Called to Order (31 page)

“Aren’t you the least bit worried for your brother?”

“You come first.”

“But…but he’s your twin. He has been a part of who you are since conception. You were split from the same cell.”

“And he betrayed that bond the moment he threatened you.”

She said nothing. The set of Adam’s jaw told her he was not going to budge on the matter. It seemed a bit hypocritical of him to go preaching about forgiveness yet have no room in his heart to forgive Cain. She wasn’t sure why she was worried about Cain anyway. It was
her
future he threatened. Perhaps she was merely playing devil’s advocate to feel out where things were heading.

After a long silence, Adam quietly said, “I hope to forgive Cain, but Cain must want forgiveness in order to receive it.” Satisfied with his comment, she kept her mouth closed for the rest of the ride.

When they arrived on the farm, it was pitch black. Even the lights from the old truck seemed to only penetrate the shadows in an artificial cylindrical glow. They slowly coasted over the narrow buggy ruts in the dirt paths, the truck’s wheels shifting, unable to fit in the parallel depressions four wheels at a time. Anna supposed this would be the last ride she took for a while that did not stink of horseshit…
Damn it…horse pooh! And darn it for that matter!
She was going to have to think of some cleverer curse words. She groaned.

“Is something wrong,” Adam asked as he pulled up beside the barn the truck had originally emerged from.

“No, just frustrated with my inability to express myself. I’ll deal.”

There was a sharp cry followed by a flurry of high-pitched, rapid chanting. The door of the truck was wrenched open, and something latched onto Anna as she shouted,
“Oh God, don’t bite me!”

There was a melodic giggle followed by an affectionate kiss that was planted on her cheek. “Silly, why would I bite you? I’m so glad you guys are back!”

“Hello, Gracie,” Adam said from his side of the truck. “You are scaring Anna.”

“Oh, sorry. So, how was it? Did you work things out with your teachers and your job? Any new developments? Everyone still happy? Oh, gross!” Adam’s sister made a gagging noise, her jaw lurching past her neck as her tongue stuck out in revulsion. “You two are worse than the rabbits.”

“Stay out of my head, Gracie!” Anna snapped.

Gracie scoffed. “I will now. Oh, my mind’s eye!”

Adam stepped out of the truck and came around to help Anna down. “Where is Father, Gracie?”

“Inside reading. He should be out in a minute. Is something wrong?”

“Council business.”

She looked at Anna but frowned when all she heard in her thoughts was the singing of
great big gobs of greasy grimy gofer guts…
over and over again as they walked into the house.

Both Jonas and Abilene greeted them affectionately. Gracie continued to watch Anna as if hoping to pick up on some thread about the news Adam had yet to share. Anna felt no guilt in the pleasure she got from watching Gracie wince after Anna imagined her brother naked. Served her right. She would learn eventually.

“Gracie, run and tell your grandfather Adam and Annalise have returned,” Jonas requested, and Anna relaxed the moment the door shut behind Adam’s nosey little sister. She had no idea how the others guarded their thoughts all the time, but she needed to ask Adam the trick. Her way was exhausting.

Once they had all settled in and Abilene had served everyone a cup of tea and forced copious amounts of food into their bellies, Gracie had returned with a man and a woman Anna did not recognize. Again, it shocked Anna how young everyone here appeared. If this was in fact Jonas’s father, he did not look a day over twenty-eight.

The man resembled Jonas so much it was as if they were twins as well. The only telltale difference was in the way Ezekiel carried himself and the silver shock of hair amongst a full head of black. He wore it long, much like Adam’s father. Anna remembered someone mentioning that this man was almost three centuries old and for some reason that intimidated her more than anything.

The woman who returned with Gracie stood meekly by the door. Abilene greeted her kindly and called her Rachel. Ezekiel was soft spoken and gentle in his mannerisms. His affection for his grandson was evident in the way he embraced him and welcomed him home. “And this must be the lovely Annalise I have heard so much about.” He took her hand, held it between his two larger ones and smiled. “Easy, child, you are here of your own free will. No harm will befall you.”

“Quite beautiful,” he said to his grandson. Anna had the sudden feeling that she was being appraised much like a stock horse would. Ezekiel laughed and released her hand. He cupped a loving hand on Adam’s shoulder and said, “I think you will appreciate my bringing Rachel. Annalise will find much comfort in knowing her, I believe.”

Anna looked to the other woman who nervously plucked at a thread hanging from her apron. The woman saw Anna watching her and offered an anxious smile.

Jonas stood and kissed his wife. To the men, he said, “Come, let us give the women time to talk. We will see about the automobile. I sure hope this journey did not spoil you, son.”

As the men left, Abilene cleared away the dishes and instructed Gracie to find something to do. Gracie argued, but her words were cut short by the stern look her mother gave her. It wasn’t long before Adam’s mother left the kitchen as well. That left only Anna and the shy woman named Rachel.

“Soooo,” Anna said, feeling as if she were on some sort of blind date.

“You are very pretty. Does Adam mind you dressing English?”

Anna looked down at her shorts and T-shirt. She suddenly wished she’d had time to change before Rachel and Ezekiel arrived. Who knew what Adam’s grandfather had thought of her appearance? “I’m not normally dressed like this when I’m here. Are you Adam’s grandmother?”

The woman choked on the sip of tea working its way down her throat. “God no! I’m only forty.”

“Oh, sorry.” Anna fingers flipped a coin back and forth within her pocket. It felt like a penny, but could have been a dime.

After a few minutes of sitting silently, Rachel finally pushed her tea aside and said, “Where are you from?”

“Bensalem.” Anna looked at the door. When was Adam coming back?

“Is that in Pennsylvania?”

“Yes, a little under two hours from here.”

“Oh, so you didn’t have to come that far. I’m from Quebec.”

“Do they have Amish sects up there?” Anna asked without really thinking about her question.

“I suppose they do in some parts of Canada, but I was not born in one. I was born into a family named Bouvier.” She pronounced the name
Boe-fee-air.

Anna frowned. “Wait, if you weren’t born here…”

“I was human, qui. French Canadian, actually. I was nineteen when Samuel found me. I have been vampyre for twenty-one years now.”

“You were so young,” Anna said almost to herself.

“Not too young. It was a different time and a different life even from what you are used to. I would have been married by my twentieth birthday anyway.”

“Did you leave someone behind?”

“My entire family. Three brothers, two sisters, my mamma and papa, my fiancé, and my cat.”

Anna simply shook her head. She had no one to leave behind aside from acquaintances except Kyle, and Kyle didn’t seem to care one way or the other what she did with herself these days.

Rachel continued, “’Twas difficult at first. Letting go of so many comforts and customs. Samuel was very understanding. He allowed me to write to my family for a long time, so long as with each letter, I allowed more time to pass in between. They could not understand my sudden desire to move to the States when I had never once visited before. The idea of me running off with a man they had never heard me speak of only confounded them more. It took about a year of letters to finally help them grasp that I was happy, yet they still never truly understood. How could they? They had no idea what Samuel was or the fact that we shared a predestined part of each other’s soul.

“By the second year, I felt a sense of detachment in my mamma’s notes. I believe people often tend to ignore what they cannot comprehend. I realized she would never understand my abandoning my entire family without being told the truth and that was something I could not do. My dragging out our relationship was only hurting her. By my fourth year on the farm, I had stopped writing at all, except on my parents’ birthdays and once during the winter holidays. I stopped writing altogether several years ago. I am a memory easily forgotten. My letters only remind them that they have forgotten a child and thus fill them with unnecessary guilt. I am happy in a way I am not entitled to share with them. It only makes me feel guilty to cause them unnecessary grief over my absence. Samuel says it is better for me to let go of them on my own than to have them taken from me, which each one eventually will be since I am the only one here for eternity.”

“Were you this accepting from the beginning?”

Rachel laughed. “Hell no!” She covered her mouth quickly and looked around. The slip made Anna smile, and they each giggled. She suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie with this woman she had not yet found with anyone else on the farm. “I still let them slip every once in a while. Samuel only gets upset when I say
cocksucker
or
fuck
, but they’re my favorites when I’m really frustrated so I cannot seem to erase them from my vocabulary.

“Anyway, no, I did not agree to this easily. I was nineteen, still practically a child. I think I was more upset about becoming Amish than actually becoming a vampyre. I was very much into the Goth-Punk trends as a youth, so I think something about falling in love with a real vampyre intrigued me. The Amish thing however…let’s just say I miss regular clothes sometimes.” She smiled, leaned close and whispered, “I still have my prom dress. Sometimes I wear it around the house. Samuel says it isn’t right, but I know he likes it. It always ends up in a pile on the floor by our bed.”

They each had a good laugh when Anna told Rachel about the corset she wore for Adam. He had told her that it simply wasn’t Christian to wear such things, yet he made sure that item found its way into her suitcase before they left. Anna’s heart grew lighter as she recognized a friendship forming between herself and Rachel Bouvier–Rocke. It only made Anna more pleased to discover that if she mated with Adam, she and Rachel would be distant cousins. Family, there was so much of it here, and it was a foreign gift Anna looked forward to embracing.

“Does it hurt?” Anna asked hesitantly.

“What? The change? If it does, I do not remember the pain. I was dead.”

“I’m so scared, Rachel. What if something goes wrong?”

“Do you trust Adam?”

“Yes.”

“He will not let anything happen to you, Annalise. These men are not like other men. There is nothing,
nothing,
they put before their mate’s safety. Trust him on that.”

* * * *

“We will make arrangements to have the ceremony in two days time,” Ezekiel said facing the others from within his study.

“Before you do that, I must be sure Anna is sure,” Adam promised.

“She is sure. I read it in her when I held her hand,” his grandfather assured, but Adam still wasn’t comfortable making plans without speaking to his mate first. His grandfather tapped the mantle as if thinking through his plans and reaching some sort of conclusion. “I will inform the others about Cain and have anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts held accountable.”

“Now wait a minute,” Jonas said. “You realize if he is confiding in someone on the farm it is most likely my daughter. If we keep charging my children with crimes, I will have none left. Let me speak to Silus. He will tell me if Larissa has seen her brother since he has disappeared.”