by Altas Opal
Ethan dried off and threw on his gray wool trousers and a dark blue cashmere sweater. He padded barefoot through the room and out the door. He took the stairwell to his office on the first floor, but before he got to the landing, his manservant approached him.
"Lord Combs, you have several guests in the drawing room. Would you like to see them, or would you like to send to send them away?"
He had become accustomed to people showing up expectantly. "No, I will go and greet them. Thank you, Neals"
He turned left and walked down the long corridor to the drawing room. As he approached, he started to hear the chatter of three woman. Gods, what caused these pecking hens to visit him today, he wondered?
Magda, Cecilia and Caramel were seated around the large marble coffee table. They stood up when Ethan came into the room.
"Ladies, what do I owe for the honor of this visit?"
Magda got to him first. "Lord Combs, we would like to ask that you have your pet provide her tanning services to us."
That stopped him for second. He did not have human pets. He'd learned long ago that you should never associate with your food. When he'd first turned, it was natural to want to be with humans. He'd had two pets, who had been friends that he'd grown up with as a child. As they aged and he stayed the same, they turned against him and tried to kill him. Simone had laughed at his stupidity. Hundreds of years had passed, and he finally realized that while he had the same form as a human he was no longer one.
"My pet has turned you away?"
"Yes. We've tried to contact her several times via her email address, and both of us received a message she was no longer accepting clients. It stings that Lord Sunrose is the only one to have booked her services."
"Lord Sunrose?" Ethan detested August Sunrose. The fact the man was involved with whatever shenanigans was going on made this matter even more alarming.
"Yes, he showed up last night at the William Stone, and we could not believe his transformation. We thought he was human for a moment but, well, you know Sunrose. He couldn't stop talking about his experience in some backwards town of Oregon. I'm just glad that he didn't kill her after she stabbed him.”
“Stabbed him?”
“Yes and with a silver knife so he has a miniscule scar.” Caramel chimed in as she lightly brushed Ethan’s arm with her breast. Even though she was the looker of the bunch, Ethan had avoided her advances over the years. She reminded him too much of Simone, and he would be damned to repeat that nasty business again.
Ethan mused. It was not good that a human had aligned herself with him. There were severe punishments for claiming the protection of a Nosferatu nonetheless a high level member of the vampire Council. Most humans who had claimed such a thing found themselves six feet underground.
He would have to leave now to look into this mess and put an end to this woman and her tanning business.
“I will deal with this immediately ladies.”
“You’re going to have her contact us for our tans, right? Oh my goodness Sunrose’s transformation is stunning. We will finally be able to walk amongst the humans with them oblivious to what we are.” Cecilia said gleefully.
The women's chatter was already at an ear splitting level as they talked about going to Miami and living it up amongst the mortals.
Pamela would be angry that he had left after only three days, but he had to find Sunrose and manage to get the information from him without admitting he wasn’t the master of this twit claiming to be his pet.
Walk In
Shay’s heart rate speed up as she looked Layla up and down. She had the pale, opalescent skin that all vampires had, but she looked like a flower child who would have been sitting on a street corner singing songs about Mother Earth on the downtown streets of Portland.
“How did you find me, and why aren’t you burn to crisp from the sunlight?” Shay whispered
“August owed me a favor. Don’t tell me you believe everything you see in the papers about vampires. We can walk in the light.”
“Sunrose owed you a favor?” Shay uttered in disbelief.
“Yes, he did. I traded it for your info. I want a tan. Can we go in? Your home is pretty heavily warded. Like, the Fort Knox of protection, and it doesn't have Ethan’s particular smell to it, if you know what I mean. I have a feeling that when he shows up, you better hole up with whomever dropped this massive spell on the place until something bigger grabs his attention.”
Shay didn’t know what the hell to do. She couldn’t turn the vampire away. She heard the front door screen squeal as Maisie stepped onto the porch.
“Shay, dinner’s ready. Oh, I didn't know we had company. Hi, I’m Maisie”
Layla didn’t move but waved hello.
“Maisie, I have a client I forgot about, but I’ll be in in 30 minutes. Can you keep my food warm?”
“Will do,” Ma said cheerful as she headed back into the kitchen.
Shay opened the front door and let Layla inside. She couldn’t believe that she was doing this again. What if Sunrose told every Vampire in his circle where to find here? She was screwed. She would have to hide out at Jason’s house and pray this blew over. What would she tell Maisie?
“This place is cute,” Layla said as she stipped off her clothes and sat on her desk. It seemed vampires had no aversion to nudity. “So, where are you going to do me?” She asked with a smile.
Shay motioned to the brown curtain, and Layla glided over to it.
“I won’t bite you or hurt you like Sunrose. So, no need to break out your pretty knives. While August’s tan was the talk of the town, a few of us were pretty impressed by the fact that you stabbed him. He might be one ugly puppy, but he is devilishly hard to kill.”
That seemed hard to believe. She was human after all and the way Layla had made the comment made her think that she had done something no other vampire had done. She just wanted to get this over with.
“Ok, let’s begin?” she muttered. Layla was graceful as she moved through the tan, and again she was struck by how human she looked when it was done. Her skin glowed with the freshness of youth and and spoke of warm sunshine.
“Where is the mirror?”
Shay pointed to the opposite side of the shed. Within an instant, Layla was in front of it.
Layla was fixed to the mirror and her stillness was unnerving.
Shay felt the temperature in the shed drop 15 degrees and began to see her breath puff out in soft clouds. A few moments later the skin on her face begin to sting from the cold. Without thinking, she threw a knife near Layla’s head.
Immediately, the cold spell broke.
“You are a kitten for the knives aren’t you?” Layla whispered without turning her head.
Shay saw a teardrop appear then quickly vanish the next second.
“I know the girl in the mirror, but I’ve forgotten who she is. Does that make sense? It’s okay. I’m talking to myself. How long does this last?”
“2 weeks.”
“How much do I owe you?? Layla mumbled through her shirt.
“$2,000 and some information.”
Shay didn’t know where that had come from. The fact that Layla had stopped still while dressing showed she was equally surprised.
“What information?” Layla asked in a deadly voice.
“Was Sunrose with a woman named Emily?”
The tension cleared quickly. “Oh, it’s about a chick? No, he wasn’t. He’s hates humans and would never take them around the ton.” She then fished out twenty one hundred dollar bills and laid them on the table.
She paused as she opened the door. “You seem like nice girl, Shay, but if I were you, I would get out of here before Ethan shows up. He doesn’t take pets and, truth be told, you’re not his type to begin with. Thanks for the tan. I would book another, but I know that once he finds you, that will be the end of you.”
Shay sat hard on the desk and breathed in the faint scent of patchouli. She stared hard at the money and wanted
to again kick herself. Her idea had been good, too good, in fact. Emily was missing, more than likely a victim of Sunrose and Ethan Combs was heading her way to put an end to her life. The money on the table wouldn’t replace her life. She had to talk to Jason and make a plan for Maisie.
Breaking the Rules
Ethan tracked down Sunrose to Hugos, a small Spanish bar that was frequented by werewolves. It was a tenuous relationship between the breeds. Sunrose was always pushing the line between them trying to create a war. Thankfully, however, nothing had come from it yet.
When he entered the bar, it took a good minute to realize that Sunrose was the man laughing at the bar. He could see why the town was buzzing over the tan. Sunrose looked scarily like a human. There was even a fragility in his appearance now that wasn’t there before.
Ethan walked up to him and he could see Sunrose tense the minute he realized another vampire was in the room. It was alarming that Sunrose would not sense another Nosferatu, which was comparable to a werewolf not knowing another werewolf was in the room.
This meant that he was drinking werewolf blood, something severely frowned upon by the circle as it dulled your senses and increased your bloodlust. It was the quickest way to get killed, and there was a mile long list of people who would love to have Sunrose’s head on a stake.
Sunrose turned and smiled a sick smile when he saw Ethan.
“Lord Combs, to what do I deserve this honor? Your pet does an amazing job, but you need to teach her some manners.”
“August, you look amazingly human. What did she do?”
“She stabbed me, the bitch. I blame her success on me being hungry. I was practically starved when I showed up. Although, now, I’m glad that I didn’t kill her. What’s she done is life altering for our community. “
He got a gleam in his eye as he went on. “Now we look like them and are truly predators in plain sight.”
He laughed, and the sound of a bar stool scraping the ground echoed through the small bar as a drunk stumbled towards the door.
“I’m surprised you took a pet Combs, and truthly, I would never have guessed she was your type. Perhaps your old age has made you adventurous but you did find a spot of gold in a lump of coal?”
“Yes, it was rather unlike me. I guess I’ll have to go and visit and dole out some fitting punishment. May I see the scar?”
Sunrose slid his hand over on the bar and Ethan could see a tiny star shaped scar in the middle of hand. He could also see fresh bites on Sunrose’s arm.
“Perhaps you’ve also decided to take on a pet?”
Sunrose grimaced and covered the bites. “Oh, no, just an old lover that has come into town.”
“I can still see the bites. You’re not healing, and we know that means you’ve been drinking werewolf blood. You know it’s forbidden”
Sunrose stood and leaned into him. The rich aroma of werewolf blood hit him in the face, and his canines started to descend.
“Combs, there are some doors that you don’t want to knock on, and this is one of them. I suggest you go to that small backward town and get your pet in line instead of chase these shadows.”
There was something in his eyes that made Ethan pause. He should push the issue. There were a lot of wrong going on in this bar, but the stillness of the other people in the room was another blaring warning. He had been so focused on Sunrose that he had ignored the four other people in the room.
For their scent and height, they were from the Bishop pack. Often considered the “muscle of the west,” the pack made violence look like an art, and they were avoided at all cost by Nosferatu and werewolves.
The fact that Sunrose was drinking from them and someone was drinking from him was enough to raise every red flag, but today wasn’t the day to get into it.
“August, if you need anything, you know here to find me.”
Sunrose smiled a true smile. “Now, that’s something new Combs. Have fun punishing your pet for me.”
The Visit
It was late, but Shay could not sleep. Thankfully, no other vampires had showed since Layla. Hopefully, that meant Sunrose was keeping his mouth shut about her. She was staring at the peeling tin roof and just about to doze off when she saw the light flicker in the shed.
Her pulse rate increased, and she slid from her bed to the window. It was Ethan who was leaning up against the side of the shed. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew in her bones that it was him. She should call Jason, but she knew that one of them would have to survive to take care of Maisie. With his powers and his money, Maisie would finally get to worry about things that teenage girls should worry about, like boys and makeup, not when the next meal would come.
Shay slipped on her jeans and her gray long sleeve t-shirt. She carefully hid her knives, whatever good they would do against a several hundred year old vampire.
She peeked in on Maisie on what could be the last time ever. Maisie was sprawled out on her bed, her red hair a flame in the moonlight. She walked up and stared at her for what seemed like the first time. Their entire life had been a constant struggle over the next meal or dealing with the next guy that Vivian would bring home. No 13-year-old should have lines on her face like Maisie did. Shay brushed a kiss on her forehead and covered her with the ratted quilt that had been handed down from some distant relative.
Shay padded down the creaky stairs and opened the front door. She paused before she left the warmth of the house as it hit her that this is could be the last time she walked out the door, and she fought off tears for her own stupidity.
Ethan saw Shay pause at the door. The house was heavily warded but he could easily have broken through them. He had heard her dress and the knives slide against her skin. He had heard her visit her sister and then head down the stairs as quiet as a mouse. He gave her some small points for having guts. As she walked closer and the yellow light hit her skin, he was struck by how old her eyes were. Sunrose had painted her as a much uglier creature. He wasn’t sure what to expect from his ramblings. She was plain and nothing would make her stand out from the crowd, but she had a very faint scent to her that teased his memory. Her angry gray sparkling eyes amused him, also.
“How can I help you?” Her voice was like rough velvet to his ears. Again, he felt like deja vu.
“I’ve come for a tan.”
Shay did not expect that. Hell, she thought the second she stepped through the door, he would come up and rip her head off.
As she walked closer to him, her pulse quickened. There was a reason that he was the face of the Vampire Council. He was absolutely delicious. Everything about him screamed “Alpha Male” from the brown hair that curled around his ears to the way he stood. In a sick way, looking at him made her excited to die. How messed up was that? He was a bloody force of nature, and she was in the middle of the storm.
“Oh, um. I wasn’t expecting that. Aren’t you Mr. Combs?”
“Don’t you mean my Lord?”
She could have sworn he smiled when he said that. Maybe he was sick and just wanted to play with her like a mouse in a trap. She would rather he just kill her quickly and then leave. God, she prayed that once he was done with her, he would leave and that the wards on the house would keep Maisie safe.
“I’m not one to beat around the bush. Aren’t you here to, um. . kill me?”
“I just asked your for a tan. Can we go in?”
He wasn’t sure it was a good idea to go in the house with her as her scent had intensified as her pulse quickened. His teeth had started to lengthen like a newly turned vampire with little control. For some reason, he saw the goosebumps on her skin and wanted her out of the cold night.
Shay stared hard at him before brushing beside him to reach for the door. He grabbed her wrist and squeezed gently. She stopped breathing and looked at him.
“Please refrain from touching me.”
“Ok. done.” He said as he released her.
“Please come into my home Mr. Combs.”
“I prefer My Lord from my pets.”
Shay closed the door and watched as Ethan stalked around the room. She didn’t know what the hell to expect from him. He looked like he was about to tear something apart. She rested her back against the door to keep the most amount of space between him. The thought of seeing him naked was making her mind melt.
“Do you really want a tan?”
“No. What are you?”
“Um, I’m a human. A female. I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Who was your father?”
“No clue. Some random dude that Vivian hooked up with.”
“Vivian is your mother?”
“I guess you could call her that.”
“You have a peculiar smell about your that makes me think you are more than human.”
“I stink?”
“I didn’t say that,” he snapped.
He was about to grab her. She had no idea how hard he was fighting his whole being from draining her. Something was not right about her, and he had to put his finger on it.
“Should I open the window? Would that help?”
“Don’t move. I will do it.”
He walked to the window and yanked it up, shattering the glass. The fresh air did help. His head was starting to clear, and he was thinking clearly now. He stood across the room from her but still her scent pressed like glove against his throat.
“I need you to calm down. Your scent is affecting me, and it gets stronger when your emotions are high.”