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A shiver went through her from pure desire that kept exploding in her chest for the vampire. Playing it safe, she said, “He’s a good man and we’re caught in something we’re each trying to figure out. It’s … very realm.” She hadn’t gone into detail about her fire-gift. She couldn’t quite bring the words to her lips.
Amelia was silent for a moment, then said, “Hannah, can I offer you a piece of advice?”
“Sure.” Since her wild girlfriend and manager tended to speak way too much truth when she set her mind to it, Hannah wasn’t all that anxious to hear her thoughts.
“Well, I’ve been wanting to say this to you for a long time, but here it is: You let that asshole, Mark Jackson, ruin you for other men. If it looks like Mastyr Jude, despite his exalted station as ruler of Kellcasse, wants to date you, then you should let him. You’ve kept yourself all bottled up. Mark was a control freak and Jude isn’t. Despite the fact that he likes his way in most things, he always has an eye to what others need, and I know that would include you. And the Chronicle can just suck it.”
Hannah had stopped breathing. All her old feelings of resentment and even fear about what Mark had done to her and his constant infringement on her freedom, made her tense up. At the same time, she knew Amelia was right. She’d let Mark’s bad behavior affect her life and her choices way too much.
Could she have a life with Jude? But how would that work if she kept running her bar in Port Townsend while Jude fought the Invictus in Kellcasse? Of course, they did have one obvious thing in common: They both worked at night.
There was that.
“I’ll think about what you’ve said, but I need you to know that I won’t be back tonight, and I’m not sure when this situation will get resolved.”
“I’ve got everything under control. We can talk each afternoon and if I need to pick up the slack on ordering, I can do that as well.”
“I know you can. And thanks, Amelia. I knew I could rely on you.”
When she hung up, she called Longeness and asked him to coordinate with Sandy, who supervised the communications center in her bar. Longeness, in true form, said he’d already made arrangements for Sandy to bring on another person to replace what Sandy called ‘Hannah’s hovering’.
Hannah laughed. “Okay, so I’m a little hands on.”
Longeness laughed. “You’re perfect. Don’t ever change, and please ignore the Chronicle.”
“I plan to. They’re just trying to sell papers and incite tensions so they can sell even more papers.”
“You got that right.”
“And how’s your wife?”
She heard a sigh that sounded very affectionate. “She’s been having a lot of early labor. Her doctor thinks our boys will be here either this week or next.”
The thought of babies, ready to be born, made her heart squeeze up really tight, and she had that horrible thought again, How many babies did Jude want?
When had she become so female?
“I hope you invite me to the baby-naming.”
“We absolutely will. You know that.”
She let her heart settle down then bid him good-bye.
The sun had finally dropped well below the horizon, and the stars were coming out. She left her sunning chair and moved back into the kitchen-living-area-combo, where Nathan was preparing a tray of dolma. She jerked her head in the direction of the living room. “How’s it going in there?”
“Well, he got the trolls down from hop-stepping to just sliding their feet back and forth.”
“That’s a big improvement.”
“He’ll bring them round, especially with part of the Ashleaf Vampire Guard headed in soon. A bigger presence will help ease a lot of fears. Coffee?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“I’ll get you a fresh cup.”
She had nothing to do now but wait until Jude finished up with his meeting. She moved to the window seat and sat down on the upholstered bench, one knee on the cushion, the other leg dangling over the side.
Nathan brought her the coffee, and she settled in to think and reflect, her gaze cast over the lake. There was no prettier view. Her improved realm vision saw more color than ever, even though it was nighttime. The lake appeared dark blue and the hills were made up of a variety of greens reflecting the shades of the various trees and shrubs. In addition, there were a lot of rhododendrons still flowering, which colored up the landscape with sprays of white, purple and pink.
