Death Takes a Holiday (23 page)

Any hint of enjoyment vanishes. “I am sorry.”

I scoff. “Which part are you sorry about? The part where you don’t listen to me? The part where you show up on my doorstep without warning when I specifically asked you to stay in Kansas?” I shove him. “Or how about the part where you neglect to inform me we’re friggin’ married in your messed-up, violent vampire world?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Apparently I’m your consort. And I was almost killed tonight because of it.”

“But you are not.”

“Um, we live together. You’ve fed off me. And that’s how you registered me in Dallas.”

“We were undercover,” he points out.

“You registered us under your real name, douche bag! Why the hell did you do that?”

“It was the name Marianna knew me under,” he says.

I shove him again. “How could you not know this stuff?”

“We have not slept together, therefore all requirements have not been met.”

“Um, idiot, in case you haven’t noticed,
nobody believes that!
And there’s no way to prove it! And since you neglected to fill me in on this consort thing, I didn’t register and Connor dragged me in and called me on it.”

“What did he do to you?” he asks, concerned for the first time.

“You know, the usual. Threat of torture. Gun fight. Mind raping my ex-boyfriend. An offer to become his mistress of the under-
world.”

“He propositioned you?”

“Yeah. Something along the lines of ‘Dump him, marry me, or I’ll find a reason to kill you.’ It was all very romantic.”

“So that is why they are parked across the street.”

I do a double take. “What?”

“Across the street. Black sedan. Two men.”

Fudge. I move to the window to peek out. Sure enough the same sedan, complete with key mark, sits directly across the street. “Bastard.” I close the drapes. “Guess he decided on option two.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just an
idiot
for trusting the word of a vamp. And a lawyer one to boot. Now the goon squad has probably called Connor and told him you’re here when I told him
specifically
you wouldn’t be. You might as well just burn down my house now and save them the trouble!”

“My dear, I only understand half of what you say. Tell me everything that transpired between the two of you.”

I do, only leaving out the Steven make-out session.

“So?” I ask.

“He wants you,” Oliver says more to himself than to me.

“Duh. But why go to all this trouble?”

“Strategically, it’s brilliant. It is like a marriage of convenience, the joining of two dynasties.”

“I’m exhausted. English please.”

“Who would dare challenge Connor with you by his side? A powerful psychokinetic with not only ties to the F.R.E.A.K.S., but who slayed fifteen vampires in one day?”

“He threatened me. Why would I lift a finger to help him?”

“Your family. Your life. If you are, by law, my consort you
are
bound by vampiric law whether you wish to be or not. He could leverage your law-breaking into a death sentence.” He shakes his head, smiling to himself. “He is a sly fox. Never trust an Irishman.”

“So what do we do to stop me from becoming the Bride of Frankenstein? Can we threaten him? Kill him?”

“We have no cause. He has acted within his rights.”

“So
what
?”

“To be honest, at this moment, I have not a clue.”

“Great.
Great
. Thank you,” I spit out. “Thank you for dragging me into this mess. I am so glad you’re here. Appreciate it.”

I take a step, and he grabs my arm. “Trixie—”

I jerk my arm away. “Don’t touch me. Don’t you ever touch me again! You have caused me
nothing
but misery since I first set eyes on you. You attacked me. You literally scarred me. You almost got me killed half a dozen times. And now this.” I stick my finger into his beautiful face. “Everyone hates me because I’m friends with you. My family is in danger because I gave a damn about you. And for what? A better wardrobe and a few laughs?”

“Trixie—”

“No! Shut up! I’m done. I’m done with all of this. I can’t take it anymore.” I bite my lip to stop the tears. “We fix this, we make sure my family is safe, and that’s it. I quit.”

“You do not mean that.”

“The hell I don’t.”

I storm out into the back yard before he can see me cry. Or I kill him. It’s about fifty/fifty at this point. Will is smart enough to not rush over to me but not smart enough to run back inside. “And as for you,” I say to him, “how dare you attack someone in my grandmother’s home? And how
dare
you speak to me the way you did earlier on the phone? Not only was it unprofessional, but it was hurtful. And mean. I thought after everything we talked about, you’d learned some-
thing!”

“I was just—”

“You were just what? Showing me how much you care about me? Let me give you a lesson about girls.
Yelling
, not a big turn on. I know what I did was stupid, but you know what? I’d do it again. An innocent girl needed help. I couldn’t wait for you. So I did what I had to do. Just like tonight. Just like Dallas. And I don’t want any crap for it. You got me, boss?”

“I—”

“And another thing! I
distinctly
remember telling both of you I didn’t want to see you again until you’d settled things! And since you tried to tear his throat out in there, I’m thinking you haven’t. So why are you here? Because I have enough on my plate without having to rip you two apart every five minutes!” I pause. “Well? Speak!”

Will just stands there looking at me, his mouth opening and closing slightly. “I don’t—”

“You don’t what?”

“Will you please let me talk?” he shouts. His eyes, hair, everything is wild now. “Jesus Christ! You drive me fucking crazy sometimes!”

“
I
drive
you
crazy? Are you on crack?”

“Just shut up for three seconds! Lord!” He throws his hands up in frustration. “I’ve just spent two and a half hours on a small plane with two men who despise me after a really bad day because I was scared to fucking death something happened to you, only to get attacked right off the bat! And now you won’t even let me talk! So yeah, you drive me nuts! But here I am! So you will let me fucking explain! Okay?” He almost pants in anger.

I open my mouth for a snappy comeback, but it won’t come out. “Okay.”

He runs both his hands though his floppy hair and starts pacing. “This is not me, you know. I am not a yeller. I don’t attack people, even when they deserve it.” He looks back into the house then back to me. “But for some reason, when I’m around you, I just … I lose it. I lose my fucking mind. My judgment gets clouded, and I don’t mean what I say or do. But the thought of you getting hurt or … ” He stops pacing and looks at me. Really looks at me. “I don’t like this person.” He shakes his head. “You asked me why I’m here? Because I couldn’t
not
be. I know you can handle yourself. I do. I’ve seen it. I’m breathing because of it. But the thought of you walking into a cabal alone with those bottom feeders drove reason clear out of my brain. And that pisses me off because I
pride
myself on being clearheaded and reasonable. And a part of me hates you for making me this person. That’s why I yell. That’s why I act like an asshole. Because I don’t know whether to kill you or …” He finally takes a deep breath. “And I know it’s not your fault. I
know
that. But it’s not rational, it’s just how it is. And I don’t know how to stop it. So here I am. Yelling at you again and hating myself for it. And having
you
hate me for it. And that kills me. I don’t want to be like this. I can’t stand it, but I can’t stop it. And I don’t know if you’re worth all this.” He shrugs. “You can’t be worth my sanity, right? So. Here we are. Yeah.”

I’m shocked. Totally and utterly shocked. Him too, because his wild expression matches my own. I think this is the first time he’s admitted these things to anyone, including himself. Part of me wants to smack him. The other … well, I guess we have that in common. “Um,” I say, trying to keep my voice from breaking, “thank you. For your honesty. I appreciate it.” Then the words hit my brain, and my stomach drops right down there with my heart. Those tears I’ve been holding back since yesterday can no longer be contained. “I’ve been, um,” I sniffle, “thinking about this for the last few days. And I said it in there, but … I mean it out here. I make everything too hard. No matter what, I make things worse for everyone around me. So after this Connor thing is taken care of, I’m gonna quit.”

“What? No, I didn’t mean—”

I hold up my hand. “No. Just stop talking, okay? Just shut up. You’ve said
more
than enough.”

I turn away from him, swallowing my tears. I refuse to let him see one more drop. Oliver stands from the couch as I enter, staring at me with anticipation. I know he heard everything, but I don’t care. I don’t care about anything except what I have to do next. Will takes a step inside, but just the one. “How do we get Connor off my back?”

Will glances at Oliver who hangs his head. “I do not know.”

“The consort thing is key,” I say. “Without it he has nothing. So how do we divorce?”

“We are not married,” he says. “Vampire marriage can only occur between—”

“Don’t care,” I say. “How do we nullify the contract?”

He pauses, then says, “We cannot.”

“Why the hell not?” Will asks.

“It is a lifetime contract put in place for the protection of the human. It makes it a crime to feed on or hurt the human, which is why I claimed you as mine in Dallas.”

“Bullshit,” Will says.

“I did not think it would be considered a true consortship once the real nature of our relationship was revealed,” he says to me. “That and all the conditions have not been met.”

“Which one hasn’t?” Will asks.

“We haven’t had sex,” I say sternly. “Not that
anyone
believes that. And we can’t prove it.”

“Yes,” Oliver says, casting his eyes down to the floor.

“So, if I’m your consort until I die, then how can I be Connor’s too? Bigamy?”

“No, you can be
a
consort for life. You or the vampire you are tied to can transfer ownership to another vampire.”

“Like a slave,” says Will. “Nice.”

“At least we do not kill our deformed young like your brethren.”

“I would never—”

“Not helping,” I cut in. The men sneer at each other then look away. “So I’m your consort. No way I can see around that.”

“It would appear so.”

“Then he’ll follow me until he finds a reason to kill me or force me into his bed.”

“Most likely.”

“Then I see no other option,” I say. “We take a chapter from his playbook. We go in there, and we scare the hell out of him until he does what we want. If that doesn’t work … we kill him,” I say, my voice hard. “Who else did you bring?”

“Wolfe,” Oliver says. “He insisted. The others are on standby.”

“Bea, we can’t—” Will says.

“Weapons?”

“Enough,” Oliver says.

“Guys, this is not happening. We’re officers of the law.”

“Um, I’m pretty sure I just quit,” I say.

“And I must protect my consort,” Oliver says. “I shall call Wolfe. He should be done checking us into the hotel.” Oliver flips open his cell phone, walking into the back.

“I’ll put on some clothes,” I say as I step toward my room.

Will grabs my arm, pulling me toward him. “You cannot seriously be considering this.”

“Damn straight.”

“It’s suicide,” he says, taking my arm. “We’ll figure out a better way than going in there guns blazing.”

“I’m all ears,” I say, looking into his green eyes, challenging him. His mouth twitches but he doesn’t speak. “Didn’t think so.” I pull my arm away. “We’re going. Come, don’t come, it’s up to you.”

I start toward my bedroom when he speaks. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”

I spin around. “I’m asking you to help save my life. My family’s lives.”

“No, you’re asking me to potentially break the law. Possibly get killed in the process.”

“I know. It’s a lot.” I nod. “But I guess you have to ask yourself a question then.”

“What?”

“Is she worth it?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yeah. It is. So … am I?”

Oliver’s intrusion back in the room stops Will dead. “Wolfe is on his way. I told him to meet us outside the cemetery. He is also phoning the police to report gunshots. They should be on their way. The gentlemen across the street would not dare leave their car to cause harm with the police there. Your grandmother will be safe.”