27. A Few of Sam’s Fears Are Made Known

Nerves, fear, excitement, dread all fizzed through my veins at the word wedding. "Uh, sure."

Grinning, he glanced over. Whatever he saw had him laughing out loud. "As bad as all that?"

"No, of course not. It's just a lot. Lots of attention and focus and staring and pictures and… I could call up the ghost of a priest or something and have him marry us. No one even needs to know about it." A lifetime of invisibility had ill-prepared me for a life in the spotlight.

"You could. It's an option. I've waited a very, very long time to get married, though. I want the world to know that I love and cleave unto you."

"I like that part. Then all those ridiculously gorgeous exes of yours will know to go cleave themselves."

Chuckling, he brushed the back of his hand down my cheek. "I don't believe you're using that word correctly."

"Oh, it's correct. Especially when they rub up on you and end up with a cleaver in the face."

"A blood ceremony will be required," he said, watching me. "Weddings are lovely but mean nothing to my kind. The ceremony, an ancient ritual in which our blood is combined, is a kind of metaphor for becoming one. It's performed rarely, as trust is always an issue. One never knows when today's lover will become tomorrow's foe."

I glanced over, trying to read the beautiful man I loved with all my heart. My mate. "Does that mean you can't conceive of a future where I'm your enemy?"

"Never. If you and I are on opposite sides of a battle, I'll know I've misstepped badly and need to reassess the situation. Not that you're perfect—"

"Hey."

"But what you are is completely loyal, unfailingly kind, and generous to your own detriment. If you and I are on opposite sides, one of us is missing key pieces of information."

I liked that. If we were at odds, it was because we weren't seeing the full picture. "Back up. You said combined blood. I have no desire to become a vampire. I've already got mixed-up blood as it is. I'm not interested in adding a third strain. Plus, the vampire blood will probably be a dick and try to kill off the wicche and wolf blood."

"I'll have you know my blood is quite noble. It's not a dick," he said in his snobbiest, most upper-crusty English accent. The farther we got from the nocturne and his responsibilities, the lighter and funnier he became.

"Fine. You plan the wedding. I'll buy a dress."

"Done. As to your concerns about my dickish blood trying to conquer yours, I won't be giving you enough to change your body chemistry. Given how quickly both of us heal, it's unlikely more than a few drops will mingle. As I said, it's ceremonial and symbolic of our union."

"Okay." I thought about what I knew of weddings. "Do I buy you a ring?"

Clive lifted his left hand and studied it a moment. "I'd like that."

"Do I surprise you with it or have you pick it out?"

"I have no idea." Under the words was happiness at wearing my ring.

"Maybe we should go to a jewelry store?" I was so out of my depth.

"Yes. We'll need to find a quiet evening when we're not being attacked or visiting dragons to pop into a shop."

The highway had cut inland while we talked. We passed long stretches of green, interspersed with houses, low outbuildings, a restaurant, later a wine tasting room. I was beginning to worry I'd missed a turn on the dark, lonely road when it cut back toward the water. Once we hit the coast, businesses started popping up: a motel, a café, a winery, a couple of gift shops, a kite store. I pulled over onto the narrow shoulder of the road. "We should switch so I can look for her."

A moment later, I was back in the passenger seat. I missed the control but was happy at the moment to relinquish it. I had a vamp to find.

Accelerating onto the empty road, Clive asked, "Any idea where we should go now?"

I didn't feel anything. "Maybe slow down even more and drive from one end to the other, then snake up and down the streets. I'll see what I see." Closing my eyes, I put away thoughts of love and marriage, instead focusing on hate and death.

While Clive called Hollis, Alpha of the Bodega Bay pack, to let him know we were visiting his territory, I continued to search. Opening my eyes, I tilted my seat back and watched the dark, quiet town slowly slip by. After circling around the tiny town, Clive retraced our path on Highway 1, turning inland again.

"Are we giving up?"

He rubbed my thigh. "Not at all. Just giving you a new perspective. The pack territory is in this direction. It's isolated, which might make it a good place to hide."

I'd just settled into our drive when I shot up straight in my seat. "Holy crap! Go back!" I pointed at a white clapboard building. "That's the schoolhouse from The Birds. I forgot it was filmed here. Damn, that movie scared the heck out of me as a kid. To this day, birds freak me out."

Clive had stopped across the street from the schoolhouse. "I have no idea what you're referring to."

"Hitchcock? The Birds? Really? We'll need to watch a movie, too, on that quiet night we shop for rings."

"That sounds perfect. Are you picking up on anything besides birds?"

Was I? "Nope. Can you go back to town? This feels like the wrong direction." Closing my eyes, I breathed slowly in and out, trying to focus as Clive sped back to the bay. And then it occurred to me. "Pull over," I said, pointing to the narrow parking strip for the beach.

Clive did as I asked. Hopping up on the seat, I sat on the headrest, wanting more of my body out the top of the car. No idea why. Closing my eyes again, I searched for the dead, calling the ghosts to me. We weren't in Colma, so an army didn't arrive. Instead, eight ghosts of varying strength arrived. A few looked too insubstantial to have retained sentience. With them was my insubstantial new friend Charlotte.

"Are you saying I didn't need to call everyone? Wait. Are you always around?" That kind of creeped me out. I didn't need an invisible audience when I was doing private stuff.

No. Mostly I'm just in a dreamy hazy place and then you call and I'm here and aware.She shrugged transparent shoulders, at a loss to explain her type of life after death.

"Okay, everyone," I said to the assembled ghosties. I spoke aloud for Clive's benefit but kept my volume at a whisper. "We're looking for a vampire who's been hanging out around here. Has anyone seen anything out of the ordinary?"

A frisson of awareness sang in my blood. "Who knows what?"

It's the little one in the back. She's seen something that scared her, so she's stayed away. Let me see if I can get her to show me where it was.Charlotte and the faint spirit of an old woman in a faded house dress merged into a fog. Whatever the old woman showed them scared them enough to have seven ghosts streaking away into the night. I could have called them back, but why?

It's down at the water. At the base of a cliff, there's a narrow cave entrance only accessible at low tide. She's heard screaming in there. When she went to investigate, she saw something that horrified her.

I relayed the information to Clive. "Perhaps I should come back during the day at low tide, so I can investigate while she's sleeping." I'd need to check the tide tables.

"No. We do this together." Clive looked along the coast. "Does Charlotte know where the cave is?"

Yeah, I think so.

She pointed to a rocky outcropping that appeared disconnected from the cliff, a kind of craggy, stone island. Waves pounded against the rocks. In the best of conditions, this would be dangerous. Now, with the surety of a churning ocean slamming us into jagged rocks, it seemed more like a suicide mission.

Clive drove up the coast, away from the old-fashioned storefronts in downtown Bodega Bay, tucking onto a service road. We walked to the edge of the cliff and stared at the crashing surf below.

"Ideas?" I had none that didn't lead directly to death.

"One or two. Could you ask Charlotte to investigate? The ideas are pointless if what we're looking for isn't down there." Tilting his head, Clive crouched, his face a mask in concentration. "I hear something."

"Charlotte?" A filmy fog at my side took form. "Could you do some reconnaissance for us? Is there a cave down there? Does it hold something that can terrify the dead? You know, stuff like that?"

On it.And she was gone.

Dropping down next to Clive, I rested my hand on his knee for balance. The wind was so strong, it almost knocked me on my butt. "What do you hear?"

"Irregular heartbeat. Growling."

"How in the world can you hear that over the roar of the ocean and this wind?" The man was ridiculous.

Grinning, he kissed me soundly. "I thought you knew. I'm extraordinary."

Laughing, I stood, pulling him up with me and using him as a wind break. "I hadn't heard."

A moment later, I felt Charlotte's return, although I couldn't see her. "Charlotte?"

You have to go help him. Voice high and panicked, she whispered close to my ear.

"Who?"

A wolf. He's chained with silver. He can't heal. He's covered in bites. And there's…there's something wrong with him. The way she said wrong had my scalp prickling.

"Wrong how?"

Help him. Or kill him. Just make it stop. Please.

I relayed her report to Clive.

"Where's the cave?" he asked.

Charlotte pointed.

"On the far side of the rock, facing the open ocean." How the hell were we going to cross this crevasse between the cliff and the outcropping? It had to be a hundred-and-fifty-foot drop onto sharp, jagged, pointy things and a churning ocean. We couldn't jump across, as it was seventy or eighty feet away from the edge of the cliff.

I was still contemplating going back to the beach and swimming out when Clive picked me up and swung me around so I was on his back. He moved back to the car and then sprinted to the edge of the cliff. Holding tight, I closed my eyes as I felt us go airborne. After what seemed far too long, we jolted as Clive's feet hit rock.

Terrified, I didn't move.

"Are you shaking?"

Reluctantly, I slid down so my own feet were on the top of the uneven rock. Gusts of wind tried valiantly to blow me off the rock. Leaning into the gale force winds, I attempted to talk myself out of my fear of heights. We hadn't even gotten to the hard part yet and I was paralyzed. This wouldn't do.

"Sorry, love. I didn't realize. Sit here. I'll go check it out and be back."

"No. I'm good. I'm fine." I wrapped my hand around his. "Lead the way."

We crossed the top of the uneven rock. When we got to the far edge, I had a bad moment of vertigo, going lightheaded as my stomach dropped. All I could see was my own shattered body on the rocks below. I was tipping forward, balance gone, when a change in the wind pushed me back, almost knocking me off the side of the rock.

Clive looked over the edge and I fought my need to snatch him back. "I don't see the cave. It could be underwater." He turned to look at me and then wrapped me in his arms. "I can take you back to the car and do this on my own."

"I can do it."

"I've never seen someone with a heartbeat quite this pale. You're allowed to be scared, Sam."

"I'm staying. What's the plan?" My brain wasn't currently working. Clive was on his own, plan-wise.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Back up you go, then. Hold on tight and close your eyes. I've got you." He cupped my face and kissed me. "I will not let you fall."

He swung me unto his back. It was a good thing he didn't need to breathe, as I had a death grip on his neck. Eyes squeezed shut, I tucked my head down, my nose against the skin of his neck. His scent never failed to soothe. My head and stomach swooped in opposite directions as I felt him drop off the edge of the rock.

Clive's arms moved up and down as he descended the rock wall. If I hadn't been petrified, I'd have been impressed. Winds tore at me, trying to separate us, but my arms were locked around him. He'd be lucky if I let go an hour from now. When sea spray hit the back of my neck, I knew we were getting closer to the ocean.

"I still don't see a cave. When we get near the bottom, I'm going to find an edge for you to hang onto while I plunge into the water. Once I've located the entrance, I'll come back and get you."

Umm.

Sooner than I was ready, Clive was prying my arms from around his neck and guiding my hands to a sizable ridge on the rock. "Hang on. I won't be long." Pushing away from the cliff face, he dropped into the raging ocean below.