Dead If I Do (21 page)

Sebastian gave me a curious sort of smile-grimace, like he wasn’t sure if he should take my saccharine comments seriously. I jabbed him in the ribs.

“Because I do,” I said.

“Aw, honey, that’s sweet,” my mother said. “Of course, we like him.”

“I don’t,” my dad said, sitting up and opening his eyes. “Not only is he dead, which can’t be good, but if he’s a vampire, that means he drinks blood. Our daughter’s blood.”

“It’s not like that,” Sebastian said, sitting up a little straighter as well.

“Actually, he mostly feeds on other people,” I explained quickly. “They’re called suppliers or donors or . . . well, mostly we call them ghouls.”

That little bit of information killed conversation completely. My parents stared at us with a combination of incredulity and disgust.

Barney, having noisily crunched up her stolen treasure, hopped up on to the arm of the couch near my mother, clearly ready for another one.

Sebastian shot me a way-to-blow-it glance and stood up. “I think the coffee is done,” he announced.

“So what is this,” my mother asked, “swinging or something?”

I got up and went over to adjust the logs on the fire. I didn ’t know how to explain our blood donor arrangements with my parents; I hardly knew how to deal with the complexity of it all myself. I jabbed at the logs with the poker. Sparks flew and quickly faded to ash on the stone hearth. “When did your generation get so conservative?” I asked. “I mean, weren’t you guys the ones who became swingers? It’s not like Sebastian is out cruising for people to bite. He’s got a regular list of willing volunteers who have all been vetted by some kind of supplier’s guild. I don’t really ask, but I know he’s faithful to me. That’s all that matters, right?”

“If you say so, honey,” my mother said.

“What was wrong with Brett Cunningham, anyway?” My father asked.

“Brett?” I said. “I dated him for two months senior year.”

“At least he was human,” my father said.

“Sebastian is human too,” I said. “He’s just . . . altered.” Wow, what a ringing endorsement. Even though I knew he had super hearing, I was glad Sebastian had retreated to the kitchen.

“I liked that Daniel Parrish fellow,” my mother said. “He only came over to the place once, late at night, but he was a real gentleman. Didn’t you date him in Minneapolis for a long time?”

I couldn’t quite contain a laugh. “Mom, Parrish is a vampire too.”

“Christ, how many of them are there?” my dad asked. “Brett Cunningham was nice.”

He was also a horny jock who did things with me I was certain my dad wouldn’t approve of. Sebastian came out with two coffee mugs. “Anyone else want a cuppa?”

“Oh,” my mother smiled, “ ‘Cuppa,’ how British.” Barney took advantage of my mother’s distraction to stick her paw tentatively inside the chip bag that sat forgotten on my mother’s lap.

“I’ll take some,” I said, reaching for the mug. Maybe caffeine would help stave off the stress headache that was tightening along my shoulders and neck.

Sebastian handed it to me. “There’s more in the kitchen.”

My dad hauled himself off the couch. “I’ll help myself,” he said.

“It’s getting late,” my mother observed. The clock on the mantel read quarter to two in the morning. Barney’s claws snared another chip. She scooped it up in her mouth and ran off with it. This time she disappeared under the couch. If she kept this diet up, I’d no doubt be stepping in regurgitated piles of Doritos in the middle of the night.

“I’ll drive you back to the hotel,” Sebastian offered. “We can bring your car around in the morning.”

“We could crash in your spare bedroom.”

“Not a good idea,” I said quickly.

Benjamin rattled the china in the kitchen. “Holy shit, the cabinets are haunted,” I heard my dad yell.

“Why not? I peeked in there earlier. It’s a beautiful room. Your son seems to prefer the couch, and . . .”

“Actually, you could use the sunroom, if you’d like,” Sebastian said. “There’s a lovely fold-out futon in there. It’s a little chilly, but it’s beautiful.”

I stared at him openmouthed. He was going to offer my parents the sunroom? Sebastian never let
me
into the sunroom. It was off his private sanctum sanctorum, his alchemical workshop. It was the only room in the house he kept locked. I only knew about it because I’d broken into it once with Lilith’s help.

“Why couldn’t we . . . ?”

I smelled cinnamon and cloves, like pumpkin pie. “Because the guest room belongs to our house ghost. I think you’d be more comfortable in the sunroom.”

“Oh, okay,” my mom was a pushover when she was high.

My dad came back in with a coffee mug that said Witches Do It By Moonlight.

“Come on, Glen,” Mom said. “We’re heading to bed.”

“But I just got my coffee.”

“Let’s leave these kids alone for a while.”

My dad frowned petulantly at his cup. “But I thought they’d kissed and made up.”

“I want to have sex,” my mother said.

I spat my coffee back into my cup. “Mom!”

“Oh!” My dad set the cup down on the nearest surface, which happened to be a leather-bound book. Sebastian scooped it up quickly. “Uh, I hate to rain on your parade, but I need to make up the bed. It will only take a moment, I promise,” he said with a broad wink. “So you two will just have to simmer down for a minute.”

Sebastian took the stairs two at a time.

That left me huddling under the green comforter again. My dad came over and gave my mother a shoulder rub. He leaned in and whispered something in my mother’s ear. I tried not to watch, because I was deeply embarrassed, but it was kind of sweet too. It was nice to know my parents still loved each other. Although I did
not
need to know they were about to have sex. I tapped my toes and glanced at the ceiling. Did Mátyás feel like this when Sebastian and I went at it? Because of how close they looked in age, I tended to forget that Sebastian was Mátyás’s father, like my dad, who was right now kissing the top of my mother’s head.

It seemed like forever, but eventually Sebastian came back down. “You’re all set. Let me show you upstairs,” Sebastian said. I’d never seen my folks move so fast. Apparently, marijuana made them frisky too.

Despite the coffee, I was awfully drowsy by the time
Sebastian returned. I yawned deeply.

“Hey, none of that,” Sebastian said. “You promised me some making up.”

He sat down on the couch and snuggled up close. I fluffed the blanket to let him under. Our legs entwined. With a smile, I threw my arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. He chuckled low in his throat. Our lips met. Heat raced along my inner thigh. All thoughts of sleeping evaporated.

As his hands roamed the contours of my back and ribs, Sebastian’s palms grazed the swell of my breast. My nipples hardened at even the briefest touch. I wanted more, now. I kissed him harder and deeper, encouraging. My fingers twined through his hair. Lips brushed my earlobe. “Will you still want me like this in a hundred years?”

I grabbed a fistful of his hair. With my free hand, I put his where I wanted it. “Always.”

He growled and slid his fingers under my shirt. The contact of skin on skin made me gasp. The front door opened. I heard the storm door snap back on its hinges. Boots stomped on the welcome rug. I kept my eyes shut, hoping it was just Benjamin playing tricks on us.

Mátyás cleared his throat.

The groan that escaped my lips hurt somewhere deep inside.

“Oh, a little coitus interruptus?” Mátyás said with a smile.

Letting his hand slip from my breast, Sebastian leaned back with a sigh. “I thought you were staying the night with Izzy.”

“I did, Papa,” Mátyás said with mock innocence. “It’s morning.”

I rubbed my face, tiredness washing over my body. Despite the slight remaining ache between my legs, I could use some sleep.

“Maybe we
should
go upstairs,” I muttered absently.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go out to the barn?” Mátyás asked, inspecting his fingernails. “Seems there’s a really nice root cellar there.”

Sebastian stood up. The blanket fell away from his legs, and his hands balled into fists at his side. He was ready for a fight. Mátyás, meanwhile, leaned casually against the door, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His black hair fell across his forehead, shadowing his eyes.

At times like this I noticed how alike they could be. They stood completely differently, but my mother was right; they appeared nearly the same age. Their hair was the same midnight black, although Mátyás’s was short to Sebastian’s long. About the same height, Sebastian had a bit more bulk, but they had the same body type.

When they were mad, their eyes narrowed in exactly the same way.

“We had to put her in the cellar. She was trying to kill me. Again.”

I heard a squeal from upstairs.

Mátyás glanced at the ceiling. “Benjamin’s sounding awfully feminine.”

“Uh,” Sebastian glanced at me.

“It’s my mom,” I said.

“What is she doing, exactly?” Mátyás asked.

Sebastian and I looked at each other and then gave him the what-do-you-think eyebrow waggle. He frowned. “In your bedroom?”

“The sunroom,” I said.

“My, my,” Mátyás clucked. “The house
is
crowded. The barn too.”

Benjamin or the wind rattled the window sash.

“You haven’t let her out, have you?” Sebastian asked.

Mátyás flipped his hair back, like he was bored. “Let my mother out? Now, why would I free my mother from being entombed in the dank earth? That’s not my style.”

Of course that’s exactly what he’d been doing most of his life.

Sebastian ground his teeth. If he were a cartoon character, smoke would have been curling from his ears. I stood beside him and put my hand around his fist. He looked down at our hands, and I felt him consciously relax. Sebastian took a deep breath and switched tactics. “She’ll be safer in the cellar,” Sebastian said. “The sun will be up soon.”

“Safer? Oh, you were just thinking of her well-being when you blocked the door with the shovel. How kind,” Mátyás sniffed.

“Actually, we were trying to keep her from tearing my throat out,” I said. It wasn’t like I didn’t already have scratches on my face from where she’d tried to claw me the first time we met.

“She must have been hungry,” Mátyás observed. “Good thing I brought her someone to eat.”

“Someone?” I repeated.

“You left someone alone with her in the state she’s in? She’ll kill them,” Sebastian said, horrified. He shook off my hand and headed for the door. Mátyás shifted out of the way. Sebastian didn’t even bother putting on a coat as he headed out into the wind and snow.

Mátyás smiled as he shut the door behind Sebastian, and that’s when I knew Sebastian had reacted just the way Mátyás had planned.

“It’s nice to see Papa rush to her side,” Mátyás said. Pushing off the wall with a stocking foot, he headed for the kitchen.

“Is there even a donor out there?” I asked.

Mátyás swung the door open. “Do you want eggs? I’m making breakfast.”

I walked away without answering. I started putting on my jacket, which hung by the front door. When I had one boot on, Sebastian opened the door.

“Where the hell is she?” he stomped through to the kitchen, going right past where I knelt by the door. “There’s no one in the barn.”

“What?” Mátyás’s voice had none of his usual smarmy self-righteousness.

“You stupid boy. She’s gone.”

“We have to find her.”

I was halfway to the kitchen, when I heard the back door slam. “Sebastian?” I called. I expected to see Sebastian sitting dejectedly at the kitchen table or pacing back and forth in front of the door. But the room was empty. Barney padded after me, looked around, and sat down in front of her food bowl. “Sebastian?”

Walking over to the door, I pulled aside the curtain to try to catch sight of them. The barn stood like a shadow in the breaking dawn. Snow fell in thick sheets. I opened the door. The snow flew in. My shout was muffled by the storm. “Sebastian?”

Barney mewed pitifully.

“They left without me,” I told her.

She licked her whiskers and looked at her bowl.

“I can’t believe they left without me.” Shutting the door, I poured some kibbles into her bowl. She started crunching wetly. I petted her head, even though she rippled her back in clear indication that she would like to be left on her own with her breakfast. Even my cat didn’t want me.

Yawning, I sat back on my heels. I rubbed my eyes. They felt scratchy and sore. I hadn’t slept at all, and I had an afternoon shift at the store tomorrow, no, today. I should go after Sebastian and Mátyás. My eyelids closed for a moment, and I nearly fell over.

I pulled myself upright, determined to at least pass out in bed for a couple of hours. Halfway up the stairs, I heard what sounded like a cow lowing. Then I remembered my parents were having noisy sex on the second floor. Turning around, I flopped down on the couch. I pulled the comforter over my head. “I can’t believe they left without me,” I muttered. I was angry and hurt but too damned exhausted to do anything about it. Barney hopped up to settle on my shoulder just as my eyes closed.

Mátyás was waiting for me in my dreams.

He was sitting in the seat next to Orlando Bloom on the number six city bus. Meanwhile, I was in a full Princess Diana wedding dress, stuck in the standing room only crowd with my hand on the overhead bar. I was desperately late for a fitting or the wedding or a high school class I forgot to take, but as soon as I saw Mátyás sitting there in that black trench coat, I knew it was all a dream.

Mátyás is the boogeyman.

His people have some kind of fancy name for him that translates into “moon thief” or something like that. All I know is if you get that creepy feeling that someone is watching you in your dreams, it’s probably Mátyás. I sat down next to him. Orlando, sadly, disappeared with little more than an I ’ll-see-you-in-another-dream wave. The bus became a park bench in the Como Zoo’s Conservatory in Saint Paul. It was a favorite hangout of mine when I lived in the Twin Cities, because no matter what the temperature outside, inside the Conservatory it was always eighty degrees and steamy. Water dripped from palm fronds. Condensation covered the plate-glass ceilings. The place smelled of warm dirt and green growing things. I tucked a bit of the dress under my legs and lifted the veil to peer at Mátyás. “I didn’t think you could come into dreams unless you were sleeping too.”