Midnight Squad: The Grim (51 page)

           
Penny got very still, and I think she was trying to prepare
herself for the worst. Then after taking a moment to compose herself, she
nodded. Mom asked nervously, “Are the books true?” Penny started laughing, and
almost couldn’t stop. It took her a few minutes, but finally she said, “Oh
sorry, I wasn’t ready for that question. I thought you were going to ask me if
you were all safe from me.”

           
“Well I assumed that you must be fairly safe or else my
baby wouldn’t have brought any of ya’ll here.” I felt a little guilty on that.
I still wasn’t sure what was going on with Ally.

           
“So are the books true?” Mom asked nervously.

           
“Mostly no.
Garlic doesn’t kill
us. Holy water is useless. I’m actually a believer in Christ so the cross thing
is completely bogus. Sun doesn’t kill us, but it does take a lot more of my
energy to be out in the sun than it does does to stay in the dark. So vampires
preferring darkness is actually true in a sense. We as a group like cool dark
places because it is a lot less of a drain on us that way. As for food, I have
to drink blood, but I’m really just taking the life essence from it. I don’t
need much to survive, but depending on how alive I want to look I may have to
use a lot of energy.” Penny smiled back. She was actually getting along with my
Mom. I really didn’t expect it to go so smoothly. I just couldn’t get over
that.

           
“So what happens if you get really low on blood?” Kelly
asked.

           
Penny grimaced for a second and said, “Well, I start
conserving as much of it as I can. This means I start cutting back on stuff
that expends the energy. So I slowly end up looking more and more like a
zombie.”

           
“Wait, are zombies real?” Mom interrupted.

           
“Yes, and they really are a pain. Even if you find one
that’s semi-intelligent they still only really think about food, and if you
muzzle them they just whine about it.” Penny started giggling.

           
“What’s so funny?” Mom questioned.

           
“I was just thinking about my father. When we all first
became vampires he thought it would be good to have an undead security detail
as a way to protect us, but once we had them, all they wanted to do was eat us.
I can’t tell you how many times we had to pry one of them off my father. They
are surprisingly like
pitbulls
. Once they latch on,
it is almost impossible to get them to let go. My father is stubborn though so
he kept them. He may still have them. It’s the worst security detail ever. You
can smell them approaching from a mile away.”

           
“So what’s the biggest difference about being a vampire?”
Kelly asked.

           
“
Time,
and age. When I was
human, time seemed to take forever. I couldn’t wait until my next birthday, or
the next dance, and as I got older, I wanted to say I was younger than my given
age. Now that I’m a vampire, I have forever, and when forever is what you
measure time against, then time passes quickly. In addition, vampires lie up on
their age, but we tend to say we‘re older instead of younger. Being older earns
you more respect, so it‘s not unusual for a vampire to add a decade or two.”

           
Mom hugged her, “You look so young. If you don’t mind me
asking how old are you really?”

           
“I am three hundred and nineteen years old.” Penny
smiled.

           
Mom laughed, “Well I guess I can’t ever tell you to
respect your elders now can I.” Penny grinned, and hugged my mother.

           
Mom and Kelly continued peppering Penny with questions,
and I watched Susan. Janine fascinated her. Janine kept joking and playing with
her during the meal. Janine even changed shapes, and once or twice went
invisible. She kept doing all kinds of little tricks for my sister. Susan just
kept eating up the attention. It was sweet.

           
Alhambra told stories to Melanie. Melanie kept watching
her in wide-eyed-wonder. I was just barely controlling my temper. I didn’t want
Ally near my family, but until I had something concrete on her, I would just
have to trust she meant well.

 
Jennifer and Jackie-O focused their attention
on Katy. Katy kept doing simple little magic tricks. After awhile Penny helped
my mom go get dessert, which practically meant Penny was now an adopted member
of the family. I still wasn’t sure how I was going to explain my relationship
with Katy, but Penny, Katy and I still hadn’t worked it all out yet. So I
suppose at least for now there wasn’t a relationship.

           
When Penny brought the dessert back, she looked ready to
cry. I felt a possessive anger fill me up, but until I knew what happened I’d
bite my tongue. Also the dessert was chocolate cake. I know they all say I
think with my dick, but that’s not true. Sometimes I think with my stomach. For
some reason I looked at the cake and pictured Penny covered in chocolate
frosting…does that count as a meeting of the minds?

           
Danika had moved away from Niki, and she was nuzzling me
a bit. Niki was giving me the evil look of death, and Penny was doing the same
to Danika. Danika put an arm around me and gave me a peck on the cheek. Penny
stood up and popped her fangs. They stood out like two knives. Everyone except
my two youngest sisters realized how dangerous the situation was, Melanie and
Jackie-O were just clapped and giggled thinking it was another attempt to
entertain her. They kept begging Katy for more magic tricks.

           
Danika growled at Penny. Pepper then got between Penny
and Danika and started barking at Penny. It was as if he was protecting his
long lost love. Danika pulled me close and growled, “mine.” This was going
downhill fast. Katy, to her credit tried to get Jennifer and Jackie-O out of
the room before things got ugly. “Okay you two, why don’t you show me some of
the cool things you brought with you, and afterwards we’ll all go outside and
I’ll make you all a fireworks show.”

           
Melanie heard the only thing that might have been more
interesting to her than the Jinn, “Fireworks? Yes! We’ll be able to see them
really good on the full moon tonight.”

           
Danika gasped, “Full moon!” She looked at me. Danika was
practically holding me like I was her own personal possession. Then she looked
at Penny, and then back at me, “Oh shit!” My sisters gasped. Melanie pointed
and laughed, “Now you have to put a quarter in the swear jar!”

           
Danika let go of me and stood up, “Oh no! I forgot about
the day. This is bad…oh this is real bad!” We all stared at her while she had a
good old-fashioned freak-out. Unfortunately, this meant Danika was going to
have to give herself to the wolf tonight. When we were at the compound that
meant her floor was on lockdown, and nobody saw or spoke to her until morning
on days like this. We even turned the security cameras off because they
sometimes agitated her when she was like that. I stood up, “Okay, we have to
get you somewhere secure. Dad, do you have any idea? Is there an abandoned home
or something we can lock her up in until morning?”

           
Dad thought it over, “There’s the old Clementine bomb
shelter over by the lake, but I don’t know what condition it’s in.” Thank God
for Dad’s quick thinking. I barked out, “Ok Danika, you and I are going to the
bomb shelter. Penny you stand guard here until we can get back.”

           
“I want to come with you?” Penny sounded nervous.

           
“No, you’re the only one here that could stop her if she
gets out. I want you here so you can protect everyone. I need you here…please.”
Penny didn’t look happy but she nodded. Niki stood up, “I’m coming!”

           
“No you’re not!” I growled.

           
“I’m coming, and you can’t stop me. I love her, and I’ll
stay with her no matter what.” Niki dared me to put up a fight. I looked at the
clock. We had fifteen minutes before sunset, and it would take every minute to
get down to the bomb shelter if we ran. The sun was already nearly over the
horizon, and the moon was peaking up. Danika looked at me and begged, “We have
to go…I can’t hold out for very long.” She was rubbing up against me as she
said it.

           
“Fine let’s go. Niki, keep up as best you can.” I spit
the words out as I headed for the door. Danika and Niki were right behind me.
Pepper barked, yipped, and followed them. We got outside and I broke into a
sprint, Danika followed right behind me. For her it was at best a slow jog.
Pepper was following Danika like a willing suitor. Niki brought up the rear.

           
When we got to the bomb shelter Danika was pawing me. She
was already close to changing, but now she was trying to pull off my clothes.
Niki yelled, “What the fuck is going on?” Danika stopped and looked at me, and
then at herself, “Oh fuck!” Her voice was more animal than human. She looked at
Niki, her eyes full of tears, “Oh honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Niki’s
features softened. She’d been so angry, and now seeing how upset Danika was, my
sister set all the anger aside and just showed nothing but love and concern.
“What is it?”

           
Danika looked so ashamed, “Every time you and I talked
I’d come cuddle up to your brother. I thought he would smell like you, and I
just wanted to have your scent. I love you so much, but I fucked up.”

           
“What’s wrong?” Niki ran over and held Danika. She pulled
her close to her and at that moment, I knew without a doubt my sister was in
love. This wasn’t just an infatuation. At this moment my sister would have
moved Heaven and Earth to make whatever upset Danika better. I looked from my
sister to her werewolf lover. They just belonged together.

           
“Honey, I kept snuggling up to your brother to get your
scent. It was innocent. I just wanted to have your scent, but my inner wolf…she
bonded with your brother.” Danika was sobbing. Many women would have been
angry, but Niki just wanted her to be safe and happy. Niki was beyond caring
what happened to her. There was no
ego,
there was no
selfishness to her at that moment. All she cared about was Danika, and it
showed.

           
“That’s okay. I mean so you bonded with my brother. It’s
good that you two get along so well.”

           
“That’s not the kind of bonding I mean. I mean my wolf
thinks that Grimmy is my chosen mate. It wants him, and when the moon is full,
I won’t be able to control it. I’ll understand if you never want to speak to me
again. I don’t deserve you.”

           
“Your wolf wants him? But you’re a lesbian?”

           
“Yes, but my wolf wants him as a mate. It’s not the same.
It’s female, and it is instinctively going after a male. I love you, but I kept
sniffing him. My inner wolf got the two mixed up. I’m so sorry. Please don’t
hate me.” Danika was sobbing hysterically.

           
Niki pulled her in close and kissed her, “I don’t hate
you. This isn’t your fault. I’ll stay with you all night.”

           
“You can’t I don’t have enough control over my wolf. It
would kill you in here.” Danika was sniffling. Niki hugged her, “I’ll be just
outside then. We’ll get through tonight together. I love you.”

           
Danika growled out, “I love you.” Then the bones in her
face started to shift. She lifted her head and let out a blood-curdling howl. I
pushed Niki out through the shelter door. Pepper bit at my ankles the whole
way. I was tempted to stomp on the little rat. Once outside the door Niki
walked over to a nearby tree, sat down, and cried. I walked over to her and put
an arm around her shoulder.

           
“Grim? What am I going to do?” Her eyes pleaded with me
for an answer. I hugged her and gave her the only one I could, “You’re going to
love her with all your heart.
Just like I love Penny.
I’m not saying it will always be easy, but back in that shelter I saw my sister
completely in love with someone. I’d hate to see you throw that away because of
this.”

           
“But she wants to mate with you?” My sister shuddered. I
didn’t take offense to it. Who wants to think about their sibling’s bedroom
activities? It was just creepy. “Danika doesn’t want to mate with me. The wolf
does. I know it’s weird. Shit, it’s freaking me out just thinking about it, but
you have to remember. You’re in love with a werewolf, and that means the normal
rules don’t apply. Fuck, I’m in love with a vampire. Do you know what that
means?”

           
“No?” She said nervously.

           
“It means that she can kill me with a bite. She could
lose her temper one day and thump me in the head, and it might just knock it
completely off my shoulders. It also means that for us to really have a
relationship then we have to have a third person involved.” I was a little
uncomfortable with telling the details to my sister, but maybe if anyone might
understand it was Niki.