Sweeter Than Wine (10 page)

“We?” Sebastian sat forward, his stance tense.

“Aye.” Cameron nodded. “I’ll not leave you alone on this, my friend. The fey—well, at least I—will stand with you to protect your lady.”

“Fey?” Christy was trying to make sense of his words when his meaning penetrated.

“You mean you’re a fairy?”

Matt stifled a laugh and Cameron shot him a dirty look before replying. “Not in the modern sense of the word, but aye, I’m of the fey realm, though I prefer the comforts of this one.”

“Thank you, Cam.” Sebastian’s voice was filled with grim gratitude. “I can never repay such kindness.” She knew Sebastian felt immense relief at the other man’s words, though she didn’t quite understand what help a fairy could be in this situation. Sebastian turned his gaze to Matt.

“My friend, you know I would never ask you—”

Matt didn’t let him finish. “Hey, man, you didn’t expect me to bail on you now?

Please.” His expression was one of exaggerated disbelief. “You and your lady deserve a shot at happiness and an absurdly long life together. Besides, she had me wrapped around her little finger the moment I heard about her bastard husband.” Matt scowled, but managed to wink at her, setting her more at ease in the tense atmosphere. “I’ll see what help I can conjure from my clan and maybe a few of the others you’ve befriended during your time here, Sebastian. I imagine a few extra sets of eyes and ears would be welcome?”

Sebastian nodded. “You’ve got that right. As long as they can be trusted.”

“I’ll recruit only those you know, Sebastian. Only those I trust.”

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“And I suggest you get your own on this, Sebastian,” Cameron advised. “This situation may grow a wee bit larger than any of us bargained for.”

Sebastian pulled a cell phone from his pocket and started dialing. “Can you stick around for an hour or two, Cam?”

The redhead nodded. “Unless my trackers find Steel.”

Sebastian stood as the phone connected with Marc LaTour. Sebastian asked the Master to come by. Christy understood from scanning Sebastian’s surface thoughts that he protected Marc by inviting him here rather than moving the meeting to the Master’s home. The less people who knew where Marc lived and the layout of the place, the better.

She also realized Sebastian regretted he’d made his own home so easy to access by his many supernatural friends now that he had her safety to consider.

“Now, lassie,” Cameron claimed her attention with the soft burr of his voice, “would you mind telling us a bit about your husband?”

Matt leaned forward in his chair and took her hand. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it might help.”

She smiled at the
were
cougar while Sebastian was occupied on the phone. “It’s okay.

What do you want to know?”

She spent the next half hour or so describing small details
⎯
from the kind of car her husband drove to his work schedule. She drew a floor plan of their house and even answered questions about where things were stored in the home, if there were any large silver objects, weapons, and the like. Things that never would have occurred to her before she’d been changed. They wanted to know the layout of the windows and furniture and where the alcohol was kept, especially any wine. They also wanted to know about her husband’s habits, his character and his typical response to other men, women and even children and animals.

Christy didn’t understand the motivations behind half the questions, but she had her suspicions. Sometime during the gentle interrogation, Hiro came into the room, his gaze questioning, but Sebastian settled him into the group with a soft request to hang around.

Patient as a stone Buddha, Hiro sat on the floor, his back straight and stance attentive.

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Matt made a quick phone call and ten minutes later, a huge bird of prey swooped down onto the patio and hopped into the room to listen in as well. Christy’s eyes widened, but she could only assume this was another of Matt’s shapeshifter brethren.

Shortly after, Sebastian went to the door to greet Marc, Atticus, and the enforcer, Ian Sinclair, all vampires of great age.

Christy felt self-conscious as the growing crowd listened to the details of her life, but Sebastian sat at her side, a reassuring presence. She knew the remnants of the life she’d led to this point would have to be dealt with before they could move on together. This added threat only made it all the more imperative. So she struggled to tell her story and answered the odd questions put to her as best she could.

When she’d finished, everyone in the room sat back with varying expressions of compassion, anger, resolve and calculation on their faces. Sebastian took the opportunity to introduce everyone. Christy was amazed by the respect shown to Marc. Apparently being the Master Vampire really held some weight with other supernaturals, if the way they deferred to him was anything to judge by. Christy knew Atticus as Lissa’s husband, but it was clear he was also well respected. She’d met Ian only once before but remembered the handsome man well. She knew now that Ian was an enforcer. As she understood it, his job was to police vampire society to ensure nobody exposed their secret existence. He also dispensed justice to those who broke their laws. Ian was a scary guy, built of solid muscle, his stance rigid in a way that didn’t invite familiarity, and he had the look of a killer.

Matt disappeared into one of the hall closets and came back with a pair of sweatpants he threw toward the giant hawk. The bird hopped down behind the couch and a tingle of magic filled the air. Seconds later, a handsome sandy-haired man rose from behind the sofa, tugging at the drawstring of the borrowed pants. He was good looking in the same rugged way as Matt, but his nose had a pronounced bump, like it had been broken once or twice and his eyes were both cunning and sharp.

“This is Collin Hastings, the private eye.” Matt introduced the other shifter.

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“I’ve heard good things about you, Mr. Hastings,” Marc said on behalf of the vampires.

“Thank you for coming,” Sebastian added. “Thank you all for coming. I had no idea our situation would turn into a cross species operation, but I thank you for standing with me and my mate in this time of difficulty.”

Christy liked the way he included her and appreciated the warm feeling of his hand in hers as he sat close beside her on the loveseat.

Cameron shuffled through the photos on the coffee table, passing a few around the group. “These are surveillance photos of both Jeff Kinsey and Benjamin Steel.”

Christy’s hand tightened on Sebastian’s as the pictures made their way around to her and she saw Jeff’s sneering face for the first time since he’d almost killed her. Sebastian put his arm around her shoulders, and she sank into his hold, feeling as if nothing could harm her with him there. And perhaps nothing could. Certainly not Jeff. Sebastian would eat him for breakfast. Well, maybe dinner, after the sun went down, she amended with an inner smile.

“They’ve met on more than one occasion since Kinsey got out of jail,” Hastings spoke as he passed the photos on. “I have reason to believe it was Steel who posted bail for Kinsey, though I’ve yet to receive final confirmation.” Hastings held up another photo and pointed to a man in the background. “I’m also awaiting confirmation of the identity of this man. He’s been seen with Steel each time we’ve been able to track the man. Steel is slipperier than an eel. We’ve caught him with Kinsey a few times, but when we try to follow, he manages to slip away. That goes double for his associate. We’ve heard the name Mario, but other than that, we don’t know who this one is yet.”

“May I?” Ian reached for the photo and Hastings handed it to him. Ian looked at it for a few minutes before passing it to Marc. “I’ve seen him before.”

“Recently?” Cameron asked.

Ian shook his head. “It was some time back. Mexico in the eighteen hundreds. Mario Gonzalez was his name back then. He was a bandito. We crossed paths when he robbed the night stage I was on. He’s a mage of some kind. I smelled the magic right off. When 79

he realized what I was, he took what he could and headed for the hills. I tracked him down a few weeks later, but he claimed he’d gone straight. I watched him for a bit, but he seemed okay, so I let him be. Figured he’d have been dead long ago, but maybe his magic is such that it gives him long life.” Ian shrugged.

Cameron nodded. “
Venifucus
magic has been said to extend the life of mortals. At the expense of others, usually.” His attention turned to Christy. “If it’s as we fear, you’re in more danger than you know, milady.”

“This is definitely not cool.” Christy sagged back against Sebastian. “You’re telling me some kind of evil human magician has teamed up with one of these
Altor
guys—who are only supposed to watch—and is coming after me because I’m newly turned and therefore weak? Great. Just great.”

“Hey, girl, don’t sweat it,” Matt tried to cajole her with a smile. “You’ve got a bunch of angry vamps, some equally pissed off
were
, and a fey warrior on your side. Not to mention the tricks you have up your own sleeve, sweet thing. They won’t know what hit them if they start messing with you. I can guarantee it.”

“What tricks?” Cameron wanted to know.

Sebastian sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “You really want to tell them, Matt?”

The
were
cougar shrugged. “Why not? Besides, I think they need to know.”

“What do we need to know, Sebastian?” Marc stepped forward, asserting his authority as Master.

Christy stood, not liking the implied threat to her man. She surprised herself a bit with the instinctive action, but nothing and no one would threaten Sebastian while she was present. Sebastian stood behind her, placing calming hands on her shoulders, while Matt stepped in front of her, using his imposing height to face down the Master Vampire.

Matt shrugged again. “It’s no big deal, really. It’s just that I was her first meal.” Matt seemed to gloat as he spoke the words. “Come to think of it, her second and third as well.” A smug smile lit his face while the vampires wore expressions of shock.

“What have you done, Sebastian?” Marc wanted to know.

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Sebastian pulled her back against him. “What I had to do, to keep her safe from the mad dog who was her husband.” His words dared the other vampires to object.

Marc backed down, shaking his head. “You know her better than anybody. Can she handle the power and responsibility you’ve given her?”

Christy didn’t like the way they talked about her as if she wasn’t there, but she understood this was something the men had to work out between themselves first. After all, they’d known each other longer than she’d even been alive. She was the newcomer here. She was the one who had to prove herself.

“Her heart is pure and almost too self-sacrificing.” He kissed the top of her head.

“She’ll be a strong addition to our people and she’ll protect her friends to her last breath.”

Atticus stepped forward. “It could be useful to have a woman who can help protect our mates. For one thing, no one would ever expect it of her. For another, Lissa and Kelly already know and trust her. Maybe they’ll be able to learn some defensive skills from her, once she’s trained.”

Marc seemed to think through the possibilities. Sebastian pointed to the silent, half-Asian vampire who sat nearby, observing. “Hiro’s already started her training.”

“How good is she?” Marc asked the
sensei
.

Hiro smiled for the first time since entering the room. “She’s a natural. Light on her feet, with a cat’s grace.” Hiro nodded in Matt’s direction. “She will surprise anyone who challenges her when she’s ready. I have no doubt.”

Christy enjoyed the warm feeling Hiro’s words inspired, but at the same time worried she would never be able to live up to his expectations. Still, she would try. She’d enjoyed their lesson the night before and had looked forward to renewing the experience tonight, until all this happened.

“My intention was to make her strong enough that she never felt threatened by me or any other man ever again,” Sebastian said. She leaned into him, needing his warmth, his reassurance. “I wanted her to face her past and conquer it before we could start our new life together. I figured when the divorce was final, we could get married.” He squeezed her, a hint of playfulness entering his tone. “Or we could go on living in sin for the rest of 81

eternity.” A few chuckles met that statement before Marc brought them back to the matter at hand.

“The question remains,” Marc spoke directly to her, “can you handle the power you’ve been given? I trust Sebastian’s judgment, but the real decision rests within your own heart, young one.”

Christy swallowed hard before answering. “I won’t let you down.”

Marc nodded and moved back. Sebastian turned her in his arms, his gaze searching her face. “Then you’ll confront Jeff about the divorce?”

He looked so hopeful, she couldn’t bear to disappoint him, though the thought of facing Jeff, after what he’d done the last time, still gave her the willies. “If it’ll help.”