by Vivian Lane
“Cat got your tongue?” Catherine asked. When he didn’t reply, she ducked her head and headed for the stairs. “I’ll just…” she muttered.
He grabbed her arm. “No. Don’t. I mean, you don’t have to run off. You look lovely.”
“You’re not just saying that?” she asked. “Alicia’s taste is a lot more overt than mine—”
“Catherine. I mean it. You can even put on a bloody fashion show, if you like.”
She blushed. “I believe you. Thanks.”
He let go of her arm and guided her into the parlor to sit. “You enjoyed being out today? Alicia can be a bit much in large doses.”
Catherine nodded. “It was nice once I figured out the salon wasn’t going to do something scary. And she’s a pretty good shopping buddy despite running me around until my feet fell off. London’s a beautiful city. I’m glad I’ve seen it at least once.”
“Good, good… And you got a dress?”
“Yes. It’s being tailored. We actually agreed on it, if you can believe it,” she said, chuckling.
“It must be special, then. Have you eaten?” They’d missed dinner with the others.
“Yes, we stopped at a restaurant before heading back. I was pleasantly surprised, since I’d heard English food…lacked.”
“Mocking my heritage now, are we?”
“Depends on if that offends you,” she teased back.
“And if it did?”
“Then, I’d apologize, or take my punishment like a good girl, depending on your preference.”
Thinking on Alicia’s advice, Catherine realized she no longer feared William. She wasn’t sure when it happened, but she felt confident enough to show she was more than a meek woman-child.
The ball was now in his court.
William’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in scrutiny. “You don’t fear me anymore, do you?”
“Should I?” she said mildly.
“Always,” he purred. “I’m still a vampire.”
“True, but if you were going to eat me, you already would have,” she countered. “You’re not like Tallis.”
“Maybe not, but you read the book.” He waited for her nod. “I’m a bad man.”
“But miles apart from him.”
“Romanticizing my exploits, love?”
She shook her head. “No, but none of us are defined by one action. We’re the sum of all our decisions. I do want to know…”
“Yes?”
“Why suddenly go under the radar?”
“Why do you want to know that?” he snapped.
“I…I only want to understand.” Her voice was soft, timid. “I kinda like you, when you’re not yelling at me.” She dropped her gaze to her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry for being too nosy.”
“Catherine…maybe another time. Turn in early. You’ve had a long day.”
“Of course. Goodnight, William.”
She finally had a night to herself without needing to study until she fell asleep in the book, and she couldn’t fall asleep. Her mind kept going over the day, what Alicia said, and her conversation with William.
And the fact that Tallis was two and a half weeks away.
She could run away, but she had very little money. Without some kind of protection, Tallis would probably find her again. If she befriended William, then she had a potential ally, but was he befriend-able? Being amicable during her lessons didn’t mean he cared for her.
And William was smart. He’d probably guess the reason she was trying to get chummy and call her bluff on it. But Alicia suggested it was possible…
Two hours later, Catherine was no closer to falling asleep. “Screw it.” She got out of bed, donned a robe, and went down to the kitchen to make some warm milk.
William stomped straight to the liquor cabinet.
“Hey…your head is brown?” Catherine asked, sounding surprised. His natural blond was now a dark-medium brunet.
He skidded to a stop. “What are you doin’ up?”
She held up a mug. “Warm milk. I couldn’t get to sleep. Bad night?”
“Went out for a drive.” He walked to the liquor cabinet, took out a key, and unlocked it.
In that? He wore a leather coat over a tight tee and even tighter jeans. “Wearing cologne?” she said.
“What’s it to you?”
“Nothing. What’s with the hair?”
“I don’t go out blond in public anymore.”
Another sore subject. “Merely curious since I’m awake and sitting here.”
“Curiosity killed the cat, love.” He selected Glenlivet and drank straight from the bottle.
“Good thing I’m not a cat,” she said, stirring her milk.
He straddled a chair across from her as she sipped from the mug. “The kitten, then. Still applies.”
“If I were to guess, you planned to blow off some steam.”
“And now?”
“Still looking to…hence the bottle,” she said
He took another healthy swig. “Hm.” Narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her.
She blinked innocently over her cup.
“It’s almost Halloween, you know…” he said next.
“Is it?” The subject change was sudden.
He nodded once. “It’s when we’re going to the theatre.”
Her eyes widened. “The end of October is next week?”
“Miss Meticulous doesn’t know what day it is?” he teased.
“I have… I-I do, it’s just… I lost track of the date, okay? Happens when your world’s turned upside down.” Nearly November…good God…the semester was almost over. College felt so long ago now. Homesickness turned the milk in her stomach. Damn Tallis! “I should be cramming for midterms, then pigging out on pizza with my roommate. God, she’s gotta be so worried by now…”
“You were chummy?”
She nodded. “Fast friends. We arrived to move in to the dorm on the same day, then kept bumping into each other after that. Bonded over a love of Chaucer, among other things.” She smiled, remembering. “That was in August. Feels longer.” She took another sip from the mug.
“So what would you rather be doing now?”
“Carrying on with what I was. My goal was to get my teaching degree eventually. Did you go to college when you were human?”
“You think I might’ve?”
“Yep. I know Alicia well enough now to see what about all this isn’t her. Gives you away as being an educated man back in the day.”
Another swig from the bottle brought it down to half empty. “I was, in another lifetime. Right in London. Wasn’t a bad time, all things considered.”
“How so?”
“Wasn’t fond of my classmates, but I was otherwise at home. Went the full course and everything. Came home after, blah, blah, blah…”
“So how old did that make you when you became a vampire?”
“Twenty-eight. Twenty-seven. It was September. I think. Cool enough for ladies to wear shawls at night. I was leaving another dreadful party. She freed me, my salvation… I’ll always thank her for that.” He finished the bottle and gave it an odd look, then shrugged and got up to fetch another. Grabbed a glass, too, this time.
“You needed saving back then?”
“In a matter of speakin’.” He pulled the chair out next to her and sat, pouring a full glass from the new bottle of JD. “Misunderstood, I was, except by my family. My sire saw to the heart of me, what I yearned for. We had over a hundred happy years together, until...”
“How did that whole thing happen? You never say her name.” Catherine only knew of it from the book—Sylvania.
He refilled the glass. “Tallis doesn’t love, you know,” changing the topic. “Feels it’s beneath him, a human thing. There’s a kind of affection he has for his clan, but there’s nothin’ soft about it. He came into town more wicked than ever. When ‘e sets ‘is mind to a plan…well, it’s twisted and sadistic as hell, but it’s genius, too…and if you ever
tell ‘im I said that, I’ll cut out your tongue and make you eat it.”
Catherine crossed her heart. “I promise. So, she leaves town…and you’re…?”
“Healing. A vampire will heal from just about anything, short of cutting off our heads, but it still takes time, and blood.”
“What happened to you?”
“Barely escaped an explosion in London.”
“That must have been hard,” she said. “Did you ever see her again?”
“Briefly.” He nodded, swallowing more whiskey. “It was well and truly…over.”
“I’m sorry.”
He sniffed. “’S alright. We had longer than most, right?”
There was Catherine’s “in”. She placed her hand on his. “That eats you up, huh?”
He nodded morosely. Abandoned the glass and went straight for the bottle.
“I don’t know how a woman could forsake such obvious devotion,” she said, shaking her head. He looked up, eyes glistening and vulnerable. “Most any of us would kill to be the center of a guy’s world for centuries.”
“You’re just sayin’ that,” he mumbled.
“I’m not! You seem to be the perfect catch for a vampiress wanting to be loved. Have you tried getting out there…since?”
“Not exactly how it works. There’s no speed-dating night for demons.”
She rolled her eyes. “But there are clubs, aren’t there? For booze and a hook-up. It’s the 21st Century.”
“Until a hunter shows up to be the ultimate killjoy,” he said, pouting.
“That’s what happened tonight, isn’t it? Knew there had to be a reason for the bad-ass look.” Ooops.
William curled his tongue behind his teeth. “The baddest, baby. You like the way I look?” He said this a little too close to her face.
Catherine’s eyes watered from the alcohol fumes. “I-It’s fine…if you’re into that sort of thing.”
“What kind of ‘thing’ is that?”
“You know…the whole ‘can’t take home to Mom’ vibe. But bad boys always lead to trouble.”
“Hm. Trouble can be fun.”
“Trouble can get you killed.”
“How can you ever really feel alive if you don’t test your limits? I bet even you have contemplated a walk on the wild side at least once…”
Okay, how did this get turned around on her? “For, like, a minute. I’m human. But that’s not my way.”
“Bet you’ve dreamed about it.”
“William…”
“Not one, little, fantasy? ‘S only natural…”
Well, Cathy, you’re the one that kept talking to the drunk, horny vampire. “Not really. I’m boring like that.”
“Not even with all Alicia’s sex talk?”
“Geeze, you’re like a dog with a bone.”
“Better believe it, baby,” he slurred. “Hey, the whisikey’s all gone…”
She put her hand on his arm to stop him as he made to get up. “Maybe it’s time you called it a night, then.”
“Please! It takes more than two bottles to get a vampire drunk!” He shuffled to the cabinet to retrieve a bottle.
“If you say so,” she muttered. Though it took only two bottles for him to talk funny…
“Ya wan’ some?” he offered, dangerously tipping the bottle of rum.
“No, no…you go ahead.”
He nodded. “You’re a good girl, Cat. Always polite. Kitty-cat, pussy-cat, jungle cat… I got books with drawings from all those expeditions… Very old. You ever wanna drive Tallis around the bend, start singin’.”
“Really?” Good gracious, his drunken speech was random.
He executed a poor Boy Scout salute. “True as the North Star. Hates music.”
“Still… I’d rather avoid him altogether.” She dropped her eyes to her cup and swirled the last bit of milk left around the bottom.
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I know, pet. Shows you have a lick o’ sense.”
“I try not to think about it, or just be brave…but I can’t imagine anything worse then being at his mercy. And I know I don’t know all he’s capable of, despite being told what he did to those in the book, but it’s enough… I don’t need to be a vampire for my blood to run cold.”
“You’ve done well for yourself so far.”
She shook her head. “If I was really brave, I would have left. Disappeared.”
“What I don’t know won’t hurt you.”
She arched her brow, and he nodded. Well, then. That was something. He wasn’t going to help, but he wouldn’t stop her, either. It gave him plausible deniability in front of Tallis.
She smiled, then looked at the clock. “Well, it’s late… You need a hand upstairs?” she asked, standing.
“’M fine.” He rose too quickly and swayed on his feet. “I’ll, uh, make the trip with you, though.”
She smothered a smile to preserve his pride. “Okay.”
William’s suite was on the floor below Catherine’s room in the attic. It felt like miles to trek with a heavy drunk leaning on her for balance. The old manor had narrow steps for the staircases, his big booted feet slipping off them with the lack of his usual grace. He nearly took her down a few times when he stumbled and flailed for something to hold on to.
She wrapped her arm around his waist and continued. “What are you humming?” she asked when they reached his floor and turned down the hallway.
“Motorhead. Bloody brilliant stuff. Not like the dreck they call modern music.”
She stopped in front of the big mahogany doors. “Well, this is your stop.”
“Right…” He removed an old key from his pocket and inserted it in the lock. Turned to face her as she stepped aside. “Don’t think this lets you get out of your lessons tomorrow.”
She laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Goodnight, William. I hope you sleep well.”
He caught her hand when she started to walk away, lifting it to his lips to place a kiss on the back. “Sweet dreams.”
She blushed.
He opened his bedroom door and slipped inside.
Chapter Four
The next day, Catherine knocked on William’s door.
“Enter.”
The door opened slowly, part way. “Only me. I wanted to see how you were.”
“In or out, girl. You’re lettin’ in a draft.”
“Ooops, sorry!” She slipped inside. “Oh…” She stopped and blushed, averting her eyes. “I-I didn’t expect you to be…um…”
“Two minutes sooner, and you’d have caught me wandering around starkers, so I’d say your timing is perfect, Miss Mitchell…unless you wanted to catch a peek?” William was wearing nothing but a towel.
“No! I mean, not that you aren’t worthy of peeking at, if one planned to do so, but that so wasn’t my plan, and, um, oh God… I’m gonna go.” She turned around, only to find him blocking the door.
“So soon? I thought you had a question for me,” he purred, stalking her.
“Eeep!” He took gentle hold of her arms. “What are you doing?”
And pushed her down to sit. “You were about to run into a chair,” he said. He picked up the crystal tumbler of blood again. “Head’s fine, by the way. Just need my breakfast.”
“Good! That’s…good…”
“What day is it?”
She thought for a second. “Friday?”
“Mm, excellent. I’m thinking, you’ve read about demons, but you’ve hardly seen any. We need an outing.”
“You and me?”
He shook his head. “Everyone! Been too long cooped up in the house and such.” Paused to make notes on a pad on the desk.
“Uh, where?” She dropped her eyes to her lap when the towel loosened to reveal a couple centimeters of butt crack.
“Demon bar or club, wherever we see first. Alicia can make a few contacts…” he said absently, and made a couple more jots on the paper, folded it, and turned around to hand it to her. “Here,
take this down to Alicia so she can get started.”
Catherine had stood, resolutely keeping her eyes at shoulder level.
“What?”
“Uh, William…”
He looked down, then behind him, and noticed the towel had caught on the desk chair. “Oh, for heaven’s sake…get out of here.”
Her blush deepened. She briefly met his eyes, then sprinted from the room.
“You’ve seen penis!” Alicia exclaimed upon seeing Catherine’s face.
“What? No! I haven’t! I didn’t!” Almost.
“Oh. Well, poo. And I thought this day was finally going to get exciting.”
“Well, I saw William on my way downstairs and he gave me this for you.”
She scanned the page. “Uh-huh…uh-huh…I can do this…unh-uh, not on short notice….okay, okay…okay! You can go now.”
Catherine exited the office, shaking her head. She still wasn’t completely used to the genie’s no-nonsense manner.
Word spread quickly amongst the girls that William was sponsoring a night out. She wasn’t so excited.
When she came downstairs in jeans, a sweater, and sensible boots, he vetoed the outfit immediately. “You’re not going to a club like that! Go put on something appropriate!”
“It’s cold outside!” she argued.
“So? You can’t go into a demon bar looking like that. It screams ‘lunch’.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip at an angle. “Well, then I’m not going!”
“Sorry, not an option. You’re going, and you’re going to change clothes now.”
She remained defiant. “No.”
The tendon in his jaw ticking with anger, he charged up the two steps to tower over her. “Get your fucking skinny ass up those stairs now and do what I bloody tell you.”
She lifted her chin. “No. I’m not a piece of meat, yours or anyone else’s. You want me to go; I’m going like this, or not at all.”
He nodded, then bent his knees and put his shoulder into her stomach, hoisting her over it to dangle upside-down, and charged up the stairs two at a time.
“William! Put me down, you Neanderthal!”
“Only if you quit acting like a spoiled brat.”
She wasn’t going to go easily. She squirmed and kicked, pounding his back with her fists, though his leather coat absorbed most of the blows. He dropped her on the first landing when she finally managed to kick him in the balls.
