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Sometimes I hated the fact that I could only drink blood. Food would make me sick—the moment it went down my throat—and so would any other drink save for blood. But bless Morio, he’d managed to find a way to enchant blood for me so that it tasted like some of my favorites and—as he saw me glance at the bubbling pot on the stove—he grinned and held up a thermos.
“Chili-cheese flavor.”
“Seriously, dude, you rock! You should go into business with this stuff. You could make a fortune.” I grinned at him. “Why don’t you come to the VA meeting with me tonight and take a few orders? Do a few for free and get them hooked. How hard is it to make this?”
Camille laughed as she pulled the salad out of the refrigerator and handed it to Delilah. “That’s not a bad idea. It would be a handy sideline and could become very lucrative. Or you could teach others how to do it—franchise the concept out.”
Morio scratched his head. Even though he normally wasn’t my type, he was gorgeous, really—all of Camille’s men were. His shoulder-length black hair was shiny and straight, caught back in a ponytail most of the time. He was of Japanese descent, and the shortest of her husbands, but in no way less handsome or dangerous. He was dressed in a green tank top and a pair of black jeans, and his muscles gleamed in the dim light of the kitchen.
“That’s an idea, actually. I don’t have a lot of spare time, but I could take a limited number of orders each week.” He grinned. “I could become a gourmet blood dispenser.”
Smoky harrumphed. “No offense to you, Menolly, but we really don’t need a lot of vampires hanging around the property.” His ankle-length silver hair shimmered as it rose to thunk Morio lightly on the head.
I snorted. “I tend to agree with you. Morio, if you’re serious, you should take orders at the meetings and then have them delivered, by vampire messengers. No use in taking a chance on setting up some poor delivery person for being somebody’s dessert. So what did you find out today?”
Morio shook his head. “Wait till dinner so nobody misses it. Shamas will be here in a few minutes. We’ve brought him up to date on what’s going down in Otherworld.”
Camille was foraging in the fridge for salad dressing, butter, and all the usual condiments. “He took it hard. The guilt about his foray into sorcery is exacerbated by the news about Telazhar.”
I nodded. Shamas was our cousin, and he’d escaped our former queen’s wrath by using sorcery to wrest energy away from a triad of assassins who were out to kill him. He’d teleported himself out of the dungeon, and later we’d been reunited and brought him Earthside.
Shamas was the spitting image of our father and Camille. He and Camille had feelings for each other when we were younger, but she was long over him. However, Delilah and I privately believed that he was still in love with her, though he tried to deny it.
“He’d better get over that guilt. What happened, happened. He fucked up and he knows it, but the best thing he can do now is to use what he learned to help us instead of trying to repress it.” I frowned, looking around. “Is Nerissa home yet? That fucking doppelganger has spooked me and I won’t rest well until she’s back from her conference.”
Delilah grinned. “She called an hour ago. She’ll be here any minute. I asked her to come directly over instead of going back to her condo first. I figured we might want to go with her to check it out and make sure everything there is safe. She won’t make it here by the time we start dinner, but she’ll be here soon.”
Relieved, I jumped up and gave her a hug. “Thank you. I was worried about that. The demons have broken into our house before. Our enemies could easily get into her condo. I wish she’d just come here…”
“Speaking of houses, Bruce and I got word that our trailer will be delivered tomorrow. So there will be a little more breathing room in here, though I’ll still be here all day. But Hanna will take over making supper for me. I’m starting to tire a little quicker now.” Iris patted her belly. “The bun is extremely active.”
“Do you know whether it’s a girl or a boy?” Trillian glanced over at her.
Iris blinked like a deer in the headlights. “Actually, yes, I do know. And I have some news. I saw the midwife today and she did a scan—think of it as a magical ultrasound that my energy and nature won’t interfere with. Um…” She paused. “Bruce, honey, sit down.”
Bruce, the curly-haired leprechaun she’d married who looked like a slightly older Elijah Wood, gave her a long look. “You are all right, love, aren’t you?”
“I’m fine. Fit as a fiddle. But we’re having twins.” She blushed and ducked her head. “A girl and a boy.”
Bruce blinked. “We’re what?” Then, with a laugh that belied his stature, he slapped his knee. “Oh, girl, that is too fitting. Twins run in my family and I’m not at all surprised. We’re off to a good start, my love.”
I grinned at them. “Twins, huh? You’re determined to make up for lost time, aren’t you?”
Iris snorted. “I know very well what a handful they’re going to be. But I’ve waited for this for a long time, girl. And I intend to enjoy every moment I can. Except for the morning sickness—that can go away, especially since it lasts all day long.” She sighed. “I’m just sorry it means I won’t be able to help out more.”
“You’re part of the family. We’ll be helping you for a change.” Camille walked over and took Maggie from her. “Here, Smoky, will you feed her while we finish getting dinner on the table?”
And so, for the next few minutes, the chatty bustle continued. Smoky took Maggie and put her in her specially designed high chair, feeding her the cream drink she so loved, but only after she agreed to eat a few bites of the ground lamb Iris had prepared for her.
Maggie was starting to eat the meat she needed in order to grow, but it had been a fight to get her to give up several of her bottles in exchange for solid food. She’d still get her cream drink three times a day—morning, evening, and right before bed, along with three meals of ground meat and other foods she needed for growth.
Our little gargoyle would be a baby for a long, long time, but we were seeing the gradual changes in her as the weeks went by. While she wouldn’t grow out of toddler stage for a good fifty years or more, she was gaining more balance, using more words, and learning.
While Smoky fed her, Iris helped Hanna with the last of the dinner and everything was ready by the time Shamas walked in. He washed up and joined the fray around the huge oak table, looking grim.
“What’s wrong?” I thought it was the trouble in OW, but when he spoke, I realized I’d missed the mark.>“I drank from a friend today. Something was able to charm me and I drank from a friend to prevent something even worse.” I winced, the remorse flooding back as I told him about what had gone down in Otherworld, and what we’d come home to. When I told him about Roz and the doppelganger, Roman’s cool look vanished and his nostrils flared.
“Not a good thing. I know you too well to believe you did this willingly. But if something can charm a vampire, we need to know what it is. Doppelgangers don’t have that power innately; someone had to empower it when they summoned it into this plane and gave it a face. Do you have any idea of who it was?”
