Kiss Me When the Sun Goes Down (12 page)

“Oh... it’s not... Sorry, I guess I should’ve explained it better,” he scratched at his neck, looking down at the ring with a frown.  “Back in my day this was called a promise ring.  It doesn’t signify that you belong to me, it means that my heart belongs to you, and you’ll keep it for as long as you keep the ring.”

“Oh.”  Completely taken aback, I picked up the ring, admiring the lines in the moonlight.  It wasn’t a complete circle, each side of the ring cradling the diamond, but not quite touching.  There was something silvery gray set into channels that ran the length of the ring and I couldn’t quite make out what it was.  “What is this here?”

“That’s the best part.  It’s a meteorite.”

“As in from outer space?”

“Yep.  It’s part of the Gibeon meteorite that was found in Namibia in 1836.  They say it’s a remnant of the early solar system, possibly part of an extinct planet or moon.  It’s millions of years old.”

A real meteorite?  How shiny was that?  I hadn’t said anything though, I was too busy studying it, and Bishop’s face fell. 

“It’s disappointing now, isn’t it?  I’m sorry, I should’ve realized you might take it as an engagement ring.” 

“No, this is seriously cool.  This is way shinier than any old engagement ring.  This sucker has been out there in the black, on the raggedy edge of space.  It’s perfect, thank you.”  I threw my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tight. 

“Do you really like it?” he asked, his cheek resting against my head, and I pulled back to look at him. 

“I love it.  I admit, you did throw me off there for a sec, but that’s okay.  I probably wouldn’t have thought that at all if I didn’t have engagements on the brain, what with Hanna and Mason’s announcement.”

“I guess I have to work on my timing,” he admitted with a sheepish grin. 

“Your timing’s fine.  I think a promise ring is a beautiful gift for where we are.”

“I just thought, what with you giving up Jakob’s ring, I could offer you an alternative that didn’t come with any strings attached.”

“I really do love it,” I smiled, pulling it out of the box to try it on.  “Oh... it’s engraved.”  Thanks to my enhanced vision, I was able to make out the letters.  “To the stars and back,” I read.

“That’s how much I love you.  I couldn’t fit any more than that, so...”

“It’s perfect,” I breathed, slipping it onto my finger.  It was a perfect fit.  My finger brushed over the meteorite, fancying I could feel a charge there, like the rock was alive in some way.  “I feel bad.  You got me a fragment from outer space and all I got you was some personalized sheet music so you could write down your compositions.”

Bishop let out a low chuckle.  “It’s not a competition.  And it’s fitting, because until you came into my life, I’d forgotten what it was to live with music.”

Already in an emotional state from the ring and the pretty sentiments that came with it, his words made me tear up.  I loved him so intensely in that moment, I wanted to grab hold of him and never let go, so I took a step back before I started bawling like a baby.  “I’m going to go now, before I do something rash.”

“Hold on, you’re not getting away so easily,” he smiled, catching hold of my hand.  “This is our third date.  Aren’t you supposed to invite me in?”

“I can’t,” I replied, gently tugging my hand free, and Bishop’s brows drew together in puzzlement.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not sure I’d ever let you go.”  I turned and ran for the door, but he was faster, catching me up in his arms.

“Not so fast, you didn’t give me my present.” 

“You’ll have to let go of me so I can go get it.”

“No, I think I want something else.  Do you mind if I exchange it?”

“I don’t think you can, it’s personalized, and...”  His lips cut me off as he took what he wanted, delivering a scorching kiss that left me dazed and confused.  What did I want again? 

“Merry Christmas, Anja,” he whispered, leaving me alone on the porch, an extra spring in his step as he jogged back to the car. 

“H-he left without his present.”  Tucker joined me out on the porch as I stood in the chilly night air, watching Bishop drive away.

“No, he got what he wanted.”  The sheet music I could give him any old time.  Now, I was going to have to find a special promise ring to give back to him, because I was ready for that step – the promise of more to come. 

“Mags?” Tucker called out up the stairs.  “She’s been waiting for you to get home, but she didn’t want to interrupt you when you didn’t come in right away.”

“Why, is something wrong?”

“I h-hope you don’t think so,” he said with a shy duck of the head, and disappeared into the kitchen as Maggie came bounding down the stairs, full of energy.

“Happy Christmas!” she exclaimed as she reached me, and I had to smile over her enthusiasm.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” I laughed.  “What’s going on?”

“You’ll never ever guess what Tucker gave me.”

“No, I don’t think I’ll be able to.  What is it?”

“Don’t be angry with me, Anja, I know we decided to exchange gifts tomorrow night as a family, but you see he couldn’t wait and...”

“I’m not mad, but what is it?” I demanded, when it looked like she was about to dance around it for another minute or two. 

“This!”  Maggie thrust her hand under my nose where a diamond sparkled on a very significant finger. 

Jeez Louise
, was everyone getting married?  “You’re engaged?”

“As long as it’s alright.”

“Why wouldn’t it be alright?”

“You aren’t angry b-b-because I didn’t ask your permission first, are you?”  Tucker hovered by the doorway, a mug of cinnamon laced cocoa in his hands as a sort of peace offering, as nearly as I could tell. 

“Why on Earth would I be angry?” I frowned, taking the hot mug from his hands.  “You most certainly don’t need my permission to marry Maggie.” 

“I can care for her now that I’m working for Lee,” he pointed out earnestly. 

“I never doubted you’d be able to,” I assured him, half wondering if he had any idea how wealthy Maggie was, thanks to her inheritance from Marcus. 

“And we’ve talked about the possibility of children being... you know, like me.”

“That is a pretty serious topic to consider,” I allowed, still not sure why he thought he had to get my blessing. 

“I don’t care a whit about that.  Any child of ours would be special, whether it’s a shifter or not,” Maggie butted in, her eyes warm and full of love as she tucked her arm through his. 

“How could I possibly object?  Look how happy the two of you are,” I smiled, feeling teary eyed again.  So many friends and family embracing the future and all the possibilities.  Could the night get any more emotional? 

“Are you s-sure?  Lee said it was okay, but...”

“Really, I’m crazy happy for you guys.  Boy, there must be something in the air.  Hanna and Mason announced their engagement tonight too,” I added, taking a careful sip of cocoa. 

“Oh... and you have a new ring as well!” Maggie gasped, noticing my left hand as I lifted the mug.

“Oh, no, it’s not... it’s a promise ring.  And check it out, these inlaid bits are from a real meteorite.  Pretty cool, huh?”

“It is lovely,” Maggie nodded, but I could tell she was disappointed.  I wasn’t though, not anymore.  I was on the right path with Bishop.  We had a shot at something more than marriage.  We had a shot at forever. 

C
arter took two steps into my study and threw up his hands in defeat.  “You’re not getting married now too, are you?  Christ, I go away for a few days and it’s like an epidemic.  I thought you were going to take it slow?”

“I am.”

Stalking across the room, he perched on the arm of my chair and held my arm up by the wrist, giving it a jiggle.  “This is slow?”

I pulled my hand free, admiring the fire in the stone.  “This is a promise ring, if you must know, and I love it.”

“A promise of what?” he snorted, and I shoved his shoulder hard enough that he tipped off the arm of the chair, but recovered before he crashed onto the floor.

“A promise of love, fidelity, all the good parts.  You know, normal relationship stuff?  No, I guess maybe you don’t.”

“I do fine without the mushy bits,” he said in a small voice, face twisting like I’d asked him to eat an entire stalk of Brussels sprouts.

Any annoyance I felt at the criticism melted in the face of those words.  He honestly had no idea what he was missing.  “Carter, you can’t go along your whole life alone.”

“I’m not alone, I have you.  Unless you’re telling me we can’t be buds anymore now that you’re going steady with Dumbo.”

“Of course not.  What would that have to do with our friendship?  And he’s not dumb.”

“I didn’t say he was, but his ears could signal air traffic.”

“They could not!  His ears are perfectly normal.”

Carter shrugged, slouching to the windowsill.  “All I’m saying is, it’s a good thing his gene pool ends with him, ’cause his kids would blow over in a storm.” 

I leaned back in my chair, arms folding across my chest.  “Tell me again how you think you can dispense relationship advice when you’re living like a monk?”

“Monks don’t get to play Assassin’s Creed, which is where I’m headed.  Give me a shout when he breaks your heart again, and I’ll kneecap him.  Until then, spare me the details.” 

“Hey, is that all you have to say to me?” I called after him when he breezed out as quickly as he’d come.

“Oh right.  Merry Christmas,” he paused to add. 

“And a Happy New Year to you too, but what about my report on the Canada situation?  You do recall the entire reason for your trip up north, right?”

“I sent you an email.”  I just stared at him, and he let out a long sigh.  “Fine, I’ll give you the highlights.”  Carter didn’t bother to take a seat, he stayed put leaning on the windowsill.  “So you were right, there are tons more vampires in Canada than there used to be, and as near as I can tell, they mostly came from England.”

“Son of a biscuit,” I muttered, leaning forward to rest my arms on the desk.  “What the heck are they up to?”

“I talked to ones in both the West and the East, and the same thing held true for all of them – they were encouraged to leave Vetis.”

That didn’t sound good.  “Encouraged how?”

“They were given relocation expenses and promised open hunting grounds with little Order interference.”

“That’s true enough, the Order doesn’t have much of a presence up there, but who paid their relocation expenses?”

“Simon Corley.”

“That must’ve cost him a fortune!”

“Yep.  The only interesting thing I found was the ones that settled here in the West did so a while ago, and the ones in the East are much more recent.  Like since Corley got exiled from Vetis.”

“So whatever he’s been cooking, it’s been in place for a while.  Since he was trying to buy the Canadian territory from me.  But why would he possibly finance the more recent moves when he’s not in charge of Vetis anymore?”

“Beats the snot out of me.  You asked me to go dig into where they came from, and that’s what I did.  The exact numbers and stuff are in the report I sent.  Can I go now?”  There was an air of impatience I wasn’t used to, and I fixed him with a frown.

“What’s going on, Carter?  How come you’re so eager to go up and play video games?  You can do that any time.  Don’t you want to hang out with us?  It’s Christmas.”

“I don’t know, I want to chill for a while.  Our family shindig’s not until tomorrow night, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but... I feel like I’ve hardly seen you lately.”

“That’s because you sent me out of town.”

“No, I mean even before that.”  Despite his casual tone, I couldn’t shake the idea that something was off with him.  “Is there something we should talk about?”

I’ll give Carter one thing, he sure had an epic eyeroll, and he exercised it with abandon in that moment.  “Not everything needs to be talked to death, you know.  I need some time to myself.”

“You just had a few days to yourself.  Seriously, what’s going on?  Don’t make me compel it out of you.”  He knew I was only kidding, but Carter slumped into the chair opposite me. 

“I don’t know, I feel... kinda antsy lately.”

“Ansty like restless, or like there’s something physically wrong?”

“More restless, like I have trouble decompressing in my down time.” 

“Why do you think that is?”

“Maybe because I’m a hunter without anything left to hunt?  I don’t know, I feel so freaking useless half the time.  I should be out there on the streets, taking care of business, not farting around the house, waiting on your next assignment.” 

“You’re not useless!  It might not be the same function, but you do have a function here.  Thanks to you we’ve identified and removed a lot of serious threats to humans in this area.  If you’re not as busy, that’s a good thing, it means it’s working.”  Vampire violence to humans was way down in the West.  Now that it was openly known that I had the vampire hunter in my cabinet, the local vamps were either a lot more careful, or a lot more discreet. 

“I know, but it’s not the same.  The video games help, they give me something to focus on.  And let’s face it, it’s pretty much the only way to satisfy my urge to kill stuff these days, thanks to you,” he added sourly. 

“I’m not going to apologize for keeping you from killing others, and I’m not going to take it back either.  We’ve proven that it doesn’t take killing to make things right.”

“Yeah, but we haven’t gone out on the hunt in ages, An.”  He slumped lower in the chair looking utterly defeated.  “It’s cleaned up around here, sure.  But what about other places?  What about down in LA, or up near Seattle?  What about the East where Jennike doesn’t give a rats ass how many humans they kill as long as it doesn’t wind up on the news?” 

“I can’t go chasing down baddies, I have obligations that keep me here.  Obligations that keep humans safer on a grander scale than those individual cases we tackled.” 

“I get the whole needs of the many crap, but tell that to the victims out there getting violated on a nightly basis.”  His eyes filled with that old zeal, the need to rid the world of the very species he was a part of.  I started to wonder if what I’d offered him in San Francisco was enough to keep him there.