Follow Me When the Sun Goes Down (Forged Bloodlines) Read online

  “What’s all this?” Rob asked, eyeing the boxes with suspicion as he came from the kitchen with a shiny red apple in hand.

  “It’s a fashion care package,” Gunnar replied, opening the next box.

  “Briony and Riona sent them over,” I added. “At least I think it was them. The packing slip says FF Fashions.”

  “Ah, that’s nice,” Rob commented, losing interest.

  “She wants to send them back!” Maggie declared. “Tell her that’d be a crime.”

  Rob leaned against the arch to the stairway, polishing the apple on the front of his t-shirt. “Not what you ordered?”

  “I didn’t order any of them. Would you stop opening those!” I hissed at Gunnar. “I mean, I knew they said they’d work on something for me, but I never imagined they’d send over so many. Take a look at this…” I marched over to show him the invoice. “If I’d known it would cost this much, I wouldn’t have even asked for a single one.”

  He seemed to take the figure in stride, his head bobbing slightly as he scanned the list. “Seems fair to me. You can’t go to the Gathering looking like a scullery maid, now can you?”

  “I suppose not, but there has to be a happy medium here.”

  “You don’t like them, boss?” Gunnar asked.

  I looked back to find Maggie holding up a jet black, strapless number that winked with black crystals set in a tiny floral pattern across the skirt. “No, it’s not that…”

  “So what’s the problem then?” Rob shrugged. “You’re the Elder now, time for you to taste one of the perks, yeah?”

  “The money’s not a problem,” Maggie added quickly. “You haven’t even scratched your new operating budget.”

  “How do you know?”

  She shrank back guiltily. “I saw the files Felix sent you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have peeked, but I thought it had to do with the trip. Well, knowing how your old budget sized up, I didn’t think you’d mind too terribly. Even with added costs for security and other personnel, your budget can easily accommodate this kind of expense. After all, you are buying them in order to attend a political function.”

  “I don’t think I could call this a business expense,” I snorted.

  “Why not? Like Rob said, it’s expected for someone of your position. Not to mention that your personal wealth has increased by at least…”

  “I get the point,” I cut her off, not wanting to broadcast the insane amount of money I’d been given access to since taking over the position of Elder; there were always too many people hanging around the house now. So far I hadn’t touched any of it, in case everything fell through and they decided I wasn’t the right person for the job. The money I’d made as Jarl was more than enough to take care of my normal living expenses, and I felt like I’d earned it.

  I edged closer to the box, gingerly touching the silky fabric. “I suppose I could keep one or two. For special occasions.”

  “You’ll need all of these, believe you me,” Maggie chattered excitedly, now that I’d cracked the door open. “You should try them on to see if any alterations are needed.”

  “I doubt it, they’re usually spot on,” Rob replied, a bite of apple tucked into his cheek.

  “Who are? Briony and Riona? I thought you didn’t know them.”

  He waited to finish chewing before he answered. “I don’t, not personally. But they’re famous for it.”

  “They are? I guess maybe that justifies the price a smidge,” I considered aloud. “I still don’t see how they managed to finish so many in such a short period of time.”

  “Maybe they had some dresses already made that needed minor alterations only?” Maggie suggested.

  “Nah, that’s their stock in trade. Fast as anything, their kind is.”

  “What kind?” Why did I get the feeling I was missing out on something here?

  “The faerie folk,” he said patiently. “Didn’t you never hear of them? Lightning fast with any stitchery. Just give them a needle and thread and Bob’s your uncle.”

  “Faeries?” My jaw dropped, before I remembered that a sophisticated vampire like myself would probably know all about them. “No, of course I have, I just didn’t realize they were faeries. I’ve been kind of distracted lately.” Lame.

  Rob’s lips curved into the briefest of smiles at my back peddling, and then he let me off the hook. “I thought as much.”

  “Real fae creations.” Maggie’s voice took on a dreamy tone as she stroked the fabric reverently. “They’re lovely.”

  “Maybe you can borrow one or two,” I offered. “You didn’t bring back many of the fancy dresses I saw you in back at Vetis. I’m guessing there were some bad memories associated, right?”

  “You’re not wrong,” she replied, replacing the dress back into the box.

  “Well, I need to go out shopping for shoes and accessories to go with this stuff. Why don’t you come with me? We can pick you up a couple of things while we’re at it.” Nothing like a little retail therapy to pick up a girl’s spirits.

  “I don’t need anything,” she mumbled, the light going out of her eyes.

  “You’re all set then? Have everything you need?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  I traded a look with Rob, and he gave a short nod. “I think I’ll go see to some last minute arrangements elsewhere. Come on then, Gunnar.”

  “I want to stay and talk about the shopping,” Gunnar frowned. “I’m needing a new coat.” Rob just grabbed Gunnar by the ear, the apple clenched between his teeth as he led him out of the room.

  I sidled closer to Maggie, helping her replace the dresses in the boxes. “You are ready for the trip, aren’t you?” I asked gently.

  “Of course. I’ll be ready to go right on schedule.”

  She wouldn’t look at me, and I could hear her heart beating much too quickly for the task of folding dresses. “Maggie, talk to me,” I said, taking the fabric out of her hands and pulling her over to the couch. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to go back to England?”

  “I know it’s silly…” she said, shaking her head.

  “No, not if it makes you feel bad. What is it? Don’t you want to see you parents again? You don’t have to.”

  “It’s that place. Every time I imagine myself walking back into the mansion, I feel like I can’t breathe anymore,” she sniffed, blinking back tears. “It’s foolish with Jasper gone…”

  “Come on, stop that. You went through some pretty terrible stuff there. I can totally understand why you wouldn’t want to go back. I wouldn’t have asked you to at all except I had no idea how upset the idea made you. I thought you’d be looking forward to seeing Tucker again.”

  “Tucker?” she blinked in confusion. “He’s a sweet boy, of course, but I chat with him online all the time. I don’t need to travel all the way back to Vetis to see him.”

  If that was enough for her, it was obvious the love connection was all on Tucker’s side. “I see. Well, I guess you won’t be going then, it’s as simple as that.”

  “Oh, but I don’t want to leave you in the lurch.”

  “You won’t. We can still coordinate things via email and Skype. I might ask you to shift your hours a bit to accommodate my schedule there, but at least you don’t fall into a coma as soon as the sun rises, do you?” I joked, gratified to see the tiniest smile hovering over her lips.

  “Are you sure? I know you’re so very busy, I don’t want to create more work for you.”

  “It’ll be fine.” I waved her doubts away. “Marcus is going to take care of a lot of the local stuff for me, and the other magistrates will be pulling their weight, so the only stuff I’ll have to focus on will be the Gathering. I’ll have Felix to help me and Rob too if I get into a jam. But I’m pretty sure I can survive for a week or two. Not that I don’t think you’re a whiz at what you do for me,” I added quickly.

  “Well… if you’re sure it’ll be fine.”

  “Totally. I don’t want you to give it another
thought. Actually, this will be good. You can keep an eye on Marcus for me and make sure he’s on board with the way we do things around here. He already knows you’re not on the menu, by the way.”

  “Thanks for that.” Her smile was a lot more heartfelt now and some of the tension had drained from her shoulders.

  “Oh, there is something I need you to do for me though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I really do need you to come shopping with me. I’m a terrible judge of what goes with what. If it was up to me I’d wear the same pair of shoes with everything.”

  “Only after you go down and try everything on first,” Maggie replied, a light of excitement coming back into her eyes.

  I was happy to keep it there for the rest of the night, playing dress up for her amusement. Okay, so I have to admit, I had fun too. The dresses were beautiful, far more extravagant than anything I’d ever worn before and they fit to perfection. Plus, it felt nice to have some girly time alone with Maggie. I’d been far too preoccupied with my own stuff lately; it was great to break that cycle and have some down time.

  Armed with a list of accessories to buy as soon as the sun went down the next day, I shooed Maggie out not too long before dawn, my mind already spinning another list of last minute things I’d have to take care of before we left for England.

  “That was a good thing you did letting her stay behind,” Rob said from my doorway, on his way to bed, I expected.

  “Did you know she didn’t want to go?”

  He shrugged a single shoulder. “I suspected as much.”

  “You should’ve said something.”

  “I figured it was best to keep my nose out of it. If it didn’t bother her enough to say anything, it couldn’t have been too important an objection.”

  I set aside my list to fix him with a look. “You know Maggie though, she’d walk over hot coals if she thought I wanted her to. Please, if you notice something like that and I’m too dense to key into it, I wish you’d tell me.”

  “As you wish.”

  “I don’t want to force anyone to do anything they’re uncomfortable with.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  I hadn’t meant specific to him, but I guess the blanket statement did include Rob. “What about you? Are you looking forward to seeing some of your old friends again?”

  “Could be good for a laugh, but I don’t expect I’ll have much time for visiting.”

  “You can have a day off anytime you want. You don’t have to stay glued to my side. Say the word and you can go wherever on your own.”

  “At Vetis?” He made a sound somewhere between a snort and a laugh. “That’s a joke. That’s the last place I’d leave you alone.”

  “I won’t be alone.” I meant I’d have Gunnar and Felix and probably at least a handful of other protectors around me at any given time, but I could tell from the look on his face that his thoughts immediately ran toward a certain broody vampire cop.

  “True enough,” he said, his gravelly voice tight. “I’ll leave you to it.”

  “I didn’t mean…” But he was gone. “Bishop,” I whispered to the empty room.

  Bishop.

  Now that I was practically on his doorstep, the anticipation of seeing him again swelled higher than the political scrambling I’d surrounded myself with since becoming Elder. I could only imagine what he must think about the way I’d landed the position. What would he say to me? Would he be cold and distant, or read me the riot act? Had he moved on, or was he as miserable as Jenessa would lead me to believe?

  In the end I decided it didn’t much matter. We were on two different paths that kept leading farther and farther away from each other. The paths might intersect sometimes, but they were far too twisted and windy to ever merge or even run parallel. Still, for the first time in a while, it was Bishop’s face I saw in my dreams as I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Eight

  It didn’t add up. No matter how Bishop looked at the reports, they didn’t match the numbers on the census. Not that he was supposed to even have access to the sensitive information until the formal count was released, but what Corley didn’t know, couldn’t hurt him. Keeping an eye on the Warden of Vetis was more important to Bishop than observing political niceties.

  It didn’t make sense. The swelling vampire population weren’t transplants or even transients, their papers all marked them as locals. But there were way more vamps than there should be according to the Order’s records. Bishop wondered what the hell Corley was up to, because he had no doubt in his mind that the Warden was behind it, whatever was going on.

  Sylvius barely roused himself these days, keeping mostly to his suite of rooms. A sighting of the reclusive Elder was becoming rarer than a blood moon.

  Corley had to know the Order would notice eventually. Or was there simply a rise on forged documents? If they were forgeries, they were good ones, close enough to fool the Order unless you knew what to look for. Angel hadn’t mentioned it if she’d noticed an increase in vampire numbers lately, but he hadn’t wanted to go to above her head with anything until he was absolutely sure what was going on. Bishop was good at spotting patterns in the chaos, but for the moment he was still collating data.

  A sharp rap sounded on the door to his room and Bishop barely looked away from the report. “Come in,” he called out absently.

  Fisher hovered near the door, uncertainty cloaking his features. Dressed in a Navy watch sweater and dark cargo pants, his blue eyes held less of their usual twinkle. In fact, he looked downright skittish. Bishop didn’t have time for games, and basically ignored the younger man until he spit out what he’d come for.

  “I’ve got the updated guest list for the Gatherin’,” Fisher said at long length.

  “You could’ve emailed it to me. Go ahead and set it on the desk, thanks.”

  Fisher reached up to scratch the back of his head. His brown hair was high and tight on the sides, but long bangs fell over his brow, obscuring his eyes. “I think ya should have a gander at this.”

  “Why, is there a problem?”

  “No a problem exactly…” he hedged, and Bishop swiveled around in his chair to face the man.

  “What is it?”

  “Have a look at who the new Elder is for the West.”

  Bishop accepted the print out, his brows rising in surprise. “They picked a new Elder?” It made sense they’d want to have someone in place before the Gathering. “Is it Marcus or did Holt decide he’d had enough of the council for a change?”

  “Neither.”

  Bishop waited, but that was all he’d say. Letting out a long breath, he scanned the list himself until he found the party from the West, his eyes sticking over one name. Anja Gudrun. So Anja would be coming, would she? He should have anticipated it, she’d made friends with Felix and…

  “Anja is the new Elder?” he blinked, catching sight of her title only moments later. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “Beats the stuffin’ outta me,” Fisher shrugged. “I thought ya should know is all. I take it she dinnae call and tell ya herself?”

  “No,” he said shortly. He hadn’t spoken with her since the time she’d called him from his own apartment. Since then he’d gathered in a roundabout way that she’d moved out and found her own place with Maggie and Ellie and a pair of bodyguards since accepting the Jarl position, but that was the last he’d heard about her.

  “Well, that’s quality news, ain’t it?” the younger vampire beamed. “Could no have happened to a nicer lass. It’ll be pure magic to see her again.”

  “Yeah.” Magic with a side of misery. As much as a part of him yearned to see Anja – just to be near her instead of a half a world away – the smarter side of him knew it was a disaster waiting to happen. She couldn’t possibly hope to pull this off and he wondered if Felix had put her up to it, or if it was her own harebrained scheme.

  “Shall I see that arrangements are made to put her in the Swan room again?�
��

  Memories of waking up next to her in that great big bed snuck in past his defenses, remembering her long hair fanned across the pillow in a golden halo. The taste of her lips, the luscious scent of cloves and the softness of her skin…

  “Sir?”

  “What?”

  “The Swan room?”

  Bishop cut off that train of thought with a jolt, forcing it back into the lockbox of hurt he kept deep inside. “That’s not your job anymore, we’re done being Corley’s lackeys. I’m sure they’ll put her in the appropriate accommodations.”

  “Right ya are,” Fisher nodded, hovering.

  “Was there something else?”

  “Nae… it’s just… I thought you’d be chuffed as anything to hear she’s coming back, if ya doona mind me saying so.”

  “It doesn’t have anything to do with me one way or the other,” Bishop said grimly. He couldn’t let it mean more than any other delegate coming to the Gathering. Nothing had changed between them, they had no hope of a future together. Spending time mooning over her would be nothing more than an exercise in futility.

  “I, for one, am glad to see her faring so well. Makes me almost wish we’d some part in the security again. I wouldnae mind spendin’ the time with her.”

  He wasn’t sure why, but Fisher’s sunny optimism started to really get on Bishop’s last nerve. “You can always resign and go work for Brody then, if you’d rather. Otherwise, I have a task for you that’s more in keeping with our charter, if you don’t mind?”

  “Och, ya know I’d never do that, Bishop. I’ll be pleased to see the lady is all. What have ya got for me? I can’t think we’re having more trouble on the east side again, are we?”

  “No, this is something else.” Bishop hesitated for a moment, but he needed to bring another person in on this, and he trusted Fisher. “I want you to go to town and start doing some random checks of papers. Any vampire you spot, get their data.”

  If Fisher thought it an odd request, he gave no sign of it. “Should I have them queue up at the usual haunts then?”