by Olsen, Lisa
“You bitch!” he squealed, eyes squinting through the haze of pain as blood streamed down his face. The thick scent of blood filled the alley, momentarily stealing all my attention, bringing my fangs out at about half mast.
“Shut up and be still,” I ordered, taking inordinate amount of pleasure in the way he froze, nothing but a high pitched whine coming from his throat as his body fought to comply with my order. His blood called to me, overriding any objection I had to his personal hygiene, but before I could do anything about it, I was reminded that there was one guy left in the alley.
Instead of taking the hint, he pulled a knife, a dangerous glint to his eye as he approached. “I guess I’ll be the one to give you that lesson in manners,” he said with a nasty grin. “How about we start by carving out some of those pretty teeth? Then we can put your mouth to good use.”
“You mean these teeth?” My fangs descended the rest of the way.
“What the… is this some kind of a joke?”
“Yeah, it’s friggin’ hilarious.” My hand hammered out to clock him on the jaw. I know Rob had trained me not to hit anyone with a closed fist, but his jaw gave way before my hand did, and I was satisfied to hear the crack of his head against the side of the building and see the stain of blood on his lips.
There was no compulsion, no preparation before I lunged for his throat. My teeth tore into his flesh like an animal, growling as his hot blood filled my mouth. It hurt him.
And I liked it.
I wanted to punish him. I wanted to make him pay for everyone he’d ever hurt in his miserable life. Because I was thoroughly convinced he would’ve tortured and raped me, maybe even killed me if I hadn’t been a bigger predator than he was. My hand closed around his windpipe, the only thing keeping him from screaming as I tore into his neck, drinking my fill.
But for as much as he suffered, I still felt incredibly close to him as his blood filled my veins. Though he took no satisfaction from it, I was still powerfully aroused, my body pressed tightly against his as he struggled. Each quiver and shake he made to break free sent a jolt of pleasure through me.
I hadn’t gone into it counting, or thinking about preserving his life, and as his heartbeat slowed, I thought about ending him. What would it hurt? Did he deserve to life another day to harm someone else? I held his life tottering in the balance for long seconds, until I released him with a shudder, healing the wounds at his neck with my blood before I was tempted to finish him off.
A wave of revulsion swept over me and I let go of him, hopping backwards as he crumpled to the ground. I’d been pressed up against that? The thought sickened me as well as the thought that I’d almost become like him. The pleasure I’d taken in causing him pain was far more revolting than any quibble I’d had with his personal hygiene.
I took great pains to wipe away any trace of his blood, more disgusted than entranced by the thought of it anywhere near me.
“Are you alright?”
The blood was still thundering in my ears when I whirled around, catching sight of Rob at the alley entrance. “Why didn’t you help me? I thought you were here to protect me?” Never mind the fact that I’d already broken my word to wait for him to catch up to me, I was fairly certain he’d been there for most of the action in the alley.
“I am. You wasn’t in real danger, not from that lot. And a spot of exercise is good for you.”
“Exercise,” I said with a broken laugh. Was that all that was? It still bothered me more than I liked to admit how easily I’d embraced violence, for all the pretensions I had on retaining my humanity. Taking a deep breath, I squatted down in front of the guy, slapping him lightly until the pain brought him around. My compulsion brought him under my control before he could utter a single word.
“You won’t remember any of this. You won’t ever attack another woman again for as long as you live. Do you understand? You won’t carry a knife, you won’t so much as want to touch one to cut up your steak. You’ll live your life as scared and alone as the people you’ve bullied. Now get the hell out of here before I decide that’s too good for you and kill you anyway.”
He scuttled off, stumbling over his feet until he made it onto the street and disappeared from view. Maybe he wouldn’t make it home without passing out again, but I didn’t care.
His friend watched us with wide eyes, still trapped by my compulsion to be still and I stood to compel him to forget me as well. Maybe the other guy who’d gone back into the bar would remember me, but all he’d know was I was the center of a bar fight. As long as nothing screamed vampire, I didn’t care if they remembered me. I didn’t intend to ever return there again.
I didn’t go back into the bar, and I didn’t say anything to Rob as I strode past him back onto the street. I didn’t do anything but walk until the violence simmering under my skin started to fade and I felt more like myself again. Gradually, my steps slowed, and I was glad to find Rob trailing along behind me, giving me the space I needed. Waiting for him to catch up to me, we reversed directions, ambling slowly back to the car.
“I don’t want to ever do that again,” I said once we got inside the plush, leather interior.
“Be a bit hard for you not to, you being a vamp and all.”
“I don’t mean feeding, I mean what happened tonight. You were there, weren’t you?”
“Too right, I was there.”
“I didn’t think… I didn’t know I had that level of violence inside me.”
“You’re a vampire, it’s your nature,” he shrugged, unconcerned.
“I didn’t like it.”
“It ain’t for you to like, it’s for you to do. It doesn’t have to define you if you don’t want it to.”
“Yes, but you saw me back there… I hurt him, on purpose, and I enjoyed it.” What kind of a monster did that make me?
Rob seemed largely untroubled by my bloodthirsty technique. “Bloke like that needs hurting every now and again. You didn’t kill him.”
“But I wanted to.”
“But you didn’t,” he said stonily, starting up the car. He was upset though, I could see it now that I’d worked my way through the worst of my self-recrimination. It was in the way he gripped the steering wheel and the set of his jaw.
“What’s wrong then?”
“Nothing a bottle of whiskey won’t cure.” That was all I’d get out of him, I saw that as plain as the nose on his face.
“Make it a double,” I muttered under my breath.
Only he didn’t join me for a drink when we got home. Instead Rob holed himself up in his room listening to Nina Simone, the unfamiliar whiff of cigarette smoke seeping out from under his bedroom door. No matter how I strained my ears to hear what he was doing in there, the music covered his movements.
Unused to being shut out like that, I turned to a bottle of aquavit, pouring myself a drink that turned into four. I grew more and more melancholy as Nina sang about loss with such depth of feeling, I wanted to seep through the cracks in the floor to bury myself in darkness. Somewhere around the seventh or eighth drink, I found it.
Chapter Seven
The next night, I awoke to Maggie shaking my shoulder again. I was really going to have to start locking my door during the day, especially considering I’d never made it to my bed and lay awkwardly sprawled on the floor, drooling onto the carpet. My head felt like it was stuffed with soggy cotton, and from the half gone bottle next to the couch, I could guess why.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, but your appointment is here.”
“I’m dying,” I croaked, brushing her hand away from my shoulder. “Whoever it is, send them away.”
Maggie hesitated, her expressive eyes wide with worry. “You’re ill? Should I call for Jenessa instead?”
“No.” Pushing myself up to a sitting position, I leaned against the couch. “I’m fine, just being a big baby,” I sighed. “Who’s here again?”
“Macallister James. You approved the appointment when I set it.”
“It’s fine, I had a rough day is all. Tell him I’ll be up in a jiff and offer him a drink while he waits. The normal kind, not the bloody kind,” I added quickly. Thank goodness we’d outfitted the deep porch with some comfortable patio furniture since he couldn’t be invited in until I did it myself.
“Can I get you anything?” she hesitated, her head bowed.
“No, I’d better stop whining and get a move on.”
The hot shower helped. Mostly my head was still groggy and my ears seemed particularly sensitive to the tiniest sound. I felt well enough to climb the stairs at normal speed, but not so good that I wasn’t annoyed not to find Rob waiting for me by the door in his usual spot. Instead Gunnar waited on hand, just in case the inviting in process didn’t go so smoothly.
The boots and jeans were back, and this time a well worn cowboy hat completed the ensemble. Macallister rose to his feet when Gunnar opened the door, hat in hand.
“Evenin’, ma’am,” he smiled genially, a scruff of whiskers accentuating his dimples rather than camouflaging them.
“Howdy,” I drawled back, unable to resist. “Please, come in.”
Gunnar bristled beside me for the moment of truth, but the vampire strode in without any difficulties. My bodyguard remained wary as I waved us through to my study, and he followed us into the room.
“You want me to stay with you, boss?” he asked, having picked up the habit of calling me boss from Felix.
“No, thanks, I’ll manage. Can you please go put on a pot of coffee though?” I didn’t normally indulge, but it sounded good at the time. Gunnar trundled off, and I closed the door behind him, facing the self appointed speaker for Texas across the huge oak desk. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting out there for so long, something came up I had to take care of first.” Not a lie… Without the shower I wouldn’t have been able to form complex sentences.
“S’alright, darlin’, you was worth the wait,” he winked, setting his hat on the corner of my desk to pull out a silver flask. “Want a little hair of the dog?”
I was about to say no, but accepted on a whim. “Sure, why not?” It couldn’t make me feel much worse. I tipped the flask back, the alcohol burning on the way down, but I knew to hold my breath until I could speak without coughing. “Smooth.”
Macallister accepted the flask back, taking a pull on it himself. “That there’s sippin’ whiskey all the way from Scotland,” he declared with pride.
“I think that’s called scotch.”
“Whatever the name, it’s smooth as a baby’s bottom, ain’t it?” he chuckled, passing it back to me again. I took a smaller sip this time before returning it.
“It’s nice.”
“Remind me later and I’ll send ya a case.”
“That’s not necessary,” I waved him off.
“It’ll be my pleasure for the gift you sent me.”
Had Maggie sent something on my behalf? I didn’t remember her saying anything about it. “I didn’t send you any gift.”
“Oh, but you did. A mighty fine one too,” he grinned. “Didn’t she tell you about that?”
“Mr. James, on any other evening I might play this merry-go-round of questions with you, but I’ll be flat out honest with you and tell you I’ve got a heck of a hangover. So how about you just tell me what you’re talking about?”
Macallister laughed, the sound silky and appealing even through the hangover. “I ‘preciate the honesty. It’s always the best policy, ‘cept when a lie will do. If you wanna take a few and fetch your gal down to do you up, I don’t mind waitin’.”
“Fetch my…” All at once I understood what he meant. All I needed was a touch of blood and my hangover would be a thing of the past. But I couldn’t use Maggie like that and Rob was definitely out of the question. I supposed I could ask it of one of the security guys and compel them to forget it, but it seemed like a dangerous precedent to set. “No, thanks. I’ll be fine.” All I needed was some time and my vampire nature would burn through it faster than a regular hangover, I was sure. “So, what can I do for you tonight?”
He leaned forward in his chair, an eager light to his eyes. “Did you have a chance to go over my proposal?”
“Proposal?”
“That gal of yours said she’d bring my petition to your attention, lickety split.”
Maggie hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort, but then I remembered jokingly sending Jenessa over to meet with him, and now the crack about the mighty fine gift made sense. Cripes, I hoped she hadn’t made any promises on my behalf.
“And I’m sure she will, when time permits. You can imagine, I have a lot going on right now.”
“I surely can. And I wouldn’t press if I wasn’t on a bit of a time crunch m’self.”
“Is there an expiration date to the offer on the table?” My brows rose. I didn’t like being pressured to do anything, even less with a time limit.
“Not at all, I’d just like to get things wrapped up before you’re distracted by the big dogs at the Gatherin’ is all.”
I could see his point, but that didn’t mean I was going to scramble all over myself to make it happen. “I’m sorry, I can’t guarantee I’ll have time to give your proposal the consideration it needs before then.”
“Fair enough,” he replied, though I could see the disappointment written all over his face. “I don’t suppose you might consider helpin’ a fella out another way then?”
The mind boggled. “What did you have in mind?”
The charming smile was back, dimples flashing. “I could sure use a ride to the big to-do over at Vetis.”
“You’re looking to hitch a ride?” I blinked.
“In a manner of speakin’.”
“Are you invited to the Gathering?” Somehow I hadn’t thought he’d be welcome, considering Texas’ independent status.
“Not official like, but they can’t deny anyone sanctuary. I won’t get into any of the closed door meetin’s, but I can use the facilities to set up my own private meetin’s.”
I considered that for a moment. “No offense, but why go at all? I’m surprised we don’t all meet by teleconference in the first place.”
“Are you kiddin’ me? Half these jokers don’t even know what a teleconference is. This here’s a strictly old school meetin’ of the minds. Now then, if I go in there with an accord between Texas and the West, with the shiny new Elder supportin’ our rights as a sovereign nation… Well then, that makes my bargaining position all that much the better, don’t it?” he winked.
I could see the wisdom of that, but I didn’t want to be rushed into anything. “I tell you what, Mr. James…”
“Call me Mac.”
“I’ll tell you what, Mac. I will seriously consider an accord with Texas, but you’ll have to give me some time to familiarize myself with your politics before I sign anything.”
“I get it. Gotta give us a looksee before you’re ready to hop into bed. Smart. But about that ride…”
“I think we can manage that,” I decided on the fly. There should be plenty of room in the jet, and it might be a good idea to get to know more about our neighbor. “I’ll have my secretary contact you with our flight arrangements. Just let her know where you’re staying.”
Mac shuffled to his feet, picking up his hat. “Thankee kindly, ma’am,” he grinned, hesitating at the door. “I ah, don’t suppose the lovely Miss Jenessa will be coming along on the trip?”
“No, she’s not.”
“Ah, well. Easy come, easy go. That just leaves an open playin’ ground for the international talent.”
“It was nice to see you again, Mac.” My lips pressed together in a thin smile. “I’ll see you on the flight.”
“I’ll be countin’ the hours until you grace me with your beauty again,” he said gravely, a hand over his heart before he tucked the hat low over his forehead and swaggered out the door.
It wasn’t going to be a boring flight, I could count on that at least.
>
*
I doggedly worked through the rest of my hangover, using it as penance of sorts for drinking too much in the first place. Rob appeared with a cup of coffee for me with a dash of cinnamon, showing no trace of a hangover (or any drama) at all. So it was just me who’d drunk myself into a coma the night before. Cool beans.
A courier arrived sometime after midnight with a stack of boxes, waist high. I didn’t recognize the label on the packages, but the packing slip bore a logo for FF Fashions – We Sew While You Sleep. The invoice showed several items listed, but I couldn’t make heads or tails out of what any of it was.
“FF Fashions… what’s this?” My eyes skimmed down the page. “Chocolate confection. Cherry blossom in winter. Midnight temptation. What is this stuff supposed to be?”
“Only one way to find out,” Maggie smiled, her fingers itching to tear them open.
“Go for it, but dibs on anything chocolate.”
While she struggled with the packing tape, I flipped the page over, staring at the price on the bottom of the page. “There has to be some kind of a mistake,” I murmured, blinking to clear my eyes, but the number didn’t change. That was some expensive candy…
Gunnar produced a knife out of nowhere, easily slitting the top box open, only to be shouldered aside by the willowy brunette, her eyes wide with excitement.
“Oh… It’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed, pulling out an elegant dress in chocolate satin and tulle.
Chocolate confection indeed. I realized it must be from the sisters, Briony and Riona. They’d promised to have something ready for me in time to go to England, and there was a whole stack of somethings.
“Put it back in the box, we can’t keep it,” I said resolutely, not wanting to see any of the rest. It was gorgeous, but way too expensive for me to keep.
“But… are you sure? Oh, Anja, take a look at this one, it’d be perfect on you.” She held up a pale pink fitted bodice, the skirt gradually darkening to a deep cherry with a light dusting of pink pearls sewn into the matching jacket. “You’d look good enough to eat.”