by Lisa Olsen
I felt deeply satisfied on every level and wholly at peace. Even with what he’d taken, I’d still be full for a few days at least with how much blood he’d given me. I tried not to think about how he’d replace it, I trusted him to hold to our agreement about not feeding on hotties.
Too bad it couldn’t last.
“I have to get going soon.”
“I know,” I said softly, making no move to let him up just yet. How was I supposed to let him go?
“Don’t move, you rest up while I hop in the shower.”
As if I needed to rest like an invalid. “Wouldn’t you rather have some company?” I shot him my best come hither look, disappointed when I saw the longing that stole over his features instead of acceptance.
“I would, but I’ve already taken longer than I probably should have.”
“That would be too bad if you missed your flight,” I ventured aloud, thinking no such thing on the inside.
“They’ll hold the flight for me, but I shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
“Alright,” I pouted, scooting off of him, and Bishop smiled over my expression as he disappeared into the bathroom. I pulled the covers higher as the shower came on, thinking about joining him in there anyway, but I didn’t want to risk getting him into trouble on account of me.
I lay there daydreaming about what it would be like to sneak aboard the plane, or show up unannounced if it turned out he needed more than a few days in England, but I had no idea what I’d be walking into. Bishop was right, best to wait for him to come back and ambush him with a homecoming he’d never forget.
I still had a smile on my lips from that visual when he stepped out of the shower in a cloud of steam and I rolled onto my side to watch him dress. God, he was beautiful. The towel slung low on his hips, revealing perfectly sculpted muscles and the small symbol marking him as a member of the Order of Jacari. Damn them anyway for taking him away from me…
“Can I come to the airport with you?” I asked when he sat on the edge of the bed to lace up his boots.
“Actually, I’d rather remember you right here,” he smiled, his head canting to one side as he took in my disheveled state.
I ran a hand through the tangle of my hair, a pucker of worry marring my brow. “Ooh, are you sure about that? At least let me…”
“No, this is how I want to picture you, all soft and sexy, wearing my mark.” His eyes dipped to my neck and my hand rose to feel the tiny specks of dried blood that remained there though my skin had long healed. Bishop’s heated gaze was enough to make me want him again, and I could tell he seriously thought about making the plane wait even longer, but his natural discipline kicked in. Darn it anyway…
Instead he leaned down and kissed my shoulder. “Be good,” he said simply, his intense green eyes revealing so much more.
Chapter Two
I won’t lie, I pretty much spent the rest of the night holed up in our apartment, watching sappy movies and tearing up at the drop of a hat. Everything set me off from cheesy Hallmark movies to commercials for saving endangered pandas. I finally had to turn the TV off. With my heightened emotions I cried at anything and generally spent the night feeling sorry for myself. At least I hadn’t been so weepy in front of Bishop; I didn’t want him to have to worry about me on top of everything else he had to deal with.
There were a lot of hours to fill before dawn and I had plenty of time to reflect on what I was going to do with myself to keep busy. Getting a job seemed like a natural choice, and I worked on a list of possible careers for me now that I was a vampire with time on my hands. Once I had the list made out I felt marginally better, at least I wasn’t still crying over abandoned puppies on TV.
Determined to keep from sitting around all depressed until Bishop came back, I made plans to go out hunting with Mason the next night even though I knew I wouldn’t be hungry for at least a couple of days. Maybe I could ask him about jobs for vampires in the area. Armed with a plan, I slipped into my usual coma-like state in our big empty bed, waking from a dreamless sleep with an ache of loss once the sun went down.
I saw I had a text message from Bishop from earlier in the day when he’d touched down safely in England, and I felt a pang that he hadn’t left a message so I could hear his voice. Briefly, I considered calling him. Even if I didn’t reach him, I’d still get to hear his voicemail, right? The sheer patheticness of that thought was enough to drag me out of bed to get ready for the night.
I never knew what to wear when going out on the prowl. Sexy, seductive vampiress wasn’t my style, so I settled on a little black dress they always said was perfect for any occasion. Did that include feeding on a human being? Maybe not, but I felt pretty and comfortable in it, so that had to be worth some bonus points.
Mason rapped on the metal door with a ‘shave and a haircut’ knock right on time, dressed in his usual navy blue tactical gear. While he wasn’t strictly my type (too big and muscular for my tastes) I could see why my sister Hanna was so besotted with him. His brown eyes flashed with mischief when I opened the door, his closely manicured beard enhancing rather than hiding his cheeky grin.
I often wondered why he didn’t sweat going out in public visibly armed (there were two guns strapped to him I could see and I was willing to bet at least another somewhere out of sight). Even Bishop usually kept his jacket on to hide the shoulder holster. Didn’t he worry about getting stopped by the cops? Then again, with his powers of compulsion, maybe not.
“Hey, sis, you ready to boogie down?” he asked with a grin, dancing forward and backwards with a couple of disco steps.
“Are we going hunting in a dance club?” I smiled. He was pretty light on his feet for such a big guy and I wondered if he’d ever taken Hanna out dancing. She’d absolutely eat it up, she loved to dance.
“Never can tell where the night will end up.” His grin faded when he took in my ensemble. “Is that what you’re wearing?”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” My brows drew together in a scowl as I looked down.
“Nothing, if you’re going to a Tupperware party. I thought you wanted to go hunting?”
“It’s not like we’re going tromping through the forest. I don’t see what’s inappropriate about it,” I replied, hands smoothing over my skirt.
“It’s not that it’s inappropriate exactly.” Mason’s frank gaze sized me up and I shifted self-consciously. “It’s just… for a total biscuit like you, a little leather a little lace and you could hook any guy you’re after with or without compulsion.”
“Ah… well, I’m not looking to attract the opposite sex.” My promise to avoid “hunks” was still in effect and I hoped Bishop kept it in mind while he was gone as well.
“Ladies night, I dig it.” A slow grin spread across his face.
I wasn’t sure he did, but I let it go, changing the subject. “What about you? That’s not the latest in club wear, I’m thinking. You look like you’re ready for a riot.”
“Yeah, well, hunting trip aside, I’ve still got a job to do. I have to be ready at a moment’s notice to take a call. Speaking of which, I need to make a stop before you get your fang on.”
“Where at?” I picked up my coat, not because I needed it anymore, but because I’d stand out in the crisp November weather without it. The cold didn’t bother me one bit as he led me out to his jeep.
“Dead Lazlo’s.”
“Dead Lazlo’s?” I laughed. “That sounds like fun.”
“It can be, but not the kind you’re looking for. In fact, now that I think of it, you should probably wait in the car.” His brows twitched together as he started the ignition.
How was I supposed to wait in the car after a line like that? It was like saying don’t freak out, but there’s a giant spider on your shoulder. How do you not freak out? I was dying to scope the place out. “Oh come on, I’m supposed to be a badass vampire, remember? Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
“Right, because you’re staying in the
car.”
“You’re as bad as Bishop,” I muttered in disgust.
“You’d better believe it. Do you have any idea what he’d do to me if anything happened to you on my watch?”
I could imagine. “Mason, you’re not my babysitter. You’re just supposed to make sure I don’t run into any trouble feeding.”
“It’s cute that you think so.”
The condescending note in his voice made me curious. “What precisely did Bishop say to you?”
“Just about what you’d expect. Stick to you like white on rice. There won’t be anything left of me to identify if I let you get hurt.” He shrugged as though such threats were commonplace between them.
The last thing I wanted was someone glued to my side, even someone I liked and trusted, like Mason. “You don’t have to worry, I’m getting pretty good at this vampire thing. I’m not looking to join a blood orgy, I just want to get a bite to eat, then the rest of your night is free.”
“Speaking of blood orgies… I wanted to talk to you about Hanna.”
“You did not just make that segue.” I made a face, but I could tell from the cheeky grin he’d been teasing me.
“You said we’d talk about telling her after all the stuff with Serena was over. Well, it’s over, and…”
“I don’t know, Mason,” I cut him off before he worked up too much steam over the idea. “Telling her you’re a vampire, that’s a pretty big step. Are you sure she’s ready for that?”
“She didn’t seem to have a problem with it when we…”
“No, no details please!” I put my hand up before he sparked more of a mental image than my brain already supplied at knowing they’d exchanged blood before. I assumed he’d compelled her to forget about it afterwards, but it also called into question the nature of their relationship. I knew such an exchange could forge a pretty tight bond. I’d felt some of it with Evan after only giving him a tiny bit of my blood. “How do you know what she feels for you is real and how much is tied to your blood?”
Mason let out a long breath. “I just do. It’s not like I fed her my blood on the first date, you know.” He gave me a sidelong look. “It’s the real deal between us.”
“Are you planning on telling her about me too?”
“That would be up to you. I can keep your name out of it if you’d rather. But she can handle it, Anja, I promise you. She’s tougher than she looks.”
“I know.” Considering the fact that my sister stood all of five feet two in shoes, that wasn’t hard to do. But he was right, Hanna had an inner strength to her, she’d handle it well enough. The question was, could I take her looking at me differently once she knew my secret?
*
Dead Lazlo’s didn’t look like much when we pulled up outside. The street was peppered with poorly lit signs for other bars and cheap motels you could rent by the hour, and I had the option of getting a tattoo (with a side of hepatitis) while I waited if I wanted to.
I didn’t argue when he got out of the car, waiting inside where I felt marginally safer. But when the minutes dragged on, I started to wonder what I was so afraid of. Wasn’t I the most dangerous thing on the street?
That thought gave me the confidence to hop out and walk with unhurried steps to the scarred door under the broken neon sign bearing the name “De_d Lazlo’s”. There wasn’t any kind of doorman like there was at the Bleeding Hart. Probably because the clientele didn’t care what kind of prey stepped in off the streets.
I felt eyes draw towards me the instant I crossed the threshold, but I was used to it now and stood there without flinching under their stares. It was easy to spot the humans from the light of avarice that sparked in their eyes — the vampires all dropped their gaze the instant I looked in their direction. All except for Mason, who scowled and left the table where he’d been talking to an Asian guy I’d seen him with before. I think his name was Cage.
“I thought you were going to wait in the car?” he said softly once he reached my side.
“I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.” Not much as near as I could tell. It looked like a regular dive bar, not one I’d feel comfortable hanging out in, especially not in my dress. I stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Not much to see here, as you can tell.” He took my elbow and turned me towards the door. “How about you go on back outside now, and I’ll be out in a few minutes?”
What was he so worried about? “No, I’m good to wait here.” I shrugged out of his grasp easily, taking a seat at an empty table. “Don’t let me keep you.”
I distinctly heard a swear word under his breath, but Mason turned and went back to his table without further argument. Of course now that I’d won that small victory, I wasn’t sure what to do with it. The bar didn’t smell all that great and I for sure didn’t want to touch the drink the bartender set before me without my having ordered it. For a few minutes I entertained myself by picking up bits of conversation in the bar, but even Mason’s hushed words were uninteresting at best as he talked about shifting assets to cover Bishop’s departure.
Bishop.
I wondered what he was doing at that moment, and sent him a brief text. Love you. It would be after three in the morning there. Bishop was probably busy working, but hopefully he’d have time to at least read it and know I was thinking about him.
Me too. Skype later? My phone chirped a couple of minutes later, bringing a smile to my lips.
Definitely. Suddenly in a much better mood, I looked up to see Mason leaving the table, a determined look on his face as he stalked back to me.
“Okay, you saw what all the fuss was about. Can we go now?” he said with a tight smile and I took pity on him.
“Sure, let’s go.” Relief swept over his features as we stepped outside the bar, though I didn’t think it was such a big improvement, given the neighborhood. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interfere with Order stuff. Did you get to finish all your business?”
“It’s good enough for now. We’re gonna have to get together for a longer meeting and make some long term plans if he doesn’t come back though.” I sobered at that, the reality that Bishop might not be returning anytime soon too much of a possibility to ignore. Mason noticed my silence, instantly contrite. “Shit, I’m sorry, Anja. He’ll be back soon, I know he will.”
I couldn’t dwell on it or I’d start weeping again. “Have you been transferred before or are you originally from here?” I asked as we got back into his jeep.
“No, I’m from Boston. They tend not to move us out of the region too often, though we usually move to a new city every ten years or so. They shipped me out here after I joined the Order and I’ve never been back.”
“Do you miss it?”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. For a moment Mason looked like he was going to say yes, but he changed his mind. “Nah, this is my life now. Besides, I like it out here. No snow, beautiful beaches, tanned ladies. Well, just the one lady for me now,” he grinned. “So, ready to go get your feed on? I was thinking we could try Smoke and Mirrors to keep things simple, or we could cruise libraries or coffee shops if you’d be more comfortable there.”
I thought about it, but the club scene felt wrong somehow. I knew I’d never go there to hunt on my own and I wanted to find a hunting ground I was comfortable with. Still, I could understand why he wanted to keep things simple. “Why not pick someone at the Hart?”
“Because most of the humans there belong to someone else.”
“What happens if I accidentally eat someone who belongs to someone else?”
“To you? Probably nothing,” he allowed. “Apart from Bishop, you’re the oldest vamp in the territory as far as anybody knows. Anyone else might have a fight on their hands.”
Still, I didn’t want to poach on anyone else’s territory. “How am I supposed to tell if a person is spoken for?” Was there a secret mark on their body, or a tattoo like in the movies?
“You ask them.”
“Oh.”
That seemed anti-climactic, but I supposed it made sense. “I never saw Bishop ask first when we went out hunting.”
“That’s because he doesn’t give a shit. He’s the high guy on the totem pole out here, remember?” he grinned. I wondered what other niceties newbie vamps had to learn that Bishop had glossed over in his Vampire 101. It was a cinch Jakob wouldn’t have thought to teach them to me either, because for him there were no rules.
“How did you learn all this stuff, Mason?”
“From my Sire, that’s the usual order of things.”
“Is your Sire still around?” Bishop had said Mason had only been turned thirty or so years ago.
“Nope, he’s running hell by now, I’m sure,” he scowled.
I was surprised to hear it was a he, but I supposed it wasn’t always a male/female thing. “Oh, I’m sorry. How did he die?”
“My sword had something to do with it,” he muttered, fishing out his phone as it buzzed in his pocket. “Aw, shit, I hope you’re not that hungry. I need to take another detour.” Mason turned the car around with little regard for traffic, earning us quite a few honks of the horn.
I blinked at the sudden change in topic, still trying to wrap my head around the idea of Mason killing his Sire. Wasn’t that frowned upon? There was such a close connection between Sire and progeny… A bajillion questions popped into my head, but Mason’s trip down memory lane was permanently derailed as he steered us towards wherever his phone beckoned.
“Where are we going?”
“Order business. It probably won’t take long.” That was all I could get from him until he pulled the jeep into a parking lot of an apartment building across from the business park where my dentist’s office was. “Any chance you’ll stay in the car?” I just looked at him, allowing him to fill in the blank. “Alright then, stay behind me and try not to interfere.”
Chapter Three
