Broken Heart 06 Come Hell or High Water (30 page)

"Done," I said.

"Thank you," gushed Leslee. "Thank you so much."

Avery smiled and nodded. Then they both took off in opposite directions like their pants were on fire.

"You're going to be a popular girl," said Connor.

"Don't remind me."

He drew me into his arms and smiled. "I could remind you of other things, lass." He leaned down and whispered a few into my ear.

"Hmmm." I looked at him coyly. "Actions speak louder than words, husband."

He tugged me close and kissed me; then the wily bastard popped us right out of our own reception.

We arrived in the bedroom of our house.

I stood within the arms of my husband, who had a very lascivious look.

"Let me love you,
m'aingeal
," he whispered.

"Yes," I said. "Yes."

The Eight Ancients

(In order of creation)

Ruadan: (Ireland) He flies and uses fairy magic.

Koschei:
(Russia) He is the master of glamour and mind control. He was banned to the World Between Worlds.

Hua Mu Lan:
(China) She is a great warrior who creates and controls fire. She was killed during her attack on Queen Patricia.

Durga:
(India) She calls forth, controls, and expels demons. She was banned to the World Between Worlds.

Velthur:
(Italy) He controls all forms of liquid.

Shamhat:
(Babylon) She controls all elements of earth magic, especially as it relates to all living things.

Amahte:
(Egypt) He talks to spirits, raises the dead, creates zombies, and reinserts souls into dead bodies.

Zela:
(Nubia) She manipulates all metallic substances.

The Broken Heart Turn-Bloods

Jessica Matthews:
¹
Widow (first husband, Richard). Mother to fourteen-year-old Bryan and nine-year-old Jenny. Stay-at-home mom. Vampire of Family Ruadan.

Charlene Mason:
Mistress of Richard Matthews. Mother to one-year-old Rich Jr. Receptionist for insurance company. Vampire of Family Ruadan.

Linda Beauchamp:
Divorced (first husband, Earl). Mother to eighteen-year-old MaryBeth. Nail technician. Vampire of Family Koschei.

MaryBeth Beauchamp:
Single. Waitress at the Old Sass Cafe. Vampire of Family Ruadan.

Evangeline Louise LeRoy:
¹
Single. Mother to fifteen-year-old Tamara LeRoy. Owns and operates the town library. Vampire of Family Koschei.

Patricia "Patsy" Donovan:
Divorced (first husband, Sean). Mother to sixteen-year-old Wilson. Beautician who owns and operates Hair Today, Curl Tomorrow. Vampire of Family Amahte.

Ralph Genessa:
Widowed (first wife, Teresa). Father to toddler twins Michael and Stephen. Fry cook at the Old Sass Cafe. Vampire of Family Hua Mu Lan.

Simone Sweet:
Widowed (first husband, Jacob). Mother to six-year-old Glory. Broken Heart's mechanic. Vampire of Family Velthur.

Phoebe Allen:
¹
Single. Mother to two-year-old Daniel. Waitress at the Old Sass Cafe. Vampire of Family Durga.

Darlene Clark:
¹
Divorced (first husband, Jason). Mother to seven-year-old Marissa. Stay-at-home mother. Operates Internet scrapbooking business. Vampire of Family Durga.

Elizabeth Bretton nee Silverstone:
¹
Separated (first husband, Carlton). Mother of seventeen-year-old Venice, who lives with her father in Los Angeles. Socialite. Vampire of Family Zela.

Glossary

Ancient:
Refers to one of the original eight vampires. The very first vampire was Ruadan, who is the biological father of Patrick and Lorcan. Several centuries ago, Ruadan and his sons took on the last name of O'Halloran, which means "stranger from overseas."

banning:
(see: World Between Worlds) Any vampire can be sent into limbo, but the spell must be cast by an Ancient or, in a few cases, an Ancient's offspring. A vampire cannot be released from banning until they feel true remorse for their evil acts. This happens rarely, which means banning is not done lightly.

binding:
When vampires have consummation sex (with any living person or creature), they're bound together for a hundred years. This was the Ancients' solution to keep vamps from sexual intercourse while blood-taking. No one's ever broken a binding.
2

Consortium:
More than five hundred years ago, Patrick and Lorcan O'Halloran created the Consortium to figure out ways that parakind could make the world a better place for all beings. Many sudden leaps in human medicine and technology are because of the Consortium's work.

Convocation:
Five neutral, immortal beings given the responsibility of keeping the balance between Light and Dark.

donors:
Mortals who serve as sustenance for vampires. The Consortium screens and hires humans to be food sources. Donors are paid well and given living quarters. Not all vampires follow the guidelines created by the Consortium for feeding. A mortal may have been a donor without ever realizing it.

drone:
Mortals who do the bidding of their vampire Masters. The most famous was Renfield - drone to Dracula. The Consortium's Code of Ethics forbids the use of drones, but plenty of vampires still use them.

ETAC:
The Ethics and Technology Assessment Commission is the public face of this covert government agency. In its program, soldier volunteers have undergone surgical procedures to implant nanobyte technology, which enhances strength, intelligence, sensory perception, and healing. Volunteers are trained in use of technological weapons and defense mechanisms so advanced, it's rumored they come from a certain section of Area 51. Their mission is to remove, by any means necessary, targets named as domestic threats.

Family:
Every vampire can be traced to one of the eight Ancients. The Ancients are divided into the Eight Sacred Sects, also known as the Families.

gone to ground:
When vampires secure places where they can lie undisturbed for centuries, they
go to ground
. Usually they let someone know where they are located, but the resting locations of many vampires are unknown.

Invisi-shield:
Using technology stolen from ETAC, the Consortium created a shield that not only makes the town invisible to outsiders, but also creates a force field. No one can get into the town's borders without knowing specific access points, all of which are guarded by armed security details.

loup de sang:
Commonly refers to Gabriel Marchand, the only known vampire-werewolf born into the world. He is also known as "the outcast." (See
Vedere prophecy
.)

lycanthropes:
Also called
lycans
. They can shift from human into wolf at will. Lycans have been around a long time and originate in Germany. Their numbers are small because they don't have many females, and most children born have a fifty percent chance of living to the age of one.

Master:
Most Master vampires are hundreds of years old and have had many successful Turnings. Masters show Turn-bloods how to survive as vampires. A Turn-blood has the protection of the Family (see:
Family
) to which their Master belongs.

PRIS:
Paranormal Research and Investigation Services. Cofounded by Theodora and her husband, Elmore Monroe. Its primary mission is to document supernatural phenomena and conduct cryptozoological studies.

Roma:
The Roma are cousins to full-blooded lycanthropes. They can change only on the night of a full moon. Just as full-blooded lycanthropes are raised to protect vampires, the Roma are raised to hunt vampires.

soul shifter:
A supernatural being with the ability to absorb the souls of any mortal or immortal. The shifter has the ability to assume any of the forms she's absorbed. Only one is known to exist, the woman known as Ash, who works as a "balance keeper" for the Convocation.

Taint:
The Black Plague for vampires, which makes vampires insane as their body deteriorates. Consortium scientists have had limited success in finding a true cure.

Turn-blood:
A human who's been recently Turned into a vampire. If you're less than a century old, you're a Turn-blood.

Turning:
Vampires perpetuate the species by Turning humans. Unfortunately, only one in about ten humans actually makes the transition.

Vedere prophecy:
Astria Vedere predicted that in the twenty-first century a vampire queen would rule both vampires and lycans, and would also end the ruling power of the eight Ancients.

The prophecy reads:
"A vampire queen shall come forth from the place of broken hearts. The eight powers of the ancients will be hers to command. She shall bind with the outcast, and with this union, she will save the dual-natured. With her consort, she will rule vampires and lycanthropes as one."

World Between Worlds:
The place between this plane and the next, where there is a void. Some people can slip back and forth between this "veil."

Wraiths:
Rogue vampires who banded together to dominate both vampires and humans. Since the defeat of the Ancient Koschei, they are believed to be defunct.

Read on for a sneak peek at the next

book in the Broken Heart series

by Michele Bardsley,

coming soon from Signet Eclipse.

"You wanna make out?" asked the man standing on my welcome mat.

"You're rather young, aren't you?" I asked, fighting a smile.

"And?" He cocked a pierced eyebrow at me and leaned on the doorjamb, tucking his hands into his pockets. The gesture flexed his muscled, tattooed arms and drew attention to the six-pack abs defined by his tight T-shirt.

He was gorgeous and youthful and impetuous.

"Rand, you make me feel old." I caved in to the smile flirting with my lips. "And I'm immortal."

His grin widened. "Aw, Lizzie. You're tops in my book."

"Don't call me Lizzie. It's puerile." I opened the door and gestured for him to come inside. "C'mon. It's ready."

Rand moved to Broken Heart when he was seventeen. Now he was twenty-two, and, for a human, his specialty was a rarity in a town filled with paranormal residents. He was the expert on the care and feeding of dragons.

I was forty-three when Lorcan O'Halloran, or rather the beast he'd become, attacked and killed me and ten other residents of Broken Heart, Oklahoma. He suffered from the Taint, a disease that affects only vampires. Luckily, a cure has since been discovered.

Every vampire has strength, speed, the ability to glamour, and, unless your head is chopped off or sunlight gets you, immortality. There were eight vampire Families, each with its own particular power. I was from the Family Zela, and our ability was to manipulate and control any metallic substance.

As a human, I hadn't been able to conquer my vanity about getting older. Going under the knife, taking the injections, getting the acid peels... I did them all. However, becoming undead rid me of crow's feet, stretch marks, cellulite, and forestalled other atrocities of the aging process.

"I'll make tea," I said as he stepped inside and shut the door.

"Earl Grey?" he asked.

"Of course."

Though I enjoyed my solitary lifestyle, I couldn't resist having a cuppa with whomever crossed my threshold. Thanks to an accidental fairy wish, vampires within the borders of Broken Heart could eat and drink again. That is, drink liquids other than blood. I had missed taking tea, and had been pleased to reestablish the routine.

The old Victorian opened into a wide foyer. Straight ahead was the staircase to the upper floor. On the left side, you could enter the formal living room. On the right side was a smaller room, the parlor, which was where I typically entertained visitors.

Rand paused by the antique coat tree. He studied it, then glanced at me. "New?"

"Yes. It's French. Hard-carved oak, circa 1870. See the hooks? They're cherubs." The darkened wood had been polished with beeswax. I'd fallen in love with the piece merely from its picture. EBay was a glorious boon for vampires. "The bench seat opens." I flipped it up and we looked down into the emptiness.

Rand shook his head. "You've got a thing for old stuff."

"So do you." I tweaked his earlobe, and he laughed.

The kitchen was accessed through a narrow door at the back of the parlor. While Rand took a seat at the small table I used for tea service, I went to the kitchen and put on the kettle.

"Hey, I forgot!" Rand called from the parlor. "Patsy gave me something for you. Said they found it in the attic and it belongs to you."

I poked my head into the parlor. "I've told her a hundred times that whatever she finds, she can have or toss out."

He shrugged. "I'll go get it."

While Rand went to get whatever it was, I returned to the kitchen. I cleaned up the mess I'd made earlier during a botched attempt at making scones. I heard the front door open and shut, and then steps in the foyer.

"Elizabeth."

The man's voice seemed to come from right behind me. It vibrated with fury. I could practically feel strong hands try to creep around my neck.

Startled, I whirled around, my hand pressed against my chest. My palm flattened over the spot where my heart no longer beat.

Nobody was there.

The kitchen was small. I'd kept it simple during the renovation, thinking it pointless for me to even have one. The cabinets were whitewashed, the countertops and walls a cheery yellow, and the floor, as was the rest of the house, was polished oak. About the only place for someone to hide was the pantry. I opened the door, but saw only the fully stocked shelves, and in the back, cleaning equipment.

Unnerved, I returned to the stove and opened the cabinet that held my tea stashes. I pulled down the tin and pried off the lid, looking down into the dark, loose leaves. It smelled strong and fragrant, as good tea should.