Chapter 17
“L emme get this straight,” Max said. “Rendell wanted us to raid that summit meeting?”
“That’s the impression I got from what he said,” Clifford replied. “With the other three overlords gone, he could have seized power over their clans and formed a worldwide vampire empire with himself at its head.”
“After getting us to do his dirty work for him,” Max muttered. “The sneaky son of a bitch. Well, he’s dead now. They’re all dead. That’s gonna leave a big hole at the top of the vampire hierarchy.”
Clifford shook his head. “Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does something unnatural like the hierarchy. I’m sure there’ll be quite a power struggle going on there for a while.”
Max rubbed his jaw and frowned in thought. “Maybe we can figure out a way to take advantage of that.”
Jessie listened to the discussion with only half an ear. She was more interested in the fact that Michael’s arm was cinched strongly, protectively, around her shoulders as they sat together on the old sofa in her grandmother’s parlor. Nana Rose had kept some of her clothes in the closet upstairs in her old bedroom, so she wore jeans and a shirt now, instead of the thin wet gown.
Charles was still here, but the other Cherokee had gone home. Empty coffee cups and plates that had held slices of pecan pie sat on end tables. While everyone had fortified themselves with that midnight snack, Nana Rose and Charles had told Jessie all about the ritual that tamed the evil spirit inside her, weakening it so that she could finish the job of casting it out when she chose Michael and his love over the evil of Jefferson Rendell. That had been the turning point, the moment her eyes had met Michael’s and she’d known she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. That had been the curse’s final defeat, just as it had centuries earlier when the love of the gypsy woman had cured Michael’s ancestor. No doubt she had performed some ritual then to weaken the curse, Jessie reflected, just as the Adawehi had helped save her tonight.
Watching the way Nana Rose and Charles looked at each other, taking note of the way their hands occasionally touched, Jessie figured her grandmother and the old shaman had a little romance of their own going on, and she was happy for Nana Rose. Everyone needed to have someone special in their lives. Jessie glanced up at Michael. She certainly had that someone special.
“Well, it’s late,” Nana Rose announced, “and an awful lot has happened tonight. Michael, you and Max and Clifford will be staying with us, won’t you?”
“Do you have room for all of us?” Michael asked.
Nana Rose laughed and waved a hand. “Plenty of room. This house was built back in the days when folks had big families.”
“Well, then, we’d be honored.”
Nana Rose stood up from the armchair where she’d been sitting. “I’ll go make sure the rooms are ready.”
Clifford said, “Charles, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to pick your brain about that ritual you and your friends performed, assuming, of course, that wouldn’t be intruding on things that are too sacred to be shared with outsiders.”
Charles laughed. “I think I can make an exception in your case, Clifford. You may not be Cherokee, but I’m impressed with the tribe you come from.”
Max stood up and wandered toward the kitchen. “I think I’ll go see if there’s any pie left.” He paused and glanced back defensively. “Hey, I lost a lot of blood today. I need to replenish my strength.”
Michael took Jessie’s hand and suggested, “Why don’t we get some fresh air?”
She stood up with him. “That sounds good to me.”
They went out onto the front porch, easing the screen door closed behind them. The warm night air folded peacefully around them. Michael stood behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned back against him, secure in the circle of his arms, and sighed contentedly. They would never be parted again.
“You realize after all the hell we’ve gone through in the past twenty-four hours, it’s amazing that we’re here, safe and together?”
“That’s the power of love,” she murmured. “It brought us through. I’d just as soon not think about everything that’s happened, though. I’d rather think about the future.”
His warm breath tickled her earlobe and made a shiver of delight go through her. “What about it?”
“What’s going to happen to Ted?”
The question seemed to take him a little by surprise, but he answered, “When he’s fully recovered from his injuries, I was thinking about offering him a job.”
“Good. He was just trying to help me out, and he deserves something for everything he’s gone through. Plus he’s pretty smart, and he can be trusted. He’ll make a good employee for the Brandt family.”
They were silent again for a few moments, and then Michael said, “You know, Max really does feel guilty for the part he played in Rendell finding you.” She had told them about that, somewhat reluctantly because she didn’t want to hurt Max. “He’d do just about anything to make it up to you.”
“He doesn’t have to do anything,” Jessie said, “other than get used to the fact that I’m going to be around and be part of your work from now on. That’s part of that future I was talking about.”
“What about the book you were going to write?”
She shook her head. “I can’t do that now. Not if there’s any chance it might compromise what we’re doing. Maybe someday, when the war is won.”
“You’re assuming it ever will be.”
“Well, either way we’ll fight the good fight together, won’t we?”
He nodded. “Yes, we will. Although I’m still not sure about you getting mixed up in—”
She turned in his arms and stopped him with a finger on his lips. “Watch this, Michael,” she said as she slipped out of his arms.
Before he could stop her, she bounded down off the porch into the front yard and launched into the martial arts move he had tried to teach her during their last training session. She moved faster and more confidently than ever before, feeling the newfound power surging through her muscles as she performed the maneuver perfectly.
Michael applauded lightly as he came down the steps, looking and sounding surprised as he said, “How did you…?”
“Remember what you told me about how being cured of being a vampire left your ancestor with some of their strength and speed?”
“Of course.”
“Well, the same thing has happened with me. I’ve got it, too.”
He caught hold of her hands. “That’s only happened one other time. We’re going to have to study this situation extensively. There’s no telling what we might be able to come up with. We may be able to cure more vampires, instead of destroying them all—” He stopped and gave a rueful shake of his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like you’d be some sort of lab rat or anything like that.”
“It’s all right, Michael. I want to do anything I can to help. And there’s one experiment that I think will be really intriguing.”
“What’s that?”
She smiled up at him as she came into his arms again. “Brandts have always had to marry normal humans because there wasn’t anyone else like them. But with the powers you have, and the powers I have…think about the children we’re going to raise.”
And maybe they had already gotten a start on that, she thought, since she might be pregnant. She felt something stir deep inside her. Not a baby, it was too soon for that, but not too soon for a love unlike any she could have imagined before meeting Michael….
“Yes,” Michael murmured as he smiled at her, their souls entwining in the warm Oklahoma night, “think about it…”
Then he was kissing her again, and neither of them thought about much of anything except how finding each other had saved them both.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4311-2
THE VAMPIRE AFFAIR
Copyright © 2009 by Livia Reasoner
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