Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
“Red?” Oliver stared at Wes in disbelief as the human brought the car to a stop in front of Quinn’s house. “You turned the piglets red?”
Wes shrugged. “Well, it was my first try. I just have to work on the spell. I’m sure the second time it’ll work like a charm.”
Oliver already started shaking his head before Wesley’s last sentence was even out. “No!”
“Oh, come on! I just need a few drops. That’s all!” Wes begged, casting him a puppy dog look meant to soften him up.
But Oliver didn’t cave. “I said no! Clearly, whatever spell you’re trying out isn’t working. There’s no need wasting any more of my precious blood on it.” The only person who’d get his blood would be Ursula. It was part of the blood-bonding ritual, and it would make her immortal while she remained human—and fertile. Once they were bonded, she would be able to conceive his child.
“But I really think it’s going to work the second time. I just have to get the dosage right.”
Oliver sighed. “Wes, I hate to say this, but don’t you think that maybe witchcraft isn’t exactly your calling?”
Wesley slammed his flat palm against the steering wheel. “I was born a witch! And I’ll be damned if I can’t get that back!”
“What do you have to prove? Just find something else that you’re good at.”
“Easy for you to say! Haven is a vampire, and Kimberly is a great actress. And what am I? Am I the only sibling who can’t make anything out of himself? Don’t you understand? I want to be somebody. I want to do something useful.”
Oliver shook his head, though in a way, he understood Wes all too well. “But you are somebody. You’re training as a bodyguard with Scanguards. Isn’t that something?”
Wes turned his head away and looked out the side window, staring into the dark. “And you know as well as I how I got that position. Because I offered my blood the night you were turned, Samson felt obligated. Do you think he would really have offered me to train as a bodyguard if I hadn’t practically blackmailed him?”
“Are you telling me you’re having scruples about that?”
Wes shrugged. “I just wonder sometimes about what would become of me if Hav and Scanguards didn’t exist. You know.” He glanced at Oliver. “I need to have something that’s independent of it. Something that’s just mine.”
Slowly, Oliver nodded. “I get that. I do. But you can’t force it.” He reached for the door handle and pushed the car door open. “It’ll happen. Just be patient.”
Then he exited and walked up to the entrance door. When he reached it, he felt a strange tingling sensation creep up his nape and stopped. He inhaled deeply, picking up many unfamiliar as well as familiar scents. Shaking his head to rid himself of the odd sensation, he pulled his key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. The motion pushed the door inward. It hadn’t been locked.
Cautiously, he stepped into the well-lit interior. Voices drifted to him from the open living room door and the kitchen in the back. Maybe one of the workers had left the door open when he’d left. He would have to speak to Quinn about security at the house during the wedding. It was bad enough that so many contractors marched in and out at all hours of the day, but to know that they were careless and left doors open so that anybody could just walk in off the street was inexcusable.
Just because the latest threats of the operators of the blood brothel and their customers, as well as the vampires who had special mind-control skills and had nearly crushed Scanguards a short while ago, were dealt with, didn’t mean they had no enemies.
“Hey, Oliver. Glad I’m catching you alone.”
He looked up and saw Maya walk through the living room door and approach him.
“Hey, Maya.” He pointed to the bag in her hand, a red dress peeking out of it. “I see you guys tried on your bridesmaid’s dresses. Nice color. I had no idea they were red.”
She smiled. “A Chinese good luck thing, I guess.” She tossed a quick glance over her shoulder. “I just thought I’d let you know. I looked in on your future father-in-law. He’s doing fine. I did a blood test, and his doctors are correct. It’s just a bit of anemia. Nothing to worry about. I’ve given him some meds to tide him over until he’s back home.”
“That’s a relief. At least that means we don’t have to worry Ursula with it. She’s stressed out enough.” The last couple of days she’d seemed frazzled most of the time. And he didn’t like that look on her, the look that said that she wanted all this to be over.
“Uh, about that.”
“What?” he asked, instantly worried.
“Ursula and her mother had another blowout tonight.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “About what?”
“Your date of birth.”
“What’s my birthday got to do with the wedding?”
“Apparently everything. You have two fours in your date of birth.”
“So?”
“In Chinese that’s bad luck.”
“Damn it! Superstitious crap!”
“Well, of course it’s superstition, but it’s not any different than Westerners finding Friday the thirteenth unlucky. Unfortunately, it’s really upset Ursula.” Her eyes turned toward the ceiling.
“I’ll take care of it. Thanks, Maya.” He ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Nobody had the right to upset the woman he loved, not even his soon-to-be mother-in-law. Particularly not over a stupid thing like a birthday.
Without knocking, he entered the guestroom. “Ursula!”
She wasn’t alone. Vera had her arms wrapped around her and stroked her hand over her hair. Both looked up when the door fell shut behind him.
“Just in time,” Vera said calmly and rose from the bed.
Immediately, Oliver pulled Ursula into his arms and rubbed his hands over her back. “I’m so sorry, baby. I just heard. Tell me, what can I do?” He looked at her tear-stained eyes, and his heart bled for her.
Before Ursula could answer, Vera replied, “I have an idea of how to fix this.”
Oliver looked at her. “How? Last time I checked, nobody could change their birthday at will.”
“Well, technically your birthday is the day you were turned into a vampire, which I believe was August 8. And that means you have two 8’s in your date of birth, and that’s very good luck.”
“Yes, but you can’t exactly tell Ursula’s mother that without telling her I’m a vampire.”
“Of course not! But I can use mind control to make her think she heard August 8 instead of April 4 when Rose told her your birthday.”
Ursula eased out of his embrace and sat back on her heels. “That’s not a solution! We can’t keep wiping my parents’ memories when something happens that they don’t like.”
“But we did it after you escaped those vampires. We had to.”
“Exactly. We had to!” Ursula said firmly. “But this time we don’t. Just because my mother has some crazy-ass idea about numerology doesn’t mean that we have to wipe her memory. We have to reason with her.”
Oliver rolled his eyes. “Reason with your mother? Aren’t you asking a little too much?”
Ursula braced her hands at her hips. “What are you saying?”
“I’m just saying that she’s not likely to listen.”
“You don’t know her like I do!”
Oliver jumped up from the bed. “Well, I’m not the one who’s crying and all upset, am I?”
“I can’t believe you said that!”
Shell-shocked, Oliver backed away. Were they just having their first fight? They’d never argued before. For several long moments, he simply stared at Ursula, who held his gaze without flinching.
“Well, no wonder I always dreaded family visits,” Vera said calmly. “Brings the worst out in people.”
Oliver shot Vera a look, then dropped his head. “I’m sorry.” He raised his lids to look at Ursula, slowly placing one foot in front of the other to approach her again. “It’s just, I hate seeing you unhappy. It hurts me. Here.” He placed his fist over his heart. “I can’t stand it when I can’t help you.”
Ursula reached her arms out to him, and he eased into her embrace, pressing his head against her chest and encircling her with his arms.
“I’m sorry too. It’s just all so overwhelming. Every day there’s something else that goes wrong.”
He lifted his head. “Nothing else will go wrong, I promise you. Our wedding day will be the happiest day in our lives.”
A smile formed around her lips. “Are you saying that after our wedding day we won’t be as happy again?”
He chuckled. “That’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
“Want me to show you?”
“Uhm,” Vera’s voice interrupted.
Darn, he’d forgotten that Vera was still in the room. He grinned at her sheepishly. “Thank you, Vera, for being there when Ursula needed you.”
“No problem.”
“What shall we do about your mother now?” Oliver asked.
“Nothing,” Ursula said. “My mother is getting what she wants with everything else: the wedding dress, the bridesmaids, the wedding date, and the decorations! But I’m not going to compromise on the groom.”
Oliver grinned. “That’s my girl!”