Bite of Envy (Just One Bite #4) (16 page)

Lizbeth shook her head furiously. “No, Adrian. You can’t
think like that. He’s the murderer. You’d be saving countless lives. There’s
nothing wrong with that. Hell, it would be self-defense.”

Adrian stood up, his hands balled into useless fists at his
sides. “It’s not self-defense unless you’re actively being threatened, and
since he’s not here, that would be murder. I won’t do it.” He brushed past the
unusually quiet Diandra and headed up the deck into the house.

Eamon merely shook his head and followed Adrian in, stopping
whatever Lizbeth was about to say to him. She turned to Diandra. “You’re too
fucking quiet, baby. What do you think? Am I wrong?”

Diandra gnawed on her bottom lip, choosing her words
carefully. “Yes and no. It’s not wrong to want to end this without further
violence, and without any more bloodshed. But it’s wrong to ask him to
compromise his ideals. Remember how you took it when I told you we needed to
kill Carson? Remember how you fought with me, and insisted he had to stand
trial?”

Lizbeth slumped, dejected. “It’s not the same thing. That
was before he made this so fucking personal. That was before the threat was
brought to our doorstep.” She took Diandra’s hands in her own. “I don’t want
you in danger. I don’t want anyone in our little family to be injured. And I’m
terrified of the thought of him coming here with RaeLynn so close. What if
something were to happen to her?”

Diandra’s eyes glowed with a fierce light. “Nothing’s going
to happen to my baby. If he even attempts to place one sleazy paw on a single
strand of her hair, I’ll rip him to pieces by myself.” Her body vibrated with
rage at the thought of her child being in danger.

Lizbeth smiled. “I know, baby, I know. I’m sorry- I didn’t
mean to rattle you. My point is, I just don’t see what’s so wrong with using
all our resources, and Adrian’s new power is one of our resources.” She started
to lead Dia towards the house.

“Think about it this way,” Dia suggested. “A car is a
resource, but it doesn’t always run, or run the way you want it to. Think of
Adrian as a resource that may not work when you’re counting on it. That means
you need to make alternate arrangements. Fortunately, this is a house of
vampires- he’s not the only one with strength. In order to hurt RaeLynn he’d
have to get through the rest of us. He’s only one vampire against four others.
I’d say those are damned fine odds.” And with that, the couple headed into the
house to see what Eamon had come up with in the meantime.

As the daylight dwindled into twilight, they gathered in the
parlor once more to talk about what they would do. The plan was to meet him
outside on the beach. It would minimize damage to the interior of the house as
well as give them more room to maneuver. Sandra was still hiding in her room,
so they left her out of the planning entirely. With a flick of mental power,
Adrian realized he was able to cast a protective shield, a sacred circle of
sorts, around the group, which would protect them if Carson got too close. He
had debated in his mind for some time and decided that he wasn’t comfortable
going on the offensive and doing any real damage to Carson, but he was fine
with defensive spells. He would do his part, and make himself useful, without
violating his oaths to the Goddess.

Eamon had been silent for several minutes now, and although they
all wondered what was going through his mind, they decided to let him be. He
would speak up when he was ready. In the meantime, they continued discussing
and rejecting plans of action. Diandra had already decided she would shift and battle
him that way, while Lizbeth retained her human form to engage him. Now they
were debating on what Dia could shift into that would be useful on both land
and in flight, as he may take to the air to escape any traps they set.

“I like my wolf form, but I don’t think that would be
useful. It’s too strenuous to shift forms too many times, and I’d need a lot of
blood to pull that off. I’d rather not try it unless absolutely necessary. A
sparrow or crow is too small to be effective, though,” Diandra mused.

Lizbeth frowned in thought. “It’s silly, but what about a
dragon or something? Then you’d be huge, and you’d be useful regardless of
where you are.”

Diandra practically roared with laughter. “It’s a great
idea, but it’s impossible. You can only shift into actual characters, not
mythological ones,” she said gently.

Lizbeth blushed furiously, but continued. “Well, vampires
aren’t supposed to be real, either,” she replied stubbornly. “So who’s to say
you can’t shift into a dragon?”

“Logical but impossible,” Eamon said, coming out of his
thoughts to rejoin the conversation. “Dragons have never been real, while
vampires have always lived, if a bit under the radar.” He sighed heavily. “And
now I have a story to contribute, although I won’t answer any questions. Not
now. They’ll be time for all of this after Carson is gone, but for now, I will
share this much.” He looked around, distressed at the attention he was forced
to garner. He didn’t want to do this now, but they had to know what they were
up against. “I’ve known Carson nearly as long as I’ve been alive,” he admitted
reluctantly.

“What?” Diandra exploded, unable to help herself. “And you
just now decided to share that information?”

Eamon glared, and she reluctantly stifled her next outburst.
“Giles Carson is older than I am, although not by much,” he continued. “When I
knew him, he carried his father’s name- Balfleur. He immigrated to Ireland and
lived in my village until he disappeared three years before I was turned. He’s
always been dangerous- his change simply made him more so.” He looked around,
taking in the curiosity on Dia’s and Lizzie’s faces, and the sympathy on
Adrian’s. As an empath, Adrian was more aware of what this was costing Eamon
than he was. Eamon wasn’t sure that he liked it very damned much, but there
wasn’t much he could do about it. He’d learned some time ago that he couldn’t
shield himself from the powers of an empath, so he didn’t even try.

“I won’t tell my story. Nearly three centuries is a lot of
detail, you see, so I won’t do so now. I merely wanted you to know that he and
I have a rather complicated history, and that the man has spent nearly my whole
existence hunting me. He’ll like having not just Lizbeth here, but me as well.”
Eamon closed his eyes and refused to continue, no matter how much Diandra urged
him to.

“What does he have against you, Eamon?” Lizbeth finally
asked- she kept her tone gentle as if she sensed what this was costing him. She
sat next to him on the loveseat, placing a gentle hand over his.

Eamon turned his hand over to hold hers, squeezing gently.
“Love,” he croaked out, and although he didn’t cry, his voice was heavy with
sorrow. “Love is what he has against me, and love is what made him so
dangerous.” After that, he said no more, and no one had the heart to bother him
any further that night.

There was still a battle to prepare for, but hopefully, when
it came time, it wouldn’t take long. After all, there were four of them, five
if you counted Sandra, against one. It shouldn’t be much of a battle at all,
they reasoned. Diandra hid RaeLynn in the linen closet in the master bathroom.
She made sure the baby had plenty of food and a sippy cup of water to tide her
over, and encouraged her to play hide and seek. RaeLynn giggled and promptly
disappeared.
Love you
, she cooed in
Diandra’s mind, and a ghostly hand caressed her arm. Then it was time to gather
on the beach to wait for the battle to come to them.

The last of the light was leaving the sky as Diandra,
Lizbeth, Sandra, Eamon and Adrian gathered in a loose circle on the beach. The
moon was full, and the beach was still extremely well-lit. The tide was in,
made higher with the pull from the moon’s phase.

Lizbeth spoke up. “I have a question, Eamon. Why doesn’t the
council interfere?” She was doing some stretching, limbering up and keeping her
muscles warm to maximize her effectiveness in battle when the time came.
Although they had no way to be certain Carson would attack tonight, none of
them doubted that he would do so. He was irrational and full of pride from so
many years on Earth. He would be compelled to act on Lizbeth’s actions from the
night before. In fact, she mused, they were lucky he hadn’t attacked last
night.

Eamon looked at her and decided stretching was a good idea.
He went into some warm-up exercises of his own, and the rest followed suit.
“What do you mean? Interfere with our plans? They don’t get involved in battles
between vampires unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Lizbeth shook her head. “No, what I mean is, how was he
allowed to continue all this death and destruction without them stepping in and
putting a damned leash on him? We’re supposed to keep our existence a secret
and not do anything to draw attention to ourselves. Shouldn’t he have been
stopped long before becoming a threat to us now?”

Eamon stopped a moment, thinking over what she said and what
he knew of Carson’s actions over the last several years. “I guess they decided
he wasn’t actually doing anything to out the vampires,” he finally replied.
“Technically all these murders could have been committed by a human, so they
wouldn’t have to stop him.”

Diandra frowned but continued her modified yoga. “That’s
just bullshit,” she complained. “He’s been out of control for a long time, it
seems to me. They should’ve reined him in some time ago rather than let him
continue unabated.”

“It’s not uncommon,” Eamon said, and now he had everyone’s
full attention. “Immortality has its risks. A lot of vampires go insane, actually
trying to provoke the council into taking them out. Watching life continue in
its normal patterns, watching people you may have become attached to die… it
wears on a person, heart and soul. Some vampires respond by becoming reclusive,
only interacting with humans if absolutely necessary, and sometimes even
shunning their own company. Other vampires deliberately let humans know about
them, just so the council will kill them.”

Lizbeth stared at him with a mix of fascination and
revulsion. “I just can’t imagine something so… drastic.” She shuddered before
returning to her workout.

Eamon raised an eyebrow at her. “You haven’t lived long
enough to make that judgment,” he said softly.

Dia frowned at him. “Are you telling me you considered it
yourself?” she countered.

Adrian stayed silent through the entire exchange. He was
picking up on Eamon’s emotions, and had for months now. He knew the depression,
anxiety and sorrow that ran through the man’s psyche as well as he knew his
own. He wasn’t surprised at Eamon’s understanding. The man was too tough to
commit suicide, even “suicide by cop,” or in this case, “suicide by vamp,” but
he did understand that he’d considered it on more than one occasion.

Eamon merely shrugged. “I have too many responsibilities to
ever pull a stunt like that myself, but I can understand how, after centuries
of living alone, the idea could have some appeal,” he admitted. He continued
speaking quickly so no one would press the issue further. “My point is, in the
eyes of the council, Carson hasn’t done enough to warrant their interference,
and we’re not doing anything that would draw their interest, either.”

Lizbeth sat down in the damp sand and reached for her toes,
making the movements slow and precise to get the best stretch possible. “So
you’re saying we’re on our own, and that we have the council’s tacit agreement
with what we’re planning?” she asked Eamon.

Dia interrupted. “Like that counts for much,” she snarled.
“After all, Carson has their tacit agreement as well.” She sat down and
mimicked Lizbeth’s motions, as did Sandra.

Eamon glared at Diandra and she subsided, albeit
reluctantly. “Yes, Lizzie, that’s exactly what I’m saying. The council isn’t
rooting for us or against us. They don’t care who lives or dies, as long as the
rules stay intact.” He bent to touch his toes, rose slowly, and bent back down
again just as slowly. He felt his back crack and groaned a little as the
tension seeped out of his muscles.

Sandra touched her toes a final time before hopping to her
feet and rolling her shoulders. “Who cares?” she said insolently. “I mean, come
on. There will be five of us against one lone vampire. I think it’s a pretty
safe bet we’re going to come out on top of this one.”

Eamon glared at her. “You are arrogant and you know
nothing,” he said coldly. “This vampire is older than the four of you put
together. He’s even older than I am. He’s had a Hell of a lot of years to learn
tricks you can only dream of. Do not underestimate this creature. He’s more
dangerous than you could ever hope to become.”

Sandra had had more than enough. “All right now, damnit. I’m
tired of this. You guys have spent the last two days doing nothing but putting
me down and I’m beyond pissed.” She stood up, preparing to head for the safety
of the guest bedroom again.

Eamon shook his head and reached out to snag her arm before
she’d quite realized he’d moved. “That’s where you’re wrong. We’re not putting
you down- we’re bringing you down to Earth. You walk around here with a God
complex, Little Miss Entitled, and we’re sick to death of your prissy,
tight-assed attitude. You’re not better than us. Hell, you’re not even as good
as us. You’re still a work in progress, and what you’re going to do is stretch,
finish limbering up, and stay here to fight. If you don’t, we’ll have to
consider you a threat and tear you to pieces before he gets here.” His voice
was cold, and his eyes glittered with barely suppressed rage, letting her know
his threat was anything but idle.

“You’re going to kill me for wanting to go to my room?”
Sandra asked incredulously. This house was insane, she decided. These people
were insane, and the sooner she got away from them all, the better.