Kiss Me When the Sun Goes Down

by Lisa Olsen

“I h-hope you don’t think so,” he said with a shy duck of the head, and disappeared into the kitchen as Maggie came bounding down the stairs, full of energy.

  “Happy Christmas!” she exclaimed as she reached me, and I had to smile over her enthusiasm.

  “Merry Christmas to you too,” I laughed. “What’s going on?”

  “You’ll never ever guess what Tucker gave me.”

  “No, I don’t think I’ll be able to. What is it?”

  “Don’t be angry with me, Anja, I know we decided to exchange gifts tomorrow night as a family, but you see he couldn’t wait and…”

  “I’m not mad, but what is it?” I demanded, when it looked like she was about to dance around it for another minute or two.

  “This!” Maggie thrust her hand under my nose where a diamond sparkled on a very significant finger.

  Jeez Louise, was everyone getting married? “You’re engaged?”

  “As long as it’s alright.”

  “Why wouldn’t it be alright?”

  “You aren’t angry b-b-because I didn’t ask your permission first, are you?” Tucker hovered by the doorway, a mug of cinnamon laced cocoa in his hands as a sort of peace offering, as nearly as I could tell.

  “Why on Earth would I be angry?” I frowned, taking the hot mug from his hands. “You most certainly don’t need my permission to marry Maggie.”

  “I can care for her now that I’m working for Lee,” he pointed out earnestly.

  “I never doubted you’d be able to,” I assured him, half wondering if he had any idea how wealthy Maggie was, thanks to her inheritance from Marcus.

  “And we’ve talked about the possibility of children being… you know, like me.”

  “That is a pretty serious topic to consider,” I allowed, still not sure why he thought he had to get my blessing.

  “I don’t care a whit about that. Any child of ours would be special, whether it’s a shifter or not,” Maggie butted in, her eyes warm and full of love as she tucked her arm through his.

  “How could I possibly object? Look how happy the two of you are,” I smiled, feeling teary eyed again. So many friends and family embracing the future and all the possibilities. Could the night get any more emotional?

  “Are you s-sure? Lee said it was okay, but…”

  “Really, I’m crazy happy for you guys. Boy, there must be something in the air. Hanna and Mason announced their engagement tonight too,” I added, taking a careful sip of cocoa.

  “Oh… and you have a new ring as well!” Maggie gasped, noticing my left hand as I lifted the mug.

  “Oh, no, it’s not… it’s a promise ring. And check it out, these inlaid bits are from a real meteorite. Pretty cool, huh?”

  “It is lovely,” Maggie nodded, but I could tell she was disappointed. I wasn’t though, not anymore. I was on the right path with Bishop. We had a shot at something more than marriage. We had a shot at forever.

  Chapter Twelve

  Carter took two steps into my study and threw up his hands in defeat. “You’re not getting married now too, are you? Christ, I go away for a few days and it’s like an epidemic. I thought you were going to take it slow?”

  “I am.”

  Stalking across the room, he perched on the arm of my chair and held my arm up by the wrist, giving it a jiggle. “This is slow?”

  I pulled my hand free, admiring the fire in the stone. “This is a promise ring, if you must know, and I love it.”

  “A promise of what?” he snorted, and I shoved his shoulder hard enough that he tipped off the arm of the chair, but recovered before he crashed onto the floor.

  “A promise of love, fidelity, all the good parts. You know, normal relationship stuff? No, I guess maybe you don’t.”

  “I do fine without the mushy bits,” he said in a small voice, face twisting like I’d asked him to eat an entire stalk of Brussels sprouts.

  Any annoyance I felt at the criticism melted in the face of those words. He honestly had no idea what he was missing. “Carter, you can’t go along your whole life alone.”

  “I’m not alone, I have you. Unless you’re telling me we can’t be buds anymore now that you’re going steady with Dumbo.”

  “Of course not. What would that have to do with our friendship? And he’s not dumb.”

  “I didn’t say he was, but his ears could signal air traffic.”

  “They could not! His ears are perfectly normal.”

  Carter shrugged, slouching to the windowsill. “All I’m saying is, it’s a good thing his gene pool ends with him, ’cause his kids would blow over in a storm.”

  I leaned back in my chair, arms folding across my chest. “Tell me again how you think you can dispense relationship advice when you’re living like a monk?”

  “Monks don’t get to play Assassin’s Creed, which is where I’m headed. Give me a shout when he breaks your heart again, and I’ll kneecap him. Until then, spare me the details.”

  “Hey, is that all you have to say to me?” I called after him when he breezed out as quickly as he’d come.

  “Oh right. Merry Christmas,” he paused to add.

  “And a Happy New Year to you too, but what about my report on the Canada situation? You do recall the entire reason for your trip up north, right?”

  “I sent you an email.” I just stared at him, and he let out a long sigh. “Fine, I’ll give you the highlights.” Carter didn’t bother to take a seat, he stayed put leaning on the windowsill. “So you were right, there are tons more vampires in Canada than there used to be, and as near as I can tell, they mostly came from England.”

  “Son of a biscuit,” I muttered, leaning forward to rest my arms on the desk. “What the heck are they up to?”

  “I talked to ones in both the West and the East, and the same thing held true for all of them – they were encouraged to leave Vetis.”

  That didn’t sound good. “Encouraged how?”

  “They were given relocation expenses and promised open hunting grounds with little Order interference.”

  “That’s true enough, the Order doesn’t have much of a presence up there, but who paid their relocation expenses?”

  “Simon Corley.”

  “That must’ve cost him a fortune!”

  “Yep. The only interesting thing I found was the ones that settled here in the West did so a while ago, and the ones in the East are much more recent. Like since Corley got exiled from Vetis.”

  “So whatever he’s been cooking, it’s been in place for a while. Since he was trying to buy the Canadian territory from me. But why would he possibly finance the more recent moves when he’s not in charge of Vetis anymore?”

  “Beats the snot out of me. You asked me to go dig into where they came from, and that’s what I did. The exact numbers and stuff are in the report I sent. Can I go now?” There was an air of impatience I wasn’t used to, and I fixed him with a frown.

  “What’s going on, Carter? How come you’re so eager to go up and play video games? You can do that any time. Don’t you want to hang out with us? It’s Christmas.”

  “I don’t know, I want to chill for a while. Our family shindig’s not until tomorrow night, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but… I feel like I’ve hardly seen you lately.”

  “That’s because you sent me out of town.”

  “No, I mean even before that.” Despite his casual tone, I couldn’t shake the idea that something was off with him. “Is there something we should talk about?”

  I’ll give Carter one thing, he sure had an epic eyeroll, and he exercised it with abandon in that moment. “Not everything needs to be talked to death, you know. I need some time to myself.”

  “You just had a few days to yourself. Seriously, what’s going on? Don’t make me compel it out of you.” He knew I was only kidding, but Carter slumped into the chair opposite me.

  “I don’t know, I feel… kinda antsy lately.”

  “Ansty like restless, or like there’s something ph
ysically wrong?”

  “More restless, like I have trouble decompressing in my down time.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  “Maybe because I’m a hunter without anything left to hunt? I don’t know, I feel so freaking useless half the time. I should be out there on the streets, taking care of business, not farting around the house, waiting on your next assignment.”

  “You’re not useless! It might not be the same function, but you do have a function here. Thanks to you we’ve identified and removed a lot of serious threats to humans in this area. If you’re not as busy, that’s a good thing, it means it’s working.” Vampire violence to humans was way down in the West. Now that it was openly known that I had the vampire hunter in my cabinet, the local vamps were either a lot more careful, or a lot more discreet.

  “I know, but it’s not the same. The video games help, they give me something to focus on. And let’s face it, it’s pretty much the only way to satisfy my urge to kill stuff these days, thanks to you,” he added sourly.

  “I’m not going to apologize for keeping you from killing others, and I’m not going to take it back either. We’ve proven that it doesn’t take killing to make things right.”

  “Yeah, but we haven’t gone out on the hunt in ages, An.” He slumped lower in the chair looking utterly defeated. “It’s cleaned up around here, sure. But what about other places? What about down in LA, or up near Seattle? What about the East where Jennike doesn’t give a rats ass how many humans they kill as long as it doesn’t wind up on the news?”

  “I can’t go chasing down baddies, I have obligations that keep me here. Obligations that keep humans safer on a grander scale than those individual cases we tackled.”

  “I get the whole needs of the many crap, but tell that to the victims out there getting violated on a nightly basis.” His eyes filled with that old zeal, the need to rid the world of the very species he was a part of. I started to wonder if what I’d offered him in San Francisco was enough to keep him there.

  “Are you saying you want to leave?”

  Carter rubbed at the side of his face. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just… I feel like there’s someone out there who needs me, and I’m letting them down by sitting here in the lap of luxury.”

  “I could move you to a smaller room and take away the Xbox.” His lips twitched into an almost smile, but he didn’t reply. “I get it, you know. And I think it’s pretty great how you want to atone for your sins and save lives. For the record, you are doing good here.” I let out a long breath. “But I’ll understand if you feel like you need to move on at some point.”

  His brows came up in surprise. “You would?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t want to make you stay against your will. I mean, I’d miss you like crazy, but I’d understand it. But I also hope you really think long and hard about what you’re leaving behind.”

  “Trust me, that’s all I seem to think about lately,” he muttered.

  “I don’t mean the job, I don’t even mean our friendship, because we’ll always be friends no matter what. But you have a home here, Carter, and that’s no small thing. You have people who care about you, and whether you think so or not, you have the ability to make a difference in people’s lives – both human and vampire. Not all vamps are bad, you know. Have you made any effort to get to know any of the locals beyond Gunnar?”

  Carter gave a half shrug. “I talked to that dipshit who collected the tithing.”

  “Okay, A – Leander is my Magistrate, and he’s not a dipshit. And B – I hope you didn’t call him that to his face. That’s not the best way to make friends.”

  “I don’t want to make friends. Having friends only makes it harder when you have to kill someone.”

  “But you don’t do that anymore.”

  “I should be.”

  I understood where he was coming from, but more than anything, I wanted him to find a bigger purpose in his life than the hunt. Somehow I didn’t think he’d find that out there on his own, playing vigilante. “Look, why don’t you give staying here another chance – only give it a real shot this time. How about we go down to the Bleeding Hart? I honestly feel like if you make some ties to the community, it’ll help you transition to the private sector.”

  “Is that what we are?”

  “More so than vampire hunters.”

  “Fine, I’ll go with you, but I won’t chit chat.”

  “Just be your natural adorable self, and I’m sure you’ll do fine,” I grinned. “But let’s bring Gunnar along.”

  “What for? I can keep you safe.”

  “I can keep myself safe, but he’s been feeling unneeded lately. That’s what happens when we get so much peace and quiet.”

  “Yeah, all of us violent types become obsolete.”

  “That’s why it pays to evolve. Maybe your crusader days are coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a new purpose in life.”

  “Poor Anja, having to balance all of these delicate male egos,” he chuckled. “When do you have the time to work?”

  “Come on, smartass, let’s get going. We only have a couple more hours left before daybreak.”

  “Better a smartass than a dumbass,” he quipped, hauling himself up to his feet. “Alright, I’ll go to your vampire bar, sunshine, but only ’cause you’re the boss.”

  “I hope I’m more than that.”

  “Uh huh, you’re a pain in my…”

  “I call shotgun!” I called out, cutting him off, and predictably, Carter was distracted.

  “You can’t call shotgun, we’re inside.”

  “So?”

  “So, you can’t call shotgun unless you’re within sight of the car.”

  “Says who?”

  “The rules of shotgun.”

  “I think you’re making that up.”

  “The hell I am, ask anyone. Gunnar!” he yelled, in search of the bodyguard.

  Sometimes it was too easy.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gunnar was more than thrilled to be invited along, and Maggie and Tucker were happy to have the house to themselves as we set off for the Hart. As soon as we set foot into the vampire bar, Gunnar took his position behind me, on duty, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him he could relax, he looked so happy to have something to do.

  I was worried how Laveda might greet me, but she didn’t seem as openly hostile as we bellied up to the bar. She wore a thin, loose fitting sweatshirt that had been hacked up Flashdance style to reveal smooth shoulders, with a pair of skin tight leggings, and boots with spiked heels. She’d cut her unruly mop of hair to a modern, updated style, buzzed short on the sides and back, and falling over one eye in a riot of red-gold curls.

  “Have you thrown off Bishop for this one already?” she asked, sizing Carter up with her available eye.

  “No, he’s out working. Carter’s a friend.”

  “Give us an introduction then, yeah?”

  “Oh, that’s right, I don’t think the two of you have ever formally met. Laveda, this is Carter, he’s my secret agent man. And Carter, this is Rob’s cousin, Laveda. She’s the local bartender extraordinaire.”

  Carter had gone pale – which was saying something for a vampire. His eyes didn’t rise above the scarred bar as he mumbled something in greeting.

  “Nice to meet ya. Any fanger of Anja’s is a friend of mine.” Laveda ducked down, hoping to catch his gaze, but he turned away, seemingly scanning the bar. “What can I get you to satisfy your thirst?”

  Now he looked at her, but I fancied the look in his eye was almost one of panic. “I’ll have a beer, thanks. I’ll go grab us a table, An,” he said, already striding through the bar before either of us could reply.

  “He’s a funny one, ain’t he?”

  “Getting funnier every day,” I agreed, watching him select a table in the back. I noticed that he chose a position with his back to the wall, and his right hand had unobstructed access to the gun I kn
ew he had in his jacket.

  “I think he’s not one for the social scene,” Gunnar observed. “I think this is the first time I see him blowing off his steam.”

  “Speaking of blowing off some steam, you can relax, Gunnar. We’re in a friendly place.”

  “You are sure?”

  “Of course I am. You don’t have to stay glued to my side the whole time. Just keep within screaming distance,” I teased, but he took me at my word.

  “I will not go far, I promise,” he replied with a toothy smile. “Laveda, send a new round to Jarrod’s table where I join him, yes?”

  “You got it, big fella,” she nodded, already busy filling the order as Gunnar peeled off to join the owner at his table.

  “I’ll have a beer too,” I decided, forgoing my usual zombie, since she had her hands full. “Put ’em on my tab, okay?”

  “Sure thing,” Laveda agreed, sliding over two amber bottles.

  It took me a while longer to get to the rear table. I kept getting stopped and I took the time to exchange a few friendly words. You’d have thought I was gone for hours by the way Carter slammed back his beer when I got there, like he was dying of thirst.

  “Hey, slow down. If you want an excuse to go talk to Laveda again, say so. You don’t have to drink so fast.”

  “That’s the complete opposite of what I want,” he muttered, but he did stop drinking.

  “Why? You barely met her. You can’t be mad at her already, she hasn’t had time to piss you off yet.”

  “I’m not mad at her, I’m…”

  “Crushing on her?” I teased, giving him a goofy smile, but he wasn’t the least bit amused.

  “It’s not a crush. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it.”

  “Feel what?”

  “You know what I’m talking about. She’s not normal, she’s… Jesus Christ, she smells like… like… sex and candy rolled up into one.”

  “I think she smells nice.”

  “There’s nothing nice about what I want to do to her,” he growled, staring into the dregs of his beer. “She has no business working in a vampire bar, smelling like that.”

  “Then don’t get so close to her.”