by Rose Wulf
They rolled onto the floor, making the nearest vampire jump aside to avoid rolling with them, and Seth managed to lock one hand beneath Richards’s jaw. Richards reached up to try and break the grip, but Seth tightened his hold and twisted. The body beneath him went limp, but Seth knew better. “Chair leg,” he snapped, holding out one hand expectantly.
One of the vampires took the hint and dashed into the kitchen. The sound of splitting wood filled the house and then he was back, handing a splintered shaft of wood toward Seth’s outstretched hand.
Seth took the makeshift stake, adjusted his hold on Richards, and plunged it through Richards’s heart.
“Will you ever learn to stay back when I ask you to?” Seth asked, leaning against a semi-demolished wall in the living room with Veronica at his side, her hand wrapped in his.
Veronica hummed thoughtfully, letting her thumb run lightly over the back of his hand, and replied, “Maybe…after a century or two.”
Robert’s men were still working on cleaning up the mess—and Richards’s gray, wrinkled corpse—while Seth took a minute to recover from his injuries. Someone had had the foresight to bring a couple packets of blood, so his healing was going fairly well. And before he could vocalize his thought of sending someone to go find Jasen the vampire in question came striding in through the open front door.
“Who called the cavalry?” His tone made it hard to decipher whether he was appreciative of the backup or annoyed by it. Seth suspected it was the latter anyway.
Veronica turned and looked over at him, declaring, “I did.” She didn’t say the rest, but she had already explained it once. She’d thought they’d be fighting all three of their enemies and she’d wanted to be sure that no one got away.
Jasen scowled faintly at her and replied, “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”
“What happened to the kid?” Seth asked, drawing Jasen’s attention.
Irritation flashed through Jasen’s eyes and he said, “He made me chase him. But the idiot doubled back so it didn’t take as much effort as it could have.”
“Did you kill him?” Seth pushed. He was on the fence about whether or not the vamp had really deserved to die, so he was settling for hoping that Jasen had at least gotten a little information from him first.
“No,” Jasen grunted. “But I gave him a beating to keep him in line for the future.”
Seth was honestly surprised by the answer, but he chose to drop the subject.
“So,” Veronica began, looking between them before finally settling her curious gaze on Seth, “what now?”
He gave her hand a squeeze and replied, “We stick around for a little while, see if we can’t find the Wilson brothers.”
“And if we can’t?” she asked. He could see in her eyes that she suspected the same thing he did.
“Then we assume they’ve skipped town,” he said, “and we take our search elsewhere.” Later he would explain that that ‘elsewhere’ would have to wait until he’d dealt with the situation waiting for him in California, but he trusted that she’d understand.
Veronica sighed softly and nodded, her gaze falling to the ground. “All right.”
Jasen shifted his weight before declaring, “I’m going to go talk to whoever’s running this cleanup,” and turning on his heel, leaving them alone.
Seth leaned over, pressing his lips to Veronica’s temple, and murmured, “In the meantime, I think we should lock ourselves away for a few days.” When she looked up with surprised eyes he added, “Starting tomorrow.”
She grinned and replied, “Tomorrow is good.”
Chapter Nineteen
It didn’t take Veronica long to decide that whatever power-that-be that had given vampires the option of Bonding had also secretly not wanted them to choose that option. The first day hadn’t been too bad; Seth had suggested that they each have a large drink shortly before midnight, in order to give them what strength they could gather. Waiting until the middle of the day, when the sun was at its hottest, had been a bit of a struggle, but the edge had waned as soon as she’d started feeding. And she noticed immediately what he’d meant about vampire blood not having what they needed to sustain themselves.
It was a strange sensation, she decided, to sink her teeth into someone else’s flesh. But she was glad it didn’t disgust her the way she’d feared it would. And while she’d found drinking from him to be overwhelmingly erotic she would have been lying to say that the feeding itself was as satisfying as the human blood she’d already become accustomed to. She was thirsty again much earlier than she would have been otherwise, and waiting until the same time the next day to feed again proved to be incredibly difficult. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was as hard for Seth, who was at least more used to being a vampire and dealing with those urges and instincts.
By the third day she felt like she might be dying. Her body was weak and covered in a cold sweat and just thinking about how hungry she was made her want to cry. She barely had the energy to crawl out of bed.
Seth seemed to be handling it a little better, as he was still able to climb to his feet and walk around (though he was definitely walking slower and more deliberately than usual). He was paler than she was used to seeing him and if he did too much at one time he had to brace himself for a long minute against the nearest wall. She wished there was something more she could do for him, and she knew he felt the same.
“Coffee’s ready,” Seth declared as he returned to the bedroom. He was carrying a large, covered thermos in one hand (they had learned the hard way that it was officially too challenging to walk with two regular mugs at this stage). Their mugs were now resting on the nightstand beside the bed for easy reach.
Veronica cringed. She had come to understand why he drank so much coffee—it certainly helped more than regular water or juice—but she was also coming to be tired of it. Releasing a strained sigh she pushed herself to a sitting position and asked, “We don’t have to renew our proverbial vows at any regular interval, do we?”
Seth offered a faint, bitter chuckle and shook his head as he eased back onto the side of the mattress. He began carefully pouring the coffee into the mugs as he replied, “No; it’s a one-time deal.”
“That’s a relief,” she mumbled, watching while he topped off his own mug, set the thermos down, and then lifted her mug with both hands. He handed it over to her, nodding when she offered a quiet thank you, and she accepted the drink with mixed feelings. In another hour they could feed again—on each other—but they needed to be consistently semi-nourishing their bodies or it just wouldn’t be enough. Which meant more flavorless coffee.
They sat in silence while they drained the contents of their mugs and then Seth set both objects back onto the dresser top, beside the thermos. He was leaning back, task accomplished, when they heard the front door open.
“Please don’t tell me you’ve died in here,” Jasen called, his tone annoyingly casual.
Veronica groaned and let herself fall back on the bed.
“We’re in here,” Seth replied even as his lips twitched as he glanced down at Veronica. He was clearly amused by her reaction.
Jasen stepped into the doorway before stopping, leaning his gigantically tall figure against the doorframe and slipping his hands into his pockets. “So not yet, at least,” he commented.
Veronica knew he was mocking them. She caught the almost imperceptible lip twitch as he studied them. Jerk.
“Did you find anything?” Seth asked, ignoring Jasen’s jibe.
“I wouldn’t tell you if I had,” Jasen replied, faint amusement gone as quickly as it had come. “You’re in no shape to do anything about anything.” He paused long enough to let Seth frown at him before adding, “And no, I haven’t. Probably they’ve cleared out.”
Seth sighed but it was obvious that he wasn’t overly surprised.
“You two should be eating like normal vampires by tomorrow, right?” Jasen asked.
“Right,” Seth replied.
“Finally,” Veronica added without actually moving.
Jasen inclined his head, straightened, and said, “Then I’m heading out. I’ll see you in Sacramento, and I’ll let Trista know you’re coming.”
Seth inclined his head as he reached again for the thermos. “All right; thanks.”
Veronica offered an unenthusiastic wave as Jasen turned and started back down the hall. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but apparently she was no longer afraid of him. Though she wasn’t quite sure that that meant she actually liked him. There is a difference. But what was more important was what he’d reminded her of. She’d never been to Sacramento—though she’d also never been to California in general. What mattered, though, was that Sacramento was heavy. That was where the First Family was living.
“Are they going to try to eat me?” Veronica asked quietly as the door shut in the distance.
Seth chuckled softly and shook his head. He paused to take another long drink from his refilled mug before adding, “No. They’ll give you funny looks at first, but don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine…just don’t back-talk Trista.”
“Right,” Veronica said with a half-nod. “Note to self: don’t back-talk the oldest vampire on the planet. Shouldn’t be a problem.” She held her hand out, toward the dresser, silently asking for more coffee.
He poured it without a word and handed it over.
She gulped half of the contents in one breath before asking, “Are we done yet?” Their eyes met and they exchanged a small smile before she resumed draining her mug.
“This is almost disturbing,” Veronica declared Tuesday night from where she was leaning against the counter. Her eyes were focused on the newspaper in her hands and she was frowning.
“What is?” Seth asked from down the hall. She swore she could feel him pause as he stood over his suitcase and she wondered idly if it wasn’t just her imagination.
Shaking her head, Veronica called, “My funeral’s tomorrow.”
Seth’s light footsteps announced his arrival as he strode down the hall and stopped beside her. “You’re reading it,” he said, a note of surprise in his voice.
They’d had possession of the paper with her obituary in it since it had been released, but Veronica hadn’t been able to bring herself to touch it. When Seth had offered to throw it away, however, she’d quickly asked him not to. She had wanted to see it, but she hadn’t really wanted to see it. She’d been horrendously confused and entirely not ready for that visual confirmation of her human death. So she couldn’t blame him for being surprised to see her reading it now.
She offered him a small smile and nodded. “It seemed like the right time.”
Seth reached out and gently pried the newspaper from her grasp, tossing it onto the counter before pulling her into his arms. He tucked her head beneath his chin and said, “Give it time, honey. The pain will fade.”
Veronica smiled into his collar, took a deep breath, and twisted her hands into the back of his shirt. It was amazing how much better she felt than when the day had started. And as difficult as the process had been she already knew that she would do it all over again if she had to. Eternity didn’t sound nearly as daunting knowing that she would never have to spend it alone.
“I know it will,” she assured him.
He gave her a gentle squeeze before pulling back, holding her gaze, and whispering, “I love you, Veronica Wyndham.”
Her smile broadened and she pressed a soft, brief kiss to his lips before replying, “Actually, if it’s all right with you, I was thinking I should introduce myself as Veronica Hunter when we hit Sacramento.”
He responded with a powerful kiss, arms tight around her, and she knew he approved of her decision.
The End
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