Riding the Storm

by Candace Blevins

  Kendra’s relief was a physical weight off her shoulders, and she told him, “I was afraid you were never going to want to be tied to me metaphysically. I will, of course, explain everything, and I’m touched you’ve asked for it. It means a lot to me.”

  She wasn’t obligated to tell him about Norris, though part of her felt she should. She did want to clarify some things, though so she said, “You told me a while back you didn’t want us to be exclusive, but if you’re ready to take the next step metaphysically... I guess I just want to be sure where we are. I don’t want any misunderstandings.”

  “Why, are you seeing someone else I don’t know about?”

  She could tell he was teasing, like he was sure she wasn’t and it was a joke... but since the kiss with Norris was under her skin so much, she needed to level with him. “No, not seeing someone. Not exactly. Someone from my past showed up last night. He came without going through the proper channels, and Abbott sent him back home, but he’ll likely return in a few months, once he smooths everything over. He was waiting for me when I got home last night, and we talked until dawn. He kissed me before we said goodbye, and then again as we said goodbye, but it isn’t like we had sex or anything, and I wouldn’t have kissed him if you hadn’t been so clear about us not being exclusive, but... I guess I just need to know a little more about where you and I stand.”

  “If Abbott hadn’t sent him away, what would’ve happened between the two of you?”

  “I don’t know, Eric. Norris and I haven’t seen each other in over a thousand years. We were about to get married when he was... when I thought he was killed. He said it took him hundreds of years to heal before he awakened, and then he wandered around Europe before coming to the U.S. He’s been in New York a few months and finally heard news of me. I’ve been through a half-dozen names since then, though ironically the one I’m using now is close to the one he knew me as. At any rate, he had to find someone who knew me then and now, which isn’t so easy to do, sometimes. But, I’ve changed a great deal in the past thousand years, and I’m sure he has, too. We likely have nothing in common anymore. Anyway, it’ll probably be at least two or three months before he’ll be able to come back, so it’s a moot point right now.”

  “I can’t stand the thought of you with someone else. I don’t want to lose you.” He sighed as he looked out the front window, his voice dejected as he said, “We’re close to the marina now, let’s talk about it tomorrow night when we can have a proper conversation, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  As they walked to the boathouse with Ranger, it was obvious he was still ticked at Kendra, but she was fine with him being pissed.

  “Why are you with my nephew?” he asked when they’d climbed onto the yacht.

  “Because I like him. He grabs life by the ears and rides it with all of his being.” She shrugged, not sure what else to say, but finally came up with, “He’s special, and I care about him.”

  Ranger turned to Eric. “How long did you know her before she told you what she is?”

  “About twenty-four hours, give or take a few hours.”

  “So, she didn’t rope you in as a human and then tell you what she was?” He sounded doubtful.

  Ranger had asked Eric, but Kendra answered, “No, Ranger. I was honest with him as soon as I could get permission. I’d have told him four hours after we met, if I could’ve.”

  “One more question, Kendra, and I want you to be honest with me. Will having you in his life put Eric in danger?”

  “You know there isn’t an absolute answer to your question. Eric is officially under my protection, as well as Abbott’s, since your nephew has done some consulting work for him.” In the long run, things would be easier if she could get Ranger on her side, and acknowledging his connection to Eric was a beginning. Telling him the steps she’d taken to protect Eric should also help. “If anyone were to mess with him it’d be the same as messing with me or Abbott, and if you’ve done any research at all, you know The Abbott is a force to be reckoned with, and you’ve probably also discovered most in our world are wary of going against me, as well. There are things worse than death, and I’ve done most of them, when I needed to make a point.”

  “What things worse than death?” Eric asked.

  Kendra hadn’t considered how Eric would hear her words, and she ignored Ranger’s cocky smile as she told Eric, “The supernatural world is different from the human world — it’s more about survival of the fittest, and if you don’t gain respect, you won’t survive long. Those in my world know if they‘re my friend then I’ll move mountains for them, but if they do anything to make an enemy of me, I’ll drop the mountains on their ass. Abbott is a great leader, and has managed to cull this territory of most of the bad apples, so there hasn’t been any major trouble in decades, but in past centuries I’ve lived through a lot of trouble, and made a name for myself.”

  She turned back to Ranger. “Short answer to your question? Both Abbott and I will do everything in our power to keep him safe.”

  The conversation moved to more mundane things, but she hadn’t answered Eric’s question, and hoped he wouldn’t ask it again.

  She once again left in time for Eric and Ranger to have some time to talk without her, and went home with intentions of escaping into a good novel until dawn.

  Unfortunately, Abbott and Josef called her into the office when she arrived.

  “The Media Council has asked to see Eric.”

  “Why?”

  “They want an expert to consult with them on the best way to be sure they’re alerted to every video game with supernaturals. Apparently, with so many platforms games can be played on, and so many ways they’re distributed, this is easier said than done.”

  “Then we should find them a supernatural video game expert. You know as well as I do, they have a tendency to keep the humans brought to them, turning them into slave automatons who never see the light of day again. They don’t operate in your territory, and the leaders still see humans as nothing more than cattle, to be used as needed.”

  “Brain isn’t interested in talking to them, and Aaron has a few tech people on staff, but he isn’t interested in sending his people, either. I found a young twenty-something Owl with impressive tech credentials, and I’m negotiating with the Owl King to see if we can send her.”

  Kendra hated the idea of sending someone in Eric’s place, but an owl-shifter would have a better chance of surviving the council than Eric. Still, the girl would be going against her will, forced by her King, who would likely see her as nothing more than a chess piece to use to gain favor with The Abbott.

  Nodding, she told them, “Okay. If you need my help, let me know.” She shook her head and went into formal mode, her tone of voice clearly asking Abbott as her Master, instead of her friend. “I’d like permission to begin teaching Eric how to resist becoming enthralled.”

  Abbott shook his head. “You know what I need to hear before I can give permission.”

  She nodded. “Master, I believe the human to be a good candidate for being turned.”

  Abbott eyed Josef before looking back to her, clearly unhappy with the request as well as the way they were getting around the rules, but he said, “Permission granted to test the human.”

  He hadn’t given her permission to teach him, but she could give a certain amount of instruction during the testing phase, and Eric was smart, and self-aware. It might be enough. She bent slightly at the waist as she said, “Thank you, Master.”

  “I appreciate you being clear you weren’t abusing our friendship with the request. I trust you won’t go farther than we can legitimately claim as testing, Kendra. We don’t want to find ourselves on thin ice with the council.” He paused, looked off into space a moment as someone contacted him, and then turned his back a few moments. When he faced them again, he said, “Gavin is in South Carolina assisting The Swan Queen on my behalf. Mitroff’s second is on the Media Council, and they are already dropping hints that
if we don’t back off in South Carolina, things will not go well for our people.”

  Mitroff was the asshole Master Vampire in South Carolina, and Abbott was making preparations to go to war to fight for the territory, if he couldn’t manage to gain it politically. After decades of peace, Kendra wasn’t looking forward to war, but agreed with Abbott’s reasons for taking over South Carolina. They should’ve done it long ago, but politics and friendships had stayed his hand. For a variety reasons, the way was open to him now, and he intended to take it.

  “Okay, then. You’ll need an expert on Mitroff’s second, and if you don’t have anyone else in mind, I’ll volunteer.”

  Abbott nodded and told Josef, “Get her everything we know about him.” He looked back to her and said, “Sophia Siyanko-Drake has a treaty with the Owl King. I’ll arrange an introduction and meeting through her. Would you like to attend?”

  “I would. What do we know of the girl?”

  “She’s in her mid-twenties and makes nearly two hundred grand a year at a world-class tech firm, so I’d say she’s likely skilled at her job. She wears gender non-specific clothing and has short hair, and seems to survive quite well in a world dominated by male geeks. She’s likely strong, so hopefully she can handle herself with the council.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kendra wasn’t sure what to expect from Eric when she arrived at the yacht the next evening. She had a feeling tonight would be a turning point in their relationship, but was afraid it might be a turn for the worse, as she’d felt him pulling back a little last night, despite the fact he said he wouldn’t.

  She halfway expected him to be waiting in the parking lot again, and was relieved when he wasn’t. She made her way to his yacht, floated up to it, and knocked on the door. After several minutes of no answer, and the single heartbeat inside not moving, she finally let herself in since the door was unlocked.

  She found him in his office, drawing furiously. She called his name, but he didn’t realize she was there until she put her hand into his line of vision.

  He jerked with surprise, looked at his watch, and said, “Oh, I’m sorry! I hadn’t realized the time.” He looked at her, back to his paper, and back up. “Can you let me get a few ideas on paper? While they’re fresh in my mind?”

  At her nod, he went back to furiously drawing, and she sat and watched him, amazed at how quickly he made things spring from the paper. After about ten minutes, he’d roughly sketched out three more pages. He neatly lined them up and said, “Thanks. That should be enough to get me started again tomorrow.”

  He walked to her, pulled her to him, and kissed her as if his soul thirsted for her, as if she was the only thing in the universe that mattered, and suddenly she felt much better about the conversation to come.

  When he pulled away, his fingers tenderly brushed her hair away from her face and he said, “I guess now you know about the artist in me who loses track of time and forgets to eat and sleep. I’ll tell you again how sorry I am, but it doesn’t mean it won’t happen again. Can you head to the galley? I’ll use the restroom and meet you in there. I have some leftover Chinese food I can nuke and then eat while you tell me everything there is to know about whatever metaphysical things you can to do bind us together.”

  Kendra sat on the bench seat in his little eating area, and Eric joined her a few minutes later, grabbed a carton from the fridge, and popped it in the microwave. “What you did the other night just made me not be able to tell your secrets, it didn’t bind us together in any way, right?”

  “It bound you enough so I know where you are if you tell the secret, or think about telling the secret, and I have an idea of your intent — whether it’s an attempt to just tell our secret outright, or whether it’s the twenty questions hinting around nonsense. However, if you aren’t telling the secret or thinking about telling the secret, then I won’t know where you are.”

  “So what’s the next step, or, I guess, the first step?”

  “The next step makes it so we can speak telepathically. When the connection is open I may be able to get a general idea of where you are, but we’ll have to wait until the link is formed to see how much I get. At that stage, if you know how to block, how to shield, then you can keep me from talking to you, and from getting a general idea of where you are.”

  “Is there something you can do so I’ll know where you are?”

  “No, sorry. All of this has evolved so vampires could keep track of their humans, not the other way around. But, you can mind link to me at any time, ask me where I am, and I can tell you. Of course.”

  “Okay, what’s the next step, after making it so you can mind link to me? And how is that different than telepathing?”

  “They’re the same. Vampires have always called it some version of mind link, but it’s become easier to refer to it as telepathy, since it’s already in most humans’ vernacular.” She crafted her next sentences carefully, to be sure she stayed within Abbott’s parameters. “At the risk of freaking you out again, I need to tell you that if I want to go into your head and see what you’re thinking, I can, at any time. I can also go wandering through your memories. I haven’t, and don’t intend to, but any strong vampire with good control can do it. Well over half can read current thoughts, probably around fifteen to twenty percent of us can look through your memories. If you can learn to shield and block, you’ll at least know if someone is in your head, even if you can’t stop them.

  Eric looked at her a few seconds and asked. “Then why bother with the mind link?”

  “Because the mind link lets us project our thoughts to each other — basic telepathy, so we’re talking. My ability to delve into your thoughts won’t let us talk to each other.”

  He sighed, looked at his hands a few seconds, and said, “Okay. What’s the next step, after the mind link?”

  “The next step makes it so we can share memories. We open our minds to each other, and then remember something, and the other person sees it. But, you need to know that once we hit that level, you may not be able to block me from talking to you or knowing where you are. It pulls us that much closer, and it takes a lot more skill for the human to block the mind link. Many humans can’t — some learn how to do it after anywhere from a few months to a few years, but some never figure it out. I don’t know what kind of skills you’ll have in that area.”

  “Is there a step beyond that?”

  “Yes, but it’s intended for a human who’s planning to be turned at some point, and trains you to keep your shields strong at all times, since it’s imperative for vampires to do so.”

  He was deftly eating the Chinese food with chopsticks now. “I’d thought maybe we’d jump a step or two, but it sounds like they’re intended to be done one at a time, to kind of let me learn about this shielding business. Can you explain how one shields?”

  “It’ll sound corny, but you really just imagine a shield around you, and it’s there. The better your imagination, the better the shield. The trick, though, is remembering to hold it there. When a child is potty training, they have to learn to hold their muscles all the time, and only relax them when sitting on the toilet. As an adult, you don’t even realize you’re holding those muscles anymore, but learning how to do it was really hard. Shielding is kind of the same, once you learn to do it and it becomes reflex, you won’t even realize you’re holding it.”

  “How do I imagine it in the first place?”

  “First, you need to decide what kind of shield you think would work best. Some use metal around them, some new vampires put themselves in a big bulletproof glass bubble, some use space age foil like they supposedly found at Roswell, some build up a pretty stone wall, others pour concrete around them. Whatever you do, it needs to enclose you on the sides as well as the top and bottom, and it needs to let clean energy in all of the time, but nothing else without your permission. It should be a few feet out from your body, so it encloses your aura. It can be any material you want, as long as your imagination wi
ll make that material hold off any kind of metaphysical attack.”

  “I kind of like the space age foil idea, made into a huge beach ball around me.”

  “Very good, whatever feels good is what’s right for you. Some prefer an egg shape, but if the beach ball makes more sense, go with it. Imagine it around you, and make sure it can change shape as you sit, stand, or sleep.”

  “How do I know if it’s working?”

  “Finish eating and we’ll go down below for our next conversation.”

  * * * *

  Kendra turned music on upstairs before they went below to the bedroom, and she closed the door and turned different music on downstairs.

  “It’s important you don’t tell anyone I’ve shown you any of this. I got permission by insinuating I was considering you as a candidate to turn into a vampire.”

  “Are you?” Eric didn’t think she was, but needed to be sure.

  She shook her head. “I need to teach you some things, and testing to be sure you can learn what’s necessary to manage the metaphysics once you’re a vampire can possibly show you what you need to know.” She sat on the bed, pulled her legs up and crossed them, and motioned in front of her. “Join me on the bed and get comfortable. I’m going to probe into your head to see what your thoughts are, and I want you to tell me when I’m in. Make sure you’re thinking something you won’t mind me seeing.”

  “And if I don’t want you in my head?”

  “If I’m going to teach you how to keep us out, you’re going to have to be able to recognize when we’re in, Eric.”

  The thought of someone in his head when he didn’t know they were there, struck fear into him on a visceral level, and he asked, “You think someone’s going to poke around in my head?”