Safeword: Storm Clouds (18 page)

Okay, I guess that's the best we can do, for now. You tell Eric since you've got the mind link with him. That way we don't have to take him back out of the way somewhere to talk to him.

And so Kendra played a game of pool with herself while Eric and Abbot spoke without speaking.

Finally Eric came to her and hugged her so he could talk low and into her ear. "There is more out there than just vampires? Like fairies and dwarves? Tinkerbell?"

Kendra smiled, most humans went straight from Vampires to Werewolves, but it didn't surprise her that Eric went straight to Tinkerbell.

She spoke softly. "Eric, we have this saying in the supernatural community, 'not my secret to tell'. That means that I can only tell you my secret, not anyone else's secret. You and Ranger are going to be put into a difficult situation for a short period of time. You will each know of the existence of a supernatural being, but a different one. You will be allowed to speak to each other about supernaturals in general, but you will not be able to talk about the specific being you each know about. The penalty for telling a secret that isn't yours can be death, Eric. This is pretty serious. I'll work to find a way to get the information to you and Ranger so the two of you can talk a bit more freely, but for now it would be best if the two of you just don't really talk much at all about this, to try to be on the safe side. Okay?"

He sighed, "Okay. I know you're doing the best you can do, and I guess we're into something bigger than either Ranger or I can comprehend at the moment. But, it's still hard to understand why we can't just talk to each other about what we know."

"Ranger will be used to keeping secrets, it will probably be easier for him than for you."

"Kendra, after seeing my story line today, Ranger will probably figure you out before they get out here."

Abbot? Eric shared the vampire storyline for his new video game with Ranger today. He thinks Ranger is going to figure things out pretty quickly.

We'll deal with it if he does. But if he does not then I don't want to tell him anything.

Okay.

"Eric, if he figures it out then you can't verify it, just say, 'not my secret to tell' until either Abbot or I contact you with more information, okay?"

Eric just nodded his head, not happy but not arguing about it anymore, either.

Ranger looked more relaxed than he should have when he came back out with Aaron and Nathan. He should have looked freaked out. He should have at least smelled a bit freaked out, but he didn't. Aaron looked at Abbot and said, "Ranger has accepted our job offer and will be coming to work for Drake Security. He has another almost three months left to work for the government before he moves here and begins working for us."

* * * *

Kendra and Eric rode back to his yacht in her car so they could talk while Ranger drove Eric's Range Rover back.

"Kendra, I've got to be honest, tonight was another of those nights that almost made me freak and need to think again. But, that's got nothing to do with you, just with the idea of what else might be out there that I don't know about, and the idea that if I tell someone about it, I could die. That's... harsh. Anyway, my point is that I'm not going to pull away from you, in fact, I think it might be better if I tell you how much you mean to me. Ranger is going back tomorrow and I won't see him for another three months. I'd like for you to come to the yacht tomorrow and do whatever you need to do so you and I can talk in our heads. And... I guess I need to know exactly what options there are for how you can do that, if that is the next and last step, or if there are other steps beyond that. Things you haven't told me about yet."

"Eric, I was afraid you were never going to want to be tied to me metaphysically. Are you sure you want it? I will of course explain everything to you. I'm just.. I guess I'm touched that it's something you are willing to do."

"Yes, but not tonight. Tonight I need you to hang out with Ranger and I. I'd like for you to be around so if he guesses what you are you'll be around to deal with it. Knowing him though, he'll wait until tomorrow when he will figure you'll be sleeping before he mentions it to me."

"If he does just tell him it's not your secret to tell. What time does he leave tomorrow?"

"He's got to be back at Drake Security at 10:00 and then he goes straight from there to the airport a few hours later. I could probably arrange to be asleep tomorrow when he wakes up so I don't have to talk to him at all tomorrow."

Kendra opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, and finally said, "Eric?"

"Uh oh, this sounds serious.. what is it?"

"You told me a while back you didn't want us to be exclusive. If you are ready to take the next step metaphysically... I guess I just want to be sure where we are with that. I don't want any misunderstandings."

"Why, are you seeing someone else that I don't know about?"

She could tell he was teasing, like he didn't think it was so.. but the kiss with Norris was really bugging her now. So she said, "No, not seeing someone. Not exactly. But, someone from my past showed up last night. He came without going through the right channels and Abbot sent him back home, but he'll be back in a few months, once he smooths everything over. He was there when I got home from your boat last night and we mostly talked until dawn. He kissed me before we said goodbye, but it's not like we had sex or anything. And I wouldn't have kissed him if you hadn't been so clear about us not being exclusive, but... I guess I just need to know a little bit more about where you and I stand."

"If Abbot hadn't sent him away, what would have happened between the two of you?"

"I don't know, Eric. Norris and I haven't seen each other in over a thousand years. We were about to get married when he was.. when I thought he was killed. He said it took him hundreds of years to heal before he awakened, and then he wandered around Europe before coming to the U.S. He's been in New York a few months and finally heard news of me. I'm not using the same name now that I used back then, so he had to find someone who knew me then and now, it's not so easy to do sometimes. But, in that thousand years I've changed a great deal, and I'm sure he has, too. We likely have nothing in common anymore. Anyway, it will probably be at least two or three months before he will be able to come back. So it's a mute point right now, I guess."

"I can't stand the thoughts of you with someone else Kendra. I don't want to lose you. We're close to the marina now, let's talk about it tomorrow night when we can talk about it properly, okay?"

"Okay."

When they got out of the vehicles the three of them walked to the yacht together. Ranger was looking at Kendra like she was a circus freak and it was starting to tick her off just a bit. She waited until they got into the yacht and said, "Ranger, whatever you are thinking, just say it and get it out in the open so we can talk it through."

"I don't think I can with Eric here. I guess I know stuff he doesn't know and he knows stuff I don't know, and the only thing the two of us can talk about is that there are things out there that aren't human and you apparently are one of them."

"Yes. Would you like to talk to me without Eric around for a minute so you can ask me something?"

"Yeah, but I doubt you'll tell me more than Aaron would, sounds like you aren't the head honcho, and whoever is has forbidden you from telling me what you are."

"Right. When you move back here permanently I'm about ninety-nine percent sure we'll be able to tell you what I am within a few weeks of you moving here. Hopefully in the interim I'll figure out a way to get the information you have to Eric so he'll know what you know. Until then, I've advised Eric it is probably best if the two of you just don't talk about it. The penalty for telling a secret that isn't yours to tell can be death. This is pretty serious, Ranger."

"How strong are you?"

"I don't know exactly. I know I can bench press twelve hundred pounds without straining, but I've never had an opportunity to try for more than that to get an official weight."

"How old are you?"

"Sorry, you got one question and I've answered it, we aren't going to play twenty questions until you figure it out. I give you my word that I will do my best to get the information to you as soon as possible once you move here for good. Okay?"

"Why are you with my nephew?"

"Because I like him. He's so full of life. He grabs life by the ears and rides it with all of his being." She shrugged, not sure what else to say, but finally coming up with, "He's special."

Kendra wanted to answer that one. "No Ranger, I was honest with him as soon as I could be. I'd have told him six hours after we met if I could have, but I needed to get permission first."

"One more question Kendra, and I want you to be honest with me. Will having you in his life put Eric's life in danger?"

"That's a tough one to answer. I may not be the head honcho, as you put it earlier, but I'm pretty close to the top of the ladder. Eric is under my protection, which means a lot more than it probably sounds to you. It's almost a legal thing in our world. If anyone were to mess with him it would be the same as messing with me. To simplify things, it means if anyone hurts Eric I can legally kill them. Not legally in the human world, of course, but in our world I would not get in trouble for bringing about someone's death if that someone hurt Eric while he was under my protection. And I've acted in the past in ways so that everyone in our world knows I'm capable of doing it. And, they also know there are things worse than death, and that I'm capable of those things as well. Our world is different from the human world, but I have a feeling you would understand it, Ranger. In our world you survive by having respect. Those in my world know that if they are my friend that I would do just about anything for them. And they know that if they make an enemy of me I am capable of doing just about anything to them. The current head honcho is a great leader and he's managed to cull this territory of most of the bad apples, so there hasn't really been any major trouble in decades. But in past centuries I've lived through a lot of trouble and made a bit of a name for myself. So, the answer is that Eric is probably safer from the supernaturals by being in my life than he was before he was in my life. But, if someone who was weak wanted to make a point then it is always possible they might attack the humans in our lives because they were too chicken to attack us directly. If that happened, then yes, being special to me could put him in danger. But I don't foresee that happening."

"I know I said that was the last question, but I guess I have one more. Is he in danger from you? I mean, do you sometimes lose control and if he's around while you are out of control then could you hurt him?"

"Eric is not in any danger from me. I do not lose control."

He nodded, "Thanks for answering my questions as honestly as it sounds like you were able to. And you kind of answered my other question by telling me you've lived for centuries. So, thanks for sneaking that in as well."

"You are welcome, and I look forward to being able to have a complete conversation with you about it. I want to reassure you that Eric is safe but that's kind of hard to do under the circumstances."

The rest of the evening they talked about other things and Kendra left them about three in the morning with plans to be back at the yacht to see Eric shortly after sundown that night. She went home and grabbed a novel and read until dawn. She needed to escape tonight and reading was the perfect escape mechanism.

Chapter Thirteen

When Kendra arrived at the yacht the next night she didn't really know what to expect. She had a feeling tonight would be a turning point in their relationship, but she was afraid it would be a turn for the worse. She wasn't sure exactly why, but she'd felt him pulling back a little last night even though he told her he wasn't going to do that.

She halfway expected him to be waiting in the parking lot again, but he wasn't. She made her way to the building his yacht was in and let herself in, then floated up onto the yacht, but decided she should knock on the door before actually going inside of the yacht. She wasn't sure what to think when there was no answer, but she could hear a heartbeat so she finally let herself in since the door was unlocked. She found him in his office, drawing furiously, he didn't even realize she was there until she moved to the desk and put her hand into his line of vision. He saw her and startled before looking at his watch and then apologizing, saying that he hadn't realized what time it was. He said he needed to get a few ideas on paper and he'd be right with her. So she sat and watched him draw, amazed at how quickly he made things spring up from the paper. After about ten minutes he had roughly sketched out three more pages. He neatly lined them up and said that should get him started when he got back into it the next day. He walked to her and took her into his arms and kissed her, and suddenly she felt much better about things.

"I'm sorry Kendra, I guess now you know about the artist in me who loses track of time and forgets to eat and sleep. Meet me in the kitchen area, I'll use the restroom and then meet you in there. I've got some leftover Chinese food I can nuke and then eat while you tell me everything there is to know about whatever metaphysical things you can to do bind us together."

Kendra went to the kitchen and sat down on the bench seat to the side of the small little eating area in the kitchen. Eric followed her a few minutes later and grabbed a carton from the fridge and popped it in the microwave. "What you did the other night just made me not be able to tell your secrets, it didn't bind us together in any way, right?"