Her Secret (15 page)

Belatedly, I realized he meant Theoron, he,
and I, not he, Theo, and I. I cast an odd look Theo, wondering why
he wasn’t protesting he could protect me. He obviously didn’t want
me to go, but he wasn’t speaking, or even looking at Danial or
I.

“Your argument makes sense,” I ventured. “But
my fears do, too. You know if I attend this Gathering, you’ll have
to mark me again.”

“Yes, I know,” Danial replied. “And we’ll
have to arrange to leave Elle with your parents, Sar. I don’t want
her involved, especially if things go badly. With her not being
blood relation to either of us, she shouldn’t be in danger.”

“I agree,” Theo said slowly. “What I don’t
understand is why you’re going to be gone so long before the actual
meeting. Where is the meeting, anyway? When is it?”

“Ebediah’s home ground, near Niagara Falls,
at eight p.m. on New Year’s Eve,” Danial said. “A Saturday night, I
believe.”

“We should be there then by seven to check
everything,” Theo said, his mind already working. “Is it on holy
ground?”

“No. I asked that it not be, and that any
teleporting of my employees be allowed. Terian will hold Theoron at
all times. If there is any danger, he can teleport him to safety.
All other teleportation on the grounds of the meeting site is
banned. The other Rulers agreed to this.”

“What about Sar?”

“You, Brian, and I will be guarding her,
Theo.”

“That’s not enough,” Theo said, dismayed. “We
could never fight our way out if something went wrong.”

“We could not bring enough people with us to
fight our way out in any case,” Danial said angrily. “After what
happened with Monica and Erin, I hesitate to hire any other new
people.”

Theo began to pace, growling softly to
himself. I sank down on the couch, exhausted.

“We need to make it seem that Sar is still
Oathed to me, Theo,” Danial said pointedly. “She should be back to
normal by Christmas. I’ll mark her then on the side of her neck
that is empty. With the collar, and the bites, she’ll look
Oathed.”

Theo gave him a skeptical look.

“Theo, Samuel already believes it,” Danial
persisted. “We only have to get the others to believe it, and we’ll
be fine. Vampire Law is what holds us together, and keeps order.
Younger vampires may not respect this, but the older ones do, and
the older ones are in control. They will honor that she is sworn to
me.”

Theo stopped pacing. “How do you propose to
mark her?” he said, his tone black with anger and resignation.
“Even if she is back to normal, I don’t want you being intimate
again.”

“You and she can have sex, and as she
climaxes, I’ll bite her—”

Instantaneously I was turned on, then felt
appalled at myself and flushed crimson.

Theo shouted, “I cannot believe you’d
propose—!”

What would you have me do?” Danial shouted
back. “I’m doing my best to keep us from being attacked here! Stop
thinking of your own interests, and start thinking about how to get
us to the point where we all leave the Gathering together! An
ending where you and I aren’t dead! If they suspect she’s not
Oathed to me, they’ll take her!”

“Isn’t there some numbing potion I could get
from Stephen?” I asked.

“Unlikely,” Danial retorted. “He wants me not
to bite you, no matter the consequences. And Terian has not made
any progress in his efforts to learn healing magic.”

Theo let out a breath. “Say we do find a way
for you to mark her. What particulars have already been
arranged?”

“I am leaving on December 18
^th
for
the first of the meetings. I’ll call in every day. I want to know
the instant your condition improves, Sar.”

I nodded.

“Theo, Brian will not be coming with me, so
you are to call him in case of emergencies. Terian will be watching
over Theoron when you and Sar aren’t on the premises. Even then,
we’ll be stretched thin. I have a lot to do and little time.” He
paused. “I’ve not told the others, but I want you both to know that
I’m planning to borrow a few of Devlin’s guards to watch over me.
Despite what I said earlier, Terian will have his hands full and
there isn’t another way.”

Theo snarled “Not that evil—”

“No,” Danial said quickly. “Not him. Most
likely Vince and Kev.”

“Him who?” I asked.

“Can you trust them?” Theo said warily,
ignoring me. “They have recent history—”

“I trust Dev,” Danial said, cutting him off.
“Dev guarantees that they’d do what needs doing. Terian is working
on spells of protection to use at the party, researching some rarer
ones that might not be discovered. If you think of anything
additional we can use to help protect us, either of you, tell me. I
want to get us out of this safely, whatever it takes.”

Theo nodded. “I’ll think on it.”

Danial hugged me. “Sar, don’t worry,” he said
softly. “We’ll find a way out of this.”

“I trust you,” I said, then gave him a chaste
kiss for reassurance. Danial kissed me back passionately, crushing
his body to mine. I intensified the kiss, making myself give him
the reassurance he needed, despite my desire was once more
absent.

Danial broke the kiss, then let me go,
striding upstairs to his office.

“Come on,” Theo said, taking my hand. “Let’s
get home. It’s been a long night.”

* * * *

The next weeks were a flurry of activity. My
day-to-day tasks were at odds with the imminent death situation
that we were facing to the point I considered them almost absurd.
Still, I knew what normal life like the sleepover meant to Elle, so
I kept it together for her.

When Cathy called and said Violet had a cold
the morning of the big event, we postponed it until the following
Friday. Most appointments were kept, like Elle’s and my hair
appointment, where we each donated a good chunk to Locks of Love.
Though Elle did close to two feet, ending up with a very short do,
I did the minimum, telling myself I wanted it to remain longer.
Down deep I knew that was a lie; I was remembering someone else,
who’d always loved my hair long.

My condition didn’t improve; if anything, the
only change was that I was more tired now than I had been before.
Though I slept well and soundly each night, I took naps in the
daytime now, too. I chalked it up to winter malaise, not wanting to
admit the real cause was likely a long-term effect of the drug I
was taking.

During a brief pause in his hectic schedule,
Terian finally gave me my box to keep Devlin’s choker in. When he
gave it to me, it appeared as if he was giving me thin air. The
moment I touched it, the box revealed itself, the point of contact
with my hands showing first, and moving across the box’s structure,
until it was completely revealed.

“Thanks, this will be perfect.”

“When you put it down, the box will wink out
of sight,” Terian cautioned. “Remember where you put it, because
it’s very easy to lose something that isn’t visible until you touch
it.”

“Makes sense,” I replied. “Um, I’m not sure
how to ask without prying, so I’ll just say it. Have you contacted
Titus yet?”

“Not yet,” he said, an uneasy look passing
across his face. “I’m not sure what to say to him. He’s been told I
exist, and he hasn’t contacted me. Besides, Leri isn’t dead.”

I nodded. “I know. Danial told me last week
when we were riding together. I’ve been nervous about it ever
since.”

“She shouldn’t come back,” Terian assured me.
“Titus knows about her attack. Danial said Leri hasn’t been staying
in Hayden.”

“She may still blame you and me. She’s got to
be grieving for what she lost.”

“She had only herself to blame,” he said
darkly. “Now if you’re all set, I need to work.”

I left Terian’s lab and went directly to
Danial. “May I have the envelope back?”

He opened his safe without a word. I reached
in and pulled it out under his watchful eyes, praying the contents
hadn’t shifted enough for any metallic clinking. That night I put
the choker in the box along with the note Devlin had written me,
asking me to come to him. I was tempted again to call him, but
instead closed the box quickly, storing it in a drawer where it
winked out of sight.

* * * *

Danial began his intense work schedule closer
to the beginning of December in an effort to tie up as much
business as he could before the holidays. He worked every night,
and most days from his home, reporting to clients what needed to be
done, what he’d discovered for them, and completing paperwork for
each finished case. In his relieved estimation, he would have
nearly every open job closed by Christmas.

I did my best to keep up with the increased
workload. It helped that there were no new cases to begin or
update. Danial had instructed me to tell all new clients that the
business would be closed for the month of January. If they were
insistent about waiting, he would let them book an appointment now,
but otherwise he recommended they find someone else. To my pride,
most clients opted to wait. Before long, February was completely
booked.

Along with the rest of us, Devlin was also
keeping busy. He kept up an almost constant barrage of romantic
emails, replying to each of the cases I forwarded to him with
suggestive poetry. On December twelfth, I made the mistake of
replying to one of his emails, a quote by F.A. Kemble:

What shall I do with all the days and hours
that must be counted ere I see your face?

How shall I charm the interval that lowers
between this time and that sweet time of grace?

Oh, how, or by what means, may I contrive to
bring the hour that brings you back more near?

How may I teach my drooping hopes to live
until the blessed time that thou art here?

I wrote back, Stop sending these. You are not
making things easy for me. That reply prompted him to send a new
email every day instead of just in response to my emails.

I hadn’t known that there were so many poems
of unrequited love and longing. Worse, poetry was not all. On the
thirteenth of December, a deliveryman came with a dozen fire and
ice roses to Danial’s home. They were for me, from Devlin.

Sar, I know you enjoy these, so I am sending
them to you. Today is my birthday, or as close as I remember. Think
of me, and know I wish I were there with you, beside you.

Love, Dev

Danial heard the delivery van leave, and came
out of his bedroom. “Flowers? They must be from Devlin for
you.”

Theo never got me flowers, but I thought it
disloyal to say that to Danial. “Yes. He said it’s his birthday.
When you talk to him, tell him Happy Birthday, and I wish the
same.”

Curious, Danial read the card. His expression
became startled.

“What is it?” I asked, breathing in the scent
of roses. “God, they smell wonderful.”

“Sar, did you read this?” Danial said, his
voice strangled.

“Yes,” I said slowly, not understanding. “I
thought it was sweet.”

Danial looked apoplectic. “Sweet?”

“He said he wished he could be here beside me
for his birthday. Why are you upset?”

Danial roared with laughter.

“What is so funny?” I said with narrowed
eyes, putting my hands on my hips.

“Take another look at the card, Sar,” he
said, still choking. “The word written there is not beside, it’s
inside.”

My faced turned red by inches, until
combustion seemed a certain fate as I was so hot with
embarrassment. “Son of a bitch!”

Danial was still smiling with mirth, already
dialing his phone with a purpose. He yelled good-naturedly,
“Devlin! Sar got your flowers. What the hell are you thinking,
sending that note where anyone could read it?” He paused,
listening. “Yes, she liked them. At least while she thought the
card said beside.”

Faint laughter poured out of the phone in a
melodious rich burst.

Furious, I ripped the card off the flowers
and stalked into Danial’s bedroom, where I tore it into miniscule
pieces and put it in Danial’s wood stove. Then I lit it, watching
it burn until it was nothing but ashes. I did laugh, when I was
alone in there, but knew I had to keep it to myself, because Danial
was right. Devlin was walking a tightrope here, and there was too
much at stake to screw around like he had.

Danial hung up as I came back into the great
room. “I told him not to do that again, but I’m not sure how much
good it will do. Dev said he was sorry, and that he hoped you liked
the flowers.”

“You know he’s not sorry at all.”

“I know,” he said, kissing my cheek gently.
“But he does love you, Sar. I think he’s a little obsessed with
you, frankly.”

“Why?” I said sarcastically. “Because of my
summer blood?”

“Because you are not falling at his feet. You
have not told him you loved him.”

I gave Danial a skeptical look. “Surely other
women must have resisted his advances?”

“None I know of,” he said. “He always gets
his way.”

“Then does he really love me, or that he
can’t have me?”

“Probably a little of both,” Danial said
honestly. “It’s hard to say. I’m his brother and I don’t understand
how his mind works.”

Theo came in the front door, and saw the
flowers. “From Devlin?” he said, smelling them. “He got you some
like this before. I remembered, because they were so unusual.”

“Yes,” I said, blushing faintly. “It’s his
birthday.”

Suddenly, it dawned on me that I’d never
celebrated a birthday with either of the men standing before me.
Deep shame soaked me to the bone that I had never asked, especially
Danial. “By the way, when are your birthdays?”

“Mine is in May,” Theo said
uncomfortably.

“Mine is in the fall, I think,” Danial said
distantly. “I have not kept track of it for many years. Do not feel
badly about it, as I don’t celebrate it. Theo hasn’t either for
many years.”