Find Me When the Sun Goes Down (Forged Bloodlines #3)

by Lisa Olsen

  Even more than at Dead Lazlo’s, I felt out of place following Mason up the flight of stairs in my black cocktail dress and kitten heels. I allowed myself the brief fantasy of storming up behind him in a flak vest and cammo pants, a gun in each hand. I was tougher than I looked, I might even be able to help. Okay, so Bishop would probably have an aneurism if I ever did such a thing, but it made for an interesting mental image.

  I wasn’t sure what to expect when Mason rapped on the apartment door on the second floor. When Scotty, the bartender from the Hart, pulled the door open, I started to think maybe he’d called for help. The look on Scotty’s face quickly disproved that notion though, as recognition quickly brought with it the chalky pallor of fear. His Adam’s apple bobbed, making the tattoo on his neck dance.

  “Mason, let me explain…” Scotty began, but Mason shouldered his way past him into the apartment.

  “You know the drill, don’t make it harder on yourself than it has to be. Where is she?”

  “She’s not here. Look, I’m working on it, I am…”

  Mason’s head cocked to one side, listening closely. “That’s strike one.” He shook his head in disgust. “Anja, you want to go and ask the little lady in the bedroom to come out and join the party?”

  Surprised to be invited to participate, I had nothing on the shock that registered on Scotty’s face when he saw me, his jaw going slack. “Um, sure. It’s right through here?” I pointed down the short hallway, venturing inside to push the bedroom door open wider.

  Inside, a girl huddled between the bed and the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her black hair heavily framed a heart shaped face, pulled up into high pony tails on each side, the tips dyed a vibrant purple. At first I thought she had a long sleeved shirt on, but I realized upon stepping into the dimly lit room that she wore a tank top, her arms were just covered in tattoos.

  “Hi, you’d better come out into the living room,” I said with a friendly smile, but she didn’t look at me as she rose to her feet, moving woodenly for the door. Once she got a few steps closer I realized she was a vampire too and I relaxed, glad we wouldn’t have to mess with her mind to make her forget whatever conversation Mason was having with Scotty. “You can um, put on pants first, if you like.”

  Without a word, the girl stopped and pulled on a pair of baggy, red, plaid pants with built in suspenders dangling from the belt, her moves jerky, almost like a marionette with someone inexperienced at the strings.

  “How’s it going in there?” Mason yelled from the other room, and I called back so he wouldn’t worry.

  “Fine, she just getting changed.”

  “It’s not the fucking prom, get her out here,” he growled.

  “Alright, sheesh.” I shook my head, giving the girl a helpless shrug when she looked up. The moment our eyes met I wished she’d kept looking somewhere else. Her dark gaze was full of such anguish, completely devoid of hope. “Hey, it’ll be okay, I promise.” I gave her shoulder a reassuring pat.

  She blinked, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “It will?”

  “Don’t worry, whatever it is, we’ll get it straightened out,” I replied with confidence, drawing her into the living room.

  “This isn’t Marta’s fault, she didn’t know.” Scotty instantly drew the girl under his arm protectively.

  “Really?” Mason scoffed. “Pleading ignorance is no defense, you know that.”

  “Give me a week, I know I can scrape the cash together to push through an appeal!” Scotty begged, giving up on Mason to turn to me. “Please, give us sanctuary. One week is all, what can one week hurt?”

  “What’s this about?” I turned to Mason in confusion, shocked to find him with gun drawn and leveled at the couple. “Whoa, Mason…”

  “Sorry, kid, you know the law. No license, no dice. I’ll make it as quick as I can.” Before I could say another word, he’d fired twice, expertly shooting them each in the throat with a small metal dart.

  “Oh, you tranquilized them.” I breathed again, more relieved than I could say. “I thought you were going to kill them,” I laughed. “What did Scotty do, anyway?”

  “You’d better go wait in the car,” Mason replied, exchanging the dart gun for his cell, fingers moving swiftly over the touchpad. “I probably shouldn’t advertise the fact that I brought you along on the call.”

  “Are you calling someone to take them into custody?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Okay, I’ll be outside,” I agreed, getting all the way to the bottom of the stairs before I started to put two and two together and came up with five. “I am so stupid,” I murmured. Scotty didn’t have a license… and Mason wasn’t tranquilizing them… “Mason!” I yelled, running back up the stairs, only to find the living room deserted, the water running in the bathroom. “What are you…?” I froze as I caught sight of the mess in the tub. All that was left of the two vampires were… chunks. Even those remains were rapidly decomposing, washing down the drain.

  “I thought I told you to wait outside,” Mason said, drying off a wicked looking knife as big as my forearm with weary movements.

  Mutely, I nodded, not trusting myself to talk. I probably should have gotten the heck out of there, gotten away from a guy who could do something like that with such calm detachment, like it was no big deal. But I was numb inside, and my body moved on autopilot, climbing into the passenger’s side of the jeep. All I could think about was the look in Marta’s eyes. Not the hopeless look — the tiny flicker of hope I’d put there, reassuring her it would be alright.

  A white van pulled into the lot with a squeal of brakes, Paulie’s Plumbing emblazoned on the side of it. Three of the scariest looking plumbers I’d ever seen alighted, their arms weighted down with black leather cases, heading straight for Scotty’s apartment without a backwards glance.

  After a few minutes Mason emerged, his footsteps light on the stairs. He turned to say something as he slid into the driver’s seat, but thought better of it, starting the car without a word. I didn’t say anything either, I was still in shock, I guess. “Well, this is awkward.” His eyes flashed playfully as he stopped for a red light.

  “Don’t you dare turn this into a joke!” I punched him on the shoulder, my words exploding once the stillness was broken. “There is nothing remotely funny about this.”

  “I didn’t say there was.” Mason scooted as close to the door as his big frame would allow, rubbing his shoulder.

  As quickly as it burst forth, the violence left me, replaced by a profound sadness. “I told her it would be okay.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t your call to make, it was Order business.”

  “You knew this would happen before we even got here, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me you were going to kill them?” I wished to God he’d made me stay in the car in the first place.

  “Because I knew you’d react like this.”

  “Of course I would! This is not okay, Mason. That poor girl… this wasn’t her fault. And Scotty… we know him. How could you kill him like that without thinking twice about it?”

  “It’s my job,” he said slowly, as if I was mentally challenged. “You know the law, no unlicensed breeding. It’s not my fault Scotty went off book. He could have applied like anyone else.”

  “He said he just needed a week to get it all in order.”

  “They always say that,” he snorted. “There’s always some excuse. The short and skinny of it is, he turned her without permission. I can guarantee he wouldn’t have been able to produce papers in a week.”

  “But you didn’t even stop to ask him why. Maybe he had a good reason, did you ever think of that?” How could he be so cold?

  “I don’t want to hear reasons, that’s not how this works.” He looked appalled I’d even suggested it. “He broke the law, I upheld it. It’s as simple as that. You don’t think Bishop’s done this countless times?”

  I’ll need to see you
r license and registration. I heard Bishop’s first words in my head, clear as day. By all rights I should have ended up like Marta, draining through the sewers of San Francisco. Nevermind the fact that my Sire was an Ellri and I didn’t need the proper papers for him to turn me, Bishop had no way of knowing that at the time. What had made him spare me? Was a passing resemblance to Carys, his Sire, the only thing that had saved me from a similar fate?

  “Take me home,” I murmured, trying to swallow past the lump that rose in my throat.

  “What about going hunting?”

  “I’ll figure it out for myself.”

  “Bishop said I’m supposed to…”

  “Take… me… home…” I bit out each word slowly to keep from yelling again.

  “Alrighty then,” he muttered to himself, doing another kamikaze lane change to head back to my place. There were no more words exchanged as he drove me home, but Mason offered an olive branch as he pulled into the parking lot. “Let me know if you change your mind on the feeding. I’ll make sure I’m available.”

  He was trying, but I had something else on my mind. “No telling Hanna about any of this yet.”

  “What?” His face fell. “But Anja…”

  “No, I’m serious, Mason. Consider yourself lucky I’m not making you break it off with her altogether.” That was an empty threat, I couldn’t do that to my sister again. I knew how much Mason meant to her, but if I could slow down their relationship at all, I would. I couldn’t stand the thought of her meeting Marta’s fate. Scotty hadn’t meant to break the law, but sometimes people found themselves in circumstances where a bad decision was the only one left to make.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said tightly. “Will there be anything else.”

  “I’m just trying to keep her safe.”

  “Do you really think I don’t want that too?”

  “I think… your loyalties are divided.”

  “And you don’t think Bishop’s are?”

  *

  It was late when Bishop finally answered my invite on Skype. I’d spent hours kicking around the apartment without anything to do, too bummed out to go hunting on my own and Bridget was busy at work. I’d started to think I’d missed him altogether after I knew it was daylight in England, but something kept me from going to bed even after the sun rose behind the black out shutters.

  Glancing at the clock, I saw it must be barely nightfall where he was and I hoped nothing was wrong. “Hey,” I smiled sleepily when his face came into view. Shirtless, in a pair of boxer briefs, I could tell he’d only just woken up himself.

  “Hey.” A grin spread across his face once I replied. “I’m sorry I couldn’t call you earlier, things got away from me.”

  Hours of worry fell away at seeing him again, close enough I almost felt like I could reach out and touch him. “That’s alright, how are you?”

  Bishop let out a long breath. “I’m okay. I’d forgotten what it was like over here, they keep you hopping.”

  I could guess part of what was behind that long pause. “Is it rough not being the top man on the totem pole anymore?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” he replied, rubbing his jaw absently. “How did everything go last night?”

  Just like that I lost my smile. “What did Mason tell you?”

  “He didn’t tell me anything.” Bishop sat up straighter, keying into my mood shift. “Why… what happened?”

  “Oh nothing, business as usual for you guys.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my voice.

  “Why does that sound like things didn’t go well with the hunting?”

  “We never even got to the hunting. Something about having to watch him execute Scotty and his girlfriend sort of killed my appetite. Go figure.” It was either sarcasm or tears and I opted for what I thought was the stronger choice.

  “What?” His brows climbed skyward. “Where was this, at the Hart?”

  “No, this was at Scotty’s place. See, Mason got a call and…”

  “Mason took you on a call with him?” Bishop interrupted, and I could tell he’d give Mason an earful about it later. “I can see where this is going. Anja, I know it wasn’t pleasant for you to see, and I’m going to have words with Mason about letting you witness something like that, but…”

  “No, that part is my fault for not waiting in the car. It’s… you know what, nevermind.” He didn’t get it, and I didn’t expect him to. It wasn’t like anything could be changed about it now anyway. “I don’t want to spend our whole time talking about that. When are you coming home?”

  “It looks like I’ll be here longer than I thought.”

  After that I lost track of the convoluted explanation, I just focused on the fact that Bishop wasn’t coming home. Not for a while. Not only that, he wasn’t too keen on bringing me over yet either. “I don’t understand why you don’t want me to come. I promise, I won’t get in the way.”

  “It’s hard to explain. The political climate here is different than you’re used to.”

  “So, I won’t get involved in politics. I don’t care about that stuff anyway, I just want to be with you.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “I don’t see what that has to do with us.” Unless… “Are you breaking up with me?” My mouth dropped open as the sudden idea spilled out.

  “What? No, that’s not it at all.” I was comforted by the shock on his face at the mention of it and. “Just give me a little more time to get things squared away and we’ll figure out how to be together.”

  “How much time is a little more time?”

  “A few weeks, maybe New Years at the most. After that, we’ll talk again if I can’t see my way to a transfer home.”

  Something didn’t sound right to me, but what could I do? “Alright,” I replied, subdued by both the subject and the late hour. My brain was starting to get fuzzy.

  “Hey, you look pretty beat. You should get some rest.” His voice was like a caress and I leaned into it, nearly losing my balance as clumsy Anja took over.

  “Yes, and I should probably let you get to work.” I let out a long sigh. “Next time try to call me when I’m a little more conscious, okay?”

  “I’ll do my best,” he promised. “And listen, I’ll talk to Mason. The next time he takes you hunting, I’ll make sure you actually get to the hunting part.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from saying something I’d regret later as that anger and frustration with the Order and their stupid laws returned in a flash. “Thanks. Goodnight, I love you.”

  Bishop’s hand stretched out towards the screen, like he wanted to touch my face. “Bye.” The corner of his mouth tugged up into a lopsided smile and then he was gone, leaving me to the low hum of my laptop. I felt bone tired as I climbed into bed, clothes and all.

  Only I couldn’t sleep. The biological thing should have knocked me out — I’d never been much good at functioning after sunrise — but I lay in bed stewing over the whole situation. It wasn’t fair that people like Marta and Scotty had to die because of some missing paperwork. It wasn’t fair that I got off scot-free because my Sire was an Ellri, exempt to all the vampire laws. It wasn’t fair that Bishop had been sent away just as we’d worked things out between us.

  Why would the Order go through with the transfer after Kursik’s death if it was his idea? The more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe Jakob was involved in Bishop’s transfer. Why else would a powerful vampire elder give up his claim to me when he professed to love me so much he’d turned me without my consent? Instead of just kidnapping me, knowing I’d hate him for running roughshod over my feelings, he’d gone the sneaky route, which was almost worse.

  I found myself dialing Jakob, intending to leave him a blistering voicemail, because any vampire in their right mind was probably fast asleep. Instead, he answered on the second ring and I didn’t give him a chance to get a single word in.

  “You have a lot of nerve, you know that?”

  Jakob
didn’t skip a beat, ignoring the accusation in my voice to the underlying trouble. “Are you well, petal? You seem distressed.”

  “You’re gorram right I’m distressed!” I could tell my words were a slurring. That should have been my clue to hang up before I said something completely asinine, but I kept on going full steam ahead. “How do you sleep at night?”

  “I knew you’d be thinking of me. You wish to know how I sleep?”

  I could hear the bedroom look in his eyes through the phone and I shook my head to clear it. “No, I mean, you did this to me. This is all your fault, isn’t it?”

  Jakob sobered, losing the velvet touch to his voice. “I have apologized, älskling. I did not mean to bring you pain, only to share my life with you.”

  “I told you, I choose Bishop, not you. Why can’t you accept that?” Blunter than I should have been, maybe, but my self control was out the window.

  “I agreed to abide by that decision, for now.” There was no mistaking the pain in his voice and a touch of anger that should have been a warning, but I plowed right ahead.

  “Then why get rid of Bishop like that?”

  “He is not by your side?”

  “It’s kinda hard for him to be when you had him shipped off to the House of Vests.”

  “Bishop has abandoned you?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t know exactly what’s going on. You’re the one to have him transferred, weren’t you? Admit it.”

  “I admit no such thing. Rest assured, petal, if I were to remove Bishop from your life I would most assuredly not do it with such finesse.” Bishop had said as much, and I started to realize I probably shouldn’t have essentially drunk dialed my Sire. “And I certainly would be there to reap the rewards of my efforts.”

  He had me there. So far I hadn’t seen him since the night he’d agreed to let me be with Bishop. “You really didn’t have anything to do with his move?”

  “I give you my word if you will accept it.” There was honor and a challenge in his voice and I felt stupid for calling him in the first place.

  “Of course I will. I’m sorry, I must sound insane. I don’t even know what I’m saying.”