Always the Vampire

As the five of us talked over plans for the next nights’ training, Saber and I both checked our cell phones. He tensed a split second before I did.

“I had a call from David at ten thirty,” he said.

“Mine came from Ken at eleven. Damn, I forgot about the magical dead zone.”

“God, I hope Lynn’s okay,” Triton moaned even as I hit the callback button, then put my cell on speaker.

“Cesca, did you get our messages?” David said.

“We didn’t bother to play the messages. Is everything okay?”

“Shipshape, but Lynn has some scoop she thinks you should know. Ken will see if she’s still awake.”

Triton relaxed his stance as we heard knocking on a door and Ken’s murmuring voice. Saber and I stayed alert and wary until Lynn’s voice floated over the airwaves.

“Cesca, hi. I hope the guys’ calls didn’t alarm you.”

“It’s okay, Lynn. What’s up? Is Gorman behaving?”

“Other than scaring the pizza-delivery guy half to death, he’s being his interesting self.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me he answered the door with a shotgun in hand.”

“The less you know, the better,” she said on a laugh. “Hey, I talked Gorman into letting me use his computer to keep up with my classes, and well, I kind of poked around in his files. Want to know what I found?”

“I’m still reeling that Gorman has a computer, much less files.”

“Strange, but true. I copied some names I want to run by you.”

“Shoot.”

“Patrizio and Maria Marinelli, Giuseppe and Trella Marinelli.”

My heartbeat seized, and my breath stopped cold at hearing the names of my father and mother, my oldest brother and his wife. I stared at the phone in my hand, not seeing anything but the bittersweet past. Not able to voice what I wanted to ask.

Triton crowded next to me. “What the hell is Cesca’s stalker doing with the names of her family?”

“Uh, did I do the wrong thing? I’m sorry.”

Saber put his arm around me, and I swallowed.

“It’s just a shock, Lynn,” I croaked out. I cleared my throat. “What is Gorman doing with those names, though? Can you tell by the name of the file?”

“I have a good idea, but you aren’t going to like it.”

“Better to know than to wonder, Lynn,” Saber put in.

“Okay, then. The file name is ‘bitch vampire,’ and the documents in it trace genealogy. Cesca, from what I could see, Gorman thinks you’re his aunt, ten generations back and a couple of times removed.”





TWENTY-THREE




“I’ve heard the adage that you can’t choose your family, but Gorman? My gene pool spawned pond scum.”

“Ten generations and removed, Cesca,” Saber said as we drove to the cottage. “It’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad? Saber, you despise the guy. You nearly stroked out when I suggested he guard Lynn.”

“Yes, but it could be worse. He could want to off you for your money.”

“Honey, please. Stop trying to make me feel better.”

Wisely, he shut it and drove.

I thought about my past run-ins with Gorman and his extreme loathing of me in a new light. I knew my mother had felt the shame of my Turning, but had she fostered such a deep hatred of me in the family? So deep that it had endured for ten generations? Pardon the expression, but talk about overkill.

Well, I’d told Gorman before, and I’d tell him again. Three words. Get. Over. It.

Snowball met Saber with rapturous meows, scarfed down the can of food he opened for her, and dogged his every move until he stripped to get in the shower with me. Then she tackled the T-shirt out of his hand and rolled in it as if it were high-grade catnip.

Had she experienced another ghostly encounter in the cottage, or was she just starved for Saber’s attention? She certainly wasn’t cowering in her carrier as she had when Isabella had popped in. Then again, maybe she hadn’t been cowering. Maybe she’d just been sulking.

I forgot Snowball’s antics when Saber joined me in the shower, lathering my shoulders and back with pear-coconut shower gel. After that, I pretty much forgot even my name for the next hour.

Once Saber slept, I got up to keep a promise I’d made to him. I made a phone call.

Jo-Jo answered his cell on the third ring.

“Good evening, Most Beauteous Princess,” he said. “Have you called to take me up on my offer to entertain at the wedding reception?”

I laughed softly as I sat at the kitchen table. “No, you’ll be a rank and file guest, Jo-Jo. Donita will be with you, right?”

Donita had been the main squeeze of another vampire until August. Jo-Jo had hired her as his personal assistant to help her get back on her feet, and I had a feeling they might be mixing business with pleasure.

“She will, and the film crew for The Court Jester remake will hit town a few weeks after the wedding. The advance people are out there now. Have you met them?”

“No, but I’ve been a little busy.”

“Of course, Your Royalness is the maid of honor. Big job.”

“Yes, but that isn’t my biggest problem right now. Why didn’t you tell me everything that went on in Vlad’s nest?”