Kissing with Fangs

Chapter 17

Kurt had given Anthony the list of ingredients needed from his apartment. While he was nearby, he figured he’d see Claudia, thank her for being so cool with everything, and give her a good-night kiss.

Instead of a kiss, he got a virtual slap upside the head in the form of a note tacked to her door. Apparently, she had gone to a friend of a friend’s house “to think.” He swore.

I knew she was accepting what happened with Ruxandra too easily.

Part of him was hurt. She didn’t trust him when he’d said he’d take care of the situation once and for all. Another part didn’t blame her. How could she have faith in his plan when he didn’t have one? He wouldn’t kill Ruxandra, but did Claudia know that? He had been quite angry when they talked about it…but she knew him better than that, didn’t she?

Anthony dropped his head in his hands. This was a disaster. He needed to make things right, but how could he if she was incommunicado?

Clutching at his last hope, he tried to reach out to her telepathically.

Claudia… Sweetheart… Can you hear me?

He waited. When no response followed, he tried again. Nothing. Was she not answering him because she couldn’t hear him, or because she didn’t want to? Or maybe she wasn’t able to? It wasn’t like Claudia to take off without making sure the tea room was covered.

The tea room! Was she hiding out down there? Even if she wasn’t, his Vampire Vintage was there, and he might need a flask with him if things at the lab took longer than planned. Charging down to the tea room, he found it locked. That was no big surprise. He used his key to get in and then entered the office.

She wasn’t there, either.

He raked his hands through his hair and paced back and forth in front of his desk for a few moments. He couldn’t think of anything that would help his cause except to give her the time she needed and have faith that she’d call him when she was ready.

And he had to get back to Ruxandra to make sure her nicey-nice behavior wasn’t just an act. Perhaps she’d hired someone to take Claudia away and never called off that person. One thing was for sure… Part of that truth spell would be used on Ruxandra.

He let out the deep breath he’d sucked in when he saw the note.

I’d better get to Kurt’s apartment and find those ingredients.

Twenty minutes later, Anthony had everything on Kurt’s list and had arrived back at the lab. Everyone seemed to have calmed down. Dr. Odd had stopped struggling, and Ruxandra had relaxed her grip on him. Nick and Sly were trying different combinations on the locking mechanism to the side of the large glassed-in cage.

“Did you find out anything more while I was gone?”

“No. We were waiting for you. What took you so long?” Kurt asked.

Anthony waved him over to the door. Step outside. I want to talk to you privately for a moment.

“In other words,” Ruxandra called out, “you don’t want me to overhear you.”

“Dr. Odd might overhear us too, honey,” Kurt said. “We don’t know which of our powers he may have now.”

Good point, Anthony thought. He was surprised he hadn’t thought of it himself. His mind was divided between freeing his friends and finding Claudia, so he wasn’t as sharp as he should be.

The two of them stepped outside. As soon as the door was firmly shut, Kurt asked, “What did you want to talk about?”

“Claudia’s gone.”

Kurt’s eyes rounded. “Again? But Ruxandra’s been with me all evening.”

“I know. She left a note saying she had to go somewhere to think, but anyone could have made her write that. I called Sadie, Chris, and Angie to see if Claudia had mentioned her absence to any of them, and they all said no.”

“That’s not like her, is it?”

“No. She’s always taken her managerial responsibilities seriously. I can’t imagine she’d leave us in the lurch.”

“So, what are you thinking?”

“I’d like to use some of your truth spell on Ruxandra to see if she hired anyone to harm Claudia and didn’t call him off. I know you’d believe her, but—”

Kurt held up his hand. “I understand. It’s a distinct possibility. I was hoping to use the truth spell on her anyway. I need to know she’s not pretending to be into me, just to make you jealous.”

“Another distinct possibility. Although she seems different. It looks like you might be a good influence on her.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

“I’m not. I mean…”

Kurt laughed. “I know what you meant. Let’s get this spell started. I think we have to begin with the researcher.”

“That’s fine, but when it’s Ruxandra’s turn, how will you get her to cooperate?”

“Well, I can start by asking. I brought it up briefly and she said she’d consider it. If she has nothing to hide, she should agree.”

Anthony rolled his eyes. “Good luck with that. Is there a plan B?”

“No.”

“Okay, then. She’ll either cooperate or pitch a fit. I can’t wait to find out which.”

This time it was Kurt who rolled his eyes. “Let’s get back in there. The longer we stay out here, the worse it looks.”

“Fine.”

Kurt took the censor and copal out of his bag and set them on a nearby desk. He knew the aroma of copal would encourage liars to expose the truth. It had the added benefit of affecting Ruxandra without her knowing it. However, it was subtle.

“Ruxie, honey. Can you continue to hold him for me?”

“Of course,” she said.

He’d worded his request so she’d have to say “yes.” Even so, she could have let go of the researcher and bolted if she were afraid of being affected.

The commanding spell Kurt would have to use on the researcher left no choice. The liar would reveal the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He always wondered why it wasn’t used in courts of law. Oh, yeah, because most people were skeptical of magic, if not downright disbelievers. Once he’d done his thing, though, no one in this room would doubt it worked.

He set the copal on a charcoal disk, placed them in the censor, and lit it with a match. Soon, the coal caught and the copal smoke began to fill the room. Meanwhile, Kurt took the purple candle from the brown paper bag and dressed it with Command and Compel Oil, a concoction he’d made himself.

Kurt faced the researcher. “What’s your real name?”

Sweat broke out on the man’s forehead and he bit his lower lip, presumably to keep from spilling the information.

Kurt took some of the oil and rubbed it into his own palm. “I said, tell me your name.”

“George.”

“Good. Is George your first or last name?”

The guy hesitated again. Kurt cupped the smoke in his hand and directed it to the man’s nostrils.

“It’s my first name,” he said.

“Now we’re getting somewhere. What’s your last name, George?”

“Robbins.”

“That’s appropriate since he’s been robbing our kind of their freedom,” Ruxandra said.

Good. She isn’t afraid to talk.

“Sit tight. I’ll just be a minute.” Kurt tore a chunk out of the paper bag and wrote the guy’s name on it seven times. Then he wrote his own name over the other ones. He placed the candle over the paper and lit it.

As it burned, he closed his eyes and chanted. “Darksome night and shining moon, harken to the wizard’s rune. East, then south. West, then north, Hear! Come! I call thee forth!

“By all the power of land and sea, be obedient to me. By all the might of moon and sun, As I do will, it shall be done.”

When he opened his eyes, he focused his gaze on Dr. Odd and demanded, “George Robbins, I command and compel you. Tell me the truth!”

The candle flame grew to five or six inches. The widening eyes around the room said everyone knew magic was afoot.

George trembled. “What do you want to know?” he asked in a small voice.

Nick stepped in front of Kurt and asked, “Mind if I take over?”

Because Nick was a PI and former cop, he probably had some good interrogation techniques.

“Be my guest,” Kurt said.

Nick got up into the guy’s face and asked, “What’s the code to open the big, glass cell?”

“I don’t know. Only the day and evening guys know.”

“How many guys are there?”

“Five.”

“What kind of research is going on here?”

George squirmed but answered, “We’re trying to discover as many different types of paranormals as possible, catalog them, and see what their special abilities are, if any. Those who demonstrate superior strength, senses, speed, and the like will be examined more thoroughly.”

“How did you discover paranormals exist?” Nick asked.

“A little over six months ago, one of the guys found a merman in the river in front of our university. We captured him in a net and held him in one of the basement rooms. He tried to bargain for his release by telling us about the other paranormals he knew of in the area. When we verified his information, we rented this facility and went after funding to build more sophisticated cages, buy equipment, and hire trained researchers.”

“But you didn’t let him go? Did he give you misleading information?”

“No. Everything he told us was true.”

Nick swore under his breath. “And we let him walk,” he said to Anthony. “Never mind. Freeing the captives and damage control are what we need to do now. Justice can wait.”

Anthony stepped forward. “Do you mind if I ask him a few questions?”

“You probably should. I’m too angry to think straight.”

Nick seemed to know all the big men in the cage. Kurt only knew Tory. The woman and boy huddled together in the corner didn’t seem familiar to anyone, but Anthony’s heart went out to them. If the woman knew the full moon was tomorrow night, she had good reason to be afraid.

Anthony leaned down and stared the man in the eye. When he blinked, Anthony’s mouth thinned. Then he straightened and folded his arms. “Why can’t you be mesmerized?”

“I don’t know,” George said. “Maybe it has to do with the blood they transfused into me.”

Anthony’s brows shot up. “Whose blood did they give you?”

“I don’t know. It’s a blind study. The results might be skewed if I knew.”

“Fuck,” Anthony muttered.

Kurt decided it was his turn. “So, they shot you full of paranormal blood and left you here alone? That doesn’t seem right.”

“That’s not quite true,” George said. “See that rabbit over there?”

The three paranormal interrogators glanced at the cage holding a white rabbit. There didn’t seem to be anything abnormal about it except the cage was larger than the usual size for a rabbit.

“Yeah,” Kurt said. “What about it?”

“That’s my coworker, Kim Lee.”

Claudia tossed and turned. And not because she was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed at Gaye’s sister’s house in Brookline. The small family had been more than kind and welcoming to her. More importantly, they didn’t pry or ask why she needed a place to stay. It was the best situation she could imagine at a time like this, but everything within her screamed she shouldn’t be here.

Am I running away from my problems? Claudia never thought of herself as the type to shirk her responsibilities, but wasn’t that what she was doing? She hadn’t contacted anyone to say she was okay and when she’d be back to work…because she didn’t know the answer to that.

Could she leave Anthony in the lurch? Damn it all, she still loved him. If she didn’t show up tomorrow, she’d cause Angie, Sadie, and Chris unnecessary stress too. But she couldn’t very well explain that their boss was a vampire and might be contemplating murder.

She couldn’t just lie there. She sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. The clock beside her said it was 3:00 a.m. If she were home, she’d putter out to the kitchen, pour herself a glass of milk, and watch an infomercial or read until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. But this wasn’t her place and she didn’t feel comfortable helping herself to their food and TV.

She let out a big sigh and was about to get up and slip on her robe when a woman appeared at the foot of her bed.

Shit. She rubbed her eyes. The woman didn’t go away. She looked familiar, but Claudia couldn’t place her. She wore a long, white robe belted with vines, and her white hair hung down to her waist.

At last Claudia found her voice and asked, “Are—are you my fairy godmother?”

The woman reared back and laughed loudly.

“Shhh… You’ll wake the family.”

“No I won’t.”

Claudia was confused. She must be dreaming. There was no better explanation for a woman just appearing at the end of her bed at three in the morning, but it feels so real.

“Look. I don’t usually do this, but you’re a loose cannon. I can’t find your boyfriend, or I’d tell him to make sure you keep your trap shut.”

“My boyfriend? You mean Anthony?”

“Yeah. For lack of a better term. I know to you he’s ancient, but to me he’s just a boy. And you…you’re a mere infant in the scheme of things.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look. I’m not Anthony’s silent partner or whatever gibberish he told you about me. I’m Mother Nature. Gaia. Goddess to you.”

Claudia’s jaw dropped and she couldn’t breathe for a few moments. “That’s where I’d seen you. On the stairwell outside my apartment.”

“Yes. You interrupted a very important conversation, so instead of disappearing, I just changed into contemporary clothing and made up a convenient lie about my identity. I tried to warn him away from you.”

“Why?”

“When a paranormal becomes involved with a human, it puts all of them at risk.”

“But…I wouldn’t tell anyone. I wouldn’t know how. Nobody would believe me.”

“That’s not technically true. Most folks are grounded enough to think you’re nuts, but some are getting a little too close to the truth. All they need is verification. And if you give that to them, it’ll make me very angry.” She stared at Claudia intensely. “You don’t want to make Mother Nature angry.”

Claudia imagined earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions, and wondered if the goddess was angry when those things occurred.

“Oh, yes,” Mother Nature said. “I can do that and more.”

Claudia sucked in a quick breath. “You can read my mind?”

“Just the vivid images. I’m not so much for words. I prefer to read the pictures.”

Claudia visualized her favorite magazine with beautiful photography of nature and foreign cultures.

The goddess smiled. “Yeah, I have a good side, too, although you’d never know it to listen to the ingrates that live on this planet. All they ever do is complain. Most of the time, they don’t even look at or appreciate the beauty I’ve put right in front of their faces.”

Claudia nodded slowly. “I think I know what you mean. People in the city can get so caught up in the hectic pace that they miss a lot of subtle beauty.”

Mother Nature narrowed her eyes. “You’re not just patronizing me, are you?”

“No. I wouldn’t do that. I believe what you just said. I’ve experienced it myself.”

“From now on, make a conscious effort to appreciate the pleasant gifts I give you…not that you ingrates deserve any of them.”

Claudia worried her lip. “Um. If I’m dreaming, will I remember your advice when I wake up?”

The goddess rolled her eyes. “Oh, for crap’s sake. You’re not dreaming. I’m right here.” She reached out and grabbed Claudia’s arm. Giving it a shake, she said, “Could I do that if you were dreaming?”

“I—I guess not. Dreams can feel pretty real, though.”

“Fine. I’ll leave you a reminder of my visit. But before I go, I need you to promise you won’t divulge anything you know. You met my muse, Brandee. You won’t tell anyone what she did for you. You’ve met vampires…”

“A few,” Claudia said.

“Look, I don’t care if you meet three or a hundred. Shut up about them, okay?”

Claudia’s eyes rounded. “There are a hundred of them?”

Mother Nature pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered something about stupid humans.

“But didn’t you create humans?”

She snorted. “Yeah. As food. But then you got better and better at survival and decided you were the top of the food chain. What can I say? When you guys evolve, you evolve!”

“Eek. You created us as food?”

“Well, duh. A tiger’s gotta eat. Now man has wiped out almost all of my beautiful tigers.”

Claudia didn’t know what to say, except that the woman scared her.

“You’d do well to keep that healthy fear alive, but call it respect. I hate intimidating people if I don’t have to.”

“S-so, is that all? You just want me to keep my knowledge of paranormals to myself, appreciate the beauty of nature, and maintain a healthy respect for you?”

“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Do you think you can do all that?”

Claudia nodded.

Mother Nature extended her fist with her little finger extended. “Pinkie swear.”

Incredulous, Claudia looped her own pinkie finger around the goddess’s. “Pinkie swear,” she said. “Can I at least tell Anthony about our meeting?”

Mother Nature smiled. “I’ll make that one exception. Everybody needs one confidant. More than one and the blabbermouth will be sent to a lonely, lonely place, like Death Valley. Understand?”

“Ummm…I guess so.”

“Your boyfriend knows what I can do. I told him to dump your ass. Apparently he’d rather freeze atop the Matterhorn than live without you.”

Claudia melted inside.

“Now do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Good. Now lie down and I’ll help you get to sleep.”

Claudia didn’t remember anything after that until she awoke with the sunrise. “Boy, that was some dream,” she muttered.

She jumped out of bed feeling rested and refreshed. When she turned around, a vine lay on her pillow.

It was almost time for a shift change among the researchers. George had been kept away from any communication with the outside world, but was treated better than the captives. He continued to answer questions honestly, to the best of his ability. It was clear to Anthony that the people they needed to talk to were coming in on the day shift.

Sly knew a couple of shifters that could help them keep an eye on the entrance without creating suspicion. They both shifted into birds. One was a raven and the other, a falcon. They both lived in his building, so he called Morgaine. She said she’d wake them and send them over.

Nick had alerted his werecop contacts to patrol the area and not to interfere unless they were needed. One good howl would call them into action.

The paras in the glass cage had settled down, realizing their friends were devoting all their resources to freeing them.

While it was a “hurry up and wait” situation, Kurt escorted Ruxandra to the far end of the building to talk. Anthony’s hearing was so sharp that he’d be able to overhear—but they didn’t necessarily know that. All he had to do was tune out the background conversations between Nick, Sly, and George, and he was privy to all Kurt and Ruxandra were discussing.

He knew he should give them their privacy, but his curiosity won out. He grabbed a book off one of the shelves and found a stool in a quiet corner. The other guys would leave him alone, figuring he was reading—not eavesdropping.

“Ruxie, I want to ask you to do something for me.”

Ruxie?

“Sure, honey. Anything.”

And honey? She’d better not be leading Kurt on.

“I hope you won’t see this as mistrust, but my heart is on the line here. I know how strong your feelings for Anthony have been in the past—”

“Yes. I told you, it’s in the past. Not now.”

“Regardless… Would you allow me to try the truth spell on that? It’s important. I won’t ask you anything else if you don’t want me to.”

There was a long pause and Anthony expected Ruxandra to erupt any second. This is just the sort of thing she’d throw a hissy fit over.

“I—I guess so. I can understand how you might be worried about that.”

Anthony’s brows shot up. He quickly schooled his expression so the other guys wouldn’t ask what he’d read that was so shocking.

“So, you’ll let me?”

“Yes. Ask me anything. When do you want to do this?”

“There’s no time like the present.”

“Don’t you need your candles and everything?”

“I have a few extra supplies in my bag,” he said.

Anthony had wondered why Kurt only used half the items he’d sent him to his apartment for. Now he knew. Apparently Kurt had been hoping to do this all along. Smart man.

There was an elongated silence in which Anthony imagined Kurt setting up his altar and preparing the brown paper with Ruxandra’s name on it. Then he heard the smack of a kiss.

Anthony smiled. Surprisingly, he wanted his ex-girlfriend to be happy, and not just so she’d stop being such a pain in his ass.

“Okay. Are you ready?”

“Go ahead,” she said.

Kurt uttered the same words he’d said before, but in a much quieter tone of voice. After a brief silence he asked, “What are your full name, birthplace, and birth date?”

Ah, good. All things he can check.

“My name is Ruxandra Marie Fournier, and I was born in Provence on November fourth in seventeen forty-nine.”

“That makes you 265 years old. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Anthony was intrigued. Ruxandra was as vain as any woman about her age. To admit it so easily and dispassionately must mean she was under the influence of magic.

“What was your father’s profession?”

“He was a farmer.”

“Was he kind to you?”

“Not always.”

“All right. Let’s move on. How do you know Anthony Cross?”

“He’s my maker. He saved me. I had been beaten, starved, choked, and left in a ditch to die.”

“Who did that to you?”

“The Marquis de Sade.”

There was a pause. He imagined Kurt taking in the information Anthony already knew. It wasn’t a pretty picture. A beautiful nineteen-year-old girl, too young and supposedly innocent to suffer such cruelty and be left for dead.

But unless Kurt asked the right question, she’d never admit to going there voluntarily.

“How did you meet the marquis?”

“I was hired by one of his servants—as a prostitute.”

Wow. That truth spell really works. No sugarcoating at all.

“Do you hate me for it?” she asked.

Kurt chuckled. He actually chuckled!

“No. I never had a servant to do it for me, but I hired the occasional lady when I was lonely. Nobody’s perfect.”

“Anthony hated it when he found out.”

“But he didn’t hate you.”

“He was angry, and I don’t think he understood. Unmarried daughters who scare off potential suitors eventually end up on their own.”

“But you were only nineteen.”

“Yes. An old maid, in my father’s opinion.”

“Where was your mother?”

“Dead. She died when I was eleven.”

“Just when you needed her most, I imagine.”

“Maybe. I wouldn’t know.”

“Did you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Yes. Three of each.”

“Wow. Seven kids. Where did you fall in the birth order?”

“Youngest. The boys helped my father with the farm. My three older sisters took care of the house. I felt fairly useless. My siblings considered me spoiled.”

Even Anthony hadn’t known that. He’d never met her family, and she didn’t like to talk about them. He figured she must have been the black sheep. If she scared off potential suitors with her acerbic tongue, she may have been asked to leave.

“Okay. Let’s get back to Anthony. Are you still in love with him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t even like me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes. He’s in love with Claudia.”

“I think so too. Are you able to let go of him and let him be happy with her?”

“Yes. I didn’t used to think so, but now I do.”

“Can you envision a future with me?”

“Yes. I was using you at first. I thought I could make Anthony jealous. But I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“So, your affection for me is real?”

“Yes.”

“And what about Claudia? Can you let go of her too?”

“Yes.”

“Will you try to harm her?”

“No.”

“Did you try to harm her in the past?”

“Yes. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”

“I know. I cast a powerful protection spell around her.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh. What did you mean?”

“I knew someone who would kill her for a price. I had the money but stopped myself from going through with it. I knew it was wrong.”

There was another long pause. Anthony was hanging on every word. He hoped this wasn’t too good to be true.

“Do you regret wanting to harm Claudia?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Can you promise it will never happen again?”

“Yes.”

“I’m proud of you, Ruxandra. You’ve overcome a lot.”

“I love you, Kurt.”

There was another long pause. At last Kurt whispered, “I love you too.”