Defying Eternity (An Obscure Magic Book 5) (5 page)

She steeled herself and took a two-minute shower that woke her up, all over. When she was towelling off, she was pretty sure that she and the shower heads had just entered a weirdly intimate relationship.

Her hair was damp, so she let it down, brushed it out and braided it tightly. One day, she was going to cut it off, but until then, it was bondage all the way.

She got dressed, switched shoes and opened her laptop. The map of the manor was an embedded file, and she spotted the deputy mayor’s office.

Introducing herself seemed like a good use of her time. She was on the clock until five in the evening.

Leo walked with her head high and her new phone in her hand. Her clicking heels were the only sound in the halls.

In a city inhabited only by humans, the mayor would have been in the city hall. Here, communication was still done by letter and meetings were conducted face to face. Having their offices at the manor made sense when they would only connect with folks by appointment.

Leo had worked with exclusive companies before, but this took it to a whole new level.

The door to the deputy mayor’s office was open, but she paused and knocked on the inside of the open door.

A man at a desk similar to hers looked up and smiled. “Yes?”

“Hello. Mr. Crombie?”

He smiled brightly for a man with grey skin. “Indeed. Oh, are you Ms. Wicks?”

“I am. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself.”

The man at the main desk had golden hair that contrasted with his silvery skin. “Ah, so you are the young lady who has Matthias so excited. Well, for him.” He chuckled.

“I don’t know about that, but I am his new assistant. Tell me, is there anything I should know?”

Able, Dexter and Leo had a charming conversation that took up the rest of her shift. Dexter showed her the programs she needed as well as the information database on all extranaturals living in the city. It would do her good to learn what she needed to as quickly as possible.

She was walking down the hall toward her room when a familiar voice spoke.

“I thought you would be in bed by now.”

She turned and smiled at Matthias. “First day at work is always rough. I was just turning in.”

He inclined his head. “Make sure you tell the kitchen when you are awake.”

Leo snorted. “Trust me; I have no problem finding food.”

He grinned and flashed his fangs. “Me too.”

She burst out laughing, inclined her head and headed back to her room.

“See you at midnight.”

His voice reverberated through the hall. She got the feeling that he would be in her room if she wasn’t in the office. That wasn’t creepy at all.

She was going to sleep tight tonight.

The annoying buzz of her phone alarm got her out of bed, and she staggered to her bathroom without turning on the lights.

Brushing her teeth was a habit that she didn’t want to lose, no matter the time that she woke up.

Leo grabbed another shower and wrapped herself in a towel as she returned to her closet. “Son of a bitch.”

She turned on the lights just to make sure that she was seeing what she thought she was. All of her boring dresses were gone. Someone had come in while she was sleeping and hijacked her clothing.

Leo grabbed the dark-red dress and stalked over toward her underwear drawers. When she looked at the neatly matched bra and panty sets, she screamed.

She spent the next ten minutes muttering and stalking around her quarters. If she admitted it to herself, the clothing was comfortable and the underwear was a good fit. Even the shoes were pretty, though higher than she wore for most workdays.

She had ten minutes left, and she hadn’t eaten.
Damn it.

Leo looked at the phone and decided that she could make it through the next four hours without a snack.

She grabbed a glass, filled it with water and gulped it down. That should hold her.

She grabbed her phone, her computer and her nerve and left the huge space that she had been allocated. Work waited.

Reed brought her a tea tray with some toast and tsked at her. “You should have eaten.”

“I was distracted by the disappearance of my wardrobe.”

Reed looked a little embarrassed. “Mayor’s orders. You represent him when you are seen in public, so he wished you to look your best.”

She looked over at Matthias, and he smiled benignly. She lifted a triangle of toast and wedged it into her mouth before chewing savagely.

His shoulders were shaking.

Reed looked between them, and understanding finally dawned in his eyes. A slight smile played around his lips as he left the office.

“When you are finished with your tea, you will accompany me to a club opening.”

She nearly choked on her toast. “There isn’t a star on it.”

“I am aware, but you seem to want to engage the community, and this will definitely let you see them and they see you.”

Leo snarfed down the rest of her toast, poured a cup of tea and blew on it to cool it.

“So, Leonora, how did you sleep?” Matthias glanced at her.

“Like a rock.” She sipped at her tea and got the first cup down with only mild discomfort in her throat.

She diluted the second cup of tea with some cold water from the pitcher on her desk, and it went down easy.

The paperwork was already finished. Apparently, yesterday, she had worked herself through a backlog.

“You have an artful turn of phrase when it comes to rejection documents. I believe that no one has been turned down as graciously in the last century.”

She set her teacup down. “Sorry. I have a long history of being able to weave bullshit into fine silk.”

He snickered again. “So I was led to believe. Apparently, your previous boss was not lying in order to gain my collection.”

“The director is scrupulously honest for a man with his level of greed. His goals all involve improving and expanding the museum. Nothing else matters.”

“Excellent. Very straightforward then. I will have you vet the collection before it is sent, just so I have a bargaining chip for any future favours.”

“Did you promise anything specific?”

“No, just a few treatises on the origin of the vampires. We came into being after a wave but not in the way most folks think.”

“The given and taken.”

“Correct. Well, are you ready?”

She picked up her phone and was reaching for her purse when he said, “Check the desk drawer.”

She opened the drawer and found a designer purse. It looked like it cost more than her car.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why is there a designer bag in my desk? Is it hiding?”

“It is more appropriate to your new position. Gather it and let’s go. Nathaniel is waiting.”

He shrugged into a suit jacket, but her sleeveless sheath dress was going to have to do. At least the dark-red fabric was thick enough to keep her from feeling the night air.

She grabbed the new handbag, slipped in her phone after checking that it had a full charge and got to her feet.

“What is the protocol when we are out in public?”

“You remain at my left side. When someone asks for an appointment, you check the schedule and make a note.”

“Okay.”

They were on the move toward the door.

“If it is necessary to introduce you, I will do so. If I offer my hand, take it.”

She nodded and looked up at him. “How is it that a man born so long ago is your height?”

She could feel the tiny pause in his steps before he said. “I will tell you in the car.”

Nathaniel was standing next to the open car door. He made a small gesture that told Leo to get in first. When Matthias piled in after her, she scooted to the far side.

It wasn’t graceful, but she managed to perch on the passenger side with her knees together.

She buckled up out of habit. “So, was it rude of me to ask about your height?”

He chuckled. “No, it simply caught me by surprise. No one has asked about me in a very long time. I am guessing no one has dared.”

“Of course.”

“The reason for my height is the means by which I became what I am. Have you read the old myths on vampires?”

“About being bitten by bats? Yes.”

“That is incorrect. The true story involves an ailing village, two brothers and the tree of life.”

“That is a myth.”

“It is now; it wasn’t then.” He smiled slowly. “When I was growing up, it was the ultimate source of life and survival. It would appear only to those who needed it, and when plague ravaged my village, I needed it. The change came from there.”

There was a lot more to it, but that was as much as she was going to get.

“The club we are going to caters to the blood-drinking set. The name is Sanguine
,
and it will be best if you remain close to me.”

Her stomach flipped. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. You are my contract employee but are not yet marked as being under my protection.”

“What would that entail?”

He turned toward her, and his smile was slow as he looked at her with eyes that said he could see through her dress and he liked it. “More than you are wanting to give... for now.”

“I have to give something?”

“Indeed. Given vampires do nothing without consent.”

“Ah. Wow. That is news.”

He snorted. “Prepare to be educated.”

Nathaniel cruised through downtown, approaching a large crowd on the sidewalk. He pulled up and left the vehicle, opening the door next to Matthias so that the vampire could leave.

Lights flashed as pictures were taken. To Leo’s amazement and embarrassment, Matthias extended his hand to her. She slipped her hand in his, tucked the handles of her bag over her arm and slid across the seat and out of the car.

He gave her an approving nod and lifted her to her feet.

She moved into place at his left and kept her face stony and her gaze forward as they walked into the club through a path lined with bouncers.

The crowd was made up of every nocturnal extranatural that Leo had ever read about. She tried to keep calm, but she knew her heart was pounding too fast. It was attracting predators.

Damn, she wanted her bat.

“Easy, Leonora. You will be fine.” Matthias murmured it to her.

She kept her face blank and tried to embrace her inner calm. The owners came up to thank the mayor for his appearance, and Leo was drawn into the club with the rest of the bloodsuckers.

Leo sat next to Matthias and made appointments as he took requests from those who approached him. When he was in deep conversation with another very old vampire, she got up to use the rest room.

The trip to the ladies’ room was uneventful, but as she left the hallway to return to Matthias’s side, an iron hand wrapped around her arm and pulled her into the embrace of a very cold and very predatory vampire.

“Hello, cutie. You must be very brave to be here with all of us big, bad vampires.”

She didn’t respond, merely looked at him with her most impassive glare. “I am expected elsewhere.”

He dragged a hand up and down her arm. “They won’t miss you for a while. I only want a taste.”

She heard the growl a moment before a hand grabbed the man’s face and the cracking of bones was heard.

Leo staggered free as Matthias stood over her suitor, and he wiped his hands off on a proffered handkerchief. The club owner was babbling apologies and holding a basin of water out for Matthias to wash his hands.

The vampire on the floor moaned and started twisting. Leo felt marginally better that he was alive.

Matthias looked at her. “Are you all right, Leonora?”

“I am fine. I was wishing for my bat.”

He scowled. “That would have been more of a mess. He has learned manners and will not approach you again.”

The vampire was being helped to a sitting position, and his face was slowly realigning.

“Come on, Leonora. There are more who wish to make appointments.”

Leo followed him back to the half-circle seat and sat next to him once again. It was going to be a very weird night.

Vampires were excellent dancers. Their physical status made the most acrobatic moves look effortless.

Two hours into their visit, the owners had brought her noodles and chopsticks so that she wouldn’t get her phone messy. Leo appreciated the gesture. No one else in the club was eating. Well, no one was eating food. There were a few consuming each other.

“You are handling this well.” Matthias murmured it to her during a lull.

“I have seen a bit of these events in the video clips that Dexter gave me. There is a lot more moaning in person.”

His shoulders shook as he looked over the alcoves and couches where the vampires were feasting on each other or willing participants.

Leo shrugged and ignored them.

“You don’t find it fascinating?” Matthias was still amused.

“It is their business. Their bodies and their urge for public orgies. I am hoping that this place is licensed for that because that is all kinds of health violations.”

“You raise an interesting point. Daniel!”

The male owner was at his side in a blur of pale flesh.

“While the blood sharing may be enjoyed here, the public sex is still an infringement as long as this is a public-access business.”

Daniel blinked, looked around and was breaking up the fucking in seconds. The triad wasn’t happy about it, but clothing was replaced and they headed for the dance floor to engage in fully clothed foreplay.

Leo sighed and watched the dancers. She didn’t want to engage in the lewd behaviour, but dancing had always been something that haunted her dreams. She sucked at it. Her inability to let someone else lead meant that toes were stepped on and collisions were inevitable.

“Do you want to dance?”

She blinked. “Want to, yes. Will, no.” Leo smiled tightly at Matthias.

“I believe I will have to make it an executive order then. Come with me.”

He held out his hand, and she winced but placed her palm against his.