by Lynsay Sands
"If you mean do we tend to choose cheap alternatives over what is right but expensive, then no," he assured her.
"Most of the immortals on the council are at least a couple thousand years old," Katricia explained, turning to face them so that she could speak quietly and not be overheard by the person in line in front of them. "They have had more than enough time to amass enough wealth that the money used to run the Enforcers is little more than a drop in the bucket. Certainly cheaper than mortal taxes."
Sherry raised her eyebrows, but kept her voice down when she asked, "So all older immortals are crazy rich?"
"Most," Basil acknowledged. "Although there are some who simply do not care enough to bother amassing a fortune and make little more than they need to get by."
Sherry tilted her head at this news and asked, "You're kidding, right? I mean, surely not every immortal is smart enough to amass a fortune. You have to have one or two who--"
"Stupid immortals do not usually live centuries, let alone millennia," Katricia interrupted quietly, and then added, "At least they did not use to. Now that there is not a battle around every corner, they have a longer life expectancy."
"Last I heard there were several battles going on," Sherry said dryly. "Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq . . ."
"Yes, but those are only taking place in certain parts of the world, and those places can be avoided. Besides, the weapons are different now," Katricia countered. "In the Middle Ages in Europe it seemed like everyone was fighting everyone, country with country, but also neighbor with neighbor . . . and they used swords and battle-axes and other things that often took off a head."
"Which is one of the few ways your kind can die," Sherry said with understanding.
Katricia and Basileios both nodded.
"So you lost a lot of stupid immortals to battle-axes and swords?" she muttered, shaking her head. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation. Immortals, beheadings, people who lived centuries or even millennia.
"A good many stupid or impetuous ones, and a few who were simply unlucky," Katricia said with a shrug, and then added gently, "You will get used to the idea of us and stop feeling like you are in the twilight zone. It just takes a bit of getting used to."
"Are you having trouble coping with all of this?" Basileios asked with a frown of concern. "I thought you were handling it well."
"She is," Katricia assured him. "But it would throw anyone for a loop."
"Yes, I suppose it would," Basileios agreed quietly.
Feeling like a child whose parents were discussing her, Sherry cleared her throat and pointed out, "It's our turn."
"Our--? Oh!" Katricia said with surprise as she glanced around to see that the line in front of them was gone and it was their turn at the till. She moved forward at once, and then paused to glance back at Sherry and her father. "What would you like?"
"A small coffee regular and a Boston cream donut," Sherry said, smiling at the server.
"The same for me," Basileios murmured as the girl began punching keys on her cash register.
Katricia nodded and turned to finish giving the order, and Sherry glanced at Basileios, a slow smile crossing her lips.
"You ordered food," she said softly, and then her smile widened as she recalled that he'd been eating breakfast that morning when she joined them. She'd been so kerfluffled by the rush that she hadn't noted it at the time, but now she recalled that he'd had a plate heaped with bacon and scrambled eggs when she settled at the table.
"I am feeling a bit peckish," he said, smiling in return. But the heat in his eyes as he slid his arm around her waist and drew her to his side suggested food wasn't what he was thinking about.
Sherry grinned despite the blush she could feel rising over her face at this sign of his reawakening appetites. She still wasn't sure that what she'd experienced with him the day before was this shared pleasure business he'd mentioned. The passion had been crazy strong, but it seemed to be her own, not his and hers combined. Still, he couldn't read her and his appetites were definitely in evidence. She probably was his life mate . . . She just had to decide what she wanted to do about it, she acknowledged, some of her inner glow dimming a bit. So far she liked the guy and had a serious compulsion to jump his bones, but this life mate business was like marriage, as far as she could tell, and she'd only known him a day, not even a full twenty-four hours.
While she was known to be spontaneous and impulsive, jumping into this seemed a bit crazy rather than just impulsive. She really needed to think about her future and what she wanted . . . which didn't mean she wasn't going to jump the guy at every opportunity while she was doing so. He had some serious mojo going for him. Sherry was incredibly aware of every inch of male body pressed against her side and had to fight the urge to run her hands over his chest and kiss him. Closing her eyes, she bit her lip and imagined just that, sliding her hands up his chest as she shifted to press against his groin. Claiming his lips with her own and nipping at, then sucking on, the lower one as she--
"Why don't you two go wait in the van?" Katricia suggested suddenly. "I will take care of this."
"Good idea," Basileios said, swinging Sherry away and urging her toward the exit.
Sherry went willingly, but couldn't help peering at him curiously. He'd practically growled the two words, and the only time she'd heard his voice go that raspy was during their shared passion experiment in the kitchen at the Enforcer house last night. One look at the silver flaring in his eyes told her that his thoughts were running along the same line as her own, so she wasn't surprised when he hurried her into the back of the van, tugged the door closed and then dropped onto the bench seat and pulled her into his arms. He didn't have to do much pulling, she was already shifting closer, her arms reaching for him.
His kiss was as exciting as she recalled from the night before. It hadn't simply been the situation and high adrenaline after the escape from Leonius, which was something she'd considered last night while trying to get to sleep. Any possibility that it was hormones or events that had raised her passions so high fled as his tongue lashed her own.
Dear God, the man was one hell of a kisser, she thought, and moaned when his hand found her breast through the silk of her blouse. When he then undid the top four or five buttons and tugged the shirt and bra aside so he could cup her breast unimpeded, Sherry gasped into his mouth and blinked her eyes open. Groaning as he squeezed and kneaded, she stared blindly out the window behind him, some small part of her mind thinking it might be a good idea to watch for Katricia and the others.
Glimpsing blond hair across the parking lot, she tried to focus, but it wasn't Katricia. She didn't think the person was even a female, but someone who looked a great deal like Leonius. Frowning, she focused on the man, trying to see if it was him or not, but in the next moment a semi drove past, blocking her vision, and then Basileios broke their kiss and dropped his head to claim the nipple he'd bared. Sherry glanced down with a gasp as he closed his lips over the already hard nub and began to suckle.
"Oh, God, Basileios, don't do that. They'll be back any minute," she moaned even as she cupped his head to urge him on.
He mumbled something around her nipple and then added an exclamation point to whatever he'd said by sliding one hand down to cup her between the legs through her skirt. Sherry cried out and covered his hand, pressing it more firmly against herself, all thoughts of the blond man in the parking lot slipping from her mind.
In the next moment, she was on her back on the bench seat with Basileios on top of her, his groin grinding against her own through their clothes as his hands replaced his mouth at her breast and he returned to kissing her again. Every nerve in Sherry's body was clamoring now and straining toward the explosive release she was sure was coming. Her legs were wrapped around his hips for a better angle and her hands were alternating between pulling at his clothes and squeezing his behind to urge him on, and then the sound of the door sliding open hit her ears and she heard Stephanie s
aying, "So try to remember to use contractions more often. You know, he's, she's, they're, and stuff like that and-- Hey, how come the windows are all fogged up?"
Basileios froze and then broke their kiss and lifted his head to give her an apologetic smile.
Sherry stared back wide-eyed as it slowly occurred to her that she'd been dry humping in the back of the van, something she hadn't done since she was a teenager. And they'd been caught, she realized as Basileios eased off of her and shifted to sit on the end of the bench as she heard Stephanie say, "Oh, there you are." There was a pause and then she offered, "We can go back inside for five or ten minutes if you like. But I'm not dressing you guys and buckling you in when we come back to find you both passed out and naked."
"Get in." Drina's voice sounded half amused and half exasperated as she gave the order, and Sherry felt the van shift as Stephanie climbed in. Realizing that she was laying there with her top open and her breast still out of her bra, Sherry quickly straightened and did up her clothes, then ran her hands through her hair as she shifted her legs off the seat and sat up.
"Hungry?" Stephanie asked with a grin as she settled on the bench seat in front of them. She raised the Tim Horton's bag she carried and added, "For food I mean."
Sherry responded with the maturity she was known for and stuck her tongue out at the girl.
Stephanie just burst out laughing.
"I like her."
Basileios turned from watching Sherry disappear up the curving staircase to the second floor of Casey Cottage, and smiled at his daughter. "I do too."
"Good thing since she's your life mate," Katricia said on a laugh.
"Yeah," he agreed, and then raised his eyebrows. "Are you heading back to Teddy's now?"
"Nope. He's actually on his way here," she said wryly, and then explained, "Lucian asked us to stay for a day or so until they have a better handle on the Leonius situation. I talked to Teddy, he agreed, and was going to pack bags for both of us and meet us here. He should arrive any minute."
Basileios didn't hide his surprise at this news and asked dryly, "What? Lucian didn't think six rogue hunters in the house were sufficient?"
"Actually, Teddy and I will make four immortals in enforcement here," Katricia told him. "Hazel and D.J. are on vacation in BC at the moment, and Elvi and Harper are not hunters, so it's just Drina, Victor, Teddy, and myself."
"And me," he added quietly.
Katricia crinkled her eyes and said, "Yeahhhh." It was a long drawn-out sound that was more dubious than anything. "No offense, Father, but just having met your life mate, you are not going to be much use for the next little while. I fear you are going to be a little distracted and not very dependable when it comes to vigilance and stuff."
"She means your brain is going to be firmly lodged in your drawers for the foreseeable future," a deep male voice announced, and Basileios turned to see his younger brother, Victor, stepping into the house through the back door. Elvi had been the only one to greet them when they all arrived in the van, and said that Victor had made a run to the grocery store for her. Katricia then offered to show Sherry to the room they'd set up for her. Victor was back now, though.
"Drawers?" Stephanie asked. "Nobody uses that word anymore, Uncle Vic. At least not in that way," she announced, closing the refrigerator door and moving to hug Victor in greeting.
"Well excuse me, Miss Know-it-all," Victor said, giving the girl an affectionate squeeze with the hand that wasn't holding four grocery bags. "I'll try to remember that in future so as not to offend your delicate sensibilities."
"Good, 'cause you're too handsome to sound like an old fuddy-duddy," Stephanie said with a grin as she slipped out of his one-armed embrace. "Did you get anything good?"
"Scads of chips and other junk food," Victor said with dry amusement as she began to relieve him of the bags. "Your Aunt Elvi thought you might want comfort food after your close encounter."
"Ooooh, brownie mix!" Stephanie squealed, dragging the bags to the counter to begin removing the contents.
Shaking his head, Victor left her to it and moved around the counter to approach Basileios and Katricia. He gave Katricia an affectionate hug, then turned to Basileios and did the same, the two men slapping each other's back. When the hug ended, Basileios arched an eyebrow. "Uncle Vic?"
"Well I cannot be Dad, she has one," Victor said with a smile. "But she is our girl . . . and Drina and Harper's, and Hazel and D.J.'s," he added wryly, then glanced to Katricia and said, "And on occasion she's even Teddy and Katricia's."
"She is a lucky girl," Basileios said quietly.
"We are all lucky," Victor assured him, and then arched one eyebrow. "So where are Drina and Harper?"
"Harper was taking a nap when we got here," Katricia announced. "Drina went up to wake him and tell him we have arrived."
Victor nodded and glanced to Basil. "And where is this life mate Lucian was telling me you found? Sherry, is it?"
"Yes. Sherry." Basil realized he was grinning at the mere mention of her name and tried to tamp it down a bit. "Elvi took her up to show her to her room." Basileios glanced toward the stairs now, disappointed to find them empty. Turning back, he added, "But I did not find her, Stephanie did."
"Ah." Victor nodded. "Yes, she did say she could tell who were life mates to each other when she met them and who was not. It was just a matter of time before she turned into a mini Marguerite," Victor said lightly as he turned and headed around the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining room. Pausing at the refrigerator, he glanced around at the others as he opened the door and asked, "Blood?"
Basileios hesitated, his glance shifting to the stairs again.
"Has she not seen you feed yet, Father?" Katricia asked, either reading his expression or reading his mind.
"'Dad,' Tricia," Stephanie corrected with amusement. "Call Basil 'Dad.' You can't keep calling him Father."
"Why not?" Basil asked with a frown.
"Because it makes her sound old," Stephanie said dryly.
"She is old," Basil pointed out.
"Thanks . . . Dad," Tricia said as dryly.
"We are all old," Basil said quietly. "Compared to mortals, that is. Though you are just a pup to me."
"I didn't mean old like in years," Stephanie said with exasperation. "Like you say, you're all old. But you look young, yet you guys all talk like you're from another century."
"We are," Basil pointed out.
"Yeah, but--"
"Stephanie thinks we draw attention to ourselves with our antiquated speech," Victor said calmly.
"I don't think it, I know it," Stephanie said, and shook her head. "I don't understand it either. I know you guys avoid mortals as much as possible, but you do see and speak to them on occasion. Why is your speech still so old fashioned?"
"Because speech patterns and accents are learned while you are young and tend to stick," Katricia said with amusement, and then added, "Surely you have met transplanted foreigners who still have heavy accents after years living over here?"
Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, our neighbor, old Mrs. Marcetti, had a really thick Italian accent and she moved to Canada when she was like fifteen."
"Yes, well, she still has it because she was old enough that it was ingrained by the time she moved here," Katricia announced. "It's difficult for her to change it now, and so it is for us."
When Stephanie scowled at this, Victor quickly said, "However, Stephanie is right and our speech probably does make us stand out, so we are trying to modernize our speech pattern . . . with her help, of course."
"Ah," Basil said with amusement as he noted the way Stephanie relaxed. "I see."
"So?" Victor asked, arching an eyebrow. "Yes or no to blood?"
Basil hesitated. As far as he knew, Sherry hadn't seen anyone feed yet. She hadn't even seen fangs yet either, at least not his. She hadn't asked again when he'd returned from the council meeting and he hadn't reminded her. He was concerned about how she would react. It
was one thing to be told vampires or immortals exist, but another entirely to actually see their fangs and witness them sucking blood up like pop through those pointy little fangs.
"She has to see it sometime," Katricia said quietly. "I think she will be okay with it."
"Yeah," Stephanie agreed, "She might be a little weirded out at first maybe, but in the end I think she'll be fine too."
"Right," Basileios murmured, and then glanced to Victor. "Yes, I guess I shall--"
It was as far as he got, Victor had already retrieved four bags and was now tossing him one as he kicked the refrigerator door closed.
Basileios easily caught the bag. As he slapped it to his fangs, Victor tossed a second bag to Katricia, and then set a third on the counter beside the pile of goodies Stephanie was still unpacking. He then walked around the counter, saying, "Blood before junk food, Steph."
"Ahh," she complained. "Can't I just--"
"You know the rules, kiddo," Victor interrupted, before slapping the last bag to his own fangs.
Basileios smiled around the bag at his mouth. He was aware that Stephanie still found consuming blood difficult. It didn't help that she had no fangs, so had to drink it out of a cup like red milk. But the exchange just seemed so much like one between a father and daughter that he couldn't help smiling. Also, he was glad to see his brother so happy again. It had been a long while since he'd seen Victor so content.
"You've got your own en suite bathroom," Elvi chattered, opening the door to show Sherry the bathroom. "And this room is away from the road, so the sounds of traffic shouldn't bother you."
"Thank you so much, Elvi," Sherry said sincerely as Elvi closed the bathroom door. "I appreciate this."
"You're more than welcome," Elvi said sincerely. "Besides, while we offered to have you stay here on the house, the Enforcers will pay, so you really don't have anything to thank me for."
"Oh, I see," Sherry said on a chuckle, and then shrugged and added, "It's the thought that counts, though, and you did offer to put us up."
Elvi smiled. "I like the way you think."
Sherry grinned and turned to open the suitcase Elvi had set on the bed. She now knew why the woman had insisted on carrying it up for her. Elvi felt she had to because Sherry was apparently an official guest.
