Kindling Flames: Smoke Rising (The Ancient Fire Series Book 3) (5 page)

***

The sharp bite of Zak’s teeth on his hand jerked Darien back to consciousness. He looked around, dazed, at the concerned faces staring at him. Sitting up more, he rubbed his eyes.

“Are you all right, Master Darien?” Clara asked from the other end of the table.

Darien shook himself, trying to clear the sleep from his mind. “Yes. Sorry.” He stretched. “It’s just been a long day.” Darien dislodged Zak from his lap and sat up straighter.

Zak grumbled at him.

Clara gave him a concerned look before turning her attention back to the rest of the Council. “Anything else?” she asked, but everyone was still staring at Darien trying to wake up at the far end of the table. “Then let’s call it for the night.” She glanced down the table at Darien. “Master Darien, can I speak with you for a moment?” The rest of the Council took this as a sign to leave and stood up.

Darien got up from his seat and went over to Clara as the room cleared out.

Christian watched him for a moment before turning and following the rest out.

“What’s going on?” Concern filled Clara’s voice as she stood up to talk with her sire.

Darien rubbed his face before running his hand roughly through his hair. “I’m just tired.” He shrugged. “I got up at six this morning.”

“Darien, you were
snoring
,” Clara said, shocked. “I’ve never known you to actually fall asleep before. Rest, yes, but to truly sleep? I mean, I can hear your heartbeat even now. It’s faster than it used to be.” She reached out and touched his arm. “And you’re warm. What’s going on?”

Darien cocked his head and felt his own heart beating. Clara was right—it was human fast. He thought about it for a moment. “It has to be Victoria.”

Clara looked at him doubtfully.

“She started sleeping in my bed when everyone was over. I set my system to take its cues from her so as not to disturb her when she woke up.” Darien shrugged. “I guess I just got used to it.”

“That explains your reaction to the phone call the other night.” She smiled. “When was the last time you rested alone?”

Darien raised his eyebrows and thought hard about it. “Umm… right before the hunt,” he said, a little embarrassed.

Clara laughed at him. “No wonder.” She walked with Darien back to where his coat was. “Maybe you should try getting some real rest.”

Laughing, he picked up his jacket and folded it over his arm. “I kind of like how I am right now.” He smiled. “I haven’t felt this alive in a very long time.” A distant look washed over Darien’s face. “Not since
her
.”

Clara could hear the sadness in his voice as Darien thought about his lost love. She touched his arm and brought him back to the present. “I am glad you found someone special.”

Darien smiled at her words. “So am I.” He patted Clara’s hand touching his arm. A yawn interrupted the moment, and Darien shook himself. “God, I need some coffee.”

“Why do you want coffee?” Clara chuckled as she led the way out of the room. “Caffeine isn’t going to do you any good.”

“True.” Darien yawned again. “But, you would be surprised how invigorating just the smell of a good cup of coffee can be. You should try it sometime.”

“No, thank you.” She made a disgusted face. “I don’t want to deal with the consequence of eating food.”

Darien chuckled. “Yeah, I found it a little disturbing at first, but you get used to it.” He shrugged. “We all had to deal with it at some point in our lives.”

“And I was never so happy to find out that I didn’t have to deal with another privy again.” The revulsion was easy to hear in Clara’s words. “Have you seen public restrooms?”

“Yes I have, and they can be rather scary.” Darien chuckled as Clara shuddered at the thought.

“I think I need a bath now.” She looked up at the man next to her. “Would you like to join me in the onsen? That is, if you can keep from falling asleep.”

Darien laughed at her again. “Let me get my coffee and find Victoria first,” he said as they passed through the foyer to the hallway leading to the living quarters.

Clara smiled her amusement as Darien made his way to the kitchen. She went to check on the rest of the people in her home.

“Good evening, Natalie,” Darien called as he stepped into the kitchen.

The cook in Clara’s home looked up from where she was stirring a pot of something on the stove. “Hello, Master Darien.” Natalie wiped her hands on her apron. She tucked a loose strand of curly, brown hair behind her ear. “What can I do for you tonight?”

Darien looked around the spacious kitchen. His eyes swept over the plain wooden table where Clara’s house pets took most of their meals. He folded his jacket over the back of the closest chair. “Is there any coffee?” Darien asked, looking over the neat counters.

Natalie gave him an odd look. “Of course.” Going to the cupboard, she pulled out a clear glass mug and poured some coffee into it from a carafe next to the stove. “I always keep coffee for Roger. He doesn’t function well without it. It’s hot,” she warned, handing the mug to Darien.

He carefully wrapped his hands around the mug. “Thank you.” Darien drew in the rich aroma of the hot liquid.

Natalie watched in amazement as he took a careful sip from the cup.

“Much better,” he said as the coffee drove the fatigue from his system. Darien took the cup and leaned his backside against the counter. “Where’s Tiffany this evening?”

His normal question about her daughter shook Natalie out of her shock. “She’s in her room.” Natalie turned back to her cooking. “Clara didn’t want her out with the new vampires around.”

“I can understand that.” Darien took another sip of the coffee. “I had better go find Victoria.” He snagged a muffin from a plate on the counter. Natalie always had food sitting around in case someone wanted a snack. Darien pushed away from the counter and headed towards the door. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“You’re welcome,” Natalie called after him.

Peeling the paper on the muffin back with his teeth, he took a bite out of it as he walked. He had always wanted to try Natalie’s baking but had refrained from doing anything so unusual until his last visit, when it had been revealed that he could eat real food. He wasn’t worried about people finding out he could handle food. It was more that he didn’t want to upset them with the weird activity. Real food would normally make vampires rather sick. Their bodies couldn’t process it. Over time, his system had relearned how to pass the solid material through, but it didn’t really digest it. Darien took another sip of his coffee, savoring the way the flavor mixed with the blueberry muffin. He liked it.

“I’m sure he’ll show it to you if you ask him.”

Darien smiled at the sound of Vicky’s voice coming from the common room. He pushed the door open to find almost everyone was in the large living space. The room was furnished with a variety of mismatched loveseats, chairs, and sofas that were all very comfortable. Most of the seats were occupied by the various guests and residents of the house.

“I’ve been dying to check out that DB9 since Master Elliot got to drive it away from the warehouse.” Roger excitedly wiggled in his seat. “Do you think he will let me drive it?”

Darien came over and sat on the loveseat next to Vicky. “Maybe, if you ask nicely.”

Zak gurgled as he sniffed towards Darien’s half-eaten muffin.

Ignoring the many eyes that turned to him, Darien set his coffee down on the table next to the seat.

“I heard you fell asleep during the meeting,” Vicky said as Darien broke off a bite of the muffin and held it out for the fay.

Zak munched it out of his hand happily.

“Yes,” Darien admitted as he wiped his hand on his suit pants. “I guess I was more tired than I thought.” He picked his coffee back up and took another pull of the cooling liquid.

“Better now?” Vicky asked, holding Zak back from Darien’s muffin.

“Much.” Darien stuffed the last of the muffin in his mouth to keep it away from the fay. “Natalie makes mean muffins,” he mumbled around the bite.

“You should try her cakes.” Roger grinned. “I don’t know what she puts in her red velvet cake, but it should be illegal.”

Vicky giggled, listening to Darien and Roger go on about the changing quality of baked goods through the years and the best place to get them now.

***

“He isn’t a vampire,” Sara said to Christian as they sat in their corner watching Darien chat with a few of the house pets about the best things he had eaten over the years. He had pulled his tie loose and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. “There is no way he can be.”

“It’s possible,” Christian said. “I can eat and drink if I want to.”

Aiden looked at him, confused. “I didn’t know that.”

“I don’t do it often.” Christian shrugged. “It makes me sick.”

“So he
is
a vampire?” Sara considered, staring at Darien.

“I don’t know.” Christian squinted at the man in question. “He actually fell asleep in the Council meeting.” Only the young, held by the powers of the sun, couldn’t control when they rested. And a resting vampire’s heart rate and breathing slowed to almost nonexistent. Christian had never known a vampire to just drop off in the middle of the night like that, let alone snore.

“They did say he was old.” Aiden shrugged as he watched the group. “I’ve heard as much as nine hundred years.”

“Someone was obviously pulling your leg when they gave you that information.” Sara rolled her eyes. “Look at him.” The three vampires paused and watched Darien laughing at something Elliot said. “He doesn’t act like any of the elders I’ve ever met.” Darien lacked the air of arrogance that most old vampires held. “Anyway, he hasn’t taken blood yet tonight.”

“Maybe he drank from his pet before he came in,” Aiden suggested. The three vampires looked to the blonde woman sitting next to Darien, petting the longhaired dog.

“She doesn’t look like she’s fed anyone tonight,” Sara pointed out. “She doesn’t have any fang marks.”

“How would you know that?” Aiden shot his sister a disbelieving look. “He could have bitten her in some other place.”

“I do know,” Sara huffed. “I stopped over to say hi and checked her out. The only mark I could see was an old bite on her right wrist. And if he had drunk from the femoral artery, she would smell like sex. She doesn’t; therefore, he didn’t.”

Aiden rolled his eyes at his sister. “Just because one drinks from a woman’s thigh does not mean that they had to have had sex with her.”

“Well, name one time that you drank from a girl’s inner thigh and didn’t sleep with her,” she snapped back. “Oh wait, you’ll sleep with anything that moves.”

“Well, how many guys did you pick up in the bar last week?” Aiden jabbed at her again.

“How dare you—” Sara started.

“Enough,” Christian hissed at the two bickering siblings. “Save your petty squabbles for later.” He stood up from his seat and headed over to the group Darien was talking with.

***

“I’ve always wanted to try crawfish, but they’re rather intimidating,” Brian said from where he leaned over the back of the couch between Darien and Vicky. “I mean, what part do you eat?”

Darien chuckled. “Crawfish are good, but they are a lot of work.” He held up his hands in front of him, grasping an imaginary crawfish. A quick, twisting motion showed them how to pull the head off the shellfish. “You twist the head off. Some people suck the juice out, but it’s mostly trash. Then, you pinch the tail to crack the shell.” He squeezed the imaginary tail and mimicked cracking it back. “Then, pull it open and eat just the meat inside.” Holding up his pinky finger, Darien marked a point on it with his thumb, showing the approximate size of the tail meat. “It’s usually about that much.”

Roger gave him an unsure look. “That’s a lot of work for such a little bite.”

“True, but they are fun to eat. I’ll have to get some and boil them for you.” Darien grinned. “It’s the corn and potatoes tossed down in the crawfish boil that really make the meal.” He looked up from his conversation as Christian approached.

“Good evening, Master Darien,” Christian greeted them. “May I join you?”

Darien’s easygoing demeanor stiffened slightly. “Of course.” He pulled on a professional smile. “Pull up a chair.”

Christian looked around and found an empty chair to drag over.

Vicky tensed slightly at the addition, and Brian patted her gently on the shoulder.

Zak growled at the new vampire.

Darien rubbed his hand into the fay, trying to calm him slightly.

Zak gurgled and snapped at his fingers, making Vicky scold him lightly for his rude behavior.

“What type of dog is that?” Christian asked as Vicky rubbed Zak’s fur back from his face.

“An opinionated one,” Darien growled, looking over his hand for teeth marks.

Zak kneaded Vicky’s lap with his front feet while Roger laughed at Darien’s answer.

“Yeah, the only one he listens to is Vicky.” Roger looked at the hellhound. “He still creeps me out.”

Zak gurgled at him.

“He’s just misunderstood.” Vicky picked Zak up and turned him to look at her face. “Isn’t that right?”

Zak gurgled and licked at her cheek.

She giggled under the torment of his little, pink tongue.

Christian’s eyes caught unnatural movement from the end of Zak’s fur as he wiggled in happiness.

Vicky resettled the happier dog into her lap.

“So, where did you get him?” Christian asked, still interested in the creature.

“He followed Miss Westernly home.” Darien shrugged.

Zak gurgled possessively at him.

“I see.” Christian nodded, seeing he wasn’t going to get any answers about the dog. “So, what type of business do you run?” he asked, turning the conversation.

“My main business started out as shipping,” Darien explained, “but I have branched out over the years. Now I do a little of everything.”

“Really.” Christian had heard that Darien’s interests were varied.

“I like to dabble in the little stuff when I can.” Darien went on about his business endeavors as Christian tried to figure the man out.

He followed Darien’s words and paid close attention to the man’s body, trying to discover if he was human or vampire. Darien didn’t have the presence of an old vampire. That air of aloofness that came with years of being revered for your power was missing, and he was much too warm in personality to be as old as the stories claimed. But, he didn’t have the proper feel to be human. Darien loosened up a bit as they prattled on about the differences between big business and hometown mom-and-pop shops. Christian was surprised when Darien’s pulse shifted to match Vicky’s as she leaned over against him.

***

“Pardon me, but I thought you would like to know that it’s almost sunrise,” Clara interrupted the two men deep in debate about the pros and cons of green technology.

Christian looked up at her, surprised that the night had gone so quickly.

“Thank you.” Darien nodded as he looked down at his hand tangled in Vicky’s golden curls. She had oozed over in her sleep until her head was resting on his lap. “I guess it is past time to head to bed.”

“Did you both get something to eat?” Clara asked, making sure her guests were taken care of.

“Yes,” Christian said. “Jenny saw to my needs right after the meeting.”

“Not yet,” Darien replied.

Clara pursed her lips slightly in disapproval.

“Don’t worry, I will get something before I rest,” he reassured her.

“Very well.” She sighed at him. “I think Josie is still awake.”

Darien looked around to see the blonde woman sitting in one of the padded chairs, reading.

“Thank you.” Darien nodded his understanding.

Christian looked at the woman sleeping on the loveseat next to him. “Aren’t you going to feed from your pet?”

Darien smiled as he rubbed Vicky’s head. “Miss Westernly is not my pet,” he corrected Christian. “She is my personal assistant, and I don’t feed from her.”

Christian’s brow wrinkled in thought. “So, you’ve never fed from her?” He didn’t understanding why a vampire would keep a human if not for food.