MisStaked (20 page)

That was why Leopold had already reserved a flight, set to leave tomorrow night, as well as a reservation at a lodge not far from the dig site. He would arrive after the team, leaving them none the wiser as to his presence. You didn't get to be as old as he was without thinking ahead. Thanks to
priceline.com,
the entire operation had been a breeze.*

*While not an official sponsor of this manuscript, Shatner gives me assurances Nimoy has pull.

Leopold tossed the last of his cravats into his suitcase. They settled like wilted lilies on top of his seersucker suit. He had considered taking something hip and urban, but decided a well-maintained dignity was the best way to go. A vampire of his standing had a certain image to uphold.

Closing the case Leopold went to his door. He could hear Lewis rummaging around in the other room. Lewis knew better than to enter his private suites without knocking first. What the hell had happened to propriety?

"Lewis, you know I don't like you invading my space,” Leopold said, as he opened the door. The naughty thing would have to learn.

"Well, if this was Lewis, I'm sure he'd be quaking in his boots,” a dark figure answered from the room.

"Marcus, is that you?” Leopold demanded. Anger swelled within him. How dare Marcus invade his sanctum like this! There were rules of etiquette to be followed otherwise they were no better than humans.

"Who else, old friend?” Marcus said, as he walked toward Leopold.

"You think that you can just walk into my home unannounced? I will not brook such umbrage. I expect an explanation,” Leopold raged. He felt a good old-fashioned outburst was called for. Not too much, though. He didn't want to look like a crying nilly.

"Oh, Leopold. You never cease to amuse me.” Marcus laughed.

"I'm quite serious. Explain yourself, before I get ugly,” Leopold warned, throwing his hands on his hips.

"My God, you really have become an old thing haven't you?"

"What makes you say that? What have you heard?” Leopold asked, growing a little nervous. He had overplayed himself. Hadn't he? It was the hip thing. He shouldn't have done the hip thing.

"Oh, please just shut up. Your un-life crisis is no concern of mine. Act the fool if it makes you happy, but don't expect me to follow in your folly.” Marcus shook his head.

"No, you shut up. This is my house, not yours. Now, tell me what you want and get the hell out."

"All right, here it is. We want you to stop this madness. The Mother is asleep for a reason. She's too volatile to be loosed on this world. Her world is but dust. Please, Leopold, for whatever friendship we may have once had—let this matter go,” Marcus implored.

"It is you, who is playing the fool, Marcus. The Mother will take care of us. She will open this world wide, and we will be her kings to rule it, as she wants."

"She will turn this world into a killing floor. You don't know her. I do. I have seen what the Mother makes of the land when she wakes. I will not see it happen again.” Marcus’ eyes were cold and hard.

Leopold looked at him. He and Marcus had known each other for centuries. This was the first time his friend had spoken to him in such a manner. Sure, they had had disagreements over the years, but this was different. There was a hardness in the other vampire's voice that hadn't shown itself before. Frankly, it scared Leopold.

But it in no way changed his plans. The Mother would be wakened. Marcus was more than happy to try and stop him, but he would go ahead.

Marcus was no army of one. No, Rambo for damn sure. The vampire was a thinker. His knowledge may be vast, but that was it. Leopold, while born to nobility, had to fight for everything. His youth was one long struggle for survival. His life after becoming a vampire had been no different.

Marcus, on the other hand, had been born to true privilege. He never wanted for anything. He never hungered for anything more than what he had. If he had, it was given to him. He was weak. They both knew it.

The only advantage Marcus had was age. Marcus had been born more than a thousand years ago. That was a lot of time to acquaint yourself with your powers. The vastness of Marcus’ power was the only thing to give Leopold pause, but even it didn't give him much worry. Marcus’ exaggerated sense of honor would not allow him to fight dirty. Leopold did not have such compulsions.

The silence between them had gone on long enough. Leopold turned to Marcus. The vampire was imploring him with his eyes to forsake this path. Leopold considered lying to him. Falsehoods wouldn't work. They knew each other too well. That left them as enemies at least in this.

"Leopold, do this for me. Do this for our friendship,” Marcus pleaded.

"I can't. This is my destiny. Whether it is for good or for bad, this is something I must do."

"Then, know this. We will come to blows over this. Mark my works. You will come to see I was right to your ultimate displeasure,” Marcus said, and then was gone.

Leopold saw him fade into nothing. He knew it for what it was—an announcement of war. It was a show that told him Marcus had powers he didn't, as well as the wisdom to use them.

Well, damn him. This was his life, not Marcus'. To impose his demands on him was an insult. Then again, he had always seen himself as everyone's big brother, the sanctimonious prick.

Leopold slammed the lid down on his suitcase. He would not bow to his big brother now, or ever again. Soon, all those high and mighty lords would be bowing to him. That brought a smile to his face. Yes, it would feel good to be worshiped.

Breathred was pumping his foot against the floor when Luna finally made it back to his place. Dusk was long gone, and the night was full against the skyline. Stud finished the packing for the two of them. It had been the only thing keeping the chimp from running off after her.

Breathred, on the other hand, had opted for extreme worry. He paced the floor for the better part of the afternoon. When dusk dropped its coat over the city, he moved on to slamming things. Everything from doors to Nerf basketballs met his fury. Breathred knew Stud sympathized, but refrained from joining him in his misery. He was glad for that. Breathred knew from experience how the little beast acted on his anxiety. To put it bluntly, chimps threw poo to show their anxiety. After all the cheesy burritos Stud consumed over lunch he hoped the chimp was too constipated to manage a fart let alone a full-on poo barrage.

Luna entered the room. “So, guys, how's it hanging

"Is there any reason you couldn't get back here on time, or at the very least call us to let us know where you were?” Breathred demanded.

She reached up and patted his cheek, which earned her a snarl. She had never seen him snarl before. She decided immediately that she didn't like it. She didn't mind him worrying; it was sweet. But the attitude had to go. If this was going to work, it was high time he learned who was in charge.

"Breathred, I think we need to get some things straight. I may be your girlfriend, and I understand you were worried about me, but I can take care of myself. If you keep on thinking you can talk to me like that, you'll find out just how well I can take care of myself,” she said in a calm voice. Only her finger slapping the end of his nose let him know just how angry she really was.

"Now, I'm sorry for not calling you, but I couldn't help it. You can either forgive me, or we can keep on like this for the rest of our lives. The choice is yours."

"I'd forgive her, if I was you. That finger looks dangerous,” Stud remarked, standing well away from her while he said it.

"Look, Luna. Maybe I overreacted, but that doesn't mean I wasn't worried,” Breathred said. “I am really sorry for the way I acted, and the only one who needs to be forgiven around here is me."

"Oh, Silly Puss. How can I stay mad at you?” Luna asked. “You're my big ol’ bugger britches.” Like putty in my hands.

"Ah, shucks."

"Looks like you're almost all packed. So, what's left to do?” Luna asked, hoping her secret mission was safely out of the way.

"No, thanks to you, missy,” Stud grumbled. “Your stuff is still over there. Breathred refused to let me pack it."

"Why not?” She turned to Breathred. It seemed kind of shitty of him to make her pack all the stuff by herself.

"Because he was trying on your, you know, underthingies. And prancing around the room singing
I feel pretty, oh so pretty
,” Breathred said, blushing again.

Luna burst out laughing. She didn't know whether to be mad or what. The image of Stud in her thongs was enough to make her forgive the whole matter. Until she was sure which of her things he had put on, the best thing to do was to wash the whole lot of them. She didn't want monkey cooties, after all.

"Stud, how could you? None of my clothes go with your skin color. If you must wear such things, we'll take you to Victoria's Secret and get you some of your own,” Luna said, fighting back another wave of laughter at the look on his little chimp face. Who knew you could question a chimpanzee's manhood?

"I think not!” Stud exclaimed. “Can't a guy make a joke without everyone jumping to the wrong conclusions? I think I'm going to see R.J. At least he has a sense of humor."

They watched him storm off. It was only after he slammed the basement door they felt it safe to break down. Their laughter echoed through the room. Breathred fell to the couch in tears. Luna plopped down beside him, her own laughter almost drowning out his.

It took several minutes for it to finally die down. Breathred wiped his wet face. He needed that. It had been a long time, since he had been able to laugh so freely. Breathred owed it all to Luna. She was opening parts of him he never knew existed. How was a woman able to do that? How could Luna make someone whole who didn't even know he wasn't?

He looked over at her. His face hadn't made a quarter turn when it met hers. Breathred was kissing her before he knew what he was doing. Her soft lips pressed into his. He could have stopped it, but he didn't. It was too nice to stop.

Luna was the first to pull away. Breathred felt the emptiness keenly as soon as her lips left his. The feeling was almost too much for him to bear. The loss of her warmth ‘caused his eyes to fly open. The look of shock playing across her face stabbed him to his very soul.

"Luna, I didn't mean to.” Shame choked his words.

"I'm glad you did,” she answered, breathlessly.

"Me too.” He lowered his head, blushed and asked. “Is it always supposed to feel like so good?"

"Only when it's with me,” she said, stroking his cheek. Even as Luna said it, Breathred hoped it was true. Without her doing the kissing, he just knew it would never be so good.

"I thought so, but I wanted you to tell me, so I could be sure,” Breathred said softly.

"Now before you ravish me again, let's get my stuff packed. We have to get up early in the morning,” Luna said, as she rose from the couch.

Breathred watched her stand on wobbly legs. He would have joined her, but for some reason his legs refused to move. He doubted kissing could ‘cause paralysis but no other explanation seemed plausible. The fact his naughty bits seemed more active than his legs worried him as well. What if it stayed uh ... in that condition? Breathred wasn't sure if he could walk with it doing that. There could be a chance of permanent damage if he even tried to move. The best thing to do was sit here and act stupid. It worked for everything else.

Out of sight, Stud closed the door. He had only had it open a crack, but it was enough to let him watch his two lovebirds. If Stud were a hopeless romantic, he would need a tissue after watching that. The whole thing was so Julia Roberts meets Richard Gere in hurt. Thankfully, he was a hardcore he-monkey, so he just used his shirtsleeve.

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There are no field trips in this course, but if there were, you'd better believe they'd cost an arm and a leg.

They were traveling in three aging mini vans. That was the first thing Breathred noticed when his father dropped the three of them off. A giddy thrill shot through him. They were going in style. A huge U-haul sat parked off to one side of the parking lot. Several students were packing it with equipment and whatever luggage wouldn't fit in the vans’ overhead racks.

Breathred wondered how hard it would be to get to ride in the U-haul. Man, that'd be even cooler than riding in a mini van. It would almost be like being in
Smokey and the Bandit
. He'd let Stud be Fred, and Luna could be Frog. Luna was even cuter than Sally Field in Breathred's book. It would be so cool.

His hopes were dashed when Dr. Grayson motioned for them to join her beside the first van. Life just wasn't fair. He bet old Truehart got to ride in the big rig. Well, let him. Breathred would just call shotgun in the van. Shotgun was better than riding in the stinky old U-haul anyway. That way you got to control the radio.

"Breathred, Luna, over here,” Dr. Grayson called.

Luna waved back, and took off across the wet asphalt. Breathred shrugged and followed her. He looked over to find Stud snoring atop their pile of bags and suitcases. The chimpanzee would be all right there for a few minutes. After all, how much trouble could a sleeping chimp get in? Quite a bit, if his name happened to be Stud. He would have to risk it. Besides with Stud out of the way he would have a clear run at the shotgun seat. Stud was a front seat hog.

By the time he caught up to Luna, she and Dr. Grayson were deep in conversation. Breathred hung outside their circle, unwilling to intrude. To tell the truth he was afraid of what he might overhear. Women had peculiar topics of conversation. You never knew what they might be talking about. Some of it was right unfit for male consumption.

"Oh, Breathred, why don't you come here? This affects you as well,” Dr. Grayson said, breaking away from Luna.

"I didn't want to interrupt,” Breathred said, sheepishly.

"Don't be silly. We don't have time for you to be shy. We have a deadline to keep. You and Luna will be riding in the lead van with me.” She pointed behind her.