Chapter 16 #2
Okay, enough. In two strides, his full speed unleashed, Tai invaded Broderick’s space and hissed loudly in the man’s face.
Broderick flinched so hard, he lost a lamb skewer off his plate onto the floor.
Then he leaped backward several feet, this time keeping his plate balanced but nearly colliding with Robin Kramer, one of the oldest relics in the room. She smacked Broderick upside the head.
“Good for Tai. You need to get your head on straight where women are concerned, and that’s all I’ll say about it for now.”
“I agree, Robin,” Dr. Levine said from the far corner of the room, and a few others chimed in generic agreement.
But more of them ought to speak up. All of them in fact, everyone in this room, relics and lookers alike. Vampires who had just listened to one of their own kind make threats against a woman.
“You going to fight him?” Laurence said in a tone that didn’t wholly disapprove.
“If he keeps running his mouth, I will.”
“You’d teach him a thing or two. I wouldn’t want to take on you or Ryker, the way you’ve sparred together for years.”
Tai didn’t often give much thought to his skill level, but Laurence was right.
Even against Ryker, whose raw strength outclassed his own, Tai could win with speed and agility and the years of training they’d done together.
He’d be the favorite against any given vampire his own age and even some older.
The evening wound down, and Broderick kept his mouth shut.
Tai said good night to a few closer acquaintances, then made a final promise to Laurence that he’d see him on Sunday.
Ryker and Leslie would be home from their honeymoon in Key Largo, and they were joining for dinner before grabbing a flight to Nashville.
It would be a good Sunday. Time with the Maddoxes was always good.
Halfway to his car, his phone lit up. His chest fizzed with delight at the name on the screen.
Claire: Still at your event?
He typed as he walked under the streetlights. Yes, actual streetlights lined the Levine driveway, which was more like a street of its own. The two dozen attendees of the quarterly meeting all managed to park on Levine property without a problem, no need for anyone to park in the actual street.
Just leaving. How’s your night going?
Claire: Very uneventful. I was wondering if you’d like to come over for a few hours, maybe watch a movie, maybe just talk.
Setting boundaries. That was Claire. This wasn’t about spending the night, only about spending some time together before work in the morning. He smiled as he typed back.
See you soon.
When he stepped through the doorway, she grasped his shirt in both hands, pulled him to her, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Tai pushed his fingers through her hair and kissed her back with everything inside him—the coming-home feeling; the icy pleasure that coursed through his veins when her lips hardened, when she sighed; the leftover protective fury that pulsed at the memory of Broderick’s words, as if he’d been talking about Claire and not someone random.
Tai’s heart thumped hard, once, twice, and Claire pressed her palm there.
“Tai?”
“It’s good to see you,” he said.
“It’s good to kiss you.” She smirked, then kissed him again.
They cuddled on the couch for a while, and then Claire sat up and tugged his tie, which had loosened bit by bit over the last minutes.
“So how was the work event?”
He’d let her think it was related to Josie Strong only because Dr. Levine’s “consortium,” as he called it, was sworn to secrecy on the identity of all members as well as all matters discussed there.
Tai had objected to that in the beginning, but Laurence assured him it was an unwritten courtesy, not an enforced rule, and everyone understood that if ethical lines were ever crossed, their fellow members would be obligated not to cover it up but rather to expose it.
With all this in mind, he could tell her a little. It was Claire, after all.
“Not work,” he said. “I’m part of this…well, think tank, I guess you could call it? It’s a group of vampires who get together and talk about events—national and local—and strategize things like public policy and ethics.”
Her lips parted. “That’s…impressive.”
He laughed. “Laurence brought me in. I’m one of the least impressive vampires there and probably the youngest.”
“You’re in the room with senators and other influential people who want your ideas, your opinions. Otherwise Laurence wouldn’t have asked you, right?”
He shrugged, then had to nod. She had summed it up exactly, cut to the chase as she did so well.
“And whatever you contribute, it’s extremely valuable, because it’s you.”
Those words froze him from the inside out. He didn’t know how to process them, what to do with them. She kissed him again, proof she meant what she said. Claire always did. She framed his face between her hands and traced his cheekbones with her thumbs.
“My bloodfiend friend told me to give you his number,” she said. “His name is Peter Updike, and he said you’re welcome to call him any time.”
The prospect was terrifying, but if it could make him a safer vampire… “Thank you.”
Claire texted him Peter Updike’s number, and as his phone screen lit up, the gravity of it fully hit him. It was up to him now to call a stranger and ask for help. He needed a subject change and just then remembered a question he kept forgetting to ask.
“What happened with your dress? Did the dry cleaner tell you yet?”
She bit her lip and looked away. “The skirt had a bad tear in the back. I don’t know how I didn’t feel or hear it when it happened—I guess adrenaline. They said even mended, it would be obvious.”
Shoot. She’d been proud of that dress, proud of the purchase and what it represented. “What was the brand?”
She told him the brand as well as her size, then said, “I highly doubt they’re still making that exact gown.”
“Let me work on it.” He’d search the four corners of the earth if he had to, whatever it cost. “If I can’t get the exact color, do you want the closest option?”
“Yes, please, but err on the side of purple, not blue.”
“Not a cool green?”
“Not for this one. It was meant to be that color. Or maybe a more purple color.”
“I’m on it,” he said.
“Okay. Thank you, Tai.”
“My pleasure.”
“Now, to business. Have you ever seen a black-and-white movie?”
Um…surely he had at some point. Tai skimmed his memory but could only come up with a single title. “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“And?”
“That might be the only one.” He shrugged.
“Well, we are fixing that tonight. We’re watching one of my top five.”
“Favorite from childhood?”
“No, actually, I just found this one in the last year and fell in love with it.”
The film was called Laura, which was about the least compelling title Tai could imagine, but pretty soon he was intrigued, trying to solve the mystery. It was part noir, part romance, overflowing with dialogue and sharp vintage clothes. Beside him on the couch, Claire clearly enjoyed every minute.
It wasn’t a long film. When it ended, Claire gave a bounce on the couch. “Well? Thoughts? Were you bored out of your mind?”
“No,” Tai said. “There was a lot of talking, but most of it was interesting. The psychology of the characters, I mean.”
“I know, right?” Her smile beamed, and her eyes glittered, and she was just beautiful, basking in his enjoyment of something she loved. “Did you guess who the murderer was?”
“Well, yeah, but the cast is pretty small. What makes it one of your top five?”
“First of all, I’m kind of into crime dramas.
I don’t like old movies just for the sake of being old, but there are some I like, and this one is a neat combination—old-fashioned melodrama plus murder mystery.
I really like the dialogue, too, so snappy the way a lot of old movies are.
And of course Gene Tierney’s gorgeous wardrobe.
And also…” Her gaze flickered toward the TV, where the screen had returned to a grid of her purchases.
“I like that she gets to live. She gets to be part of solving what happened, and she gets to see justice and be safe at the end. At the same time, I don’t like that the film uses the murder victim as a plot device.
Her life should matter as much as Laura’s does. ”
Tai’s instincts with people were sharp, but he hardly needed them to see the layers of story wrapped around Claire’s words. He drew her closer, and she let him.
“You want to talk about any of that?” he said quietly.
“I’m being transparent again.” She sounded put out, but she stayed nestled against him.
“You keep telling me you want to know me. Don’t you think it’s mutual?”
She was quiet a long time. At last she said, “It’s harder to talk about me. I’d rather hear about you.”
“Right. Exactly.”
She gave a quiet laugh. “Okay, I get it. And I guess…I guess it might be okay to tell you. I knew it might come up if we really got into the layers of the movie.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple.
After another minute, she stirred against him. “My best friend being human should have made me a lot more aware, as a young vampire, that there are predators in the world. Men who aren’t safe for women.”
He gave a low hiss, and Claire pressed closer to him.
“Exactly. But I didn’t fully get it, Tai.
Ember and I are both forceful women, but not in the same ways, because we can’t be in the same ways, because I’m not vulnerable where she is.
And I missed it.” She shook her head, and her hair brushed across his arm.
“It was an article of Nova’s that finally showed me—cold hard numbers, statistics on the screen, and I couldn’t believe it took this for me to know just how much risk human women live with. ”
Tai hissed again. Maybe not helpful, but the sound escaped through his teeth before he could squelch it.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’m glad you care. None of us vampires can easily overpower another, but for human women like Ember, it’s so different.
And it makes me mad. Since then I’ve watched way too many documentaries about putting predators behind bars.
The anger sank in and became part of me.
” She tilted her head up toward him, and her lips pursed with thoughtfulness. “You seem okay with it.”
“With anger? Big emotions don’t scare me, Claire. Especially as a response to evil in the world.”
“Hmm.” She pushed up to brush a kiss across his lips, light and soft. “I guess you’ve got some big emotions yourself.”
“Definitely.”
“Thanks for letting me talk about it. I didn’t think I wanted to, but I’m glad I did.”
He returned the kiss, pressed a little harder than she’d done, and instantly she met him there. He loved this about her, how constantly ready she was to bring intensity that equaled his own.
When they finally ended the kiss, Claire pushed up from the couch and retrieved the TV remote from where it had fallen onto the floor. “Okay, now what’s your pick? Whatever it is, I’ll rent it for us.”
Ooh, this would be fun. And he didn’t have to worry that any of his favorites would be too old for her. “Have you seen the original Superman?”
“Christopher Reeve, from the seventies?” she said without pause.
“That’s the one.” The one and only.
“It’s been at least ten years, and I’m up for a re-watch.”
They settled in for their second film, and their commentary remained light for the most part. They did discuss the two films side by side, especially their portrayals of justice, and the discussion held new layers now that he understood another piece of what drove her.
Contentment flooded him as they cuddled quietly after the movie.
He trusted her more every day, and her trust was building too.
He could feel it between them, a silent strengthening bond.
He longed and loved to know her better, to be given the gift of the deepest pieces of who she was.
He wished they had a chance at the bloodbound covenant, hated he was the reason they didn’t, but he didn’t need a silver scar on his neck to bind him to Claire.
She was right: his emotions were big. But so was his knowing.
And all the way to the core of him, Tai knew his heart would be hers for the rest of his life.
When he got home later that night, Tai spent a few long minutes cradling his phone, staring at the dark screen, breathing deep, in and out.
He had to do this. There might be help for him.
Equally possible there might not be, but he would never know if he didn’t call the number now stored in his phone.
He sent the call.
While it rang, he tried to keep breathing.
“Hello?”
Say something. It was okay. Claire knew this person, trusted him.
“Hello, anybody there?”
“H-hello, this is Tai Kristiansen calling for Peter Updike. I got your number from Claire Vanderlaan.”
“Oh, of course.” The man’s voice infused with instant warmth. “I’m so glad to hear from you, Tai.”
They didn’t talk long, mostly because Tai remained hardly able to speak. Peter figured this out within a few sentences and suggested an in-person meeting instead.
After he hung up, he realized his body was in full statue mode.
He couldn’t move an inch, not even to set down the phone.
Slowly he got his limbs working again, then flopped like a ragdoll onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
He still didn’t see how Peter could possibly help him, but he would meet with the man, and maybe face-to-face, he’d be able to talk.