“Hey, forget about it. But I’m glad to know you’re there if I need you.” When he smiled, I recognized the Nathan I knew. The calm surface stretched over a terrifying riptide of emotions. It was a depth he probably didn’t visit, for fear of drowning in his past.
By the time eleven-thirty rolled around and we headed downstairs for the meeting, we’d sunk into an easy pattern of speaking without saying anything.
The shop looked much better than I’d expected. Last time I’d seen it, it had been full of burnt, smoke-damaged merchandise. Now it was a totally different store. New shelves were empty and draped with plastic. Sawdust covered the floor and made the air hazy, making it seem as if workmen had just left.
“It looks good,” I said, touching the freshly painted trim. I wiped my hands surreptitiously on my jeans and hoped he hadn’t noticed.
Nathan inspected the new countertop and ran his fingers over it. “The firemen said it was faulty wiring and I wasn’t going to tell him that a crazy witch was actually responsible for the fire. Insurance covered the remodel. It’ll be a shame to leave. This place looks better than it did when I first bought it. Maybe I should send Dahlia a thank-you card.”
A lump rose in my throat at the thought of him leaving. He was the only friend I had in the city. “You’re leaving?”
Nathan nodded. “I’ve been here fifteen years, Carrie. My customers are starting to comment on how well I’ve aged. It’s one of the first signs that I need to go. That, and someone called offering to teach power yoga in the back room. Power yoga. I don’t think I have the strength to put in another decade here.”
“Where will you go?” I asked, willing myself to sound casual. “Back to Scotland?”
“No, not there. I haven’t given it much thought.” He quirked an eyebrow. “Why? Are you going to miss me?”
“Ha, ha.” I tried to change the subject. “What do we have to do to set up this meeting? Do we need coffee and doughnuts?”
He smiled, a little wickedly, in my opinion. “How’s your arm?”
I lifted it uncertainly. It was sore, but practically healed. “It’s okay. Why?”
“We need chairs.” He opened the storage room door and slid out a cart of folding chairs. “Get unfolding.”
“Yes, sir,” I said with a mock salute. “So, are they going to go ballistic when they realize I’m not a part of the club?”
“Maybe.” He dropped a chair into place. “If anyone gives you a hard time, send them to me.”
“Ooh, big man.”
“You have no idea.” The devilish grin that formed on his face eased some of the anxiety I felt. The comment, however, renewed the spark of another kind of tension I’d almost forgotten existed between us. I nearly dropped the chair I held.
The bells above the door jingled. They’d melted in the fire, so rather than merrily announcing the entrance of a customer, they sounded like the arrival of a satanic ice-cream truck.
Two men entered. Though they were dressed in casual clothes, they projected an aura of menace.
Nathan was unperturbed as he hurried to greet them. “Alex, Gary! Get rested up?”
They didn’t respond. They were too busy staring at me. I wondered if maybe I had said something under my breath.
Alex spoke first. He was tall and dark-skinned, with a shaved head. “What’s she doing here?”
Unfazed by the man’s gruff demeanor, Nathan motioned me forward. “This is Dr. Carrie Ames.”
“Hi.” I extended my hand, hoping it didn’t shake.
Alex didn’t take it. But Gary shook my hand readily.
“Pleased to meet you.” He had dark hair, olive skin and a Texan drawl. And he didn’t appear to hate me outright, which scored big points in my book.
“Is she one of us?” Alex asked as he eyed me suspiciously.
Nathan smiled, a clearly antagonistic gesture. “Yeah, she’s one of us. Not Movement, though.”
Gary raised his hands as if surrendering as he stepped away from his friend.
Alex inclined his head toward me. “Any reason for that?”
Before I could answer, Nathan stepped in front of me, and in doing so, was almost nose to nose with the other vampire. “She’s not sure about it yet.”
“Not sure if she wants to be good or evil? That doesn’t sound like a tough choice to me,” Alex said, his voice liquid hate.
Nathan tried to remain calm. “She hasn’t broken a single rule since she turned.”
“Yeah, but you know the rules, man.” Gary sounded nervous, as if they might all be struck down for consorting with a renegade vampire any second.
“And we all know how well you follow the rules.” Alex stared right at him. The tone of his voice implied an intense dislike for Nathan.
Gosh, if this guy thought Nathan was soft on the rules, I’d hate to think how he lived his life.
I saw the muscles of Nathan’s back bunch beneath his shirt. More vampires would be arriving soon. I sent up a silent prayer Nathan wouldn’t flip out and start throwing punches.
I cleared my throat and tried to sound authoritative. “This isn’t about Nathan. It’s about me. I’m all for law and order and keeping the peace, but I don’t know where you Movement guys get off with your ‘join us or die’ rhetoric. I don’t do anything unless I’m asked nicely.”
I stole a glance at Nathan and saw quiet pride on his face.
“I think you better ask her nicely,” Gary said with a laugh.
Alex sneered at me. “Pretty please, with a cherry on top, would you join the fucking Movement?”
“I’ll think about it.”
With a muttered curse, Alex walked to the cluster of chairs and dropped down heavily. I secretly hoped there would be a weakness somewhere in the chair’s frame so that it would topple from under him.
Alas, it didn’t. Gary regarded me with wide eyes and went to join his friend.
Nathan leaned close as he walked past me and whispered, “Think you can do that about fifteen more times?”
He wasn’t kidding. Exactly fifteen more vampires showed up, offering fifteen lukewarm receptions. But most of them just ignored me as they socialized with one another. The situation harkened back to my high school days, when my friends would rope me into going to college parties and promptly disappear with their new frat-boy love interests. I’d just be standing there, holding a red plastic cup of two dollar beer, trying not to catch anyone’s attention.
The variety of vampires surprised me. I like to think of myself as a forward-thinking woman with feminist leanings, but I was truly surprised when almost half the team turned out to be female. Some of the women looked like stereotypical vampire seductresses, with dark clothes and heavy makeup, but most of them were very normal looking. One of them even wore a pink cashmere twinset with pearls. She looked more suited to be an attendee at a meeting of the Young Republicans than a gathering of ruthless assassins.
The males in the group were just as diverse, some so young they appeared to be teenagers and one was old enough to have been my father. The older man shook hands enthusiastically with me, explaining he’d been a doctor as well. “Well, a doctor of psychology,” he’d said, in the early 1920s. “We’ll have a lot to talk about,” he’d promised, and when he’d patted my hand, I couldn’t help but think he might be coming on to me.
When the meeting came to order, only one person voiced concern at my attending, and that was Alex. He was overruled by the tall, slender female who seemed to be in charge.
The tall, slender female Nathan couldn’t keep his eyes off of.
“I asked her to let you stay, as a personal favor,” Nathan whispered, never tearing his rapt gaze from her willowy body.
“Try to keep your tongue in your mouth,” I snapped quietly.
Ms. Gorgeous paced back and forth in front of us, and I tried hard not to hate her. She had legs that seemed to go to her neck, and a fashion sense I could never hope to cultivate. With a sad smile, she began to speak. “Thanks fo
r coming tonight, guys. I know a lot of you have planes and buses to catch, so I’ll keep this as brief as possible. As you know, we lost two members in our fight with the Soul Eater.”
I looked around at all the grave faces.
The speaker continued. “And Nathan Grant lost someone very special.”
She smiled tenderly at him, and I realized I was glaring at her. Behind me I heard quiet chuckling, and I turned to see a blond man with a friendly—not to mention adorable—face wink at me. I doubted it was Nathan’s tragedy the man found amusing.
Nathan had heard the laughing as well. “Max, do you have something to share?”
Max sobered instantly. “No, man. We’re cool. Sorry about the kid.”
With a grumpy nod, Nathan turned in his seat.
“If we can all get back to the meeting,” the alpha female said, frowning so sternly at Max I almost reminded her that Nathan had been talking, too. God, petty jealousy was turning me into a deranged tattletale. I wondered if it was a trait I’d inherited from Cyrus, or one that I’d had all along but never had a chance to use.
“While our raid on Cyrus’s mansion was successful in that we eliminated a fair number of vampires, some of you were a bit kill-happy. Three Lupins and a half-demon were mistakenly killed. I don’t think any of us wishes to increase the tension between the Movement and the Lupin council.” She waited as if to let her remark sink in. “And we didn’t achieve either of our goals.”
“What does that mean?” I whispered to Nathan.
“It means we didn’t kill Cyrus. Or the Soul Eater.”
The blond vampire behind me leaned forward, his cold breath tickling my neck. “But some of us got damned close.”
Nathan twisted around in his chair. “Cyrus is her sire. You really know how to put your foot in it, don’t you?”
I almost snapped that I didn’t care, that jerk could say anything he wanted. It certainly would have earned me some points with this crowd. But beneath my current tangle of confused emotions was a lingering ache from being separated from my sire. The pain I’d felt through the blood tie would be nothing compared to the emptiness I’d feel if he actually were killed.
I finally knew what my mother meant when she’d said, just because you love a person doesn’t mean you have to like them.
Miss Thin Dark and Annoying stopped directly in front of us. Nathan was certainly appreciative of the view.
“Since our first mission failed and the council still wishes to see Cyrus exterminated, we’ve been ordered back in.”
Angry shouts and groans of disbelief erupted around the room. Some people grumbled about nonrefundable plane tickets and jobs they needed to get back to.
Max actually stood up, like a character in a town meeting from an old movie. “Now that Cyrus knows we’re in town, he’s going to hightail it out of here. Not to mention the fact the Soul Eater is going to up his guards.”
I couldn’t tell if the outraged voices agreed with him or not.
The leader waved her hands to silence everyone. “Cyrus isn’t going anywhere. The Movement has pulled passenger lists for upcoming domestic and international flights. None of his known aliases are traveling, passenger or cargo. As for the Soul Eater, he successfully shipped himself to…” She pulled out a Palm Pilot and punched a few keys. “Washington, D.C. The council wants one volunteer to follow him—”
“Yo,” Max said as he raised his hand.
She narrowed her eyes and keyed something in. “Fine. We also need a small group to infiltrate Cyrus’s mansion and assassinate him.”
Nathan tore his gaze away from the woman, finally, and turned to me. His eyes were so intense I thought he’d shoot lasers from them as he stared at me. I knew he was making a decision from the way he furrowed his brows.
A decision that obviously concerned me.
Not that he would consult me on it. “I’ll go.”
The woman smiled. “Thank you, Nathan.”
“Then I’m going, too!” I claimed as I raised my hand, despite Nathan’s persistent attempts to block it. We ended up looking like we’d engaged in a very sissy slap fight.
“Absolutely not!” He didn’t bother to lower his voice. “He’s your sire. You’re too much of a liability.”
Anger burned hot on my face. I’d had just about enough of people telling me what I could and couldn’t do. I wasn’t going to let Nathan face Cyrus alone, partly because I feared for his safety and partly because I needed to see Cyrus die with my own eyes. “Pardon me, but I do believe she said volunteer. I’m volunteering, and I don’t think it’s any of your business!”
The speaker cleared her delicate throat. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not Movement, so she’s not eligible to take the assignment.”
“Excuse me, I’m right here,” I nearly growled at her.
“Ladies, ladies. Let’s not have a catfight,” Max urged, standing again. “Unless there’s going to be torn clothing involved. If Cyrus is her sire, I say she’s got the right to take him out herself.”
“How do we know she won’t fall to the blood tie and stab us in the back?” That bitch was becoming more irritating with every second.
“Hello!” I shrieked, rising to my feet. “I’m still right here. How do you manage to keep from going all feral and tearing people up? I haven’t done it yet, and I’m pretty sure I can avoid doing it in the near future!”
“I don’t want you going in there again!” Nathan shouted, grabbing me by the arm and tugging me back into my seat.
I wrenched out of his grasp. “You don’t have the authority to boss me around, so drop the dad act!”
His face went ashen.
“Oh, God, Nathan, I’m—”
“You know what? Go ahead and come along. If you get killed, it’s your fault, not mine. I don’t give a damn anymore.” He stood and stalked off, slamming the door behind him.
“Forget that D.C. thing. I want to go with them,” Max said, waving his hand furiously in the air.
The woman scowled at both of us and ran after Nathan.
Max shrugged and addressed the group. “I guess that means meeting adjourned.”
Tears stung my eyelids as the discordant bells above the door chimed. I don’t know what bothered me more, that I’d hurt Nathan’s feelings or that she was out there comforting him.
“Hey, don’t worry about it, he’s not really interested in her.” Max’s voice was so close to my ear, I jumped.
I turned to see he’d slid into the vacant seat beside me. “I don’t care.”
Max’s smile was boyish and held just a hint of naughtiness, as though my obvious attraction to Nathan didn’t remove me from his prospective bedding pool. “I know you don’t. I just feel like talking about it. If you don’t care, it shouldn’t bother you.”
I couldn’t help my smile. “Fine.”
“Rachel’s a good girl. But Nathan’s not her type, if you catch my drift.”
I didn’t, so I just stared at him blankly.
Max frowned. “Okay, let me put it this way. If Nathan were to actively pursue her, he’d have to get a major operation. In Switzerland.”
“Now I get it.”
“Good, I could tell you were a smart one. I’m Max Harrison.” His handshake was firm, as if he’d been practicing for a job interview. I was surprised when he slipped his hand out of mine and tried to bump fists with me.
I laughed. “I’m sorry, I’m not that hip.”
“Don’t sweat it.” He covered his soft laugh with a cough. “Rachel just looks out for her kids. They’re the vamps she took under her wing when they were new to the Movement.”
“You’re not one of her kids?” I raised an eyebrow.
He sniffed and leaned back in his seat. “No. But enough about me. I want to know about the cutie in the Goth ballerina costume.”
I blushed from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes. “You saw me?”
“It was kinda hard to miss you.” There was nothing boyish abou
t his expression now. He was almost predatory, the way he looked me up and down.
The bells above the door jingled again, and I was grateful for the excuse to change the subject. “Sounds like they’re back.”
Nathan and Rachel entered the shop. I could tell he was still upset, but he managed to put on an amicable face. Rachel pasted on a fake smile and walked toward me with Nathan.
“Well, Doctor, I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said, leaning casually against the counter. “Do you think you can live up to the hype?”
I smiled back sweetly, but narrowed my eyes at her challenge. “I’m sure I can, and then some.”
“I hope so.” She turned to Nathan. “I need to speak to you. Alone.”
The last word was added like a bullet aimed at both Max and me. I folded my arms, some evil little urge to antagonize her compelling me to stay.
Max threw his arm around my shoulder. “Fine. We know when we’re not wanted. Well, Miss—”
“Doctor,” Nathan snapped.
I put on my best flirty smile, making sure he saw and understood why I’d done it before I turned to Max. “Call me Carrie.”
He gave me a nod, as if to say “good play.” “Well, Miss Doctor-Call-Me-Carrie, I have a fantastic room over at the Hampton Inn on Twenty-eighth Street, complete with a minibar. What do you say we get slightly buzzed on very small bottles of schnapps and paint Mallsville red?”
Despite his ridiculous come-on, it was hard not to like Max. I laughed and shook my head. “Actually, I’m kind of tired, after last night. I think I’ll go upstairs to bed.”
I said a brief, polite goodbye to Rachel and Max and headed up the stairs.
The night air was cool, but the day must have been warm. The snow had nearly melted. For once in the last few hectic days, I didn’t feel as if I had to rush anywhere, or dread anything. In fact, I was actually looking forward to tying up the bathroom with a nice long bubble bath.
When I got to the door, I realized I didn’t have any keys to get into the apartment. That’s when the hair stood up on my neck, and I desperately wanted to get inside.
Blood Ties Book One: The Turning Page 26