The Men of Otherworld: Collection One (7 page)

Menolly’s voice filtered out, the sultry tones vanishing from her cool, harsh reply. “Lord Caleb, your invitation is no doubt one most vampires would swoon over, but I passed swoon a long time ago. You’ve insulted my wife, you’ve insulted your brother—my consort. And you’ve insulted me, and then you invite me to switch sides and follow you to Europe? I have no clue how you can possibly think I’d be interested.” She snorted. “Truth is? I’m from Otherworld. You will find me far less tractable than women who are full-blooded human—even if they have been turned. I’m not good at being a puppet with a hand up my ass.”

Caleb sputtered. “You fool. My brother has far too many enemies and far too little gumption to wipe them out. This Vampire Nexus he seeks to create—it will be strangled and not by me. No, I leave that to the humans who will never accept our kind—
or your kind
.” He must have been talking to Nerissa at that moment because she let out a harsh laugh.

“You truly think you can go back to when vampires ruled the night and people believed they were invincible? There are a thousand wannabe Buffy the Vampire Slayers out there among the hate groups, and some of them are pretty damned smart. And just because
my kind
—Weres—are targeted too, doesn’t mean we’ll join you in the blood bath you crave.” Nerissa’s voice rang indignant. Roman had heard that edge before and while he admired her willingness to stand up for what she believed, he also knew that standing up to someone like his brother could be very, very dangerous.

Roman snarled and swung into the room. “What the hell is going on?”

Caleb jumped, his eyes turning bloodred. He was standing over Nerissa with Menolly between the two, her fangs down, looking ready to strike. Nerissa jumped to her feet, hands on hips, glaring from behind Menolly.

Fuck, why the hell did I have to let him in the door?
Roman had had enough.
 

“Caleb, are you threatening my consort and her wife? You wouldn’t be trying to steal her away, would you?” Roman cautiously circled around them, but he couldn’t give away his power here. Vampires were like big cats—in a fight, the dominant one would win. Trouble was, Caleb had a penchant for grudges and his memory was long.

Caleb let out a faint snarl but pulled back. Roman glanced at Menolly and Nerissa, a warning look in his eyes, and gently shook his head, hoping they’d keep their mouths shut. Menolly started to say something but Nerissa suddenly stood and interrupted her.

“Our family is expecting us—we’re needed tonight and we gave our word we’d be home by nine. If we leave now, we can keep our promise.” Her voice was steady and she avoided looking at Caleb, who was smoldering.

Roman gave them a brief nod. “Go then. I will not have you breaking your word.”
 

As they gave both vampires a brief bow, Menolly paused, looking back directly at Roman. “You know I’ll never break my word.” They disappeared out the door.

Roman waited for a moment, then turned to his brother. “What the hell was that all about? You were trying to convince my consort to leave me and go with you? And what was Nerissa talking about?”

Caleb let out a snort. “You are so good, so obedient. You follow whatever Mother says without question. And now she has been swayed—she wants us to become part of the world, convince them to accept us.
It will never happen.
The world sees us as a plague. We’re the monsters in the dark, waiting to drink their blood and turn them into monsters just like us. You and Mother think all of these trappings will do the trick.” He gestured around him. “You think the businesses and the organizations will convince mortals to leave us in peace. You’re living a fool’s dream.”

“And what are we to do otherwise? Mortals know we exist. We either do our best to work with them or…” Roman paused. A horrible thought crept in. “That’s what Nerissa was talking about—you intend to start a war, don’t you?”

Caleb laughed. “A war? Oh, brother, the war started the day that Kesana, the Mother of Blood, invited the demons to transform her into the first vampire. The war started back then and it will never end. I need a queen worthy to take up the battle.”

Roman forced himself to hold steady, but what he wanted to do was stumble back, to grab the nearest sharp object and stake his brother. “You are mad. You would go against Blood Wyne—”

“Our mother has lost her edge. And
you
…what are you but a minor bureaucrat? What do you think will happen when the humans realize just how many of us there are? Do you really think they’re going to let us all live? Right now, they don’t realize our numbers, but you and your Nexus are intent on making us visible, and Mother has played into your hands. Menolly—I know what she’s capable of. Our mother made the mistake of telling me. She’d be the perfect queen for a new realm.” Caleb’s eyes narrowed. They were glowing crimson now, streaked with blood, streaked with anger.

Roman knew what he should do—knew what he was obligated to do—but when it came down to it, he found himself vacillating. He’d killed countless men in battle before he’d been turned into a vampire. He’d killed countless people since then. He could be ruthless, but fratricide felt so final. He’d never attacked one of his own family before. As he considered his next move, a spark of fear crept into his thoughts. Caleb was strong. If Roman attacked him here, and didn’t win, Caleb would be free, set into Seattle without anyone to stop him.

“Go. Get out of my sight. Get out of my city.” Roman whirled as a sound at the door startled both of them. There stood Wendy with Renee. “Wendy, get her out of here. Now.”

Wendy obeyed immediately—she knew better than question her master. She grabbed Renee by the arm and dragged her away.
 

Caleb laughed, waving them off. He headed toward the French doors leading out to the garden. “I’ll find my refreshment elsewhere. Don’t you have any worries about that. And brother,” he paused, clutching the knob, “tell Mother I resign my commission in her court, and I wish her good luck. One way or another, there will be a new queen rising, and I’m going to be right there at her side, controlling every action. The vampire nation will live again, in fury and vengeance, just like it was always meant to.”

And then, Caleb vanished into the night. As Roman watched him go, he knew that a war was coming. If he had tried to stop Caleb now, alone, he doubted that he could have done it. But sometime, probably sooner than later, they would meet. And Roman would have an army behind him, because Caleb wouldn’t be coming alone. As he slowly moved to call his mother and tell her the news, he wearily thought that maybe he should just walk into the sun—be done with it and over. But that would leave Caleb free to storm against the mortals, and against Blood Wyne, and that was something Roman couldn’t let happen. As he picked up the phone, he thought, some nights seemed to last forever.

A Purr-Fect Weekend

All Shade wants is a weekend alone with Kitten…He should have thought about the old adage: Be careful of what you ask for. Sometimes you just may get it.

Shade was looking forward to the weekend far more than he’d looked forward to anything for a long time. The family—including Maggie and Hanna—were packing up for a two-day vacation out at Smoky’s barrow, and he and Delilah would have the whole house to themselves.. Granted, they already had the entire third floor to themselves, but there was always somebody needing something—always some interruption. This weekend would be a wonderful cure to all of that.

He hurried down to the kitchen to say goodbye. Even though he was looking forward to the privacy, no one could ever call him churlish. And he did love the rest of the family. He felt protective of them, just like Smoky did.
All
dragons, half-blood or not, had that streak. It bordered on possessiveness at times.

Camille and Menolly were in the kitchen, finishing up last minute preparations. It was dark outside, and they had a long drive ahead of them. They were leaving in the evening so Menolly could get her lair prepared once they reached the barrow. Sunrise might not come all that early, but when it peeked over the top of Mount Rainier she’d have to be safely hidden away.
 

Delilah was sitting on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth. “I wish we could go with you, but I promised Shade—” She stopped, suddenly aware he had entered the room. Blushing, she added, “But
I
wanted to stay…”
 

Shade snorted. He knew how tight the girls were. “That’s all right, love. I know you wish you could be in both places. But we planned this a few weeks ago. Please?” He turned on the puppy-dog look. Once they were alone, she’d have a blast and be glad they stayed. He just had to convince her not to shift gears at the last minute.

Delilah let out a long sigh. “I know…We’ll have a wonderful weekend. Just us.” She wrinkled her nose and hopped off the counter to give him a kiss. “But you’re right. I
do
wish I could be in both places at once.”

Camille grinned. “I could try a bilocation spell—that way you could stay here
and
go with us. Want to bet that I could make it work?”

Both Menolly and Shade stared at her.
 

Menolly snickered. “I’d pay to see that one.”

Shade, however, let out a groan. He glanced at Delilah—she got it in her head to try out some of the damndest things at times—and shook his head. “So
not
a good idea. It’s not that I don’t trust you but…”

“I wish you could.” Delilah jumped off the counter. “I’d love to go tramping around in the woods this weekend. Nerissa and I haven’t been able to go running in a long time. We need the exercise.” She shrugged. “I guess I can go running around Birchwater Pond in my panther form, right?” After a pause, she worried her lip and turned to Shade. “Can you run and grab my backpack for me? I need to give Camille something. It’s in the parlor.”

Menolly shouldered her bags and headed out the door, waving behind her.
 

Shade frowned, but headed into the living room. Delilah was up to something, and it didn’t make him any easier that she obviously didn’t want him to know what. If it had just been girl talk, they would have ignored the fact that he was there and gone on to talk about clothes, makeup, daggers—all their favorite subjects. He was used to being a token girlfriend by default.

The backpack was in the parlor like she’d said. Shade carried it to the kitchen, stopping short as he entered the room. There, on the counter, Delilah was licking her paw, in her tabby form. Camille, on the other hand, was frowning and tapping her foot as she stared at the cat. She darted a guilty look his way as he strode into the room.

“Shade! Um…I see you found her backpack.” Camille blushed.

Right then, he knew that something was wrong. Slowly, he set the pack on the counter. “Why is Delilah in her tabby form?”
 

Camille cleared her throat. “Well…Delilah, come on, shift back? Please?” She lifted the cat and snuggled her in her arms, petting the golden puffball.
 

Delilah’s cat form was a golden tabby—furry and long haired, with a big bushy tail. She almost looked like a Maine Coon, though she wasn’t quite as large as members of the breed ran. Delilah let out a purr, leaning against Camille as she rubbed Delilah’s head with her chin.

“Delilah?...Delilah?” Shade frowned. Usually Delilah shifted when she was tired or wanted to play. Or, often, when she was stressed. “Did something scare her?”

Camille shook her head, staring at the cat. “No. Nothing scared her. Come on, Delilah—shift back. Stop joking now.”

But Delilah just wriggled in her arms and then, with a sudden leap, landed on the floor and raced into the living room. Shade swung around, staring at his sister-in-law-to-be. “What did you
do
, Camille?”

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Just then, Menolly popped her head back in the door. “Camille? Are you coming?”

“I…Oh, hell. All right, you’re going to find out anyway. It was Delilah’s idea. We both thought it would probably work since she was willing.” Camille glanced from Menolly to Shade.

“And just what did you think would work?” Shade rubbed his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on. This was not the way he wanted to start a romantic weekend. “Just tell me.”

Menolly leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a fangy grin on her face. “I have the feeling this is going to be a good one, whatever it is.”

“While you were getting Delilah’s pack, she asked me to try the bilocation spell on her. It seems to have backfired and turned her into her cat form.” Camille frowned. “And now, she won’t shift back. Or she can’t. I don’t know which.”

Shade groaned as he turned toward the living room. “Stay here. Don’t go anywhere till I catch her.”

Swearing under his breath, he headed into the living room, where he saw Delilah poised on the edge of one of the coffee tables. She was eyeing the mantel over the fireplace, even though it was covered with harvest decorations. “Delilah, stop right now. Don’t you dare! Delilah!”

But she ignored him, leaping to the thin ledge. There wasn’t room for both her and the basket of pumpkin-shaped gourds, and she managed to catch a garland as she slipped off, which brought down the basket and everything else with it. The mantel was bare, there were decorations everywhere, and Delilah sat on the ground, looking a little dazed, with the garland hanging around her neck.

Shade pounced, scooping her up. He carried her to the kitchen, where he plunked her down on the counter. Holding her firmly, though she was squirming to get free, he glared at Camille. “Change her back. Now.”

Camille nodded, closing her eyes. She held out her hands.
 

“Two from one, to one from two,
 

This spell I now remove from you,

Shift now from the form we see,

As I will, so mote it be.”

Amid a sputter of sparks, a faint blue light emerged, engulfing Delilah. She let out a brief yowl, but stopped squirming. Shade let go, jumping aside to avoid being in the way when she transformed back. A moment later, she still sat there in cat form, her fur a bit ruffled. Giving what sounded suspiciously like a sigh, she started to groom one paw.