Real Vampires Hate Their Thighs

Page 59

“Then you’d better both live through this, because you don’t pay me enough to face Mag Campbell with that kind of news. Come in here, both of you, before the sun catches you.” Rafe went into the large house and shut the French doors after we were safely inside.
“She’d be thrilled if I finally went up in smoke.” I took my bottle and twisted off the cap. It smelled different from the other drugs I’d had from Ian. Still fruity but very subtle. I watched Jerry sniff it suspiciously.
“Ignore her, Glory. I’ll tell you why Ma’s like that with you if we stay awake long enough.” Jerry finally looked up. “Guess we’d better drink.” It was perilously close to dawn, and I’m sure he felt the heaviness of it as much as I did. “To miracles.” He held his bottle out toward mine.
I saw all kinds of hidden meanings in his eyes but was too tired to figure them out right then.
“Miracles.” I smiled, we clinked bottles, then both drank.
“Mmm. Bit of a treat to taste something besides blood, you know.” His eyes opened wide. “Well, well. How are you feeling, Gloriana?”
“Great! Awake actually.” I turned to Rafe. “Look out and see if the sun’s coming up yet.”
Rafe walked over and peeked, then looked at his watch. “Just about. There are sheers behind these drapes. Both of you step way back in the room. I’m going to open the drapes. You two can enjoy the view as long as you stay awake. Just don’t allow a ray of sunshine to hit you or you’ll get burned. That’s what happened to Glory before.”
“We’ll be careful.” Jerry put his arm around me, and I could see the excitement in his eyes. We both waited until Rafe got the drapes open and the sheers closed to filter the sunshine. The sky was just beginning to lighten.
“Okay, all clear. Come closer.” Rafe grinned. “Blade, don’t press your nose on the glass. That’s a little too close.”
“Oh, man, would you look at that.” Jerry laughed and hugged me, his eyes wide.
I looked. It was a beautiful sunrise. Even through sheer curtains and despite the fact that we weren’t even facing east, the colors were incredible. Jerry and I held on to each other and watched, neither of us sleepy, as the beach came to life. We pulled up chairs and the hours flew by. Children built sand castles, their mothers gossiping with each other as they sat on towels and laid out picnics. It was so wonderfully ordinary. And the sun rose to shine down on all of it.
“I want Ma and Da to see this.”
“Why does Mag hate me so? I know I’m common, but—”
“You’re not common. Don’t ever say that about yourself again.” Jerry jumped up and paced around the room. Rafe had headed into the den hours before, and we could see him asleep on a couch through a doorway.
“Well, you can’t tell me Mag doesn’t think so. Otherwise, why did she hate me on sight?”
“Because I’d brought home another. Liza.” Jerry ran his fingers through his hair, keeping a good distance between us.
“Liza?” Why had I never heard this name before?
“My wife.”
“You’ve been married?” I jumped up, knocking over my chair.
Rafe, obviously a light sleeper, ran in with that stupid broken table leg in his hand. “Glory? Are the MacDonalds outside?”
“We’re okay, Rafe. Go back to sleep. Please.” I picked up the chair and sat again.
“I never told you about her, did I?” Jerry stared out at the beach instead of meeting my gaze.
“No, you didn’t.” And I thought I kept secrets.
“I was young. Fell in love. Her father was a simple tailor in the village. My mother declared her an unsuitable match for the heir, and so we ran away together. Came back married. This was long before I was made vampire, of course.” He finally turned and looked at me.
“Of course.” My mind was spinning. Jerry married. And Liza. I’d never heard one soul mention that name in the castle in all these years. Why?
“I can read your thoughts pretty clearly, Gloriana. I forbade anyone to mention her. That’s why you never heard Liza spoken of in the castle.” Jerry sat across from me. His hands were fists when he dropped them to his knees. He stared down at them. “She carried my child, Gloriana. Then one day I rode out on a raid against the MacDonalds. Heard they were on our land again, stealing cattle.”
“That damned feud.” My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t want to hear this. “What . . . ?”
“This feud needs to end. Taking the heir won’t end it. Only stir things up all over again. Make it ten times worse.”
“Jerry, what happened to Liza and the baby?”
“The MacDonalds tricked us. While we were gone, they raided the village, burned some houses and killed the few lads left behind to defend the place.” He punched his knees and laughed, a bitter sound. “We have a code, ye ken. They don’t touch our women and children, and we abide by the same rule. I’ll give them this: They fight fair. But fat lot of good that did Liza that day.” Jerry scrubbed his hands over his face, but his eyes were dry.
I reached out and rubbed his knee. “Jerry?”
“It’s been a long, long time, Gloriana, since I’ve let myself remember.” He shook his head. “Nay, that’s a lie. I remember every day. Wonder what my son would have looked like. Grown up to be.” He covered my hand with his and squeezed hard. “Liza went into labor that day. It was too soon. She and the babe both died.” Jerry turned his head to stare at the children playing on the beach. “My fault. Ma didn’t want Liza to live in the castle, and I let her have her way. If Liza had been safely inside, she and the babe would have lived.” His eyes met mine, the pain I saw there stealing my breath.
“Damn it, Gloriana, that’s why when I brought you home, I made sure you were set up in the castle, pushed in my mother’s face. I dared her to object. Ma knew she’d lose me for good if she didn’t go along with it publicly. I’d not have another woman I loved risked because of Ma’s pride.” He looked down and realized he was about to crush my fingers. He loosened his hold. “Of course, I’m afraid she’s done plenty to punish you when I’m not around. That slap the other night wasn’t the first, was it?”
“Forget it, Jerry. I’ve learned to handle Mag.” Including dodging a few of her attempts at staking me in the back in castle hallways. I touched his cheek with my fingertips. “I’m so very sorry, Jerry.”
“No, I’m sorry, Gloriana. I set Ma straight after we left you. She’ll treat you with respect from now on, by God, or I’ll never see her again.” He stood suddenly, as if all this talk and eye contact had been too much for him.
“That’s a pretty heavy threat.” I got up too and followed him to the windows. We were close enough to feel the warmth of the sun through the sheers, and we both watched a surfer ride a wave in.
“Make no mistake. I meant what I said to her. Ma understood that too.” Jerry didn’t look at me.
“What did you do after Liza’s death?”
“I begged to be turned vampire right away. My first thought was to tear out some MacDonald throats. But I soon realized it was me and my own mother who held the most blame.”
“You were mad with grief.” I put my arms around Jerry’s waist and leaned against him. I could only imagine how he’d felt. Yes, I’d lost my husband as well, but poverty had dulled the shine of my first love for a struggling actor long before he’d been killed in a freak accident. And then I’d had to scramble just to survive. I hadn’t had time to indulge in tears or grieving. I’d been too terrified and too hungry.
“Yes, I guess I was a bit mad. But Da obliged me, turning me even though Ma wanted me to marry again and have more bairns first. I didn’t have the heart for it and certainly wasn’t going to do anything to please her. Not after the way she’d treated Liza.” Jerry faced me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Once I found you, I held on tight, didn’t I? Maybe too tight. I’ll always protect you, Gloriana, no matter the cost. You needed me when I found you, and I guess I can’t forget that. I’m sorry if that’s no longer to your liking, but there it is. Maybe that’s what’s pushing you away now, seeing as how you’ve become so independent. I’ve tried to change, but I’m not sure I have it in me.”
When he was right, he was right. I reached up and stroked his cheek. Did I want him to change? Of course I did. No way was I the same woman Jerry had fallen for more than four hundred years ago. But now wasn’t the time to get into that. I noticed that Ian’s drug was wearing off. Jerry suddenly looked exhausted.
“Thanks for telling me this, Jerry. I wish I’d known it years ago. It would have helped me understand a few things.” Like why my maker had continued to feel so responsible for me. Example: Valdez number whatever sleeping on the couch a few yards away.
Jerry yawned. “MacDonald’s drug has made me loopy, or I probably wouldn’t have spilled my guts now. It’s not my way to trot out my pain, as you know. But if it makes you happy to know this, so be it.” He pulled me to him and sighed against my hair. “I’m sorry, Gloriana, but I don’t think I can stay on my feet much longer. How do you feel?”
“I’m still good for a few minutes more. For some reason, Ian’s drugs don’t work on me the same way they do on other vampires.” I pulled his lips down to mine and kissed him. “I mean it, Jerry. Thank you for sharing so much. I know that was hard for you. I’m really sorry about Liza and . . . and the babe.”
“It was a long time ago. And I can’t lay the blame on the MacDonalds any more than I can on my own stubborn family. You’re right. The feud must end. I’ll tell Da that the daylight drug works. We’ll use that as our excuse to end it.” He gestured toward the beach. “This was a miracle. I’ll be damned if I’ll let the man who made it possible be sacrificed in the name of an ancient hatred that started over a stolen cow and a tumble in a hayloft with the wrong woman.”