Forget Me When the Sun Goes Down (Forged Bloodlines Book 11) (8 page)

“Yes, and we have already shared centuries together.  This is why you’re Ulrik to me, it’s the name you used to live by.”

“Then when did I become Bishop?  When did I become a vampire?”

“I don’t know, but the answers will come.”  She lifted his chin with two fingers, drawing his gaze to hers.  “This only strengthens our ties together.  Do you not see this?”

He was a long time in answering, but Bishop’s lips lifted into a smile.  “Yes, I suppose it does.”

“Good,” she breathed, more relieved than she could say.  Now that she was sure of his support, her mind returned to her original problem.  “This doesn’t change the fact that Anja is the enemy.  We should move now before they anticipate an attack.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Anja called out in a sing song voice from across the room.  “Vampire senses?” 

“It’s still impolite to eavesdrop,” Carys scowled.

“I don’t get it.” Anja pushed her way into the conversation.  “If you’re a vampire, and I’m a vampire – how come you hate me so much?  And what are we doing in here?”

Another flash of memory appeared, this one feeling far more recent.  Snuggled up to Rob’s bare chest, Carys was about to suggest another round when Anja burst into the room.

“Get dressed,” she barked, slamming the door behind her.

The pair barely acknowledged her presence, Carys didn’t even lift her head.  “What on Earth for?”

“Because you and I are about to settle this once and for all.”

“I thought I already had,” Carys smiled, kissing his chest.  Partly to get a rise out of Anja, and partly because it was such a magnificent chest.  Rob’s stamina was much better than she’d hoped for from such a newly made vampire.  Perhaps she would keep him.

“You made your point, you can compel a guy into wanting you.  Big whoopdy do.  But I’ve claimed Rob as mine and that gives me certain rights.”

“And I have the privilege to challenge those rights.”

“Maybe so, but I have a right to respond to that challenge.”

Carys waved her away.  “You’ve already lost, accept it and move on.”

“No, he might not remember it right this moment, but Rob is under my protection.  If you’re so sure of yourself, why not release him from the compulsion and see who he chooses?”

“That doesn’t interest me in the slightest.”

“Fine, then you and I are gonna go, right now.”  Anja wiggled her fingers in a come-at-me gesture.  “You and me, mano a mano.”

Her forehead puckered in confusion.  “Hand to hand?”

“That’s right.  Unless you’re afraid to fight me.”

“Why would I be afraid of you?” she said with an indelicate snort.  “I’m your superior in age and skill.”

“Let’s go then, old lady.  Fight me.”

She’d come between Anja and her chosen mate?  Perhaps she had deserved the challenge at that.  It was of more interest to Carys to learn that she was older and more powerful than Anja.  But more importantly, she could compel other vampires?  That was a handy talent to have indeed.  Secure in that knowledge, she hid a smile behind her hand.

“Who can say?  Perhaps we should declare a truce?  At least until we escape from this insufferable place,” Carys suggested, pleased by the nod of approval she got from Bishop. 

“That sounds shiny to me.”  While Anja’s answering smile marked her a trusting fool, Rob’s wariness did not lessen.  No matter, Carys was fairly certain she could sway him to her side once she got a few moments with him alone, thanks to her compulsion ability. 

“Now then, we’re one big happy family,” Carys declared, clapping her hands together.  “And I, for one, can use a drink.  Can I get one for anyone else?”

“I wouldn’t say no to that,” Aubrey called out from the corner of the room, and Bishop nodded.

“Same here.”

Joe raised his hand to be counted, but didn’t say a word, watching them all warily, eyes looming large.  Poor thing, as one of the only two humans in the room, Carys could see why he felt vulnerable, especially since the woman hadn’t recovered consciousness.  Now that she knew what to listen for, she could hear his heart beating from across the room.

“I’ll go get the glasses,” Anja volunteered, but Carys was the first to move toward the kitchen.

“That’s not necessary.  I’ll get them.  You choose the drink from the bar, dear sister,” she smiled. 

“I’ll give you a hand,” Rob offered, following Carys to the kitchen.  Even better.

Carys didn’t have to try for a subtle opening, as Rob turned on her almost from the moment they reached the relative privacy of the kitchen. 

“Don’t think for a moment I don’t know what you’re on about,” he said in a harsh whisper. 

“Oh?” Her brows rose in mild surprise.  “Do tell.”

“You’ve got it in for Anja plain and simple. I don’t buy this truce business.”

“I intend to honor it, as far as it goes.  After we’re out of here, all bets are off.”

“Then you’ll have me to deal with,” he bristled, and Carys smiled, relishing the idea of a
mano a mano
with the handsome bruiser.  

“Wouldn’t be the first time.  You’re a very perceptive man.  Can you guess why we fought?”  Carys slid her hand across chest, enjoying the ripple of muscle.  “Nothing coming to you yet?”  Her hand slid lower, to the ridges of his abdomen.  “I can keep going until it does.” 

His hand caught hers around the wrist.  “You don’t want to be doing that.”

“That’s not what you said before.  In fact, I remembered more than one particularly intimate moment between us.  We’ve tasted each other’s delights, you and I.  Do you truly not remember?”  His eyes widened, breath leaving in a soft rush as he recovered at least one of their intimate moments together by the look on his face.  “You want me still, don’t you?”

“It’s Anja I want,” Rob replied, his face growing cold. 

Carys reached out for his will with her own.  “Are you sure about that?  I think you’ll find it’s me that’s your heart’s desire.”

“You’re out of your tree,” he snorted, turning his back on her to reach for the glasses in the cupboard, leaving her staring at him in frustration. 

Why had the compulsion not worked? 

Vampires.  Holy buckets.  I never in a bajillion years would’ve guessed without the pop of Rob’s fangs.  Well, until the thirst built so much I felt the need to get a little fangy myself.  While I didn’t trust Carys as far as I could throw her, I was glad she was willing to stop being such a b.i.t.c.h. while we were trapped in the house.  I hadn’t missed her announcement that she’d fed from all of the men in the room, but I tried to set that aside.  Without knowing the extent of my past and how it fit together, I couldn’t get jealous of any bodily fluid exchange between her and Rob, especially when I remembered some heated kisses with Aubrey. 

I did trust Rob though, so I tried not to eavesdrop when he went into the kitchen with Carys.  Instead, I approached Joe, who was still wide eyed, sitting at the end of the loveseat next to the passed out girl. 

“Hey,” I offered with a smile, worried when I could hear his heart hammering in his chest.  How had I missed it before?  “Are you alright?”

“Why should I not be well?” he replied, swallowing nervously.  “I am the only human among vampires, except for this girl.  And who knows?  Perhaps when she wakes, she will change into a wolf?  Or perhaps she will rise as a an undead flesh eater?” 

Oh yeah, he was totally losing it.
  “I don’t think we have to worry about a zombie horde, Joe.  And it’s okay, you’re among friends.”

“Am I?  And how long will that friendship last when we are unable to escape and you crave the blood in my veins?”

I had to admit, the throb at his throat did look pretty tasty. 

He scowled, wrapping the quilt tighter around him, so that only his face protruded.  “Already I am feeling like a piece of meat.”

“Jeez, I’m sorry,” I apologized, sitting on the edge of the coffee table beside him.  “I didn’t mean to, it’s just you started talking about blood and...”  I stopped myself, taking a short breath.  “Never mind.  The point is, no one here is going to eat you, I swear.  Everybody hear that?  Joe’s a friend, not food.”

Bishop looked up with a brief smile, and Aubrey rolled his eyes in response.

“See, you’re safe as a hobbit in his hole,” I added with an encouraging smile, and Joe’s death grip on the quilt eased. 

“That’s a hasty promise to make,” Rob pointed out as he entered with an armload of clean glasses.  “And one you might not be able to keep.  We will have to eat eventually, after all.”

Joe immediately bunched up again, and I shot Rob a dirty look.  “Rob!” 

“Being practical is all,” Rob shrugged, handing us each a glass.  “It don’t have to be a bad thing.  It ain’t even got to hurt, yeah?  We can all get something out of it.”

Surprisingly, Joe seemed intrigued by the notion, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.  “While that’s a nice sentiment, I think it’s only something for a last resort,” I maintained, accepting Aubrey’s pour of an amber colored liquor.  Bourbon.  Blecch.  “What should we drink to?” 

“Freedom,” Bishop suggested, holding his glass up for a toast. 

“I’ll drink to that,” I agreed, and we all touched glasses.  After a few sips of the alcohol, I didn’t hate it so much, but I shook my head when Aubrey offered a refill.  I wanted a semi-clear head for what I had in mind.  “Along those lines, the best way I can think of to keep anyone from getting too thirsty, is to get out of here.  And I think that’s our ticket out of here.”  I pointed at the high windows in the great room, the ones that looked like eyes.  They were definitely big enough to fit through if we could get up there.  And maybe they were so high up they wouldn’t be under the barrier?

“It’s an interesting idea,” Bishop agreed, scratching at his upper lip with his thumb as he stared up at them.  “The high windows in the other room weren’t spelled, they were just too small to fit through.” 

“Okey doke, I’ll check it out.”  Emboldened by the bourbon and my new-found super powers, I went to the stone fireplace and started looking for footholds in the rock. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Bishop frowned.

“The only way to find out is to climb up there and take a look.  If I climb up the fireplace, I can crawl down that beam and make it to the window, easy peasy.”

“Absolutely not, you’ll break your neck,” he objected, and Rob took his side for once. 

“Too right, it’s a bad idea.”

“I will not. I’m a vampire, remember?  Who knows what’ll happen once the sun comes up?  Maybe we’ll all turn to dust or slip into a coma.  We’re running out of time.  Sitting around looking at spellbooks won’t do us a lick of good without a witch to cast them.” 

“I’d rather take my chances with magic,” Bishop replied.  “None of us knows what the rules are for being a vampire.  We don’t remember any part of it.  Or at least I don’t.  We don’t know what will happen after dawn, and if you break your spine you could end up paralyzed for years.”

“I’m willing to take the risk,” I insisted.  It was worth it in my books.  “I’ve got this, sheesh.”  I started up the side of the fireplace, but Bishop grabbed my ankle, strong enough to keep me in place. 

“I forbid it,” he said.  “If anyone goes up there, it’ll be me.”

“Hold on now, Ulrik.  Perhaps we should let her have a go at it,” Carys frowned, and I shot her a dirty look before I remembered she was weighing in on my side.

I tried pulling my ankle free, but I couldn’t shake him.  How much stronger than me was he?  “Bishop, let me go.  You’re not the boss of me.”

“Maybe I am?” he retorted.  “You don’t know.”

He had a point there.  Maybe I was in his vampire police squad too?  Nah, I couldn’t picture myself as a cop.  “I know I’m not going to do what you say just because you order me to.”

“Then do it because it makes sense.”

“Says you,” I retorted.  I know, not the most eloquent of responses, but he was starting to really tick me off.  “I mean it, Bishop, let go of my leg before I kick your teeth in.”

He simply smiled up at me.  “You think you could?”

“Heck yeah, I could if I wanted to.  Go ahead, keep smiling at me like that, you’re making it easier for me to picture smashing that perfect face.”

That only made him smile wider.  “You think my face is perfect?”

“I... yeah, sure, if you like pretty boys.” 

“I’m not a pretty boy.”

“Oh please, your eyelashes are longer than mine are.  Put you in a dress and you could give Bugs Bunny a run for his money.”

“What?”

I shook my head, not wanting to explain the segue, beyond frustrated.  “Would you let me go for crying out loud?”

“No, now would you stop being a spoiled brat and get down here?  I don’t want to have to yank you down, you might hit your head or something.”

“Then let go of me.  Look, chivalry is sweet and all, but do you honestly think you can make this climb better than I can just because you’re a guy?  This is the twenty-first century, you know.  At least... I think it is,” I frowned.  What if we were living way in the future, but I couldn’t remember those parts yet?

Bishop let out a long breath.  “No, I don’t think I can do a better job just because I’m a guy.”

“Then why are you being such a pain in my... ankle?  Do you think you can out-stubborn me?  Because let me tell you, mister...”

“No, I’m just distracting you until Rob has a chance to get up there on his own,” he grinned, letting go of my ankle so abruptly, I almost lost my balance and fell, until Bishop shored me up. 

“Wha...?  Hey!”  I looked up to see Rob inch-worming his way across the beam up by the ceiling, almost at the same level of the window, but about ten feet away.  “Rob!  Be careful!”

“I got this,” he replied with an easy wink, climbing to his feet with grace for a man of his stocky build. 

“Sweet zombie Jesus!” I cried out when he leapt across to the next beam.  “Don’t you do that again!”

“Not to worry, luv.  It’s all in hand,” Rob called down, easily keeping his balance as he crossed the last few feet to the window.  I watched with bated breath while he reached for the pane of glass, my stomach sinking when he stopped an inch away, like all of the other spelled windows. 

“Frak,” I whispered, looking away as his fist smashed uselessly against the barrier, a string of curses so convoluted I couldn’t follow them leaving my husband’s lips.  But Rob got his temper under control, rolling his shoulders to release the tension. 

“So much for that brilliant plan,” Aubrey sighed, pouring himself a refill.

“I don’t see you suggesting anything better,” I fired at him, disappointment making me snappish. 

“What can you see out there?” Bishop asked, his head tipped back to watch.

“Nothing but snow and trees,” Rob reported.  “Mountain in the distance, I reckon.  Not a lot to see except to say I figure we’re in America somewheres if the trees are any indication.”

“Great, all that effort and the only thing we know is we’re stuck somewhere in the colonies,” Carys pouted with an unladylike snort. 

“Wasn’t like it was your effort,” Rob pointed out, leaping from the rafter high above and landing nimbly on his feet before I could get out a scream. 

“Of all the boneheaded... What the heck did you do that for?  You could’ve broken your legs or worse!” I demanded, smacking Rob on the shoulder. 

“Take it easy. I’m fine, luv,” he replied, unconcerned, chucking my chin.

“Yes, but you didn’t know that!” I pointed out.  “And you guys thought
I
was the foolhardy one?”

“Relax, Anja, he’s fine.  And now we know we can survive a jump like that.  Win-win,” Bishop stuck his nose in, and I barely resisted smacking him too. 

“So now you guys are on the same side, huh?  Cool beans on toast.”  I wasn’t sure why it bothered me so much for them to be getting along, except that it felt like they were ganging up against me.  Not that it mattered, I had bigger fish to fry.  Mmm, fried fish.  No, actually, anything fried sounded bad.  Had I said I didn’t have the munchies?  Strike that and reverse it.  They hit with a vengeance.  My eyes flicked over to where Joe sat next to the unconscious girl before I realized what I was doing and forced myself to stop thinking about it.  “What do we do now?”

“Time for another drink,” Aubrey declared, tipping the end of the bottle into his glass.

“Make it a double,” Rob sighed, grabbing a bottle at random from the bar and settling heavily into a chair. 

“I prefer something more refined,” Carys sniffed, disappearing in the direction of the wine cellar. 

“Pour you a jot, luv?”  Rob raised the bottle at me, but I shook my head. 

“No, you go ahead.”  I was too depressed to drink.  Maybe we actually were going to be stuck in the house until we went feral and tried to eat each other?  Or maybe someone outside was waiting for something to happen before he came in to get us?  What if that was during the day while we all slept? 

The more I tried not to think about eating, the more restless I became, so I decided to test out whether or not vampires could eat regular food.  I spent a good fifteen minutes pawing through the kitchen cupboards, looking for something to nosh on.  The kitchen still vaguely stunk of burnt chili, and anything in a can sounded heavy and gross.  But I did find some microwave popcorn packets that had potential. 

Okay, so the microwave didn’t work with the power out, but I scraped the contents into a clean pot and put it on the stove, old school.  I still wasn’t sure if it would make me sick or not, but there was only one way to find out. 

“Got enough popcorn for two?” Bishop asked when the first kernels started to pop.

“Sure, pull up a bowl and have a seat,” I smiled, gesturing to the stools on the other side of the kitchen island while I shook the cooking pot.  “I don’t suppose you remember whether or not we can actually eat snacky food?”

“No, not really.  But that sink has a garbage disposal if one of us gets sick.”

“But there’s no power to it,” I pointed out, my face screwing up, and he mirrored my expression.

“Garbage can it is.”

The popcorn smelled good though, and before too long, I had enough for two bowls piled high and slid one across the counter to him.

“
Xièxie
,” he smiled, and my brows rose in surprise. 

“Browncoat?”

“I’m no purplebelly,” he grinned, pulling the bowl closer.

Something about the way he smiled at me triggered a memory of Bishop and me, standing in my kitchen. 

“You don’t have to sit here and babysit me, I’ll be fine,” I said.  He looked so serious, but I wasn’t the one in danger, not really.

“I’m not trying to babysit you, I’m trying to be here for you.  There’s a difference.”  Now he cracked a smile.  “Keeping you safe is just a bonus.”

I waggled a blood bag at him, but he shook his head with a wince, so I nuked a single mug for myself in the microwave.  “You should think about keeping yourself safe,” I pointed out.  “Maybe it is for the best if you don’t go into work for a while?  And I’m not saying that in an – I’m selfishly keeping you by my side for a Lord of the Rings marathon on TV – kind of thing, it’s purely a selfish – keeping you alive – kind of thing.”