8. Rena #2
“We can’t touch them, Rena,” Chance replied quietly. “Any touch from a male that isn’t their mate would hurt. None of us is going to traumatize them further.”
“Oh god.” I hadn’t even thought of that.
“Be prepared,” he said with a sigh, pulling me close. “Before the night is over, this house is going to be full to the rafters. I don’t think anyone will refuse to come.”
“Good,” I said, kissing his jaw.
I spent the next few hours with Chance while he called in every favor he could think of.
He’d made so many friends over the years, going back to long before I was born, that he’d had to pull out a small leather-bound notebook filled with contacts in order to remember them all.
Starting at the beginning, he’d highlighted every single Vampire he trusted and thought would be willing to make the trip.
Some of the entries were so old that they didn’t even have telephone numbers, and he had to pull out a laptop that had survived his rage so we could go searching the internet for anything more recent.
Vampire after Vampire listened quietly and agreed to come.
The Bouchers had decided to only give the bare minimum of facts, just enough information that the Vampires they called knew the seriousness of the situation.
Secrecy was paramount, because if what they were planning was somehow leaked, the humans would move their operation.
It would be nearly impossible to find them again—and too late for many of the captives that Danny and Rosemary had found.
By the time Mattie called over the intercom that dinner was ready, Chance had called every contact he had, and I was lying beside him with my head on his thigh while he typed faster than anyone I’d ever seen, searching for the last two contacts he hadn’t been able to find.
“How do you think everyone else did?” I asked, rising from the bed.
“Probably about the same,” he said with a sigh, closing the laptop. “We’ll see a lot of the Vampires I called, but not all of them—even the ones who agreed to come.”
“Really?”
Chance nodded. “Many of them will decide that it’s too risky. They have families. Mates.”
“So do the people who are being held,” I argued.
“Vampire Command should be taking care of this,” he said, leading me out of the room, his fingers woven with mine. “Vampires will think twice about stepping in because they aren’t.”
“That’s…” I didn’t even know what it was.
When someone needed help, you helped. End of story. I couldn’t imagine looking the other way.
“When this is over, those in power will have to answer for their inaction,” he said grimly.
The kitchen was loud and chaotic when we reached it.
Everyone was discussing who they’d been able to reach, how many had agreed to come, and asking if the others had contact information for the ones they hadn’t been able to find.
I didn’t recognize a single one of the names, so I just quietly dished up my food and sat down beside Reese to eat.
“How did it go for you guys?” she asked quietly.
“Most of them said they’d come,” I replied, digging into my food. “But Chance said some of them still won’t show.”
Reese nodded. “Same for us. Vampires are the same as people in that way. A lot of them are willing to overlook bad shit happening if it doesn’t affect them directly.”
“Assholes,” I muttered.
“I think they’ll be surprised at how many show up,” Reese said, her gaze on the Bouchers. All the Vampires were standing in a loose circle, intently discussing the coming days between bites of food.
“Leaders of men,” I said. I shrugged. “Vampires. Whatever.”
“Yeah,” she said, shooting me a small smile. “Rosemary told me that the Bouchers are notorious.”
“No shit?” I asked, glancing at Chance.
“Yep.” Reese nodded. “Their exploits, even from fifty years ago, are still talked about today. Fearless shit. Incredibly brave. Ruthless. Incredibly good at what they do.”
I thought about the way Chance had teased me about touching his parts and had to hold back a laugh, then I sobered, wondering if I was about to see the other side of him—the side that people talked about years later.
“Eat up,” Mattie called out. “We don’t know how long before our guests will start to arrive, and I don’t have enough to feed everyone if they get here during dinner.”
“So tell them tough shit,” Chance replied, stuffing a piece of garlic bread into his mouth. “They should’ve grabbed fast food.”
Ambrose chuckled.
“It’s like you were raised by wolves,” Mattie replied in exasperation.
Chance howled, loud and long.
“And he’s all yours,” Reese said, snickering.
Chance looked at me and winked. I wrinkled my nose at him, but it was impossible to hide my smile.
Mattie’s words had been prophetic. The brothers had barely finished cleaning up the dinner dishes when the first Vampire and his mate were at the door. They only lived two hours away and had left as soon as they’d dropped their kids with a trusted friend.
After that, the front door had barely closed before someone else arrived.
I was introduced to so many Vampires that I didn’t even bother trying to keep them straight.
It was incredible to see the wide range of personalities and backgrounds represented.
Vampires in suits, work clothes, cowboy hats, basketball shorts and hoodies, baggy jeans, skinny jeans, facial piercings, tattoos, clean cut, bearded, braids, mohawks, black eyeliner, a Priest in his dog collar—all of whom greeted each other like old friends.
They shook each other’s hands and sometimes hugged for long moments, introduced each other to their mates, pulled out photos of their children, asked about parents and siblings, and reminisced about the last time they’d seen each other.
I watched it all in awe.
“Rena, this is Skip,” Chance introduced me after doing some long, complicated handshake with the Vampire. He had locks down to his ass and a wide smile. His mate was about a foot shorter than him, with Bantu knots and the most flawless eyeliner I’d ever seen.
“Nice to meet you, Rena,” he said jovially. “This is my mate, Amara.”
“He calls you Skip?” Amara asked her mate, her eyes twinkling with mirth. “Hey, Rena.”
“Nice to meet you guys,” I replied.
“I told you about that,” Skip said, jutting his chin at her. “It’s because I was the best on the water.”
“Makes you sound like an old white dude,” she said with a laugh.
“Anyway,” Skip said, dragging the word out. “It’s good to see you, Chance—and all settled down too.”
“Took me a while,” Chance said with a self-deprecating huff. “But I eventually tracked her down.”
“I practically landed in your lap,” I argued, rolling my eyes.
“You remind me of someone,” Skip said, throwing his arm over Amara’s shoulders. “But I can’t place it.”
“Irene Rossi?” Chance asked with a smile.
“That’s it,” Skip said, pointing at Chance.
“I’m her granddaughter,” I said, a little startled.
It hadn’t even occurred to me that I was surrounded by Vampires who may have known my grandparents. It was impossible to tell how old anyone was, but there had to be a lot of people in the room who’d crossed their path.
“No shit?” Amara said, her face lighting up. “How?”
“My grandma already had a daughter when she met Grandpa,” I replied. “And that daughter eventually had me.”
“If that doesn’t beat all,” Skip said, shaking his head. “You look just like your granny. Just like her.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. Same eyes, same smile. Same facial expressions too.”
“No one’s ever told me that before,” I replied, my throat feeling a little tight. “Thank you.”
“Small world, huh?” he said. “I was real sorry to hear about Irene and Joe.”
“Thank you.”
I leaned against Chance as Vampire after Vampire sparked up conversations with him.
The entire first floor of the house was filled with people, and the later it got, the more worried I became about where they would all sleep.
I was beginning to droop, but no one else seemed to realize that it was nearing midnight.
“Everyone,” Erik said, raising his voice a little.
The house grew quiet. It was weird to know that even Vampires in a different room across the house could hear him.
“We’ve asked everyone to get here by tomorrow at noon.
At that time, we’ll meet here and discuss everything that you’ve all been too polite to grill us about tonight.
Before we head to bed, I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for coming.
We reached out for help, and our friends did not hesitate. The Bouchers will not forget that.”
“I’m just here for Mattie’s food,” a Vampire called out jokingly.
“You come in the morning, John Ash,” Mattie called back. “I’ll make you biscuits and gravy special.”
After that, the Vampires and their mates began to leave. Some had rented rooms at local hotels. Others had brought campers and RVs. There were even a few who planned on pitching tents. It took about an hour before Chance and I were trudging up the stairs to his rooms, the last of the guests gone.
“That was a lot of people,” I said with a yawn as he led me through the dark living space. “How many more will come?”
“A lot,” he replied. “Those were just the ones who lived close enough to get here tonight. There’ll be others who have to fly in.”
“That’s good, right?” I asked as I grabbed a pair of pajamas and my toiletries out of my suitcase.
“Some of them will leave,” Chance said tiredly, leaving the bathroom door open as he went in to brush his teeth. “Once they know what the mission is, they’ll bow out.”
“Really?”
“I’d be glad to be proven wrong,” he mumbled around his toothbrush. “But there were a few in there tonight who seemed to just come because they wanted to see everyone.”
“It’s not a family reunion,” I grumbled, leaning against the doorframe.
“It was for some of them.”
“I didn’t like that guy who carried around the cigar,” I mused. “What’s his story?”
“He’s a douche,” Chance said, spitting into the sink. “But I’ve never met anyone better with explosives.”
“He seemed smarmy.”
“He is.”