The Blood Bargain (22 page)

Chapter
12

The short walk from the square to my new house was taking longer than I had ever imagined. I was rattled by the rooster behavior in the alley and calmed by the ease in which Dimitri
’
s stride met my own as we walked. It was like we had walked in tandem for years, our forms complimenting each other
’
s movement.

“What were you doing out there?” I had to break the silence.

“I came home, you were gone. I went to find you.”

I squeezed his hand. “I
’
m glad you did.” Understatement of the century.

“What was your involvement in the context of their scuffle?”

“The really bloody one is the guy my dad wanted me to marry; the other is a friend of mine that was defending my honor.”

“It needed defense?” There went the inquisitive eyebrow.

“Zack called me a...well he called me a slut among
other things.” Dimitri’
s grip on my hand tightened, his eyes losing their soul.

“H
ey it’
s over okay? Cole knocked him around a bit and you rescued me.”

“You shouldn.t need rescuing from words.”

“I know.”

“You are mine.” The possessiveness in his statement made me worry for Cole
’
s safety.

“I know.” I squeezed his hand to reassure him. Time to change the topic before someone got hurt. “How was your patrol?”

“Busy, there are many by the road to the north.”

“Why don.t they decompose into uselessness? It
’
s been a decade.”

Dimitri shrugged. “I
ha
ve lived countless lifetimes and still I do not decompose. Who are we to question the ways of the gods?” Plural. I thought back to his origins.

“You still believe in Zeus?”

“I always will, even when the world has forgotten.”

“When we get home, do you want to play a game?” I offered. It was after all our routine.

“Risk?” His eyes lit up with mischief. This was the side of him I loved, the side that made him just another guy my age.

“Deal.”

It was a horrible mistake to play Risk with him.

To say he beat me was an understatement. I more actual summation would have been that he ground me into a fine pulp using dice and plastic swordsmen.

“I wish you weren.t doing this.” He muttered, his jaw tight as he carefully returned the little pieces to their box.

“You can come with me, or better yet go look for the files I need.” I knew he wouldn.t take the bait, but I tried anyway.

“I can
not
.”

“Before it was you won
’
t. Now it
’
s can
’
t?” I put my hand on his cheek. “D, what
’
s going on?”

“Caius believes I
’
m getting too attached to you.”

I winced. “Does he
now
.”

“He
’
s dignified, raised in the old way. Our integration with humans was a necessity not a choice in his mind.”

“He doesn.t like me then.” I
’
m sure I sounded mopey. It was the closest thing I had to attempting to impress his father, which apparently I failed out without ever officially meeting the guy.

“He doesn
’
t trust your kind. You are illogical and volatile children.”

“Ouch.”

“You deny that truth?”

“No, it’
s pretty much true for most. Not all of us though. There are, were I should say, those who stand above the others, brilliant selfless people.”

“For every one of
those, there is a million moron
s
spouting nonsense. Well, a thousand now would be a better number I suppose.”

“There are no ignorant vampires?”

“Oh there are.” He smirked. “There are just less of us, so one does not notice as often.”

“How did you become a vampire?” His jovial mood faded like someone had flipped a switch.

“No.”

“What?”

“We will not discuss that now or in the future.” Dimitri
s
napped. When he snapped he scared me.

“
Okay fine, I was just making conversation.” I
forced a yawn. “I’
m going to bed.” Without another glance I rose and patted down the hallway to my room.

I awoke to a plate of freshly prepared eggs and a note sitting for me in the kitchen. I picked up the small piece of notebook paper, yawning I read the scripted hand.

Sorry for the temper.

D

I rolled my eyes. Perfect handwriting. I took a bite. Perfect eggs. Perfect
perfect
perfect
. He truly made me feel like a donkey at a horse show. Even so, as I took bite after bite I found myself losing my irritation with him.

I am pushy, I am whiny. I told myself, I got what I deserved by being well...me. I could be easier to get along with, less hardheaded. Maybe. I was a lot like my Dad in that regard. He was ancient and still acted that way, so what did that say for me? With a huff, I cleaned my plate and flipped the apology note over. In my scratchy hand I wrote.

It’s okay, I’m a pain. See you tonight.

Liv

PS. Eggs ruled.

I frowned at the paper when I was done. My handwriting had seriously suffered in the collapse of society. Overall it was a petty thing to worry about, so I went off to take my shower. The barely cresting sun was enough light in the backyard for me to not need a candle. I made quick work of the clean routine as it was extremely cold outside and the water was no better. My teeth chattered as I dried off. Not exactly morning coffee but it did the trick.

I dressed for work; Steel combat boots, jeans, my favorite
pac
man shirt and a leather jacket. The last pair of jeans that hung in my closet were now on my legs, the rest were all piled in the corner in a hulking dirty pile. I wrinkled up my nose at the mess.

My old room had no such messes because my old place that these other wonderful humans that lived with me and did laundry. Here it was just me and D and he didn
’
t strike me as a fan of the washboard. Gathering up my pile of unmentionables and miscellaneous, I dumped them outside the back door. It didn.t make them clean, but it made my room clean.

Out of sight. Out of mind.

With a triumphant smile I flipped the lock on the back door. Bow in hand, I was off to work.

The day sucked from there.

We had no activity at the wall, which should have been a good thing. I honestly missed those months of quiet when I did nothing but walk around and chat with Adam all day. As I stood there doing exactly that it felt odd to me. I hadn.t had a peaceful day in...well since the day I picked up that signal on my radio. Thinking of it now reminded me how long it had been since I had seen

my dad. I needed to patch things up with him, I just wasn.t ready yet.

I
’
m sure he wasn.t either. Still, I
kinda
wanted to see him before we made our trek north, just in case I didn't. come back. I didn
’
t want him to live with that bad blood for however long he had left. I absentmindedly clutched
Mom’
s little angel around my neck.

“You alright
Liv
?” Adam called down to me.

“Yeah I
’
m good.” I shot him a don.t worry about it smile.

“Okay well it
’
s your turn.” I scrunched up my nose, that's right we were still playing that wonderful game.

“Oh is it now? Well I spy with my little I something...green.”

“Grass.”

“You win.”

“You hate this game don.t you?”

“Adam, we
’
ve been playing I spy for like two hours now. It sucks.”

“Well what do you want to do instead?”

“Any good books up there?”

“Little women?”

“
Bleck
.”

“Oliver Twist?”

             
“Please sir do you have anything else?” I mocked him in my best English accent while he rummaged about.

“Ha. Okay hmm...how about Tolkien
’
s epic saga?”

“Throw it down.” I caught the trilogy over my head.

Sitting in the grass I cracked open the first one. I lost myself in the beautiful scenery and the birthday celebrations. When the journey was barely in its in infancy, my light was blocked out by a hulking shadow.

“That time already?” Over the edge of the book I peeked up at Cole, who appeared to be in a good mood.

Not that I could see his face that well, the ball cap he had thrown over his head was pulled low, casting a shadow over his eyes.

The weather had finally gotten the best of him as he
’
d traded his signature muscle tank for a long sleeve crew shirt in a heather grey color. The grey made the black crisscross straps of his katana holsters pop against his
chest. Even I couldn’
t deny that it was a sexy look.

“Slow day huh?” He drawled while I stood and stretched, my spine cracked.

“Not a sighting.” Unclipping the
walkie
, I passed it over to his big palm. Then I waited. I was for sure he was going to mention what had happened the night before.

             
“Going to the
G
arage tonight?” Cole kicked up the bill of his cap with an index finger and winked at me. His eyes held that same playful sparkle they had since he
’
d successfully cornered me in
Smittys
. Up close I looked him over, not a blemish or bruise on his face that I could make out.

I bet one couldn.t say the same for the other member of the late night brawl.

“Nah I think I
’
ll pass.” I held my breath for a mention of the antics with Zack and snide comments about Dimitri.

“Okay cool, I
’
d love a rematch at pool tomorrow; we can.t let Candice and Ben off that easy.” Cole lightheartedly teased me. Fine if he didn.t want to bring it up. I wasn.t going to either.

“What about Sammie?” I had to sneak that in. Ben
’
s two timing was a low move. The male to female ratio -much more males in our bracket- of Junction aside, it was dirty to play with any one's heartstrings; let alone someone who was my dear friend.

Cole just shrugged. “Not my biz.”

“Still it
’
s wrong.” I grumbled.

“About as wrong as you not letting me walk you home last night.” He
kinda
pouted for a moment. I blinked. How could he have walked me home if I left with D? Then I thought of Anna, not knowing who I was. Oh
no he didn’
t, would he really of blanked his mind?

“Hey have you seen Zack recently?” I asked slowly, testing the conversation waters.

He scoffed. “Not since he showed up here all puppy dog eyes and pouty.”

“Hey
Liv
can I have my book back?” Adam called down from above.

“Oh of course sorry!” I fumbled to put the volume I had been reading back in the box. I had completely forgotten about Adam sitting up there like a little fly on the wall.

I shared a laugh with Cole. Keeping my shock on the inside, I gave him a little wave and walked back toward town.

Dimitri had done something to his memory. Holy crap. Did he do the same to Zack? Why didn
’
t he tell me?

Well I could probably answer both of those without input.

Of course Zack had gotten the men in black treatment, and I hadn
’
t seen him since I stomped off last night. In some dark corner of my brain, I wondered if he had ever done it to me.

It
’
s not like I would know if he had.

I didn
’
t like that one bit. It made me feel vulnerable of the capital V variety. It gave him the