Animal Attraction (6 page)

Lana rushed to introduce this stranger, her
tone gushing. “This is Arthur Dragwald from Britain. He’s a friend
of Augustus’. Arthur, this is Brandilynn Payson.”

Arthur bowed, as courtly and refined a
gentleman as ever was born. His slightly lined thin face made me
judge him to be in his forties. A bedraggled mustache and goatee,
brown like the coarse hair that lay to the bottom of his neck, made
his long face appear almost horse-like.

I scented a toasty aroma about him. I
detected no trace of that earlier sulfur smell, if it had ever
existed. Wondering what had gotten into me a moment ago, I nodded
to the man. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Dragwald.”

He smiled a slightly crooked-toothed smile at
me. Yup, horse-like in a pleasant way. Charming, in fact. His
British accent was impeccable. “Ms. Payson. A delight and an honor.
Augustus has told me much about you.”

I stared at him to hear a name more
dishonored than my own these days. When I realized my silence might
be construed as rude, I recovered myself. “It looks like your
timing is a little off for a visit. I suppose you’ve been told
Augustus has gone off to Greece.”

Dragwald nodded. “I came at his request. He
thought your little group might be able to use my talents in his
absence.”

“Talents?” Despite the gorgeous accent and
fine manners, Dragwald didn’t look to possess much of note. His
clothes, though clean, looked nearly as threadbare and bygone as
he.

Lana spoke up in tones that shouted
‘lovestruck teenager’. “Arthur is a pyrokinetic.”

“As in setting fires?” If he hadn’t held my
undivided attention before, he had it now.

Discerning my sudden unease, Dragwald
chuckled. “Do not worry, lovely lady. I am well aware of the great
flammability of the body you are ensconced in. I will be judicious
should I be required to – how do you Americans put it? ‘Light
someone up’.”

No wonder my hackles had gone up when I first
saw him. Somehow I’d sensed the danger the man posed despite the
unassuming personality. Vampires were basically kindling. When the
heat of a sunbeam can set your body smoldering, you learn to keep
away from flames.

Dragwald’s horsey smile remained pleasant. I
wasn’t sure what to make of him. Despite the fine manners and
friendly bearing he seemed almost – I don’t know – alien. He looked
human enough. Heck, he looked a lot more human than Tristan or
Gerald or me. Perhaps it was a sense of a person lost in time.

That had to be it. Those charming Old World
manners had thrown me. I’d heard that despite our shared language,
Americans and Brits were worlds apart in some respects. Besides, if
he was a friend of Augustus, it had to be okay. I glanced around.
No one else gave Dragwald a second look. Dan glanced at me
curiously.

I extended my hand for an oh-so hearty
American shake. “Welcome to Fulton Falls, Mr. Dragwald. I hope you
enjoy your time here.”

He accepted my tribute with an expression of
delight. “I’m sure I’ll find it interesting. And please call me
Arthur. I think we’ll be seeing quite a lot of one another.”

I stared at my hand in his. He was so warm!
It felt as if my icy flesh might melt in his grasp. It radiated the
same heat that blood gave me on the inside. I could have held his
hand forever just to enjoy the sensation. Especially when he put
his other hand on top of mine.

I should get to know more pyrokinetics.

With another bow to me and Lana, Arthur
released his hold on me. His eyes flicked to my right where Dan
stood. I swear he looked right at my ghost boyfriend, though only
fellow ghosts, witches, and a rare few psychics can see spirits.
Even Lana can only hear Dan, and not always accurately.

Dan’s brows drew together as their gazes
seemed to meet. Then Arthur turned with no show of having noticed
anything. He left through the curtains he’d come from.

Lana sighed. “My, my. If all the Brits are
like that, our ancestors shouldn’t have been so keen to leave merry
old England.”

Dan burst into laughter at her lovestruck
words dripping with sentiment. Lana heard him and blushed forty
shades of red beneath her powder.

I couldn’t help but grin. “Lana, are you
sweet on that suave Englishman?”

She decided not to play coy. “Let’s just say
that if he asks me to tea, I’ll learn to drink it hot.” She turned
with a saucy little flip of her curls and sashayed off to mine and
Dan’s chuckles.

Chapter 3

An hour after Tristan’s summons, we gathered
for the meeting. I was startled to see how few of us were present.
For some reason I’d assumed it would be a bigger deal.

It was essentially the old core group, minus
Patricia and Augustus. Nine of us came into the conference room
near my office: me, Dan, Tristan, Gerald, Taylor, Wendy, Lana,
Jason the channel who Dan used when he wanted to be heard by the
living, and Isabella – the channel I used when I was in ghost
form.

We sat around the table and gave Jason time
to go into trance so that Dan could enter him. I was the only one
who could actually see how that happened. Let me tell you, it was
weird. Manly man Dan was kind of superimposed on young
surfer-looking Jason Somerville. Jason was the kind of 20-something
who rode a skateboard and said ‘dude’ a lot. You’d never suspect
there were plenty of brains in his blond head, brains he applied to
get his degree in engineering at the local college. Seeing him and
Dan talk in this bizarre double-exposure effect made my eyes
cross.

I sat at the far end of the table next to
Dan-Jason, as far from Tristan as I could get. I was glad Jason had
chosen to sit there; it meant I wasn’t being obvious in my attempt
to put distance between me and my former sweetie.

Taylor sat in the place Patricia once
occupied, on Tristan’s right. She avoided looking at me. I can’t
say I blamed her.

Once Dan was in place, he gave us all a smile
and a nod. “Hello, everyone. I’m ready.”

That set off an enthusiastic chorus of “Hi
Dan”. Most paras appreciated Dan Saling because he did a lot behind
the scenes on their behalf. They tried to show it when they got the
chance.

Tristan stood and smiled at everyone. His
eyes lingered on me for a moment. I saw a flash of sadness, but for
once, no sign of bitterness. Maybe there was a God for such a
miracle to occur.

He opened the meeting with, “Thanks for
getting together on such short notice. I know we’ve all been busy
with our various responsibilities, so I’ll try not to take up a lot
of your time.”

I came close to rolling my eyes but managed
not to. My only responsibility these days was to avoid chewing on
people who upset me. And learning to fly. I hoped Tristan wouldn’t
ask for a status update on that.

He continued. “The election is only a few
days away. With Cliff Tattingail leaving the race and attempting to
foist himself on the county commission, I’ll be busier than ever.
The election is going to be a tight one, and there is every chance
I won’t win. Emory Cooper is an able candidate and Tattingail’s
supporters will throw their support to him.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. The election
would be close.

“We still have an excellent chance of winning
this thing. I want everything in place should our slim advantage
hold and I do end up going to Atlanta. To that end, I want to form
a council of sorts to keep my presence felt here in Fulton Falls.
With the exception of Taylor, who will be going with me as my
assistant, you will all make up that council.”

Surprised murmurs rose from the assembled. I
exchanged a shocked look with Dan. Tristan wanted me on his panel?
I thought I’d be the last person he’d want anything to do with,
even at a distance of over 300 miles.

“Augustus will also be a part of this panel,
when and if he comes back.”

Tristan frowned a little as he said that, and
he wasn’t the only one. I caught a few involuntary glances thrown
my way. Me blundering into Patricia’s body was little more than bad
luck on my part. However Augustus had known what was coming and
never warned us.

Augustus was an oracle, able to see future
possibilities given current situations. He’d known Patricia would
be attacked by the lamia. He knew I would either save her or I
would panic and look for help instead. The second option, the one I
ended up doing, allowed the lamia to devour Patricia’s spirit.
Realizing my mistake, I returned to find Patricia’s body empty. My
ghost got sucked in. Nature abhors a vacuum, you know.

If Patricia had survived, a lot of other
people would have died. Despite caring a great deal for her,
Augustus had opted to remain quiet and not warn anyone of what was
about to happen. He let nature take its due course. I had panicked,
Patricia was taken, and I am now the not-so-proud operator of her
body.

Other vampires avoided me, though not so much
for the mistake that cost us Patricia. I thought everyone had
forgiven that. What I represented freaked them out. If one
vampire’s soul could be erased and replaced, why not theirs?

I was a symbol of fear, but many supernatural
beings in Fulton Falls outright despised Augustus. There were those
who said a hundred others were worth one Patricia. We should have
been given the opportunity to save her, even at the expense of all
those lives.

My musings were interrupted by Dan asking
“What exactly is this council supposed to do?”

Tristan had apparently been doing as much
thinking as I, because he started at the question. He was smooth
and controlled again in an instant. He smiled at Dan.

“Even while I’m in Atlanta, my focus will
still be on Fulton Falls and Ford County. My clutch is here. The
paras who have supported me are here. I cannot abandon them ... or
you.” He glanced at me and I swore I saw regret. No, it had to be
my imagination. Vampires are not made for regret.

Tristan nodded to us all. “I need you, my
dearest friends and most trusted confidants, to take care of the
people of Fulton Falls ... your fellow paras in particular. I need
you to take care of our home to the best of your abilities in my
absence. We’ve come far in thirty years. We all know it doesn’t
take much to unravel our good work.”

I nodded agreement with the rest. For every
step para rights had taken forward, we had to fight to keep from
being shoved two steps back.

Tristan continued. “There are still details I
need to work out, but I see no reason to delay putting you to work
as my home council. You will have a fund to carry out business, and
my staff here is at your disposal. You will for the most part
decide what needs to get done and assign priorities. However I am
directing your first order of business, which will be to find out
what has happened to those eight shifters who have gone
missing.”

Well, that was something. Though Tristan
himself wouldn’t oversee the investigation, we’d have the money and
manpower to get it going. Those of us in the conference room had
been the ones to run such things in the past anyway. We knew what
we were doing.

As if to underscore my opinion, Tristan
added, “I could tell you how to start, but I think it’s best if you
proceed under your own direction. Since I may not be here to
shepherd the matter to its conclusion, I’m going to leave it up to
you.”

As usual, Dan took up the reins. “All right.
I know with the change in the election there is plenty already on
your agendas, but would it be possible for us all to meet back here
tomorrow night? Say at six?”

Schedules were consulted, affirmations
followed. I saw relief on many faces. I realized then that everyone
had wondered what would happen if Tristan won the election and left
us. It must have weighed heavily on their minds. As much as people
like Cliff Tattingail might have celebrated us de-camping and
moving to Atlanta en masse, that had never been an option. Most
people had lives ... or afterlives ... here in our hometown of
Fulton Falls.

I could tell Tristan felt pleased to give
everyone a purpose in the post-Keith era. “Excellent. We’ll talk
more as the election develops to iron out any confusion or
problems. Thank you again for coming and thank you for serving in
this manner.”

With that dismissal, we all rose with the
exception of Jason who had to wait for Dan to release his body.
Once he blinked free of his trance and we caught him up on current
events, he was as excited to have a purpose as the rest. Tristan
paid him a substantial retainer to channel Dan and the occasional
other ghost when needed.

I was delighted to have something to look
forward to beyond coping with what had become of me. I still felt a
pang to consider how different things would be if Tristan left.
Though things had gone so badly and we barely spoke, there was yet
some comfort in having him near. I’d miss that pathetic little
bit.

I started to follow Dan out, thinking he
would probably want to brainstorm options for our investigation. I
could hardly wait to get going. I felt the excitement of
contributing something worthwhile once again.

Tristan’s voice rose behind me, stopping me
in my tracks. “Brandilynn, may I have a word in private?”

Boy, the night was chock full of surprises. I
gave Dan’s concerned look a slight shrug. He hesitated a moment,
but I jerked my chin to tell him to go on. I had no idea what
Tristan wanted, but that he’d asked for privacy meant he
specifically wanted Dan absent.

Looking worried, Dan left the room. I thought
maybe he would hover outside the door, concerned that Tristan would
set me off. Gerald would probably be there too, a case of Blood
Potion in each paw.

I turned to Tristan as the door closed
between me and the rest of the departed committee. He looked at me,
his black eyes unfathomable, his face unreadable. I waited for him
to speak, my stomach churning with sudden fear.