Empath (Book 1 of the Empath Trilogy) (24 page)

Tonya, however, did not reciprocate.  “We will have the Seven, Dynamite and Spicy Tuna rolls.”  Looking him right in the eye with a cold stare that would have sent most men packing, she answered him crisply.  “And that’s it.”  Getting the message, he cleared his throat and his professionalism returned.  “I’ll put those in and I’ll be right back with three waters.”

The bar wasn’t very busy.  It was lunchtime on a weekday and the nearest occupied table was on the opposite side of the restaurant.  I thought it was safe to try to get some questions answered.  This whole “thing” was all so new and I’d been so wrapped up in James that I hadn’t learned much about my honorary clan.

“What do you do as time passes?”  I was looking down at my menu.  “When you don’t get noticeably older?”  There was no response for a minute, so I chanced a look at Tonya.  She was glaring at me.  A sideways glance confirmed that Tara was doing the same.  They looked so much alike and I wasn’t going to back down, I had to ask.  “Are you really sisters?”  Maybe that one would be less offensive.

Tara let out a big sigh.  “We didn’t start out as sisters, but we’ve been through a lot together.”  I sat perfectly still so as not to upset her or make her stop.  “See, to become a part of our family, you have to have a certain something happen to you.  Sometimes it is on purpose, sometimes it is accidental.”  She seemed to be open to sharing as long as it was ambiguous to those around us.  I didn’t think it would help if I pointed out to her that humans don’t have as good of hearing as
they
did or the vampires.  I just let her go on, hoping to learn as much as I could by being a silent audience.

“Tonya
is
older than me in some ways, but technically, I have lived more.”  Raising one eyebrow, she hinted that there was more to that story. 

“Tonya was older when she joined the family but you’ve been in longer?” 

Tara was pleasantly surprised that I was not as thick as she had presumed.  “Yes.  She
chose
to join us a bit later.”

“Chose?”  I interrupted, staring at Tonya.

“What did you think Tara meant by “something had to happen” to bring us together?”

“Well, I thought something happened that triggered it, that it was already inherent within you.”  What was a human equivalent?  “Like growing boobs or something.” 

Tara erupted in laughter.  She laughed so hard her eyes watered.  Tonya was stifling her own amusement as well.  They both loosened up after that and saw they were not going to be overheard by the other table.

As Tara was pulling herself back together, she took a sip of her water and I couldn’t help but feel hopeful.  I was starting to have some fun with these two and could see a big upside to gaining their respect.  I had never had girlfriends I could talk to about
anything
.  And considering my world just got a lot more complicated, it would be even better to have them.

Tonya took up the story, and still cautious, continued in a low voice.  “The common shared experience my sister is referring to is the infecting bite we must suffer to make the change.”  She smiled when I paled. 

Nodding, she continued.  “Yes, those stories are true.  One must be infected by the bite of an animal.  It doesn’t work if they are in their human form.  Tara was bitten by a cat ranging in her area.  She accidentally got between him and his kill.”

My words came out before I could think to self-edit.  “Kill?  Was it animal, or…”

Tara responded flatly.  “Human.  I was trying to help but it was too late.”  Life flashed back into her eyes as she shook off the dark memory.  “Depending on the were’s control over their beast, human kills can be chosen.  Sometimes they are even preferred.”

That was a twist I had never considered.  Somehow I couldn’t see Stephen, Troy, or even one of these girls hunting down a human being to eat them.  I
hoped
I would never see that anyway.  “Really?  What do you mean ‘depending on the control over their beasts’?”

“You have seen that some like James and Henry are more human friendly than others like them, correct?”  I nodded assent.  “Well, weres are also divided on their affection for humans.  I have known some that were discovered and pursued over the years by humans and, in frustration, now see hunting the humans for meat as justified revenge.”  At my gasp she smiled and pointed out, “Obviously we do not encourage such behavior.  But be careful because not all of our kind share our clan’s perspective on humans.”

Clearing her throat, Tonya picked up the thread.  “I, on the other hand, had heard of animals such as this and envied their strength, I saw it as an escape.  I’d heard stories of a night creature near my home and during a full moon I took a sheep off of our farm and brought it far into the woods where I had heard hunters talking about the creature.  They had come across large kills, like moose with a lot of meat taken off of them.  The sheep was a big one and I knew that to bring something large in for the kill, I would have to maximize the blood scent.  I slit its throat and with the legs tied, I dragged it all through the area.  Then, I sat down to wait.  It wasn’t long before one of them was drawn in by the smell.  I asked to be bitten, thinking he would understand except he was frenzied by the blood.”  She closed her eyes and paled from the memory. 

I felt sick when I thought of her being ravaged by a cat as large as Stephen.  My throat closed to choke down the bile. Sipping my water, I thought how absolutely terrifying that would have been for her.  I couldn’t imagine what could have been so horrible in her life she needed to escape to welcome such a thing. 

Our food came and our reformed waiter looked only briefly at us to ask if there was anything else we needed for now.  We all shook our heads and plated our sushi.  The rolls looked great and we were hungry.  We talked a little about some other stores where we could search for my more formal dress that I would need to meet the court in Edinburgh. 

Tara thought I should wear something more like a ball gown, which I could get back at Macy’s.  Tonya thought I should go more exotic.  Maybe something Asian.  Motioning toward me, Tonya embarrassed me by asking me to stand up.  I wasn’t sure why but didn’t want to upset our newly forming friendship by being disagreeable so I did as I was asked.  Tonya indicated with her hands toward me.  “Look at that body.  A ball gown hides too much.  She needs to strut her stuff and impress the hell out of them if they are to decide favorably.”

“What do you mean
if
they decide favorably?”  The look they exchanged was all I needed.  “I
knew
it was more serious than he let on.”  I was furious and underneath that I was terrified.  “How can he lie to me like that?  Aren’t there enough monsters
here
who want to kill me without having to fly me half way around the world to be killed by
special
monsters?”

Tara was looking at me steadily.  “Do you think so little of James that you do not trust his judgment?”

“Of course I trust him, but when you say they might not ‘choose favorably,’ how am I supposed to feel?  I’m nervous.  No, I’m scared stiff that I’m not coming home.”

They both sat quietly for a moment.  Tara popped a piece of spicy tuna into her mouth and Tonya ran her finger over the sides of her water glass.  Tonya spoke first.  “You love James.”  It wasn’t a question.  I nodded.  “He loves you.”  I started to open my mouth, to mention some of my doubts on the equality of that emotion, but the look she gave me said that this was also not a question.  Again, I nodded.  “Trust me when I tell you that James has not had a human consort in a
very, very
long time.  Henry tells me he has never brought
anyone
to the Court for approval so this is a huge deal for him too.  Please trust that he will be certain to keep you as safe as possible.”  She saw my eyebrows shoot up and maybe she had seen the sheen of sweat start on my forehead.  Their kind could sense that stuff incredibly fast.  “Yes, there will be some risk involved, there always is in these matters.  However, they will not demand an action right then.  They never do from what I understand.  They like to consider things for a while and if they decide against you, they tell him to end it or send someone to ‘clean up’ as they put it if he is unwilling.  Quite honestly, the only time I have heard of that happening is when someone picks their human unwisely and James has not done that.”  She shrugged seemingly unaware of the effect of her compliment on me.  “I think they just like to relive the glory days of holding Court and find reasons to have people attend them.”

Raising her hand to flag our waiter, Tara took a last swallow of her water.  “Well, let’s go get you sexy then.” 

Sexy was not something I had ever considered myself so I couldn’t help but giggle.  “We can try.” 

Ch. 28

It was nearly dinnertime when they dropped me off at James’ house.  He was waiting for us and opened the door as I came up the walk. 

“Well, aren’t we the eager beaver.”  Tara muttered under her breath. 

James heard her when he opened my door.  “I miss her when she’s gone.”  His eyes never left mine as he called back to them.  I could feel the heat come right up the back of my neck, ducking my head to hide my reaction.  I felt him put his arm around me as we crossed the thresh hold.  His lips tickled my ear as he whispered.  “You know I get a private showing.”  His fingers tapped the bag with a rustle.  My ears burned hot, despite the eager shiver that went up my spine at the promise behind his words.  I barely heard the engine fading as the girls drove down the street.

His hand slid down my shoulders lightly trailing its path down my back, ending low on my waist.  “Shall we then?” 

Yes we shall, I nodded, not trusting my voice. 

We went upstairs to “our room.”  I was able to get myself out of my jeans and long sleeved tee and slapping James’ hands away when he tried to help pull my shirt over my head.  “You behave and go sit down over there,” I pointed to the chair in the corner opposite the bed.  Dutifully he sat resting his hands in his lap.  It was awkward at first with him watching, but I began to enjoy it and took my time when I heard his breathing stop.  First, I tried on the dress for the wedding.  I had to go to him to be zipped up.  James’ fingers lingered at the top of the zipper, tracing my shoulder blades.  I had to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to keep control of myself. 

“You sir, are not helping.”  I felt his warm breath on my back as he chuckled softly.  He had just fed if the warmth of the reheated blood had not yet faded from his lungs.  “Did you want to see my dresses or not?”  Uncertainty crept into my voice.  “I
would
like to know what you think of them.  I don’t usually have people paying that close of attention to me so I’m pretty nervous about all of this.”

His hands rested on my bare shoulders and he turned me around to face him.  Blue eyes penetrating my own from just inches away.  “You are a beautiful woman and you will make the bride weep for jealousy.”  My heart skipped, James smiled when he heard his effect on me. 

“Were you this smooth as a human or have you just gotten good with years of practice?”  I teased.

He didn’t answer instead he held me out at an arms length and let go.  Crossing his arms, he made a show of giving me a once over.  He walked all the way around me, his scrutiny only serving to heighten my paranoia that I had chosen poorly.

“What do you think, do you think I look good enough to impress the family?” 

A hint of a grin lifted one side of his mouth.  “Love, you are breath taking.” 

“You are so good for my ego, James.  I don’t know that I believe you all the time, but I like to hear you say it.”  I leaned in for a kiss.

Sighing he pulled away.  “We’d better stop or we’ll ruin that dress before you have the chance to show it off.  That would be a shame, it looks good.”

I smiled and turned around.  “Unzip me, please.” 

“With pleasure,” came his rough reply.  He unzipped me then continued to help to slide the dress off of my shoulders and down my body.  It landed on the chair he’d vacated with a soft rustle.

Ch. 29

I rolled over next to him in bed and smiled lazily.  “Care to try the second dress?  The one for
them
.”  It was hard to hide my trepidation over the whole thing.