Bled & Breakfast

by Michelle Rowen

  Owen regarded him, stunned. “My guide to . . .”

  “Heaven, of course, my friend. So let’s not delay. Nice vampires are welcome there, too, I’m told. Your sordid past is not an issue, apparently.”

  “I am a nice vampire,” Owen said, smiling. “Usually, anyway. But I don’t know if I’m ready . . .”

  “There are many beautiful women who, I’m told, have asked to see you immediately upon your arrival.”

  “Hmm.” Owen looked down at himself and brushed off the sleeve of his shirt. “Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way, disembodied head. Lead the way.”

  “Follow me.” Lorenzo began to fade away until he was completely gone.

  Owen also started to fade. “Good-bye, all. Sorry again for any problems I caused. I’ll send a postcard if I can . . .”

  And then he was gone.

  I found I was smiling. Heather wiped away her tears.

  Owen was bound for a babe-filled Heaven. It was a fitting end for the vampire. He was no angel, but I hoped he’d be very happy up there.

  Meanwhile, Rose had taken a seat on the couch. She reached for her knitting while I watched her warily. She seemed oblivious to anything that had happened.

  Raina’s gaze moved to Thierry. “So now what?”

  Her eyes were blue again; the magic that had charged the air was only a memory now. The house was a mess, there was a crack in the bay window and a dent in the wall, everything that could be broken in this room was broken, but the house still stood, and we were all alive.

  “What do you mean?” Thierry asked.

  “Will you inform the Ring that I’m living in Salem? That I bleed vampires twice a year so I can stay alive and well? Will you notify the handful of witch hunters who still take pleasure in eliminating threats like me?”

  Her words were cold and unemotional again, and that worried me. Thierry’s reply might mean the difference between her being a good witch and her being a bad witch.

  “The Ring would want to know,” Thierry replied. “You are incredibly powerful. And you are one who uses vampire blood to sustain her immortality.”

  “And I plan to continue to do so for many years to come. So what of it, vampire? Will you share my dark and sordid past with those who would do me harm?”

  I bit my tongue, letting him handle this without any input from me.

  He glanced down at where I held his hand, his lips curving as he noticed how tightly I now gripped it. “I know you saved Sarah’s life today. That is worth more to me than you’ll ever know. It’s reason enough for me not to tell the Ring of your existence. Apart from that, we all have a past to reckon with, no matter how old we are. It’s how we govern ourselves now that makes a difference. I believe in change, even for the worst of us. I believe that the future is not wholly reliant on the past. Personally, I have great hope for that future.”

  She swallowed hard. “Have you always believed this?”

  He shook his head. “It’s a recent realization of mine. Very recent.”

  “What convinced you?”

  “The woman standing next to me.”

  I tried very hard to ignore my swelling heart, but that was next to impossible. “Who? I don’t see anyone here but little ol’ me.”

  His lips quirked. “I guess she left earlier.”

  I couldn’t help but snort at that. “Always joking around.”

  “Yes, I’m such a joker.” He directed his amused gaze back to Raina. “For what it’s worth, I don’t plan on telling the Ring or anyone else about any alpha witch currently living in Salem. However, I would appreciate it if you choose your future coven with a bit more care.”

  Raina laughed out loud at this. “I may be powerful, but I’ve never been the best judge of character.” She glanced at Heather. “What about you?”

  Heather regarded the alpha witch warily. “What do you mean?”

  “The full strength of your magic has been hidden from you for years.”

  “Oh yes,” Rose added absently as her knitting needles clicked together. “Heather’s mother was a very powerful witch. I’m sure Heather will take after her eventually. If only she believed in herself!”

  Heather glanced toward her grandmother, pain sliding through her gaze. “I believe in myself now.”

  “Good.” Rose nodded, her attention not leaving the colorful afghan. “I’m so happy to hear that.”

  “If it helps, I believe in you, too.” Raina’s gaze traveled over both Heather and Todd, who hadn’t left her side. “And I want to help you learn, to grow, to make sure that you can handle the gift you’ve been given.”

  Heather didn’t reply for a very long time. She studied her clasped hands. I wasn’t sure what her answer might be—perhaps to deny the magic she had, to go back to when it was safer and simpler. But this experience had changed her, made her stronger, and not just when it came to her hocus-pocus ability.

  She did finally believe in herself. The thought made me very happy.

  Finally she nodded. “Thank you, Raina. I accept.”

  “You’ll need a familiar,” Rose added. “A nice black cat . . . yes, that’s a good familiar for any young witch. You’ll have to go to the shelter and see what stray animals they have. The best familiars are strays.”

  Speaking of stray animals . . .

  Everyone looked at Todd.

  “I should probably go,” the shifter said tightly.

  Heather finally drew away from him, as if realizing for the first time how close they’d been during this entire magical showdown. “Yeah, you probably should.”

  The pain on his face was enough to make my heart hurt, but he didn’t say another word as he moved toward the door, looking very much like a sexy, bare-chested, kilt-wearing Highlander torn from the cover of a romance novel.

  “Just, um . . . come back tomorrow,” Heather called after him, shifting her feet. “When I’ve had time to process all of this.”

  He froze, then slowly looked over his shoulder. “You really want me to come back?”

  She shrugged. “Tomorrow I’ll know if I can ever forgive you and start dating you again now that I know you were my secret guardian toad for two months without saying a goddamn thing to me while letting me get naked in front of you on a daily basis, you jerk!”

  His mouth fell open. “You are so sexy when you’re furious, you know that?”

  “Go!” She pointed at the door, which magically swung open.

  “I’m going. Bye, everyone!” He gave her a grin. “See you tomorrow, Heather.”

  When he left, I was about to comment on the whole Todd situation when I heard a buzzing sound. It was Thierry’s phone, lying on the floor by the decimated coffee table. Thierry picked it up and glanced at the call display.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  His gray eyes flicked to mine. “Markus Reed.”

  My happiness about defeating the bad guys, solving the mystery, and living to fight another day faded away completely.

  The Ring had rung.

  Chapter 21

  I followed Thierry up to our room, leaving the others downstairs.

  He pressed the phone to his ear. “Markus, what is it?” A pause. “I hadn’t realized you’d called my phone before this. I haven’t been avoiding you. I’ve been . . . unavoidably detained.”

  Body stolen and bled nearly dry. Disembodied spirit drained of 99.9 percent of its energy.

  “Detained” was a nice way to put it.

  He hissed out a sigh. “I know what they’re looking for. I don’t have it. I never did. They’ll have to look elsewhere, since I can be of no further help to them in this matter. And if they have a problem with that, then they can deal with me face-to-face, not by making inquiries over the phone. And I swear, Markus, if you ever try to bully Sarah again behind my back, you will deeply regret it.” His expression tensed a moment later. “No, you can’t speak to her.”

  “Thierry. It’s okay.” I held my hand out for the phone until he finally, gr
udgingly, gave it to me. “Hey there, Markus. What’s up?”

  “I’ve been trying to help both you and Thierry. You see that, don’t you?”

  My grip on the phone tightened. “Is that what this is? Help?”

  “By now, you’ve deduced that the Ring wants an amulet that your husband spent many years seeking just before his disappearance. The elders believes he knows where it is.”

  “Well, the elders are going to have to learn to deal with disappointment.” I flicked a look at Thierry’s tense expression. “I did learn this much while I’ve been in Salem, Markus—the amulet was allegedly destroyed in 1687. So if the Ring wants it so bad after all this time, I suggest they time travel back to get it.”

  There was another long moment of silence on the line. “They won’t like this answer.”

  “Tough. Anyway, to quote my smart and gorgeous husband, if they have a problem with that, they can deal with us face-to-face. Both of us.” I was feeling rather reckless after what happened downstairs. Currently, I couldn’t seem to summon up even an ounce of fear toward a shadowy group of old vampires who liked acquiring shiny trinkets to add to their collection.

  “I will tell them that.”

  Thierry held his hand out toward me, requesting the phone back. But I wasn’t finished yet. “Markus, do you know what the amulet does?”

  “Sarah,” Thierry growled. “You don’t want the answer to that question.”

  I glanced at the master vampire as he sternly gestured for me to hand back his phone. “Wrong. I most certainly do. Markus?”

  “Are you familiar with djinn?” Markus replied a moment later.

  “The alcohol or the genies?”

  “Some have called them genies.”

  Interest piqued. Definitely piqued. “Three wishes, golden lamps, that kind of thing?”

  “Yes, very much like that. That, Sarah, is what the amulet does.”

  “Interesting.” To say the very least. “Thank you, Markus.”

  “You’re welcome, Sarah.”

  I finally placed the phone back in Thierry’s outstretched palm. He held it to his ear. “He hung up.”

  My heart drummed wildly. “A djinn, Thierry? That’s what this amulet is all about? You were looking for a genie to grant you three wishes?” I’d dismiss it as fantasy, but I knew by now that everything I once considered fantasy could very likely be true . . . and strolling down any given road in any given city.

  His lips thinned. “I liked obtaining rare and dangerous things. This amulet is as rare and dangerous as they come. A djinn . . . it’s a kind of demon. One bound to its master’s every command.”

  “Wow.” The magnitude of what that could mean to someone who wasn’t totally pure of heart staggered me. “Do you really think the amulet was destroyed?”

  “I never heard anything more about it, nor learned of any new sightings since. If someone has it in their possession, they’ve kept it hidden for three centuries.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “So you really didn’t want to use this amulet for yourself, huh? You just wanted to put it on a display shelf, all nice and pretty? Come on, Thierry, admit it. I met the old you. That was a man who might have been tempted by power like this.”

  His expression turned thoughtful. “Honestly, I’m not sure anymore what I might have done had I gotten my hands on it.” His brows drew together with confusion. “You ask this as if it’s vaguely amusing to you now. As if it doesn’t disgust or scare you. Why?”

  I took his face between my hands. “Like I said before, you’re different now. You’re better. That guy in the past? Not nearly as hot and amazing as this guy in front of me. My gorgeous, brave, amazing, ancient, cranky, and enigmatic husband, Thierry.”

  “I was always cranky and enigmatic.”

  “And the Ring can kiss my ass.”

  This managed to summon a smile. “Mine too.”

  I kissed him. Frankly, I’d take him any way I could get him.

  The rest of the world be damned.

  We stayed at the Booberry Inn that night and got ready to leave first thing the next morning. I could barely believe we’d arrived only three days ago.

  I gave Heather a tight hug while Thierry took our suitcases out to the rental car. “You’re going to be okay?”

  “I sure hope so.”

  “What about your grandmother?”

  Her expression shadowed. “I have an appointment at Salem Acres later today. I—I can’t live with her anymore. She doesn’t remember anything, but I can’t forgive her for this. And I can’t live with her under the same roof knowing what she did, what she kept from me all this time.”

  “I know. I don’t blame you a bit.” I gave her another hug. “You are going to be okay, you know. I have absolutely no doubt about that. And, by the way, I’m always right about these things.”

  “Good to know.” She gave me a bright smile as I stepped back from her.

  “So what about you and Todd?”

  The smile wavered. “Oh, him.”

  “Yeah, him. He’s crazy about you, you know.”

  “He lied to me for two months. He pretended to be a toad, Sarah. A toad.”

  I shrugged. “He wasn’t really pretending. He was a toad.”

  Thierry had come back into the inn and regarded the young witch with curiosity, his arms crossed over the front of his black shirt. “You should give him another chance, Heather.”

  Her eyebrows went up. “You really think so?”

  “He deceived you so he could protect you. While his methods were questionable, I believe he’s an honorable man. If you keep an open mind, you might be surprised by what the future could hold.”

  I hooked my arm through his. “Thierry de Bennicoeur, resident Cupid in the making.”

  Heather grinned. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s time to stop hiding from what life has to offer. I want to be fearless from now on—passionate, exciting, and spontaneous. We’ll go on one dinner date and see how it goes.”

  “One dinner date.” I nodded. “That sounds passionate, exciting, and spontaneous. Sort of.”

  “Baby steps, Sarah. I can’t totally change overnight, you know.” She twisted a finger into her long red hair. “Maybe we’ll go to dinner at Lorenzo’s tonight.”

  “Great meatballs.”

  “Apparently the best in New England.” She paced to the entrance to the living room and gazed in at her grandmother sitting on the sofa, quietly knitting. “Raina wanted me to say good-bye to you for her. I’ll be seeing her later today for my second magic lesson.”

  “Second?”

  “The first was last night after you both went upstairs. I’m sure you noticed that Casey’s body . . . well, it’s not here anymore. It was a bit of a tricky spell, but it was fascinating.”

  I grimaced. That was probably what Raina had done with Miranda as well. “First lesson of witch club: magically hide the evidence.”

  The smile crept back onto her face. “Raina also taught me something a little less morally questionable. She wanted me to do a spell for you for a wedding present. One from both of us.”

  Thierry and I exchanged a look.

  “What kind of spell?” he asked.

  Heather thrust out her hand. “Give me your wedding rings.”

  I eyed her palm skeptically. “You’re not going to change them into platinum-coated lizards, are you?”

  She frowned. “I don’t know if that’s even possible. But . . . no.”

  Hesitantly, I took off my ring. Thierry, even more hesitantly, took his off as well. We placed them in the palm of her hand. She covered them with her other hand and closed her eyes. A moment later, a blinding white flash of light emanated from between her fingers.

  When she uncovered the rings, they were still there and they looked exactly the same as before.

  “All done,” she said brightly.

  I took my ring from her, expecting it to feel different, but it felt the same. I slipped it back onto my finger. “What did y
ou do to it?”

  Her eyes glinted mischievously. “Just a little something.”

  “Care to share?”

  “I’d rather you discover it for yourself.”

  “That’s ominous. And after the last few days, I’m not all that comfortable with ominous.”

  Heather laughed and followed us to the front door. “So where are you headed now?”

  “Good question,” I said, and looked at Thierry. “What’s next on our jet-setting agenda?”

  He raised a dark eyebrow. “Let’s just say that there will be sandy beaches. Plenty of shade. And many of those fruity drinks you like with the little paper umbrellas.”

  My breath caught. “We’re going on a honeymoon? A real one?”

  He nodded. “I’ve already informed the Ring that we’ll be unavailable for two weeks. Perhaps more.”

  I gave him a huge grin. “This is the best news I’ve had in . . . well, it’s been quite a while. You’re kind of brilliant, you know that?”

  His lips curved. “I thought you’d approve.”

  Thierry opened the door and I enthusiastically dug into my purse to find my sunglasses. It was an incredibly bright day, and I preferred not to be blinded on our drive to the airport if I could help it. I put them on and paused to adjust them, checking myself in the hallway mirror, then swiped my finger along my bottom lip to fix my hastily applied lip gloss from earlier in the—

  Wait a minute.

  I slowly glanced at Thierry’s reflection. He, in a word, looked stunned.

  “I can see you,” I managed, gesturing wildly. “In a mirror. A regular, human mirror.”

  His brows drew together. “And I can see you, too.”

  I looked back at Heather, my mouth open wide. “You did this, didn’t you?”

  She could barely hold back her grin as she shrugged. “It was Raina’s suggestion. A witch’s spell took away a vampire’s ability to have a reflection in the first place. Even an alpha can’t change that across the board, but for a couple vamps we can make a bit of an exception. Just don’t lose those rings.”

  Every mirror. Everywhere. No need to avoid reflections for fear of freaking out any nearby humans who could alert vampire hunters.

  “Best wedding present ever!” I grabbed her into another tight hug. “Seriously. You are so awesome! Thank you!”