Chapter 32

Chapter

Thirty-Two

If ever there was a close-to-perfect day in my life, this one might be it.

I mean, not counting the psychotic brother who wants me dead so he can become a vampire and take over a supernatural empire.

Apparently, an entire box of condoms was an invitation neither Paul nor I could ignore. We made love again in the shower. After he saw my bloody shirt on the floor, I had no choice but to tell him everything that had happened since we parted. Not that I mind. I want to tell him everything.

For lack of anything clean of my own to wear, I raided Lorelai's closet. The peasant skirt and tank top are not my usual style, but today, I am not my usual self. Lorelai took one look at the stolen clothes and nodded in approval. I even saw her tear up, but she tried to hide it from me.

When we came down for Chinese food, Paul disappeared outside only to return with his wallet and phone, which he'd hidden in a planter. When he checked in with his parents, they were at the aquarium with Diana. They sent a picture of her dressed in a princess gown with fairy wings, pressed against a giant tank surrounded by fish.

I miss that kid, but I'm glad she's safe.

Lorelai ordered enough food options to keep us fed for days. The containers spread across her coffee table in the living room. The shades are still drawn, but two table lamps are turned on, giving plenty of light. Paul smiles as he offers me an egg roll. For a moment, I let myself fall into the fantasy of normal.

"You two are adorable." Lorelai eats noodles out of a container with wooden chopsticks. "I'm happy to see you worked things out."

Paul's grin widens, and I know the meaning of that twinkle in his eyes.

"However, I'm afraid I need to interrupt this Rockwellian moment to address the explosive elephant in the room." Lorelai sets her noodles down. "As relieved as I am not to have to bury your body in the backyard, Paul, the fact that you're a friend means we have no way of finding out what Conrad's plans are."

"I'm happy not to be buried in your backyard," Paul answers wryly.

I glance at my phone. Conrad has not tried to contact me again after Elizabeth and her crew tried to kill me. It only affirms the truth I'm trying to accept. He betrayed me. The vampires would have reported back to him by now. If they hadn't, he would have called. If he was innocent and something had happened to Conrad, Uncle Mortimer would have been right on top of it, trying to make me claim the throne.

Yeah, yeah, so it's not technically a throne, but it might as well be. I mean, Lady Astrid did occasionally wear a tiara.

A sudden wave of grief over my family's deaths takes me by surprise. Paul touches my shoulder and squeezes gently. I give a small smile at his questioning look. I don't want to talk about it in front of Lorelai.

"I could call Conrad. Ask him for a meeting," I suggest. "If I see him, I should be able to talk some sense into him. Or at least get to the truth."

"And what does sense look like?" Lorelai asks.

"Prison," Paul answers without hesitation.

"Mental health facility." I still have a hard time reconciling my feelings for Conrad with the facts in front of me. "I need to believe he can be saved."

Paul and Lorelai share a doubtful look, and I can't help but feel they are ganging up on me. They don't know Conrad like I do. They weren't there.

He's my brother.

The grief tries to resurface, and I shove it down. I feel as if I've lost my entire life—my parents, Anthony, Conrad, and the security and familiarity they represented. We might as well add my sanity to that list. The thoughts feel like a betrayal of the new family I'm making with Lorelai and Paul.

But they're new. Conrad and I have a history.

How could Conrad choose vampires over me?

I touch the amulet. "This protected us before when we were in the fires. I can protect us again."

"It will only work if you're in direct danger," Lorelai counters. "Like protecting those in your immediate circle to keep you from exploding. It might not work for an individual attack. The amulet's protection magic is only meant to save you."

"Then you should hide. Let me deal with my bother," I say.

"And if he brings more friends," Paul shakes his head. "No. I'm not hiding while you go to battle. Not happening. Pick a different plan."

I have a feeling that even if I locked him in a cellar, he'd find a way to break free to be by my side.

"The house should be vampire-proofed," Lorelai says, pulling a decorative box off a high bookshelf and setting it on the floor, "but it never hurts to be over-prepared."

Paul goes to open the lid. He pulls out a wooden stake with symbols carved on the end.

"Ash wood." Lorelai moves toward the kitchen. "It repels evil."

Paul drops the stake back into the box. "There has to be a better option. I don't want to kill anyone."

"If it's us or them…" I stare at the box. There are enough stakes to take out Elizabeth's army.

"Of course I choose us." Paul frowns. "It doesn't mean I have to like the thought of stabbing someone in the chest."

The room suddenly gets darker, as if clouds have blotted out the sun. What little sunlight snuck through the edges of the closed blinds is disappearing.

"Looks like we're expecting a storm." Lorelai reappears, holding several jars of what looks like garlic. She drops them on the floor by the box before crossing to the window to peek outside.

Good. Let the weather match my darkening mood.

Gentle, uneven taps begin on the window panes as rain strikes the glass.

Paul lightly strokes my back in a comforting gesture.

"I don't feel right," Lorelai mumbles. "Do you hear that?"

"I hear rain." Paul looks at me for verification.

"Laughter?" Lorelai frowns and stumbles on her way back from the window. "Who's there?"

Paul surges to his feet to catch her before she falls over. He lifts her onto the couch. I rush to their side and check her wrist for a pulse. I feel the reassuring beat of her heart.

"Lorelai?" I tap her cheek. She's out cold. "Can you hear me?"

"What was she talking about?" Paul goes to the window to look out.

My hands begin to tingle, and I stretch my fingers. "I don't?—"

"Tamara." Paul pulls the curtain aside so I can see. "Is that…?"

Pink glitter rains from the sky, glistening as it hits the window. I've seen this before.

"Why is it raining a glitter bomb?" Paul asks.

"Fucking fairies," I mutter, my stomach tightening in dread. "Paul, get away from the window. It's a fairy portal."

Lorelai doesn't move.

"A what?" Paul drops the curtain and slaps his cheek.

"Fairies," I repeat. What do they want?

I stand, turning in circles as I search the room for changes. The temperature begins to rise. "I know you're here. I don't think you know who you are messing with. I'm a Devine. Show yourselves, and let's talk about this."

"Are they with your brother?" Paul asks.

I don't have time to answer him.

Suddenly, Paul starts swatting at the air like a swarm of flies is attacking him. I detect the sickly sweet scent of magic. Paul begins to weave on his feet. I rush to support him before he falls, slipping my arm around his back and walking him toward a chair. He's too big for me to carry, and when he starts to fall, I spin him around so that he lands in the seat. He doesn't move.

I put my body in front of him like a shield. As the last person standing, I wait, tense and at the ready. The second one of these flying pests shows itself, I'm smacking it out of the air into the nearest wall.

I feel a prickling sensation buzz past my neck. I don't react as I wait and listen. It happens a few more times before a sparkly image materializes before me.

Sadly, all those cliché images people have in their heads about the fairy court are real. The vain creatures never met a puffy-skirted ballgown they didn't like. I think it's to make up for the fact they have to magically glamour their makeup. Without it, most of them resemble a gnarled piece of reclaimed barn wood.

The creature before me spins in a circle, spreading her fairy dust all around. When she finally stops her little production, she poses in a recitation handclasp as if prepared to perform poetry. She looks vaguely familiar.

"Have we met?" I try to place her. There were so many family parties. "Did my brother send you?"

I could see Conrad seducing a fairy. My eyes dart to the vampire kill box. Stabbing a fairy might not kill it, but it would make her leave.

"Mistress Devine," the fairy states firmly. "I have come to serve you with a summons to appear before the high fairy court."

"Uh, no." I rub my temple as my eye twitches in annoyance. I do not have time for this. "Go away."

I'm not sure where that response came from. It's like I'm suddenly channeling Lady Astrid. No one ordered her around.

The fairy stutters a little but persists. "Y-you are being charged with?—"

"Send it to my lawyer," I interrupt. "Or make an appointment with the Devine personal secretary."

She drops her hands in irritation and shouts, "You are being charged with a most heinous offense!"

I flinch. "What is it you think I did?"

What lies has my brother told them to piss them off at me? Fairy magic hardly seems like it would be his preferred method of attack, seeing as they are such flighty, emotional things, but what the hell do I know anymore?

"Threaten…" Her voice is still shrill, and she clears her throat, resuming her hand-clasped pose and moderate tone. "Pretending to consume fairies in some sick game and teaching a human child that it is all right to attack us?—"

"You're that grumpy waitress!" I finally realize where I've seen her. "At the chicken tuxedo diner place. Viney, Biney…?"

"Ivy," she corrects, moving her hands to her hips.

"Let me stop you right here, Ivy." I wave my hand in annoyance. "We didn't mean anything by it. I'm not facing a fairy court over a donut with sprinkles. I'm sorry you felt disrespected, but people eat human-shaped cakes all the time. It doesn't mean we're contemplating becoming cannibals."

Okay, sure, it's usually erotic cakes that are made in the naked human form, but my point stands.

She hems and haws a little before managing, "Well?—"

"And, for the record, that little girl idolizes fairies." That should make her vanity happy. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. You didn't tip well," Ivy accuses.

Why is she wasting my time?

"Seriously? You disappeared and never refilled drinks, you made a kid almost cry, argued when we tried to order because you didn't like our choice, and practically threw the plates at us when you dropped off our?—"

"Well, you ate an offensive donut!"

For fuck's sake.

Ivy makes a strange grunting noise before hocking up a loogie and spitting it at me. I jump back in repulsion. Before I can counter, she does a fast spin and poofs into a sparkly huff.

I hold very still, arms at the side, as I hesitate to touch the gross spot staining my skirt. I stand, listening and waiting. When the sound of the fairy portal against the window stops, I grab one of the napkins that came with the food to clean my skirt.

Is this my life now? Are supernatural creatures going to grow bolder now that I don't have protection? Are they all going to take a run at the dwindled Devine family?

"Everyone enjoys watching a giant fall," I mutter. It's like those people who see a famous person in a bar and try to fight them to up their street cred.

Lorelai and Paul both moan as they wake up. Lorelai stretches on the couch, rubbing her eyes. Paul leaps up from his chair, ready for battle even as he's wobbling on his feet. He grabs the side of his head and groans.

"What happened?" he demands, confused as he watches me with the tissue.

I wad it and throw it inside an empty food container. With a sigh, I tell him, "Ivy, that crappy waitress, is evidently a fairy. She came to spit on me for not tipping better."

Well, it's almost the whole truth. Ivy wouldn't dare attack Diana for this, and Paul has enough to worry about with Conrad.

"How long was I asleep?" Lorelai sits and stares out the window.

Paul and I turn in unison. He reaches for the curtain, pulling it back slowly. A magenta sky indicates the sun is setting.

"Like a minute," I answer. "Fairy portals can mess with the time. It helps keep what they're doing hidden from detection."

"Fairies were here?" Lorelai stands and begins searching her house. "What did they take?"

"A single fairy was here," I correct. "She's gone. It's handled."

"The waitress from that place with the chicken statue?" Paul asks as if his thoughts are starting to focus. "We did tip her. I felt bad because she was so terrible at her job."

I'm not sure how much more stress I can take.

"I'm going to check all the windows and doors," Lorelai says. The sounds of her footsteps disappear into the kitchen.

I stare toward the yard, watching the light change on the Victorian house across the street. Paul puts his arm around my waist, keeping me close to him. I love the feel of him next to me, the sound of his soft breath, the scent of his skin. Each second seems like a time bomb ticking away inside of me. Damn that fairy. She robbed me of precious hours. I am supposed to have the entire day with Paul before the threats of night come for us. I wanted to make love to him again, to savor more stolen moments.

I hate not knowing where Conrad is.

I hate not knowing the future.

Why does fate keep taking things from me?

I want so badly. I feel better when I'm by Paul, but the deep ache of longing never really goes away because I fear this is temporary.

"I love you," Paul whispers. "Whatever is coming, we'll get through it together."

I feel better for a fleeting moment.

"I love you, too." The words feel strange and new.

His grip on my waist tightens.

Streetlights come on. I see a flutter of movement cross over the yard.

"They found us." Lorelai comes up behind us. "Here. Take these."

I feel a vampire stake slip into my hand. Paul lifts his stake, adjusting it in his palm. So much for a normal family.

"Come here," Lorelai orders. The smell of garlic wafts from behind.

I turn to find her holding a jar. She dips her fingers in and rubs garlic on her neck before doing the same to me. My nose curls at the strong odor. I want to point out that no one is biting me with the amulet, but it's already done.

"They won't drink through this," Lorelai tells Paul as she slathers his neck, "but don't forget you have other arteries."

"Whatever happens," Paul says.

I nod. "Whatever happens."

"Whatever happens," Lorelai repeats as she joins our battle mantra. She puts her hand on my shoulder.

Their nearness gives me strength. Even so, it's not lost on me that they're in danger because of me. Two people who just recently came into my life are more willing to protect me than my supernatural family.

We remain by the window, the curtain drawn aside, peering out at the multiplying shadows. They move like vampires.

"I count thirteen of them," Lorelai whispers as more join the others to increase the number. "We need more stakes."

Elizabeth clearly called for backup after my amulet stopped them last time. I try to pick out which shadow might be her. For all the times Costin has mocked and scared me, he'd always shown restraint. I don't see that same quality in his sister.

Dread seems to be a permanent rock in my stomach. We stare at the gathering vampires. I'm unsure what to do. My trainer would say run. But we can't run, and I know from experience at the gas station that I don't have the skills to take down an entire brood. All the defense moves I know would have the effectiveness of trying to beat on a brick wall when it comes to vampires. Sure, I might chip it, but I'm the one who ends up bloody and raw.

I touch the amulet. Lorelai and my grandfather meant well, but I wish it did more than protect me. What good is immortality if everyone around me isn't also protected?

As suddenly as they arrive, the vampires disappear. They move at once, spreading toward the house like a plague, dispersing to each side while a few dart upward. Loud thuds land on the roof. We look up in unison. They're not trying to hide.

A tap sounds on the window, startling us. We step back. Paul lifts his stake and tries to put himself in front of me.

Elizabeth stands on the other side, chin dipped down toward her chest as she stares in. Her wide grin at that angle looks creepy as fuck. I think she knows it.

The vampire looks at me and motions that she wants me to come outside. My heart is beating fast. What were we thinking? Did we believe we had a chance tonight?

"What if we don't invite them in?" Paul asks.

"Forget what the Victorians taught us about vampire lore," Lorelai answers. "They don't have to wait for an invitation to enter your property. They aren't obsessive counters. They don't have to sleep in the dirt of their ancestral homelands. Stakes, sunlight, garlic, that's what matters. This house's protection spells should make it more difficult for them to come inside."

"What is she doing?" Paul stares at Elizabeth.

She wants me to come out. My heart is hammering in my chest, and it's all I can do to keep my breathing quiet. I hear them on the roof walking around. They want me to hear the noisy threat. They want us to know they're everywhere. I hear more tapping on the windows in the dining room. This is not a battle we can win, but maybe if they get what they want, Paul and Lorelai might have a chance.

Lorelai is pulling stakes out of the box and unscrewing lids on the garlic. I inch toward the door while their attention is distracted. I don't dare say goodbye. If they see me, they'll try to stop me.

I unlock the deadbolt. The click is loud and instantly causes them to look at me.

"Tam—" Paul begins.

"Don't follow me!" I open the door, darting through and slamming it shut before they can stop me.

I run toward the empty street to where the streetlights illuminate the road. I ignore the steep stairs as I fall and slide down the grass next to them. My skirt rises and exposes my thigh to the ground. Only when I reach the bottom do I realize I still clutch the stake.

"I'm here!" I yell. My leg stings, but I don't care.

I turn in eager circles, expecting them to land. I watch Lorelai's neighbor's curtains shift as they look out at me. None of them come out to investigate.

"You want me? Come and get me!" I scream, trembling with a combination of fear and fury.

Tears stream down my cheeks, and I can't stop shaking. It's all I can do to hold on to the stake. I stare up at Lorelai's house. I don't see the vampires—not Elizabeth in the window, not lurking along the roofline, not in the bushes.

Then I realize that Paul doesn't come after me, and he's not looking out the window.

"Paul!" I rush to get back inside. "Lorelai!"

I stumble over the uneven curb and find myself crawling up the steep cement steps leading to the porch. Gasping for breath, I push to my feet and rush back to the door. In my haste, I slam into the wood frame as I twist the doorknob to get inside. A sudden, painful impact knocks me in the stomach. The wind rushes out of my lungs, and I fall face-first onto the wooden floor in surprise. The stake flies out of my hand, leaving me defenseless.

The house is quiet. Too quiet.

"Please, no, no, no…" I mouth the words, willing all the bad to go away.

I cradle my stomach, too scared to lift my head. I don't want to see what the vampires have done. As long as I don't look, it hasn't happened, and there is hope.

So much for my perfect day.

I force myself to my hands and knees. A sharp pain radiates from where I was hit. Each breath is like a knife stabbing me in the ribs. The skirt is tangled around my limbs, making it difficult to maneuver. A tear drops to the floor beneath me, splatting into a tiny pool on the wood surface.

I can't keep going on like this.

I manage a raspy breath.

"Hey, sis," Conrad's voice penetrates my frantic thoughts. There is a dispassionate edge to his tone. The sound makes my blood run cold.