“News travels in this village faster than a buck after a doe when the leaves turn. Now promise me…” she met his gaze. “Never mind. I know that look. You are a Campbell and a man. You will do what you wish. But have a care.” Gertrude studied me. “Your woman will be lost without you. Taking a chance is not kind to her, is it, Madame?”
“No, it is not.” I gave Gertrude a grateful smile. She had known just what to say to my man. “Good luck with Alyse.” Not that I wanted the woman to stay in the village, but I knew she was but a pawn in Devlin’s game. She didn’t deserve to suffer for that.
I turned toward the bed and felt a jolt of something, a thought burning from Alyse’s eyes. Suddenly I knew where we could find Red Mary. Did I want to confront her? Who had sent me that message? Alyse? Or Red Mary herself? As we left the hut on the edge of the woods with the smell of rotting leaves and something even worse in the air, a yellow cat ran out of the darkness.
“Hah! I wondered if she had a familiar.” Valdez crossed himself. “Witches. It was all I could do not to take both of their heads. How can you stand to have them in your village, Campbell?”
“My parents find some of their skills useful. My mother thinks Gertrude can see the future. The witch foretold my sister’s marriage to a vampire in Transylvania while Maeve was in Europe. Of course the idea drove my mother mad. She had not inspected the groom, you see.” He shook his head. “So Ma immediately took off for Milan to try to stop the wedding, She was too late. The deed was done.”
“You mean your sister really had married someone from that country?” I glanced back at Gertrude’s hut and saw the black smoke from her chimney suddenly turn white.
“Not only that, he was a prince, descended from an infamous and cruel leader of the region. Fortunately he was rich and handsome and my mother decided he was suitable.” Jeremiah laughed until he saw my face. “Forget that. It was a love match. Maeve and Vlad are very happy.”
“Gertrude had seen it, foretold it.” I wondered if we should have asked her about our futures. More than that trouble in daytime she’d mentioned. Since my abduction during my death sleep had already happened, I was convinced she needed to concentrate again to see what other danger might lie ahead for us.
Oh, what was I thinking? It was not as if she could stop what was coming. Mayhap it was better not to know if it was bad news ahead for us.
“I see you frowning, Gloriana. We will take care of our own future and don’t need a witch to tell us all will be well.” Jeremiah took my arm and squeezed it. “But, yes, Valdez, Gertrude stays for now. If she cannot master Alyse, though, then the girl is too dangerous to keep here.” Jeremiah glanced at the sky. Ominous clouds had gathered and the moon was covered with them.
“Dawn is coming. I haven’t shown you my room yet, Gloriana. I don’t sleep in the tower. I have a bedchamber with a real bed and no windows. It will be safer than the inn, I assure you.” He turned to Valdez. “You have been up all night. Since we will be in the castle surrounded by guards, perhaps you would like to take the day off, catch up on sleep and visit with family while you have the chance.”
“Thank you, I will. And tomorrow night is Fergus and Maggie’s wedding. Did Gloriana tell you?” Valdez nodded at me. “It will be celebrated in fine style. They are having it an hour after the sun sets.”
“We will be there.” Jeremiah took my arm and walked me toward the castle as Valdez disappeared toward the houses where the shapeshifters lived. “We must select a gift for the happy couple.”
“Yes, I hate to just give them money.” Though I thought a large purse would be welcome, a good way to start their new life.
“I have an empty house in the village that I can give them. It used to belong to a man who moved to Edinburgh. It will be perfect for them.” Jeremiah smiled. “Maggie might appreciate not being surrounded by shapeshifters and her husband’s family.”
“That’s wonderful!” I hugged him. “I would also like to give Maggie a small personal gift. I have a piece of jewelry, a pin you gave me when we first met. Would you mind if I made it a bride gift? She can wear it on her wedding day.” I glanced at the dark sky. “Well, to her night wedding.”
“That would be thoughtful. She won’t be getting jewels married to Fergus. He is a fine man but ever practical. He will be more likely to gift her with a new pan for the kitchen or shoes from the cobbler.”
“Maggie would love either of those. But she is practical but a woman who loves pretty things as well.” I reached up to kiss his smile. “Thank you, Jeremiah. You make me very happy.”
“And you make me realize I am a lucky man.” He pulled me close and deepened the kiss.
“I should have known she’d act the trollop in public. Look at them, Angus. Another moment and he’ll have her skirts up for all to see.” His mother’s brittle voice came at us from a few feet away.
Jeremiah gently released me and took my hand. “Mother, if you use that word again to describe the woman I love, I will leave here and not look back.” He nodded to his father. “Da, good evening to you.” He stalked toward the castle, walking so fast I had to skip to keep up with him.
“Jeremiah, slow down. I am about to trip over my skirts.” I tugged at his hand.
He finally did assume a reasonable pace. “I’m sorry. She will have to temper her remarks or I am done with her and this place.” He stopped and looked back at the village sitting below us in the valley beneath the castle. “I love my home, but Ma is spoiling it for me.”
“No, I am. Once we are in Edinburgh, you must think about whether our arrangement is what you truly want. If I am what you want. I am clearly drawing a wedge between you and your mother. You shouldn’t have to choose between your lover and your family.” I held on to his arm for courage to say what he had to hear. “She is right that I am not the one for you. You think I don’t know that?” I stepped away from him when he frowned.
“Don’t say that!” He reached for me but I shook my head.
“It is only the truth, not false modesty. I am seeing the facts clearly, as your mother sees them. Whoever said love is blind spoke plainly, can’t you see that?” I tried to keep my voice down, sure it carried in the cold night air. But this had to be said. “You deserve a woman from a fine family. Not someone who doesn’t even know where she comes from.” Oh, I could not cry, would not.
“Stop.” He looked around. We were alone. The path from the village to the castle was well-worn from centuries of people making the trek. Yes, there were guards stationed everywhere, but none were close enough to hear us. “Listen to me, Gloriana. I’m a fucking vampire. Do you hear me? Wait until we get to Edinburgh. Yes, you’ve been to court. For a few hours, late at night. No one expected more from us there than a few appearances to dance attendance on the king. But Edinburgh is different. Powerful family alliances are made so that children can carry on the name, inherit lands and titles. These ties bring the clans together and help the king or the lairds secure their property. When I was mortal, it was possible I could have formed such an alliance. Now? It will never happen. You know why.”
“Jeremiah.” I wasn’t sure what to say to such plain speaking. “How do you manage then when other clan leaders approach you, introduce you to their daughters, seek a marriage?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve had centuries to perfect my defenses against matchmaking, even when the king or a queen in the past has tried it. Da has many sons. We take turns going to court, pretending we are a new generation. It is a delicate game. The king may have his suspicions but he’s too eager to have the powerful Clan Campbell on his side to ask questions he doesn’t want answered.” Jeremiah stared up at his home. “As long as we are loyal to him and offer our swords when he needs them, he turns a blind eye to uncomfortable truths.”
“So bringing a woman like me home is perfectly fine in your eyes. Or taking her to court?” A woman who would never be his wife. A woman who would not interfere with royal matchmaking. I did not say it.
“Glor
iana, I am proud to have you on my arm, anywhere, anytime. My mother must come to terms with that or I am done with her. This is not the first time she has tried to order my life. I won’t stand for it. Not if it costs me you.” He picked me up in his arms and carried me into the castle. This time we did not go upstairs but down. He walked until we reached the bottom. Then he turned and passed rooms with heavy wooden doors. At the third one, he stopped and pushed the door open. We were in a stone room with a large bed in the center. As he’d said, there were no windows. No fireplace either.
Vampires weren’t supposed to feel the cold. Yet I shivered in the chill air. Thank God there were furs piled on the bed. A wardrobe stood against one wall. There was a stand with a pitcher and bowl next to the bed. A candelabra, candles lit, sat on a table with two chairs pulled up to it. In one corner was a hipbath that someone had filled with steaming water. A pile of drying cloths sat near it, along with soaps.
“Oh, a bath!” I kissed his chin, rough with his evening beard. “Lovely.”
“I thought you would like one.” He set me on my feet. “Let me tell you something, Gloriana. If I need to prove to you that I do not see you as my mother seems to with her cruel words, I swear I will not make love to you until we reach Edinburgh. It is not only your body I need. That is what a trollop would be good for and only that. No, my love. I need you for your sweetness. For your caring. God knows I don’t know what I would have done without your gentle understanding when I was about to go mad.” He looked away from me to stare at the candles. “It is your steadfast love that keeps me sane. You have seen me at my worst and yet you are still here.”
“My darling.” I touched his shoulder.
He turned to face me. “Gloriana, a trollop would have taken my gold and run screaming into the night at the first sight of my fangs. A trollop might have stayed a little longer for the dresses and the jewels, but to want to be with me forever?” He touched my chin. “My darling. There is no trollop on earth who would do such a thing. Who would have willingly become my forever lover.”
He eased off my shawl and kissed the place where my shoulder showed at the edge of my bodice. Then he turned me and unbuttoned my gown. When it slipped to the floor, he carefully unfastened my petticoats and drew off my shift until I was naked. Then he picked up my hair and piled it on top of my head, securing it with hairpins. He gently set me in the bathtub before he used a cloth to trickle water over my breasts.
“Jeremiah, what are you doing?” Not that I cared. I relaxed, happy to lean back and let him do whatever he wished. He picked up a bar of lavender soap and ran it down between my breasts and to my stomach.
“Treating you like the lady you are. I treasure you, Gloriana. No more of this whining about being less than what I deserve. What I deserve is not the issue. I have many enemies who would tell you I deserve a stake through the heart.” His hand wandered to my legs then on to my knees and feet.
“That would be a terrible waste.” I sighed when he urged me forward so he could wash my back. Gods, but it felt good. The lavender scent drifting up from the warm water was soothing, taking away my worries and my doubts.
“What do you deserve, my love?” He eased me back again and just watched me, keeping his promise not to make love to me.
“Nothing more. I have already found more than I ever thought possible for a woman who has no family, no memory, no talents.” I let my eyes drift closed.
“No talents?” He chuckled. “That statement I will not let stand.” He kissed me then, the deep soul kiss that I’d been yearning for. His hand slipped to the back of my head, just as it had when he’d taken me against that tree, a lifetime ago. But this was so different. He was tender, asking for nothing more than my love.
“I love you.” I sent him that message as we kissed and kept kissing. The water cooled and yet I couldn’t let him go. Vampires don’t need to breathe. We didn’t. I kept my hands flat on the bottom of the tub, my feet there too. “I believe you. I am not a trollop. I am your worthy lover.”
At that he finally drew back. His smile made my heart turn over. “It’s about time.” He carefully helped me out and wrapped a large cloth around me. “Get in the bed. I’ll be there in a moment.” He stripped, removing his sword and knives and setting them on the table. He walked over and pulled a key from his sporran, that pouch on his belt, and locked the door. Then he stripped off the rest of his clothes and got in the tub.
“The water is cold now.” I said this from the furs on the bed.
“I stink.” He picked up a bar of soap, different from mine. Obviously a servant had prepared this room for us. Jeremiah must have given orders as to how he needed it to be. I was sure if I looked in the wardrobe my clothes would be hanging there.
He was making quick work of his bath. “I meant it, Gloriana. I will not make love to you, if you don’t want it. Holding you is enough for me.”
“But not enough for me. That kiss went a long way to stirring the pot, sir. I expect you to finish the stew.” I lowered the furs until he got a good view of my breasts. “I appreciate your insistence on a bath, but hurry.”
“That, I can do.” He ran the soap over his chest and down, obviously impatient. In no time at all, he was drying himself with a cloth then hurrying into the bed.
“Why isn’t there a fireplace here?” I had to ask. “It would make the room so much cozier.”
“We are below ground. This used to be a dungeon and storage, before the clan turned vampire. But of course now we put it to better use. We would have to make chimneys for the smoke to leave the rooms. Not only would it be difficult, but it would let outsiders know that we spend our death sleep down here. We don’t let the world know what we are, of course. So there are what seem to be bedrooms above stairs that others think are ours.” He pulled me into his arms, cool body against cool body. Not even a pile of furs could warm me.
“I think it is very clever. You should blow out the candles.” I ran a hand over his stomach and down to where his desire was obvious.
“Not until just before sunrise. You know we’ll both feel it.” He kissed one of my breasts. “Believe me, when I do blow them out, it’s dark as hell down here.”
“Hell. I keep thinking about what we saw this night. Alyse and her voice. She is certainly under a spell.” I shuddered. It was difficult to keep my mind on lovemaking when I kept seeing that woman and thinking about the evil man out there, desperate to hurt us.
“We will end this, Gloriana, one way or another. But you will not be bait for Devlin. You think I didn’t see that was your plan?” Jeremiah lay back with a sigh. “Woman, I would never let you deliberately put yourself in danger.”
“We may not have a choice.” I stared up at the ceiling and the light flickering from the brace of candles.
“Clearly you are in no mood for stirring the pot as you called it.” Jeremiah leaned toward the candles.
“Stop. Not yet. I think I can be persuaded.” I crawled on top of him. “There is this thing you do with your mouth.” I looked down at him. “And I do with my mouth…” I flung back the furs. “Hmm. Let’s see. Your kettle looks about to boil, I do believe.” I turned and adjusted my position. “Oh, yes, I think you do remember.” I leaned over him. “Jeremiah!”
There was something to be said for acting the trollop after all.
Later, when the sunrise pulled at us and Jeremiah did blow out the candles, we lay in absolute darkness.
“Jeremiah.”
“Yes, love.”
“You didn’t leave your sword by the door when we entered the castle.” I had certainly noticed that.
“It is my mother’s wish that we do such a thing. I no longer give a good damn for her wishes.” He pulled me into his arms. “When she apologizes for her behavior toward you, I may consider forgiving her. But I will never forget that she hurt you.” He pressed a kiss to my hair.
“Thank you.” What else could I say? But I knew I had made a dangerous enemy. Yes, we could deal with
Devlin. Even with Red Mary, perhaps. But Mag Campbell, Mother Campbell, promised to be a dark cloud hovering over my life with Jeremiah forever. Was there any way to fix this without giving up the love of my life?
13
An hour after we woke, we made our way down to the valley and the kirk. Jeremiah and I weren’t the only vampires there, but we were certainly outnumbered by shapeshifters. The Turnbull family was a large one indeed, with many children running about dressed in their best. It was a prosperous clan, thanks to their service guarding vampires. Jeremiah was treated with deference, as was I. The laird and his lady didn’t join us. I was thankful for that.
Maggie was a blushing bride, her dress a pretty dark blue velvet that someone had helped her sew to fit her plump figure. No one seemed to care that she was obviously with child. In fact, it seemed to be lucky to rub her burgeoning stomach.
“Gloriana, I am so glad you could come! Will you stand up with me?” She clutched my arm with one hand, a sheaf of winter wheat in her other. She smiled politely when a young girl rubbed her belly then ran away giggling. “Oh, they will drive me mad!”
“I would be honored to stand with you.” I hugged her. “You are so pretty tonight. I brought you something to wear and I hope you like it.” I pulled the pin from my pocket. “Will you mind that I have worn it before? You have been a true friend to me, Maggie. Please say you will let me put it on you and that you will keep it to remember our friendship.”
Her eyes filled when she saw what I held out to her. “It is too fine! And beautiful.” She touched it with a trembling finger. “Jeremiah gave it to you.”
“He has given me other fine things since. He is happy to see it go to you. You know how he esteems Fergus. The man saved his life more than once. Wear it in good health and happiness.” I pinned the jewel on her bodice. It was a fairly simple piece with sparkling blue and green stones. It looked a treat on her dress against the lace collar.
“I love you, Glory!” Maggie crushed me to her bosom. “How can I ever thank you? For Fergus and for taking me out of the Globe. Not just for this fine gift.”
Real Vampires: A Highland Christmas (The Real Vampires series Book 14) Page 15