Empath (Book 1 of the Empath Trilogy) (21 page)

“So we have to go meet with the mightiest of mighties on their turf, and ask if it’s okay that I’m your girlfriend, while you are
also
there asking for help reining in one of theirs?  Doesn’t that just prove Bradley’s point that your loyalties are confused?”  This didn’t sound like a vacation I wanted to go on at all now.  Screw Scotland.  I’d go sometime when I was old and I would take a bus tour of old castles or something.

His brows knitted in consternation.  “You sure have a way of putting a damper on my vacation plans.”

“This was supposed to be work, not a vacation.  Now, it sounds like I’ll be asking a bunch of vampire politicians if they’ll let me, a lowly human, keep on breathing.”  How could he not understand how I could be upset?  I was a human.  These were vampires.  Some of who wanted to wipe out my kind.

“Claire,” he laid both hands on the table.  “Do you think I would put you in a situation where you are in any significant danger at all?”

“Significant?”  I squeaked.

“Asking for an audience with the Court is a formal occasion, yes.  It does carry some amount of risk, but it is both manageable and necessary.”  He held up a hand to postpone my arguments.  “However, they will not disagree with our relationship.  Henry and I are held in high regard due to our history with the Court.  And then there’s the biggest piece of evidence on our side, you haven’t said anything.”

“What do you mean, ‘I haven’t said anything’?”

“Exactly how it sounds.  If you are deemed to be trustworthy and will swear to uphold our secret, you have nothing to fear.”  He reached for my hands across the table.

After a long moment of consideration, I realized that the details under which I met his “people” didn’t matter.  I would follow him into the jaws of hell if he asked.  I took his hands, “If you are comfortable with this, then I am too.  I have to trust you on this one since I have less than no experience with meeting in-laws.”  He threw back his head and laughed and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at the sound.  A couple of happy fools; that was us.

Ch. 24

What a week.  Saturday night I had almost died, Monday night I learned that I was only a week away from meeting the vampire Court to not only ask for help in dealing with some angry rogue vampires wanting to destroy the human race, but also to present myself as James’ human consort.  It was only Tuesday and, as if I didn’t have enough on my plate, my cell phone rang.  It was my mother with another bombshell.

“Hi, Mom.” 

She sounded hesitant, my ears pricked suspiciously.  “Honey, I think I owe you an apology.”

Uh oh.  I sat down on the couch.  “What is it Mom?”

“I don’t think I told you about your cousin Vanessa’s wedding, did I?  It’s this Friday night in Duluth.”  She knew she hadn’t told me or she wouldn’t be tiptoeing.

“Um, no Mom.  You didn’t.”  I rolled my eyes at James who had just walked in to find out if Stephen was calling in.  Nobody had heard from him since last night.  “I didn’t know anything about a wedding.  That is awfully last minute, and I have something I have to do next week so an overnight in Duluth on Friday night isn’t exactly convenient.”  I made my eyes huge and James figured out it was Mom.  Moms and daughters, that one was timeless.  He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms making no bones about the fact that he was eavesdropping. 

“Claire, I am so sorry, this one is all my fault.  I put the invitation on the fridge.”  That was always our warning system in the house while I had lived there.  “It just never clicked that I had to call you.  I’m not used to you being gone yet.”  I heard the cry coming on, reflexively moving to avoid it.  I knew I was going to cave.  I also felt bad for her, she really had forgotten or she wouldn’t be groveling.

Glancing over at James, I spoke to him as well.  “All right, Mom.  I’ll tell you what.  I’ll come to the wedding if you can email me the specifics.  But I’ll have to drive home afterward so I can’t stay too late.”

She squealed jubilantly.  “Oh Claire, Vanessa will be so happy.  You two used to be so close when you were kids.  This will mean a lot to her and her mother.  Don’t worry about a gift, we’ll put your name on ours.”  She prattled on for another few minutes and I raised my eyebrows and shoulders to James, asking if that was okay.  He nodded that it was okay with him.  She caught my attention again when she asked if I would be bringing a “plus one,” she sounded hopeful.  “You know, a friend to share the drive?  What about Heidi?”  She suggested helpfully.

“Yes mom, there
is
someone I would like to bring.  Is that okay if I have a date?”  Even if she had to agree to be the narcissistic Vanessa’s personal attendant, she’d make sure there was room for me to bring my first date.  She would be dying to meet him, I was sure.  “Mom, I have to get going.  I have some more homework to do before I head to work.”  Snapping my phone shut, I sighed and sank back into the couch cushions, closing my eyes.  They popped back open when I heard the soft voice chuckling under his breath.

“Looks like I’m going to meet your family, hmm?” 

***

“
Who
is watching the house?”  James barked grumpily at Tonya just coming in after a night’s patrol in the neighborhood.  Bradley’s crew was still missing and, as if the patrols weren’t enough and the Andrews weren’t already exhausted from ranging all over the city, they had added checking in with the were network, both local and distant to their duties.  They were all trying their best to find out what they could about what was happening with the incoming vamps and Bradley’s coven.  It was as if they had up and disappeared.  It was pushing everybody to the breaking point.

Tonya snapped back, the strain showing in the lines around her eyes.  “Who the hell cares?  I just pulled a double and I need some sleep.  At least if they hit the house we’ll know where they are.”  She threw up her hands and stalked away to take a nap in one of the two spare rooms upstairs.  Who could blame her, her house was a good half hour from here and she’d been on her feet for a full day already.

There was some unspoken tension in the house due to Stephen’s current preoccupation.  He was being intentionally vague whenever anyone asked him to help out and he wasn’t answering his phone when Henry or James called.  His family of werecats and vampires plus one human were all trying to work together to thwart any incoming attacks, strategize for next week’s meeting with the Court and train me up fast to help, should the need arise.  We were still hopeful my abilities would come in handy when and where we met up with the other coven.

“This is ridiculous,” I said flipping open my phone.  There was nothing I could do to help while I watched my family run themselves ragged trying to save the world; the least I could do was try to see if I still held any sway with one of them.

James watched me dial.  “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to call Stephen and find out what’s going on with him.  Everybody’s fighting and tired and I’m worried someone’s going to get hurt because they make a mistake out of exhaustion.  And for what, why won’t he talk to anyone?”  I was personally upset with him because I was supposed to be his friend and if he was having trouble with something, I wanted him to feel like he could come to me.

“Claire, I’m surprised.  Usually you are his first defender.”

Sighing, I lightened up.  “I’m going to try to talk to him and see what is going on.  This is just so unlike him.  I don’t get it.”  Being this tired constantly surrounded by so much tension was making me weepy.  I felt the tears gathering behind my eyes.  James saw them too and pulled me in for a hug, still careful of my bruises, which were almost gone by now.  He and I were amazed at how quickly my body was healing.  I was still missing that tooth though.  When this was all done, I’d have to get in to see my dentist.

After all that, reaching Stephen was kind of anti-climactic.  He answered his phone on the first ring and, giving James a hopeful smile, I wandered away.  He said he had been at Troy’s, currently standing vacant with everyone at James’s house.  He even seemed eager when I told him we had to meet tonight.  As a matter of fact, he offered to pick me up from work after I closed up.  Other than sounding tired, Stephen hadn’t seemed any different than normal during our conversation. 

Hanging up, I was standing in the kitchen puzzling over my odd exchange when Troy came in to get a drink. 

“Troy, is Stephen up to something?” 

Closed lipped, he filled a glass with water.  “That is a good question.  I heard you’re coming back here later, so I guess we’ll all find out then.”  He frowned into his water as he took a drink.

I had a feeling Troy was keeping something and his easy attitude about his brother turning up, all of a sudden willing to talk, made me sure of it.  If not for the fact that we were all due to talk tonight, I would have pushed.  But, in light of Stephen’s offer, I didn’t burn the goodwill between Troy and I that it would have cost me.

His expression lightened as he turned the tables on me.  “How about you?  I heard your family is to meet your new beau.”  I thought I saw a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“New beau?”  I guffawed, “Try
only
beau.  I just don’t know how I feel about him meeting my whole entire family so soon.  Especially with cousins, grandparents, the whole shooting match.  He’ll take one look at them and run for the hills.  Or I’ll crawl under a rock and die of embarrassment if they trot out some awful ‘when Claire was young’ story.  It isn’t fair.  It’s not like I will ever meet his family and see where he comes from.  He has no way to compare.”

“You know, that is hard for creatures like us.”  Setting the glass down on the counter, Troy looked at his hands braced on either side of his drink.  “I know that you
know
we are older than we appear.  What you don’t
appreciate
is the cost of that longevity.  When we first changed, our ages froze or in the rare case of a younger animal, they become pubescent during their first change and it becomes permanent thereafter. 

At first, we enjoy it when we feel the strength, power and speed.  Our kind’s amazing ability to heal; we are nearly indestructible and it is intoxicating.  It can be very difficult for those who are young souls; it is as though they cannot fully grow and mature mentally.  But, over time, we watch those we love age, weaken and die.  Some of our kind cannot handle it and their minds twist in sickness.  When that happens, our Council steps in to control the situation.”

“You mean Stephen.  He can be older than his years one minute, the next he’s off being an infuriatingly immature kid.”  It made a lot of sense when put in perspective.  What would I do if I froze today but lived on beyond the lifetimes of everyone I knew?  “But look at the rest of your family, and Henry and James.  You are all such old souls.  Why is it so different for you?” 

“Claire, enough sorrow will age mortal as well as immortal souls.  When you see enough tragedy, part of your soul dies.  Have you ever met a human who has seen true horror?” 

I had.  On base at Miramar in San Diego, Dad had introduced me to one of his heroes, Pat Murphy.  Pat had been a boy, serving as an Airman on a carrier during World War II in the Pacific.  When he spoke of watching kamikazes fly their planes right into the guns and ship decks, killing themselves senselessly, trying to take as many lives as possible before dying themselves.  He had been so sad; it had been physically painful for me to be near him feeling the intensity of the emotion rolling off of him all these years later.  I nodded, understanding.

“I have things I must do.”  Touching my shoulder as he walked past me, Troy smiled comfortingly.  “Don’t worry Claire.  You know who he is, that tells you enough.”  I wasn’t sure if he was talking about James or Stephen.

Ch. 25

The day passed relatively quickly with my upcoming papers for Philosophy and History and work in the evening.  Heidi and I talked about her latest dating fiasco with an upper classman, Matt something or another. 

Heidi and I still only hung out at work, but we both came in early and stayed late to talk to one another a lot.  I hoped that when things calmed down with the scary part of my life I would be able to invite her to coffee.  Right now, it probably wasn’t safe for her to be around me as much as she was.