Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend (39 page)

“Yes, right here,” Gils said, hauling out a small white laptop. He sat down with it at one of the picnic tables. The rest of the Vikings clustered around him to watch over his shoulder.

“You guys bought a laptop yesterday?” I asked, having a bit of a problem trying to cope with the thought of one-thousand-year-old ghosts with computers.

“Two. Mine is getting a memory upgrade and a Firewire card, and should be ready later today,” Eirik answered as Gils booted up a graphics program. He directed him to draw a rough map of the area. “We need a nice spot to ambush him. How about behind the main tent, where the Wiccans hold their circle? It is enclosed on three sides.”

“Look, I really appreciate everyone thinking they have to help me, but you know, it's probably going to be easier for me to do it myself,” I told them, but no one paid the least bit of attention to me.

“The goddess Fran can draw him into the area tonight, when the sun is at its lowest, so Loki's power will be at its ebb,” Isleif explained. “Then when he is in position, we will strike.”

“I will cut off his head,” Gils said.

“And I will cut out his spleen.” Ljot brandished a hunting knife with great pleasure.

Isleif's eyes lit up. “I will shoot him full of arrows that will pierce every major organ.”

“That's a really sweet thought, guys,” I said, trying again to make them see reason. “But this is a god we're talking about, remember? I know the twelve of you are big and bad Vikings, but Tallulah's boyfriend Sir Edward said that Loki was like nothing he'd seen before, and he had a whole lot of power. So I don't think you guys are going to be able to defeat him even if you do ambush him.”

“The goddess Fran has a point,” Finnvid said thoughtfully, looking at Eirik.

“Hmm. Perhaps she does. Loki still has much power. It couldn't hurt to have some help. Very well—Thorir, you and Ref summon the Vangarians.”

“The who?” I asked.

“Vikings, of a sort. They sailed primarily into Russia,” Eirik explained. “We used to war with them, but they will join us in a battle against Loki. Tonight, when the sun is at its lowest, the goddess Fran will drawn Loki into our trap, and we will spring it on him, killing him once and for all.”

The others made happy noises of agreement. I wanted to whap them all on the head with a lady's small beheading ax. “Sheesh! What part of ‘he's a god' do you not understand? You can't kill him! And even if you could, I don't want him dead—I just want him to give me back Tesla, and to send you all on your way.”

Instantly twelve Viking faces turned pouty.

“Oh, for heaven's sake . . . look, even if I agreed to this plan—and I'm not!—I couldn't help. I've got a date with Ben tonight, remember?”

“The big date,” Gils said, pursing his lips. “The goddess should not miss that.”

Isleif nodded. “It is important.”

Eirik paced back and forth for a few seconds. “Very well. We will use some other bait than the goddess to ensnare the god Loki. Then when we have him—”

“I will cut out his liver, cook it before him, and make him eat it while it's still smoking,” said an enthusiastic Ljot.

“No liver cutting!” I yelled.

“Then we will hold him prisoner until the goddess is done with her date and can force him to her will,” Eirik said, shaking his head at Ljot. I could have sworn I heard him muttering something to Ljot about how later they would cut out Loki's liver, but it could have been my paranoid imagination.

“Whatever. Just so there's no killing, no liver cooking, and no messing with anyone in GothFaire. If hear one more complaint from Absinthe about you guys . . .”

I shot them all meaningful looks. They all, every single one of them, tried very hard to look innocent.

“We haven't raped, pillaged, plundered, or murdered anyone in days,” Finnvid grumbled. “Well . . . we did pillage the McDonald's last night for the sacrifice.”

“And see how much good that did,” I answered, making a mental note to find out if they had left any money for the hamburger sacrifices.

“You will go now, goddess, and get ready for your date,” Eirik said, shooing me away when I tried to see what Gils was busily typing in on his laptop. Just when did he learn to use one? Not to mention learn to type? “We will take care of everything here.”

“That's just what I'm afraid of.”

“We will summon the Vangarians to help us catch the god Loki. We will not kill anyone. We will wait for you to come back from your date before torturing him. You see? All is in hand. Go have your date.”

I glanced at the sun's position in the sky. “I have about five hours before I have to get ready for my date. Why don't I help you guys, instead?”

“You are a goddess!” Eirik said in a voice filled with fake shock. He grabbed my elbow and hustled me off in the opposite direction from Gils and his laptop. “We would never ask you to work. That would be wrong.”

“Uh-huh.” I let myself be manuevered, but only because I didn't think there was much the Vikings could do to screw things up so long as they promised no one would be killed and flame-roasted.

“We'll see you later, when the trap is ready for the god Loki.” Eirik released my arm and gave me a gentle shove.

I stopped and let him have a bit of a glare. “Fine. But stay out of trouble! I'm going to talk to Sir Edward while you guys are making your big plans. Just remember! No killing! No maiming! No general destruction.”

“Be on your way, goddess,” Eirik said with one last shove. “We have work to do.”

I had work too, but I put that thought aside as I trotted over to Tallulah's trailer. I figured it was much more important to talk to Sir Edward about what he knew about Norse gods than cleaning the trailer.

My mother had other ideas.

 

I was talking mostly to Sir Edward about Norse gods.
I gave the shower wall one last wipe with the sponge, and called it good, tossing the cleaning things into a bucket we kept in the cupboard under the sink.

I snorted as I glanced outside. The Vikings had long since disappeared. They were gone when Mom found me and dragged me in for some forced cleaning. I figured they were out calling up all their ghost friends to help them with Loki.
Right. First of all, it was early morning and you were asleep.

It was Ben's turn to snort.
That's why Imogen was struck with a sleeping spell?

Sir Edward said the only way to get a god to comply with your desires is to use his power against him,
I said, interrupting what was sure to be yet another macho guy lecture.

You're changing the subject.
Irritation seeped into my head with the words.

I giggled and started on the tiny kitchen area of the trailer. With just a couple of counters, a miniscule stove, and tiny sink, it wouldn't take me long to clean it up.
Yep
.
Do you think the valknut is going to be power enough to use against him?

Ben was silent for a moment.
I will see that it is.

I frowned as I wrung out the washrag.
Is something wrong? You sound distracted. What are you doing?

Oh!
For some bizarre reason, a little tiny blush warmed my cheeks.
Right this second?

His slow smile stole across my mind.
Would you like me to prove it?

Sensation flooded my head, the feeling of Ben stroking his hands down his wet, soapy chest, his long fingers leaving a trail as they slid down his breastbone to his belly. The image was so strong, so clear in my mind, my own fingertips tingled as if it was my hands touching him.

I was thinking about kissing you a few seconds ago. Now I'm imagining it's you touching me.
His fingers spread out over his belly. The combination of what he was thinking and feeling made my own stomach turn over in excitement.
But what I'd really like is for you to touch me here.

His hands slid lower, the soap turning his skin into wet, slippery silk. I gasped, my eyes almost bugging out when he started washing his guy parts. OK, I'm no idiot. I knew he had those parts. I knew what they were and all, having had to sit through a couple of years of sex ed and things like that, and didn't think they were that big a deal. And although I was secretly interested in knowing what Ben—all of Ben—looked like, I wasn't ready for
him
to know that I wanted to know.

Is this too much for you?
he asked as he soaped himself up.
If you want me to, I'll stop.

Well . . . you have to get the soap off, so I don't think you can stop right now
, I said, my mouth hanging open as I stood there trying not to let him see how interested I was.

I meant I' d stop sharing myself with you.
His voice was warm in my head, reassuring, and yet stirring something deep inside me.

My mother entered the trailer, Davide at her heels. “Done already? That didn't take you long.”

“Fran? Are you all right? You have an odd expression on your face.”

The sensations of warm water that cascaded down his body were as vivid in my mind as his.
There are some things I cannot share with you, Fran. But everything else I have is yours, including my body. Whenever you're ready for it.

“Honey? What's wrong?”

I blinked a couple of times to get rid of the vision of a wet, naked Ben. My mother stood directly in front of me, staring. “Are you all right? You're panting. If you don't close your mouth, you're going to catch flies.”

“Yeah. I was just . . . uh . . . thinking of something.”

“Hmm.” She gave me a suspicious look, but moved past me. “Why don't you put those things away. I want to have a talk with you.”

I put the last of the cleaning things away, and sat down on the couch while she unloaded her invocation items. She chatted about how the day's circle had gone, just the same old stuff I'd heard a hundred times. I mentally turned down her voice a couple of notches.

How about in two hours?
I asked Ben, trying for a light, playful tone, but I suspected he knew I was reeling in my tongue and drying not to drool.

Yeah. Not anything else. I'm not ready for that yet
.

I'd never talked like this with anyone before, and I had an odd feeling I should be embarassed to be talking about sex, not to mention more or less watching Ben take a shower, but I wasn't. Ben was different from every other person, and not just because he was a vampire. He was . . . right.

Stop eavesdropping!
I yelled, mortified.

He laughed.
I wasn't. You're projecting to me. If you don't want me to hear your thoughts, you'll have to shield them.

“Fran? What is wrong with you today?”

I dragged my mind back from Ben and realized that once again my mom was standing in front of me, having evidently been waiting for me to answer a question I didn't hear. “Sorry. Just thinking about things.”

Her lips thinned. “It's Ben, isn't it? You were thinking about him.”

I decided what could work for Ben could work for me. I said nothing, just looked at my mother.

Her lips thinned even more. I swore to myself that no matter how much she ragged on Ben or me, I wasn't going to get into another knock-down, drag-out with her. Things between us had been strained and tense since the last fight, and although I knew she was wrong about Ben, I didn't see that there was going to be any way of convincing her of that. She'd just have to see for herself what a trustworthy guy he was.

“Very well,” she said, sitting down on the opposite side of the little table. “Now is as good a time as any to discuss this date you have with him tonight.”

I continued to say nothing. I sure thought a whole lot of things, though. I thought so many, and thought them with so much mental hand waving and general freaking, I had to double-check first to make sure that I wasn't broadcasting to Ben.

Mom took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I'm not going to say I'm sorry about the argument we had the other night, primarily because I don't believe I have to apologize for caring about my daughter and worrying about her health and safety, but also because I can see by the sullen look on your face that it wouldn't do any good.”