by Mary Hughes
Fingers bleeding, he gripped the cables harder and wrenched with all his strength until I could see the veins popping dark against the wet cotton of his shirt. His chest swelled and his biceps were beyond rigid, and suddenly the cables ripped so hard the box flew apart. Screws spat, plastic showered. Sparks zapped, rained like fireworks. The connecting bar sailed across the room.
In front of me, the display panel went dark.
We’d done it.
Logan grabbed me for a quick soul-searing kiss, twirling me until my feet lifted from the ground. Or maybe the kiss had me flying.
He set me down. “I have to go whip Lestat ass.”
“I thought you couldn’t take fifty vampires.”
“Not when I had only thirty seconds to do it. And it’s only forty-nine—” he glanced at the doorway, “Forty-eight vampires now.”
“You do have Razor, I mean Race, to help you.” I heaved a theatrical sigh.
He gave me another brief, giddy kiss. “And you, princess. Always you.”
At five p.m. three dozen humans milled around the Iowa tour bus, me among them. Several hundred people streamed past us, museum visitors headed home. Two people had suffered heart attacks and another dozen a variety of defensive wounds. Amazingly, all the victims were now fine. Amazingly, nobody remembered a thing except what a good time they had. I suspected “Amazingly” had the last name Steel.
Lilly and the rest of the kids were safe. The bus driver was under lock and key. Turned out the times he’d come into the Blood Center to use the bathroom, he had really been casing out the servers for the root kit USB key.
Logan’s Steel Security people had arrived just in time to help him round up the Lestats. Apparently even humans can whup young vampire ass armed with Tasers and laughing gas.
And Ruthven? Well, while everyone else was scrambling to understand just what had happened, Logan collected Ruthven’s carcass and carted it outside onto the portico. He kicked it into the sun and we watched it go up in flames. It took twenty minutes but the sun was watery for March. I kinda wished for marshmallows.
So Ruthven was destroyed, his minions and lieutenants rounded up and ready to be carted away, their judgment in the surer hands of the Iowa Alliance this time. We didn’t know how the wannabes had infiltrated the Museum but the Alliance was investigating. Everything was nicely wrapped up—except for two things. One of them was on that bus.
At 5:05 the bus’s door whooshed open and Zinnia bounded out looking smug. Practically bursting with triumph, she started waving people into line.
Logan stumbled out behind her. He raked slim fingers through his bright blond hair. Seeing me, he tottered over. “Damn. I could use a drink right now.”
I took his arm, led him toward his car. “You okay?”
“I’ve fought rogues, ravening monsters and even executives bent on rape and pillage. But that woman may be the death of me. Again.”
“She is energetic.”
“You have a gift for understatement.” He pulled keys from somewhere in his painted-on jeans and clicked open the locks.
“I thought you were going to guillotine her. What happened?”
Logan leaned over the top of the car and sighed. “What do you think? I’m starting a household. The woman is relentless.”
“You know, for a deadly strong vampire, I’m beginning to think you’re a bit of a softie.”
“I prefer to think I’m practical. I don’t want to go through my afterlife deaf. Get in the car if you’re just going to snark.”
“A household. Well, congratulations. You met Elias’s deadline with hours to spare.” I slid into the passenger side. “Householding won’t be that hard, now that you know you can do it. You’re not the newbie you were then.”
“I know. Even if Elias hadn’t taught me what to do, I’ve picked up some wisdom along the way. Doesn’t stop me from worrying.”
“Part of the job. You know, I’ve been thinking about how I zapped Ruthven earlier and I remembered you describing your first encounter with him. You said before he misted to enter the house to kill Adelaide, he slashed you with a knife—and something about it feeling like a bolt of lightning.”
“Yes, I—” He stared at me. “Static electricity?”
“There’s no way of proving it, but it makes sense. If he built up a charge and released it into your body, it would have scrambled your ability to mist.”
“Damn.” Logan shook his head. “Just…damn. Not stress or overconfidence, but actual sabotage.”
“You know, your humans aren’t the same as that first household, either. We…I mean they won’t huddle like scared rabbits. They’ll fight back.”
Logan cocked his head, a wistful expression settling on his face. “I rather like we. In fact, I like it so much—well, I meant to do this more formally. Again.” He dug into his pocket. “Liese Schmetterling. I love you and want you in my life.” He brought out something in his closed hand, but instead of offering it to me, leaned over the gearshift and kissed me.
Even after the non-stop sex of the night previous, my pulse jumped. “You want me to be—your donor?”
“I want you to run my company. Be CEO of Steel Security.”
“You…you what?” I stared into his gorgeous face, wondering how I’d missed the pun, because he had to be joking. “You want me to run Steel Security? But you’re CEO.”
“I need to concentrate on the household, focus on getting it right. I’d have to step down sooner or later anyway. Logan Steel is getting a little long in the tooth, as it were.”
He really meant it. It was a startling, amazing offer, but I felt let down. Silly me, I’d been hoping for something not nearly so lucrative but a little more personal. Even though I still didn’t exactly trust him, I was beginning to think I couldn’t live without him. And beginning to hope he felt the same. “How would you have done it? If I weren’t around?”
“Turned it over to my ‘son’. The records are getting harder to falsify, but it’s still possible with the right kind of expertise. Which Steel Security has.”
“In abundance. But why me?”
“Because you’re the best manager I know.”
I got the feeling he wasn’t lying. Botcher put me out of a job. Logan was actually giving me one. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You could try ‘yes’.” He smiled ruefully at me. “Liese, think about it. As CEO of Steel Security, the only way you could lose your job is if you fire yourself.”
“Unless Elias doesn’t want me. I don’t think he tolerates anyone he doesn’t want.”
“I talked with him and he was already thinking along those lines. He was impressed with your cool thinking during this Museum crisis. And your ability hacking his code.”
“That was his code?”
“Actually churned out by a dozen genius assistants. But he designed it. Nobody knows vampires better. So, will you take the job?”
“Oh. Well, I guess.”
“Not terribly enthusiastic. Maybe this will help. As my last act as CEO I’m moving the corporate headquarters to suburban Chicago. So you’ll need a new place to live.”
“Why? Even if you move to the north side, that’s only a couple hours commute. I can—what’s that?”
Logan had opened his hand. Resting on his palm was another jeweler’s box. “I’m not Botcher, princess. This is real. Just like my feelings for you are real.” He snapped open the box. A five-carat diamond dazzled me. “Marry me, Liese.”
I blinked rapidly. “Oh, Logan. I’d love to but…you’re a rich, powerful CEO, and now a master vampire too. I don’t belong in your world.”
“Liese, Liese.” He shook his head, bright blond hair swishing lightly. “Princess, you are my world.”
Pop! “You believe him? A male?” Bad Liese, with perfect, horrible timing. “A male abandoned you at the altar. This one’s no different.”
I hesitated. No, Logan. I can’t trust any man.
“I’ll wait if you’re
not ready.” Logan kissed the tip of my nose. “Nothing’s too much, Liese. I’m a forever sort of guy, and you’re my key to eternity. Whatever I have to do, I’ll earn your trust.”
I shut my eyes, squeezed against my confusion. Botcher gave me meanness, pettiness, and vindictiveness. Logan was giving me kindness, understanding, and love. How could I say no?
Pop! “You don’t deserve him.” Ms. Sanctimonious Good Liese. “Not after you betrayed him.”
That was how. She was right too. No, Logan. I’m not good enough. I looked longingly at the ring. “But Logan—how can you ever trust me?”
“Liese.” He set aside the box and took my hands between his. “Remember, I trust what’s in your heart. Now it’s time for you trust what’s in my heart. I love you.”
“You’d be insane to trust him,” Good Liese said.
Bad Liese chimed in. “I have to go with Ms. Goody-Goody on this—hey!”
Logan, with that almost preternatural understanding, kissed my left shoulder. Poof went Bad Liese. He kissed my right shoulder. Poof went Good Liese.
“Now. What does your heart say?”
Trust was a bridge. And Logan was meeting me more than halfway.
I sighed with relief. “Yes, Logan.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I stood in the organ balcony of the church, twisting my five carats, watching the chancel door with held breath. My face almost matched my blue flowers. In about two minutes, Logan would emerge from that door. If he showed up.
Most brides dressed in a back room or the basement of the church. I insisted on coming up here because this time I wanted to know before I marched down the aisle whether I had a groom or not.
Feminine gasps came from behind me. I tore my eyes from the door to see a vision of lithe male beauty gliding toward me encased in a perfectly tailored tux, long hair gleaming gold under the hanging lights. While he wasn’t supposed to see me before the wedding, I was hugely relieved to see him. How thoughtful to come up and reassure me. How typically Logan.
I waited for the zing of pleasure, was shocked to feel…nothing.
Then I realized the bright hair swayed to the male’s waist, and the insouciance in the gold-flecked hazel eyes covered pain instead of confidence. I said, “You’re Logan’s twin, Luke?”
“The Best Man, at your service.” Luke’s eyes touched my bridesmaids one by one, leaving no doubt who he was really talking to (not me) or what service he was talking about (wink-wink, nudge-nudge). I remembered Mr. Elias and ménage à trois and began to understand. With a final blown kiss to the bridesmaids he turned to me. “My apologies for missing last night’s rehearsal. I unfortunately ran into a bit of trouble.”
Of the Lestat variety, no doubt. “It’s okay. What are you doing up here?”
“Just came to set this up.” Luke slid a dead-sexy ultra-slim brushed aluminum briefcase onto a table at the edge of the balcony. Opened it. I peered inside.
It held a satphone with some awesome Klipsch speakers. And what looked like a high def vid screen which was blank.
With no warning, the awesome speakers very faithfully reproduced the canyon-deep voice of the most frightening being on the planet, my new boss, Mr. Ancient One Elias.
“Congratulations, Ms. Schmetterling, on your upcoming nuptials. I regret not being there in person. Unfortunately I am at, well, let’s just say an undisclosed location, prevented from leaving by omnibus contract. However, I felt this would be an acceptable alternative, even for the government.”
Good Lord. Did he mean what I thought he meant? “I’m sorry you couldn’t see the wedding, but it was nice of you to call.”
“Actually, I’m able to see quite well. Satellite. You have an eyelash on your cheek.”
I bent over for a quick look in the organist’s mirror. The bench was empty so I didn’t disturb anyone. A string quartet played downstairs—it pays to have musician friends. He was right. “How could you see that? Sat video is horrendously choppy. And sound is just awful, unless you have a dedicated bandwidth the size of…well, it’d have to be a military satellite to…oh, no.”
A deep chuckle emerged from the speakers, sex laced with sin. Luke just smiled.
I looked at the brushed aluminum case with new respect. “Ooh. Can I play with this later?”
Luke gave me a brief eyelash-singeing kiss. “I’ll be back to pick this up. Welcome to the family.” He strode from the balcony, waves of gold licking the small of his back. Women’s sighs followed him.
I ignored them. I’d had exactly two phone conversations with Elias, the first when he’d told me he knew about the picture and the second when he’d given me my salary and benefits and I’d fainted. I had so many questions for him, about my job, about this new world I found myself in. But most important: “Are you the one who rescued Logan’s household the first time? Because if you are, I owe you.”
“You rescued him the second time, Ms. Schmetterling. So we’re even.”
I blushed. “I only rescued him after I tried to get him fired.”
“I think you’ve paid enough for that, hmm? Let it go.”
His compelling voice darkened to a black so absolute it blinded me. Then my vision cleared and the world was suddenly a brighter place. “Whoa. You could make a mint in psychiatry. I guess Logan was wrong when he said I was immune.”
“Merely a matter of degree. Here they come.”
“What’s a matter of—oh.” The small chancel door opened. Men, each one incredibly gorgeous, filed out. Luke sauntered out last, impossibly boyish, mischief gleaming from gold-flecked hazel eyes that were so like the male’s I knew.
The door swung shut. No one emerged behind Luke.
My heart started pounding. Oh, God. It was happening again.
“Ms. Schmetterling. What is the converse of trust?”
Only Elias’s deep, powerful tones could have broken through my pounding fear. “Um, mistrust?”
“Not the opposite. The converse. Trust backing up, as it were.”
“Doubt?” If he was trying to distract me from the great gaping hole in the line of men, it was working, but only barely.
“No, Ms. Schmetterling. The reverse of trust is patience.”
“You’re saying I should be patient?” I glanced at the shut door, started twisting my five carats so hard I practically screwed my finger off. “I don’t think I can.”
“Not you. Logan. You healed him. His patience will eventually heal you.”
And finally, finally the door opened again. A long lithe body roped with lean strength glided through. Gold-flecked hazel eyes were lit with laughter and intelligence. The blond hair that rippled to broad muscular shoulders shone brighter than the sun. Perfect lips curved in a smile so sensuous my guts exploded.
It was my wedding night, and Logan had actually shown up.
I clutched the aluminum case as if it were Elias’s arm. “He’s here.”
“So I see.” Amusement silvered the dark tones.
The music changed. At the balcony door, Zinnia clapped her hands. “Ring bearers, flower girls. Downstairs. Go.”
“Ah, Ms. Jones. Such boundless energy.”
I didn’t take my eyes from Logan. “Makes you want to just shoot her, huh? You can see out the back of this thing too?”
“The camera is three-sixty.” Which omitted the location of said camera, but Webster probably invented the word cryptic to describe Elias.
With long-lived vampires, that might be more literal than I knew.
Ten boys and girls dutifully started down, among them Bud, Lilly, Angela, Billy Wilder, Tad and Jane Austen Smith. The children of Logan’s—of our household. Though I didn’t think so, Bud and Lilly might be Logan’s in a more personal way. More likely playboy Luke’s. I wondered if I’d ever find out.
“She’ll make you a good admin, though,” Elias said, then added, “Logan isn’t their father.”
I nearly swallowed my teeth. “Do you read minds?” Over the balcony railing I wa
tched the children march down the center aisle, Lilly with her bright blonde hair, Bud sauntering with Luke and Logan’s easy grace. “They look so amazingly like them.”
“Yes. Interesting, isn’t it? You’re probably wondering why I picked you to run Steel Security.”
Talk about a change in topics. I’d have called him on it but Zinnia clapped her hands again. “Bridesmaid four. Go.”
“A little. There must be scores of better candidates. Why let Logan retire in the first place?”
“He needs to concentrate on his household. And I’m sure he told you I found your inventiveness intriguing.”
“Bridesmaid three, your turn.”
I flushed. “Hacking open a file isn’t so inventive.”
“No, Ms. Schmetterling. I meant the modifications you made to my program. A cell phone pre-alarm. Most useful.”
I reddened. “Did Logan tell you…? No, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Bridesmaid two. Go.”
He chuckled, a deep caress so sensual my tongue fell out and I had to stuff it back in with my fingers. “I’d like to add those modifications to our base product. With proper recompense to you, of course.”
“Matron of honor. Go.”
I glanced at my matron of honor, standing across from me at the railing of the balcony. My mother gazed down at the front pew, a small smile on her face. My rock, my anchor. My love for her swelled in my heart.
“Mrs. Gillette, stop drooling over your hubby and go!”
I winced. My rock, my anchor, married to a vampire who looked half her age. Not just a vampire, but a bad-boy.
Although Race, spiffy in his dove gray tux, was actually more of a reformed bad boy. He’d officially joined the Iowa Alliance in a ceremony wedged in last night between the wedding rehearsal and dinner.
And my husband-to-be had shown up for the wedding. Jack Frost was partying in Hades. “Ruthven’s really dead, right?” I touched the brushed aluminum case, let the cool texture sooth me. Mr. Lethal Ancient was as unreal as the rest, but he was smart. And I had a feeling he knew way more than he passed on. “No reboot possible?”