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“My wife will be well-pleased to learn of this. She said she was feverish until you called. Now I understand why.”
Jude shifted slightly to face him. “What would you do in my shoes? I mean, if I leave her alone, another mastyr is bound to come after her. And the worst ones won’t hesitate to abduct her.”
Davido left the railing, pivoting toward Jude, as he rubbed his thumb in the valley between the top two ridges of his forehead. “Give her a helluva lot of security, and maybe stick close for the next few days. Nothing is settled until you forge a bond with her. I know this feels sudden, but it seems to me, with what you’ve just told me, that your relationship with Hannah has been building for a long time.”
“I suppose if you look at it that way.” The sound of laughter drew his attention inside the house. The women had descended, Vojalie elegant and remarkable in a flowing lavender and green casual gown and Hannah in her blue jeans and white shirt.
At least she was smiling, which was a good sign.
He couldn’t help turning in her direction like a compass needle drawn to true north. From the time he could remember, he’d thought Hannah beautiful beyond words, especially close up. Her eyes were her best feature, then her full, high cheek-bones, her straight nose, her lips. Or maybe it was her expression, as though lit from within with the sheer joy of life.
“Try to think of it,” Davido said quietly, “as a problem to be resolved, or even a string of small problems, rather than a massive disaster that needs to be torn asunder.”
“It feels huge.”
Davido laughed. “Love always does.”
But before Jude could counter this completely inaccurate remark about ‘love’, Davido moved swiftly inside. He crossed to his wife and took her hand, kissing her fingers. The old troll seemed to be a great romantic at heart.
Jude remained by the doorway, watching but not listening. Hannah didn’t know how well she fit into his world, or how comfortable she was with realm-folk. But then she’d been raised in the Gold Rush, and from the first day that the U.S. had opened up official relations with the Nine Realms, her father had welcomed Realm-folk into his bar. Jude had held Hannah when she was born and had seen her through every phase of her life.
But even from the first, she’d had a real love of life that he’d responded to. Maybe he’d even encouraged her, pushed her to go to college back east, to take a summer and tour Europe, even to spend a month on a sailing ship. He was sure in that time she’d meet a soul like her own and return to Port Townsend with a husband.
In the end, she’d come back engaged to Mark Jackson, a controlling asshole that had made Jude want to punch his lights out. Jude had never been happier when Hannah dumped his sorry ass. Sell the Gold Rush. What a douche!
Hannah’s mother had died way too young, when Hannah was only seven. Jude had spent time with her then, as did many of the realm-folk, who saw her as orphaned, even though her father was a loving, involved parent.
The fact that she’d ended up with realm abilities seemed natural, since Kellcasse, by way of its people, had been such a huge part of her life all these years.
But how could they possibly make a life together? And maybe more importantly for the immediate future: How was he supposed to keep other mastyr vampires away from her?
Chapter Four
When Hannah bid Vojalie and Davido goodnight and watched them vanish, she put a hand to her forehead. She turned to Jude. “It’s one thing to watch you fly, but they just disappeared.”
“I know,” he said, nodding. “That couple has a helluva lot of power.”
“I’m so glad they came.”
“It’s a sound idea to have security for you. I should have thought of it myself, but I was too caught up in the situation to see clearly.” He then told her that one of
his lieutenants, Paul, and another powerful Guardsman, would serve as her bodyguards, whether here in her home or at the bar, or wherever she needed them to be. They had orders to contact Jude at the first sign of the approach of another mastyr vampire, or any other trouble.
Hannah felt tremendously relieved. She might even be able to relax a little. “Thanks for taking care of this.”
He frowned. “I only wish I could stay with you, but I need to be out with my Vampire Guard. We still have unanswered questions about the recent massacre in the north, and I’ll be heading out there later tonight to see for myself. Not to mention the two wraith-pairs that actually crossed the Sound earlier at dawn. I need to figure out what’s going on, and the only way I can do that is in Kellcasse.”
“You have to go, Jude. It’s for the best on every front. I’m sure of that.”
He drew close and took both her hands in his. “We’ll figure this out for you, Hannah. I want you to be at ease and comfortable despite the changes you’re going through.”
“Vojalie gave me some hope. She said I’d always be a blood rose, and we could find ways to keep me safe from encroaching mastyr vampires.”
“Absolutely. Like I said, we’ll keep exploring options and create a security detail that will work for you.” Jude’s frown deepened. He’d never appeared so upset before.
“What’s wrong?” Hannah felt his unease.
He shook his head. “I feel like somehow this is my fault. I mean, I’d been dogging your heels, anyway, making every excuse I could to be at the Gold Rush. And now you’re a blood rose.”
