Minty (10 page)

Chapter Nine

Misty was sleeping when there was a tap on her bedroom door. She rolled over, reaching for the large chest of the nightwalker who shared her bed, but the bed was empty. She came fully awake, remembered that Radames was out in the field being an enforcer. It was a role he didn’t take too often, but it must have been important this time, because he had been gone for several weeks. She missed him so much.

She heard the tap again. She sat up quickly, fear running through her veins. Bad news? She left the bed, grabbed a robe and stood in front of the big double doors, tying the sash before opening one side.

The servant was bowing at the hips, almost in half. “I am so sorry to disturb you Madam, but you have a visitor. A Council Lord.” The servant was shaking.

She was still getting used to this serving and the attitude of the servants. They actually took their job so serious. They felt it a high calling to serve in the house of Radames. She felt it all a little strange, demeaning. Of course, she had not lived for centuries.

She now knew who the visitor was. “Please tell the Lord that I will be right down. See that he is comfortable. He would appreciate some of Rad’s whiskey.”

She did not wait for the low bow of the servant, but turned and closed the door to find some jeans to put on along with her usual loose top. She ran a comb through her hair slipped on flip flops. At last she went down to join Alexander Bider, one of the five highest ranking nightwalkers, also the youngest member of the ruling Council.

She walked along the hallway that was glass on one side. The view looked out on the water. She remembered her first time in this house. At that time she was still learning how much she loved her Vampire lover. The stairway was wide open steps hanging from the inside wall and she could see Alex, his long legs stretched out in front of him, on a leather couch in front of the fireplace.

He looked up at her smiling, that beautiful face highlighted by the flames.

“You still smell so very, very good and you always look better.”

“Alex, with your looks, you don’t need flattering words to get a woman.” She laughed as she came down.

Alex leaned down to reach for his glass. She settled in a big chair across from him. A servant immediately had a tray with tea along with all the fixings, including a sample of cookies to sit beside her. “So tell me of Rad. Did you see him?”

“Rad is a terror. You know there is a reason nightwalkers respect and fear him. He walks into a room, the rogues trip over themselves to spill the beans. The big fucker just vibes bone crusher. He gets the job done.”

“Yeah, but when will the job be done, I wonder?” She took the cup the servant held out, dismissing him. She wanted a private talk with Alex.

“Misty, in this life some jobs are never done. But he will be back with you soon. He misses you.” Alex turned to face her. Across the large, low table.“I found the female.” He nodded to the vial of dark fluid lying on the table.

Misty had to resist the temptation to grab the blood. She wanted to run immediately to the lab she and Marco shared. Marco was Rad’s oldest servant, but Rad considered him a friend. He held a very high place in Rad’s estates.

She took another sip of the calming tea. She wanted to know more. “Did you relate with her? What is she like? Do we look alike in any way?”

Alex took a moment and gazed at the flames. “I spent a short time with her. She is like you, and she isn’t. Let me see where to start. Let’s go with the easy parts. She is tall, thin, and has your long legs. Her hair is a little more brown, the lightest shade without quite being blond. Her eyes are a strange combination that are mostly brown but turn with the green if she wears the right colors. I took a photo on my cell and will download it later. It should be better than what you pulled up from the Driver’s License Bureau online.”

Misty sat enthralled. Maybe she did have a relative. Maybe even a sister? “Did she smell like me? Do we have to worry about others picking up her scent? Oh boy, do we need to grab her to protect her?”

Alex shook his head. “She has a scent, but it is different from yours. Someone who was not familiar with what to look for would think she had some type of strange perfume on, a mixture. It doesn’t emit as far as yours.”

“Can she be influenced?” Misty was beginning to worry. When she first found traces of a couple of other orphans she was only interested in finding out more about herself. Now she was wondering if she should be worried about someone else.

“I could not influence her. Because of your serum in me, I have become very strong. I was able to suggest
—
obviously it was something she wanted to do anyways. She didn’t sleep well, nightmares. I was able to suggest some good sleep without dreams for a few weeks.”

Misty looked over her cup at her friend. “Thank you.” She was aware than Alex wasn’t looking at her. “Alex, what is it? What did you do? Wait, you tasted her, didn’t you? You scoundrel. How could you?” Misty sat her cup down. She was really mad, disturbed deep down.

Alex sat back.

Misty couldn’t read his expression. “Okay, can’t undo what’s done. What was it like? Was it like me? Did it make you stronger, did it affect you?”

“It was different from you, but it definitely is a strong serum that is not in mortals. It has put a velvet glove on a strange place in me I don’t want to talk about with you. Yes, I can now shadow like Rad. So we don’t want other nightwalkers getting any of this anytime soon, before we have a chance to test it.”

“Did you tell Rad?”

He shook his head. “He had left, chasing a group from Chicago to Indianapolis. I have to go to Rome. There are some nefarious doings among the powers in that place of authority that must be reined in. Rad expects me to be his strong arm in that fancy conference room. I have a flight out in about four hours.”

Misty looked at the vial. “Alex, thank you. I am trying not to be too mad at you
—
she must be really beautiful.”

Alex leaned forward, pulling his legs up to rest his elbows on his knees. “She is beautiful in a different way. Not the flashy wild way, but like the desert lily, a surprise in a parched land, soft white, with veins that show beneath the surface and a yellow center hidden deep within the folds of the soft petals.”

Misty looked at him for a long moment. “Why, Alex, I didn’t know you were a poet. That was really beautiful. But for a man who is the epitome of beautiful, who discards women like used tissue, that is a strange description.” She smiled at him. She wondered if someone had finally touched that stone heart inside that beautiful male body.

Alex finally left for the airport. Misty contacted Marco so that they could begin the many tests they needed to do on the blood, starting with a DNA record.

Chapter Ten

Angela looked around for Minty and saw her walking out towards the bus stop. She pulled her car out so that she could stop beside her.

“Hey stranger, how about a comfortable ride
—
I even have the top up.” Angela smiled up at the girl.

Minty looked down, around, not sure what she was looking for. She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, it is a little out of your way.”

“Hey, come on, we will stop at the Starbuck’s near your place. You can buy.”

Minty actually smiled, walked around the car, sinking into the passenger seat. She buckled up, sitting back with her large purse on her lap.

“So, you look better, no black marks under your eyes.” Angela looked both ways and pulled out into the traffic as she talked.

“Yeah, strange, but I have really been getting some good sleep. I usually don’t sleep very well. The smallest noise wakes me up so I get up all night. I keep the TV on. A couple of times this last week I even forgot to leave it on.”

Angela bobbed her head as she grinned. “I have been sleeping good too, just not as much. Tall, dark and handsome has been taking up a little bit of my nighttime. Believe me, I am not complaining.”

Minty smiled at the blond beside her. “I thought you seemed pretty happy lately. So is this serious. What has it been, three weeks, or no, what, four now?”

Angela seemed to be giving the whole idea some serious thought. “Well, I have to tell you the truth, I don’t think Rex is the kind to settle down. I mean he has an attraction, like a sign. When we go out the women really play up to him. But he is the perfect gentleman for me, giving them the cold shoulder and me all the attention. But his job makes a lot of demands, so he can’t makes plans in advance. There is also something else.”

Angela quit talking as they pulled into the Starbucks so she could concentrate on parking. “Let’s go in and sit
—
we haven’t spent any time together since the night we all went out together with that beautiful blond of yours.”

Minty didn’t answer, but felt a shiver run down her back as she got out of the car. They got their drinks, then found a table by the back that gave them privacy, since everyone else liked to sit by the windows.

“Anyways, Rex is into a little S&M.” Angela blushed.

Minty looked at her but quickly turned her eyes down at her own paper cup.

“Minty do you know what that is?”

Minty looked up at the pretty blond. She was surprised to find a blush on Angela’s cheeks and her tongue moving over her painted red lips.

“I think the S&M stands for sadist and masochist doesn’t it?”

“Well yes, sort of. It is really only a title, you know, for game playing. Like you put handcuffs on your boyfriend. You make love to him, or he blindfolds you so that he can feed you different foods. You try to guess what it is and that kind of thing. Kind of simple, but it can add to the enjoyment of sex. It adds an innocent danger.”

Minty suddenly got a cold shiver. She felt the coffee curdle in her stomach. In the back of her mind she heard the word Master.

“So anyways, Rex as been introducing me to this form of sex. So far it has been adding kind of a nice kick, you know?”

“Angela, did he ever ask you to call him Master?” Minty’s voice was almost a whisper.

“Well no, but how did you know? He took me to an actual S&M bar last week. It was really weird. He kept me really close to protect me. There were rooms, you walked into the bar and people were all dressed out, some in normal clothes like us but some were in leather and such, real scary. You could walk down this hallway to see into some of the rooms. People were asking their Masters or Mistresses to kiss them or whip them or such. I really hung onto Rex and he got me out of there.”

Angela played with her cup for a while, then finally looked up at Minty. “Hey, am I freaking you out. I am not into that stuff. It was just for Rex and me to have an experience. It was like hitting a porn site on the computer one time but never wanting to go there again. Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have told you about the private stuff in my life.” There was silence again at the table. “It is all your fault, Minty.”

Minty looked up in surprise.

“See, you never say much. You are such a good listener, I just say too much to you. More than I would ever say to anyone else. It is just your fault.” And she smiled, reached over to pat Minty’s hand. “So, you must tell me at least a little private tidbit. How did the private time with the beautiful man turn out? Have you heard from him since he left?”

Minty looked at her hands and sighed. “I haven’t heard from him.”

“Okay, so why are you blushing. Come on tell me. You are really blushing now. Oh my God, the Ice Princess had sex. You did it with the beautiful one. Tell me, tell all, well, at least tell me a little.”

“There is nothing to tell.”

“Oh come on, I laid my dirty laundry on the table. Tell me something?”

“Angela, there really is nothing to tell. I got in the car, fell asleep, and woke up the next morning in my bed.”

“You woke up alone, no trace of the hunk?” Angela spread her hands out wide.

“Well, there were some weird traces that are hard to explain.”

For once Angela was smart enough to keep her mouth shut and wait for Minty to talk.

“I woke up naked. I never sleep naked. I got up and I knew I was clean, like I had just had a shower. In fact my hair was damp. When I stood up I was sore between my legs. I mean really, really sore. But when I got into the bathroom and checked, everything seemed to be okay. I had three streaks on my body. They were the type like if you sleep on a fold of the sheet or something. They disappeared by the next day. When I put my clothes away, I couldn’t find the panties I had worn that night. The strange thing was I became obsessed about the panties. I tore my apartment apart looking for them.”

Angela tried not to smile but she had a quick thought of a tall blond with a pair of panties in his back pocket. Shit, Minty looked a little scared. “Hey, sweetheart, don’t be worried. I missed a couple nights in my life due to drinks. I learned real early, don’t drink until after food.”

Minty looked up from the table she had been examining. “I didn’t drink.”

Angela’s smile was big. “Hey, honey, I was there. You drank that whole damn green concoction. That on an empty stomach would knock a horse out. Rex told me that liquor is seventy-two proof.”