Melted By The Vampires: A Paranormal Menage Romance (14 page)

Sighing, I picked up my fork and began picking at my salad, knowing I shouldn’t say any more. Not that I even
could
. I knew that if Dan knew I’d tried to come clean to Abbott, he was supposedly going to kill me, but I still didn’t know why. And although it was become clear that whatever was going on between them had likely started well before I’d been thawed, I didn’t know the specifics about that, either.

Avoiding Maria’s eyes, I worked on spearing a wilting lettuce leaf. “I don’t know. I really don’t know exactly what trouble might have been brewing between Abbott and Dan before I was thawed. All I know is that I need to talk to Abbott.”

“Not him and Dan both?”

I hesitated for a second, planning my response. “No... just Abbott. I guess I just find him easier to talk to lately.”

“Easier than Dan? That kind of surprises me. Abbott’s always so quiet and brooding, and Dan has always been so much more of a people person.”

“Yes, he’s told me.”

“So, why don’t you want to talk to him and Abbott both? It just seems like if the issue
is
their ‘sharing’ of you—”

“I really, really don’t think it’s that. I think it’s something a little deeper.”

“Well... what?”

Exasperated, I set my fork down and returned my gaze to Maria’s face. “I really don’t know. I know a few things, but I’ll just say I don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle yet. And I need to talk to Abbott and Abbott alone to get those pieces. And... I don’t know how often you happen to come into contact with Dan, but maybe avoid telling him that, please, or anyone else for that matter.”

“Well, I won’t. I know I can be a bit pushy about wanting to get the scoop sometimes, but I don’t go around town blabbing everyone’s secret little things. In fact, while we’ve been talking, the thought has occurred to me that maybe we should be a little quieter, or switch tables or something. Don’t whip your head around to look or anything, but there are two women three tables behind you that are just about falling out of their chairs trying to listen to us. They probably can’t hear over the jukebox, but... maybe we should move.”

“Well, let’s just change the subject. I really don’t have anything else to say, and you’re right that I probably should be a little more careful with what and who I talk about in public anyway. So, why don’t you tell me how Claire’s doing.”

“Oh, about the same. Fussing, flailing around, accidentally bopping herself in the face with her little frog toy and then looking at it like it purposefully attacked her. This new tooth cannot come soon enough, for both of us.”

Maria and I both soon ordered the soup of the day, which was a heavenly, ultra-creamy potato bacon sprinkled with cheese. It was especially heavenly to eat something so warm and comforting as the snow flurries falling from the darkening evening sky beyond the wide glass windows of the cafe intensified.

After finishing her bowl, Maria dropped her spoon into it with a satisfied smile. “I’m going to have to try to make that at home sometime. Too bad I can’t make it for Noah, though. That’s the only downside to having a vampire for a husband... you can’t cook for him or share food with him. At least we can share a drink every now and again, though... lately we’ve been getting into a little Scotch on date nights.” Brows lifting in surprise, Maria suddenly seemed to do a double take at something over my shoulder. “And speak of the devil... and not that my husband’s a devil, but... well, maybe sometimes. Mostly in the bedroom.” Smiling, she waved. “Well, hello!”

I turned to look, and saw a tall, well-built, sandy-haired man striding toward our booth. Even if Maria hadn’t said what she had to indicate it was Noah, I would have known it was him. He and Claire shared the exact same eyes and nose.

Maria introduced us, then invited him to slide in next to her. “We were actually just talking about you. To be precise, I was calling you a devil.”

Squeezing in beside her and pulling her close with an arm around her slender shoulders, Noah smiled. “Well, how nice. Around
my
friends,
I
always refer to
you
as an angel.”

“Liar. You probably refer to me as ‘that old ball and chain,’ or ‘that old sea hag.’ Am I correct?”

“No. You’re very silly.” Lips twitching with amusement, Noah leaned in and brushed a kiss against Maria’s mouth. “I tell everyone you’re my angel, because it’s true.”

Maria kissed
him
now, and within a few seconds, their kiss began intensifying, and rapidly. I wasn’t even sure exactly where Maria’s hands were anymore. They’d been on top of the table, but they’d somehow quickly disappeared.

Just slightly uncomfortable, I cleared my throat. “I might order a coffee. Have either of you seen the waitress?”

Both suddenly seeming to realize where they were, they broke their kiss and each did a few throat clears of their own. Noah waved down the waitress, and when she came over, Maria and I both ordered coffee.

After the waitress had brought our mugs and filled them, Noah told Maria that Sylvia had told him she was at the cafe. “And then she shooed me out the door, telling me that she wasn’t quite done reading a story to her ‘granddaughter.’ She then immediately turned about ten different shades of red and told me she’d meant to say ‘your daughter’ instead. It was really very sweet.”

While Maria and I sipped our coffee, the three of us talked a bit more about Claire and Sylvia, but then the conversation turned a bit more serious when Maria asked Noah how the day fighting off The Saints had gone.

Noah sighed, raking a hand through his thick hair. “Well, it went as well as could be expected, I guess. We found and killed two of their spies, but another three got away, and Abbott was concerned that they might have gotten into the city. So, an all-night search will ensue, even though Dan wasn’t quite as concerned. He said he was sure that the three who got away probably headed right back to Saint Dedrick to tell Dedrick about the demise of the two others. But Abbott’s concern kind of won out in the end, so eventually Dan agreed to the all-night search. I got sent home for a little downtime, but I’ll probably go back out and rejoin the others around dawn if they still haven’t located the spies by then.”

Setting my coffee mug down, I tried to make my voice sound casual. “So, Dan and Abbott probably won’t be coming back to the building tonight, then?”

“Probably not. Too much to do. On top of the search, they still have to organize tomorrow’s patrols, too. There are a few dozen additional women who want to join in, so they’ll have to be sorted according to strength and ability.”

Maria had told me that like with humans, most vampire women weren’t as physically strong as the men, so they tended not to fight The Saints directly, as The Saints were mostly men. The female Darkness Coven vampires wanted to help in the fight against them, though, and so many of them had been volunteering to help search for spies.

Maria spoke next, asking a question I wanted to know the answer to as well. “So, should anyone be concerned about some kind of a fracture between Abbott and Dan, or do you think that fight today was just some strange stress-induced fluke?”

For the second time, Noah raked a hand through his sandy-colored hair, avoiding Maria’s gaze. “I’m too tired to talk about all this right now, hon. I need to grab a half-hour of sleep at home before I can even think straight. I need to feed soon, too. There was some talk today about some of us heading out of town briefly tomorrow or the next day for a hunting trip in the forestland, and I’m starting to really need it. A week’s about as long as I can go.”

Characteristically persistent, Maria started to again ask him something about Abbott and Dan, but Noah cut her off.

“Tell you what. If you can hold all your questions for later and head home with me right now, I’ll treat you to a piece of that chocolate cake I saw in a case up by the register. I’ll even get you two pieces, because I know you have more than one sweet tooth.”

Maria agreed, and Noah ended up buying four pieces of chocolate cake, two for Maria and two for me. The three of us left the cafe and walked across the street back to the building together, and before we parted ways, Maria promised to give me a call the next day.

She did, calling me fairly early in the morning, actually, but she had no news about the Abbott and Dan situation. During Noah’s half-hour of sleep, she herself had fallen asleep, and by the time she’d woken up, he was already gone.

I didn’t see Abbott and Dan all day, and when I ran into Brenda in the hallway, she said she didn’t even think they’d been home to change clothes, adding that when she’d went to their apartments to deliver fresh towels, the ones she’d delivered the day before had still been in a clean stack.

I knew they had to come home sometime, although I knew they could just as easily grab clean clothes from someplace in the city, and probably shower somewhere, too.

Around eight in the evening, I received a text from Abbott, and it was short and to the point.
Thinking about you and still trying to get away.

My response was short as well.
I hope I see you soon.

I didn’t. Five days passed. Five days of Noah being evasive with Maria; five days of Abbott, and Dan, having their hands too full to see me; and five days of me nearly going insane with anxiety. I was beginning to feel like I might never get answers from Abbott. Also, I was beginning to feel like I might never get to see his handsome face again and feel him pull me close, kissing me, which was somehow almost even worse. Just almost, though. Maybe it was a tie.

The evening of the fifth day, Maria and I took a spin around the city in her new glossy black car, a birthday gift from Noah. Being that the city was still very much on the smaller side, traffic was sparse, and we zipped through the streets with ease, taking in all the various Christmas light displays around town. One, a display set up in small park near the center of the city, was particularly beautiful. Ten tall angels, made from thick wire strung with white lights, surrounded a towering fir tree decorated with multicolored lights that wound all the way to the top, where a glittering star glowed with golden light. Maria and I got out of the car to walk among the snow-dusted angels and get a better look at them, and she paused beside one and looked over me, smiling.

“Noah and I are taking Claire to see this display tomorrow after her trip to see Santa. Oh, I didn’t even tell you about that yet, did I? One of the vampires with a bushy gray beard has agreed to dress up as Santa for all the kids. Isn’t that neat? And can you imagine that? Hundreds of years after most of the world was basically blown to bits, and Santa still exists. Vampire Santa, anyway, as... well, maybe vaguely creepy as that sounds, but I still think that’s pretty cool. I just can’t wait to see Claire’s face the first time she sees him. And just think, next year, maybe we’ll
both
be bringing our babies to see Santa. I can just picture it... Noah, Claire, and I, and you, baby, and... Abbott, maybe? All going together as one big group.”

I knew she hadn’t meant to upset me, but nonetheless, I felt like I’d been punched in the gut for some reason. Or more precisely, the heart.

Suddenly wanting to be alone, I told Maria that was a nice thought, then began strolling away to the tree. “I’m going to go get a closer look.”

She immediately began following me, apologizing. “I didn’t mean to say something wrong, if I did. Was it that I said it might be you and Abbott bringing a baby to see Santa next year? I didn’t really know what to say considering the situation, and I’ve kind of picked up a vibe lately that you might be more interested in a long-term future with Abbott than Dan lately. I didn’t mean to assume anything, though. Sorry if I upset you.”

Now at the tree, I stopped walking and looked at her. “No, no, it wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t because you said Abbott and not Dan. It’s just that sometimes the talk of babies just...”

I trailed off, regretting even having said that much. I
wanted
to tell Maria how sad my infertility made me sometimes, especially when Abbott was also mentioned, but I knew I couldn’t. Doing so would require me to tell her everything about how I’d schemed with Dedrick to falsify fertility papers and be frozen in order to assassinate Abbott and Dan, and I figured it’d probably be a big mistake to share all
that
. It would be all too easy for Maria to accidentally let my secret slip out to Noah, who might tell Dan, who then might kill me. Even though it seemed Noah didn’t like Dan much at present, Dan was still one of the city’s two leaders, and I had no way of knowing who was deeply loyal to him and who wasn’t.

With her breath making clouds in the glow of the brightly-lit tree, Maria just studied me for a long moment, frowning, when I didn’t finish my thought. “Oh. I think I get it. Talk of babies makes you feel pressured. Is that it?”

I didn’t respond, but she continued as if I had.

“I should have known. Especially since a lot of my frozen woman friends have told me about feeling the exact same way before getting pregnant. I bet Abbott and Dan haven’t helped with the pressure, either, what with each of them wanting the increased strength that will come to whichever of them gets you pregnant first. I bet they’ve probably both been acting like Neanderthals about the whole thing, like it’s some big competition. Which, well, I guess it is, at least in a way, to them, but that’s still kind of rude.”