Worlds of Obsession (Celtic Otherworlds) (19 page)

Chapter 20

Bastien finished up on the computer in the library and walked back into the kitchen, only to find Liv leaning across the table in rapt attention to something Jace was saying.  She looked up at him and smiled.  He waited for the inevitable.  Yup, there it was, his heart came to a stuttering halt before restarting and pounding as if he’d just run the length of Scotia.
  Only Liv could do that to him.

“Jace w
as just going to tell me about Vampires.  Are there Vampires?  Really?”  She looked skeptical, as if she was mostly expecting Jace to be pulling her leg.

             
Erath sputtered a laugh in his coffee cup, and Bastien cut him a glare before answering Liv’s question.  “Yeah, there are, baby.”

“You mean real bloodsucking V
ampires are walking all over Scotland and no one knows about it?”

Bastien shoved his hand through his already disheveled hair.  “Yeah sweetheart, that and a whole lot more.”

Liv stopped to look at him, searching his face.  “You sound serious.”

“That’s ‘cause I am.  Vampires are nothing to fuck around with, especially the bad kind.”

Liv still didn’t look convinced, but now her expression registered a kind of cautious acceptance that just maybe Bastien was telling the truth.  “There are… different kinds?”

Erath grinned at her, and leaned back against the counter.  “I happen to have it on good authority that there are two races of Vampire.  The creator of the fir
st is Leanan, and all of her offspring are called the Aislings.  Ever since Leanan began collecting the blood of enemies and evil ones in a great cauldron, they do not drink from the innocent.  Unless, of course, it’s consensual, which by the way, is much more fun.” 

             
Liv screwed up her face at that one.  “And the other race?”

             
“The Droch Fhola, descendants of Abhartach.  Bad to the bone, every last one.  The Droch Fhola are the reason the Guild was first created.  Unlike the rest of us, Droch Fhola vampires can turn others into what they are, and if they weren’t kept in check… well you can just imagine.  We hunt any dark Sidhe that causes trouble, but Droch Fhola Vamps are usually number one.”

             
“How can you tell the difference?  I mean between good and bad Vampires?”

             
Bastien let out a little laugh.  “Oh, you can tell.  You’ve seen them yourself.”
              “I have?”

             
“In the alley.  The night you and I first met.”

             
“Oh.”

             
“There’s a world of difference between the Droch Fhola and nice friendly Vamps like Erath here”, Jace chimed in.

             
Liv’s gaze snapped to Erath, who grinned at her again, this time showing off a pair of lustrous white fangs. 
Erath?
  A
Vampire
?  But to her he seemed just… normal.

“You can touch them, if you want.”  He leaned closer, and Liv’s fingers itched to feel the smooth, gleaming length of them.  But before she could lift her hand, Bastien stepped between her and Erath with a growl.

              “Not funny, Erath.”  He was fairly certain that Liv had no idea Vampires got off by biting females… or by having their fangs stroked, but he was not going to let her find out this way.  “Liv, a Vampire’s fangs are…
sensitive
.”

             
“Oh…
ohhhh!
”  She turned to scowl at Erath.  “You pervert!”  She broke into a laugh, and he winked at her.  Actually… the whole fang thing was kind of… sexy.  And she really thought she was taking all of this much better than she probably should be.  She’d probably already gone over the deep end and this was just the downward slide.

             
Erath shrugged.  “Can’t blame a guy for trying.  What is there around here to eat?  I’m starved.”  He surveyed the half a loaf of bread and small block of cheese on the counter.  “No way that’s going to be enough for all of us.”  He started pulling open cupboard doors, slamming them shut again when there was nothing edible inside.  “Damn… didn’t anyone do the grocery shopping this week?”

             
Liv wanted to be clear on all the new information she was taking in.  “You eat… food?  I mean, not just blood… but other stuff too?”

             
Erath pulled open the door to the fridge, and finding nothing else, grabbed a beer.  “Oh yeah.  Blood a couple times a week.  Food all the time.”  He held up the beer.  “Want one?”

             
“No, thanks.”

             
Jace snapped his cell shut after reading a message.  “Good news kids.  We’re headed back to Glasgow later today, and Erath and I will be your escorts.”

***

             
Liv thought that perhaps she’d be allowed to return to her hotel, but apparently the Guild was not quite ready to let her go.  And she kind of understood… they had to be careful about who they trusted. 

All of her new clothes had been delivered to her room, and she had hung them up in the guestroom closet, all the while wishing she was staying in Bastien’s room like she did her first time here. 
It was her second day back in Glasgow, and so far Bastien had been successfully avoiding her, and though it pained her ego to admit it, she was moping.  She missed being on Avalon with him, where they had essentially been trapped together, and pretty much alone.  Now she had no idea where Bastien was spending his time.  For all she knew he could be out on a date right now, and that thought made her crazy.

And this was how Jace found her, in the kitchen, nursing a glass of white wine, staring dejectedly at the countertop in front of her.  He took a seat beside her and leaned on one elbow.

              “You know, I’ve seen the way he looks at you.  He’s got it bad.”

             
Liv didn’t even bother pretending she didn’t know who he was talking about.  She gave Jace a sad smile.  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  Probably just everything happening at once, you know?  And he hasn’t got it bad.  He’s been working hard to stay as far from me as possible.”

             
“Yeah, well the guy has issues… that’s for sure.  But I don’t think he
wants
to stay away from you Liv, I think he just needs a good shove so he can get out of his own head for once, and stop thinking too much, you know what I mean?”

             
“No, what
do
you mean?”

             
Jace gave her a grin that spelled pure trouble.  “I think you need to give the ‘ole green-eyed monster a shot, here.”

             
“What?”

             
“You know, make him jealous.  You want a guy to stop thinking too much and act on his feelings, you have to show him you’re not just gonna wait around until he decides he’s ready.  A little competition brings out the caveman in any guy, and we go all ape-shit and forget our own names if another guy puts the moves on a girl that we want.  No thinking involved, just hormones and crazy-ass instinct.  If he’s interested in you at all, he’ll make a move, trust me.  If he doesn’t, well, at least you know where you stand.”

             
“
I’ll
do it…”

             
Liv turned around to see Erath leaning casually against the door frame.  “You’ll do what?”

             
He smiled wickedly.  “Help you make that sorry bastard jealous.  Jace is right, Bastien needs a bitch-slap.”

             
“I said he needed a shove…”

             
“Whatever.”

             
Liv’s eyes widened in surprise, and she was pretty sure a blush had crept across her cheeks.  How long had he been listening to their conversation?  Apparently long enough.  “Um, thanks Erath… but I don’t know.  If he gets angry, you could get hurt.  And you guys are friends.  I don’t want to be the one to ruin a friendship.”

             
Erath just shook his head and pushed off the doorframe, walking into the room and taking a seat across from her.  “Look, I’ve seen that male suffering for a very long time, just existing… not even caring if he lives or dies.  Hell, I’m no expert on Demons and the whole mating thing, but since you’ve been here, there’s been a change in Bastien, for the first time since I’ve known him.  He’s been on edge, and don’t think I haven’t noticed how he can’t take his eyes off of you.  If it takes him beating the crap out of me to get him out of his own head, I’m in.  Trust me, seeing you with someone else will force Bastien to face his feelings.  We’re all alpha males here, and not one of us will sit back and let someone else take what’s ours.”  He grinned.  “He’d do the same for me, if I was being stupid-stubborn.” 

             
Liv wasn’t sure Bastien would ever think of her as
his
, but these two guys were his friends, and the seemed to know what they were talking about.  “Erath… you’re a really nice guy, you know that?”

             
He scowled at her.  “Yeah, well… don’t you dare tell anyone.  I have a reputation as an evil bastard to uphold.”

             
Liv laughed.  “You are not an evil bastard, you’re a good friend, and your secret’s already out.”  She drew in a deep breath and let it out.  “All right, I’m not sure this is a good idea, but let’s make a plan.”

             
Less than an hour later, Liv came down the stairs wearing a slightly too-short dress and a pair of slinky black heels.  Her hair and light make-up was done to perfection, she was wearing black lace just in case Conan was right, and she actually felt sexier than she had in a very long time… and just a little sleazy for what she was about to do… but hey, she had some crazy feelings for a guy she had only just met, and she really didn’t want to spend the rest of her life wondering what could have been if she’d just taken the chance.  And Erath had said that Bastien couldn’t take his eyes off her… was it true?  Her heart skittered with hope and nerves. 

Just as
Erath had reported ten minutes earlier, Bastien was sprawled on the sofa, computer on his lap, hard at work catching up on reports.  He looked up when she came into the room, his eyes widening and then darkening as his gaze swept the length of her body.  He tensed.  “Why are you dressed like that?”

             
She smiled and twirled around to show off her new outfit.  “I’m going out.  How do I look?”

             
He scowled.  “You’re not going anywhere.  It’s too dangerous.”

             
“Oh, don’t worry.  I’m not going alone.  I have a date.”  She smiled at Erath as he came into the room right on cue.  “I was getting bored, and Erath agreed to take me out on the town.  Ready, baby?”

             
Erath took her arm and gave a low whistle as he admired her ensemble.  “Definitely.  Let’s go.  Hey Bastien…” he called over his shoulder, “don’t wait up!”

             
Liv snuck a backward glance, only to see Bastien sitting there expressionless on the sofa.  A moment later she was slipping into the passenger seat of Erath’s car.  “It didn’t work”, she said as he got in the other side.  Either it didn’t work, or Bastien didn’t feel anything for her after all.

             
Erath looked over at her and smirked.  “Oh, it worked.  Trust me… it worked.  Couldn’t you feel the temperature in that room drop about a hundred degrees?  He fucking wanted to kill me right then and there.”
              Liv’s face let up.  “Really?  Do you think he really wanted to kill you?  Oh, not that I want you dead, of course,” she added, realizing she’d sounded just a little too excited.

             
Erath laughed.  “Yeah… just you wait.  Bet he follows us.  I sure hope you’re ready to take what you and I just dished out, baby doll, because you don’t fuck with a Demon and just walk away unscathed.”  He winked at her and backed the car out into the street.  They drove to one of the trendier night clubs in Glasgow, a place called
Dune
, and even so, it was still kind of a rough crowd.  Liv was glad for the shelter of Erath’s big body as he dragged her out onto the dance floor.  She didn’t think she was in the mood, but since she really did love to dance, the heavy beat of the music thrumming through her body soon had her helpless not to move.  It wasn’t long before Erath pulled her closer to speak into her ear over the noise around them.  “He’s here.”

             
She sucked in a little breath of anticipation, her pulse picking up.  She didn’t have any idea how Erath could tell who was here and who wasn’t, because it was just that loud and crowded, but she supposed he must have some sort of vampire senses that were better than everyone else’s. 
Vampire.  I’m here with a Vampire…
She grinned in amusement but kept dancing, and Erath smiled down at her and winked, pulling her closer.  “In a minute, I’m going to kiss you.  Pretend that you like it”, he said with a little laugh.  “Trust me.”