by Lisa Olsen
“I didn’t, there was a bar between us.”
“What’s the big deal? So you found her extra tempting.”
“I haven’t been this close to losing myself to the thirst in years. There’s something about her.”
“You’re right, she is particularly tasty, it’s part of her heritage. So what? Play your cards right and she might even let you have a taste.” I waggled my eyebrows at him, and he looked almost sick at the thought.
“I think I’ll keep my distance, thanks.”
“Suit yourself,” I shrugged. “But this is exactly what I’m talking about. Of course you’ll be more affected by being in close proximity to humans, especially ones like Laveda. But the more you hang around them, the more you’ll get used to it.”
“I hang around humans plenty. Standing across the breakfast bar from Maggie never made me want to lunge for her throat.” He shook his head. “Maybe I should go.”
“No, stay here in your corner if you want to.” We hadn’t been there for even ten minutes and I wasn’t ready to declare the outing a complete failure yet.
“What’s the point? I’m not exactly joining the community from here.”
“Baby steps. We’ll get you there,” I promised, patting his arm. “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be ready to dance the tango with Laveda or any other girl without wanting to get your fang on, trust me.”
“If you say so,” he replied, his gaze trained on the pretty bartender.
There was only one thing that could’ve pulled my attention away from the spectacle of Carter lusting over my tasty friend, and that was a familiar peal of laughter. I didn’t even have to look, I knew who it belonged to right away.
“Wode tìan,” I whispered under my breath, closing my eyes. “You have got to be frakking kidding me.”
Carter forgot his thirst to pay attention to my upset. “What’s the matter?” he asked, his eyes scanning for danger, but coming up short.
“Mason brought my sister here.”
He craned his head, spotting her pale blonde head next to the hulking vampire. “So?”
“So, please excuse me for a minute.”
Hanna and Mason had their heads bent together, talking quietly as I approached the table, but Mason gave me a big grin as soon as he noticed me. “Hey, I thought that was you who came in. Join us for a drink?”
I slid into the booth at the invitation, but my tone was less than social. “You brought her to a vampire bar?”
“Yeah, so what?” Mason blinked, taken aback by the accusation in the question. “She’s not the only human here, and anyone would have to have a death wish to mess with my girl.”
He had a point there, but I wasn’t willing to acknowledge it. “So? There are also plenty of people who’d love to hurt the Order, and the best way might be taking a shot at your wife.”
“Hey, cool it with the wife talk around here,” Mason replied, darting a quick look around to see if anyone was listening, his voice low.
“Why? You guys didn’t change your minds about the engagement. Did you?”
“No, but the Order’s got strict rules about what we can and can’t do. And marriage to a human doesn’t make the cut,” he added, his lips barely moving at all, like a ventriloquist.
I hadn’t thought of that. All it did was add another layer of danger to Hanna’s relationship with Mason in my book. “Maybe now isn’t the right time to do this then?” I whispered back.
“It’s fine,” Hanna waved my concerns away. “We’re not planning on having a big ceremony. In fact, we might skip town altogether and elope. Do you think you and Bishop could get away for a few days?”
“Hey, for reals, let’s x-nay on the edding-way talk, okay, ladies?” Mason shut us down before we got too deep into that tangent.
I bit back my response that Mom and Dad would have a mid-sized cow if they found out their oldest skipped off to Vegas for a quickie wedding. It wasn’t the time or place for that discussion either. “The M word or not, it doesn’t lessen the danger to Hanna once it gets around that she’s yours, let alone her relation to me.”
“Like I said, anyone would have to know I’d never rest until I hunted them down and made them suffer if they came after what’s mine.” His voice rose in volume, an open challenge to the room, but he lowered it as he continued. “Anja, I’m not going to leave her at home every night. We have to find a way to merge our two worlds together.”
“Can’t you take her to human bars? Merge there all you want.”
“Maybe she wanted to come here tonight,” Hanna retorted, her temper catching hold. “She has one of those inconvenient free wills and all, from time to time.”
“Okay, I know you’re trying to be funny, but I’m on the moral high ground here. I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“There is no safe. I could die from food poisoning tomorrow, or a drive by shooting next week, and there’d be nothing we could do about it.”
“I’d try and do something about it,” Mason muttered, and I shot him a look. We weren’t going to have that conversation again.
“This is part of his life, and I want to be a part of it.”
“Fine, as long as you understand what you’re getting into. No sugar coating this, Mason. Vampire society isn’t all hearts and flowers, there are real dangers and you won’t always be there all the time to look out for her.”
“Jeez, you sound like Mom,” Hanna snorted. “I’m the big sister, Anja. I’m the one who’s supposed to be giving you life advice, remember?”
“I know,” I replied with a tight smile, deciding to let it go. Hanna would do whatever she wanted to do, she always did. I only hoped that Mason had her back the way he promised to.
We chatted for a couple of minutes before I realized I’d left Carter sitting all alone and waved him over. He waved back, but stayed where he was, with his back to the wall.
“Excuse me for a minute,” I said, leaving the couple alone to go see why he wouldn’t join us. “Why don’t you want to come over and be sociable? That’s the entire point of being here, isn’t it?”
“That guy’s with the Order.”
“I know.”
“So the last time I saw him, he was trying to kill me.”
“Ah.” I hadn’t thought of that. Somehow in my mind they’d all made their peace, but come to think of it, they hadn’t been in the same room together since Carter had come to live with us. “The bounty on your head is gone,” I pointed out, and he gave a dry chuckle.
“Do they know that?”
I scooted beside him. This was clearly going to take more convincing than I’d thought it would. “He happens to be a super good friend of mine and he’s marrying my sister,” I added for his ears only. “I think you’d like him.”
His brows came up in surprise. “You’re letting your sister marry one of them?”
“Shh!” I hissed, but no one appeared to be following our conversation. “I’m not letting her do anything, it’s her own life.”
“Yeah, not for too much longer if she gets mixed up with the Order,” he muttered, draining the rest of his beer.
It wasn’t anything I hadn’t told myself before, but when Carter said it, I had to argue the other side on principle. “Hanna can take care of herself, and Mason would give his life to protect her. Why don’t you come and join us for a drink? I’ll buy.”
Carter’s face twisted in consideration, clinging to his skepticism. “I’m not so sure they want me at your table.”
“It’ll be fine,” I insisted, practically hauling him out of his seat by the arm. “This is how you make friends, Carter. You put yourself out there.”
“Last time I did that I ended up with eight bullets to the chest.”
“Then I’m here to save your sorry behind like I did last time,” I smiled, linking my elbow through his as we approached their table. “Hey guys, you remember me talking about the elusive Carter, don’t you?”
“A vampire who hunts his own kind? How could I for
get?” Mason replied, but he wasn’t being nasty about it, just shooting his mouth off like usual. Carter still stiffened at my side though, and I had to hold onto him like a vice to keep him from bolting.
“You should talk, isn’t that in the Order’s playbook? Killing any vamp who doesn’t march to the beat of your drum?” Carter retorted, and I gave his arm another squeeze. Did he not understand the concept of playing nice?
Mason’s eyes narrowed. “I kill when I have to.”
“So do I.”
The room got really quiet, and I could tell we’d picked up more than a few ears to our conversation, all of us wondering if bloodshed would erupt at any moment. And then Mason laughed. “You are seriously badass, man. I’m gonna buy you a beer. Another round?” he called out to Laveda, pointing at our table.
We sat down, Carter still wary, and Hanna worried over the tension herself. But she’d wanted to see what Mason’s life was like, right? This was it, unpredictable was the only thing you could count on. If it bothered her to hear about Mason’s deadly duties for the Order, she gave no sign of it, relaxing as Carter and I took a seat.
Laveda brought over the beers, and Mason held his up in a toast. “To one badass mofo,” he grinned, and we all touched glasses. Things eased up then, as Mason got Carter talking about how he single handedly led the Vetis Order in circles when they were hunting him in England. I didn’t mind when others listened into the conversation, in fact, I encouraged it. The more they heard a lighthearted spin on Carter’s activities, the sooner they might accept him into the community.
It seemed to be going well, until that dumbhole (I can never remember his name, a red haired vampire who seemed to spend his whole life complaining about something) started grumbling about vamps who place human lives over vampire ones. While I didn’t expect everyone to embrace my philosophies and love Carter the way I did, it didn’t speak too loudly of the guy’s common sense to be so obnoxious about it right at the next table.
“You got something to say?” Carter turned to challenge him.
“Just don’t see what gives you the right to come after us for doing what comes naturally. Who gives a shit if we kill humans?”
“She does.” Carter hooked a thumb in my direction. “And seeing as how she’s your Elder, I’d say you’d better start caring about it too.”
I stood, addressing the entire bar, since everyone was following the conversation anyway. “Look, there’s no law against killing humans as long as you clean up your mess, that’s true. But you all know how I feel about it. There’s also no law against killing vamps, as long as you do it quietly. Carter is operating well within his rights to cull the worst offenders at my request. And it is at my request – let’s make that perfectly clear. Anyone who feels the need to satisfy their sadistic needs and can’t comply is welcome to move to another House, but this is the way it goes here.”
Everyone seemed to take that in stride, except for the redhead, who looked like he’d taken a big bite out of something sour, but it was Mr. Vaughn who spoke next. “First we had to worry about the Order coming down on us, and now we have to worry about your secret police?”
I’d been wondering if he was going to chime in. His views on vampire superiority over humans was well known. I didn’t figure he was the biggest fan of my politics. “There’s no secret here. I’ve been more than open on how I feel about violence toward humans.”
Carter stood by my side though, speaking to the crowd. “Hey, I’ve been doing this for years, way before I ever met Anja, I mean, Her Grace. Let’s just say I’ve always had a low tolerance for assholes and leave it at that.” There was a low current of laughter at that, which I took as a good sign. “It’s not like I’m out there hunting vamps down for sport. All I’m doing is keeping the streets clean. Stay on Anja’s good side and we won’t have a problem.”
“Same goes for the Order,” Mason added. “We support the Elder’s right to rule as she sees fit, as long as it doesn’t break any of our basic laws.”
I appreciated the support, but at the end of the day, I was the one who had to enforce it all, and maybe it was time for a reminder of that. “Our society is based on the strongest dictating the rules, and this is one of mine. If any of you feel up to challenging my policy, do it. As the daughter of Jakob, I’m more than up to the task.” I waited, but most of them looked away, even the redhead lowered his gaze after a couple of tense moments, and Vaughn didn’t make a peep.
“What was that about making friends tonight, An?” Carter asked as we sat back down, and Mason collapsed into a fit of giggles.
“I fucking love this guy,” he laughed, wiping away tears.
“Holy shit, Anja. This is what you’ve been doing for the past year?” Hanna whispered when things had settled back down to normal in the bar.
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“No wonder you don’t sweat standing up to Mom and Dad anymore.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “It does sort of put things into perspective, yes.” I’d run into plenty of bullies since I’d been turned, and I’d learned the easiest way to make them back down was to confront them. It was obviously still a new concept for my sister though, and she looked dazed as she sipped her beer. “What do you think about vampire society now? Not quite as romantic as you first thought it might be?”
“Romantic isn’t the word I’d use, but you haven’t scared me off, if that’s what you mean,” she replied without skipping a beat. “I love Mason, and I’m in this for the long haul.”
For their sakes, I hoped it was as simple as that. But I couldn’t help but wonder –how long did she mean?
Chapter Fourteen
Trip to the parents’ house aside, the holiday party I’d been looking forward to the most was our family celebration at the house. Bishop had to work, but Lee, Maggie, Tucker, Gunnar, and Carter all gathered for a night of music, games and all the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials I could find on DVD.
“Presents first, or mine will wilt!” Gunnar insisted, when I wanted to break out the Pictionary.
“Okay, I’m dying to know what that means. You go first, Gunnar.”
The burly bodyguard broke into a glorious smile as he went to retrieve the pink boxes from the fridge. At first I thought maybe he’d taken up baking, which was an odd hobby for a guy who doesn’t eat, but as I opened my box, I saw a beautiful wreath of flowers entwined with ribbons, in pink and white. I lifted mine out of the box and Maggie did the same. Hers was purple and white.
“I make you flower crowns like my mother wear in Denmark when I was a boy,” he gushed, taking the circlet from my hands and nestling it on my head, adjusting the ribbons to fall over my shoulders.
“It’s beautiful, I love it,” I smiled up at him.
“It smells lovely, thank you,” Maggie added, setting hers atop her head with Tucker’s help.
“And I make you another one with dried flowers to keep for always,” he added. “It’s under the tree. And for the men…”
“I ain’t wearing a crown of flowers, I don’t care how pretty it smells,” Carter protested, his hands coming up as Gunnar started toward him, but the bodyguard merely chuckled.
“I make boutonnieres for the men to wear today. And good Danish aquavit for the long gift.”
Carter still didn’t sound too appreciative, but let Gunnar pin the pink nosegay to his lapel, and so did the other men, with varying levels of enthusiasm. Tucker stuck his nose into the pretty violets and inhaled deeply, setting off a chain of sneezes that reached the teens, but he kept sniffing at it with interest for the rest of the night.
After that, it was pretty much a free-for-all with regards to gifts. I’d picked up a stash of video games for Tucker, and Carter sat beside him with present-envy until I handed him his own gift – a kickass tactical crossbow that could be disassembled to fit under a coat. That kept him busy for a while until he learned to put it together in less than ten seconds. For Maggie, I’d picked out a beautiful jeweled ch
oker, because she had such a lovely neck, and in our circle, it was probably best to cover it up.
I’d gotten Gunnar a pretty cool deal where you visit one of the vineyards in Napa Valley and they let you make your own cask of wine, designing the flavor, the bottles, the labels, and everything. Not quite as good as letting him set up a string of grapevines in the back yard, but he seemed pretty excited about it.
It’d been harder to pick out something for Lee. The man lived light, and didn’t hoard many possessions, even now that he’d been with us for a while. In the end, I’d gotten him a fancy gold lighter, with his initials engraved on it. I ignored the wrapped gift on my lap to watch him open it, hoping he didn’t think it was lame compared to a whole cask of wine or a spiffy new weapon.
Lee flicked the lighter on, staring at the flame for a few seconds before shuttering it away. Twice more he did that, without changing his expression, and then got up and walked out of the room. In the orgy of torn wrapping paper and jingle bells, nobody else seemed to notice, so I followed him out to the porch.
“Hey, are you alright?” I called out softly, leaving the door ajar behind me.
Lee turned, and I saw the shine of tears in his eyes. “I’m fine as a frog’s hair split four ways,” he replied with a twitch of his moustache. “Just didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself back there, blubberin’ like a newborn babe.”
He sounded alright, but had my present touched a nerve? “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong?” He laughed, the sound old and rusty, like he hadn’t used it in a while. “Now what could be wrong, darlin’?”
“Then why are you out here getting all… blubbery?” I asked, for want of a better word.
“I reckon I’m gettin’ sentimental in my old age is all,” he replied, flicking the lighter to life again and snuffing it out.
“You like it then?”
“Like it? Mija, I ain’t never had a fine gift like this before. This here’s a piece of quality workmanship. The kind of thing you pass down to a son or daughter.” The way he said it, there was a core of sadness there I couldn’t imagine. I knew he had a daughter and a couple of sons out there somewhere, but not why they weren’t all together.