by Ashlyn Chase
“Yeah,” Kurt said. “What about it?”
“That’s my coworker, Kim Lee.”
***
Claudia tossed and turned. And not because she was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed at Gaye’s sister’s house in Brookline. The small family had been more than kind and welcoming to her. More importantly, they didn’t pry or ask why she needed a place to stay. It was the best situation she could imagine at a time like this, but everything within her screamed she shouldn’t be here.
Am I running away from my problems? Claudia never thought of herself as the type to shirk her responsibilities, but wasn’t that what she was doing? She hadn’t contacted anyone to say she was okay and when she’d be back to work…because she didn’t know the answer to that.
Could she leave Anthony in the lurch? Damn it all, she still loved him. If she didn’t show up tomorrow, she’d cause Angie, Sadie, and Chris unnecessary stress too. But she couldn’t very well explain that their boss was a vampire and might be contemplating murder.
She couldn’t just lie there. She sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. The clock beside her said it was 3:00 a.m. If she were home, she’d putter out to the kitchen, pour herself a glass of milk, and watch an infomercial or read until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. But this wasn’t her place and she didn’t feel comfortable helping herself to their food and TV.
She let out a big sigh and was about to get up and slip on her robe when a woman appeared at the foot of her bed.
Shit. She rubbed her eyes. The woman didn’t go away. She looked familiar, but Claudia couldn’t place her. She wore a long, white robe belted with vines, and her white hair hung down to her waist.
At last Claudia found her voice and asked, “Are—are you my fairy godmother?”
The woman reared back and laughed loudly.
“Shhh… You’ll wake the family.”
“No I won’t.”
Claudia was confused. She must be dreaming. There was no better explanation for a woman just appearing at the end of her bed at three in the morning, but it feels so real.
“Look. I don’t usually do this, but you’re a loose cannon. I can’t find your boyfriend, or I’d tell him to make sure you keep your trap shut.”
“My boyfriend? You mean Anthony?”
“Yeah. For lack of a better term. I know to you he’s ancient, but to me he’s just a boy. And you…you’re a mere infant in the scheme of things.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look. I’m not Anthony’s silent partner or whatever gibberish he told you about me. I’m Mother Nature. Gaia. Goddess to you.”
Claudia’s jaw dropped and she couldn’t breathe for a few moments. “That’s where I’d seen you. On the stairwell outside my apartment.”
“Yes. You interrupted a very important conversation, so instead of disappearing, I just changed into contemporary clothing and made up a convenient lie about my identity. I tried to warn him away from you.”
“Why?”
“When a paranormal becomes involved with a human, it puts all of them at risk.”
“But…I wouldn’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t know how. Nobody would believe me.”
“That’s not technically true. Most folks are grounded enough to think you’re nuts, but some are getting a little too close to the truth. All they need is verification. And if you give that to them, it’ll make me very angry.” She stared at Claudia intensely. “You don’t want to make Mother Nature angry.”
Claudia imagined earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions, and wondered if the goddess was angry when those things occurred.
“Oh, yes,” Mother Nature said. “I can do that and more.”
Claudia sucked in a quick breath. “You can read my mind?”
“Just the vivid images. I’m not so much for words. I prefer to read the pictures.”
Claudia visualized her favorite magazine with beautiful photography of nature and foreign cultures.
The goddess smiled. “Yeah, I have a good side, too, although you’d never know it to listen to the ingrates that live on this planet. All they ever do is complain. Most of the time, they don’t even look at or appreciate the beauty I’ve put right in front of their faces.”
Claudia nodded slowly. “I think I know what you mean. People in the city can get so caught up in the hectic pace that they miss a lot of subtle beauty.”
Mother Nature narrowed her eyes. “You’re not just patronizing me, are you?”
“No. I wouldn’t do that. I believe what you just said. I’ve experienced it myself.”
“From now on, make a conscious effort to appreciate the pleasant gifts I give you…not that you ingrates deserve any of them.”
Claudia worried her lip. “Um. If I’m dreaming, will I remember your advice when I wake up?”
The goddess rolled her eyes. “Oh, for crap’s sake. You’re not dreaming. I’m right here.” She reached out and grabbed Claudia’s arm. Giving it a shake, she said, “Could I do that if you were dreaming?”
“I—I guess not. Dreams can feel pretty real, though.”
“Fine. I’ll leave you a reminder of my visit. But before I go, I need you to promise you won’t divulge anything you know. You met my muse, Brandee. You won’t tell anyone what she did for you. You’ve met vampires…”
“A few,” Claudia said.
“Look, I don’t care if you meet three or a hundred. Shut up about them, okay?”
Claudia’s eyes rounded. “There are a hundred of them?”
Mother Nature pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered something about stupid humans.
“But didn’t you create humans?”
She snorted. “Yeah. As food. But then you got better and better at survival and decided you were the top of the food chain. What can I say? When you guys evolve, you evolve!”
“Eek. You created us as food?”
“Well, duh. A tiger’s gotta eat. Now man has wiped out almost all of my beautiful tigers.”
Claudia didn’t know what to say, except that the woman scared her.
“You’d do well to keep that healthy fear alive, but call it respect. I hate intimidating people if I don’t have to.”
“S-so, is that all? You just want me to keep my knowledge of paranormals to myself, appreciate the beauty of nature, and maintain a healthy respect for you?”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Do you think you can do all that?”
Claudia nodded.
Mother Nature extended her fist with her little finger extended. “Pinkie swear.”
Incredulous, Claudia looped her own pinkie finger around the goddess’s. “Pinkie swear,” she said. “Can I at least tell Anthony about our meeting?”
Mother Nature smiled. “I’ll make that one exception. Everybody needs one confidant. More than one and the blabbermouth will be sent to a lonely, lonely place, like Death Valley. Understand?”
“Ummm…I guess so.”
“Your boyfriend knows what I can do. I told him to dump your ass. Apparently he’d rather freeze atop the Matterhorn than live without you.”
Claudia melted inside.
“Now do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good. Now lie down and I’ll help you get to sleep.”
Claudia didn’t remember anything after that until she awoke with the sunrise. “Boy, that was some dream,” she muttered.
She jumped out of bed feeling rested and refreshed. When she turned around, a vine lay on her pillow.
***
It was almost time for a shift change among the researchers. George had been kept away from any communication with the outside world, but was treated better than the captives. He continued to answer questions honestly, to the best of his ability. It was clear to Anthony that the people they
needed to talk to were coming in on the day shift.
Sly knew a couple of shifters that could help them keep an eye on the entrance without creating suspicion. They both shifted into birds. One was a raven and the other, a falcon. They both lived in his building, so he called Morgaine. She said she’d wake them and send them over.
Nick had alerted his werecop contacts to patrol the area and not to interfere unless they were needed. One good howl would call them into action.
The paras in the glass cage had settled down, realizing their friends were devoting all their resources to freeing them.
While it was a “hurry up and wait” situation, Kurt escorted Ruxandra to the far end of the building to talk. Anthony’s hearing was so sharp that he’d be able to overhear—but they didn’t necessarily know that. All he had to do was tune out the background conversations between Nick, Sly, and George, and he was privy to all Kurt and Ruxandra were discussing.
He knew he should give them their privacy, but his curiosity won out. He grabbed a book off one of the shelves and found a stool in a quiet corner. The other guys would leave him alone, figuring he was reading—not eavesdropping.
“Ruxie, I want to ask you to do something for me.”
Ruxie?
“Sure, honey. Anything.”
And honey? She’d better not be leading Kurt on.
“I hope you won’t see this as mistrust, but my heart is on the line here. I know how strong your feelings for Anthony have been in the past—”
“Yes. I told you, it’s in the past. Not now.”
“Regardless… Would you allow me to try the truth spell on that? It’s important. I won’t ask you anything else if you don’t want me to.”
There was a long pause and Anthony expected Ruxandra to erupt any second. This is just the sort of thing she’d throw a hissy fit over.
“I—I guess so. I can understand how you might be worried about that.”
Anthony’s brows shot up. He quickly schooled his expression so the other guys wouldn’t ask what he’d read that was so shocking.
“So, you’ll let me?”
“Yes. Ask me anything. When do you want to do this?”
“There’s no time like the present.”
“Don’t you need your candles and everything?”
“I have a few extra supplies in my bag,” he said.
Anthony had wondered why Kurt only used half the items he’d sent him to his apartment for. Now he knew. Apparently Kurt had been hoping to do this all along. Smart man.
There was an elongated silence in which Anthony imagined Kurt setting up his altar and preparing the brown paper with Ruxandra’s name on it. Then he heard the smack of a kiss.
Anthony smiled. Surprisingly, he wanted his ex-girlfriend to be happy, and not just so she’d stop being such a pain in his ass.
“Okay. Are you ready?”
“Go ahead,” she said.
Kurt uttered the same words he’d said before, but in a much quieter tone of voice. After a brief silence he asked, “What are your full name, birthplace, and birth date?”
Ah, good. All things he can check.
“My name is Ruxandra Marie Fournier, and I was born in Provence on November fourth in seventeen forty-nine.”
“That makes you 265 years old. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
Anthony was intrigued. Ruxandra was as vain as any woman about her age. To admit it so easily and dispassionately must mean she was under the influence of magic.
“What was your father’s profession?”
“He was a farmer.”
“Was he kind to you?”
“Not always.”
“All right. Let’s move on. How do you know Anthony Cross?”
“He’s my maker. He saved me. I had been beaten, starved, choked, and left in a ditch to die.”
“Who did that to you?”
“The Marquis de Sade.”
There was a pause. He imagined Kurt taking in the information Anthony already knew. It wasn’t a pretty picture. A beautiful nineteen-year-old girl, too young and supposedly innocent to suffer such cruelty and be left for dead.
But unless Kurt asked the right question, she’d never admit to going there voluntarily.
“How did you meet the marquis?”
“I was hired by one of his servants—as a prostitute.”
Wow. That truth spell really works. No sugarcoating at all.
“Do you hate me for it?” she asked.
Kurt chuckled. He actually chuckled!
“No. I never had a servant to do it for me, but I hired the occasional lady when I was lonely. Nobody’s perfect.”
“Anthony hated it when he found out.”
“But he didn’t hate you.”
“He was angry, and I don’t think he understood. Unmarried daughters who scare off potential suitors eventually end up on their own.”
“But you were only nineteen.”
“Yes. An old maid, in my father’s opinion.”
“Where was your mother?”
“Dead. She died when I was eleven.”
“Just when you needed her most, I imagine.”
“Maybe. I wouldn’t know.”
“Did you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yes. Three of each.”
“Wow. Seven kids. Where did you fall in the birth order?”
“Youngest. The boys helped my father with the farm. My three older sisters took care of the house. I felt fairly useless. My siblings considered me spoiled.”
Even Anthony hadn’t known that. He’d never met her family, and she didn’t like to talk about them. He figured she must have been the black sheep. If she scared off potential suitors with her acerbic tongue, she may have been asked to leave.
“Okay. Let’s get back to Anthony. Are you still in love with him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t even like me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. He’s in love with Claudia.”
“I think so too. Are you able to let go of him and let him be happy with her?”
“Yes. I didn’t used to think so, but now I do.”
“Can you envision a future with me?”
“Yes. I was using you at first. I thought I could make Anthony jealous. But I don’t want to do that anymore.”
“So, your affection for me is real?”
“Yes.”
“And what about Claudia? Can you let go of her too?”
“Yes.”
“Will you try to harm her?”
“No.”
“Did you try to harm her in the past?”
“Yes. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”
“I know. I cast a powerful protection spell around her.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh. What did you mean?”
“I knew someone who would kill her for a price. I had the money but stopped myself from going through with it. I knew it was wrong.”
There was another long pause. Anthony was hanging on every word. He hoped this wasn’t too good to be true.
“Do you regret wanting to harm Claudia?”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Can you promise it will never happen again?”
“Yes.”
“I’m proud of you, Ruxandra. You’ve overcome a lot.”
“I love you, Kurt.”
There was another long pause. At last Kurt whispered, “I love you too.”
Chapter 18
“It’s seven a.m. Go time,” Nick said.
The birds outside squawked three times, signaling the approach of visitors.
Antho
ny and Sly had fortified themselves with a few swigs of Vampire Vintage from their flasks and then plastered themselves against the wall on either side of the front door. Nick kept his weapon trained on George but remained out of sight. George had strict instructions to behave normally—or else. And just to reinforce the “or else” part, Ruxandra was hiding beneath his desk. Kurt stood next to the control panel, ready to program in the code as soon as the others forced it out of the day-shift guys.
They didn’t know if the two researchers would arrive together or separately. But with only three squawks from outside, it sounded as if just one had arrived. No matter. They’d hang on to the first until the other showed up.
The inner door swung open, and both Sly and Anthony waited a few beats for the door to swing shut behind the guy. He spotted Sly first. Just as the door was about to close, he yelled out a warning and tried to bolt back outside.
Anthony caught him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him back inside. Sly ran outside, presumably to grab the one who was right behind him.
Only a moment later, the room was full. Two scared researchers were held immobile by two angry vampires. Two shapeshifters stood guard at the door. Nick stepped out from behind his partition and Ruxandra rose, grasping George’s arm.
“What’s the code?” Kurt yelled out. Tory was right on the other side of the door, ready to lead the charge out of the cell. The naked men lined up behind him, but the woman and her son remained a respectful distance away.
The researchers glanced at Kurt and then stared at each other. The older researcher was the one Anthony had seen with Maynard at the tea room. To Anthony’s disappointment, the other researcher was a scrawny Asian kid with glasses, not Maynard.
“It’s no good,” George said with a sigh. “One of them is a wizard with a truth spell. If I’d had the code, they’d be gone by now. Since I’m the only one who can’t be compelled, the vamps can get it out of you too.”
The young kid said, “Way to go, George. I guess that truth spell worked real well on you.”
“Yeah, it did the job,” he said nonchalantly.
“That’s why we didn’t trust you with the details,” the other researcher bit out.
Anthony shook the older guy, and when he caught the researcher’s gaze, he ensnared him. “What is the code? Tell me, now.”