Nate
got to his feet abruptly. “That sounds like the scaffolding I set up
today… son of a bitch. Stay here.” He commanded Charisse, scooping
up the nearest lantern and striding from the room.
*
*
*
“Tsk,
tsk Destiny… you didn’t just lose another minion did you? What, that’s
three out of five gone now… if it was anyone else I’d be accusing them of
carelessness.”
“Oh
Lover.” Destiny strode over to stand in front of Nate, three feet back
from the now open conservatory double doors. Hands resting on her
narrow hips, pale breasts thrust forward as the moonlight played over her
slicked back white blonde hair as she smiled his way coyly. “You’re like
plate glass to me, getting rid of all your competition because you don’t want
to share me.”
“Maat,
you’re delusional. I understand vampire Queens are usually powerful but
maternal figureheads but you… you’ve had too many sips of tainted blood haven’t
you. Splitting off from your clan, setting up your little assassin clique
to make money… just what drives you?” Nate looked at her speculatively.
“Maybe
I just really like to kill people.”
“That
I had already guessed. It ends here Destiny, all of it.”
Destiny
yawned, patting her hand theatrically over her mouth.
“What
you did to Vivian… and all those others you’ve killed for money… no more.”
“Talk,
talk, talk.” Destiny tapped her foot impatiently.
Nate
shifted his weight on his feet, ready to pounce if he saw an opportunity.
“All I ask before I kill you is that you tell me everything you know about your
former clients, Sek and Mot.”
Destiny’s
silver cat eyes gleamed hard by the moon’s light. “You ever heard of
client confidentially? Why would I tell you anything?”
“You
can’t play the confidentiality card if you never fulfilled the contract.
I’m surprised the Chaos brothers haven’t punished you already for your
failure. It must have been kind of embarrassing for you to tell them you
couldn’t produce the blood of the ancestor and then to find out the witch’s
blood you handed over was a dud.”
“Please,
I saw that trick coming a mile away when I realised you’d slipped me a tracker
that day at the hospital. Very devious on someone’s part… probably not
yours, being all brawn and less brain… just the way I like you Lover.”
Nate
shrugged. “Maybe I won’t have to do anything at all, maybe Sek and Mot
are already on your trail intending to exact their revenge and get their money
back.”
Destiny
laughed, a jarring harsh sound. “Come after me? Those two
losers? I doubt they could start a fire right now even if I gave them a
match. Hah… exact their revenge? I don’t think so. They’d need to
find a power source first.”
Nate
gave her an easy smile, praying to Maat that Vampira wouldn’t realise how much
she was giving away with all her gloating. “Who’s to say they haven’t?”
“You
think they’ll find another long lost relative they can leech off of on the next
street corner?”
“It’s
surprising they didn’t ask you to kidnap Xander rather than drain him dry.”
“Over-confident
assholes, they were counting on his blood to raise Daddy up from his long sleep
weren’t they? Never crossed their tiny minds that they wouldn’t be successful.
Maat’s warriors interfering in their plans… that’s twice now I
understand. Bet you they’re majorly more pissed off at you, than they are
at me.” Destiny shrugged her bony shoulders, smiling, her fangs digging
deeply into her lower lip. “Why don’t you come outside and we can wait
for them together?”
“Because…”
Charisse stepped up behind Nate, curling a languid arm around his waist,
splaying her hand over his stomach, feeling his muscles jump under her touch
through the thin material of his t-shirt. “…Nate’s far too busy…”
Charisse moved fully into view of the vamp Queen, clinging to Nate’s side like
a barnacle. “…playing with me at the moment to have time to deal with
your undead bony ass.”
Destiny
hissed.
Nate
stared down at Charisse, the look in his eyes clearly stating he hoped to hell
she knew what she was doing taunting the vampire Queen like this. Playing
along, he dropped a casual arm over her shoulders, noting that before she’d
entered the conservatory Cyd had taken the time to muss up her hair and let one
of the straps of her dress fall off her shoulder. The woman looked like
she’d just risen from bed… Maat, she played hardball… speaking of hard.
Charisse
beamed a sultry smile up at Nate before slowly… almost reluctantly, shifting
her attention back to Destiny. “You still here? You know, it’s just
plain rude to drop by so unexpectedly and not bring a gift. I’ll tell you
what, let me kill your last two minions and we’ll call it even.” Charisse
glanced past Destiny into the dark shadows beyond the house, only piles of
rubbish and building supplies in evidence, no sign of any minions to lure
across the threshold.
Destiny
tilted her head back smirking. “Those boys are positively gagging to get
their teeth into you Cyd. I clawed their eardrums out tonight and I’m
more than happy to tear them out at the start of every night until you die
pretty one. I’ve always found dismemberment and torture to be great
motivators.”
“That’s
where you and I differ I suppose.” Charisse slid her hand up over Nate’s
washboard abs, across his chest to grab the back of his neck. Going up on
tippy toes she pulled his lips down on to her own.
The
hunger hit Charisse so hard and fast she almost reared back, until she realised
that the hunger didn’t emanate from Bettina but from herself. She’d
wanted men before but she’d never lusted after them like she did Nate; the feel
of his soft lips against hers, the heat of their skin intermingling, the bone
melting strong hold he had on her.
Nate
didn’t care if kissing Cyd resulted in every nerve ending he had getting
fried. Maat, she tasted like honey, decadent spices and a heady
liqueur. He gripped her tighter, grabbing a fistful of her silken locks,
worried that any moment she’d be pulled from his grasp. Now that she was
in his arms, he couldn’t… wouldn’t, let her go. This was where she was
meant to be. She wasn’t just some beautiful complicated woman with
secrets… she was his. That knowledge came from his very core as
everything suddenly clicked into place.
Charisse
blinked, a little dazed and breathing hard as Nate slowly lifted his lips from
hers. She wanted to protest, why had he stopped kissing her? At
least he hadn’t let her go as yet, she met his gaze, swallowing hard. Goddess
help her, he had a look in those whiskey coloured eyes that both delighted and
scared the hell out of her. There was promise… intent… heat and desire
there.
Oh
Goddess, she had to be out of her mind to think she could get involved with
Nate.
She
felt torn. Part of her was horrified; Nate wouldn’t settle for
half-truths, he’d want to strip all her secrets bare. The other part of
her, the one that craved his touch, his kiss with an almost scary level of
hunger was thrilled, anticipation gnawing at her bones, need pulsing low in her
belly.
“Urgh…
Urgh.” Sounds of loud choking and gagging filled the air. “Ugh… you
blood-bags and your nauseating exchange of every fluid except plasma, gag me
with a wooden stake.”
Nate
reluctantly released Charisse to turn and stare at Destiny, still pacing
outside the double doors, a murderous look in her silver cat eyes as she glared
at them both.
“Brr…
I’m cold.” Destiny feigned an exaggerated shiver. “You two
cold? You know what I think we need right now is a nice roaring
fire.” From behind her back Destiny produced a miniature blowtorch.
With the click of a button it sprang to life, issuing a small orange-blue
flame. “I just can’t imagine seeing out my final days in this house
Lover… The pretty one on the other hand…” Destiny smirked Nate’s
way. “…I do hope you like your girlfriends extra crispy.”
Nate
reacted in one fluid motion, leaping upwards, snatching down a weapon from
where he’d hidden it earlier, high on wall above the doorway. Aiming it
and hitting the trigger even before his boots slammed back to the floor.
The
arrow from the hand-held crossbow hit Destiny high on the left side of her
chest… too high to have hit her heart. Destiny shrieked in pain and
surprise, dropping the blowtorch even as she leapt high into the air, taking
another arrow to the stomach and one to the upper thigh before she flew out of
Nate’s range.
“Fuck.”
Nate gazed off in to the dark night, searching for any sign of her.
“Shit, she’s fast.”
His
head snapped to the left as Charisse’s soft hand patted him on the arm in
reassurance. “Maybe next time Sheriff.”
“I
really hate that bitch.” He stepped outside to pick up the blowtorch and
kick some dirt over a smouldering weed.
“Don’t
worry she’ll be back.” Charisse absently smoothed down her hair.
Nate
turned scowling at her. “You realise you’ve now moved yourself to the top
of her to-kill list Cyd? Once again I am forced to ask, what the hell
were you thinking? She’ll never stop trying to kill you now.”
Charisse
restored the strap of her dress back to the correct position. “I trust
you to protect me Nate, but you need to trust me in return. I know
obsessive psychotic bitches, it’s important to keep her focused; otherwise
she’ll go off at a tangent we could never predict. If she gets
distracted, who knows who she might hurt… this way… well we know where she’ll
be at twilight tomorrow night don’t we, front and centre here, with revenge on
her mind.”
Nate
blew out a frustrated sigh from behind clenched teeth. “Let’s get back in
the house. I don’t know about you but I could use another drink.
And then maybe you could tell me what you meant by that crack about knowing
obsessive psychotic bitches? That sounds real personal Cyd.”
Charisse
forced a laugh, frantically thinking of a more appropriate answer than; see
there’s this bitch she-rock that rides my ass and has me on a tight
leash. “You’ve met most of my cousins, right? Pick one.”
Chapter
Twelve
It
was just after five the next day when Nate stepped under the outdoor shower
he’d jerry-rigged using a garden hose. Absently he scrubbed the sweat,
dirt and grime from his arms, legs and chest before dunking his head under the
stream. It was a bit early for quitting time, but considering how much he
had on his mind he was lucky he had lasted as long as he had. As he’d
dismantled the traps he’d previously set on the roof and begun laying the new
shingles, his mind had been distinctly elsewhere, namely on the gorgeous woman
who’d high-tailed it off to bed last night, quick smart, after their encounter
with Destiny.
Hadn’t
he thought from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her that Cyd was the
one? But he’d gotten side tracked by the black entity that encased her
psyche… her soul. The damn thing had threatened to throttle her if he’d
continued to dance with her. So he’d walked away to protect her and
because he’d been a little off his game thanks to those weird irritating
noises, the grating droning and the resulting headache.
Sounds…
seemed to be at the heart of this whole mystery surrounding Cyd. Even
Queen D appeared to have come to the same conclusion, commenting on how willing
she’d be to tear her minions’ eardrums out at the start of each night. So
the droning… the humming, all to do with Cyd, not some weird Southern Sanctuary
sound effect as he’d first assumed. So what did that make Cyd?
Maat,
if dragons existed… Cyd could be any number of things.
Ultimately,
the answer would mean very little to him… she was the one.
But
that unknown entity that came as part of the package, well that was a different
story. If it could exert influence over Cyd… hurt her, how would he be
able to deal with that knowledge? He couldn’t defeat it for her… it was
her demon, her challenge. But maybe he could help her find balance… that
was ultimately what Maat’s warriors sought in the world after all, balance.
The
first step in helping her to reach that medium would require her to be willing
to confide in him. Tell him who she was. What she was. Why,
whatever it was that had attached itself to her psyche, could zap him fifty
feet into the air one day for kissing her, and do nothing to him the
next?
His
head snapped around as thunder rumbled off in the distance, out to sea.
Storm was coming. He had enough on his plate already - a vampire Queen to
reduce to ashes and a gorgeous woman with a mystery he needed to unravel - he
hoped to Maat, he’d been successful in making the damn roof water-tight.
Turning
off the hose, he grabbed a towel, rubbing his hair and body dry. He
dressed in the mudroom where he kept piles of clean clothes, donning khaki
trousers, a dark ruby coloured t-shirt and his favourite shit kicker
boots. He ran his fingers casually through his hair instead of a comb,
unconcerned as the mop always seemed to sort itself out, no matter what he did
to it.
Rolling
his arms to reduce a few tight spots in his upper back he stepped through into
the kitchen, noting with interest that Charisse’s painting supplies and easel
remained untouched in the corner. Hmmm, what had she been up to all day
if she hadn’t been painting?
He
had a few more questions for her as he wandered through the lower floors.
Why was it so clean for one thing? The random piles of pulled up
floorboards and ripped up sections of mouldy, frayed carpet, had all
mysteriously disappeared. The floors had even been swept. Maat, had
Charisse done all this in a day? He started up the stairs, noting that
the right hand bannister was almost completely sanded back. No way could
Cyd have managed all this work by herself, unless she used magic.
He
slowed his pace at the sight of the large mattress and bed-frame out in the
corridor, wrinkling his nose as the smell of paint fumes hit his senses, more
perturbing was the rumble of male voices emanating from the master
bedroom. What the hell?
He
paused in the doorway to take it all in. Charisse was standing in the
middle of the room, deep in conversation with his gruff, hard-as-nails, head
deliveryman, Dave.
A man surly, as the
day was long, who appeared to be shockingly relaxed and happy to be flipping
through a paint catalogue with Cyd, heads bent close together. The
floorboards beneath them freshly stained and now dry.
By
the fireplace, Surly Dave’s youngest son, Sullen Trevor, was chipping away plaster
slowly and carefully to expose the original tiles hiding underneath.
Whilst over by one of the windows Dave’s eldest son, Angry Colin, was in the
process of applying putty filler to repair all the gaps around the frame.
“Ah-hem.”
He cleared his throat.
Charisse
glanced up and smiled in welcome. “Hi.”
Maat
she looked lovely, with her long glossy auburn hair spilling down her back, her
skin porcelain perfect with just a hint of colour gracing each high
cheekbone. She looked relaxed and happy in white shorts, sandshoes and a
bright aqua t-shirt that clung to her assets all too lovingly and made her
green eyes glow.
Nate
eyed the three men, Colin and Trevor didn’t even look up at his entrance whilst
Dave actually nodded and sent him what could almost pass for a grudging smile
of greeting. Whoa, what magic had Charisse worked on the surliest
delivery guy Nate had ever had the displeasure of meeting?
Maat,
the first time, squat, yet sturdy Dave, and his equally squat and sturdy sons
had dropped off building supplies Dave had threatened to dump everything on the
footpath because he claimed the trees on either side of the driveway might
scratch his ten year old truck.
Nate
had won that round by walking down the driveway with an axe in his hands, asking
Dave through gritted teeth, exactly where he wanted him to bury it.
Since
that first encounter, Surly Dave had arrived every other day with his supplies
and his two sons in tow, unloaded everything in record time before promptly turning
around and speeding away back to Brisbane. All Nate ever got in terms of
customer service was surly, angry and sullen looks… hence the nicknames.
“What’s
going on here?” Nate enquired, even though he could see perfectly well
for himself.
“Dave
and the boys have been a Goddess-send.” Charisse gave each of them a
beaming smile of approval. “Will you just look at those gorgeous tiles
Trevor is uncovering. It was his idea to chip away the plaster around the
fireplace and see what was underneath.”
Nate
couldn’t believe it but Sullen Trevor was actually blushing. Maat, what
was this woman’s magic? “So Dave and the boys have just been helping
around the house all day? They didn’t have any other deliveries to
make? Places to be? They just volunteered to spend their day
working on my house?”
“Happy
to help out.” Dave muttered, his dark brown eyes fixed on Charisse.
Something
new flared inside Nate… it felt hot and chaotic, Maat was he jealous? Of
these three guys? Cyd was going to drive him insane; he might as well
just accept that and enjoy the ride. “Well, thanks… but you guys should
probably get going, you have a long drive home yet.”
All
three looked immediately to Charisse, distinct reluctance in their eyes.
Charisse glanced at her watch and frowned.
“It’s
getting late Cyd, storm’s coming… it’s going to get
dark
early.” Nate
put a little more emphasis on the word dark so she’d get the message.
“Oh,
of course. Dave, Colin, Trevor, thank you so much for your help today.”
“But
Charisse, I haven’t finished yet.” Trevor protested. Even as his
older brother and father voiced similar protests.
“You
can finish the tiles tomorrow.” Charisse responded with a cheery smile.
“Umm.”
Nate felt compelled to point out. “I don’t have a delivery booked for
tomorrow.”
Charisse
beamed at her three helpers. “Dave has a spare polishing machine that
he’s going to bring over so we can finish the floors in here and I can start
painting the ceiling and walls. Plus Colin is trained as an electrician
so he’s volunteered to look at the wiring once he’s finished with the windows.”
“Not
to mention someone still needs to clear away all the half-assed piles of
rubbish all over this place.” Trevor stated with a level of
perkiness that Nate had never considered the sullen lad capable of achieving.
And
what did the lecherous little bastard with his blatant puppy dog crush on
Charisse mean by
half-assed piles of rubbish
? So he tended to get
distracted and move from one project to another, big fucking deal, it was his
house, his project. He’d be as half-assed messy as he damn well wanted to
be. “You need to leave… Now!” He glared at Trevor first, then
Colin, then their father.
“Nate’s
right, it’s getting late. Thank you so much for your help today.”
The
threesome left the room, dragging their feet the entire way, all their eyes
fixed on Charisse, clearly hoping that she’d change her mind and request them
to say. It seemed to take them forever to tromp down the stairs, leave
the house and get into their truck and drive off.
“So
you want to tell me what that was all about?” Nate turned to look at
Charisse.
“What,
three sweet guys with time on their hands can’t pitch in to help out?”
Charisse moved over to study the blue tiles that Trevor was uncovering, pleased
to note that every fourth tile had a small design in its very centre, a tiny
red flame surrounded by a dark blue crest. Hmmm, she could definitely
work those into the room’s colour scheme.
“Sweet?
Seriously? Surly, angry and sullen would be much better descriptors.”
“And
yet, the evidence begs to differ.” Charisse swept her arms out wide.
Nate
moved to loom over her. “Just what did you do to them Cyd?”
“Nothing,
I bumped into them this morning when I was downstairs getting breakfast and
they offered to help.”
“Right?”
Nate frowned. “Out of the goodness of their hearts?”
“Sure,
why else would they volunteer?”
“You
know when you lie to me, your eyes turns a darker shade of green, Cyd.”
“I
am not lying.” Charisse was all too aware of how close he stood to her,
Goddess, his freshly showered scent wrapped around her senses; cedar wood,
amber and fresh cut limes.
“Stretching
the truth then. Each time you do, another piece falls into place.”
“Piece?”
Charisse desperately wanted to move away but she was caught by the intensity in
his whiskey coloured eyes.
“Of
the puzzle that is you Cyd.”
In
the distance thunder rumbled, an all too ominous sound if you asked
Charisse. She needed a distraction, anything to stop her from falling
into his arms and ripping the clothes off his gorgeous body and spilling all
her secrets. “Oh… the bed.”
Nate’s
left eyebrow quirked up for a slit second before a lazy sexy smile spread
across his features. “The bed?”
Charisse
rolled her eyes. “I meant to ask the boys to carry it back into the
bedroom before they left.”
“No
problem.” Nate turned to head for the door.
“Are
you sure… ?” Nate was already back, easily carrying the enormous
mattress. “Oh thanks. Well since you’ve got that, I’m just going to
clean up a little.” She grimaced down at her dirt streaked hands and
arms, heading for the bathroom. She needed to spend some quality time
with some soap and water.
Nate
retrieved the base of the bed from the hallway, eyeing the now closed bathroom
door. He would not think about Cyd in there undressing, using a damp
flannel to wipe away the dirt and sweat from her arms, legs… cleavage. He
cleared his throat twice before he successfully formed words. “When
you’ve finished cleaning up, meet me downstairs in the conservatory.”