Heir to the Coven (7 page)

Chris stalked off and left me standing there with my jaw hanging open. Unbelievable. He walked out on me. More unbelievable was that it had taken me 109 years to realize men just plain sucked. That was when I saw Kain round a corner across the street. The coven’s enforcer was walking the streets of the vampire quarter; he had not informed me and he was obviously not chasing anything unless it was a snail given his slow pace.

Men sucked even when you weren’t dating them.

*****

I slammed through the door of the coven house in a foul mood and froze in my tracks. Rainor was sitting in the living room. I started to bow, but he stopped me by dryly saying, “That dress was not made to be bowed in.”

“Is that your polite way of expressing disapproval of it?”

“It is when I smell vampire on you. I thought your date was with a half-caste?”

“You waited up for me? You should be in bed regaining your strength.”

“I’ve been lying in that damned bed, eaten from the inside out, waiting for death to take me for weeks. I felt like getting out of bed and had the strength to do so. I happened to be here when you came in. Stop evading and tell me about the vampire.”

“Anton crashed my date. And then my date got his panties in a twist and went home early.” I flopped down on the sofa next to him.

“Sounds like a fun evening.”

“It had one more surprise in store for me.” I leaned closer and added, “An old friend was boldly walking on the other side.”

“Which one?”

“The one who seems to taking a lot of mystery trips recently.”

Rainor pursed his lips as he thought. “You’ll keep an eye on it.”

It was an order not a question. “On that note, I’ll say good night.”

“One moment before you go my dear. Anton’s assistant called a little while ago. He wants a meeting to discuss the proposal we sent over on the night club.”

Of course he did. What better way to remind me that he was in my life and that in some minute way I needed him? I should have known he was not going to let tonight’s pissing contest go that easily. “I’ll call her back tomorrow to set something up, unless you object. I’ve had enough of socializing for one evening.”

“No objections at all. Tell me, Natasha, how did Anton react to seeing you with another man?”

“Worse than the last time he found out I was involved with someone.” I rolled my eyes. “And they accuse me of failing to mature in almost thirty years. I half expected him to pee on my leg to mark his turf.”

Rainor laughed. “That’s why I missed you, you’re the only one who entertains me without trying to. No other person living in this house would answer me with such blunt honesty. Even my son was only that truthful when he wanted to shock me.”

“I should get to bed and so should you.”

“I’ll go up in good time, but for now I am enjoying the change of scenery. Sleep well my dear.”

Chapter 8

“Let me get this straight,” Mercy said as she bounced down on my bed. “The night ended with Chris basically saying you only used defending him as a reason to flirt-fight with Anton and walked off.”

“That about sums it up.”

“And you didn’t go after him?”

“Why would I crawl after him? Anton was right, he put himself at risk and then he got mad at me for defending him. He doesn’t understand because he wasn’t raised in a coven.”

“I think that’s partially true Tash, but that can be corrected if you tell him what he needs to know, I mean if you want to keep him around.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped.

Mercy held up her hands. “I’m not trying to piss you off. But you should ask yourself what you’re really mad about. Is it that Anton was right to question what having Chris in your life means for you as coven leader or that Chris was right about you forgetting he was there because of Anton?”

“Anton has been a complication in my life since the day I was born and since the only way I have ever come up with to end all the complications he brings is to kill him, Chris is going to have to deal with it if he’s going to be part of my life. I freely admit that Anton meets all my requirements of what makes my knees go weak, except the vampire part, but that is far outweighed by how big a pain in the ass he is and the simple fact that I do not want to end up as another notch on his bedpost.”

“Then I wouldn’t wear what is hanging on your closet to the meeting with him tonight. It screams do me here and now.”

“Really? It’s not leather this time.” I gave the outfit hanging on my closet door a critical look.

“Tash it’s a lace covered satin corset with a suit jacket and skirt!”

“It’s funny how often I wear corsets now when I cursed them back in the day when I had to wear them. Be glad you weren’t around for the tightly laced days. Thank god for the 1920s.”

Mercy tossed a pillow at my head. “You’re deflecting. That outfit is pure sex kitten and you know it. Now either you were just blowing ‘I don’t want to do the vampire’ sunshine up my skirt to shut me up about your attraction to him or you want to torment him with what he is missing out on.”

“It would be the last one you said. I didn’t like him crashing my date and I want him to pay.”

“Real mature.” Mercy got up and started flipping through my closet, exploring my new purchases which the sapphire blue corset covered in black lace that she disparaged was part of. “I have never seen such a schizophrenic wardrobe in my life. One side looks like a dominatrix lives here and the other looks like a naughty secretary. There really are two of you in there, aren’t there?”

“Yes and they are slowly learning to get along again, or at least get along as well as they ever did. I was forced to come back before all the pieces were in place, but I’m muddling along.”

“Hence the mood swings?”

“To some degree. I’m also trying to figure out how to go from coven member to coven leader and it’s not real easy.” I pondered the outfit again and decided to go with it. I liked it and I liked provoking people so why not have some fun? “I’m sticking with my pick. He insisted the meeting be at his house, so I insisted it be during the day. Then he said I should come without an entourage, which I don’t need but it makes him think he has an advantage, so now I’m going to wear something to drive him crazy.”

“With all this plotting and counter plotting with Anton, have you given any thought to calling Chris?”

I had actually, but not entirely for the reason Mercy wanted me to. True I liked Chris, but I was not the type to chase after a guy who stalked off to sulk like a baby. Ok, so compared to me he probably was a baby, but looks could be deceiving. He appeared to be in his twenties, but with half-castes he could also be forty-five. I doubted he was immortal, but he could be a slow-ager like Rainor. No matter how old the guy was it was my personal belief he should be the one calling me.
But
, Chris worked for
The Sun
and I needed to find out who told them about Megan McCoy’s baby without leaving a trail for anyone to follow. If I paid my new friend a visit at work, it would not look the least bit suspicious; unlike Kain walking through the vampire quarter. I wondered if Mercy knew where he had been last night? There was no way to damn or exonerate Kain without learning the truth.

All right, I had talked myself into using the baby as a reason to make nice with Chris. It was self-serving and not that nice, but no one ever said I was nice. “I was thinking of going to see him before my meeting. I have plenty of time.”

“And then you can go to your meeting with Anton looking hot and with Chris’ scent on you. Nice move.”

That had not occurred to me. Mercy was more cunning than I gave her credit for.
A dangerous thing
, my blood whispered,
if her mate is tainted she could be too
. “Have you always been this sly or it is something new?”

“Always. You were just too busy stalking the night to notice,” Mercy said with a smile.

“I’ll have to do better now that I’m back.”

*****

The Sun’s
office was not the seedy looking wreck I expected to find; it was a two-story brick building with a lot of glass and a pleasant looking lobby that housed a potted palm. I saw the receptionist’s eyes widen as soon as she noticed me. I could hear several men on the second floor talking about the “icy looking babe in the bustier” as I caught sight of a camera being focused on me from the corner of my eye. Someone was ambitious.

“Take my picture and it will be the last time you see that camera Skippy.”

The photographer laughed. “Think that’s the first time I heard that? It’s insured.”

I swooped over and had him by the shirt before he could blink. “Let me clarify. If you take my picture, that camera will be the
last
thing you
see
.” I let my eyes go red at him. I may have entered the proverbial snake pit by coming here, but people should be able to visit without being set upon.

“Natasha?” Chris said as he came around the corner. “What’s going on?”

“Your friend here decided to be an opportunist. He learned a valuable lesson. Didn’t you Skippy?”

“Mike. His name is Mike,” Chris said. “And he knows better than to try to exploit a possible client.”

“Do you know what she is?” Mike asked.

Better question, did Mike know what Chris was? I doubted it. “And what am I?”

“You’re a half-caste, a very strong one from the looks of you. They don’t talk about the ones like you; too scary for the humans to know about. Look at her! She’s practically a day-walking vampire.”

“I’m not the scariest thing in this town and I’m hardly the scariest thing in this world. Believe me. But that still doesn’t mean you want me as an enemy. I came here to see a friend, not to help sell your little rag with an impromptu photo op.”

It seemed to dawn on Mike that his co-worker had called me by name because he was staring at Chris. “She’s your friend?”

“She is and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t harass her.”

“What’s in it for me?”

I hauled him off the ground so he dangled in my hands. “Well for starters, you get to keep your eyes. And if you’re lucky you’ll get to keep your life.”

Chris futilely grabbed my arm. “He’ll leave you alone Natasha. No need for threats. He’s only trying to save face. Aren’t you Mike?”

Mike finally seemed to catch on that he was in some real danger here. It’s not every day a five foot four inch woman lifted you off your feet and held you in the air like a doll. He might have recognized what I was, but he didn’t understand what I was until he saw Chris’ reaction. Yes, Michael, your life was in some danger here. Mike said, “Yes. I am sorry. It won’t happen again, mam.”

I put him on his feet. “Good. Now run along little boy.” And he did run. I think he ran right to the bathroom. Chris was scowling at me and I realized my coming here was a bad idea. I knew better than to mix with humans or half-castes who pretended they were human. “Look, I shouldn’t have come here. Our worlds obviously aren’t going to mesh.”

I began to leave, but he said, “Natasha wait. Don’t go. I’m surprised you showed up here, but I’m glad you came to see me. Mike was out of line and out of his depth.”

“Are you sure? It’s not going to make you popular to be seen chatting it up with the crazy woman who sent poor little Mikey running to the potty.”

Chris laughed. “You do have a way with words. Let’s take this to my office.”

“You have an office? I’m impressed.”

“Don’t be. I think it used to be a closet before they gave it to me and called it an office.”

Chris put his hand at the small of my back and guided me towards his office. He was right; it probably had been a closet. He shut the door behind me and then pulled out a chair for me to have seat. Someone’s mama taught him well. “It’s a nice office.”

“But your closet is bigger.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you were thinking it.”

I hoped I wasn’t going to be that transparent during the rest of this exchange. “Was Mike the guy that ran that story about the half-vampire baby?”

“No. The guy who ran that knows better than to approach anyone as pale as you are. Mike is an overzealous rookie looking to make a name for himself. Although I don’t think Craps In His Pants is the name he was looking to make.”

I laughed. “Would they really call him that?”

“I will.”

“You would fit in very well with my coven with comments like that.”

“I wasn’t looking to be recruited.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Here we were back in the muck. I sighed. “I didn’t come here for round two.”

“What did you come here for?”

“To try to explain what you saw last night. I’m 109 years old and with a few notable gaps in time when we were on diverging paths, I’ve known Anton for most of them. For the first few years of my life he was my only…friend I guess you would call him. He looked out for me when I was unable to look out for myself. We parted ways the first time and it changed things between us. He looks at me and sees something that should be his to command since I used to belong to his caste. He doesn’t like sharing his toys so he wanted to play with you a bit and I was afraid he might physically hurt you to prove a point. I don’t think the person that abandoned me has any say in what I do and I like needling people so I used the opening fate presented me with, which unfortunately made you feel bad. But he did have a point about you needing to learn what the ‘rules’ are; Mike’s not the only one who is out of his depth these days.”

Chris tapped the edge of his desk and stared at the wall. “I understand what you’re saying Natasha, but there was more going on than a case of male territorial display gone wrong and immature goading. You are attracted to him.”

“Ok. Yes, I am, but I’m not going to act on it because I know I can’t trust him and I’m old enough not to be ruled by my hormones which also happen to find you very appealing by the way.” I smiled at him gamely. “You also have to consider that Anton and I are both predators sharing the same territory, so we are going to butt heads over whose is bigger if you get my drift and since he can’t quite believe that I won’t fall on my back for him those head butting sessions tend to wind up laced with sexual energy because he’s hoping if he makes me mad enough one night I’ll rip his clothes off. One of these days we are going to wind up killing each other.”