Empath (Book 1 of the Empath Trilogy) (23 page)

In the half of a second it took for Stephen to enter the house and find me, I had only enough time to hear the growl next to me explode and I felt James launch himself at Stephen.  It happened too fast to register in my head until I saw the couch jump sideways as the two bodies crashed into the backside of it. 

It was hard to tell if Stephen was as surprised by James’s attack as I was.  By the time I had scrambled my way to them Troy and Henry had pulled James off and were trying to restrain him while Stephen held his face in his hands. 

“Where the hell were you?  He almost had her.”  James spat at Stephen.  I could see the wild violence in his black eyes and his lips were pushed out unnaturally from his gums.  I gasped as I saw his fangs fully extended.  I had never seen this side of James before, the vampire in him.  He wasn’t himself, he was unrecognizable as the man I loved. Shocked, I gasped and my hands flew to cover my mouth in horror.  His head whipped around at my noise and grasped what I was seeing.  James went still under their hands and closed his mouth and eyes.  The mouth regained its normal shape and when he opened his eyes again they were blue, dark but blue.  Gone was the monster as suddenly as it had appeared.  I would have doubted what I’d seen if it wasn’t for the evidence I could see leaking through Stephen’s fingers.

With James subdued, Troy and Henry relinquished their holds and Stephen took a seat next to the back of the newly relocated couch.  His hands were covered in blood.  When Troy moved his hand aside to assess the damage, I saw with a shock that pieces of his cheek hung in ribbons under his eye.  His perpetually twinkling eyes were flat with pain.

Stephen spoke, his voice tortured.  “I got there at ten till, like we agreed.  As soon as I walked in I smelled him.  I ran as fast as I could, following their scents.  I caught up to where they crossed in the parking lot.”  He broke off, putting his head back into his hands.  “God, I thought he got her and I couldn’t track him.  He just disappeared and I thought you were gone.  I didn’t pick up James’ scent until my second pass and I came straight away; I wasn’t sure what I’d find.” 

Stephen looked over at me and I wanted to cry from the pained expression I saw there on his mangled face.  He was bleeding and there he was, worrying about me.  “Claire, I was there.  I swear it.” 

I got up from my seat on the floor and walked over to him.  Sitting down next to him, I put my arm around him and he laid his unmarred cheek on my forehead.  “I’m so glad he got to you in time.”  Rubbing his shoulder, I sniffed, letting several fat tears roll down my face. 

Seeing James as not yet ready to listen to reason, I peeked over at Henry.  “Please, it isn’t his fault.  They knew our schedule and how to get around it.  I think we should figure out how to best defend ourselves from here.  For now.” 

Henry grunted.  “Claire, I agree that for the time being you will stay here.  There is a reason Bradley wants you so badly and I don’t think that we want him to succeed.  I would have to assume he’s gotten wind of your upcoming trip and does not want you to go, which means it is imperative that you do.  With him acting so recklessly, we have a good chance to bring the justice of our Court down on him.  They cannot possibly ignore our request this time.”

“Stephen, I must apologize.  The strain of this constant threat to Claire and to all of us is maddening.  I have acted poorly.”  James had regained some amount of control.

After a tense moment, Stephen nodded at him.  Tonya went to Stephen then saying, “If I don’t get that stitched up soon it’s going to heal crooked and your boyfriends won’t think you’re so pretty anymore.”

Henry saw my confusion.  “Weres heal quickly and timely wound care is essential to prevent any long term deformity.”

Quick healing.  My hand traced the line of my jaw now almost completely healed; only a few days what should have taken weeks.  My eyes traveled from Stephen to James.  Could I be like them from being around them or did it have to be something more physical.  James caught me staring at him and gave me an odd shrug.  I gave him a tired smile and shook off my concerns.  There were other things to worry about for now. 

****

It was much later, after hours of brainstorming over what Bradley and his gang of malcontents were up to that I finally admitted I could no longer stay awake and I said my goodnights.  James wouldn’t even let me out of his sight to go to sleep.  He walked up with me and as we lay down together, I remembered that I had something I needed to leave the house for this week after all.  Something almost as scary as facing the Court. 

“James, we still have my cousin’s wedding.  If I cancel my parents will never forgive me.” 

“I’ll be with you.  You’ll be fine.”

“I know, but will you?  You’ve never met my family.”  I wasn’t entirely joking.

He chuckled softly. 

“No seriously.  I have never brought anyone home to my family.  They would be all over you even if you
didn’t
look like you do.”

We lay facing each other and I adjusted my pillow so that I could see him unobstructed.  “Love, I assure you that I have faced worse humans and supernatural enemies.  I can handle this.”  His tone changed.  “Are you worried about
me
or are you worried about
you
?  We’re going to be alone together.”  The incident with Stephen earlier had shaken us both.

Putting my hand on the side of his face, I looked at him.  He was the James I knew and loved.  The flash that I saw of vampire James had been terrifying, but I felt safe because I knew his strength and violence would never be turned against me.  “James, I can’t deny it was frightening to see you like that.  Stephen’s my friend and I love you both.  But I trust you with my life.”  I shrugged my shoulders and gave him a playful smile.  “I sleep in your bed.  There’s no better proof of my trust than that.

I could see the relief in his jaw and the set of his shoulders.  “I swore an oath, do you remember?  I failed you once, but it will not happen again and you will
never
come to harm at my hands.”

We had not made love since that first night.  Now that I lay close to him, I felt a need to be closer and leaned in to kiss him.  He felt it and I saw the same need in him.  It was quite some time before I drifted off to sleep.

Ch. 26

Wednesday morning broke cold and damp.  It was a perfect day to stay in bed all day.  As much as I tried, James eventually insisted that he had to make some calls to finish making our travel plans and to call the office to talk to his editor.

I stumbled downstairs to find breakfast and was foraging in the cupboards looking for the English muffins.  They were in the pantry with the canned goods.  James could follow a recipe, but had a vampire’s inability to categorize foods like a person does.  Probably because it had been so long since they had tasted it, the memory of each food had faded.  And packaged foods, forget it.  That was after his time.  Smiling, I was picturing my poor James trying to grocery shop when I heard the doorbell. 

Listening for the sounds of people in the house I’d grown used to, I realized I didn’t hear anyone going for the door, so I shuffled through the living room to answer.  Opening the door halfway I saw a young woman, maybe in her mid twenties, standing on the stoop.  She was shocked to see me, her mouth hung open and her large brown eyes, surrounded by too much green eye shadow, were saucers as she stared.  While she gave me a bold once over, I pictured what she was seeing and felt my cheeks warm.  When I had finally gotten out of bed this morning, I had put on one of James’ white dress shirts, I liked to smell him when I rattled around the house.  It hung down to my mid thighs so nothing was showing but there was also no way to convince her I was the housekeeper.  “Uh, hi.  Can I help you?”

Thankfully her mouth snapped closed and her eyes went back to normal.  “Now I know why James doesn’t want to come to the office anymore.  And, that explains the second ticket.”

Oh, the ticket!  How could I have overlooked that?  That had to be costly and there was no way I could let him cover it.  It would hurt but I could scare up enough to repay him.  “I take it you work with James?”  I asked curiously.

She smiled.  “Yeah, I’m his assistant, Beth.  I’ve worked with him for about a year now.  I make his arrangements when he asks and research any details of his trip he needs help with.”  She extended her hand and I shook it. 

“Would you like to come in?”  As I spoke, I felt a breeze and an arm went around my waist, pulling me close.  I leaned in without thinking as I recognized James’ musky sweet scent.  He had snuck up using the partially opened door as a blind for his speed.

“Beth, thank you for bringing that by today.  I’ve been a bit,” he stumbled uncertainly, “busy around here.  I’ve only just hung up with Josh.”  He reached out a hand and Beth put a large envelope in it. 

“Josh is my editor,” he clarified for my benefit.  He looked down at me, a mischievous light in his eyes.  “I see you’ve met Claire?”  His smile put a proud bubble in my chest.  I could just imagine what Beth was going to share at the office when she got back.

“I just invited Beth inside.”  Glancing back at her, I added, “for some tea?  Or coffee?”

Beth looked from James’ possessive posturing to my casual dress and smiled politely.  “No, you two have a lot to do before you leave on Sunday.  James, I’m sure I’ll talk to you when you get back.  Claire, it was a pleasure to meet you.”  She grinned again and waved as she turned to leave.

Pulling me back in order to close the door, James looked down at me and I saw all the playfulness was gone.  Misunderstanding, I began, “James, I am sorry if I just started something for you at the office.  I should have considered how it would look with me in this,” I put a hand over the open collar in a nod to decency.

He rolled his eyes.  “I don’t care if she puts a picture of us on her Facebook page.”  He frowned.  “I don’t want you answering the door right now.”  Before I could object that he was being overprotective, he went on.  “That could have been a vampire and you would be gone right now.”

The nausea I felt and the sweat that sprang up under my arms and on my lip were instant.  It felt like I was three years old again and I had done something naughty.  “I’m sorry,” I said in a small voice, looking shamefacedly at my bare feet.

His fingers stroked my cheek.  “You have nothing to be sorry about.  Let’s just try to keep you safe until all this is over.”

It sounded so ominous in my ears, ‘when this is over’.  I hoped I wasn’t the only one concerned about the possibilities for that upcoming end. 

Falsely bright, James stepped back and grabbed my hands.  “Don’t you need to do some shopping?” 

“What?”  Shopping was the last thing on my mind right now.

“We have a wedding to attend in two days where you will unveil me.”  He waved his hands up and down in front of his body like a game show hostess.  “Then, maybe something a bit more formal for my unveiling of you in Scotland.”

“Uh oh.  What does a human wear when she is being presented as a girlfriend or snack to ancient vampires?”  I didn’t feel the lightheartedness I tried to portray.

“Why don’t I send you with the girls to the store and you can figure that out.  They are pretty familiar with our vampiric flair for drama.”  I could figure out what girls he was talking about and I wasn’t so sure they would care for their assignment.  He misinterpreted my reticence.  “It is too risky for Bradley to mount an attack in a large department store in broad daylight and this might be your last chance to get out before we go.” 

Ignoring his misguided reassurance, I latched on to his other comment.  “So is that part true?  Vampires
do
like to dress fancy?”  I had seen the movies and the vampires were always dressed to the nines. 

“Some do like to dress dramatically all the time, but most of us live amongst humans and try to tone it down a bit.  Look at me, I am always understated.”  He looked so innocent, like he actually believed what he was saying.

“Are you kidding?  You could be wearing a potato sack and you still wouldn’t be understated.”  With his looks, it was hard to imagine him blending in to the crowd anywhere.  Could Patrick Dempsey fit in at the local grocery store on a Saturday morning?  Not even in sweat pants.

Ch. 27

In a shopping threesome I never thought I would live to see, Tara, Tonya and I wandered through the Macy’s downtown store.  James and Troy had agreed to let me out of the house with the two cats accompanying me, daylight or no.  As much as he tried to tell me he wasn’t worried about a daytime attack downtown I could still see how hard it was for him to let me out of his sight.  I had the feeling Henry had more to do with it than James, something that had me very scared.  If Henry wanted me to pass inspection there was no way it was as inevitable as James would have me believe.  That was just one more thing that made this shopping trip with two women who disliked me even more enjoyable.

We went through Macy’s on a mission.  Something fitting for a fall wedding for a cousin I hadn’t seen in years.  Normally I wouldn’t stress out about it, but knowing that my family would be paying a lot of attention to me due to my sudden appearance with a date, I was very self-conscious.  And what a date he was.  Without realizing it, I had stopped in the dress department, thinking of James’ hands on me, the way that he kissed my neck, just to the inside of my collarbone.  I became aware of a frustrated sigh close beside me.  Oops. 

Turning to make an apology, I saw some dress possibilities on the racks behind them.  Grateful for the distraction, I went between the two of them and into the nearest rack.  The girls were surprisingly helpful.  Tara showed herself to be incredibly skilled at matching my coloring and style.  We settled on a gold satin sheath dress with a wide, light green upper bodice and straps that brought out the tiny flecks of green in my eyes.  It was perfect and we even found a matching gold shawl to throw over my shoulders.

Tonya’s shoe instincts proved exemplary.  She found a heeled sandal matching the green in the dress perfectly.  It was upscale enough for the wedding, but low enough to let me dance if the opportunity presented itself.  Dancing.  That thought stopped me in my tracks. 

Dancing, on the rare occasion I had tried it, had never been enjoyable.  However, despite my best efforts to avoid it, I had learned how to function on a dance floor with a reasonable amount of aptitude.  Now, I relished the thought of dancing with James.  It struck me, not for the first time how strange it was that I felt so closely bonded with James so quickly.  Again, I assumed it was because we were meant to be together and this must be true love.  Not that I would say that aloud; it sounded hokey even to me.  But, how else could I explain the depth of my feelings for a man I had met less than two weeks ago.  We had been spending a lot of time together and had been in some pretty emotional situations.  And besides, people had fallen in love and gotten married in two weeks before.  I felt the tentative peace settle in as I justified my devotion. 

Finding the perfect dress for the wedding had only taken us an hour.  It was lunchtime, my stomach announced noisily.  Tonya smiled.  “I agree.  Anyone for sushi?”  Of course the cats wanted fish; at least we had found something we had in common.

The three of us wandered down Nicollet and cut down Eighth to Hennepin and over to Seven.  Seven was a bar I had read about in the Star Tribune.  I never used to read the paper, but now that I knew the travel writer, I had to admit I had started reading some of the sections when I found them laying around the house.

The story I’d read didn’t do the place justice.  I knew they had all of the floors and the rooftop bar in the summer but I hadn’t realized how many floors that was.  They had the whole building.  Following Tonya’s lead, I let her heels on the polished concrete guide me while I studied the sparsely modern décor in the dim light.  Even midday the place could convince you it was after hours in Manhattan.

Once we were seated and looking at the menus, I saw Tara examining the cocktail menu.  “Tara, how old are you?”  She looked at me like I had a screw loose and Tonya bristled as well.  I wasn’t sure why they were so upset, then I realized there were two answers to that question.  Feeling the red come up my neck, I stuttered, “I mean, how old does your drivers license say you are?”

Less annoyed, though still tight around her mouth she replied.  “I’m nineteen.  I think it’s a good age for me.”

Turning to our third member, I wanted to satisfy my curiosity there as well.  “Tonya, how about you?”

Tonya was still scanning her menu and over the top of it I heard her answer.  “Twenty-two, just like Troy.” 

Our server, a young black man named Thomas swaggered over, his eyes locked on Tonya.  “Can I get you anything?”  He gave her a wink.