, Chrys?" she said, then sighed.
Chapter Six
Burgundy and I were sitting in her kitchen thirty minutes later, which was my kitchen now too. How strange was that?
Apparently my flash of anger at Iphi earlier had exploded a bag of white flour, covering Sadie's face and hair. She'd been trying to teach Burgundy how to make bread. Jared had seen the mess, declared that it was my job to fix it and left. A fair punishment. Sadie had gone home to change into something a little less flour-dusted.
I had other things on my mind before cleaning though. Refocusing on Burgundy, I asked her, "Where did Carter come from? Who is he?" I didn't want to hear about their intimacy but I couldn't deny wanting to know more about h
im, a vampire that lived with his grandfather.
"He used to live in Distant Edge with his family years ago, but then one day they moved away. I didn't know why at the time but it was because his mother was pregnant with his younger brother and didn't want to raise him here."
Burgundy placed her hands around a steaming mug of hot water and blew on it.
"Why? Did he say?"
"He didn't say but I got the idea that his mother had a failed marriage or relationship. When they left it was just the two of them."
I nodded and pulled my own mug in closer. Burgundy had made me some chamomile tea. She didn't need anything other than blood, but many vampires liked human food or drink, even though they didn't derive anything nutritionally from it.
"And then he just showed back up one day and started working at the bar?"
"Something like that." She blew on her water again. "Why are you so interested in him anyway?"
"I don't know." I looked across the kitchen. It was a mess. Part of that was my fault . . . but not all.
"Why are there so many dishes in the sink when you don't eat?" I asked Burgundy.
"Oh, but I do eat," she said and then waved a hand over her Rubenesque figure. "Obviously."
"Vampires don't get any sustenance from human food, do they?" I asked her, genuinely curious.
"Well as it turns out, we get the calories, but not the vitamins. It's like a human eating nothing but fast food and partially hydrogenated oils. We bulk up no matter what we eat."
"I didn't know that."
"Yeah, neither did I. It was one of Dr. Volkamoff's more recent discoveries."
Benedict Volkamoff was a vampire on Distant Edge's Council, the city's shadowy, if currently useless, governing body. His contributions to vampiric physiology had earned him a bit of celebrity in the Signum community, enough to get him appointed to the Council. He'd apparently found a way to cash in on his discoveries, too, since he also owned The V Club.
"I'm shocked the Council hasn't pushed through dietary guidelines for the Edge's vampires then," I mused. "Those guys sure do get off on telling all of us what to do. Caloric restrictions ought to be right up their alley."
"The trade-off for being protected here, I guess. But thankfully, the Council has yet to stifle my curves." She leaned forward, those ample curves straining her tight top. "So tell me the truth, Chrys."
"About what?" I hoped she wasn't pushing for more information about Carter.
"About what happened with Aurelia."
If anyone would understand, Burgundy would. So I told her what had happened, though I did it without making eye contact even once. At first, I tried to hide my face in my hands, but my words came out too muffled. So instead, I looked around the room, my eyes darting like a fly in captivity. The minute they landed on anything, they flitted away again.
"I love it," she said when I'd finished, clapping her hands together and then rubbing her palms together in glee.
"What?"
"I love that you're exploring your sexuality. You're twenty-five years old, it's about time. Had I known, I'd have pushed you toward Carter this afternoon." Burgundy twirled a lock of her thick, long hair between her glossy-red-lacquered fingernails.
"Why?"
"Let's just say he's quite knowledgeable in that area."
"What area?" Oh god, why had I asked that? I did not want to hear about her and Carter in the bedroom.
Burgundy got up from her seat and walked behind me. She placed her hands on my shoulders and I jumped. "In the area of seduction." She laughed.
"I'm not interested in a playboy," I said, stiffening.
Burgundy started kneading my shoulders gently as she leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Oh, you should be, he has mad skills."
Gross. My skin pulled, reminding me that I was developing sharp edges. Boundaries. "Stop." I straightened and then stood. "First of all, don't touch me. I don't like it."
She moved her hands to her hips but a smile still played on her face.
"Secondly, the idea that you have carnally . . . known someone that I'm interested in is not a good thing."
"Why not?" Her wide mouth moved into a pout. "Think of it like a new appliance. You wouldn't buy one without a good consumer report, right? So I tested it out for you, and it did not come up lacking." She waggled her eyebrows at me as my face heated up. She was only trying to help, but the idea of her and Carter really tweaked my green-eyed monster.
Perched on the coffee table, Burgundy was painting Jared's nails next to me on the couch.
"Do you think we should do every other nail blue or stick to black for all of them?" she asked, turning toward me.
What did I know about fashion?
"Chrys?" Burgundy asked again, seemingly oblivious to my ignorance in this particular area.
"What's it for?" I ventured.
"There's this hot goth guy I'm trying to impress at the club," Jared said.
"Oh well, then all black," I said. I may have known nothing about fashion, but some of my peers at the art academy were into goth.
"Yeah, Chrys is right," Jared said. "All black. If he were a hipster, then we could go with every other nail blue."
I nodded along to show that I was being supportive but I really had no clue. Burgundy flashed me a smile and my hand flew to my throat. For just a moment, I felt like a part of the gang. She was including me, but it probably meant nothing. She was just being nice. Oblivious to my drama, Burgundy went back to painting again.
The doorbell rang.
"Chrys, will you grab that? We can't move here." She nodded her chin toward the door.
"Sure," I said, trying to shrug off third-wheel syndrome.
"Who is it?" I called when I got there.
A throat cleared before a velvety, liquid voice enveloped me, sliding between the cracks. "Chrys?"
"Carter?" I pulled the door open without thinking.
He leaned against the doorjamb, virile and dripping with pheromones. His black leather biker jacket was zipped up, hiding his perfect proportions.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Chrys, don't be rude," Burgundy called out from the couch. "Come on in, Carter. You're always welcome at mi casa."
He slid past me, a hairsbreadth from touching my body, but he sucked in his stomach at the last moment. The small displacement of air was enough to make me flush, heat rising up my core.
"I'll make some tea," I said to cover up my discomfort. "Do you want some?"
He flashed me those teeth, reminding me that he was indeed a vampire and didn't need to drink tea.
"Do you have anything stronger?" he asked.
I practically ran out of the living room. The kitchen was still a mess; I was putting off cleaning until Iphi could help me with it. Rummaging through the cabinets, I found some port and poured a small glass for Carter. Then I set about making tea for the rest of us.
Unsure of what I'd find when I walked back in with everything on a tray, I was pleasantly surprised to see Carter sitting on one of the wingback chairs on the other side of the coffee table, facing the couch. Jared was alternately waving his hands back and forth and blowing on them. Burgundy was perched on the couch next to him, her elbows on her knees pushing her cleavage out. I almost dropped the tray. The woman was indeed gorgeous but did she have to be so gorgeous in front of Carter?
He barked out a laugh and I turned to look at him. "You like what you see?" he asked me as he crooked his head toward Burgundy.
Heat rose to my face and I put down the tray to hide my embarrassment. I started doling out everyone's drinks, ignoring him.
Carter laughed. "And to think I was under the impression you played for the opposite team."
"What? No," I stammered. "I like guys."
Burgundy let out a low, deep laugh. "Leave Chrys alone, Carter, she's not like other women."
"Oh?" he responded, drawing out the end of the word. "Not like other women, or not like the women I've dated?"
I wanted to run out of the room but instead I held my head up and sat on the other wingback chair.
"Both," Burgundy responded, flashing me a knowing smile. "Chrys isn't a slut."
"That's too bad," Carter said, a smile in his voice. "Maybe I can change that."
"Hello. I'm right here." I waved my hand in front of my face. "Please do not talk about me in the third person, it's creepy."
"Leave her alone, you guys." Jared leaned forward and picked up his teacup, careful not to smudge his nails. "Everything doesn't always revolve around sex."
Burgundy and Carter both gaped at him.
"The pot calling . . ." Burgundy said.
"Hey, I'm a self-proclaimed slut and everyone knows you both are too, but not everyone in the world has to share our wickedness, delicious as it is. Let's respect where Chrys is at. And who knows," Jared looked at me and licked his lips, "if we respect her, maybe someday, when she's ready, she'll let you take her to the dark side." He winked at Carter.
My other roommate was holding her lips together in a tight line, trying not to laugh. "Jared," she said, crooking her finger toward the hallway, "let's go pick the right clothes so you can score your goth boy."
I looked between them, willing them not to leave me alone with Carter, who seemed more than happy at the prospect.
Carter stood up and walked over to the sensuously textured, tufted red couch. A little over the top? Why all the furniture in the living room was velvet, I could only guess. Softer on bare skin, perhaps? What would it feel like, lounging naked on the couch like Venus in a Giorgione painting? Stretched languidly atop a swatch of red velvet in the midst of the countryside. So peaceful and yet at the same time sensual.
Imagining the smooth fabric caressing my skin, I brushed the arms of my chair in a feline-like manner. Ah, to paint Carter there, naked and reclined against the tufted back of the couch with its dark wooden frame. A sigh escaped before I could help myself. So unlike me.
