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“What about tonight, then?” Camille yawned as she folded up the board game and put it away. She looked tired. Everybody looked tired. Even I felt weary. The ritual hadn’t been all that easy on me, and I still hadn’t told them what had gone down.
“I have something to tell you all.”
“Oh fuck, what now?” Delilah slumped in her chair, looking so forlorn I started to laugh.
“No, it’s not bad. At least I don’t think so. But it is going to affect me, and so you’d better know what’s going down.” And so I told them about the ritual and Roman, and breaking the bond with Morio, and the fact that Roman was now essentially my sire. When I was finished, the room was silent.
“Well, don’t all talk at once.” I let out a snort. “Nothing’s really that different.”
“Oh, really?” Camille turned. “You’ve bound yourself to him, you know? You were free of Dredge, and now you take on a sire that you didn’t have to.” She looked angry, but I could hear the edge of fear beneath her words.
“I had to do it—for your sake, for Morio’s sake, and for mine.” I turned to Morio. “Truthfully, tell me, do you feel pulled to me now?”
He shrugged. “No, and the difference was apparent the minute you walked in. It’s a relief, actually. There was this pressure…I couldn’t be around you and not keep noticing you. You were a distraction.”
Camille lowered her eyes. “You know that I understood.”
“He does, and so did I, but eventually things would come to a head. Morio, Roman said that having vampire blood injected into you like that will bring out your feral nature more. You’ve probably already experienced that.”
“Yes, I have, but it’s not so bad that I can’t control it.”
“Well, then…I did the right thing. And meeting Blood Wyne and finding out the origin of the vampires was interesting, to say the least. And informative.” Roman’s mother still freaked me out, but I had a feeling she and I would be interacting more as the years wore on.
“There’s nothing to be done about it now,” Smoky said. “She’s made the choice and been through the ritual and there’s no going back. But Menolly, next time, you might think about informing us before you decide to do something so drastic.”
Iris wouldn’t speak to me—she looked mad as hell, and I had the feeling that, as I had with contacting Ivana Krask, I’d royally pissed her off. She silently helped Hanna finish up the dishes and said her good nights, and she and Bruce went out to their trailer. The guys had worked up an alarm system so that if anything bothered them, we’d hear it loud and clear. Hanna began putting away the last of the dishes and making our evening tea.
I turned to the others. “Maybe you should turn in early. Get sleep. You’ll need rest tomorrow night.” I leaned against the counter.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Delilah gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and then she and Shade took off upstairs, taking their tea with them. Camille and her men sprawled out around the table but stared quietly at their cups.
Nerissa turned to me. “Come with me, love. As long as I’m staying here tonight again, let’s take advantage of the situation. I have some things I want to talk to you about.”
That didn’t sound good. The words I want to talk to you had never prefaced a comfortable conversation as long as I’d been alive.
We said good night to the others and trailed into the parlor. Nerissa pulled off her shoes and changed into her nightgown. I pulled off my boots, relieved to have an evening where I wasn’t out chasing monsters.
She curled up with the magazine and handed it to me, opening it to a Post-it-marked page. “What do you think?”
I stared at the arrangement. White roses and purple lilies, surrounded by fern fronds. “This is beautiful. I love it. Is this what you want? Because I’d be quite happy carrying that down the aisle.”
I racked my brain, trying to think of just what aisle we’d be walking down. We could get married here at the house, if necessary, but I didn’t want that and I knew that wouldn’t be enough for Nerissa. She deserved something special and I wanted her to have it.
“Why is Iris mad at me?” I put the magazine down and leaned back, watching the second hand on the clock circle round. There were so many things in this house I never usually thought about. For instance, the clock—it had been an antique, bought from Rina’s store before the demons killed her.
How long ago it seemed that we’d first faced Bad Ass Luke, but in reality, only a year and a half had passed. But right now, it felt like a lifetime since we first discovered the demons were here, working for Shadow Wing. So much had happened since then.
“Can’t you figure it out?” Nerissa pulled her legs up into a lotus position on the sofa. She draped the blanket around her shoulders. “Iris and you have a special relationship—a special friendship. She’s terrified you’re going to be so reckless you’ll get yourself killed. And Iris doesn’t want to lose you.”
I stared at my feet, holding them out and wiggling my toes. “I didn’t think of it that way. I know what I’m doing—”
“Bullshit. Most of the time none of us know what we’re doing. We just stumble through the day, doing our best to get by without making fools of ourselves…without getting hurt. Or in our case—killed. So don’t give me any crap about you know what you’re doing. You’re no different than the rest of us, even if you do sink your fangs into people now and then.” She snickered, yawning so wide I could practically see her tonsils.
I stuck my tongue out at her, but after a minute conceded the argument. “I hate to lose, and you know it, but you’re right. I guess I’m just feeling my way through, doing what I think is best, but we can’t ever know until it’s over.”
“Now I have a question for you.” She paused, looking almost embarrassed.
“What is it? You can ask me anything and I’ll give you the most honest answer I can.”
