Georgian is a bitch.
“Depends, who’s your brother?” I countered.
A smile filled his face and I didn’t miss the intent behind it: he was an evil sonuvabitch, there was no mistaking that. “An annoyingly cynical, overly prim and proper, seventeenth century vampire who most likely has been having a tantrum due to the hasty relocation to this shithole, not to mention the fact that he is surrounded by disgusting, vile fleabags. It must turn his stomach to be surrounded by immortal lapdogs of servitude and yet can’t voice his opinion on it because of his father’s opinion of the mutts.”
Screw it, I’m going to show him firsthand what this little immortal lapdog can do!
“Cat got your tongue?” he mused.
I shook my head, biting my tongue to keep all of the colorfully vulgar profanities from spilling from my lips.
He looked intently into my eyes and his pupils dilated, consuming the light blue in black. “What are your intentions for my brother?” he asked, his voice coming out soft and very persuasive.
That wasn’t the question I thought he was going to ask.
“I don’t have any,” I admitted, slightly dumbfounded by the look of apparent concern washing across his face as the question left his lips.
“Don’t lie to me, little girl,” he hissed, bringing his face uncomfortably close to mine.
“I’m not,” I whispered, struggling to swallow the lump in my throat.
He shook his head. “Such an interesting looking girl,” he said softly, his eyes working over my face. “Eyes that black have to be hiding a heart equally as dark. My little brother is not worthy of such a creature.”
Wait, what?
“Kiss me,” he whispered.
Oh hell no! I’m about to go all wolf girl up in here…inner Springer guest aside, I will cut him first. Actually, that might work.
“Okay,” I said breathlessly, like the waitress at the restaurant, and tightly wrapped my grease-covered hand around his and he cringed, but didn’t pull away from me.
“Just like I said,” he sneered.
That isn’t right, is it? Shouldn’t he be gloating?
“I have to warn you,” I whispered, closing the remaining distance us, leaning over the counter more. I leaned into his ear. “I don’t play fair,” I whispered and slid my grease covered hand away from his, pulling his family ring off as I went, and at the same time, pulled one of the silver throwing knives from the hidden sheath in the back of my belt and slammed it into his free hand in a blur of movement, hilt deep into his flesh, pinning it to the counter, then ran for the sunlight.
“You bitch!” he snarled, grabbing for me with his free hand, but when the sun touched him, and he quickly pulled back as little wisps of smoke rose from his blistering skin.
“That’s Miss Bitch to you, über douche!” I smugly informed him.
“Give me my ring back or I swear to God I will kill you,” he snarled.
I flipped him off and backed out of the office, through the garage, minding to stay in the sun, and hurried out the open garage bay doors.
“What’s wrong, d’Artagnan, scared of a little bit of sun?” I taunted.
d’Artagnan, snarled, glaring at me from the garage as smoke rolled from his skin where he received some exposure when he tried to follow. “Give me back my ring!” he yelled.
“Blow me,” I said and grabbed my crotch with one hand and held my other up and flipped him off, his finger spinning around my middle finger.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
Was that a smile threatening to break?
“Why are you back?” I asked, attempting to be slightly civil even though I wanted nothing more than to watch the smug bastard, who had taken so much from Tanis, roast in the sun.
d’Artagnan flipped me off.
“Real mature, old man,” I said, making a face and rolled my eyes. “What kind of sick asshole are you? Did you seriously just try to thrall me into kissing your punk ass?”
He chuckled, nodding his agreement. “Obviously my brother has a big mouth. You shouldn’t know of thrall...or my ring.”
“I tend to bring that out in him,” I admitted. “Again, why are you here?”
“That’s none of your business,” he smugly informed me. “Give me back my ring.”
I looked up at the sun and smiled contently; for once it was a cloudless, sunny day.
“No,” I said with a satisfying sigh when he growled under his breath. “If you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’ll throw your ring into the Pacific and you’ll be a nightwalker forever...that is of course, if you don’t have an alchemist you can pull out of your ass.”
d’Artagnan snarled and threw a jug of oil at me, and I ducked in time to avoid taking the gallon of oil to the face.
“Temper, temper, Nosferatu,” I scolded. “Come on, humor me. You know you look all sparkly and shit in the sun. Hell, you look like a depressed closested sausage jockey with bad taste in women. I bet you look Ziggy Stardust’esque when sparkling in the sunlight.”
“You are testing my patience, woman,” he warned, but once again, the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Oh, über douche,” I dramatically said and batted my lashes at him, “there are still six hours until sunset, and I have nowhere else I rather be than right here making your life a living hell, just as you made your brother’s a waking nightmare for more than three hundred years. Maybe you’ll get talkative, maybe you won’t, either way, you pissed off the wrong bitch.”
d’Artagnan huffed and sat on the roof of Mr. Hairychin’s Bronco and glared at me, a soft growl rolling from his throat.
“Ooh, scary,” I said, and shook in faux terror.
He gave me a look before shaking his head. “You’re different,” he mumbled, sounding aspirated yet gratefully surprised.
“Yes, I suppose I am,” I agreed in an attempt to be, once again, slightly civilized since he was being, well, semi-civil. The old adage about attracting more flies with shit than honey...or vampires with blood than bitches in this case, might have been the better route to take in order to get the information Tanis needed. “Your little brother says I’m immune to thrall, and that’s it’s rare but not entirely unheard of.”
d’Artagnan chuckled. “My little brother lies exceptionally well; immunity to vampiric persuasion is only found...never mind,” he quickly caught himself and I huffed; I wanted to hear what Tanis obviously lied to me about. And of course, d’Artagnan noticed my disappointment and it amused him. “You are a cheeky bird,” he said, slipping into a British accent which he caught before he started rambling like Tanis. “I see that your ability to get Ashtons rambling and opening up, spilling their dark secrets, is obviously a demonic talent which I need to make a more conscious effort into resisting.”
I nodded; that plan backfired but I wasn’t going to let it get to me at the moment, especially since he was still semi-civil.
“You put a whole new meaning to the words smug and pompous,” I informed him and he smiled wide. “Can I ask...never mind,” I said and shook my head.
“Yes?” he sang.
“It’s...never mind,” I said with a heavy sigh and pulled my hair tie out before combing my fingers through my hair, looking at the ground.
d’Artagnan huffed and I fought to keep from smiling. “Obviously you want to ask something so just ask it already.”
I looked up at him and batted my lashes and his head tilted to the side. “Why did you do that to your brother?” I whispered; that wasn’t what I was going to ask at all, but I had to know.
“Do what exactly?” he asked, his pupils dilating as if he was trying to thrall me again.
“Take away his future,” I clarified; that wasn’t the most important thing to know, not in the least, but I needed to have some reason to not kill him. No one would simply do that to their own blood, their little brother, without having a reason.
d’Artagnan opened his mouth to answer just as Tanis pulled up, the SU
V’s tires screeching as he slammed on the brakes.
Damn it!
Instantly d’Artagnan’s mouth snapped shut and he shook his head.
Tanis was out of the SUV in a fraction of a second. “Duckie, are you well?” he asked, hurrying to me and cupped my face between his hands.
“Yeah, couldn’t be better,” I assured him and smiled wide.
“Where is d’Artagnan?” he whispered, not believing me in the least.
I laughed. “Oh Nosferatu,” I sang, “come out, come out, wherever you are.”
“Give me back my ring!” d’Artagnan snarled from the garage.
Tanis’ head snapped towards him, and he instantly positioned himself in front of me.
I purred in perverse pleasure. “No.”
“What in bloody hell is going on?” Tanis asked, confused.
It was hard not to laugh in that situation, not that the lovely situation had ever happened before to anyone in recorded history, but was still funny.
“Your jackass brother tried to thrall me into kissing him, so with my obviously brilliant acting skills, I slipped his ring off.” I held my hand up and wiggled my grease-covered fingers in the air at the snarling vampire. “And stabbed him in the hand with a knife…that was the second highlight of my day.”
Again, the irate vampire growled in frustration and threw stuff out of the garage, but it was more than obvious that he wasn’t actually trying to hit me that time.
Tanis chuckled. “I have to say, Duckie, that….wow. All I can say is…you are simply brilliant.” He softly brushed his lips against mine, getting a loud groan from his brother. “How did you know who he was?” he whispered.
“Your rings are the same,” I said with a shrug. “Only your stone is red and his is black. LIKE HIS HEART!” I said loudly to iterate my point. “Anyway, he smells funny. So, can I throw it in the ocean since he won’t talk?” I asked and batted my lashes.
“I swear to god, I will kill you!” d’Artagnan snarled.
“Blah blah blah,” I mocked, rolling my eyes.
Tanis laughed again and kissed my forehead. “No, that would not be advisable or very nice.”
Huh?
He slipped the ring off of my finger and put it on his. “Tell me, Brother, why are you here?”
d’Artagnan groaned in frustration. “You sound like that broke bitch next to you. Why are you here? Why did you do it? Why did you take away your brother’s future?”
His impression of me was pretty damn bad.
Tanis cocked an eyebrow. “All very agreeable questions.”
d’Artagnan gave him a look. “If I didn’t answer that overly persuasive bitch’s demand for answers, I sure in the hell am not about to answer yours. Give. Me. My. Ring.”
Tanis shook his head. “Once again, I am ashamed to call you brother.”
“Thank God for that,” d’Artagnan dramatically said with a huff. “Since this garage smells like sweat, grease, and, what I can only describe as, dog’s ass, I will tell you why I am here so I can get the hell out of this should-be-condemned piece of shit garage: I got tired of being on my own. You and Georgiana are my family, after all, even though you did try to kill me the last time I saw you. Isn’t the Ashton family motto ‘Let bygones be bygones and move on with your life’? Thus, I thought it’d be nice to spend some time with my family.”
There’s no way in hell he missed his family. That’s total crap! Even I can smell the bullshit from here.
“What are you omitting?” Tanis asked, studying his brother intently.
d’Artagnan laughed, it was slightly evil and completely up to no good. “This and that. You know I won’t show my hand until I’m ready. So, back to the problem at hand, little brother. I’m not going to ask again: give me back my goddamn ring.”
Please, oh please, let me call the boys and sic them on him!
“Swear an oath that you shall not hurt Jay Dee, or any of her friends or family, her pack or tribe, out of retribution, either emotionally, physically or spiritually.”
He can’t be serious.
“Fine,” d’Artagnan groaned, rolling his eyes, “I swear it, a binding oath, that will prohibit me from hurting those whom she holds dear and consorts with, minus my blood of course, and that hold her dear, minus my blood. As I speak it, I believe it, so help me God.”
What in the hell? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Vampires can be oathed into not doing something?! That is just stupid.
“Very well,” Tanis said and started towards him, but I pulled him to a stop.
“No. You can’t be serious! He can simply promise not to do something?! What will keep him from going after me?” I demanded.
Tanis forced a smile which quickly fell.
d’Artagnan laughed. “Obviously you are ignorant to the mystical world you stem from,” he called out. “The curse of vampires restricts us to our word and open invitations. Hence why we need an invitation to enter your home, and not a thralled invitation either…it is a way for the vampiric gods and politicians to keep us on a short leash. Something you should know much about, Res Bitch.”
I am so going to kill him when the opportunity presents.
Tanis nodded his agreement. “In not so many words, Duckie, me brother is correct. If he breaks the oath, without you absolving it, he will take the repercussions upon himself in a form of waking nightmarish lunacy until he is no more. The French call it Danse Macabre, the Spanish Danza de la Muerte, the Catalonians Dansa de la Mort…in essence, those whom are hurt, whom were taken in essence when the oath was broken, would haunt him until he joins them.”
Holy shit. Either Tanis is completely bat shit crazy or someone has been severely limiting my knowledge of the mythical world.
“Are you messing me with?” I whispered.
d’Artagnan roared with laughter. “Ooh, you really are ignorant to the world around you, little girl.”
I flipped him off.
“May we discuss this later?” Tanis asked.
I nodded and took d’Artagnan’s ring from Tanis. “I think he needs to chill out for a bit. Some time for internal reflection,” I suggested with a smirk. “When the sun sets, lock up and get your own damn ring,” I said to the no-long-amused vampire in the garage.
“Don’t you dare,” d’Artagnan hissed.
I smiled wide before running across the street and scrambled up a tall maple tree. “See, Sparkles?” I called out, holding his ring up so he could see it before I slipped it on the highest branch I could reach. “After you’ve calmed down, picked this shit up and closed up shop, you can have it back. Until then, think about some shit!”
I skipped back to Tanis and he laughed as his annoying brother yelled.
“That was very naughty,” Tanis purred. He leaned and whispered in my ear, “And I must admit, I like it.”
I smiled wide and climbed in the driver’s seat—I was driving.
I was gobsmacked over what Jay Dee did to d’Artagnan. It was brilliant, but what was even more amazing about it was the fact that she showed absolutely no fear, took on a bloody vampire by herself, and didn’t fall for his bollocks routine. Obviously she cared about me much more than I realized, and because of that apparent dedication, I didn’t decline her invitation to dine with her family as I was going to do when I picked her up, feigning a scheduling conflict.
d’Artagnan was going to narked when he finally got his ring back. I asked Steffen to keep an eye on him to make sure that he didn’t destroy anything or get a body count; Steffen was one of the few who can put my lovely brother in his place.
To my surprise, Mrs. Lightfoot said yes to me coming for dinner, Mr. Lightfoot apparently had no say in the matter, however, Jay Dee didn’t feel that meatloaf would be very appealing for someone like me, thus she wanted something slightly fancier. That was most agreeable; I hated meatloaf.
Jay Dee and I bickered the entire time at the grocery store; she tried to shop cheap and I didn’t do cheap. After twenty minutes of
putting everything she tossed in the cart back, replacing it with what I saw fit, she pouted as she softly growled under her breath at me.
It was turning me on, strangely enough.
Sadly, her defiance didn’t stop there and she proceeded to argue with me about paying when we reached the register. No longer in the mood for her unusual form or torture, I threw her over my shoulder and paid, earning a hard smack on my arse for it in return.
While Jay Dee showered, I made dinner. I refused to let her cook after she commented we may have to order pizza…again. Jarvis sat on the counter, taking up precious workspace, and watched me. And their mother, Sky, hovered in the kitchen the entire time with her son, which filled the tiny space to near capacity.
Sky wasn’t rude, that was surprising considering I was a vampire with an open invitation to her home, she simply wasn’t talkative. She was vigilant, which I didn’t blame her for; having a vampire in the house could be rather offsetting, especially if you were once their immortal enemy.
Jay Dee laughed when I bought a large bouquet of flowers for her mum. I had to remind her of the century in which I was born, and explain to her the rules for properly courting someone, which she snorted and laughed over for ten minutes straight. In all fairness, I did break the number one rule of courtship by sneaking through her bedroom window and snogging, not to mention, staying the night. But old habits die hard, not that I had ever properly courted anyone before.
Eventually, Jarvis couldn’t take it anymore and huffed. “Okay, Count Suckula, what’s the deal?”
I looked up at him while blindly chopping vegetables. “What do you mean, mongrel…I mean, Mr. Jarvis?” I asked.
“Ruff ruff,” he growled before laughing. “Obviously you’re not going anywhere. I was hoping that the weather would keep you away, but somehow you’re beating the sun.”
Thank God his sister didn’t tell him about the totems.
“SPF ten-thousand,” I said and he gave me a look.
“Uh huh. Since you like my baby sister, what are you getting her for her birthday?” he asked.
Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) Page 17
