by Olsen, Lisa
“I can’t seek her out tonight, I’m scheduled to patrol the north bank tonight,” Clay objected, but it was easily overturned with another hint of compulsion. I only hoped Bertie showed her face before it was too late.
Only she wasn’t there the first night, or the second. All I ended up doing was wasting my time with Bishop and getting incredibly frustrated. Bridget volunteered to be on witch watch the third night, and I happily stayed behind to shanghai Bishop from his duties and spend some time together. Luckily, Bishop didn’t ask too many questions about where I’d been for the past couple of nights, too busy on his own with Order business.
On the fourth night, Bishop showed up at my room with a large box wrapped in a pink ribbon.
“What’s this? It’s not my birthday,” I smiled, inviting him in right away. He looked amazing as usual, his waistcoat a pale cream embroidered all over with delicate green leaves, the riding boots gone for the night in favor of hose and buckled shoes. Fancy.
“Surely I’ve the right to shower you with gifts, birthday or not,” he smiled.
“Can I open it now?”
“Of course,” he replied, watching as I tore into it. The most beautiful dress was inside, layers of filmy fabric, sheer enough to see through, shot with delicate silver embroidery, pale green to match his waistcoat. “Oh, Bishop, it’s beautiful.” Holding it up, I noticed there were silver and green slippers in the bottom of the box, and a black velvet pouch. “What’s this?”
“Ah, that,” he replied, taking the pouch from the box. “Allow me.” Pulling open the drawstring, a river of glittering diamonds and peridots spilled into his hand, a delicate necklace set to fall at the collarbone. As I gaped, he fastened it around my neck and stood back to admire it. “There, perfection,” he smiled.
“It’s... thank you, Bishop. It’s so gorgeous, all of it. What’s the occasion? Is there another ball coming?” And would I still be there to attend it?
“There is a ball, in town. I have secured the night off, and I thought you might like to attend with me. And knowing that ladies do not wish to wear the same ball gown within the same season, I thought it best if I didn’t come empty handed.”
“I don’t care about that sort of thing,” I waved the assumption away. Was that how Carys was? Refusing to wear the same party dress twice? “But I’m glad you did all the same,” I added quickly at seeing his face fall.
“Will you, attend with me?” he added, a trace of vulnerability in his eyes.
“Of course I will,” I laughed, throwing my arms around him with a happy kiss. “I’ll save every waltz for you, screw propriety.”
His arms softened around me, hands falling to my hips. “Yes, screw propriety,” he agreed, adopting my vernacular before swooping in for a passionate kiss.
“Keep that up and we won’t be going anywhere, mister,” I said, a little breathlessly as the kiss came to an end, and he chuckled.
“Then I shall behave and return to collect you in an hour’s time. Will that suffice?”
“Yes, that’ll be more than enough time to get all gussied up.” Only it took just over an hour to get ready without Bridget around to play lady’s maid. Not so much for the dress, but the hair took longer than I thought it would. I had to keep starting over again when the elegant updo I had in mind ended up looking more like a bird’s nest.
Finally, I was ready, and the way Bishop’s eyes glowed with warmth told me my preparations were not in vain. We took the carriage into London, mostly chatting and behaving, though I remembered the last carriage ride we’d taken with a blush. Once more he took me to Almack’s, this time to dance and enjoy the festivities instead of hunting.
It didn’t bother me to stand around in between the waltzes, there was so much to look at. The finely dressed ladies swirling around like flowers on the wind while the men, resplendent in their own right, moved sedately around the floor, with just the right amount of pomp. The was no sign of Lady Snootybooty, and that suited me fine. I hoped her husband had packed her off to the boonies.
I tried the cakes (bland), and the punch (vile), though the wine wasn’t half bad. And the conversations, criminitely, nobody talked about anything interesting! It was all about what people were wearing, and who was there, how much they were worth, and who they’d danced with first. Nothing but gossip. I found I preferred the parties at Vetis. Sure, sometimes I ended up shot, but at least they were never dull.
It was all worth it though whenever Bishop squired me out onto the dance floor. We’d already danced four waltzes together, shocking for the time, of course, but I didn’t care. It was magical to be in his arms, when he smiled down at me, his eyes full of devotion, it was enough to make me dizzy with happiness, and I was grateful for his strong arms around me.
And then I heard a familiar voice cutting through the din. “May I have this dance?”
Aubrey.
I turned around with a bland smile. “I’m sorry, my dances are all reserved for Bishop.”
“So, it’s true. The two of you have formed a genuine attachment,” he replied with chagrin, that quickly turned speculative. “Does she know, I wonder, all the secrets of your past, Ulrik?”
Bishop bristled at the interruption. “My name is Bishop now.”
“Yes, but we’re speaking of Ulrik and his many vices,” Aubrey insisted. “Does our darling sister know the levels to which you’ve sunk? How you’ve debauched yourself?”
Bishop’s shoulders swelled wider, and I laid a hand on his arm before he blew his top. “Why don’t we take this somewhere more private?” Neither man argued as I led the way to a secluded room upstairs, both probably spoiling for a fight, but I took control of the conversation as soon as the door was shut. “Actually, I do know all about that, and it doesn’t matter. It wasn’t up to him. Those were Carys’ vices, not his.”
“Stuff and nonsense,” Aubrey snorted, and Bishop even took his side.
“Anja, I’d have to say they were my own decisions. Some of them were not the best, but they were mine to make.”
“Actually, they weren’t.” I’d sort of glossed over the reasons why we’d broken up. Sure, I’d told him about Ellie and my decision to forge documents for her, and the whole thing about siding with Carter who’d been hunting all the vampire baddies in town, but I’d forgotten to mention the compulsion thing. “See, the thing is, Carys compelled you into doing all of those things. That’s why you’ve always been so conflicted about them. She’s the one that pushed you into doing things you’d never have done on your own, like all the feeding games and the threesomes...”
“Try foursomes or more,” Aubrey snorted. “And I don’t believe it for one moment. Vampires can’t compel other vampires.”
“It’s true, and I can do it too.” I watched Bishop’s face, and he looked even more disturbed by that notion.
“Prove it then,” Aubrey goaded me, clearly thinking it was a load of bull.
“Fine. Tell us something you’d never ordinarily tell us. Your deepest secret,” I said, easily capturing Aubrey’s will with mine. While it might’ve been hit and miss in the future, I could easily compel either him on Bishop in the past.
“I could’ve saved Carys, but I was too much of a coward. I saw her burning, but I was afraid I’d burn up too. I should’ve saved her, I should’ve brought her in from the sun.”
My heart went out to Aubrey to see him suffer so much over a memory that wasn’t even real, thanks to Lodinn’s compulsion. Had he even planted the seed that Aubrey should’ve been able to save her? Lodinn was enough of a bastard to try something like that.
“Aubrey, there was nothing you could’ve done,” I said gently when Bishop didn’t reply, his expression stony.
“Yes, I should’ve saved her, I should’ve brought her in from the sun,” he repeated the exact phrase, making me think it was a compulsion there after all. “I wanted you to kill me once Carys was gone. That’s why I picked that fight on the steps. I wanted you to end me for how I failed
her.”
Now Bishop’s facade cracked, his face twisting with compassion. “I didn’t want to kill you that day, I only wanted you to stop and leave me alone.”
“Well, I wanted you dead. You or me, either would’ve sufficed. Me, because I wasn’t worthy and you because she always loved you best.” Aubrey’s eyes burned, red rimmed with jealousy and shame, and I took pity on him.
“Aubrey, this petty jealousy with Bishop has got to come to an end,” I said, smothering his will with mine once more. “Stop trying to make yourself feel better by goading him. Move on, live your life. You’ll be so much happier, I promise you that.”
“Happier,” he echoed, his eyes blank.
“Good,” I nodded, satisfied that I had him under my sway, even as Bishop looked on, brows bunched together into a single dark line. “If you think about it, there’s nothing to be jealous of. You don’t really want me. Carys loved you both equally, and she’s been gone a long time now. It’s time to leave the past in the past and look to the future. We’re all the family you have, it’s important to preserve family connections, don’t you think?”
“Family,” Aubrey agreed with a nod.
“Surely you don’t think that will work,” Bishop muttered, but I shushed him, turning back to Aubrey.
“You won’t remember anything about vampires compelling other vampires. You’ll remember making peace with Bishop, and moving on with your life. It was lovely to see you, brother, but it’s time to get back to the party.”
“It was lovely to see you, brother dear,” Aubrey smiled without his usual snide twist to the words. “Anja, looking lovely as usual. But I saw a bit of muslin I simply must ask to dance. It’s time to get back to the party,” he grinned, already heading off to rejoin the ball.
“Did you really compel him?” Bishop asked as we walked back down to the ballroom at a slower pace.
“I really did.”
“And have you ever compelled me?”
And here was the crux of it all. “Yes, though I didn’t realize I was doing it at first. It’s part of why we broke up, it was hard for you to accept that, to trust that I wouldn’t use it against you. Later on, you said you realized I couldn’t make you do anything you truly didn’t want to do. You saw that memory I shared with you, that was after we’d broken up and you’d realized none of that mattered, you still wanted to be with me.”
“Yes, I remember,” he nodded, some of the tension easing from his shoulders. “Then I did learn to accept it.”
“You did.”
“And Carys had this ability as well? You’re certain of this?”
“I surely am. Trust me, she wasn’t at all shy about using it to get what she wanted.”
“No, I don’t expect she would be,” he replied falling silent.
“I’m sorry, I know that’s a lot to take in.”
“Anja! There you are!” Bridget appeared at the bottom of the stairs, hair slipping from its pins and her cheeks flushed. “I’ve been all over London looking for you. They said at the house you’d gone to some ball, but couldn’t tell me where. I had to deck the goon at the door to get in here.” She took in a big gulp of air and then lowered her voice. “Listen, I found the thing.”
“The thing?”
“The thing,” she repeated with a meaningful stare, and I caught on to what she was talking about. She’d found the witch.
“Oh. I have to be going,” I said, shooting Bishop an apologetic grimace, already threading my way through the crush of people to get to the door.
Bishop followed along, catching my elbow as I stepped outside. “Already? But it’s barely midnight, the ball has just begun.”
“I know, and I hate to run out on you like this, but I really do have to go.”
“But where do you go?”
“I’ll tell you all about it when I get back, but I have to go do something.”
“I’ll come too.” He started to follow us down the street, and I panicked.
“No!” Ugh, I hated the hurt puppy look in his eyes, but what else could I do? “I told you, I’ll explain it all later, but for now, we have to leave. I’m sorry. We’ll definitely do the ball thing another night, I promise.”
And with that, we hopped into a hack and clacked off into the night.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bishop didn’t give a moment’s thought to following Anja, his curiosity burning too brightly to stay behind. It was not a matter of trust. In his eyes he did trust her. More, he was concerned that whatever was serious enough to take her away from the ball would place her in danger.
Never mind the fact that she was stronger than him and possessed the ability to compel other vampires, the fact of the matter was, she aroused very strong protective instincts within him. It was more than he could bear to think of anything befalling her when he might prevent it. And if there should be no danger, then he would keep to the shadows and Anja would be remain never the wiser that he’d chosen to follow her at all.
It wasn’t difficult to keep pace with the hack, he had the stealth and speed to easily follow it through the traffic, such as it was at that hour. It surprised him when they turned onto the bridge to Southwark. Who did she know on that side of London? His doubts mounted as the coach came to stop before the Boar’s Head Inn, and they grew to suspicions when he spotted Clay waiting in the courtyard to meet her.
For long moments he watched them together, Clay’s welcoming smile upon her approach, and the way Anja’s face changed when he said something she liked, her entire body thrumming with excitement. It was enough to make his blood run cold. An hour ago he would’ve sworn she’d only look at him like that. Jealousy seized its hooked claws into him, tingeing the world in a green haze as he watched the two of them with their heads together, words too low to be overheard.
Forgetting to be stealthy, he strode across the cobblestones, boots ringing to announce his presence as he went to confront the pair.
Anja’s pretty blue eyes widened in surprise at his arrival. Her gaze darting to Clay and back to him, as if hoping perhaps, that he hadn’t spotted his fellow brother in the Order. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice high and tremulous.
“I might ask you the same,” Bishop replied, his lips pressed into a grim line. “Are you rendezvousing here with Clay?”
She winced. “Sort of.”
Her admission cut him to the bone, and from the way Clay wouldn’t meet his gaze, Bishop assumed the worst, but he refused to lose his temper before a subordinate. “And how long has this been going on?” he demanded in a tightly controlled voice.
“W-What? No!” she sputtered, jaw dropping in alarm. “I’m not meeting him like that!”
“So you say, madam,” Bishop replied, desperately trying to keep the churning sensation in his gut from showing on his face. This was what he got for trusting another pretty face. At least this one seemed incapable of lying convincingly; there was guilt written all over her face. “Then what, pray tell, are you meeting with him for?”
“He had to show me something.”
“Something you dashed halfway across town to find in the middle of the night?” Bishop retorted with a single raised brow before turning to Clay. “Aren’t you meant to be on patrol on the north bank?”
“No, sir. I-I mean, yes, sir,” he stammered, eyes riveted to the ground.
“Then would you care to explain yourself, man?”
“Hey, it’s not his fault!” Anja cried out, stepping between them.
“My men learn to own their mistakes.”
“Yes, but it’s really not his fault,” she insisted stubbornly. “Remember that whole compulsion thing? I sort of put the whammy on him and made him help us.”
“You compelled him into abandoning his post?” Bishop wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than what he originally suspected. Either way, she had far too much influence over his men.
“Only for the past few nights.”
“This had been going on
for days?” Bishop snapped, and her human companion chimed in.
“Nights, not days, if you want to get technical.”
“That is entirely irrelevant.”
“It’s completely relevant,” Anja insisted. “It’s not like we’re working him night and day. I just needed him to help me with a project.”
“You tell him, An. Don’t let him act like a douchecanoe and get away with it.”
“Bridget, stop helping,” Anja hissed, turning to Bishop with pleading eyes. “Look, whatever you think this is, I promise you, it’s not that bad.”
“And your promises are worth what, precisely?” He should’ve known that women were not to be trusted.
Anja sucked in a wounded breath, and Bishop felt his stomach tighten for having caused that pain despite his firm conviction that he was in the right. “I haven’t lied to you. I just didn’t mention the fact that I’ve been working on something on the side.”
“Something that includes absconding with my men?”
“Man, as in one, singular. And I didn’t abscond, he’s still patrolling mostly. I just needed him to help me with one tiny thing.”
“I can hardly imagine,” he muttered, arms crossing over his chest. “Well? Out with it, what was so important you couldn’t be bothered to ask me to help you directly?”
“A witch. And the only reason I didn’t ask you directly is because I didn’t want to upset you.”
He gave her a withering stare. “Behold the magnificence of that plan.”
“How was I supposed to know you were going to follow me out here?” she tossed back at him. “I told you I’d catch up with you later.”
“Something tells me you would’ve been less than forthcoming about your tryst with Clay.”
“Daì ruò mù ji, would you get over yourself? I’m not trysting with Clay or anybody else. I only thought it would be simpler to look into this on my own. I didn’t want to upset you.”
Now she had him completely befuddled. “If you’ve done nothing wrong, why did you think this would upset me? What do you seek a witch for?”