“I knew that something would happen and you’d not have to go through with your death.”He said that he was humbled in the way that he’d met her.“As you should be.She was just telling me how you were going to protect her from her mother.I hope you know that if you were to kill her, I’d not lose any sleep over it.She sounds like a monster.”
“That’s a good name for her, monster.I do believe that she’s that and more.”Calla told him that she would kill her herself if given the opportunity.“For now, I’m going to allow her to live.But as soon as she tries anything with my heart, I’m going to kill her just the way that I warned her.Slow and painfully.”
For the rest of the evening, they talked about the upcoming festival that was coming to town.Calla wasn’t all that thrilled about the rides, as she’d heard all her life that they weren’t well-maintained and were dangerous to be ridden.He assured her that he’d take care that they were safe while in town to keep the children safe.He found that he really was a different man than he’d been even one day ago.Before, he wouldn’t have cared at all for the rides and the children on them.Now he wanted nothing to happen to anyone who came around him.Sirous not only made the rides safer, but he also made sure that there was no cheating going on with the games along the way, too.It was the least he could do for his new hometown.
“We need to talk.”He told Tabitha that he was there for her.“I’ve heard a great deal about vampires and more last night.I don’t know what to believe.”He told her that she only needed to ask and he’d tell her.“I don’t know about you either.You’re so different than you were when I first met you.It’s like you’re a pod person.”
While he didn’t know what that meant, he did strive to answer all her questions about his kind.Before the end of the evening, he was sure that he’d given her every answer that he could have about vampires and what they did than he’d ever thought about in his life.He was happy too.Happy that she was willing enough to question him about his kind so that she’d not be fearful of him.That made him happiest of all.
Chapter 5
It took her most of the morning to get through to Conri.She wanted to tell him that she was no longer living in the house that he’d provided for her and to thank him for his generosity.She doubted that most would have seen how down on their luck she’d been and taken her in.She was glad that he’d done what he’d done and made her feel welcome, too.She liked the older wolf and was also glad that he sent the wolves with her when she’d been walking along the path to his place.
“Tabby, my dear, it’s so good to see you.”He hugged her, then pulled away.“I’d not realized that you’d found your mate.Good for you and him.Who is it?Rutger?I’m betting that it’s Yosef.I heard that he’d been hanging around the woods.”
“It’s Sirous.You know him?”He said that he did indeed know the old vamp and was glad that she’d brought him out of his shell.“I don’t know about all that, but he is different from what he had been before.He’s nicer anyway.”
“As he would be.Getting a new outlook on life can do that to a man.So is the house…I would suppose that you no longer have a need for the home that you’ve been staying in.You must be looking for something bigger.”She told him she was staying at Brew and Calla’s home for now.“I would imagine that you’ll be moving out on your own soon.Good luck to you.This town has some nice homes in it if you only know where to look.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about the housing market around here.I don’t believe that Sirous and I have gotten that far in our relationship yet, anyway.We’re still getting to know one another.”He nodded as if he understood.“I came here to thank you for what you’ve done for me.The house was just what I needed to keep me safe for a while.I appreciate it too if you were to thank the other wolves that walked me around, too, as I’m grateful for all their help as well.I don’t think I would have been as safe without them around all the time.”
“I heard about the bear that’s been chasing you.I also heard that his bruin has taken care of him.I can give you details on that should you want them, but I’d rather not.Suffice it to say he’s been dealt with in a way that won’t have him bothering you again.”She’d heard that too and was glad that she didn’t have to worry about the man or beast anymore.“I would like to tell you too that so long as you’re on the property of Brew’s home, you will be protected.We roam the property so that nothing gets into the land where his mate is.You are just as precious to us as she is.”
“Thank you.”She was invited to have a seat but declined.“I must get back to the house.I left without telling anyone where I was going.Though I think Rutger did.He was the only one up when I left the house.”
He cautioned her about that, and she agreed.“They won’t know that you’re missing if you don’t tell someone where you’ve gone.At the very least, let the cook know where you’ve gone so that in the event you’re taken, though I don’t know how that would happen, you will be missed when you don’t show up to where you’re going.”
“I’ll do that from now on.I’m not used to people caring where I am at any given moment.I guess that’s one more thing that I’m going to have to get used to.”She wanted to cry.Or at least have someone talk to her about vampires and her mother.She was already sick of rules, and there hadn’t been that many of them as yet.Getting to the door seemed to be imperative, so she made her way there now before she became sobby.While most of her life was good now, she was more lonely than she’d ever been in her life.And all because she’d met her mate one afternoon and things had changed.
“What’s the matter, dearie?You look ready to burst into tears.I’ve not done anything to you, have I?I’m profoundly sorry if I’ve misspoken to you about something.”She did cry then, and her sobs brought her closer to Conri when he pulled her into his arms.“Please tell me what’s wrong before a bigvamp comes to destroy me for making you cry.”
“I’m lonely and I have no one to talk to but about things that I’m doing wrong.”She cried all the harder and felt stupid for it.“I know you don’t know me all that well, but you’ve been so kind to me since I met you.Everyone at the house is either a vampire or about to be one.I have nothing in common with them.”She heard the pounding at the door and looked in that direction.
“I’m sorry, love, but Sirous is at my door now.Make sure you tell him all that before he murders me.I can’t be killed any more than he can, but I know, too, that he can put me in a world of hurt.”She said she was sorry.“I’m not.It’s not often that I get to be the hero to someone else’s mate.Come on, we’ll meet him there together so that he can see that I’ve not harmed you in any way.He’ll be there for you should you tell him what you told me.I promise you that he only wants the best for you.”
He was at the door, at least she thought it was him.His eyes had turned, and he looked like the monster that she’d heard he could be.As soon as she went into his arms, he changed again into the man that she’d come to know.Looking up at him, she asked if he really would have killed Conri.
“Nay.I would have asked first.I think I would have.He’s a good man and has been telling me what has you so upset.I can understand that.We’ve spoken of nothing else but what it means for you to be living with a vampire.Tomorrow we shall go and find ourselves a house that we can live in near Brew.Nothing will be said about anything that you don’t approve of, either.”
“Don’t patronize me.”He said that he’d never do that, but understood about being lonely.He was sick of talking about the past, too, and all the talk about vampires.“There are more to the world than just your kind.Also, I’m ready for you to taste me.I don’t know how much you need from me to feed, but that’s all right too.You’ve done so much for me that I feel sort of selfish about keeping you from being healthy.”
“I’m healthy.And for as old as I am, it doesn’t take all that much to feed me anymore.”He grinned at her then.“However, I will tell you this one thing about vampires.Your blood will be all the richer if you’ll allow me to make you come when I drink from you.That is true.”
“I wondered about that.”They walked hand in hand back to Brew’s home.She saw her mother once, but she didn’t see her.Brew had told her before she’d had her breakfast that she was going to be arrested soon for not paying her bill at the hotel.She’d accumulated a large bill in the two weeks she’d been there.“She was counting on me to pay for it for her.It’s always about money with her.”
“She’s not unlike some humans and will forever take the easy way out of something if they can.Not all, but a lot of them will do that.”She said that her mother had been doing that since she was a child.“No more talk about your mother, either.We’ll deem this day to be all about having some fun.I think that I can remember how to have fun again.”
She didn’t know how he’d done it, but he had a list of places that they could look into buying.Tabby did ask him how much he could afford, and he told her about the money that was coming to her from the burin.The leader had insisted that she get whatever had been Carl’s for whatever pain and suffering he’d caused her.She was almost all right with that, but thinking that he’d had to die for her to get it put a damper on it.But Sirous assured her that he had more than enough money to buy any home they wished, and he’d be able to furnish it as well.
“I have more than enough money in investments that neither of us would ever have to work again throughout our lives and still have more than enough left over to purchase whatever we want from now on.”He told her that he’d been investing since he was a young vampire.“So you see, there is no reason for you to ever use your special magic again should you wish not to.”
True to his word, they spoke of nothing but things about the house and money.It never got boring; however, she was happy to know that he was never going to require her to use whatever she had unless she wanted to.And in her heart, she knew that it wasn’t anything that she wished she had to use.Not even for her mother, though she had no doubt that she’d be demanding again when she got out of jail.
They found two houses that they liked.One of them was a huge antebellum sort of house that they both fell in love with.It would need some work to get it up to this century, but he told her thatwith the help of the faeries, they’d be living in it as soon as the loan was approved.That worried her a bit as he said that he had money, but he assured her that it was good for the town to borrow money from the bank instead of paying cash for the house.She hoped he was right.She didn’t want to have to use the magic now that he’d told her that she’d not have to.
They put a bid on both houses, with him telling her that he could use the other house as a rental for the extra income.She was fine with that and told him so.As soon as they were finished with the paperwork, both homes had been approved for their purchase, and she had to choose which one she wanted.It wasn’t a hard decision; she picked the first house they’d seen, of course.Now all they needed was furniture, and they’d be able to move in.Sort of.
“I was wondering if we could get a cleaning crew to go in and clean it from top to bottom?That way we’re not cleaning while the furniture is waiting to be brought in.”He thought that was an excellent idea and told her that he’d get the faeries right on it.They loved to clean.“They’re so tiny.How much work can they do?”
