Sucking Bites (San Francisco Vampires Series #3) (17 page)

Sebastian smirks and Julian hides behind his laptop. I notice his shoulders are shaking.

“Andrew, she is simply too irresistible for me to control myself. I can’t be blamed for my behavior.” Sebastian smoothes the denim over my hips and replaces me on the sofa.

Liam and Andrew roll their eyes at each other. Helena raises her eyebrow at me and I nod. We are both thinking the same thing. Our Andrew is getting mighty friendly with Liam and I can only say—yay!

I make myself coffee and take a sip, enjoying the strong flavor and the warmth as it spreads through me. It’s kind of like what it feels like to be held and kissed by Aidan. Jeesh, I need to get my head on straight! We have only a week left until the full moon. I’m getting more nervous and nutty then I have been. I don’t know if it’s stress or chemistry.

“Has anyone thought more about where to put Liam and me during our little time of the month?” I ask. Uncomfortable stares from all around. Except for Liam.

“We have been retro-fitting the wine cellar,” Julian admits. “It would be a good place for  Liam, at least for this cycle. We know what to expect from him and we can lock the door from the outside. We have also put a camera inside so we can monitor him to make sure he is okay and not in any pain or harming himself.”

“We thought we might try Aidan’s place for you, Lily. We don’t know if you will be safe with Liam, and we can’t predict what will happen if you get infected again,” Sebastian says. “Julian and Helena will watch over Liam. Aidan and I will watch over you.”

“That sounds reasonable to me,” I say, wondering how it will work in reality. “How do you feel about it, Liam?”

“I think it’s the safest solution.” He rubs his hands up and down his legs in a nervous way. “I’ll be much more dangerous and it makes me feel better to know that I’ll be in a secure place, unable to hurt anyone.”

I feel a warm whoosh of air.

“Aidan.”

Everyone looks up.

“Hello everyone, I heard my name, why all the serious faces?” His gaze sizing up the mood up in the room.

“We’ve been discussing plans to keep Lily and Liam safe during the full moon phase,” Julian explains.

“Ahhh, what have you decided on?”

“We are converting the wine cellar for Liam,” Sebastian says. “May we take you up on your offer to host Lily and myself for the three days.”

Aidan’s face only flashes passing disappointment upon hearing Sebastian including himself in the arrangement. Djinn are nothing if not quick on recovery.

“Of course, I would do anything for her, you know that. I don’t have a door, so she can’t escape. Anything we need, I can summon.” He considers Sebastian with no expression.” You would do well to feed before we start the process in case she hurts you, Sebastian.”

“I didn’t think of that, but that’s a good idea. Lily, you should feed as well, whether you need to or not.”

I want to change the subject.

“Sebastian, can I talk to you in private for a minute?” Aidan asks. He jams a hand into his jeans pocket and runs his other hand through his sandy, unruly hair.

“Sure,” Sebastian answers somewhat surprised.

They leave the room and go into the parlor. I can still hear everything they say and I know they know it, but this gives them a semblance of privacy.

“What’s on your mind, Aidan?”

“Do you think we are going to be able to handle three days locked up together?” Aidan’s voice is low and hesitant.

“I get what you’re saying. I don’t know.” He pauses. I can almost see Sebastian run his hands thru his hair. “I think she might be keeping us busy. I hope not. I just don’t know.” Sebastian sounds so depressed. Maybe he’s finally facing the reality of the situation.

“My focus is Lily and I don’t want our personal issues distracting us. I want to clear the air.” I barely recognize the carefree, mischievous djinn in the formal voice I hear.

Their faces wear serious expressions when they return to the library. We pretend we hadn’t heard them. Of course Andrew couldn’t hear them, but Liam had whispered everything to him.

“Julian, do you think I will still need to sleep if I become a werewolf?” I ask, hoping to relieve the tense silence in the room.

“Interesting question, Lily.” Julian leans forward, keenly interested. “I don’t think that Liam slept when he was running loose. I am having some slits put in the door so we can pass food and water to Liam and I will also be observing him for things like sleep patterns.”

“Why does that not surprise anyone?” I say and everyone laughs, easing the atmosphere considerably.

“Don’t laugh too much, Cherie. I promised Julian I would ‘observe you’ too. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t bug Aidan to pop him over to make hands on observations.”

“Oh yes, Aidan, do you think you would mind too much using a cell phone for the three days for just such a contingency?” Julian asks.

Aidan laughs. “Only for you, Julian. Actually I thought I might do that in case Sebastian had to go to the club for some reason. That way he could call me when he had to come back up and I could pop him in.”

“I already have those three days marked as unavailable on my calendar, but you never know. Julian and I can trade places for a while, if Helena needs help and Lily is doing well.”

“I for one am praying she does well,” Liam says.

I can’t talk Sebastian out of taking me to work. With only two days left to the full moon, he insists it is too risky for me to be unaccompanied. He says we don’t know what my reactions will be or when they will start to exhibit. The fact is, he always insists on taking me to work unless he has something going on at the club. It’s been months since I’ve taken the bus. Bast walks me to the door and gives me a long kiss goodbye.

“I’ll be here to pick you up, Cherie. Don’t leave without me being here. Are you sure you are up to this?”

“Yes. I have to be. I switched my schedule around so I could have those three days off for the full moon. I’ll be fine, honey. Now scoot!”

I pat him on the butt and send him on his way. He gives me a stern look and walks to the car. Sexy Frenchmen prefer patting to being patted.

I key code myself in and head to the coffee maker. Imbibing in the excellent coffee is one of the chief perks of my job. After preparing my java fix, I wind my way through the cubicles, to my private work station. Out comes my stash of cleaning supplies. First I have to handi-wipe all the surfaces, then I Lysol the headphones and then finally I use my hand sanitizer. Ahhh, how sweet it is. Furtively I check for Meredith—the self-appointed personal effects Nazi. She is not at the supervisor’s desk, maybe she’s off tonight. My red light is already blinking. It will be a busy night.

My first caller is my only caller. A classic bipolar. She has spent a huge amount of money during her manic phase and has a wild time until she eventually comes down. The problem with bipolars is that they come way down and she is now way, way down and couldn’t see a way out. She feels hopeless and depressed and suicidal. She is completely off her meds. We talk for three and a half hours before I am able to get an address out of her. This is one of those situations where we just have to call an ambulance. She needs twenty-four hour monitoring in a hospital. She is too much of a threat to herself and can’t make a verbal contract or go to a friend’s or family member’s house until tomorrow. We can’t let her off the phone to arrange it. It’s that serious. A trip to the counselors isn’t going to help her.

I’m able to have my supervisor call 911 while I keep her on the line. I talk her through it. It’s nights like this that make my job worth it. I really feel like I’ve done something to make a big difference in someone’s life. I know I saved her life tonight. All of this makes me a little late coming out. I am surprised to find Aidan waiting for me instead of Sebastian.

“Hello, love, surprised?” he asks with a big grin.

“Yes, pleasantly though.”

“I was getting worried about you. Have a rough night?”

“Very, but rewarding. I was only two minutes late, Aidan. You and Bast are simply neurotic about my safety.”

He hugs me close and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “That’s because you are important to us.” I snuggle into his warm chest. He is such a comfort after the emotional drain of my shift. He kisses the top of my head and ear and then moves to my neck.

“Seems like you’re the one who could use a fusion of energy.”

“Aidan, where’s Sebastian?”

“Had to work late.” He starts kissing my cheek and then goes to kiss my mouth. I pull away.

“Aidan…”

“I know, but I love it when you’ve saved someone. I can tell by your energy. It gets gold flecks in it. It is the most delicious thing. It also warms my heart and makes you so sexy.” He bends back down and tries to kiss me again. “Tonight, it feels like you need some positive energy back.”

I move my hands up to his chest to push him away from me but he captures them and pulls them to his mouth, kissing them

“God, I love you. You have no idea.”

“I shouldn’t let you hold me. It only makes it worse.” Being a jinni and the ultimate trickster, I should know better than to think he won’t try something. But I enjoy the closeness. Of course, now I’m feeling guilty again.

“No, believe me, it’s worth it,” he says.

He smiles slyly, then releases me.

“Come on love. Your friends are going to worry about you.”

We transmanifest back outside the manse. Luckily we have straightened our appearance before Sebastian pulls up into the driveway. Suspicion is written on his face.

“You should have gotten off work a half an hour ago, where have you been?”

“I had a really bad case tonight. I had to work over. We had to call an ambulance to her house while I was talking to her. It was a mess.”

Sebastian’s face relaxes. He reaches out to me.

“That’s my girl,” he says.

“Did you see that?” Aidan growls.

He crouches in a defensive posture, his hands at the ready. Sebastian places me behind him, and takes up a defensive stance.

“What did you see?” Sebastian whispers.

“Someone who shouldn’t be here. Celine, show yourself. Stop skulking, vampling”

Slowly, the tall, dark—haired vampire comes out of the shadows. She looks majorly put upon. Her habitual sneer is firmly in place.

“Now what is the Queen’s werewolf hunter, doing in San Francisco?” Aidan asks.

“None of your damn business,” she replies.

“Ahhh, but it is our business, ma petite,” Sebastian says in a deceptively cool voice.

“I’m not your little one,” she snarls.

“I think you need to come in and talk to all of us,” Aidan says.

“So Helena can use her mind tricks on me and you can dump me somewhere again? I don’t think so.”

Aidan flicks his hands at her and she is wrapped in rope. He sends her up the stairs and into the manse proper. Celine yells to all hell and back, making everyone gather to see what the commotion is all about. Helena claps her hands on her hips and glares at the vampire hit woman. Julian stares stonily.

I know this can’t bode well for Liam and me. It either means that the Queen is hedging her bets and wants her little executioner in close proximity in case things go bad or she means to take us out early. Either way, the Queen is obviously second guessing her promise, and that is bad for me and Liam. She isn’t depending on Helena’s version of events. She wants her own spy in the midst. Thank God this spy is no match for us.

“Sit down, Celine!” Helena says, pushing her into a chair. I have rarely seen her this angry.

“We found her sneaking around in the bushes,” Aidan says.

“So, what has Zoe decided? Is she trying to take them out now or have you in position to do it the minute the moon phase is over?”

“That’s Queen Zoe to you and what she orders or what I do is none of your business.”

“I’ll just call her and see what she has to say about how incompetent her little minion is,” Helena says.

She whips out her cell phone and hits a speed dial number and stalks off into the other room.

“You know I can glamour you and find out everything I want to know, young one. You don’t have any secrets,” Julian says. Menace laces his voice as he pushes his will towards her.

“You don’t frighten me!”

“He should. He’s four times as old as you and a hundred times smarter. You have wandered into a cobra’s nest and don’t even know it,” I say. My adrenaline spikes. I’m ready for blood.

“Don’t talk to me, dirty blood, she-wolf, mutant!”

Sebastian and Aidan lunge for her and it takes everything that Julian, Liam and Andrew have to keep them off of her. I’m fighting an urge to rip her a new throat. To her credit she looks wary. Maybe even nervous.

“You will not talk to Miss Lily that way, you vamp tramp!” Andrew says.

I’m stunned. My stare morphs into a huge grin. I give him a big high five and a kiss on the cheek.

“Who’s the vamp tramp?” Hannah asks from the door, Diel and Hades enter in her wake. She knows how to make an entrance.

“Oh, Ms. Hannah! You always know when to show up. You’ve missed so much! Where have you been?” Andrew barely manages not throwing himself on her.