Riding the Storm (17 page)

Kendra paused, then rushed into saying, “Just so you know,
most human companions are live-ins. If you want to move in once the other
downstairs residents give the okay, you can. If you don’t, that’s okay, too,
but I just needed to get it out there, so you’d know you have the option. You
aren’t technically a human companion, you’re my lover, my boyfriend —
you’re my equal, but, it’s kind of a protocol thing to make the offer.”

“Are you asking me because of protocol, or because you want
me to move in?”

“A little of both? I don’t expect you’ll actually move in permanently
because your yacht is your home, but it’d be nice if you’d come stay for a bit,
and then maybe we could stay here for a while, though we’ll need to work on
some security concerns before I regularly rest here in the daytime. I know you
have work to do, and while I have about a week of mostly downtime with The
Library, once the contractor gets to a certain point then we’ll start training
employees and getting ready to open, and I’ll be busy again for a while.” She
leaned in, gave him a quick peck on the lips. “In between us needing to work, I
guess I’m hoping we can spend more time together, if you’re okay with it.”

“Sure, I can give you a couple of drawers here to keep
stuff, and let you take over one of the closets in a guest bedroom for clothing
you need to hang.”

“And I can make room for you in my suite, as well, so you
can keep some of your things at my place. You’ll need to hang out for a while,
though. The downstairs residents will need to get to know you before they give
you twenty-four hour access to the downstairs — each suite of rooms
locks, but vampires are a bit touchy about who can get to within one locked
door of them during the day.”

Kendra didn’t mention much to her housemates about Eric,
though they all noticed he was with her a good bit. The new security system had
been installed for a while now, and once the initial discomfort of ‘something
new’ was over, the vampires appreciated it. Eric had also been teaching a class
a week, each filled to capacity. Even vampires already using computers attended
a few of the classes, and most said they’d learned enough to make it well worth
their time. Within a week, the downstairs residents gave the green light for
Eric to have twenty-four hour access to the basement.

Eric opted to stay home and work for opening night of The
Library, as he knew she’d be busy. Abbott arrived at midnight, pleased with the
activity as well as the amount of money going into the registers. He’d seen the
plans, knew Kendra had put in roof access, and motioned her to the stairwell.

When they emerged into the cool night air, the stars
twinkling above in the midnight sky, he said, “The Owl King, as well as the
female owl we intend to take to the council, are supposed to meet us at TBC at
three, which should give you enough time to close here and still make it. We’ll
decide during the meeting who’ll take the girl to the council tomorrow night.”

“What do I need to know?”

“Tricia, the female, is considered something well above a
genius. The man she works for was a computer prodigy and multi-millionaire
before he was of driving age, and by all accounts, considers his inner circle
as family. The Owl King has implied he won’t hesitate to trade her off for
political clout; however, if she doesn’t return to work after the two week
vacation she’s requested, indications suggest we’ll have a billionaire human
with infinite resources looking for her.”

Kendra shrugged. “So one of us pays him a visit and changes
his memory of why she left and when she’ll be back. A one year sabbatical to
see the world, and when the year’s up, she can call him and tell him she fell
in love with someone in Dubai and isn’t coming home.”

“When Gavin tried to peer into the human’s mind, he
couldn’t. There’s a possibility he’s built the kind of shields necessary to
keep us out, and he’s too important of a human to kill off, should we expose
ourselves to him without a way to make him forget.” Abbott looked away,
watching humans walking up the hill to a parking lot, hand in hand. “There’s something
else. She appears to be… what is the current word? Fuckbuddies, I believe, with
one of Aaron Drake’s tech people. He also expects her back in two weeks, and
since he’s a horse, she can be honest with him about where she’s going.”

Kendra’s stomach rose into her throat as she realized the
ramifications. “The Council won’t be able to keep her.”

“Correct.”

“We can’t guarantee Eric’s safety from them.”

“I’m afraid not. I’m sorry, Kendra.”

“How far will you step out, to go to bat for him?”

He sighed and looked into the distance as he said, “You’re
special to me, and he’s special to you. I’ve been worried about you, these past
decades.” He shifted his gaze to look at her, his expression caring, almost
sad. “You’ve gone through the motions of living, but haven’t found much joy in
it. He’s put life back into you, so I’ll go farther than I would for another
human, but you have to know I can’t put any of our people at risk to save him.”

Kendra wrapped her arms around herself, needing touch, and
as her Master, Abbott knew and pulled her into his embrace.

“Thank you for caring about him, and about me,” Kendra said,
her face at his chest as she let him hold her. “I trust you’ll do what is in
your power to do, Master.”

Abbott looked up, and she felt him taking in the energy of
the night as he said, “I have a few more stops to make before the meeting. I
miss the days when I could fly on a dark night. Electricity and photography
have made life simpler, but it means I must get in a car and drive, instead of
taking flight.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m happy with what you’ve done
here, getting a new establishment up and running. I’d like you to work with my
media people to keep up with the advertising campaigns you’ve begun, but
otherwise, your job is finished and my people will take over keeping it
running.” He let go and stepped back. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

* * * *

Kendra didn’t text Eric when she finally left The Library.
When he was with her he usually stayed up to somewhere around two or three in
the morning, but when not with her she knew he often went to sleep closer to
one.

In the past weeks they’d bundled up and gone roller blading,
bicycle riding, rappelling, and caving — and Eric had finally taken her
on the nighttime hang gliding flight he’d promised.

He hadn’t told her where they were going, only that they’d
have to leave right at sundown, and what she should wear. He’d driven her to
the Ocoee area, where they could get away with being towed up by an ultralight
at night without too much risk of getting caught. One of Eric’s friends had
agreed to a nighttime tow, and then Eric had piloted them for over an hour
until they landed, the feel of the wind in their faces as they silently soared
and drifted through the crisp, night air. Kendra had been speechless at first,
awed by the sensation of being lifted by the air, moved by the breezes, and
flying in a whole new way. Hang gliding was such a different feeling than that
of flying magically, and her heart soared as Eric piloted them through the inky
black sky.

She pulled into the parking lot at TBC and immediately knew
something was wrong.

Abbott?

Come inside, Kendra. Remember to think politically. I’m
sorry I can’t give you enough attention to explain the situation before you
enter.

He wasn’t going to tell her until they were face-to-face, so
she made her way across the parking lot, and the front door opened as she
approached.

“You know Natalia, Mitroff’s second,” Abbott said as she
walked in, “and to her left is Abel, His Highness the Owl King. Beside him is
Tricia.”

Kendra gave a respectful nod as she said, “Your Majesty,
it’s nice to meet you.” She turned to the girl, “Hello, Tricia. I’m sorry
you’ve been dragged into this, we’ll try to make it as painless and quick as we
can, so you can get back to your life.” She looked at Natalia. “Of course, how
quickly we can get through this likely depends upon Natalia, who I wasn’t
expecting to see, tonight.”

“Yes,” Natalia said, her expression much too smug. “When we
realized you had no intention of delivering the human to us, the Council
decided to collect him ourselves.”

Abbott was holding strong shielding, protecting the vampires
and human companions in the city, so Natalia couldn’t weevil her way into
anyone’s thoughts or willpower while she was here. He looked at ease and
relaxed, but she knew better. Natalia would’ve never been allowed in the
territory under normal circumstances, and was only here now because of her
position within the Media Council.

As much as she wanted to tear into Natalia, doing so wouldn’t
help Eric. “I trust he’s being treated well,” she said, her voice cool, “his
value as a human is great. He’s under The Abbott’s protection, as well as mine,
and I believe you’ll find he has other advocates in the supernatural world, as
well.”

Natalia inclined her head. “The Council is prepared to
financially remunerate both you and Abbott for the human. He’s going directly
into the operant conditioning program, so he can be trained as quickly as
possible to be the most use to us.”

Operant condition was political-speak for the “do as you’re
told or we’ll hurt you” training program, and Kendra cringed as she realized
he’d likely be there at least until tomorrow night before they could get him
out. She needed to complete this meeting with Natalia and get on the phone with
Aaron Drake… and hope Eric’s connection to Ranger was enough to get the
security company’s help in going after the Media Council.

“We refuse monetary compensation for the human, and we
require his safe and swift return,” Abbott said, his voice succinct.

“And we require a human qualified for the job, as well as a
supernatural who will accept a full time paid position. It is my understanding
the owl girl you’ve brought is not interested, and I’m also led to believe she
has connections with a security firm we do not wish to incite at this time.”

“As does the man you’ve taken,” Kendra told her. “You’ll
need to find another human, if you wish to avoid entanglement with Aaron Drake
and his people.”

Natalia observed her a few seconds before saying, “You seem
to believe you are speaking truth, but nothing flagged on our research so I’ll
have to believe you are mistaken, unless evidence presents itself otherwise.”

“Remove him from the operant conditioning program
immediately, and make arrangements for me to pick him up, Natalia.”

“Sorry, the Council is in unanimous agreement we need to
rectify the video game problem as soon as possible, and your human seems to be
well qualified to help us staff the division. We’ll need players as opposed to
creators, but he seems to have a stable of people who play his games and help
with development. As is the case with the readers and reviewers we’ve
commandeered, most qualified humans should be more than happy to take on a life
of playing video games one after another, with only food and lodging given in
payment.”

Eric would never be happy being kept indoors, living a life
of video games instead of being outdoors having new adventures. It would kill
him.

She was also aware Natalia was likely working towards making
whatever offer her Master had sent her to make, and Kendra needed to end the
meeting before the offer was made, because she couldn’t ask Abbott to back off
the fight for South Carolina over one human.

“If no further negotiations are possible with you alone,
then I’d like to request a meeting with the entire Media Council, within the
three days specified under supernatural grievance procedures. In the meantime,
nothing irrevocable is to be done to the human.”

Natalia gave a curt nod and looked towards Abbott. “I assume
you’ll have your second drive me to the airport, and watch me leave?”

Gavin stepped forward. “Your pilot was sent home. You’ll be
returned home on our jet, so we can be sure you don’t detour while in our
territory.”

She flinched the barest amount, which meant Gavin had messed
up her plans. Natalia recovered quickly and moved to the door, gliding on her
stiletto heels in her pencil skirt and suit jacket, the jet black bun at her
hairline as severe as the rest of her, and the red of her lipstick the only
color on her body.

The second the door closed, Abbott was on the phone. “Aaron,
we have a situation, do you have a moment to speak in private?”

Aaron and Abbott were close friends, but each tried to keep
their politics separate from the other. In this case, since Eric was a blood
relative of one of Aaron’s men, he could justifiably step into the situation
without the supernatural community making as many waves about a shapeshifter
and vampire joining forces, politically.

He took a few minutes explaining the situation in succinct
words, and Kendra wondered why he was letting Abel and the girl stay to hear
their conversation. Abbott did nothing without a good reason, though, so she
took her seat and listened.

After he’d explained, the entire room heard Aaron ask, “Is
Abel still present?”

“He is.”

“Put me on speakerphone, so we can all have a proper
conversation.”

Abbott put his phone in the center of the table and Abel
said, “What can I do for you, Aaron?”

“Since you’ve been brought into this by virtue of one of
your people, can I ask for your help in neutralizing the situation on behalf of
your girl, without having to resort to the treaty between the Owls and Swans?”

Abel was silent a few moments and finally said, “No, but
I’ll do it as a personal favor to you, to try to make up for the insult to you
and your wife when I ordered her abduction. She’s long since forgiven me, but
I’m aware you have not.”

Aaron was silent long enough Kendra thought he was going to
refuse, but he finally said, “I’ll consider a step towards forgiveness, Your
Highness.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. What do you need from me?”

“I need to work with Abbott and Kendra while they’re still
awake. I’ll contact you with your instructions after dawn.”