Ten, p.22
Ten, page 22
You did work very hard to help me, and I was rude. Maybe we could try again tomorrow, but with pig blood, and maybe something brandy-spiked first?”
Georgia curled up to her feet and wiped her hands before giving the vampire a light squeeze on the arm. “You have your moments, Mr. Lambley,” she said. “One might even call you sweet—”
The vampire lowered his eyes coyly. “Oh, poppycock!
Remember, I have a reputation to maintain.”
“You also need to remember that we aren’t doing any more arm experiments tomorrow because, guess who will arrive while you’re sleeping—?”
“Stefano?”
Georgia rolled her eyes. “Ren is going to be back by noon!” she exclaimed. “He says that he has news and a present, so I’m pretty sure that, for once, something’s about to go right.”
“Finally, something has gone right,” Paige sighed as she let the sun pour down on her pink, sweaty face. “In fact, I feel pretty fan-fucking-tastic!”
“Only you would be happy after running for five miles. I hear legends of this runner’s high, but I have yet to experience it,” Morgan grumbled as he stretched his calves for a fifth time. He did smile as he saw the genuine joy in her eyes.
“This was just a casual jog, babe. Nads and I can easily do ten—”
“I’ll let you have that girl bonding time, thank you very much,” he said as he finally flopped onto the still-green-in-December grass.
“Wow, I can smell the carcinogens from here.”
“Hey, do I interfere when you, Bernard, and Billy play Dungeons
& Dragons until three AM? We need girl bonding time and guy bonding time.”
“Well both Kayleigh and Toy joined the group last month, so we’re all inclusive now,” Morgan muttered. “So, are you going to tell me why a girl whose just been through a funeral and a solid two-day diatribe from her mother is so gosh, darn happy, or are you gonna make me guess?”
Paige flopped her arm over his sweaty chest and all but slithered so that her face was less than an inch from his face. As he sniffed her breath, his eyes lit up. He leaned in closer and licked some of her sweat.
“Do I taste a little better now?” she cooed before kissing him.
“Actually, you smell a bit like rotting vampire flesh has been recently sucked out of you,” Morgan confessed. He kissed her back before finishing with, “Which I must say is delightful.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to be free of him—”
“I’ve had some experience,” Morgan countered. “I had him in my system for a day and felt miserable. How could you— on second thought, let’s just not finish that conversation. No good is gonna come of it.”
“Beautiful and smart,” she said. She started kissing him again but had to growl and pull away as a shadow loomed over them both. A tall, purple-haired Russian with impeccably bad timing stared down at the pair with an extremely nonplussed look on her face.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she sighed. “But it’s time for a little pack meeting. Get cleaned up, and meet me at the gym in twenty minutes
— twenty-five, if you just can’t contain yourselves.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Morgan said as he hopped to his feet. Paige followed suit a second later. She gave a little salute before running top speed back to her house.
Morgan trundled behind her by a solid five minutes. “You have too much energy,” he complained.
“What can I say? I feel fabulous.”
She kept her bouncy mood going as she yanked her boy toy inside and then promptly yanked off his shirt. She traced her finger lovingly down a bulging arm but had to pause as she saw a distinctive track of purple marks in the crook of his elbow.
“Some of us need a little help to feel fabulous,” Morgan said softly. “It’s been a rough week—”
“How rough?” she asked as she finally stared into his bloodshot eyes.
“I don’t judge you for your vices,” he growled. “Can we deal with this later?”
“Later.”
They both showered and changed with a decided lack of further festivities. She poked her head into the other bedroom, but Kyle was nowhere to be found. It was only once they had packed up and
drove all the way to the parking lot of Nadia’s rebuilt gym that Morgan spoke again.
“I haven’t changed since back at the Bust Stop—”
“That can’t be good, Morgan. I can’t even imagine not changing for a month. Have you talked to anyone, you know, about it?”
“It comes and goes. Sometimes when I get stressed, it can be a while—”
“I mean, does it happen to every werewolf?” Paige cringed the moment the question left her lips. “Maybe it’s the—”
Morgan slammed the car door. All she could do was watch him storm away, while she tapped her claws against the dashboard. “You really need to work on your communication skills, Paige. Still, things are looking up. Plenty of time to make things right,” she told her reflection.
However, before she made it to the door, her jaw dropped as she saw a van with the Stefano’s logo pulling into the lot. She had to do a further double-take as the eponymous Stefano DeMarco hopped out of the passenger side in a spiffy new fedora and aviator shades.
“Mom?” Paige called out to the tall, tan woman in a daring red blouse. Maria gave a cheerful wave in return.
“I still can’t believe that you tan, then again, our whole family loves the sun. It’s that little bit of Sicilian that no one will talk about,”
Maria finished saying to her vampire companion.
“Oh yeah, your great-great-Aunt Carlotta had everyone asking if she was a moor,” Steve fired right back. He finally turned to Paige.
“You’ve missed some great stories, kid. One day I have to take you around the old neighborhoods.”
“You’re still here?” Paige asked confused.
“Yeah, Lord Cranky-Pants asked me to help clean up a little, and before you get your tail in bunch, Pipsqueak, I’m not wiping any of my family’s memories. I can’t stay for too long, though; other family crap has been building up.”
“Paige, did you know that his vampire mother was a Nazi?” Maria asked.
“Wrong tense, Maria. She never gave up the goosestep,” Steve sighed. “It gets a little awkward at family functions, especially since
my vampire dad converted to Buddhism and retired from society—”
“Did you just say ‘vampire Buddhist’?” Paige asked.
“Yeah, you might even get to meet him next June, but don’t get him started on Karma and his reconciliation of his place in the order of reincarnation. When I say that he can talk forever, I’m being literal,” Steve sighed. He pulled out his flask and took a sip. “Wow, Maria, you outdid yourself on this batch.”
Paige sniffed something sanguine and earthy with a distinct hint of hazelnuts. The vampire tipped his flask towards his great-granddaughter. “Did you want a hit?” he asked.
“Greg and Charlotte just slaughtered one of their heritage pigs,”
Maria explained. “I got the entire hogs worth of blood fresh from the source as well as two new hams curing. Bit of sea salt, bit of vinegar, and a shot of Frangelico—”
Paige waved her hands in protest to make her mother stop. Maria shrugged. The elder DeMarco woman leaned in confidentially to the vampire and muttered, “I don’t know where she got the squeamishness from. That blood is going to make a fabulous sanguinaccio—”
“Oh, I’ve had that, and it’s to die for,” Steve gushed. “I have to introduce you to—”
“Um, guys,” Paige interrupted as she opened the door. “What is sangui… sangui—?”
“Sanguinaccio? It’s a chocolate and cinnamon pudding made with fresh pigs’ blood,” Maria said cheerfully. “It’s super trendy with the whole nose-to-tail eating craze. Also, I am totally making you fried pig ear salad this week.”
“You get way too excited when you get a pig,” Paige muttered, but her stomach growled at the mere thought of all the porky goodness soon to be churned out of her mother’s kitchen. She gave her mom a half hug as they slipped inside. “I guess it’s good that you can laugh at all—”
“You know us, DeMarcos,” Maria muttered. “We handle the big stuff just fine. Just heaven help us if we break a nail or botch a ravioli. I’m keeping it together, kiddo.”
“Just let me know if you need anything,” Paige said.
Maria suddenly turned serious and looked her daughter straight in the eyes. “I need you to take care of yourself, first and foremost. I may not know everything about all this craziness going on, but you promise me that you’ll keep your head on your shoulders and look out for yourself and for your family, even if they are creatures of the night.”
Paige looked over at the smirking bloodsucker and raised a brow.
Still, she nodded in agreement. “I promise, mom.”
“That’s my girl. Stop worrying about me. As long as I’ve got my family and red wine, nothing can keep me down for too long.”
The vampire cringed slightly before leaning in to comment. “I just have to warn you, that it might be a bit complicated—”
Maria gave her grandfather a look that would have stopped his heart cold, if he wasn’t already dead. He pulled off his hat and sunglasses and looked surprisingly apologetic.
“Listen, the world gets messed up. It gets complicated, but family.
. . family is always simple. You made mistakes, but you’re here now.
Paige, you lied to me, but you came clean. We all do terrible, stupid shit to one another, but we come back and we fix it and when push comes to shove. . . am I clear you two?”
Both Steve and Paige nodded.
“Good, because I really didn’t want to live out some terrible Dracula versus the Wolfman movie next Christmas,” Maria said with a flourish of pure Italian gesticulation.
“How is it that I’m a vampire and you’re a werewolf, but I’m pretty sure she’s the most terrifying member of our family?” Steve whispered as they joined a full house in the gym. He plastered on his cheesiest grin as he found himself face-to-face with Lord Pendragon.
The smile faded quickly as he saw dark circles around Lorcan’s faded green eyes.
“Lorcan?” Paige asked as she noticed the dark veining along his jaw and his damp forehead.
The vampire gave an apologetic nod. He propped himself up with an old-school ivory cane as well. “You’ll have to excuse my countenance,” he said. “Something I ate didn’t quite agree with me, but I’ll be fine soon enough.”
“Mr. Darcy,” Maria said. “I have a pretty good idea why you needed me to invite you in.”
He took her hand and gave a sly smile. “Ms. DeMarco, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
Nadia and Kayleigh were still dragging more folding chairs from the storeroom as all the werewolves milled uncomfortably on the main floor. Bernard kept eyeing the nearby exits and tugging on his beard as he paced the perimeter. Billy and Sammy remained more low-key, lounging on a yoga mat and muttering between themselves.
Kyle, on the other hand, sat on the opposite side of the floor, occasionally stealing a wistful look at his talk, dark, and handsome boyfriend.
Toy gave a little salute to Paige and her mom as they got settled in. Paige nodded to her mother as Maria gave a look as if to say,
“Wait, she’s a werewolf too?”
Even the normally absent Tina sat nervously in her own little corner, wringing her fingers as the entire pack assembled. Finally, Nadia and Kayleigh settled down as Morgan came from the office with a laptop in hand. He didn’t take a seat next to Paige and the other DeMarcos, choosing instead to wrangle the freaked-out man in a topknot and drag Bernard into a seat.
“I am glad you all could come on such short notice,” Lorcan said as he limped into the center of the floor. He cleared his throat. “As you are aware by now, there has been an incident in this fair city.
Four vampires have been declared missing, and I have been ordered to assist in finding out what happened to them. There is even a disturbing rumor that those vampires may have been killed—”
“Yeah, the sheriff is coming to town,” Steve interjected. “Trust me, she is one nasty, old piece of work.”
“I was informed that she will be here within three days,” Lorcan continued.
“Make that within a day, old man,” Steve said. “The main force won’t be in till the weekend, but I was tipped off that she’s taking the redeye from Vancouver tonight.”
The whole room broke out into confused muttering and whispers, but the bottom line came across as “What the—?” Maria squeezed
her daughter’s hand, even as she stared around the room in utter confusion.
“Who is the sheriff?” Maria asked.
As if on cue, Lorcan continued. “For those of you who don’t know, the sheriff is the peacekeeper among my kind. It is her duty to enforce all vampiric law and investigate anything that could be a potential threat. Needless to say, a pack of werewolves would certainly qualify.”
Nadia spoke first. “It’s my fault. I brought too much attention—”
“Now is not the time for blame,” Lorcan said. His eyes, however, stared right through Paige. “It’s time to do what we must to hide you all until this blows over.”
“No offense, but we’re a lot better at hiding without you really obvious vampires around,” Bernard snapped. The other members of his old pack, save Morgan, all nodded in agreement. “So, I think it’s time we hightailed it out of here—”
“Seriously, one vampire comes to town and you guys just want to run?” Toy snapped. “Last I checked there were a dozen of us in town.”
“The sheriff and her men are not like any vampire you’ve ever met—” Lorcan started.
Steve snorted with laughter. Even a glare from the elder vampire couldn’t shut him up. Steve hopped to his feet and surveyed the room.
“You see, your good friend here is a Pendragon, which is vampire for happy, hippy, liberal, life-loving pansy. I’m pretty sure he’s the toughest of the lot, but. . . yeah, not frightening unless you give them tanks. Now the sheriff is the only vampire I’ve ever met that could make my mother quiver, and my mom is far more the old school, rip-your-throat-out-before-you-can-blink sort of vampire. Oh, and one other interesting historical fact, do you know what this sheriff is most famous for, other than rocking a fabulous purple pantsuit?”
The entire room stared, dumbstruck. Lorcan finally sighed, “I think you should enlighten them, Mr. DeMarco.”
“Rumor has it that this sheriff got her job for killing werewolves,”
Steve said.
“How many?” Billy dared to ask.
“All of them,” Steve said without a trace of his normal sarcastic glee. “So, you can only imagine, if she hears that there is even a slight chance that any of your kind actually survived—”
“She’s extremely motivated to protect her reputation,” Lorcan interjected. “She also has some extremely well-armed and equipped deputies.”
“Yeah, we are leaving Elvis land now,” Bernard said as he and Billy both hopped to their feet.
On the flip side, both Tina and Toy shook their heads in protest.
“Some of us have lives here,” Tina snapped. “We have businesses.
We have relationships—”
“Actually, you’d be better without man bun,” Toy muttered. Every female werewolf nodded in agreement.
“I am merely suggesting lying low until there is a new crisis to distract the sheriff,” Lorcan said. As he tried to talk over the crowd, Paige noticed him stumbling more and more.
Steve leaned over. “I kinda expected this, so I’ve got a villa in Tuscany that the Jaeger family controls. You can totally take a job as a guest chef—” he started.
“Tuscany?” Maria asked. “Excuse me?”
“Please, arrangements have been made—” Lorcan started.
“Yeah, we’re arranging an exit for ourselves,” Bernard snapped.
“Sorry, really hot lady werewolves, but we are the experts in hiding and not going to wait to see what worse situation the bloodsucker gets us into—”
“You know, we were fine until you assholes showed up—” Toy barked back.
“Enough!” Paige yelled over everyone. Even Steve remained dumbstruck at the utter silence that fell over the room. She looked over to Lorcan. “So, can we have the plan, and then we can all go back to the pointless yelling?”
Morgan flipped around his laptop. Real estate listings filled the screen.
“I’ve already received the first round of paperwork. The properties are being divested as we speak,” Morgan said softly.
“My financial team, including Mr. Blaylock have been hard at work with a money laundering contingency in case the sheriff ever got wind of our operations here. Look, I don’t presume to have all the answers, but I’m better at hiding than you think—”
Paige stifled a giggle.
The vampire continued, “I figured that you would have ample means of hiding yourself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Black. That is why I am happy to give you a case of unmarked small bills and send you on your way. I only ask that you leave now before I discuss where I am hiding the others. If the sheriff does find you, I want to make damn certain you can’t lead her back to us. If you prefer to stay with my pack, however—”
Bernard and Billy both waved. “It’s been nice. Morginator?
Sammy? You coming with us? Your mates are more than welcome if they can stand the smell of weed in a Winnebago,” Billy sighed.
“Can we have a minute?” Morgan asked softly.
Lorcan nodded. “Any of you that wish to take your chances on your own, make your choice,” the vampire sighed. “Nadia, if you would be so kind to get my briefcase.”
“Mom—” Paige started.
“I already said my piece,” Maria said before hugging her daughter as tightly as she could.
Paige ran over to the uneasy congregation of Bernard, Billy, and Morgan. Sammy had pulled Kyle into the locker room for a private chat. Across the room, Tina burst into tears, while Kayleigh and Toy tried their best to comfort her.
