I took in his words and responded, “Thanks for the perspective. It’s much appreciated.” I looked at Bran and asked, “Can you explain your reasoning, why you think it would be bad for me to speak on my own behalf?”
“Because,” Abbott said, “we will tell them how you couldn’t get away right now because your daughter is in school and can’t travel until the summer, and because you need to schedule vacations well in advance so you can prepare your patients ahead of time before you can close your office. We will use this to point out what a good person you are, that you’ve adopted an orphan child, and you’re a single parent and it would be wrong to orphan this child twice. We will talk about how much your patients depend upon you for their mental health. We will paint you as responsible, with a code of honor.”
“But, I’m not a saint because I adopted!” I protested. “I adopted because I wanted to be a mom. It’d be wrong to try to make it sound like a selfless act. It wasn’t.”
“They won’t understand that,” said Aaron. “These are ancient vampires who will see adoption as a charity act, and it will play in your favor.”
I looked at Aaron a few seconds, full eye contact until I was sure he knew how serious I was about this, and enunciated every word as I told him, “I don’t like using the fact I’ve adopted as any kind of game piece.”
“Then we’ll tread lightly making you look like a saint,” Abbott said with a patient smile, “but I will lay it on heavy about not orphaning the child twice. Plus, we have other stories to show you have honor. I’m sure Aaron has plenty of battle stories, and while Randall might not tell the entire story of your first meeting, I’m betting he’ll get the point across.”
Somehow, I doubted a bunch of ancient vampires and powerful shapeshifters with enough initiative to sit on a voting board would bother with annoying human emotions. “Do these supernaturals have guilt?”
“Most of them do — some more than others,” Nathan said. “If they thought you were a danger they’d still kill you, but if there’s doubt then it’ll make them think twice.”
“And if you didn’t think you were convincing them, would there be a benefit of videoconferencing me in so I could speak on my behalf?”
“Yes, but only if we felt we weren’t being successful,” Aaron said. “I know you can hold your temper most of the time when it’s important, but these men and women have ears all over the world, and they are all quite shrewd. They will likely try to trigger your temper.”
Honest, I’m good at holding my temper when it’s important, but Aaron and Nathan can set it off it almost as easily as my mother, so they have the wrong idea about my control. There was no need in trying to convince them, but I wanted to be sure the rest of the room understood.
“I only speak my mind when I’m pissed, I don’t throw things or start shooting up the place. Wouldn’t it be better for me to speak my mind in person, so they can see I’m mostly all talk when my temper goes?”
“Not if they behead you in mid-sentence,” Nathan said, and his look told me he’d contemplated doing so a few times.
“They might be able to handle you throwing things better than the things you say,” Aaron said. “When your temper is speaking you have a way of hitting the most sensitive nerves. As a therapist, you know how to get to people, how to slice them with your words, and doing so with these individuals would be disastrous.”
Sadly, I couldn’t argue his point.
“Okay then,” I told the group. “Unless Mordecai disagrees then I say we go with Bran’s proposal. If Mordecai disagrees then I’ll need to talk to him to find out why, and then decide based on his reasoning.”
“I would be willing to publicly put her under my protection as well, and travel with the contingent,” Nathan said to the group as he seemed to make an effort to keep from looking my direction.
“But, you don’t like me!” I protested.
“We got off to a bad start, and I’m sorry about that,” he said, finally looking at me. I could still see the arrogant cat in his expression, but also the man, and our eye contact made me lose the ability to breathe for a few seconds.
“However,” he continued, “whether we can get along or not, I have a lot of respect for you, and there are few people I’d rather have by my side in a fight. I trust you with my life, and the life of any of my people. The Pride doesn’t have an official moniker like Friend of the Pack, but there’s a way for me to officially put you under my protection. If I do, you’ll have the protection of every lion on the planet and every cat in North America. I know some of the worries you had with Randall, so I’ll save you the questions. You’d be under no obligation to be subservient to me, and no obligation to obey me, though I’d appreciate it if you argued with me in private. There is no downside for you to agree to it.”
I tried to wrap my mind around it, but couldn’t. Nathan detested me, but was willing to put the people under him in a position to fight to the death should someone threaten me. “I don’t know what to say.” I told him. “I’m speechless, and that doesn’t happen much. Thank you.” My eyes were tearing up, dammit.
“Are you going to cry?” Nathan asked, incredulous.
“I might,” I said, smiling as I looked at him through watery vision. “You got a problem with that?”
He shook his head and, for the first time ever, gave me a gentle smile. “Let me at least hug you, if I’ve made you cry.”
I walked to him and gave him a hug, and my heart slowed as he pulled me into his muscled, warm, embrace. It felt like going home. It felt safe.
You know how you feel when a cat who’s kept his distance finally allows you to pet him? It seemed Nathan had this trick down pat as a man, too, as this hug felt more important than any hug I could remember giving anyone.
Aaron couldn’t let this happen without saying something. “It’s about damn time. I’ve been waiting years for the two of you to kiss and make up.”
His words let me laugh, which broke the spell Nathan seemed to have me under, and I told Aaron, “Well, you’ll have to live with a hug and make up, we haven’t kissed.” I gave a final squeeze and pulled back from Nathan, looked at him, and said, “Thank you.”
Abbott inquired about drinks for the humans and shifters, poured them for us, and then filled wine glasses with what I assumed was blood for the vampires.
I sat in a chair instead of a sofa so no one could sit beside me. I needed my space at the moment, and I worried Abbott would try to make it clear I was his, somehow, when I didn’t want to be publicly known as his.
Also, the blood thing kind of squicked me. I noted that Alex declined and wondered why. Maybe he wasn’t comfortable drinking blood in front of me? He’d seemed to be hung up on the whole monster thing. I really hoped I could help him with that as a friend, since he wasn’t going to let me help as a therapist.
I looked at Bran again and he looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place him. He wasn’t a large man, maybe an inch or two shy of six feet, and not especially bulky. He had a mostly ordinary face when he wasn’t being animated. In a photo he’d be attractive but not handsome; however, when he smiled and talked, his face was expressive in a very understated but incredibly sexy way, and it made him into something special. He had light brown hair and baby blue eyes, and his body language was that of complete self-confidence.
“Bran, you look familiar but I can’t place you. Have we met?”
“We’ve never officially met, but we’ve seen each other before. When it was open, I was a member of Haven in Atlanta. I was present for a scene orchestrated by Master James that’s become something of a legend.”
I knew the scene he was talking about. Haven is closed now, but it’d been my favorite club in Atlanta, situated in an old warehouse, with rooms people could go to for semi private scenes, and two large rooms where people could scene in public. I’d been restrained in a standing pose on stage and whipped by someone in front and back at the same time, and I’m told I orgasmed for something
like twenty minutes almost straight, with a few fifteen second breaks between climaxes, but for the most part there had been twenty minutes of orgasmic bliss. And then they’d pulled me down and stretched me out on the gigantic bondage table, and one of my female Domme friend’s had done the candle wax thing on me, and words can’t express the kind of painful pleasure one can feel by the skilled application of hot wax on raw skin. Once they’d removed the wax, Master James had bent me over a barrel, gagged me, and caned me. I’d screamed into the gag and cried real tears, but when Master James touched the spot under my ear and ordered me to come, I’d done so quite violently.
I needed to say something in response, and the only thing that came to mind was a question. “So, I take it you’re in the lifestyle as well?”
His smile told me he was a Dom, not a sub, and my breath caught in my chest.
“Well alrighty then, now that we’ve cleared that up...” I knew the room could smell my conflicting feelings of arousal and mortification. No one spoke for several heartbeats, so I changed the conversation. “Can someone explain to me why we have so much, oh, I don’t know, supernatural royalty living in Chattanooga?”
“This has been the subject of much discussion, actually,” Abbott told me. “Aaron, Nathan, Bran, and I generally travel together and are almost always in either the same city, or in nearby cities. However, we also have a number of shapeshifter Alphas here, and none of us remember having this many heavy-hitters in a city this size. Ever.”
Aaron had told me he trusted Abbott, but I hadn’t realized they were quite so close. Also, while I’d known they both lived along this stretch of road on the brow, but I hadn’t known they lived right beside each other until we pulled into Abbott’s driveway.
“Not all lions have a long lifespan, but as Amakhosi, I do,” Nathan told me, “so I’m forced to move around like the others who are long lived. Aaron and I are business partners, so it makes sense we stay together.” He paused and said, “Randall has lived here all of his life and will likely not need to move. His lifespan is longer than a normal human, but when he turns about ninety he’ll go off the radar and won’t work anymore, and will rely on the things he’s already bought. He’ll have a chauffeur so he won’t need a driver’s license, and he’ll just stop existing as far as the government is concerned. It’s the way the wolves deal with their longer life span. He was born here, he didn’t move.”
“The leopard Alpha of North America lives in Cleveland,” Abbott said, “and he only fought for the position a few years ago. He moved here a few years before, and climbed up through the ranks.”
“One of Abbott’s business partners is also a heavy hitter,” Aaron added, “though not officially an alpha. Most don’t know what he is, but pretty much everyone in town goes out of their way to keep from pissing him off. He was born here, as well.” He looked at me a few seconds and added, “Coyotes don’t choose an alpha, but the one known as the Trickster is generally accepted as being their leader, and he lives in Ringgold. The list is long, and I believe there is a power either drawing everyone here, or giving the alphas here an extra boost. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been alive a really long time.”
I was putting things together in my head when Bran said, “If we had to choose the human with the most abilities on the planet at this time, I expect it would be you. I don’t believe in coincidences, everything happens for a reason. Something is going on, and those of us who are long lived are being extra watchful. Aaron and Abbott are of the opinion you’ll be helpful against whatever is coming, and I respect their judgment. I look forward to getting to know you, though, and deciding for myself.”
He didn’t leer as he said the last part, but the look in his eyes made me think he was hoping to get to know me in as many ways as possible, and I was suddenly tired of being hit on. Earlier, I’d realized I had chosen Abbott simply because I’d met him first. I wasn’t ready to pull away from him, but if I’d met Abbott, Randall, and Bran at the same time, I wasn’t sure Abbott would’ve been the one I chose. However, we’d had a date, and then we’d gone over a BDSM checklist, and I couldn’t deny I wanted to be under him in every way possible as long as my blood wasn’t in the equation. Truth be told, I was starting to be a little turned on by the idea of him biting me, too.
Nathan spoke so low I almost didn’t hear him. “There are some who believe you are drawing us here.”
I looked around the room and saw agreement, and knew I needed to put a stop to that particular theory.
“Umm, guys, I didn’t draw anyone here. I agree it’s too big of a coincidence to be mere chance, but I didn’t do it. Maybe whatever is going on at the battlefield drew all of you?”
“That’s a possibility.” Nathan said, “Now if we just knew what was going on in the battlefield. We’re just reacting to what happens. There’s no way to be proactive.”
I’d been thinking the same thing. “I’m surprised nothing has happened since Xaephan’s visit. I figured he’d do something to test me, see if I kept my word.”
“Maybe he has,” Aaron said, “and whatever was called didn’t create enough of a ruckus to reach the police department, and thus Denny wouldn’t have called us in.”
An idea had floated through my head a few times, and when it returned now, I let it coalesce.
“A few of those present can sense metaphysical activity happening within a short distance, apparently all the time, even when they aren’t trying.” I told the room. “I can sense demons from a short distance, so I’m assuming I have the aptitude to learn to sense other things. If someone can teach me then we’ll have at least four of us with the ability. Halloween is Wednesday night, and if we position around the battlefield, or just in a circle around Snodgrass Hill, maybe we can catch the bad guys as they start, before they have a chance to do bad things? Maybe we can catch whoever is calling things and figure out what’s going on?”
Before anyone had a chance to respond, I launched into the next question on my mind, “You know, so far all of you seem to be good. I mean, good leaders who seem to hold your people to a certain ethical code, but Cora mentioned something to me about there being territories with hostile packs. Are there also Master Vampires who tend to towards the bad side?”
Both Bran and Abbott answered at the same time. “Yes.”
“Would they band together to try to cause problems?”
Aaron looked thoughtful as he said, “If someone strong enough to control them all came along, then certainly. So far they haven’t been able to get along well enough to band together. However, with the right leader, who knows?”
“What about the other races of vampires? Is there a race that might want to get rid of the good guys?”
After a few seconds of closed faces and silence, Aaron told them, “No more secrets, at least, not when we aren’t obligated to keep them. She wants the facts and the last time I tried to shield her, it didn’t end well.” He turned to me. “There’s a race of vampires who want to do away with all other supernaturals — this means the other vampires as well as the shifters, and the unknowns like Mordecai and myself. They’ve done some pretty bad things, and the European and American council have both forbidden them from turning anyone. If they’re caught, the maker is killed as well as every one of his masters above him. We have people who keep a close eye on them through metaphysical means, and they haven’t added to their numbers for almost two hundred years, though they’ve lost at least one hundred. They are most unhappy.”
“How many of them are there?”
“Maybe five hundred, worldwide.”
“Where do the vast majority of them live?”
“In large cities. They only feed during the new moon, but they completely drain the human. They must kill in order to live, so they live in the cities and feed on the homeless, the runaways, the prostitutes. People no one will report missing. They’ve mastered the art of disposing of bodies so that they aren’t found.”
I looked at Abbott.
“You once told me there was a race of vampires some would consider evil, is this the race you spoke of?”
“Yes.”
I turned back to Aaron. “Is there anyone else who might come here to try to cause problems? Either they’re here because so many powerful leaders are living in one place and they want your attention, or they somehow drew you all here by what they’re doing?” I considered the options and added, “Or, they drew you here for some other reason? Oh, and this killing race, do they have metaphysical abilities? And do they have any ties to the demon plane of existence?”
“Yes, they have metaphysical abilities,” said Bran. “They have to kill because they need the energy transference of the death in order to survive, they take in their victim’s life force, it isn’t just the blood they need. As to whether they have ties to the demons, if they do I’m not aware of it, but considering they thrive on death, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
I looked back at Aaron. “Can ya’ll teach me how to pick up on metaphysical stuff happening around me?”
“We can try,” Aaron answered. “We’ll blindfold you and situate those of us who can do magic around you on the perimeter of the room. We’ll get Bran to point at someone, they’ll do something with energy, and we’ll see if you can sense it.”
“I know it sounds cliché,” said Abbott, “but it’s like the Star Wars thing. You’re trying to sense a disturbance in the force. Think of how a pond looks when you toss in a pebble and the waves ripple out. You’re detecting metaphysical ripples.”
“Abbott, I’m assuming you have a blindfold?” Aaron asked with a grin.
Abbott nodded with a mischievous smile and left the room.
I was about to be blindfolded in a room full of supernaturals, three of whom were known to be Dom. Beautiful.
Refusing to let my thoughts stay there, I asked Aaron, “If I can do this, you won’t argue with me coming on Halloween to help try to sense what might be happening?”
He shook his head. “If you can help, you can come. I may give you extra guards but I won’t keep you away.”
Only Human (Kirsten O'Shea Book 1) Page 34