The Caretaker of Showman's Hill (Vampire Romance) (12 page)

"You never should have let her enter," he whispered. The sound of a roaring lion split the air as he followed Cassie to her car.

Chapter 16

Cassie stumbled into the kitchen, Basil's hand on her arm to keep her upright. The affects of the alcohol were making her very relaxed and she found herself liking it. Basil guided her safely to a kitchen chair in the dark.

“I never should have let you drive in your condition,” he growled.

“I only drove down the hill,” she said. “It’s not like I could hit and kill anyone in a cemetery.”

“True, but you could have hurt yourself. Not to mention, you mowed over a few gravestones on the way.”

“Sorry,” she apologized. “It won’t happen again.”

He flicked on the kitchen light and Cassie momentarily had to cover her eyes.

"Why the light?" she asked giddily. "I thought vampires could see in the dark."

"The light wasn't for my benefit, but for yours. And I'd thank you to leave the word vampire out of your conversation when others are around."

Basil leaned against the swinging door and his eyes swept the patrons at the bar. He seemed satisfied, and headed back toward the table.

"What's the matter? Afraid I might tell someone of your little secret?" She started to make her way to the front room, but Basil headed her off at the pass.

"That's why I can't let you leave here, Cassie. From now on you'll have to stay by my side at all times."

She burst out laughing, thinking of the two of them squashed into his coffin and sealed up in the wall to sleep.

"I'll do whatever it takes," he warned her, and she knew once again he was picking her mind.

"Well, with the way you read my mind I guess I'll never have to talk again, now will I?" She pushed her face close to his as she spoke, her giddiness from the alcohol giving her courage. She reached out her hand and laid it on his chest. Then slowly, she let her fingers glide down his front until they stopped at his waist.

She found herself wondering if vampires could make love, and to her surprise saw his sweats becoming tighter in the groin.

"Well? Can you?" she asked boldly, and pushed her body close to his. He laid his hands on her shoulders, and for a minute she thought he was going to pull her into his embrace. She was disappointed when he turned her toward the table instead, and guided her back to the chair to sit.

"Don't ask me that." His voice held a tone of warning. It was low and troubled. Somehow, she'd hit a vulnerable spot, and being the reporter she was, she wasn't going to let an opportunity slip past.

"So - did you ever try it?"

Their eyes locked and she read the pain he hid beneath the surface.

"You need something to eat." He pulled open the fridge and rummaged through it.

"Maybe I'm not hungry for food," she teased him.

"Maybe I'm not either," was his answer. His eyes swept down her body, and she warmed just thinking of making love with him. In her inebriated state the thought of making love to a vampire seemed dangerous, yet exciting. The thought of curling up to his chest and sleeping in his arms the whole night had her body tingling, and she found herself licking her lips as their gazes held.

He put a yogurt and some leftover spaghetti on the table in front of her, and then pulled out the jar of old seaweed soup.

"Keep thinking thoughts like that and you'll be asking for trouble,” he warned her. “Even vampires have a limit to their control. Don't push mine to the edge or you'll find yourself wishing you didn't."

"I'm willing to chance it."

With the way his eyes lingered on her and with the little twitch at the corner of his mouth, she thought he was going to agree for a moment.

"Well, I'm not." He reached back into the fridge and pulled out a jar of blood.

Cassie's stomach lurched involuntarily, and she wondered if he was going to dine on that in her presence. "Basil. You're not going to . . ."

"It's for the bats." His answer was low and direct. "If they don't eat - they die. They die - and the rest of us go with them."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She'd never heard anything so absurd in her life.

"You wouldn't understand, sweetie."

"Try me."

He gave her a long, hard perusal that she felt all the way to her stomach. He was going to come totally clean with her now, she could feel it. She'd have one hell of a story by the time this night was over.

"Some other time, maybe." He disappeared up the attic steps before she could answer.

Cassie grabbed the jar of seaweed soup and swaggered over to the stove. Unscrewing the lid, she poured the contents into a pot - the juice sloshing over the side. She lit the gas underneath, thinking the least she could do was make the man some dinner. Maybe then he'd be in a better mood and she could pry some answers out of him.

She reached over to her back pocket and pulled out the picture of her sister. She figured it wouldn't do any harm to mosey out to the bar and ask some of the customers if they'd seen her. After all, she wasn't leaving the building, so why should Basil get mad?

She clutched the photo in her hand, and headed for a couple of older men sitting at the bar. She'd seen them there before, at least a couple of times in the last few days.

"Excuse se mirs." Cassie took a deep breath and tried again. She wasn't that sloshed, why the heck couldn’t she talk? "Excuse me." She decided to leave out the sirs and keep it simple. Both men looked up at her and smiled.

"Have either of you seen my sister?" They looked at her oddly, and she realized the photo was still clutched in her hand. Quickly, she shot it out toward them and watched their eyes drop to study it.

"Can't say that I have," one answered.

"Me neither," said the other and took a swig of his beer.

"Thanks anyway." The Bat House had just opened for business for the night and was void of any other customers. She turned to make her way back to the kitchen when one of the men stopped her.

"Let me see that again." He held out his hand, and Cassie graciously dropped it into his palm. "She does look a little like that girl who was hanging around here last month, doesn't she Ben? I somehow forgot about her. But I remember now."

Ben leaned over and studied the photo. "I think you're right, Joe. "That's the girl who was hanging out in the kitchen. You know. The one who said she liked someone named Herb or Sage or whatever the hell the guy's name was."

"Basil?" She asked with a giggle.

"Yeah, that's it."

"My sister knew Basil?"

"That's all she ever talked about the short time she worked here. Who's this Basil guy anyway?"

"Didi worked here?"

"I think her name was Dee, and that’s right, she did work here," the other interrupted.

"Did she . . ." Cassie could barely bring herself to ask, ". . . work upstairs?" Her eyes traveled to the rooms at the top of the steps. The girls hadn't come out yet, and she was secretly glad not to have to see them.

"Not that I know of," said Ben. "But then again, I could be wrong. My memory isn’t that clear for some reason."

"Well, where is she now?" asked Cassie.

"I really couldn't tell you," said Ben.

"Yeah, she just kind of up and disappeared about a month ago," added Joe.

A month ago. Didi must have disappeared just after she'd written that letter to her. Didi did say she was crazy about some mysterious man - could she have meant Basil?

Cassie turned back to the kitchen, thinking what a fool she'd been not to ask Basil about her sister sooner. But he'd always been angry over something or another. Plus, she really hadn't had the chance.

She pushed open the kitchen door to see Basil running for the stove, the soup bubbling up and over the sides of the pot.

"Where were you?" he snapped as he turned off the flame. "What the hell were you trying to do - burn the house down?"

That was it. She wasn't a girl who cried at the drop of a hat, but right now she felt her emotions were a little unstable. She walked up to him and pounded her fists on his chest. Her words came out shaky as the tear ducts opened wide.

"I was trying to make you some food, you grouch. Everything I do is wrong no matter how hard I try. Maybe I just should have gotten you a straw and stuck it into my neck. That's one dinner I couldn't possibly screw up."

Basil grabbed her wrists in one hand and pulled her against his chest with the other. She gave in willingly, embarrassed by her outbreak, trying now to hide her tears by rubbing her cheek against his shirt.

Gently, he lifted her chin. Ever so gently he wiped away her tears with his thumb. Cassie's body trembled at the intimacy of such an innocent act. She looked up into his eyes, and for the first time thought she saw care and understanding.

"I'm sure it'll be the best burnt seaweed I've ever tasted."

He got her to smile, just with those simple words. "My mother always said I couldn't boil water."

"Then let me make dinner, Cassie." He kissed her gently atop her head and turned her toward the table.

"You're going to cook for me? Do you remember how after all these years?"

"Never knew in the first place." He opened the cupboard and scanned the contents. Pulling down a box of crackers, he took a knife from the sink and headed toward the fridge.

"Basil? What are you doing?"

He grabbed a crumpled paper bag from the counter, and threw the contents inside. He then opened the fridge, nosed around and came out with his arms loaded down with a chunk of cheese, catsup, a can of diet cola, and a jar of green olives. He grabbed the cold spaghetti and yogurt off the table and threw them in the bag too.

"We're going on a picnic, sweetie."

"A picnic? This time of night and in the rain?"

"It stopped raining."

Cassie glanced toward the darkened window but couldn't see a thing. "How do you know?"

"I can hear that it's stopped, not to mention smell it as well."

"Good ears, but what do you mean you can smell it?"

"Come on, I'll demonstrate."

He stuck the bag under one arm and took her hand with the other. They headed out the back door and into the dark night.

"Basil, where are we going?" Cassie stumbled after him as he dragged her along much too fast. Maybe he could see in the dark, but she couldn’t.

"I told you. On a picnic." To Cassie's displeasure, he headed straight for the graveyard.

"Not my idea of a fun date - picnic under the moon, sitting atop tombstones."

He stopped so fast she went crashing into him. He turned around and faced her. "Who said this was a date?"

She wanted to kick herself for that one. What was she doing? Wishing for a date with a vampire? The alcohol had to be affecting her tongue.

"My mistake." She swallowed deeply, wondering if she was a guest at the picnic or to be the main dish. She tried to block her thoughts before he picked them up and found the idea of feasting on her appealing. After all, he was a vampire. Although she'd never heard it mentioned, she wasn't sure vampires could be trusted.

He stopped under a grove of old, huge pine trees just at the outer edge of the cemetery. The moon was waxing, but still bright enough to see around on the ground. The scent of pine filled her senses and she listened to Basil inhale deeply and release his breath slowly.

Cassie started to sit down on the ground when Basil grabbed her arm and led her further away.

"Not here. You're right atop a chipmunk's home. I don't think he'd like it."

Cassie looked to the ground but could only see dead, wet leaves. No sign of any chipmunk.

"How do you know?"

"I can smell it."

"How about there?" She pointed to a gnarled tree trunk a few steps away.

"Skunk's home."

"Really?" Cassie figured she should have been able to smell that one. Actually, she was glad for Basil's sharp senses in this case.

He pulled her behind him as he continued deeper into the pine forest. The moonlight was hidden behind clouds, and the forest was now too dark to see.

"Basil, slow down. I can't see a thing."

Before she knew what was happening, he grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. Still clutching the grocery bag in his other hand, he whisked through the dark forest at record-breaking speed.

"What's the hurry?" Cassie's head was down, Basil's shoulder digging into her stomach. She wasn't sure if she'd toss her cookies or pass out before they got to the picnic spot.

"I'm not hurrying. This is normal speed for a vampire."

"Well, it's not for me. Put me down before I throw up."

Before she knew it, she was on her feet and facing what looked like a little log cabin in the dark.

"Where are we?"

Basil felt his own stomach get queasy by the question. He shouldn't have brought her to his secret lair. It was a place he hadn't visited in a long time. It was a place he should have wanted to forget - but instead he only found himself wanting to share it with Cassie.