39. The Thing About the Ring

When I got in the car, I sent a text to Owen and George, telling them I was on my way and to maneuver Medusa toward the front door. I also told them not to alert Clive. I wanted to surprise him.

"Thank you, Audrey, for everything." As she pulled to the curb, I studied the mansion. "I don't want to embarrass Clive." I touched my hair. "You made sure I won't."

Opening the door, I stepped out and then heard, "Miss?"

I leaned in the door. "Yes?"

"Well." Her hands fidgeted on the steering wheel. "It's just, I know what the others say, what they think about you and the Master." She looked up then. "I don't hold with any of that, miss. The Master's lucky to have found you, and that's that." Giving a decisive nod, she added, "You have a lovely evening."

"Thank you, Audrey." I closed the door, my throat tight as she drove away.

Texting Owen and George again, I let them know I was on the front porch. A few minutes later, the door swung open, Owen and George hustling Medusa out between them. She was wearing a long black gown with an enormous wrap in a watery green color and a half mask that matched. All of that would have been fine if she hadn't topped it off with a black knit beanie.

Medusa looked me up and down, huge wine glass filled to the brim in her hand. "Thank the gods. This party is boring as fuck. I thought there'd be strippers. What kind of party doesn't have strippers?" Shaking her head, she walked down the stairs.

"Wait. I need the mask."

When she flung it over her shoulder, George leaped down the stairs to catch it.

I stared after the retreating gorgon as she headed down the sidewalk toward the house she and her sisters were renting. "What. The. Hell? How did anyone believe that was me?"

"They didn't," George said as he handed me a mask that smelled strongly of red wine. "Everyone in there is convinced Clive killed you, either accidentally or by design. No one wants to call him on it, though. They're taking bets as to when he announces you ran away or got into a car accident."

"Wow. Nice to know people give a shit I was turned into a vampire juice box." I wasn't sure I wanted to go in anymore. Where were the pitchforks? The angry mobs looking for vengeance? Jeez. Serve people drinks for seven years and they step over your corpse for fancy hors d'oeuvres.

Owen approached me nervously. What was that about? "I'm really sorry for the way I acted before, the things I said to you."

It took me a minute. "Holy crap, Owen, that wasn't your fault. I'm the one who's sorry for having an asshole aunt who tried to possess you." I pulled him into a hug. "None of this was your fault. None of it."

George ran his hand up and down my back, no doubt thanking me for letting his fella off the hook.

"Look at it this way," I said, finally letting him go. "Dave actually tried to kill me, burned my neck and everything. You just said some harsh stuff." I shrugged. "And nothing I didn't deserve." I handed him the mask. "Can you get this on me so it doesn't mess up the fancy hair Audrey gave me?"

He did and then all three of us waltzed into my engagement party. As we walked through the entry, George leaned over and whispered, "And those of us that would have killed Clive for hurting you were in on the plan."

Good point. I was feeling better when I spotted Clive across the crowded living room. I'd barely stepped over the threshold, when he spun, eyes vamp black and stalked toward me. Everyone got out of his way.

And then he was kissing me and kissing me and kissing me. We held tight, both of us knowing how easily it could have gone the other way, how easily I might not have made it out of Faerie. When we finally broke apart, all the guests had moved to a different part of the house.

"How are you back so soon?" Clive's eyes had returned to their usual stormy gray. He leaned back, gaze traveling over me. "You are…a vision."

Grinning, I took a better look at him as well. Clive in a tux. Damn. He took my hand and led me through the room and out onto the deck. I heard the murmur of voices and went to the railing to look over. The rest of the guests had moved to the lower level. It sounded as though a string quartet played inside.

Owen and George, along with other couples, danced under the moonlight. Russell stood at the edge of the gathering, looking up at us. When I waved, he nodded. His expression remained stoic as hell, but I could feel his relief at seeing me.

Clive pulled me into his arms and then we, too, were dancing. The moonlight's pull was strong. Full moon tomorrow. I couldn't wait to ditch this form and run, feel the earth under my paws as I raced through the forest.

He kissed me again, more softly, reverently. "I was worried."

"Me too."

Glancing over his shoulder at the moon, he turned back to me and whispered, "Soon. Your eyes have lightened since we've been out here."

"Soon," I agreed. And then we were dancing again, my head on his chest.

When I felt his lips on my forehead, I realized I'd started to drift. I was so sleepy. Snapping straight up, I looked around. Was my aunt screwing with me again?

"Problem?" Clive spun me around and danced me toward the opposite end of the deck.

"I started to fall asleep. I wasn't tired before."

He stiffened, his arms like metal bars around me. "Abigail?"

"I'm not sure, but it feels like her. Dave said her demon isn't allowed to hurt me." I patted my chest. "And I'm wearing Benvair's pendant." I thought about it a moment. "Sleep isn't violent. It might not be considered hurting me."

"Sleeping Beauty?"

I shrugged, leaning into him. "Maybe."

"Any sign of Leticia?"

Embarrassed, I internally face palmed. I'd forgotten why we were here. I was so happy to be home and with Clive, I'd neglected my role in the ruse. Tipping my head to his shoulder again, I reached out, searching for her. The vamps at the party popped into my mind immediately. The green glut at the nocturne was as it should be. A few vamps were on the town. I continued to hunt, though, for that odd, fae-colored overlay of the cold, green vamp blip. I shook my head, frustrated.

"Are you hungry?"

"Famished."

He'd started to walk me back into the house when I caught it. I pulled him back, wrapped my arms around his neck, and drew him into a passionate kiss. There! I felt the snap of anger and jealousy at the water's edge.

She's in the water, at the edge of the lower dock.I wormed my way into her thoughts and saw us from her perspective. Hey, we looked good together. I tried to yank her mind out, as I'd done with other vamps, but she'd recently fed on a kelpie. Damn kelpies, nothing but trouble.

Clive must have communicated with Russell because soon the people below ambled back in with talk of champagne and cake. They were trying to lure her in. It was too easy for her to disappear in the ocean. They wanted her on land so there was a fighting chance of catching her.

Clive nuzzled my cheek and then kissed my neck.

"I can't help but notice," he murmured, "your left ring finger is lighter than it should be."

"Oh. That." I tilted my head back, giving him better access. While his lips slid along my jaw, I considered how to break the news. "Here's the thing," I began. When his fangs grazed the side of my throat, I shivered and all thought drained from my head. What the man could do with his mouth…

"The thing?" He ran his nose along my temple, breathing me in as I often did him.

"Thing?" What thing?

"The ring thing," he prompted.

"Oh. Gah. Stop that. I can't think when you do that." Instead of stopping, he sunk into a long, deep kiss that had my body going up in flames and my brain shorting out.

Has she moved in?

What?

Leticia. Has she moved from the water?

Right. Shit. I had a job I was supposed to be doing. Reaching out, I found her right away. Tree behind you.

And like that, he winked out of sight. From the side of the deck, a vamp flew at me. He was one of Clive's, so I didn't want to kill him until I was sure he wasn't trying to rush me out of harm's way. When he tackled me, throwing us both over the rail, I was less understanding.

In the two seconds it took to hit the slate patio below, I had two thoughts: If he ruins this dress, I will kill him; and if I lose this necklace, I will kill him. Basically, his death was a done deal, but then I heard Leticia's voice in his head. Damn it! How was she controlling Clive's vamps?

I shouted at Russell in my mind, Help Clive now! Tree. North side of the deck.

It shouldn't have worked. I didn't have a connection with Russell as I did with Clive. It was possible Clive called him as well. Whatever the reason, I only saw a blur as Russell leaped off the deck into the huge cypress that separated the Drake estate from its neighbor.

I had the vamp who'd attacked under my control. He lay, gazing blankly up at the stars while I listened to branches creaking overhead. As I contemplated how Clive could reclaim his vamp, two more hopped the fences on either side of the yard and rushed me. Damn it! How many did she have?

I took control of both before they could touch me. Three lay at my feet when I felt two more vamps racing toward me from inside the house. When I dropped to my heels, taking control as they flew over my head, I heard a frustrated scream from above. Poor Leticia. She'd probably spent years putting these vamps under her power, and all for nothing.

It was then I noticed two sets of red eyes glowing in the dark. Two hulking black forms emerged from the water, lurching toward me. What the hell were they? The plip plop of water hitting the patio tiles reminded me of something. It niggled in the back of my mind. One of the hunks blew an annoyed breath through its nose and it all came back.

The Slaughtered Lamb had still been under construction when a kelpie used the ocean entrance to hunt up a late-night snack. He'd found me in the cavernous worksite, looking through book catalogs. I'd thought him a dream, believed I must have fallen asleep. How strange it had been to have a horse standing in my soon-to-be bar. It was the plip plop of seawater that had broken the spell then, too.

With each step, their hulking mass shifted until what was standing five feet from me was a pair of huge black horses with glowing red eyes and razor-sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight. Claws sliding from my fingertips, arms bulking up, jaw distending, I'd learned a few tricks in the intervening years. I wouldn't be running this time.

One put his nose down and snorted, like a bull getting ready to charge. Fine by me. When he pounced, I leaped, flipping onto his back. I raked my claws through his neck as he transformed, but he wasn't fast enough.

As the first faded into nothingness—Gloriana better not hold this against me. They started it—the second snapped, tearing flesh from my arm. It burned like a mofo but my arm still worked, which was all I cared about at the moment.

He backed away, trying to circle around me, no doubt looking for a weakness. I had a moment, less than, to realize how badly I'd fucked up. I'd been so distracted by the kelpies that I'd dropped my control of the five vamps at my feet. They flew at me from behind as the kelpie charged from the front.

There wasn't enough time. I was fast, but so were they. I spun, taking the first vamp's head, but couldn't complete the sweep before the other two had their fangs in my neck. Before one could rip my head off, I dove into their minds and yanked hard, channeling the pain into the wicche glass. I couldn't deal with pain and a kelpie at the same time.

The vamps dropped dead—for real this time—at my feet, and the kelpie lunged for my stomach, tearing away a chunk of flesh. Stifling a scream, I slammed the claws of both hands through the top of his head and struggled, muscles straining, as I ripped, inch by inch, through his skull, tearing his head in half.

When he winked out of existence, I dropped to the slate tiles. Shit, that hurt! There was movement above me, a blur really. Three silhouettes flew from branch to branch in the tree above. They grappled, branches creaked, and then Russell was thrown across the balcony. Leaping up, he raced back into the fray. None were giving an inch. It had to end tonight.

As the blood flowed from the kelpie's bites, I became colder and more numb. I wouldn't call Clive for help, couldn't distract him. He needed his total focus on Leticia.

"Sam!" Owen's shout broke the relative silence of the night. Leticia glanced down and then threw back her head, laughing. Clive ripped her head from her shoulders, the laugh turning into a strangled gurgle before her dust blew away in the wind.

Owen's gaze darted skyward, no doubt looking for dive-bombing vampires. George carried me inside, not even seeming to mind that I was bleeding all over him. Clive dropped to the patio a moment later, pursuing us into the house.

Reaching up with my good arm, I touched the diamond choker. Whew. Still there.