Lost Paradise (19 page)

“I’m sleeping days now, since I have to watch
you nights,” Lash interrupted with a grin. “That means the bears
had to guard Dev and you all day en masse, which means Serena is
going to be up all night. She’s not going to have any time or
energy for baking or anything else.”

I blinked at him, getting his meaning. “Ah.
When will Devlin be home?”

“Not till at least one,” Lash said angrily.
“Maybe later.”

“Why are you so angry?” I said bluntly.
“Don’t lie and tell me you’re not.”

“Because he bitches that you aren’t here so
much most of the time. Now that you are, he’s not here taking
advantage of it.”

“He’s working. I don’t mind, Lash. He told me
he was going to be busy this week—”

Lash looked at me as if he was going to tell
me something, then hissed sarcastically, “Then you’re a saint.”

“Why don’t we eat, put in a few hours
downstairs, and then watch something?” I offered. “I’m not going to
want to work after I get comfortable.”

Lash nodded. “Sure.”

The sushi was just as good that night as it
had been the previous evening. Lash ate twice as much as I did, but
that was to be expected. Weres had big appetites, if Theo was
typical. After putting our dishes in the dishwasher, we headed
downstairs.

* * * *

After a few hours of work, I looked around
and congratulated myself. The room was looking much bigger. Half
the boxes had been put into the filing cabinets. Devlin’s file of
personal paperwork was stuffed, so I’d started another under it,
but Titus had taken care of the paper trash. Everything was shaping
up nicely. It was time for a reward.

“Ready to go up?”

Lash looked up from his usual slouched
position in the chair, then closed the Bible he was reading. “Yes,
unless you want me to read to you.”

“What are you on?”

He shot me a grin. “Song of Solomon.”

If he quoted me some of that, he’d raise The
Lust for sure. “Movie, please.”

He walked upstairs with me. “Do you like art
movies?” he asked.

I looked at him curiously. “Like foreign
films?”

“Sorry. I meant movies made from graphic
novels.” He paused, as if ill at ease. “I’ve always liked Sin
City.”

I looked at him in shock, and then hugged
him. He embraced me, then gently pushed me back. “What was that
for?” he hissed.

It was obvious what he was hoping it was for,
but I was too thrilled to care. “Because it’s one of my favorite
movies,” I said excitedly, a genuine smile on my face. “Theo likes
it now, but he had no idea who Frank Miller was before the movie
came out.”

Lash was incredulous. “How could he not know
Miller in the business we’re both in?”

“Forget that,” I said eagerly. “Have you read
A Dame to Kill For
?”

“Of course,” Lash hissed eagerly. “And
To
Hell and Back
, as well as the compilations and the other
stories.”

Here was a kindred soul, albeit in an odd
package
. “So have I.”

“I have the unedited version on DVD,” Lash
offered, brandishing it. “Yes or no?”

“Put it on now,” I ordered, flopping on the
couch.

The next two hours of movie was bliss. But
the two hours following were even better. I talked to Lash about
how the comics had been brought to life. We compared notes on the
parts of the stories that were missing from the film, like
Hartigan’s talk with Eileen, or Marv’s trip home to his mom’s house
where he gets his gun, Gladys, and then on Miller’s other works in
the series that hadn’t been in the film.

“He did an excellent job though,” I said
finally with admiration. “You can only include so much of a long
book in a movie.”

“Not always true. What about
300
?”
Lash hissed

I nodded. “You’re right. They added onto that
tale when they made the movie. And yes, I read the comics, when
they first came out,” I added proudly.

“We can watch that tomorrow, if you want,”
Lash offered.

“Sure,” I said happily. “What are your
thoughts on
South Park
?”

“What is
South Park
?” Lash hissed in
confusion.

“Stay right there,” I instructed, then
teleported. The living room at my home was quiet and empty as I
walked quickly to my TV. Grabbing the DVD of classic episodes, I
teleported back to Lash. “This is
South Park
,” I said,
handing it to him.

He examined it. “It’s a comedy?” he said
disdainfully. “I don’t like comedies.”

“You’ll like this one,” I assured. “Put it on
and see. If you don’t like it, I’ll pay for another sushi
outing.”

Lash handed it back to me. “Tomorrow I’ll
watch some with you, and reserve judgment till then,” he said, a
faint smile on his lips. “The night’s almost over.”

He was right.
Where had the time gone?
“Okay,” I replied, “Tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Lash said, then walked out.

I went upstairs, and took a quick shower.
When Devlin came home, I was waiting for him in bed, asleep.

* * * *

I was emerging from the shower around eleven
the next morning when I ran into Devlin. “When will you be back
from lunch?” he asked crankily.

Either Theo had called asking where I was, or
Lash had listened in last night. “I shouldn’t be gone more than an
hour, two tops.”

“I’ll be waiting here for you,” he said,
yawning. “No rush.”

Then why make a big deal when I’d be
back?
“I’ll see you then—”

“Wait,” Devlin commanded, his eyes narrowing
suddenly. “Why is your choker off?”

“Damn it,” I said, going to my side of the
bed and rummaging under the sheets. Grasping the cool metal, I held
it out to him. “It fell off twice yesterday when we were shopping.
I wanted to have you take it to whomever you got it from. Something
must be defective.”

Devlin took it from me and examined it. “Yes,
it must be. I saw you had it on last night. Do you have Danial’s on
you?”

“No,” I said. “It’s at his house. I left it
there accidentally last week.”

“Wear his for today, Sar,” Devlin said,
laying the choker on the nightstand. “I’ll take yours to the
jeweler who made it tonight. It’s possible with the pregnancy,
there is some problem with it staying on.”

“How can that be? I didn’t have a problem
with Danial’s choker staying on when I was pregnant.”

“You weren’t so much of a vampire then,”
Devlin said good-naturedly. “This collar wasn’t designed for a
vampire to wear. The blood mixture used for humans is different.
They may need to rebalance this magically.”

“I see,” I said, though I had no idea what he
was talking about. “Thanks.”

“Tell me if his falls off at all when you get
home,” Devlin said. “I’m curious.” He gave me a kiss. “Have a good
time with Theo.”

* * * *

“This is eel?” Theo said disbelieving,
chowing down. “It tastes good, not slimy.”

“Then I’ll bring you some more next time I go
shopping,” I said, giving him a kiss. “I’ve got to see Danial
before I go. Have a good day.”

Heading upstairs, the bright smile left my
face. Theo still hadn’t made any new discoveries. While I’d enjoyed
the week so far, I didn’t know if my exultation would last if a lot
of weeks went by. I was already missing my dogs and cats.

Danial looked up as I entered the study. He
reached into his drawer, then handed me his choker. “Go ahead.
Let’s run the experiment.”

I clasped it on. “Can you explain what Devlin
meant about magical rebalancing?”

Danial nodded in understanding, coming
closer. “If you were turning, the choker would need to be altered,”
he said softly, brushing his lips over my earlobe. “The choker is a
magical thing, almost conscious of itself. If a person is turned
while wearing it, it will fall off. But don’t worry; Dev can have
it fixed easily, even have them alter it so you could wear it if
you were a vampire. But you may not be able to remove it if he does
that, Sar. I know you have gotten used to taking it off when you
want to, so I thought you should know.”

“Devlin had said Anna was always able to
remove hers.” But she probably never had, once they were Oathed.
Why would she have, if she only had one vampire lover?

“Sar, you aren’t turning,” Danial said
soothingly. “But you are changed. That might be enough.”

“Devlin wanted to know if yours fell off at
all.”

Danial smiled in pleasure. “As do I.” He ran
his hands down my arms, then embraced me. “Shall we test it with
some physical activity?”

I cracked up laughing, kissed him eagerly as
an answer, then let him lead me downstairs.

Chapter
Eight

I woke Devlin when I crawled in beside him.
“I’m glad you’re back,” he said softly. “I missed you.”

“I was barely gone,” I said lightly, worried
he wasn’t going to let me go home on Sunday.

“Seemed like days to me,” Devlin purred, then
pulled me close.

We dozed for another hour or so. About seven,
Devlin stretched, looked at the clock, and abruptly swore. “I’ve
got to go,” he said, hurriedly pulling on a suit. “I’ll be home
about one, maybe two. Tomorrow night will be later still.”

“No rush,” I said, giving him a smile. “I’ll
be here.”

“Good,” he said giving me a quick kiss.
“Don’t work too hard,” he called, his footsteps fast on the
stairs.

After he left, I lay in bed a while, thinking
about how much fun this all was. It was like a mini vacation, even
with the filing. Suddenly, going home didn’t have the luster it had
back this morning.

I sat up, then hurriedly dressed. This had to
be the result of the blood Devlin had given me yesterday. I’d
better make sure Danial gave me a good bit of his on Saturday. I
didn’t want to be in thrall to Devlin again.

When I walked downstairs, Lash was on the
couch in the living room watching
South Park.
“Hey, you were
supposed to wait for me!” I said, cracking a smile.

“You got up for lunch today,” he teased. “I
thought you might need to sleep in a little. I was just passing the
time.”

I was getting used to the way he smiled,
baring the one fang because of his scar. It no longer unnerved me,
or made me flinch. In fact it seemed weird it had ever bothered
me.

“I’m well rested,” I lied. “Lead me to
dinner.”

As I ate my soup and Lash his sushi, he
suddenly hissed, “Thanks for telling me about this. I never wanted
to eat the fish I saw in stores. They were always huge fillets. I
liked to catch and eat much smaller fish as a snake. This is more
the size I used to catch, though of course the shape and type is
not the same.”

“Where did you catch them?” I asked
curiously.

“When I was little, in the swamps. I was born
in the Everglades,” Lash said with deep emotion. “I miss it badly
sometimes.”

I pulled my chair closer to his, studying
him. “Do you want me to take you there tonight?”

Lash looked at me in shock. “You have been
there? When?”

“Yes,” I affirmed. “I went for a field course
in college. It was amazing.”

“Would you mind, just for a few minutes?” he
hissed enthusiastically.

“No,” I said, reaching for his hand.
“Here—”

“No,” he said, withdrawing it quickly. “I
need to get my gun and my cell before we go. And you should get
some bug spray from the hall closet. Meet me back here in two.”

He was right; there would be mosquitoes
there. I doused myself in bug spray, then rejoined Lash in the
kitchen. “Ready?” I asked.

He took my hand. “Ready.”

I teleported us to the southernmost edge of
the park. We arrived in front of the hotel near the water. Dusk had
just arrived. We immediately got bitten, or at least, I did, but
the spray kept most of them off. Lash looked around, then strode
off back towards the swamp, me following.

We came to the edge of the saw grass. There
was only darkness beyond. Deep, unbroken darkness, and the soft
whisper of things moving in that dark as they were hunting and
being hunted. I smelled brackish water, green growing things, and
the dampness of the ocean farther south. The stars above us were
out, the sliver of moon that hung in the sky above us giving little
light.

Lash just stood there for some time, his back
to me, his form motionless, scenting the air with his tongue,
looking into the blackness. I let him have his space, busy covering
up all my exposed skin.

After fifteen minutes of this, Lash hissed
once in abject longing, and then turned to me. “You should take us
back,” he hissed softly. “I could stand here all night. This can’t
be fun for you. You’re getting eaten alive.”

“I understand the lure of home,” I said,
oddly emotional. “Take as long as you want.”

Lash looked uncertain I meant my words, but
he turned back, and scented the air again for another few minutes.
When he turned back to me again, he was resolute. “We should go
back,” he said softly, taking my hand.

When we arrived back, he hugged me gently,
then let me go. “Thank you,” he whispered. “It was good to smell
the mahogany again, and the saw grass.”

“Anytime,” I replied, giving his hand a
squeeze. “But now we’ve got to get to work.”

Lash followed me downstairs where I put in a
few more hours filing. This time he didn’t read as he always had,
but instead looked off into space. He didn’t say anything, but I
knew he must be thinking of the swamp, and the home he’d known long
ago. Was any of his family still alive? He was so old, the answer
was probably not. If he had had siblings, their children or
grandchildren might be alive, but everyone else had to be dead. Not
wanting to hurt him by mentioning it, I stayed silent.

After filing, Lash and I sat down to watch
300
, with me curled up on one end of the couch and him
sprawled on the other, not touching. I watched the opening scenes,
then put my head down just for a second on my arms, and fell
asleep.