Waiting (31 page)

He'd taken a seat and posit
ioned himself between my legs,
 
watching my face.  F
or what?

“No.”
 
Well it was worth a shot. I sighed but nodded, accepting his decision.
“You're not even going to ask me why?” Amusement and awe flashed in his eyes.

“Well, I'm guessing I'll be a shit show and it'll be a
lot of
responsibility
to turn and train me, so I figured it would just be too much of a
hassle
right now.”

I was scooped into his lap and tucked tight against his chest before I could blink.

“You are the most wonderful woman I've ever met. So level headed and reasonable. You think things out before o
ver
reacting, or e
ven reacting to anything at all.  A
nd you're smart. Smart enough to save me a
lo
t of trouble to bring Sam to us
before rushing head first into danger.” Where was he going with this? “Have I told you that I love you?”

“Maybe once or twice,” I teased
.

“I'll work on saying it more. But for now, I'll just explain to you why I won't change you today.”

Oh, right. We'd been having a conversation before this.

I sat up straight and looked into his eyes, awaiting his reasoning for keeping me human.
  Breakable.

“You're not ready.” I started to argue but he stopped me with a look. “I want to be with you forever, to turn you and start your new life
together
, to protect and always be there for you, but it can't happen right now. I want you to be relaxed and not thrown into this. When we get Francis back, then we can re
-
discuss this. Oh, and after I meet your family.”

He had a few valid points and I couldn't blame him for being logical, but the part that stood out the most was when he said, when
we
get Francis back.

“Does that mean I get to go with you?”

Hope filled my eyes, his grin making it hard to breath
e
.

“We're going to take
it one step at a time. For now
I'm going to call Sam to me. It'll take her a few hours, depending on where she is now, though she'll have to
come. If she's not here by six
then I'll up the call, making it painful for her until she gets closer and closer. Francis and I call it Home Sick, because when we were younger and human, and away from home, we'd be in the worst moods, sometimes sick to our stomachs until we were within a few miles of our home.”

I smiled at the memory he revealed, thinking it fit just perfect.

“Ok. Should you call Gunther back to be here just in case Koopa comes with her?”

“Gunther's outside and he's already called
on our friends
. We'll be ready in a half hour for anything she might bring with her, willingly or not.” His tone let me know he hasn't
completely
written her off and might think she can still come back to the good side. “He's praising you to everybody. Gunther is. You're brilliant you are. We might've thought about calling Sam eventually, but this is going to save us a
lot of time.”

“I have to be good at something
. If I were completely useless
you probably would've been spying on some other unknowing chick all these years.”

With a roll of his eyes, he stood, placing me back on my feet.

“Spying's a rather harsh word. And as for any other women, there is no other that I will ever want. You've been it since...for years now.” What had he been about to say? “I'm not going to mess this up.” He heaved a heavy sigh while inhaling deeply, smelling my
confusion
. “After Francis is free
we need to dis
cuss something. I'm dreading it
but I don't want there to be any secrets between us.”

He was starting to freak me out
so I took a deep breath and counted to three before looking back into his eyes.

“Ok.” There wasn't really much to say about that until he told me what it is that's troubling him.
  He needs a clear head to get Francis back.
“What
are we going to do when Sam get
s here?”

He smiled wryly at my smooth change of topic before taking my hand and leading me out of the kitchen.

“I
think I know who her
mate is, and I plan on starting there.”

TWENTY

“Have I told you how much I love you?”

A smile surfaced on my face when Parker's arms encircled me from behind, his head buried in the crook of my neck as he inappropriately skimmed his fangs along the sensitive curve.

Fifteen of us stood tops
ide on
the mountain.  A
nother thirty or so were hidden within a ten mile perimeter of us, cloaked so they couldn't be sensed
right away
if an attack did take place.
Or so I was told.

Sam should be here soon and we were trying to be prepared for anything.

“Yes, but I'll never tire of hearing it.”

I turned to face him, giving him a quick kiss before stepping back to put some much needed space between us.

All I could think about was being with him and I didn't want the smell of my lust to waft to everyone.

Parker stepped closer
, not letting me keep the space for long, protectively wrapping his arm around me as
everyone formed a giant circle.
 
E
veryone's mood changed to serious with the blink of an eye.

A few seconds later three forms appeared in the center. Koopa
, wearing a
black
spike collar and a
multilayered
green suit,
dropped two forms.  A
frightened, fierce look
ing
Sam
dressed in a pink dress that reminded me of Princess Peach
.
He really was taking this Mario thing to
o
far.
The other, a bruised and bleeding Brian.

My heart rate shot up as I instinctively started forward, only to be held back with Parker's unbreakable hold.

Why did they have Brian? There was no reason for him to be a
part of any of this!

Brian inched away from
Koopa
.  H
is left leg
looked
to be broken as he struggled to gain more than a few inches before Gunther gripped his shoulders and placed him
outside the circle close to me.  The group closed
in to
accommodate
for Gunther's absence.

He sliced open his wrist and held it to Brian's mouth, forcing him to swallow until he starting gagging. It was more blood than
I've
ever taken and his color seemed to get better almost instantly. The
bruises on his face disappeared
first
, then his
leg started
putting itself back together
.

Parker let me go to him, comfort him
,
with Gunther protectively standing by as Parker started his plan.

“Koopa. Thank you for dropping off my Kin.”

Koopa's pudgy face turned into an evil grin as he kicked Sam's withering form closer to Parker.

“It's my pleasure. She's a peace offering. I felt her pull when you called and decided to make sure she came to you, instead of letting her kill herself like she planned.”

Her skinny form looked lifeless, her eyes
staring
at nothing.

I helped Brian stand when his broken limbs healed and held him close when Gunther grabbed onto his arm, but didn't argue when he bit into his wrist, taking blood to ensure he had strength to fight in
case it came to that.

“I don't want her, I want Francis.” Parker's gaze narrowed in on Sam's with disgust before looking back at Koopa. “Why do you need Francis? You have plenty of followers.”

“I don't
need
Francis, I
want
him. He's thorough with his work and I don't need to babysit him. You know how much of a
hassle
it is to find good help.”

A slobbery grin met Parker's outraged scowl.

“Yo
u might think you're invincible
but you're about to start a war you don't want. You have allies, yes, but only those who owe you and don't really hold their loyalty with you. How
dependent
are you on those you hold as slaves?” Koopa's grin turned into rage, not liking Parker's words.
He’d obviously not thought ahead with his backup.
“Me, on the other hand, I have family, friends, people who hold
their
loyalty with me out of choice, not fear. People who care about Francis and won't stop until we have him back.”

I rejoined Parker, gripping his hand for support and glared at Koopa with the rest of them.

“Watch your words, Parker!” he spat.
“
If you declare war, your brother will be
killed immediately.  A
long with Sam
and your human as soon as I
get my hands on her again.”

Parker's grip throbbed in pain, making me squeeze his arm, silently begging him to release me.
When that didn’t work
I pinched his arm and removed my hand before wrapping my arm around his waist
instead
, not letting our contact sever, afraid of what he'd do next.

“I'll have Francis back by
tomorrow
morning, with or without your permission, Koopa. So what will it be?”

Koopa snarled and looked around at our friends in disgust.

“Like you and your band of merry men could contain me.” Eye's flashing gold
around his fiery red eyes
, fangs extended threateningly, he worked his neck in a circle as if preparing for battle. “Now, if you have nothing nice to say, then I suggest you...”

His words cut short when out of nowhere a long line
of silver dropped from the sky
lan
ding securely over Koopa's neck
causi
ng him to double over instantly
before four vampires broke formation to cover him with more, effectively holding him immobile while his
skin started to sizzle
. C
urses
flew
freely
from his mouth.

A small figure appeared above where Koopa had been standing, slowly floating to the ground in front of Parker and I
with a satisfied smirk
.
 
The
stout
three foot tall man
stood
with
a mane of brown, puffy hair
, small fingers reaching out to shake Parker's large hand
, disappearing altogether
.

“Tiny. A pleasure to see you, like always.”

This was the infamous Tiny? It seemed kind of rude to call him that
derogatory
term. Like calling
someone
fat, Fatty.

“Anything for you, Parker.” The childlike face turned to face me,
hand extended, gripping mine
for a second before letting go. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Piper.”

“It's nice to meet you.” I smiled
gratefully
at him, thankful he was able to keep Koopa from escaping. “How did Koopa not sense him?” I returned my gaze to Parker.

“Tiny has a
special ability. N
o
one can sense him if he chooses. I didn't even know he was here, or that he was aware of our plans until the chains dropped.”

Tiny tsk'd.

“You know I always watch out for family. I was at the club and have been watching over Francis for you, who's fine by the way. A little banged up and was low on blood, until Koopa left
.
I brought two meals to him with the instructions to free him, then let him feed.”

A huge weight lifted off me at this news. Francis was alive and well, and might actually be free right now.

“I wasn't able to stay and make sure he escaped since I followed Koopa here after I saw him grab Brian and Sam.” Tiny's voice was full of pride. “Your Piper is very fond of the Brian and I thought you would want me to make sure he lived.”

He beamed at his accomplishments and waited for Parker to comment. His face lit up with the praise he received.