by Liddie Cain
“I think that would be okay. I’m not agreeing to an alliance yet, just the visiting.”
“That is fair.” He smiled before looking at Felix. “Already been training her how to deal with the Fae, I see.”
Felix looked a little confused and shrugged. “No. She’s got good instincts, I guess.”
“Ah. Interesting.”
“I offer you a drip of blood, Unseelie King, so you may know what value your offer of an alliance should have.”
He again looked quite pleased. “I am honored by this.” He turned to one of his guards, who handed him a small dagger. Conall then offered it to me.
“Not much, my pet. Conall is already more powerful than Lucifer.”
I used the tip of the dagger to pick my bottom lip. All the men in the room looked at me with astonishment. I stepped up in front of the king and lifted my face toward him.
“Take your prize.”
He raised his eyes to Felix briefly. “So there is no chance at bargaining over your claim to her.”
“Absolutely not,” Felix said with amusement.
Conall gave a dramatically wistful sigh. Then he tipped his mouth down against mine. He captured the blood on my lip first then laid a kiss there. I felt the surge in power surrounding him. Fae power was not as wild and feral as what surrounded Felix. Even if he was a member of the Unseelie Court, which was the dark court, the sensation I got from him was life. It was controlled and vibrant. It felt as if it flowed from the very Earth. Every living creature or plant was tied into their magic. He kissed me again, and I could smell the rain and cedar wood. He bid me to drink from his lips and I did. Sweet honey flowed onto my tongue and I knew that he wanted me to share it.
I gave my lips first to Felix then to Mac. They swayed from the power of the honeyed kiss. I lifted my arms and twirled in front of them. Conall watched me proudly. The smell of rain increased as he swept his power across Felix and Mac. Both of them looked like they had a bit too much to drink but quite happy.
Conall caught my hand and kissed the back of it again. “Thank you. These are powers that had faded from me long ago.”
“Better think of something good to offer me back, then.” I smiled at him, still feeling the effect of his intoxicating magic.
“Aye, little human. I will go now and arrange a more formal time for the future.”
“Safe travels, Unseelie King.”
The air was already growing thicker as the candle again began billowing smoke out around the king and his guards.
“See you soon, Rozalyn.”
The piercing cry of a falcon echoed through the room again as the smoke obscured their figures. Then they were gone, and the smoke cleared.
Felix and Mac both blinked as the intoxication left them. I also felt more level headed, but I still felt thrilled that it had gone so well.
“Wonder what he’s up to?” Mac spoke up after being silent while the Sidhe were here.
“Who the hell knows with them. But I’d rather he be kissing ass like that than making threats. Conall hasn’t been the king that long and he’s a lot better than the last one. He was nuts.”
“They travel by candle?” I asked finally.
Felix answered, “Yes. That is an enchanted candle called a roving candle. It won’t go out unless you say the right chant. Open flame is an invitation for them. That’s where the Beltaine fires came from in old Scotland and Ireland. They were inviting them in to chase away bad spirits and bless their crops. And they danced with them, drank with them, got impregnated by them. Might be what happened in your bloodline.”
“I think I would like being Fae.”
“It might explain what's happening. Though for you to be giving that much of a magic boost to Conall you’d have to be descended from their central deity or something.”
“Oh, that doesn’t seem likely.”
“No. Probably not.”
“Let’s not totally rule it out, though, because it’s still a cool idea.”
They both chuckled at me. I took each of their hands, and both of them leaned in to kiss me on top of the head simultaneously. It was sweet, and I realized that I really had no interest in going back to monogamous relationships as I looked in between these two good-looking men.
The first intrusion was through my dreams while I was alone in Mac’s bed early the next morning. The dream started off about work, one of those that make little sense and are quickly forgotten. It was taken over gently so as to not alarm me and alert Felix. In fact, it came in the form of Felix. The dream shifted from me sorting through supplies in my office to suddenly making love to Felix in an empty massage room. It was the first hint that something wasn’t quite right because I would never fantasize about using the massage rooms because I cared about my clients.
So the dream morphed again after my negative reaction. Then we were in my bed at the house I shared with Darby. This felt more real, and I was dragged into the dream more completely. My arousal in the dream grew more and more intense, but before I could find completion, Felix withdrew from me. “Follow me.”
He stood nude, holding out his hand toward me as he walked out of my room.
“Felix, Darby is going to see you!”
I giggled and leapt after him, covering my bare chest with one arm as I tried to catch up to him. It seemed as if he was barely moving, but he was always a couple of steps ahead of me. He opened the front door and stepped outside, turning to face me as he walked backward. That impish grin lit up his face.
“It’s a surprise. Come on my pet.”
I shook my head and laughed at him. “I cannot come outside like this!”
“No one will see. Trust me.”
And I did trust him, of course. I took a step forward and felt myself start to fall. But the ground was not there. I was free falling. It startled me out of sleep just as someone collided into me in the air and wrapped their arms around me. We landed without injury, and I leaned back to find that my rescuer was Rose.
The moment of fear right before I woke up had alerted Felix, and he and Mac suddenly appeared beside us.
“What the hell!” he roared at me.
Mac looked shaken but reached over and took me out of Rose’s arms “Thank you, Rose.”
“Of course. I saw her walking down the hallway and it just seemed like she wasn’t all there. Then she walked over to those big windows in the upstairs sitting room and opened one.” She gestured up at a set of floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of Mac’s house, where one still stood open.
“I was dreaming,” I finally said quietly. “I was dreaming that I was with Felix and he was asking me to follow him.”
I could feel every muscle in Mac’s body stiffen. Felix let out a long and fairly violent stream of curse words.
Once he calmed down, he growled out, “Of course. I just thought you were dreaming about me and grinned like a jackass and then kept on doing what I was doing.”
“You’ll have to be with her when she sleeps.” Mac set me back down on my feet after he spoke.
Felix was still frowning and shaking his head. I reached over and touched his arm. He growled but grabbed me and dragged me up against him, burying his face into my hair. When he loosened his grip some, I looked over at Mac. “What happened?”
“Someone invaded your dream. It would normally be an incubus, but doing it from a distance means he is helping an archdemon, since an incubus would need the extra power.”
“Monroe has an incubus.”
Rose visibly grimaced. “Yeah. Daniel. He is pretty awful.”
“But was he trying to kill me? Because that fall definitely would have hurt, but probably wouldn’t have killed me.”
Mac shook his head. “No, just trying to get you to fall, seeing if they could break through some of the wards of Felix’s dominion and transport you to them. Being airborne can be a loophole, because sometimes the magic is weaker if someone is not touching the ground and they are outside.”
“Lik
e airplanes that vanish,” Rose added.
Felix grunted. “Not going to work here, though, so they won’t try that one again.”
“Monroe is smart. He has a lot of human witches that he is the master of, like legitimate ones. They can do things for him without other demons noticing what he’s up to.”
“Was he awful to you?”
“No, but he didn’t prevent others from doing it. He has aspirations of being more powerful, but I never got the sense that Monroe was cruel or evil for no reason. He’s just really looking out for his own interests.”
Mac pulled out his phone then looked at me. “It’s just after four a.m. Are you okay with staying awake?”
I nodded. “I wanted to talk to Rose, anyway.”
Felix put his hand on Mac’s shoulder. “I know you were about to repose yourself. Go rest. I’ll be close to her.”
I linked my arm through Rose’s and walked with her around to the back side of the house where the outdoor entrance to the pool verandah was.
“I need some help at the spa, and Sylvia thought you might enjoy doing it.”
“What kind of help?” she asked in her soft voice, but I could see her interest.
“Between running the spa and being your blood medium, it’s pretty much two full-time jobs for a human who also needs to sleep at night.”
Rose made an agreeable hmmm.
“Do you think you could start taking over some of the things I do at the spa? Like order all the supplies, maybe do some scheduling? I cover the front desk when the receptionist goes on lunch. Which, I probably need to hire a new one of those, too. The angel Brinna was supposed to be doing that job as an excuse to be close to me during the day, but if I’m not going to be there she has no reason to do it.”
“Roz I would really love to do all of that.”
“Darby will definitely help you out if you ever need it and I’m not there. And you don’t need to be there on Fridays because I’ll need to be there anyway doing payroll and things like that.”
“Thank you. I don’t have a lot of income, which you don’t need much as a vampire. But I still like to have some spending money. And it will be nice to have a regular job to do.”
Felix had been following us with the benefit of being able to sense what Rose was feeling. When I glanced over my shoulder at him, he winked.
“She’s a lot more excited about it than she’s showing.”
“Great!” I said to Rose and pulled my key ring out of my pocket. Meg had given me back her key, and I had just stuck it on there with mine. I pulled Meg’s old key off and handed it to Rose. “The alarm code is 5914, but I will also text it to you so you will have it on your phone.”
We walked onto the pool verandah, and I knew before I turned the corner that Barden had returned. I stopped before he could see me. Rose kept walking, and I heard her greet him.
“Hiding? You know he would have heard you talking, right?” Felix was grinning as his voice mocked me in my head. I glared at him at first but then smiled back. He threaded his fingers through mine and guided up onto the covered verandah. Barden was already standing, waiting on us.
“Felix and Rozalyn, I come back seeking forgiveness. I have called attention to this human that I held no ill will for. Conall, my king, has taken an interest himself.”
“You couldn’t have known Barden. And Conall already came to visit, and he was polite.”
Felix added, “The attention we are unhappy about was our own fault, someone seeing what happened to Mac after he fed from her. From what I can tell, the Unseelie court only wishes to befriend her.”
Barden’s night sky face showed some relief. “You have my hand as a guard. I believe I overheard you saying that an incubus invaded her dreams?”
I nodded. Barden continued, “I can add some protection to the room she sleeps in, but it will also make it harder for you to sense her archdemon.”
“She wears my mark now.”
“That should be stronger than the wards I would use.”
Felix nodded. “Then do so as long as you don’t have to touch the bed. Mac is in repose for the next few hours. She sleeps in the master bedroom.”
“I will do it after he revives, but I will go ahead and prepare.” He turned and grabbed a bag he had left behind him and went into the house.
“That made me like him better,” I mused.
“His mind seemed pretty sincere.”
I turned and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his chest.
“Felix, have you had the thought that there is something tying us together?”
“Like my soul recognized yours.”
“Yes. Is that possible?”
“I don’t know, my pet. I looked into it, and your soul is a new soul. That and I know where the souls of great loves of my past are.”
“Oh. Well, maybe that’s better anyway, like a true love from the first time we saw each other.”
He hugged me tightly but carried on jokingly, “I do love you. It’s making me a terrible demon. I’m always thinking ‘What would Roz think if I smote this guy?’ And then I don’t do it because you'd be disappointed.”
I was giggling before he even finished speaking. “I am definitely a fan of you smoting someone who deserves it.”
“What if they cut me off in traffic?”
“Definitely smote them. And those assholes that play loud music at night and wake people up, they deserve it, too.”
He laughed then wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Let’s go make love in the shower while Mac is out of it and has no idea.”
“Felix!”
“What?”
“Well, okay.”
He barked out a laugh then threw me over his shoulder and ran in the house with me laughing breathlessly.
The next few days were filled with learning my new routine. The Unseelie King sent four more of his court that were also blood drinkers, but they, along with Barden and Iona, would only stay long enough for a donation then leave again. The Sidhe paid for these services, so Mac was pleased for the extra income to show to the Imperium.
For the first week, the mornings were with Rose every day at the spa. I went to lunch with Darby every day, and sometimes Sylvia joined us.
And my evenings were filled with hosting the donors for the growing number of vampires in our district. Felix had pulled a donation program in another nearby district that was struggling to find volunteers and sent those vampires to us when they needed to feed. Each vampire fed at least twice a week, and some of them did three. Sylvia was the only exception with her using Darby for a feeding once a week.
My nights were with Mac and Felix, but Jason was also becoming someone I felt closer to. The first night he was scheduled for a donor, he came and sat down beside me while I was going over the donor client file.
“So who am I biting later?”
“Her name is Brittany. Blood type A positive. Mostly European heritage. And she’s thirty-one. Pretty normal one.”
“Gonna let me try out the Roz Bliss Drip one night?”
“Not sure you can handle it big guy,” I retorted with a wink.
“Oh, I can handle it and make it an experience you would remember quite fondly.” He flexed his arm muscles as he boasted. I reached over and squeezed his arm muscle and playfully put a thoughtful look on my face. He beamed that great smile at me.
Then he shifted to where he was facing me more directly. “Okay, but no joke, I’ve been around as a vampire a decent amount of time now, and I want to compliment you. This is one of the best donation programs in any district I’ve lived in. You care about both sides, making sure the humans are comfortable and that the vampires get what they need.”
“Thanks, Jason. It makes me happy that you’re happy.”
“You being easy on the eyes and pleasant to spend time with is just icing on the cake.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere, vampire.”
“All the way to a bite?” he asked with
another grin.
“I care about you too much. Once you’ve tasted me, you’re never going to be satisfied with any other regular human.”
“I could make a similar joke here…”
I laughed. “Please do not!”
“Okay, but seriously, Roz, I know Mac and Felix take good care of you, but I don’t want you to hesitate that if you need something, like someone is bothering you and they can’t get to you, I’m your guy.”
I reached over and took his hand. “Thank you. That means a lot.” And I left my hand in his because as soon as he said it, I realized that I would trust Jason that way. In the week that he had been here, he had been kind, courteous and helpful. He hung out with me while I ate breakfast in the kitchen most mornings.
He looked down at where our hands were clasped and covered my hand with his other hand. But he got quiet, and I squeezed his fingers to get him to look at me. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, but there was some sadness in his expression I hadn’t seen yet. “I am. Physical affection wasn’t something I grew up with or had much of when I first turned. So even now, something as simple as holding your hand,” he lifted our hands up slightly, “is something I find more meaningful than a normal person.”
That got all over me. I had been lucky in my home life with loving parents and extended family. I even had Darby. Thinking of him missing out on that made me ache for him. I pulled my hand away from his, and he shot me a pained expression. But then he saw I was setting down everything I had been holding and he raised his eyebrows at me. I reached over and tugged him closer, guiding him to lay his head down in my lap.
I wasn’t sure he would do it at first, but eventually he did as I asked. I started to lightly caress the side of his face and back into his short, tightly coiled hair.
“What year were you changed?”
“March 25th, 1965.”
The date rang a bell. I examined his guarded expression, then it clicked. “Did it happen to be in the state capital?”
He gave a sentimental smile. “Yeah. I’m not from the south. But me and some friends came for the last march into Montgomery. I was turned about an hour after I stood and listened to Dr. King’s speech, freedom cap still on my head.”
