Moonlight Calls (Demon's Call Series Book 1) (21 page)

Ailis smiled
that creepy smile again and shook her head.  “She’s mine,” she said in a rich
alto purr.  “I was here first.  I claimed her.  Her blood belongs to me.”

Christian
positively radiated anger and aggression.  “You have no claim to her blood, or
anything else.  She is my mate.”  His voice was growing deeper by the second,
turning into a growl.

I wrapped my
arms around myself and stood.  Keeping them both in my line of vision, I slowly
backed away.  They had just been joking together.  Now they were going to kill
each other in my kitchen.  I couldn’t keep up.

Ailis made a
move toward me and Christian grabbed her by the throat and flung her backward
to bounce off the cabinets, splintering the center one with the force of the
blow.  She pulled herself to her feet effortlessly.  Christian shimmered
briefly and he was gone, replaced by the giant black creature that was his
wolf.  Ailis hissed and Christian bared his huge teeth, saliva dripping from
his gaping maw.  The sound he was making made my stomach clench.  This was about
to get real ugly, real fast.

I took a deep
breath and darted between them.  I kept Christian at my back, since he appeared
to be protecting me rather than wanting to eat me- for now.  He growled again,
and Ailis’s eyes widened in surprise.  She smiled and began to close the
distance between us with a slow, fluid grace.

“So you don’t
prefer the dog after all,” she purred, misinterpreting my actions.

Christian
started to brush by me to get to her, but I tangled my hand in his long fur and
tugged him to a reluctant halt.  Thank God he was still listening to me.  He
could have easily torn free of my grip and went for her.

“You both need
to listen to me, and listen very closely,” my voice was quavering again and I
paused to take a deep, steadying breath.  I was striving for calm detachment. 
The last thing this situation needed was a little more human emotion thrown in
the mix.  “I do
not
belong to
either
one of you.  I’ve had enough
of this shit.”

I pulled on the
anger, letting it give me strength.  I let go of Christian and flung my arms up
in an exasperated gesture.  “If one of you so much as touches me, I’ll go to
them now- to Argenou or Henry.  You’re no better than them, pretending you’re
here to help me when all you want is to control and manipulate.”

I was shaking
again.  It was an empty threat.  I’ve never understood suicide, and that is in
essence what it would be to go to either one of their leaders.  I just wanted
this to end, and I was betting if both of them were willing to die to protect
me, then they would be willing to cooperate in order to keep me alive.

Ailis took
another step toward me, radiating dark power.  “Once you are mine, you’ll never
want to leave my side,” she said cajolingly.  She reached out and slipped her
arms around me, drawing me close.  Christian growled warningly at my side, but
was still.

“No Ailis,” I
said firmly, standing rigid in her embrace.  “You know you can’t control me
that way, and if you did someday that control would slip and I would kill
you.”  I was really gambling now.  We didn’t actually
know
she couldn’t
put me under her sway.  Argenou had almost succeeded.  I was really hoping she
wouldn’t be inclined to try.

Ailis went
still.  She took a deep breath, struggling for control.  Her face was just
inches from mine and I saw her lip tremble just before her eyes flashed from
silver to dove gray.  The strength seemed to flow out of her and she slumped in
resignation.  “Sorry,” she mumbled, looking at the ground.  “Sorry.  I’m so
sorry.”  It had been a long night.

Christian
shimmered and was once again his tall, elegantly naked self.  He immediately
drew me into his arms, enfolding me as he glared at Ailis.  I gently pushed
away from Christian.  Stooping, I scooped up his discarded clothing.  I handed
him the pile and went to Ailis.  She looked like an abused child and I could
feel the shame and pain radiating off her.  She had lost it twice tonight.  I
slipped my arms around her waist and rested my head against her chest.  Still
not talking, she reluctantly put her arms around my back and rested her chin on
top of my head.  Christian left the room without another word.

I stepped away
from Ailis.  Now that she had regained her composure, I was more than a little
pissed off.  “Mya,” she began hesitantly.

I cut her off. 
I was done with the weirdness that had become my life.  I just couldn’t deal
with it anymore tonight.  I had reached my absolute limit.  I turned on a heel,
“I’m going to bed.”

I bumped into
Christian on my way down the hall.  He had at least put his clothes on.  He
attempted to draw me into a comforting embrace, but I didn’t return the hug.  I
remained stiff and angry in his arms.  He drew back to look at me in concern. 
“Are you unwell, Mya?”

I shook free of
his arms.  “You don’t own me Christian,” I all but hissed.  I hadn’t forgotten
his little declaration in front of Henry and Argenou.  “Having everyone trying
to control me because I’m some damned freak of nature is really getting old.” 
I pushed past him in a huff and felt his eyes on me briefly before he turned to
head back to the kitchen.

“I don’t give a
damn about your powers,” he said with just a hint of anger lurking in his
beautiful voice.  I continued to my room without looking back.  I was probably
being unfair after all he’d done to protect me, but I was emotionally exhausted
and my head was starting to pound.

Once I was in
the faux sanctuary of my room, I shed my clothes and slipped on a pair of cozy
flannel pajamas.  They were old and worn, and two sizes too big, but I needed
some comfort right now.  I resolutely turned out the light and climbed into
bed, trying not to think about what Ailis and Christian were doing now.  I told
myself they could kill each other for all I cared.  Then I could just go back
to the way my life had been before I met them.

 Lying in the
dark that wasn’t dark, I closed my eyes tightly and tried to ignore the ambient
light of my vampire night vision.  Maybe I would wake up tomorrow and find out
this was all just a dream brought about by reading too many fantasy novels. 
One could only hope.

I sat at the
kitchen table the next morning nursing a cup of coffee as I squinted across the
room at Ailis.  “How the hell do you put up with this?”

 My eyes were
still sensitive to the light, so the bright sunlight that usually flooded the
kitchen was currently being subdued.  After I had been drawn to the kitchen by
the scent of Christian’s waffles, only to stumble back out cursing at the
light, Christian had went around and drawn all the shades and curtains in the
house.  I felt like an invalid being cooped up like this.  I had even called in
sick to work, though I felt more alive than ever, all of my senses sharp and
alert.

Ailis laughed
lightly and shrugged.  “You get used to it after the first hundred years or
so.”  I stared at her with my mouth open.

“Just how old
are you anyway?”  I expected her to brush me off the way Christian usually did
when I wanted to talk age.  Apparently, she was feeling magnanimous toward me
today, because she only smiled and encouraged me to guess.  I suppose being
close to death had entitled me to some liberties.

I squinted at
her again.  “You don’t look a day over twenty.”  I wasn’t really sure I wanted
to know, now that I thought about it, but I might never get this chance again. 
Well, she had just implied herself that she was over a hundred years old. 
“Were you alive during the Civil War?”

Christian rolled
his eyes and snorted.  I turned my back on him.  Bah humbug.  Ailis refilled
her coffee cup and joined me at the table, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

“Which one?”

I looked at her
blankly for a moment before answering, “The
American
Civil War.”

She laughed, “I
was well established by then.”  I took a deep breath.  So she was over one
hundred and fifty years old.  I searched my brain for more historical dates. 
“How about during the revolution?”

“Which one?” 
She was attempting to sound bored.

“The
American
one,” I said in exasperation.  She put her hand over her mouth in a fake yawn
and I grimaced. 
Okay.

“Where are you
from, originally?”  I needed to be specific with my questions.

She drew her
eyebrows together and furrowed her forehead as if trying really hard to
remember and I looked at her in warning.  She finally relented.  “Scotland,”
she said in a rich brogue.  I did a double take.

“Who was the
ruler in Scotland when you were turned?”  She looked at me and winked.  “Now
you are getting somewhere,” she said teasingly.  Christian was leaning against
the counter watching us, but his eyes had gone distant in memory.  I turned my
attention back to Ailis as she spoke.  One mystery at a time.

“The answer you
are looking for,” she said with that Cheshire grin, “is Queen Anne.”  I closed
my eyes and took a deep breath.  I had a vague sense of history, but I
certainly couldn’t place dates with Scottish rulers.  Standing, I went to my
computer and typed, “Scotland, Queen Anne,” into the search engine.

Sometime later,
I spun my chair around and glanced at Ailis.  “Mind if I ask just when in the
seventeen hundred’s you were born?”  My voice sounded casual and light, as if I
was asking what time it was.  Inside my mind was blank.  I was still waiting
for the shock to sink in.

Ailis’s face
went serious and she recited the information in that thick accent
. 
“Ailis Lillian Douglas- born the year of our lord 
sixteen hundred and eighty-six, created in the year of our lord seventeen
hundred and five.”  She shrugged.  Stretching, she stood and went to nudge
Christian out of the way so she could get more coffee.

I shook my head
and tried to appear un-phased by her revelation.  So my vampire roommate was
over three hundred years old- whatever. 
Right?

Christian
smirked and headed for the living room.  He stopped short when I darted in front
of him, blocking his escape.  I knew that Ailis considered him to be very old. 
“And since you find the vampire’s revelation so amusing, Mr. Wolf, how old are
you
?” 
I didn’t really expect him to answer me.  I wasn’t disappointed.

“Old enough to know
that you will not like the answer,” he purred in that sexy bass.  My eyes
widened when I felt his aura rippling over me.  He was trying to use his power
to get me to lay off.  He really didn’t want me to know.

I put my hands
on my hips and glared at him.  “Don’t try that crap with me,” I said
warningly.  “What is the big freaking deal?  So you’re older than dirt.  Why
don’t you want me to know?”

He frowned at me
and returned to the kitchen.  Drawing a chair out from the table, he made a
huge show of sitting down, gesturing grandly for me to begin.  “If you can
guess my age the way you guessed hers just now, then by all means, be my
guest.”  He was being cocky again.  This was going to be fun.  Although the
fact he didn’t think I could guess his age by historical events was a bit
unnerving.

I paced about
the kitchen in agitation.  I felt like I should have a pipe and a bowler. 
“You’re older than Ailis, right?”  I asked as a starting point.  He nodded with
an evil grin.

“Fine,” I said
sullenly, “Where were you born?”  His grin widened.  “Eastern Europe or
Scandinavia, whichever you prefer.”  I rolled my eyes.  This was going to be
awful.  I was not a geography buff.

“And who was the
ruler of the area when you were born?”  I asked wearily.

He laughed softly,
“The Althing ruled when I was young.”  I shook my head, taking my seat at the
computer.  “Spell that please,” I instructed.  Never underestimate the power of
the Internet.

“That is
cheating,” he said sullenly, but he obliged.  Finding that the Althing was a
sort of Icelandic parliament, was helpful.  However, it was established in 930
and disbanded in 1800.  Not a lot of help there.  My shoulders slumped in
resignation.  How the hell was I going to figure this out?  I did some more
on-line research while Christian and Ailis cleaned up the kitchen.  I think
Christian was hoping I would just get bored and give up.  Finally, I was
inspired.  In the end, it was so simple.  It was all right there in his name.

“Christian,” I
said smugly, “Were you born before or after Christianity was accepted in
Iceland?”  He raised his eyebrows at me.  “I was born right around the same
time the religion was gaining its hold,” he answered warily.

I leaned back
and gave him an
ah-ha
look, quite proud of myself.  Then it sank in.
“Jesus Christ on a piece of ice!”  I exclaimed in disbelief.  That took
Christian and Ailis by surprise and they both burst out laughing.  Christian
left the room, still chuckling.

Ailis wiped the
tears from her eyes, catching her breath before asking, “So, when
was
Christianity established in Iceland?”

I shook my head,
unable to speak.  Oh, somewhere around 1,000 A.D.

I tracked
Christian down, finding him in the living room pretending to nap.  He flinched
when I sat down on the couch, shoving him back to make room for my ample rear
end.  “So you aren’t even going to talk to me about the fact that you are over
a thousand years old?”  I asked curiously.