I wish I could say that I slept like a baby with Mark in the house. The fact was, my night — or what was left of it — was miserable. I kept having these mini-nightmares.
I saw a Furry with fangs being staked in the sun, screaming as she transformed to her wolf self and then disappeared beneath the flames. Another dream had me being crowned Queen of the Boyds. I had a vampire as my lackey and was fussing at him because he couldn't attend me at noon.
“But, your Majesty, I am but a lowly vampire and cannot be abroad at noon lest I fry.”
I waved my scepter at him, conking him on the head. "You think that’s a good enough reason for not showing loyalty to your liege? Off with your head!”
That's how it went the whole night. I woke once because I heard a voice. I smiled when I realized it was Mark talking to one of the dogs.
“No, you can’t share the bed with me. Get down.”
I'll bet it was Pepper, but before I could figure out which one it was, I’d fallen asleep again.
I woke at seven, which was later than normal, half expecting that Mark would be gone.
He wasn't. Instead, he was in the kitchen with the Brood, talking to them as if they were long lost friends or fraternity brothers with the exception of Cherry Pip — the only female in the bunch. She was now leaning against his leg looking up at him adoringly.
Mark must smell like bacon.
He saw me in the doorway, looked up and smiled.
"I'm moving in," he said.
Well, that was a hell of a way to wake up.
“What?"
I moved in the direction of the Keurig, halfway by touch. I'm the first person to tell you that I need a little while to wake up. And then a little coffee. Right now I was pretty close to being all the way alert, given what Mark had just said, but in all honesty I didn’t know how to respond to it.
"Whatever will Danielle say?” I said. "You didn't mean with her, right?" I couldn’t imagine anything worse. “By the way, does she know about the whole vampire thing?”
"A little," he said.
I rolled my eyes and didn't care if he saw.
"In other words, you haven't told her anything. Or you patted her on the head and told her that she didn't have to worry about anything. You would take care of all of it. Have I got that right?”
"No," he said, still smiling at me. "You don't have it right. I told her about the whole thing, including the danger. What she doesn’t know is that I suspect that vampires are experimenting, not only on other paranormal beings, but on humans.”
I greeted the Brood, scratched heads, made maternal sounds, anything but respond to this new information that he hadn’t shared last night.
“So, she won’t be moving in?” I asked. I finally straightened, made myself a cup of coffee and went to join him at the table.
“No.”
As a hostess, I sucked. I hadn’t asked if he was hungry or if he’d like coffee, but since he had an empty cup in front of him I decided he was a grownup and could fend for himself.
“Did you know that Dan has a foundation that does nothing but investigate human disappearances?”
“Marcie’s Dan?” I asked.
He nodded. “Evidently, he has a sister who hasn’t been seen in years. He’s always suspected she was abducted by vampires but hasn’t been able to prove it.”
“Why didn’t I know that? And why do I feel like everyone in the world is more clued in than I am?”
He didn’t answer.
“I’ll be back later with my stuff,” he said.
“I have a Council meeting tonight.” Damn, I’d forgotten until just this minute.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
I wasn’t that much of a wuss. However, I wasn’t all that eager to be driving after dark by myself, Boyd or not.
I shook my head. “That’s not necessary, but thank you.”
Now about moving in with me. My lips wouldn’t move. Nor would the brain. I concentrated on my coffee for a few moments.
“You don't have to move in with me, either," I finally said. "I'm safe here," I added, which was just about as close as I could come to revealing the specialness of being a Boyd.
He just smiled and said, "I'm moving in, Torrance. Not for protection.”
I wish he hadn't worded it quite that way. That left me with having to ask the question. Then why are you moving in? Did I really want to hear the answer?
Because I adore you and don't want to live without you.
There, that was my entire problem wrapped up in one sentence.
It could just as easily be the opposite.
Because you’re a pain in my neck, Torrance, and this way at least you’ll stop calling me.
I blurted out: “My father is having a meeting of all his families.” Really, I hadn’t planned on divulging that information, but I’m a coward. I was not prepared for a whole long emotional scene right at the moment. Especially since I would be the one being emotional.
He raised one eyebrow and looked at me. I don't know if he was surprised at my revelation or my obvious reluctance to discuss his plans.
“My father has a concubine in Houston," I said. "And one in Dallas. For the first time ever, he's inviting all the families to San Antonio. One big happy family.”
He didn't say anything which was very diplomatic of him.
My father wasn’t the first alpha to have multiple concubines. The regrettable fact was that in our culture, concubines were not out of the ordinary. If an alpha could afford to keep his original family and that of his concubine, then no one thought anything of it. At least in the past. Times seemed to be changing, however. There were fewer and fewer arrangements like that. I wasn't certain if it was because of the economic times or because a few Were women were making their wishes and feelings known. Not everybody was as docile and compliant as my mother.
"Why?"
“Beats the hell out of me,” I said. “I guess he wants to show how egalitarian he can be. He has other children." I looked over at him. "Isn't it funny that I don't know how many? We've never talked about it before. And now he wants everybody to get to know everybody else.”
"It could be that he wants to announce something of importance." His tone was measured, that of a doctor giving a patient bad news.
I looked at him in surprise. "You mean, like he's terminal?" I hadn’t thought about that. My father was a larger than life persona. I couldn't imagine him not being there, if not in the forefront of my life then occupying some space in it. His absence would create a vacuum and it was the first time I’d acknowledged that fact.
My mind wouldn't accept it. I just couldn't go there. Yet I could envision him doing something that grandiose. He'd wait until everybody was comfy. Then he'd go to the head of the room, look out over the assembled throng, and proceed to shock everyone with his announcement.
"Are you going?" he asked.
It was a little spooky how well Mark was getting to know me.
“I told him I wasn’t, but I don't see how I can avoid it. I hope you're wrong, though. I hope it’s not bad news.”
"It doesn't have to be bad news," he said. "Just something important. Maybe he's decided to expand his law firm. Or maybe he has other sons and they’re coming into the practice.”
That wouldn't thrill Austin, the heir apparent.
I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I told my father what Austin had done. Would he just brush that information aside? Or would he take measures to curb my brother’s arrogance?
I wasn’t going to test the issue.
“I’ll have to see Austin,” I said.
“You can’t avoid him forever, unfortunately.”
“True. But I can wish.” I stared down into my empty coffee cup and stood to make more.
I needed to feed the Brood, brush their teeth, and start my day. Just as if I had a job to go to and something important to do. They were just going to have to wait for a moment, however. I made myself another cup of coffee before returning to the table and sitting.
"How do you feel about concubines?" I asked Mark.
“China.”
"What?”
"Wasn't that the country where all the leaders had concubines? A whole harem of them? It reminds me of China. The whole practice.”
Well, that was an answer, but it was a non-answer. Let's just put it this way, he’d skirted the important part.
"Have you ever had a concubine? If you marry again would you consider having a concubine?”
"Are you applying for the position?" he asked.
I kept my smile on, but it was difficult. "Is there a reason you're refusing to answer?”
He stood, took his coffee cup to the sink and dumped it out, and then put it in the dishwasher. I swear, he was amazing.
He came back to the table, bent down, and kissed me on the nose.
"I think it's an archaic practice," he said. "Plus, I think it's damaging to marriage. If you love your wife, why would you look to another woman for anything?” He stepped back, smiled down at me and said, "I've got to go to work. Will you be all right?”
I nodded, keeping my smile pinned in place, watching as the Brood followed him to the door.
He turned and looked at me once more before leaving.
“I’ll be here about six,” he said.
“I’ll be at the Council meeting, but I’ll have Simon let you in.”
He nodded.
“I need to get you a key and the alarm code,” I said. Anything else? Like drawers in my dresser and space in my closet?
Damn, I’d capitulated without a word spoken in my defense. All of a sudden I had a roommate. Maybe a bedmate. Maybe a lover.
My life had gotten more complicated and it had all happened in the blink of an eye.
After Mark left I called Marcie and for a few minutes we talked about stuff, like how the puppy was fitting in at the castle. Evidently, he was devoted to Antonia and she to him.
“They’re never far apart," Marcie said. "I've given up on the battle of the bed. He sleeps with her and it's the sweetest sight. She's given up her doll and her stuffed duck for Jack.”
I was feeling self-congratulatory until she said, "Dan, however, would like to talk to you.”
Thankfully, there was a note of amusement in her voice.
“Is he angry that I just dumped Jack on you?”
"No," she said. “He said he knew you were coming and I don’t doubt that for a moment.”
Neither did I. Dan was a wizard, almost as powerful as his daughter. He could probably see the future, which was depressing. He’d spent a fortune and years preparing the castle for war. Did that mean it was bound to happen? Or could the future be changed? Maybe I should ask him to give me a taste of what was to come, but did I really want to know?
"What do vampires have that I don't have?" I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m trying to figure out the advantages of having witch and vampire blood in me," I told her. "I can do a spell and make it work. We've already tested that with the hearing spell. By the way, it works perfectly. But I realized that I don't know enough about vampires. I could already walk in the sun. I don't crave blood. So what does a vampire have that I don't have? Why would it be a good thing to have vampire blood?”
"The ability to mesmerize," Marcie said.
That stopped me in my tracks mentally. I’d never considered that. I wish I’d known about the ability to change someone’s mind earlier. I would have used it on my CPA. Or my father.
“Does Mark know about the ability to mesmerize?” I asked.
“Yes.”
Oh, goody. How much of my attraction to Mark was what I was feeling and how much was what he was sending out?
"He says he’s moving in," I said.
I don’t know why I told Marcie that. I’d never been the kind of person who confided in my girlfriends. We didn't giggle over the phone about a boy. I’d always been determined to be a vet, so that any free time I had was spent studying. Until, of course, I’d fallen into teenage lust over Craig.
"Are you happy about that?" Marcie asked carefully.
"I don't know how I feel about it," I said, which was the absolute truth. I didn't know whether to run for the hills or go clean out my dresser. Or make sure the room he occupied last night was ready for him as a permanent visitor.
"Is there something you want me to do?" Marcie asked. Again, that note of caution was in her voice and I couldn't blame her.
I was being silly even confiding in her, but she was a friend and probably the closest friend I had. No, no probably about it. She was most definitely the best friend I had.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” she asked.
That made me smile. What could she possibly say?
"No. I was just venting. This male-female stuff – and it doesn't matter whether I'm Pranic or not – is scary. Almost as scary as Maddock.”
“Nothing is as scary as Niccolo Maddock," she said.
She was right.
“Anything else I need to know about vampires?”
"The older ones have great speed," she said. “I don't think they actually become invisible, but they’re fast. And although I've never gotten anyone to corroborate, I think some of them can become other creatures.”
“Like bats and things? Spiders?”
I was now delving into fiction, which just shows you how much I knew about vampires.
"Bats," she said, a note of amusement in her voice. “Not spiders.”
“Thank God.”
"I don't think God has anything to do with vampires," she said, the amusement gone.
I wanted to say something to her that would ease her mind or rid her of thoughts of Maddock. I wanted to tell her that I was special, but I couldn’t do that, either. Unless she already knew. Did Marcie know, before I entered the lottery, that vampires went out of their way to avoid Boyd Weres? Was that the reason I’d won?
It didn’t seem fair that every conversation I had only added to my list of questions and my general confusion. Instead of asking her point blank if she and Dan had known who I was, I thanked her for the information she’d given me and asked for the direct number to the castle librarian.
I was going to have to get more information about this brave new world I was living in.