Neck Deep In Vampires (A BBW Urban Fantasy) (4 page)

             
“I most certainly did not try to read your mind!” Narcissa’s voice was heated, but her cheeks went red and she looked away. She was clearly a poor liar.

             
“Enough!” Mirabelle’s voice rang out. Everyone turned to look at her.

             
She pushed her chair back and rose to her feet.  She shot Emmeline a severe look. “I am the High Priestess. You don’t tell people whether or not we need their services. I make that decision.  Do not ever presume to speak for me again, do you understand me?”

             
Emmeline’s face went red, and her mother looked furious.   “I told mother this would happen. Look at you. You’ve held your position for two months and everything’s falling apart already,” Narcissa said, her tone contemptuous.  “We’re about to lose our homes, and now we’re losing our familiars? Mother made a mistake choosing you.”

             
She smacked Leona on the arm. “Emmeline should have the position. Come on, you think so too, have some guts for once and speak up.”

             
Leona stared down at her hands, shoulders hunched.

             
“Weakling,” Narcissa sneered at her.

             
“Get out,” Matteo said, his eyes blazing with anger. “Now.”

             
Narcissa shot him a look that could have dropped birds from the sky.  I felt the crackling in the air grow more intense, and the table began to shake. The drinks on the table jumped and sangria slopped over their edges.  Emmeline and Narcissa pushed their chairs back, and flounced out in a huff.  Everyone was staring at us.

             
“I’m sorry,” I said to Mirabelle. “I really only came to help, and I’ve caused trouble for you.”

             
Mirabelle managed an unhappy smile. “I appreciate your offer of assistance, but it’s not necessary.  We are investigating the matter ourselves and in fact, we have some very promising leads. Thank you anyway.”

             
I nodded, and waved at Camille to come with me. She’d finished her drink and was scanning the crowd uneasily, as if she thought we are about to be turned into toads. Maybe we were.

             
“We’ll be going now,” I said, and we hurried off to my car. I could feel the gaze of dozens of witches burning in to me as we quickly drove away.

              A light rain was falling when we pulled into the parking space in front of my condo.  The smell of warm, wet asphalt hung in the air, mingling with the sweet smell of magnolia blossoms.  Barney was sitting on the sill of the open living room window when we walked in, with a sullen expression on his face, his tail swishing back and forth.

             
“You could come in out of the rain, you know,” I said, tossing my purse onto the couch and kicking my shoes off.

             
“Not according to that character over there,” he said, scowling. “She swatted at me with your broom.  All I was trying to do was share her sandwich.”  He looked her up and down. “She could spare half a sandwich, believe me.”

             
“Hey! No fat jokes.  And people don’t like it when you eat off their plates,” I told him. “I’ll put food out for you.”

             
“You can hear him talking?” Peyton’s voice went high. “How can you hear him? What is he saying?”

             
“He’s saying you swatted at him with a broom. What the heck?” I demanded angrily. “That is completely unacceptable. I told you he was coming.”

             
“I guess I forgot. I was drunk earlier. Besides, he tried to steal my food.” She looked at him uneasily. “You don’t really want him to stay here, do you?”

             
“I already told you, yes.”

             
“You don’t know where he’s been. He could have fleas!  He could have diseases!”

             
Barney hissed and arched his back, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

             
“I think he’s cute,” Camille volunteered.

             
“I invited him,” I said to Peyton, my voice firm. “He is staying here for the time being.”

             
“How long will that time be?” She stared at him uneasily, as if she expected him to leap through the air and tear her throat out. “He’s not going to be here for long, is he?”

             
It was raining harder outside, and I could see little drops splashing on Barney’s fur.

             
“Barney, come inside already,” I said, and he leaped off the window sill and stalked over to an armchair, where he curled up and looked huffy.

             
“I’d like to speak to you alone for a minute,” I said to Peyton, and led her into my bedroom.

             
I shut the door behind us. “What is your problem?” I demanded. “That was incredibly rude.”

             
She looked distressed.  “You know how it is with vampires and Thralls,” she said. “We don’t like other species. Thralls are raised to protect vampires. We were raised to regard vampires as the master race, as superior to all others.  Werewolves and witches are…inferior. And creepy.”

             
I knew about the prejudices that vampires and their Thralls had against other paranormals, but I thought it was ridiculous.  A lot of it came from the snobbery of the three original vampires; they had been royalty when they were infected by a mutated form of the bubonic plague, in the 1400s.  In those days, people sincerely believed that those born to royal blood were superior.  Werewolves and witches were commoners, and therefore inferior.

             
However, we were now living in the 21
st
century, and I wasn’t putting up with this crap.

             
“Camille doesn’t have any problem with him,” I said. “And he’s not a witch or wizard, he’s a familiar.”

             
“I guess she’s just more…” Peyton made a face “Tolerant.”

             
“I understand if you feel that you can’t be around him,” I told Peyton.

             
“Oh, thank heavens,” she said with relief.

             
“I’ll call Simon and ask him to send another Thrall here,” I said. “You can go back to New York.”

             
“What?” she looked genuinely shocked. “You want me to leave?”

             
“Peyton, I like you, but I’m not going to kick Barney out on the street,” I said. “He’s got nowhere to go, and if he goes back to the Bay Breeze, I think he might actually be in danger. Familiars are disappearing from there. That’s why he came here. He wanted my help finding his friends.”

             
“If you send me back, Simon will think I’m a failure.” Peyton actually went pale.  “I’m supposed to serve you and keep you happy.”

             
“But you should be happy too. If you can’t stand to be around Barney, then you should be back in New York with your friends.”

             
“Simon won’t understand.” Peyton really looked frightened.  Would she be in a lot of trouble if I sent her back? Possibly. I was still learning my way around the vampire world.

             
“But he didn’t mind when Sandra went back,” I protested.

             
“That’s different,” Peyton said. “She had a reason to go back. Someone in her family was sick. I’d be leaving because I didn’t please you with my service.” Ugh, just hearing that made me squirm. It sounded so indentured-servant-creepy.

             
“You did fine. I’ll tell him that,” I assured her.

             
“I’ll deal with the cat,” she said. “It won’t be that bad. It’s fine.”

             
“Are you sure?”

             
“Yes. Completely sure.”  She didn’t look thrilled, but she managed a smile.

             
“All right,” I sighed. “But I better not hear about you swatting at him again. That’s animal abuse.”

             
“Fine.” She spoke through gritted teeth.

I’m an animal person. If she felt that way about Barney,
I honestly would rather have let her go, but I didn’t want to make her face an angry and disappointed Simon. I’d seen Simon really angry once – and he was very, very scary when he was mad.

             
We went back out into the living room. “I am going to take a quick shower, and then I’m going out for a walk,” I said. “And I expect everyone to behave themselves while I’m out.”

             
I went to the cupboard and found a can of tuna. It was our last can. “Camille, can you go to the store tomorrow and get a bunch of cans of tuna for our new friend, here?” I asked her. She was squatting down next to Barney, petting him.  “Of course!” she said.  He rubbed up against her, purring enthusiastically.

             
When I came out, wearing a light sun dress and flip flops, Barney leaped off the counter where he’d been curled up. Peyton had retreated to her bedroom.

             
“I’ll go with you,” he said. “You can tell me how things went with the witches.”

             
“Badly,” I said.

             
“I figured.”

             
He leaped up on to my purse, climbed in, and stuck his head out, making himself at home.

             
It was a beautiful night for a walk.  The air was warm, the breeze was a gentle caress.
Nicholas.
I wanted Nicholas to be there with me, so much I had to stand still and blink back tears for a minute.  I wanted his strong arm around my shoulders, his hand wrapped around mine. When he was with me, I felt strong, and safe, and loved in a way I’d never felt before. Would he have liked it here?

             
No regrets, I told myself firmly. I did the right thing.  I was protecting him, and all the vampires in his coven. There were so many things that could, and probably would, go wrong when I went up against Andreas.  I loved Nicholas too much to drag him into this horrible mess with me.

             
If I survived the assassination attempt, I could try to make things right – although, since I had compelled Nicholas to believe he no longer loved me, he might already have moved on. He might be with a new woman.  Maybe he’d decide someone else was his Eternal Consort.

             
That thought made tears spill onto my cheeks, and I walked fast, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

             
“You got allergies?” Barney asked. “You could wipe your face on my fur if you want.”

             
“Allergies. Yeah. Must be all that pollen,” I said, sniffing hard. “I’m fine, thanks.”

             
“So what happened when you went to Bay Breeze?”

             
“I went to the country club.  Mirabelle was there with her family. Her sister Narcissa and her niece really didn’t like me, and they were angry when I mentioned the familiars were missing, because it’s supposed to be some big secret,” I said.

             
“You should have done like I said. Just gone in and read some minds. You’d have solved it in five minutes.”

             
“I told you, I can’t do that. Why is there so much family tension there, anyway?” I asked.

             
“Mirabelle’s new to the job, and there’s all kinds of fighting about whether she should have been picked. Leona was the oldest, and her magic is strong, but she doesn’t have any leadership skills. That bitch Narcissa wanted her daughter to get the job, but nobody likes her. Her and her mother are bullies.”

             
“Wouldn’t it have gone to Narcissa, rather than Emmeline?”

             
“Emmeline’s magic is more powerful. I don’t know all the details of how they pick a new High Priestess, but some of it has to do with how much magic ability you have. They do tests and all.   So, you didn’t find out anything about what’s happened to my friends?”

             
I sighed. “No, I’m afraid not. Maybe my asking Mirabelle about it right there in front of everyone will help.   The more people are talking about it, the more pressure there will be to solve the disappearances, and also, maybe somebody with information will come forward.”

             
I paused, as a strange feeling of light-headness suddenly swooped over me. I swayed where I stood.

             
“What is it?” Barney’s voice seemed to come from very far away.

             
I stood still for a moment, and the feeling passed.