SNAP: The World Unfolds (10 page)

Hackles rose on one of the Weres. “Who are you calling a liar,” he snapped. “We smelled an intruder. A shape shifter whose scent we didn’t recognize. We think that some one from another family is poaching on our land.”

“
That’s not your land,” Simon’s great eyes slitted in anger. “And if you think there’s a poacher, you need to bring it up to the Intercouncil.”

“
The Intercouncil, that’s a laugh. It doesn’t have any power and besides, it’s mostly Kandeskys. Whose side do you think they’d be on?” Matthais had been denied membership and the slap constantly rankled him.

Simon and Belon glanced at each other. They just may have to call this one a draw. They couldn’t prove or disprove the possible poacher. Their arms were aching even after the silver ropes were taken off and the eastern sky showed a tinge of light.

“
We’ll write up a report for the Intercouncil. They’ll decide what punishment. I doubt Felix will be happy with tonight’s work,” Simon smiled, tasting a small victory. As he and Belon turned to leave, Matthais hissed, “You’d better be wary. There will be some changes with the Huszars.”

Downstairs, everything was bustling. The regular staff and the house-demons tore around laying fires, arranging flowers in huge cloisonné urns, carrying linens. I went into the formal dining room and was politely chased out by a footman setting the table for twenty or twenty-five people and at least five courses. “You can get something to eat or drink in the breakfast dining room, or someone can bring you something in the back drawing room,” he said. “The Baron will inspect this before cocktails.”

I didn’t want to be in the way so I grabbed another cup of coffee and went out on the terrace. The day was partly overcast, the pale sun hitting the tops of the trees fronting the forest. It didn’t look as menacing as last night. Sandor came around the corner and slowed as he spotted me.

“You’re up. You don’t look too bad, considering,” he said.

Smiling, I said, “I’m fine. It was a nasty scare but no permanent damage, thanks to you and the other two, what were their names again?”

“Franz and Hermann. They’ve been on the security staff for many years. They were part of the detail that met you at the airport and now they’ve gone to pick up some of tonight’s guests.”

“How many people will be here?”

“I think there are twenty-six altogether,” Sandor said. “Seventeen are staying at the castle for the weekend and the rest are part of the family who still live in this area.”

“Are they all...um...”

“Vampires?” Sandor laughed and his face lit up. He went from looking like a glowering thug to an attractive guy who worked out at the local gym. “No, not all. I think there are about a dozen of you people this weekend.”

The way he said “you people” made be shiver. It set us apart as a minority, not a usual place. It also reminded me of Wells’ Elois. According to the Baron and Jean-Louis though, this vampire family had given up their killing ways for finding food in a much more scientific way.

Sandor gestured down the lawn. “It really is a lovely place to walk,” he said. “At the end of the garden is a beautiful small river with some rapids. The Baron allows fishing, with a permit. This area and down into Slovenia are favorite places for fly fishermen, trout. The Baron will only allow permits for catch-and-release. I think three or four of the guests are planning to fish. If you’d like I can take you down there tomorrow. I’m a little busy right now.”

“I’d love that,” I said. “Not fishing, but looking.”

“There isn’t anyone I can free up right now to go with you, but you should be fine in the daylight if you want to walk a bit. Don’t go too far into the forest, though. We have perimeters and motion detectors, but I’m a concerned after last night. Normally our guests are safe. I agree with Jean-Louis, somebody in the Huszar clan is after you.”

At Jean-Louis’s name my stomach did a flip. “Where is he?” I asked.

“He’s probably just getting up,” Sandor said. “”They all sleep better when they’re on home soil. Stay safe,” and he disappeared around the corner of the house. Damn, they were fast.

The way my life had been since joining SNAP, it suddenly struck me that here I had no one calling me, no pressing meetings, no insistent email or tweets. I didn’t even have my Bluetooth. This was the first time in months I had free time and I didn’t know what to do. I went inside and wandered through beautiful rooms until I found the library. It took up two stories in a turret. The ground floor had a fireplace, two reading chairs and a library table with four wooden chairs. A spiral staircase connected the stories but as I wandered around the cases, I saw that English-language best-sellers and newer contemporary books were at a reachable height. I pulled out two beach-reads from last summer and took them back out to the terrace where I plopped myself down in a lounger.

I didn’t fool myself that this would happen with any regularity, but this was one more perk I bought myself by choosing this life.

I was two chapters into a book and on the verge of falling asleep when Jean-Louis said “Hello. Why don’t you come in and we can have a drink.”

It must have been a little after 5. A chill was seeping into the air and the sun had passed behind the east wing of the castle. In the shadows of the drawing room, he had on his ubiquitous sunglasses and I couldn’t see any expression in his eyes. Lisbet said he was trying to charm me. I wasn’t so sure. We, or maybe just I, needed to clear the air.

“Do we have enough time before we have to change for dinner? I assume we are changing for dinner.”

“Yes and yes,” he agreed. “People are still arriving so let’s go up to my sitting room. I have some wine. Or would you rather have something else?”

“No, a glass of wine would be fine.”

“Good, we’ll have time to talk.” he ushered me up the massive main staircase. Once in his rooms, Jean-Louis opened a bottle of Pinot Blanc for me, one of Bulls’ Blood for himself, poured and handed me mine.

“You mean with your line ‘I’ve waited years’?” I wanted to be snide then realized he really
may
have.

“I told you that it wasn’t really a line. Now you know the truth. It has been years.”

“You can’t expect me to believe that somebody who looks like you, who’s around celebrities all the time, hasn’t had his pick of girlfriends. Not only over the years but over the centuries.”

“I have had girlfriends. All of them have been regulars. After a few centuries you know the other vampires too well. You don’t want to get intimately involved with them. You’re the first I’ve worked with, though, and gotten to know first.”

The wine was giving me a glow and his glimmer was getting stronger. His eyes were taking on a dusky violet color and looking through me. I stood up to stop from throwing myself at him and walked across the room.

“You disturb me,” I admitted. “I’m frightened by you, I’m fascinated by you, I’m impressed by you. You have too many you’s in there. I’ve always made it a rule not to have any personal involvement with anyone at work. And here you are, a work colleague, a beautiful man and a vampire. This is a crazy, loony scenario.”

He stood up, came over to me and I remembered the feel of his chest last night and his arms holding me while I sobbed. It was taking my breath away. He touched my face with a finger and my stomach did handsprings. He was smiling through his eyes and there was a whiff of my dream. Was it a forest or an oasis?

A knock at the door. I jumped. This little chat hadn’t cleared the air. It was looking like L.A. on an August afternoon, so thick you could taste it.

“Come,” Jean-Louis said.

Josef opened the door and announced it was almost 7. Because there were so many guests, the staff was trying to start people on their dressing early.

“Thank you, Josef, I only need you to lay out my clothes, I can manage the rest. Is Lisbet available? I think Maxie would appreciate some help.” He looked down at me with a soft expression. “I know you’ve been able to dress yourself for several years. When you’re putting on new clothes, though, I always think it’s nice to have someone help with the fitting.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure I could trust myself to speak. I touched Jean-Louis’s arm and bolted down the hall. Once inside my own room, I sat on the bed and took deep breaths for a minute or so. Well, this was going to be an interesting evening. I didn’t know what Jean-Louis had planned for the evening or for us, but I was finding it increasingly hard not to jump on him and doing this at the Baron’s formal dinner party for twenty-six people probably wouldn’t lengthen my job tenure with SNAP. Damn the man.

Lisbet knocked and came in. “I thought I’d wear the green one this evening,” I managed to gulp. “There’s a pair of sandals that will look good.” The dress I was planning to wear was a column of heavy green silk. It had a circlet of beading around the throat which, in the front, fell into soft Grecian folds and in the back, was almost backless. Underwear was pretty tricky and I was appreciative of the Neiman-Marcus shopper for guaranteeing I had all that I needed.

By a few minutes before 8, I was ready. Lisbet had helped me wrap my hair into a chignon and stuck a couple of jeweled pins into it. If I had to stand all evening, the sandals would be miserable, but I was counting on sitting attractively. They gave me an extra three inches of height that made the dress fall even more gracefully. I picked up a pashmina shawl and headed out the door just as Jean-Louis was reaching up to knock.

If he looked beautiful in casual clothes, he was stunning now in an impeccably tailored handmade tux with diamond studs. Whatever had happened between us earlier, he was absolutely glimmering now as he looked at me.

“I hope you, or SNAP, gave that shopper a massive tip,” he was admiring. “That dress looks as if it were designed for you. Shall we?”

I took his arm. “We shall,” and we sailed down into the cocktail party.

It was just starting, the noise level low enough that I could still hear the introductions. There were familiar faces. Besides the Baron and Pen, Carola Whitsun, Mira Jorges and Francois Sartou were there. Carola and Mira were attached to men, but Francois was by himself. Everyone seemed to know Jean-Louis and he carefully guided me through the crowd, making introductions and saying hello. It was getting easier for me to tell the difference between them and us. They were beautiful and their skin shown with a burnished glow. The family members certainly didn’t look anything like each other. They ranged in age from about 18 to 50 or so and all were polished and healthy.

“Let me introduce you to Bela, Janos, Freidrich and Maria,” Jean-Louis said, coming up to a stunning group. “They have all elected to stay in the area.”

Maria, a short brunette in her early twenties, had on a chrysanthemum bronze taffeta strapless gown with sash the color of her hair. The dress rustled as she reached out to take my hand. “Stefan has told us about you. He’s very happy you decided to join SNAP.” Her voice was low-pitched and her accent was heavier; “very” was “werry,” but her charm was unmistakable. “Are you enjoying the work?”

“I am. It’s a big job and I’m working harder and longer hours than at any of my other jobs, but it’s exciting. All of the people who work there are top professionals. I’m learning and I think I’m contributing.”

The three men nodded. One of them—Bela?—said, “It’s a challenge and the business is changing fast, almost day-to-day. Keeping up with the technology has all of us busy.”

I flashed a raised eyebrow at Jean-Louis and he mouthed back “Later.” Why would a group of vampires in Hungary be concerned about the technology affecting SNAP?

I left Jean-Louis talking with Bela and the boys and wound over to Carola and her man. She was wearing what may have been a YSL number in geometric black and white and dressy flats. She seldom wore very high heels and I realized the man with her was just over five feet tall.

She leaned over to give me a cheek kiss. “Maxie, this is my partner, Gregor. We’ve been together forever,” she said with a silvery laugh. Gregor smiled wide enough that I caught a glimpse of his fangs. “She thinks it’s our little joke,” he said. “She loves to say it to regulars.”