by Lynsay Sands
They'd probably still be there in her room, she thought, if Elvi hadn't woke them with a knock at the door and a call that breakfast was ready and they could go shopping afterward. It was only after Basil kissed her cheek and slipped from the room to shower and dress that she'd become aware of the state of her body. Sherry had hickeys and love bites everywhere and was swollen and sore as hell in places that were never swollen and sore. The worst part was the realization that as sore as she was, if he so much as kissed her, she'd spread her legs and welcome the man again in a heartbeat, even here on the tabletop with Elvi, Victor, and the whole restaurant watching. She wanted and needed him that badly, and that just was not her. Even thinking this way was madness. So this couldn't be real. It was a dream or drugs or something, but it was not real, she thought, and could have wept because she wanted so much for it to be real.
"Well, I need to visit the ladies' room before we leave," Elvi announced suddenly, getting to her feet. "Join me, Sherry?"
"Oh," Sherry said, blinking away her thoughts. "Uh . . . sure."
Standing, she forced a smile for Basil and Victor and then followed Elvi to the ladies' room, stopping abruptly when the door closed behind them and the other woman halted, swung around and pinched her.
"Ow! What--?" Sherry said in confusion, and then Elvi opened her mouth and her incisors shifted and slid down, making two sharp fangs. Sherry staggered back a startled step and stared at the pointed teeth blankly for a moment, watching as they simply slid up and shifted again, becoming what appeared to be two normal incisors. A heartbeat later they slid back down into view once more. Fangs.
Elvi let them recede again and then arched an eyebrow. "Do you want to touch them and feel that they are real? That all of this is real?" she added meaningfully.
Sherry blinked, but shook her head.
Elvi nodded. "Do you want me to bite you so you can be sure they work?"
She shook her head more swiftly at that.
"Will you now stop trying to convince yourself that you're dreaming or drugged and accept that what's happening is really happening and that what we've told you about immortals, nanos, and no-fangers is true?"
When Sherry merely stared at her with confusion, Elvi sighed and took one of her hands in both of hers.
"Dear, I know this is a lot to take in," she said solemnly. "I also know that right now you're grasping at alternate solutions because you're terrified of what this means to you."
Sherry blinked as those words struck a chord in her body.
"You're afraid that you'll be expected to turn and become immortal like the rest of us," Elvi said quietly.
Sherry bit her lip but didn't say anything. While she'd been fascinated at first and eager to believe, now that she realized that as Basil's life mate she'd be expected to become an immortal too . . . well . . . she was scared. Terrified even. This wasn't like being expected to switch to Catholicism or some other religion to be with the man you loved. This was a permanent physical alteration. This was huge . . . and she didn't know what she actually felt for Basil yet. Sure, she lusted after the man something awful, but--
"Sherry," Elvi said gently, drawing her from her thoughts. When Sherry met her gaze, Elvi patted her hand and said, "You are scaring the wits out of yourself and there is no need for that. I really don't think you should even worry about having to become an immortal. You have enough on your plate at the moment. Why not just enjoy getting to know Basil and let the future take care of itself?"
Sherry let her breath out slowly. "You were reading my mind at the table."
"Yes, I was," Elvi agreed. "Although, as I said, you're pretty much shouting your thoughts right now, and what you were shouting at the table was that you were on the verge of a full-fledged panic attack over the possibility of having to become an immortal."
Sherry nodded, and then blurted, "I don't think I could drink blood."
Elvi didn't appear surprised. Smiling wryly, she shrugged. "It is not exactly something we, as mortals, ever expect to have to do."
Sherry let her breath out on a little sigh, relieved that the woman was being so understanding.
"Of course I understand," Elvi said with a crooked smile, obviously still reading her thoughts. "Sherry, I know this is all very scary. But, my dear, you don't have to do anything you do not want to," she said firmly. "Right now, you're our guest and under our care and protection while the Rogue Hunters take care of Leo. Anything beyond that is up to you, so just relax and enjoy your stay with us. Consider it a free vacation."
"And Basil?" she asked.
Elvi shrugged. "That is up to you too. He can either be a vacation romance, or he can be your future, but you will be the one to decide which."
"Right," Sherry breathed. Elvi was right, of course. She'd been reacting as if she didn't have a choice in any of this, and she did. There was no need to panic. She should just relax and, as Elvi had suggested, enjoy the free vacation. There were people running her store, she was at a lovely bed and breakfast, and was about to enjoy a shopping spree on the council members. She was also enjoying the best sex of her life. What happened after they caught this Leo person was up to her.
"That a girl," Elvi said with a smile, obviously still listening in on her thoughts. "Now let's go spend some council money on a pretty new wardrobe for you."
Managing a shaky laugh, Sherry nodded and followed her out of the ladies' room.
"Are we ready?" Elvi asked as they reached the table where the men waited.
Victor nodded and picked up the bill as he stood. "Just have to pay this on the way out, my love."
"Council credit card?" Basil asked with amusement when he spotted the card his brother took out of his wallet.
"Yeah, so I guess you're really paying," Victor said with amusement. "Or at least part of it."
"Then I do not have to offer to pick up the tab myself," Basil said with a smile.
Sherry stared at him silently, her gaze sliding over his clothes and watch. He looked good. He also looked expensive. She didn't see any obvious insignias to suggest he wore designer clothes, but she'd stake her life on the fact that he did. Dear God, she was dating a man with fangs, immortality, and who wasn't just well off, but was thousands-of-years-of-amassing-a-fortune rich. Dear God, he--
"Breathe," Elvi whispered by her ear, slipping her arm through hers to urge her toward the exit. "He is just a man . . . well, an immortal man," she added wryly. "But a man just the same."
"Who is a man?" Basil asked curiously, stepping up next to Sherry when Elvi turned to say something to Victor as they reached the register.
"You heard that, did you?" Sherry asked dryly. That was just her luck. Shrugging to herself, she admitted, "Elvi was just reminding me that you're just a man."
"I am," he assured her solemnly, opening the door for her.
"Right," Sherry said as she led the way outside. "A man who's immortal and has more money than God." She shook her head. "Nothing intimidating about that."
"Sherry." Basil caught her hand and brought her to a halt in the parking lot. "First of all, I am quite sure God does not have or care about money, and frankly, neither do I, really. I've simply amassed a lot because I've been alive a long time and don't spend a lot of it on unnecessary luxuries. Money is not important."
"You wouldn't say that if you didn't have a lot of it," she assured him. "I mean, I make a good wage off my store, but I scrimped and saved for a long time to scrape the money together to start it. So it wasn't that long ago that I was without . . . by choice, true," she admitted. "But whether by choice or not, when you don't have it, money carries a lot more importance than--"
"Sherry," he said solemnly. "I have been alive a long time, and like to think I have learned a little something over that time. What I have learned is that people are what is important . . . family and friends. They are the only thing of any real value in life. They see you into this world and they see you out, and they are your only real support in between. Money buys food, c
lothing, and a roof over your head. Food lasts minutes in your mouth and then you're hungry again hours later. Clothing changes with each season, and a roof over your head is just that, a roof. It's family that makes it a home and family that lasts a lifetime. Whether it's the family you're born into, or a family you choose from among friends or loved ones. They are all that really matter."
Sherry shook her head, pretty sure Basil had been wealthy for so long that he just didn't recall what it was like to be without it, and how important it really was.
Basil considered her expression and then asked, "Did you not scrimp and save, as you say, and give up all those luxuries you could have had to save the money to start your store?"
"Well, yes," she admitted with a frown.
"And would you not give up your store and all the money it has made you to have your mother back?" he asked.
"In a heartbeat," she said without having to think about it.
"You see? Money is not really that important. It is merely our society that makes it seem so. The corporations, magazines, and television commercials with their advertisements and chants to buy this and this and this and you must have that."
"Well, sure, if you have enough money, then--"
"How much is enough?" he asked with amusement. "Because I know many wealthy mortals who have millions, and instead of relaxing and enjoying it, waste their short lives on acquiring more millions," he said wryly, and then added, "Do not get me wrong, the wealth I have allows me to do things I could not otherwise do. I could not visit my daughter here in Canada when I wish, I could not help bankroll the Enforcers and so on. But it was not the money I have that kept me alive all these centuries, it was the love of my family and children.
"Money is not the secret to happiness," he assured her. "And it is not as important as the present culture claims it is. Unfortunately, those who are without money and unhappy think that money will fix all their woes, and those who do have a bit of money and are unhappy, think more money will make the difference. But their thinking is wrong," he said solemnly, cupping her shoulders. "And I know this because with all the money I possess, in all the millennia I've lived, I have not been truly completely happy except for twice in my life . . . when I was with my Acantha, and since meeting you."
Sherry stared at him, wide-eyed. They'd known each other a little less than two days . . . and she didn't have a clue how to respond to that, so was actually grateful when Victor called out, "Sorry, bro."
She and Basil glanced around to see him walking toward them, his arm around Elvi.
"I should have given you the keys to the car so you weren't left standing around waiting for us," Victor said, and raised his key fob to push the button to unlock the car doors. "Hop in. Time to shop."
Nodding, Basil urged Sherry to the car and opened the door for her. She slid in without protest and then busied herself doing up her seat belt as the others got in. Much to her relief, Elvi began chattering away about her restaurant, saving Sherry from responding to Basil's words, which was a relief since she still didn't have a clue what to say.
It turned out that the entrance to Masonville Mall was just across the street from the restaurant where they'd had lunch. Inside, it took about two and a half minutes for Sherry to notice that most of the stores were geared toward the younger crowd, and that the shoppers milling around them were mostly young too.
"This mall is close to the university," Elvi explained as they paused to look in a store window. "It's where most of the university students shop."
"Ah," Sherry said with a nod. "So, why are we shopping here?"
"Because it has good stores and lots of selection . . . it also has a Rocky Mountain chocolate store, which I love," the other woman added with a grin.
Sherry chuckled at the admission.
"You'd look good in that," Elvi commented, eyeing a mannequin in a store window that wore a cropped burgundy sweater and ripped jeans.
"It's kind of casual," Sherry said uncertainly, and then asked, "Don't you think it's a little young for me?"
"You're on vacation, casual is what you need. You're also thirty-two and single, not sixty-two and a granny," Elvi said with amusement. "Come on. You need to at least try it on."
Sherry shook her head, but allowed the woman to drag her into the store, aware that the men were following docilely along. Ten minutes later Sherry found herself in a changing room with scads of totally inappropriate clothing hanging on the rods all around her. Short skirts, cropped tops, tight jeans . . . There wasn't a thing there that she would normally wear. She was a businesswoman, she wore business clothes . . . always. But then she was always working and had been doing so for a long time. She had spent years working overtime and skimping and saving to start her own store, and since opening it she'd worked just as long and hard to get it up and profitable.
Come to think of it, she led a pretty boring life, Sherry acknowledged with a frown. Or had before this anyway.
"I don't hear any sound coming from in there," Elvi said from the other side of the door. "Have you even started to undress?"
"No," Sherry admitted.
"Well, get to it. Start with that short leather skirt and the cropped sweater while I go grab those snakeskin pants we passed on the way here. I'll be right back."
"Snakeskin?" Sherry muttered, and shook her head. She was thirty-two years old. Responsible, hardworking . . . boring. She did not wear snakeskin anything.
"What the hell," she muttered to herself. She wasn't paying for these clothes, so it wouldn't matter if she never wore them again. Why not wear some of these things while she was here? It would certainly be a new experience. She had been a jeans and T-shirt girl with her nose stuck in books in university and then graduated directly to business suits. She'd sort of bypassed the whole experiment with the slutty clothes stage.
"I've lost my mind," she told her reflection in the mirror, and began to strip.
The brown leather skirt and cropped burgundy sweater looked kind of cute together. Or would if her muffin top wasn't showing between where the cropped sweater ended and the skirt started, she thought with a grimace. She really needed to work out or something. Diet too. She was probably killing herself with all the takeout she ate and the hours she spent sitting at her desk hunched over the books. She was certainly killing anything approaching a figure.
"Muffin tops and saddlebags," she breathed with a sigh as she peered at herself. "Nice." And was she getting a double chin? Ugh!
Well, at least the skirt hid the saddlebags, she noted, turning a bit from side to side. She had okay legs too. Her thighs were a bit chunky, but you couldn't see that under the skirt either.
"Well?" Elvi asked, outside the door.
Sherry reached for the doorknob to the changing room and then hesitated. "Are the men out there?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm not coming out," Sherry said, letting her hand drop from the doorknob.
Elvi clucked with exasperation and then said, "Basil, go see if there's anything you'd like to see her in. Victor, go with him."
Sherry heard the men's voices rumble and then silence.
"Okay, they're gone," Elvi announced.
Sherry opened the door and stepped out. All she said was, "Muffin top."
"Hmmm." Elvi eyed her thoughtfully. "The skirt is cute, though."
Sherry glanced down at it. The skirt was cute. Too young for her, but cute. "We should have brought Stephanie. She'd have loved this place."
Elvi smiled sadly and nodded. "Unfortunately, she can't take a lot of shopping in crowded places. She won't even go out for lunches or dinners anymore except to nip in and grab takeout."
"Really?" Sherry arched her eyebrows. "Why?"
"She can't block out people's thoughts yet," Elvi admitted quietly. "Being out in public for her is like standing in a room with a hundred blaring radios all playing different stations. Even being in the house with all of us is a bit much for her. You'll find she spends a lot of time in her room to
give her head a rest." She explained, "Harper had all sorts of insulation and soundproofing put in her room when the renovations were done after the fire. It doesn't block everyone completely, but reduces it to a dull roar and makes it bearable for her."
"So after you turn, you can't block out other peoples thoughts?" Sherry asked with a frown. That didn't sound very attractive.
"Usually it's the opposite. New turns usually can't read thoughts even if they try. It takes a while to be able to do it. Stephanie is . . . gifted," she ended finally, though her expression suggested it wasn't much of a gift. "She has been able to hear everyone from the start, even older immortals, which is rare, and she picked up on controlling mortals quickly too."
"Stephanie mentioned something about controlling mortals . . . can you really do that?" Sherry asked, not liking the idea that any one of the people in the house might be able to make her do something against her will.
"I'm just starting to be able to do that," Elvi admitted. "But Stephanie could very early on, and without training."
"Then why didn't she take control of me when we met?" Sherry asked, and then explained, "She kept shushing me and I kept talking, but she didn't take control of me and make me stop."
Elvi shrugged. "When she had trouble reading you, she probably just assumed she wouldn't be able to control you either."
"Oh," Sherry murmured. "You say she's gifted, but--"
"No, it really isn't much of a gift at all," Elvi admitted unhappily. "It would be if she could shut it off, but she can't."
"And you're worried about her," Sherry said quietly.
Elvi nodded. "Stephanie started out attending high school here and trying to lead a normal life, but bit by bit she's retreated. We home-school her now. She has dropped the friends of her own age because she can't stand to go out, and she spends a lot of time locked up in her room, alone. That's why Dree and Tricia insisted on the girls' weekend with her, to try to get her out."
"But shopping?" Sherry asked with a frown.
"It was a very exclusive dress shop. By appointment only. They were promised there would only be themselves and a couple of salespeople to help them."
"Ah," Sherry nodded.
"Then they were going to stay at Harper and Drina's apartment in the city. Harper put in a specially insulated room there just like the one Steph has here in Port Henry, so she could spend time there if she wanted to get away," Elvi explained. "And then Lucian sent another drug for her to try, one they hoped would muffle the voices. But, like the others, it only works until the nanos clear it out."