Chasing Shadows

chapter Eight

Because we were already in the bathroom, Mark and I took a shower together, which led to other fun pursuits, and by the time we were through he had a second bite mark on his shoulder. Although he admitted to feeling woozy, he said he was otherwise fine and feeling great.

Still, I was concerned. “I shouldn’t do that every time we make love, it makes you too weak,” I said as we dressed. “And you may want to start taking an iron supplement as well, and some B-12, to avoid becoming anemic.”

He stopped buttoning his shirt and stood at attention, saluting smartly. “Yes ma’am,” he said with a grin.

“And protein,” I went on, pulling on socks and slipping my sneakers on my feet. “You may want to add more protein to your diet—eggs and red meat, that sort of thing.”

“Well, I have recently moved to a farm where there are hens that lay eggs every day. And my girlfriend makes a mean omelet,” Mark told me lightly.

I had to grin at that. I liked that he had called me his girlfriend, and I liked the sudden feeling that I was loved unconditionally.

“Not that I’m complaining or anything,” Mark said, drawing me back to the here and now, “but are you as curious as I am about the fact that we’ve had so much sex?”

Unprepared for such a question, I froze when I stood. Cocking my head to the side as I considered it, I realized he was right—six times in less than 24 hours did seem a bit excessive.

“It’s the bond,” I explained after another moment’s thought. “I might not know everything I should know about being a vampire, but I do know that pair-bonding amplifies things.”

“Like what?” he queried.

I led us out of the bedroom and started downstairs. “Well, our emotions for one thing—our feelings for each other. Our concern for each other’s safety is another. We’ll be even more aware of each other’s presence. Also, my drinking your blood means I can find you anywhere, for as long as the blood is in my system.”

Mark’s expression showed his interest. “And the sex thing?”

I smiled. “Our bond also increases our desire for one another and subconsciously drives us to mate, though the intensity of our need is supposed to abate after some time. Shapeshifters must go through the same thing, because even Juliette knew we’d have a hard time keeping our hands off of each other.”

I paused as I was pouring a cup of food into Moe and Cissy’s bowl, which the two little dogs dove at immediately. Standing, I turned to Mark, who was pulling the basket of eggs from yesterday out of the refrigerator. “Speaking of your sister, where is she? What, um, what happened last night after I stormed out of here?”

He put the eggs on the counter and turned to me. “I told Juliette that my life was my own, and that if she wanted to continue being a part of it she needed to stop interfering,” he said. “I also told her the accusations needed to stop, and that she needed to apologize to you, because I trusted you. And I do trust you, honey, but I really do wish you had told me about your father’s request sooner. I want to help you, if I can.”

I nodded. “You’re right, I should have. And I’ll be honest—I have no clue what I’m going to do just yet, but I do know I’ve got to find a way of making Vivian Drake and her source of information less of a target on Diarmid’s radar, before the truth gets out. He might still love me despite the fact that I have none for him, but even I couldn’t say whether or not that love is stronger than his ambition to join the Council of Ancients.”

“You said the Ancients are the vampire version of Congress?”

I nodded. “Something like that. They make and enforce all the rules of vampire society. Now that you know about me, if you were a normal human I’d have to have you turned or killed, according to the law.”

“If I were a normal human, I would want to be turned if it meant being with you forever,” Mark said in reply.

Inordinately pleased by that declaration, I started to smile, but then was startled by a knock at the door.

“That’s probably Juliette,” Mark said, and walked over to the door to open it.

Indeed, Juliette was standing on the other side, and I realized she had spent the night in the apartment over the barn despite the fact that I had thrown her off the property. She came inside slowly, a wary look on her face. “Are…are you guys all right?”

Since I didn’t think she was referring to our physical health, I said simply, “We’re good.”

Juliette came further inside and Mark shut the door. “I’m sorry,” she told me. “And not just because Mark told me to apologize to you—I really am sorry. I talked to my mother last night after the big blow-up, and she has a theory as to my reactions.”

Mark scoffed. “Oh really? And what did Mom have to say?”

She glanced at him. “Apparently, I’m jealous. I don’t see it because I’m right in the middle and can’t be objective, she says, but I’m supposedly jealous because there is a new woman in your life. I’ve had you mostly to myself for all this time, and now I am being forced to share. Oh, and apparently I don’t think any woman is good enough to deserve you.”

Her brother chuckled. “You never did like any of my girlfriends,” he mused.

Juliette looked at me again. “I told you that I believed you when you said Mark was your bondmate, and I did—I could see it in your eyes that you were telling me the truth. Because of that I should not have accused you of intending to hurt my brother.”

I stared openly for a moment before replying. “I think,” I began slowly, “that you are just worried about your brother’s safety, especially after having personally been his guardian for the last year. I understand that, because the truth is that he is at risk from vampires because of what he is. But he is not at risk from me, and I do not know any other way that I can convince you of that except to say that I love him.”

She nodded. “Intellectually, the fact that I believe what you’re saying should be enough, but I cannot help being afraid on his behalf that he’s going to come to harm. Especially after you told us that psychic said you’d be meeting each other at a time when you needed one another he most.”

“I do need Mark right now,” I said. “If you think about it, I needed him to come into my life so I could learn that dhunphyr blood is a narcotic to vampires, something I didn’t know before you told me—and I wouldn’t have met you were it not for him. I also need him to help me figure out what to do about keeping Vivian Drake’s source—that is, me—safe from being persecuted by my own kind for telling the truth about us even if it was through writing fiction. Maybe that’s something you can help with too.”

I sighed then. “I want us to get along, Juliette. We both love Mark and we both want what’s best for him. There shouldn’t be any enmity between us.”

Juliette nodded her agreement and offered me a small smile.

After that, the three of us settled quietly into making breakfast, and I was happy that the camaraderie seemed to have returned. The only thing that came close breaking our newly-negotiated peace was when Juliette noticed the fading bite mark on her brother’s wrist. She grabbed it and hissed, “What the hell is this?”

Mark pulled his hand away and carried the large bowl of scrambled eggs (we’d used the entire dozen) to the table. “Looks like a bite mark,” he said casually.

Juliette looked at me as I sat a heaping plate of bacon next to the bowl of eggs. “You bit him?”

I felt heat coloring my face and neck, but nodded. “I didn’t mean to, it just…happened.”

“The first time, anyway,” Mark pointed out. “The second and third I do believe I clearly told you to do.”

“Mark!” his sister and I exclaimed at the same time.

I noticed Juliette was making an effort not to get angry. “I thought you said he wasn’t at risk from you,” she said in a carefully controlled voice.

“I’m not,” he replied firmly, speaking for me, “although the fear that I am is something the two of you now have in common.”

He sat in the chair he had occupied the night before. “Look,” he began, addressing his sister, “I know you’re going to think I’m nuts for letting her do it, because she’s half vampire and there is the possibility the addictive nature of my blood will one day make her so crazed she won’t be able to stop. But I trust her, Juliette. And we both know what we’re doing.”

She looked at me again. “Is he going to become a vampire now?” she wanted to know.

I shook my head. “No,” I said, to which she sighed with relief. “Draculin is only produced by full vampires. Just like my pineal gland, I got my salivary glands from my mother. I don’t know if that’s a female trait or if it’s true for all hybrids, because I’m the only one I know. But all the stories I heard as a child said both male and female hybrids were the same in that regard.”

“But you don’t know for sure?”

“Juliette, if I had the ability to create a vampire Mark would be paralyzed and in agony right now. But as you can clearly see, he’s fine. That mark on his wrist will be gone before you know it.” I sat down in the chair to Mark’s right. “When I see my brother later today, I’m going to be asking him some questions. He’s more than three hundred years old, so I’ve no doubt he’ll have the answers.”

At long last, Juliette sat down as well. “But will he tell you the truth? Seems to me that—even if you did give up most of the vampire life—you should know more than you do, and you’ve been kept in the dark about a lot of things.”

I shrugged. “Or maybe there were just some questions I was too afraid to ask. But Lochlan and I are pretty close. I have to believe that if I ask him a direct question, he’ll give me an honest answer—otherwise I will have been a trusting fool my entire life. And that is a frightening thought indeed, because if there is no one person in my family that I can count on, then who can I trust?”

Mark reached for my hand and brought it to his lips. “You can trust me.”

I smiled, feeling full of joy and warmth at his surety. We were both of us surprised, though, when Juliette declared, “We’re family now. You can trust me, too.”



*****



After breakfast was over and the dishes were done, Mark and I set about the morning farm work, while Juliette borrowed his truck to go into town and get her own things. As we were leading the cattle out to their pasture, I suddenly stopped in mid-stride as something dawned on me.

“No blood,” I said, looking at Mark, who had also stopped when he realized I wasn’t following anymore.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I didn’t drink any blood this morning. I always drink blood in the morning because drinking a little every day helps me stay alert.”

“Babe, you did have blood,” Mark reminded me with a wry smile. “You had mine, remember?”

“Oh, right,” I said, and started forward again. “I know that, I just… I’m so used to pouring a mug of cow or pig and warming it in the microwave. This morning it didn’t even cross my mind.”

As we were pushing the cows through the open gate, Mark looked at me. “Are you feeling alright?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I feel great! I don’t know if it’s because your blood is human or if it’s the dhunphyr aspect of it, but I feel incredibly energized. I kinda feel like I’m buzzing, like on a high, you know?”

“Do you think it’s possible that my blood doesn’t precisely qualify as human, because I’m a dhunphyr?” Mark wondered as we headed back toward the barn.

“I suppose it’s possible,” I replied slowly. “I mean, you smell human to me, but at the same time, you feel different to my sixth sense. Not like shifters do and not like vampires do. And it may have been almost two hundred years since I’ve had human blood, but I can tell there’s something different about the way yours tastes. It’s not like I remember it, and another truth about vampires is we never forget.”

“Do you think it’s whatever the draculin did to me, making me the way I am, that makes my blood taste different?”

“That’s possible, too,” I said, turning into the barn and heading for Angus’s stall. “Even your stepmother knew your DNA had been altered when you were born—I guess she could smell it on you, or maybe she just guessed because she could smell that your birth mother had been attacked by a vampire. Because you obviously bear some of the traits of a vampire, like the healing factor. If your Wolverine Syndrome acts for you just like it does for everyone’s favorite X-Man, then you lucked out even better than I did—you have all the benefits of vampirism but none of the weaknesses.”

Mark frowned. “Not all the benefits,” he countered. “My strength and speed indices, though definitely above average because of my military training, are still only within human norms. Same with my hearing, my senses of touch and smell…”

I chuckled. “Okay, I see your point. But that just means that your DNA wasn’t as altered as a full vampire’s is,” I said as we herded the last two cows into the pasture then turned back again to get the four horses.

“So why wasn’t I turned when my mother was attacked?” Mark pressed.

“The placenta is a filter, remember? It blocks a lot of bad things from passing from mother to fetus. In your case and in the case of all dhunphyr, as far as I know, it prevents all but the healing and immortality traits from getting through. You may not have the heightened senses or speed or strength, but you also don’t have a reversed sleep cycle like vampires do and you don’t have the constant thirst for blood,” I told him. “You could always have some tests done if you really want to know.”

Mark shrugged. “Maybe,” he said, heading over to Herugrim’s stall and helping the horse out into the middle of the barn, then doing the same for Hadhafang. He held their halters and waited for me to have Hasufeld and Brego ready before he headed out again. It wasn’t until we had the four horses secure in their pasture that he spoke again.

Leaning on the fence, he watched them for a moment before he looked at me with a light smile, saying, “Doesn’t really matter, I suppose. I’m curious, sure, but as long as it doesn’t negatively affect our children—when we’re ready to have them, of course.”

I looked down at my hands. I had dreaded this moment, but I was glad he had brought it up because he needed to know…and I didn’t think I’d have been able to broach the subject.

“Mark, there’s a possibility you and I won’t be able to have children,” I said slowly. “Hybrids are so very rare that their having children is unheard of. Because of that, it’s believed that we’re infertile. I’m sorry if that disappoints you.”

He turned and reached for my hands. “Sweetheart, I admit that I want kids—always have wanted my own little rugrats. And I would very much like to have them with you someday, but if it turns out we’re unable to have kids because one of us is infertile, I can live with that. As long as we are together, nothing else matters.”

Feeling overwhelmed by the strength of his devotion, I could only throw my arms around him and hold him. Once again, I could not fathom how he could care for me so much so soon—perhaps it was another side effect of the pair-bonding. I decided I was not going to question it or try and understand it anymore, because I had learned long ago as I struggled to be a woman of faith that some things just…are, and we’re not meant to understand. We just have to go with it.

Mark and I headed back toward the house. I released Moe and Cissy from their kennel and shooed them inside, where I grabbed the keys to my own truck. After making sure the doors were secure, we headed out to my vehicle so that we could drive to the Tractor Supply Co. and pick up feed for the farm animals.

I was pleased when we arrived some time later to see that my favorite associate, Palmer Meade, was working. The man had to be closing in on 80, but he was as spry and witty as a man in his 30s. He was always very helpful and never without a smile on his face, and he flirted with me a little bit every time he saw me. I thought it was very sweet.

Palmer was surprised to see that I had company, as I’d always come to the store alone. He looked Mark up and down as I introduced the two men to each other, sizing him up. “So, Saphie, this is what yer lookin’ for in a fella,” he said, gesturing at Mark.

I grinned. “He’ll have to do, since you’re so far out of my league,” I told him. I always told Palmer he was too good for me and that he deserved better than I could ever give him. The old man seemed to enjoy that.

“You know I wouldn’t mind going down the ladder a rung or two, if only you’d give me a chance, girl,” Palmer joked, then turned his attention onto Mark. “So, boy, what do you do for a living?”

“Until a year ago I was with United States Marine Corps, sir,” Mark replied. “As of two days ago, however, I’ve been working with Saphrona on her farm.”

Palmer’s face lit up, and he rolled up the sleeve on his right arm to show us a faded tattoo on his bicep. I recognized the Marine Corps symbol. “Semper Fi, my boy. If you’re really a Marine, you might just be alright for my girl here. You treat her good, understand?”

Mark nodded solemnly. “Yes, sir, I surely will,” he said.

The septuagenarian leaned closer to me as he rolled his sleeve back down. “Look at you, fraternizing with the help—you naughty girl. No wonder you got that nice, healthy glow about you.”

I blushed furiously. Palmer and I had never touched on the subject of sex before; this was the first time he had ever even come close to it, and I could hardly believe his poking fun would be so on target. Of course, I knew that while the endorphins my brain had released due to my enjoyment of the sex would have added an energized look to my eyes, the “glow” he spoke of was most likely caused by the infusion of Mark’s blood to my system.

“Come on,” Palmer said then, turning around abruptly. “I assume you’re here for all the usual supplies?”

“Yup. Same old, same old,” I said, glad to have the subject changed. Mark took my hand in his as we followed behind the older man, who grabbed a flat cart from a cart corral as we passed it. He knew what brands I fed my animals by heart, and led us directly to them. Mark would have none of his helping load the cart though, so Palmer held it steady while the two of us lifted the heavy bags.

Palmer walked with us to the checkout, and also out to my truck when we were done. After the feed was loaded into the bed, he took Mark by the arm and led him away a few steps, presumably to have one of those “man-to-man” talks with him. Naturally, I had to listen in—not that I could have helped overhearing anyway.

“Now boy, I meant what I said before,” Palmer said seriously in a low voice. “Saphie’s not just a customer—I consider her a friend of mine. She’s a real nice girl, a fine young lady, and she deserves some happiness. Poor girl’s been lonely a long time. If I was about sixty years younger you’d have some competition, understand, but since I can’t be what she needs… Well, you just take good care of her like I’m tellin’ ya to do, hear?”

Mark placed an assuring hand on Palmer’s shoulder. “I mean to take care of her for the rest of my life, Mr. Meade, I promise you that. Saphrona means the world to me.”

Palmer patted the hand on his shoulder. “Glad to hear it, son, glad to hear it,” he said, then turned and stepped back up to me, giving me a peck on the cheek. “See ya a week from today, darlin.’”

I smiled and kissed his cheek in return. “Sure will, Palmer. You be good.”

“Well, if it weren’t for this tadpole here,” he said, jerking his thumb in Mark’s direction, “you would’ve found out just how good I am. But you gotta settle for him. Have a good day, kids.”

With a grin and a wave, Palmer grabbed hold of the flat cart and headed back into the store. Mark and I climbed into my truck, and he started the engine as he said, “That old man sure is a trip.”

“That he is,” I replied. “’Course, he was right about one thing.”

“What’s that?” Mark wondered, pulling out of our parking space and starting out of the lot.

“If he was about sixty years younger, you’d have some competition.”

Looking over at me, Mark said, “Oh, you’re gonna pay for that later.”

I grinned wickedly. “Why do you think I said it?”



*****



Back on the farm, Mark and I put the feed bags in the tack room of the barn. Juliette hadn’t returned with his truck yet, and since he hadn’t completed his check of the fences the day before, we saddled up Herugrim and Hadhafang and set out to ride around the perimeter of the property. Since we were walking at a leisurely pace it took about ninety minutes to complete the circuit; I was glad to see that there were no repairs needed any time soon. After our mounts were freed of their saddles and had rejoined their sons out in the pasture, the two of us started back toward the house.

Inside the barn, Mark startled me by grabbing me around the waist and spinning me around to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, though I surprised even myself when I grabbed his hands to stop them pulling my shirt out of my jeans.

“Mark, what are you doing?” I said breathily as I stepped back.

He moved forward to grab hold of me again. “I want you,” he said simply, leaning down to kiss me.

I let him kiss me again, but only for so long. Somehow I had the presence of mind to push him away from me. “You want to make love in the barn?”

“Baby, I’d make love to you anywhere,” he replied, placing his hands firmly on my derriere and pulling me to him.

Desire flared through me. I knew that I wanted him, too, and was amazed that I was so ready for him yet again. When he brought his mouth to mine for another kiss, I let it linger on, probably longer than I should have. If I let it continue, I knew, I’d never be able to stop until we both had what we wanted.

“We should at least…go into the house…where there’s a nice…comfy bed,” I said when his mouth began to make its way along my jaw, my breath already coming in gasps. His lips continued their assault, moving down my neck now, his tongue darting out to lick me here and there. My grip on his upper arms tightened, and I squealed as he suddenly reached down and lifted me into his arms.

“But I want you now,” Mark told me, and kicked open the nearest stall.

Thank goodness there was clean hay.



*****



As I was preparing our lunch some time later, I found myself thanking God that Juliette had not returned while we were out in the barn—I had been quite vocal when exclaiming my pleasure, and Mark hadn’t exactly been shy about shouting his, either. I could not help but wonder how long this would—or even could—go on, this addictive, insane need for sex. And it was a need, I realized, not just a desire. No way simple desire led anyone to have as much sex as we’d already had.

Hell, just thinking about making love to Mark had little trills of desire fluttering in my belly.

Mark had gone into my office to check his email, and I was just about to call him to the kitchen to eat when there was a knock on the door. I walked into the living room warily, as I sensed it was a vampire that had come calling and was not sure who it could be. I wasn’t expecting Lochlan for another few hours.

But it was my brother on the other side of the door after all, and my face lit into a wide grin as I hurriedly moved aside so he could come in.

“Loch, what are you doing here at this time of day?” I asked.

He didn’t answer me. Lochlan’s eyes were darting around the room, and he was sniffing the air.

“Something’s different,” he said, walking around the room, still sniffing. When he came back to me, he leaned in close and took a deep whiff. “Are you wearing a new perfume?”

“Loch, I don’t wear perfume. You know that,” I said, a frown drawing my brows together before it dawned on me he was smelling Mark and Juliette. I swallowed hard.

Lochlan was peering at me closely, his eyes slightly narrowed, and then suddenly his face lit up. “Saphrona, you sly bloodsucker you!” he chided. “You’ve got a lover in the house, or have had one recently.”

I glanced toward the back of the house. “He’s, uh, still here,” I said slowly. “And Loch, there’s something you need to know about him, but I want something from you first.”

Lochlan was sniffing the air again. “Oh, bloody hell—is that shapeshifter I smell?” he asked, his faint Irish accent rolling off his tongue like music, a contrast to the slight sneer he now wore. When he looked at me he shook his head. “Honey, you can do better than some flea-bitten mongrel shapeshifter.”

“That flea-bitten mongrel shapeshifter would be my sister,” Mark snarled, suddenly appearing in the arched doorway to the kitchen.

Lochlan’s eyes and nostrils flared as he got his first full breath of Mark’s scent when the latter stepped further into the living room, and I could almost hear his mouth watering. I purposely stayed standing between them, praying I was not about to get into a fight with the one person in my family I still cared about.

“Well, well, well, my dear little sister,” Lochlan purred, his accent getting thicker with each word. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

“Mark, meet Lochlan Mackenna, my brother. Loch, this is Mark Singleton,” I said, catching his gaze as I added, “He’s my bondmate.”

Lochlan’s eyes widened even further, and though it was obviously with some effort, he tore his gaze from Mark and looked at me. “Are you serious? Your dream boat is this enticingly scented man?”

I nodded.

A grin slowly spread across his fine, pale features. “Well, Saphrona, that would certainly explain why you’re practically saturated with the smell of sex,” Lochlan remarked in a sly tone. “Been at each other almost non-stop from what I can tell. I suppose it also explains why he isn’t dead yet, as I’d have drained him dry by now. He smells so mouthwateringly delicious!”

Although I could feel a flush creeping its way up my neck, I refused to acknowledge his words. Lifting my head a little higher, I said, “He’s off limits, Loch.”

Lochlan closed his eyes for a moment and drew in another deep breath, holding it for several seconds before opening them again. “Damn…but then you have given up homo sapiens for barnyardus domesticus. What I wouldn’t give for but one taste—oh, you lucky sodding bitch, that you would pair-bond with perhaps the most delectable human I’ve smelled in all my three centuries! When did this happen?”

“Day before yesterday,” I replied. “After Vangie paid me a visit.”

I stepped forward to stand closer to my brother. “Lochlan, you have to promise me something.”

He waved off my words and turned away—probably to get some distance between Mark and himself. “Oh, don’t worry, Saphrona, I’m not going to drink from your bondmate. I would not go against your wishes in that manner, certainly you know that—although, I do admit that it is taking some strength of will to be this dedicated a brother. How can you stand being near him without tasting his blood?”

“She has,” Mark spoke up.

Lochlan turned back in surprise. “And yet you are still alive? Oh, sister, how marvelous—your willpower is much stronger than ever I realized. And how perfect is it that you have such strength to keep from killing the man you are bonded to. Well, I suppose that has something to do with it then, doesn’t it? Killing him would end up killing you.”

I barely restrained an exasperated groan. “Loch, try to get your mind off of food for a moment,” I said. “I need to tell you something, and I want your solemn promise that you won’t tell anyone.”

“Who cares if you’ve bonded? For that matter, Father will be pleased, although he’ll want the human turned so that the Ancients don’t think the Mackennas are breaking the law.”

“He’s not human,” I said.

Lochlan’s eyebrow rose. “Well he doesn’t smell like a shapeshifter, although that scent is still in the house,” he mused. “What the devil else could he possibly be, except…”

As realization dawned, my brother’s eyes once again widened to the size of dinner plates, and he took a step forward. I backed up three paces to stand directly in front of Mark with a hiss.

“Off limits,” I reminded him with a snarl. “If you have ever cared about me and my well-being, you will not touch him. And you have to promise me that you’re not going to tell anyone—and I mean anyone—that Mark is a dhunphyr. Promise me that.”

Lochlan licked his lips, his eyes still wide, his pupils dilated from increased thirst. I had to give him credit—although I could tell he very much wanted to go after Mark, he was restraining himself for my sake.

After a long, tense moment, Lochlan forced his gaze away from Mark and looked into my eyes. “I promise that no one will hear about it from me, love, but I don’t think you’re going to be able to keep this delectable morsel a secret for very long.”