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Chapter Forty Nine
Annnd she thought she knew everything by now. So wrong. She stared at Seth in awe. "Does he actually turn into a wolf?" she whispered.
Michael nodded still smiling. "When the need arises."
"Wow. That's cool."
All but Tyros erupted with laughter having listened in on the exchange.
"She thinks you're cool, I think I'm jealous," Coderin joked.
"Yeah, that's just until she smells his dog breath, than "cool" will change to "foul"," Matthias quipped.
Anna felt heat rise in her cheeks. Cool? How much sillier could she sound?
"Knock it off guys, you're embarrassing her," Seth continued to smile, "don't let them fool you, they all wish they were as cool as me." He had a slight Irish brogue and she found herself relaxing and smiling back. For some reason that particular accent always seemed friendly.
"Yeah it's my dream to shed," Matthias retorted. Anna looked at Josh and Will and saw they were equally intrigued. Apparently she wasn't the only one surprised to learn of werewolves. Or at least to find one sitting at their table which Will confirmed with his next statement.
"We thought the Lyncane were extinct and last I heard they were enemies of the vampire."
Seth grinned, flashing his teeth again and Anna could see the wolfishness about him. "That's what the Lyncane want people to think. Most of my kind have chosen to live their lives raising their families in seclusion and don't involve themselves with the dark ones anymore. I'm an exception."
"So how did you come to be an exception?" Jack, ever suspicious of non-humans, was regarding him warily.
"My family moved from Ireland to the outback of Australia over a century ago. Since we tend to have long lives, several centuries or so, we have to either live in remote places or move around. The McKellar’s chose seclusion so they could remain in one place. But every new generation has to go out into the world at some point to find their mate. I came to London just after I hit maturity seventy years ago, and met Michael in a tavern. We struck up a conversation and when I learned about his ongoing battle against the dark ones I decided it was the life for me and joined him. That about sums it up."
Anna had a million questions she wanted to ask the vampires and the Lyncane, but she decided this was not the place for it. She felt Michael's vivid blue eyes on her again and turned to him. "How long are you going to stay?" she asked.
"As long as it takes to convince you to come back with us."
Whoa. She leaned back slightly and looked at him.
He explained, "We couldn't possibly leave you here unprotected, you are way too important."
She swallowed hard. The term breed mare came to mind, why else would she be important? All of a sudden she was struck with fear that they had plans to share her. Nervousness assailed her as she looked around at the intimidating lot. "I don't think that I'm the one from the prophecy," she declared.
Michael cocked his head to the side, "No?"
"No. I think I'm a fluke. You know, an accident."
"Why do you say that?"
Why indeed? Just a couple of hours ago she wanted to be the special one. "I don't know, it's too much responsibility," she said weakly.
There was understanding in his eyes and he spoke to her gently. "You don't have to worry about things like that. If it's a matter of fate than what is supposed to happen will, you don't have to live in fear of making the wrong choice. But no matter what, going with us is the right choice. It's far too dangerous for you to live without protection. Your friends,” he looked up at the McClaron's, "they care very much for you and would no doubt protect you with their lives, but it might come to that kind of cost if you stayed with them."
Damn. Double damn. If there was anything that might have talked her into leaving, the image of her beloved McClaron's dying in an attempt to protect her was definitely it. She had been in denial for the past few days, thinking that she would find a way to keep things as they are. A part of her had known all along that this was yet another turn in the road that she would have to make.
"Where do you live?" she asked in hopes that he painted a lovely picture complete with an in-ground pool.
"Our home, the place we go to rest and regroup, is on the outskirts of London, in the country. It's been in my family for hundreds of years."
She must have made a face as she pictured an antique because he smiled reassuringly.
"It's modernized, it has every convenience. I'm certain you'll like it there. You can select any room you like and decorate it to suit you."
Talk about assuming the victory. But....did she really have a choice? "Sounds lovely."
She looked over at her guys, especially Jack, and thought she could not do another teary departure. It's not as if she wouldn't see them, and she planned on bugging them with phone calls on a daily basis. Well maybe not Jack. She'd already managed to analyze herself out of her crush on the handsome Irishman. She’d convinced herself it was just the intimacy and insanity of the days they'd spent together that had made her feel that way. Which was mostly true.
The group decided to move their gathering to a tavern down the street.
“The wine left a sour taste in my mouth,” Matthias said to Will as they walked outside, “I’m more of a beer and scotch kinda male, you?”
Will grinned, “Hell yeah, I’ll order us up a pitcher and some shots.”
Anna spent the first part of the evening attached to Josh since she felt her departure was imminent. He'd asked her about it and she'd looked away saying only "I want to do what's best." Mentally she'd added for you and your brother.
Throughout the night she observed the males with fascination. Matthias and Will hit it off right away and she found that the gorgeous vampire with all the facial piercings had a similar sense of humor to Will’s. Seth seemed comfortable in any situation, bantering with Will and Matthias, talking more seriously with Jack and Michael- who incidentally seemed to have a personality similar to Austin's only a great deal more cultured and polite. Coderin appeared to be most comfortable with Seth, it almost seemed he was trying to emulate the wolf-man. Tyros, well he just sat alone and watched. Aloof was the best word to describe him, she had yet to see him interact with anyone aside from his brief greeting.
"Let's go see what dad and Michael are talking about so intensely," Josh suggested, handing her another beer.
Anna considered and shook her head, “I think I'll try and talk to the loner." She nodded in the direction of Tyros.
"Okay, I’ll be over there if you need me."
She walked slowly towards the brooding male and felt his eyes rake over her. His expression didn't indicate what he felt about her one way or another.
"Hi," she said with a smile.
He stared at her.
"Do you mind if I sit?" She pointed at the stool beside him and he lifted one shoulder slightly.
She took a sip of her beer and swiveled towards him. "Have you been to America before?"
He turned towards her and regarded her silently for a moment. "No."
"Not a big talker?"
This earned her a slight curl of his lip. "What gave you that impression?"
She smiled again. "So what's it like, fighting demons?" Her one experience had not given her much to go on.
"It's....immensely satisfying."
She frowned a little, waiting for more.
His lip curled again. "Ripping apart their flesh and knowing that the deed has taken their existence forever.....is satisfying."
Anna was beginning to get the "creeper" vibe from Tyros. "I attempted it once." She told him just to fill the silence.
His eyes raked over her again and and one dark slanted brow went up.
"It didn't go very well, though Will assured me that I did destroy it."
His expression didn’t change. "What happened?"
She looked down. "It brought me to hell in my mind. Not an experience I'd be eager to repeat."
"They can do that if your mind is weak."
She jerked her head back up. OUCH. That wasn't a nice thing to say. In retrospect talking to the loner might not have been the best idea.
"Well," Anna said hopping off the stool, "It was....nice talking to you." She walked two steps when she heard him say "liar" in just above a whisper. She turned to find him staring at her in challenge.
She met and held his gaze, then shrugged. "You're right, nice was the wrong word."
He have her half a smile for that. "So what is the right word?"
"Words actually. Mildly unpleasant. That describes it."
He smiled widely and it transformed his face into something hauntingly beautiful. "I appreciate honesty." His smile faded as quickly as it had come.
"I'll remember that. For next time we talk."
He lifted a brow once more and she winked before going to see what Matthias and Will were laughing about.
"So I say to the fucker, 'tell you what, we'll both swim under the ship and he who comes up first gives their loot to the other. And he goes, ‘Ain't no one can hold their breath longer than me, you're on!’ And fuck if he didn't hold his breath until he passed the hell out, damned determined bloody asshole! So I haul the bastard out of the water give him mouth to mouth, the whole nine, and while he's still coughing up the sea he sputters, "That don't count you brought me up, I didn't come up on my own!"
Will doubled over with laughter.
Matthias grinned and downed another shot, then poured himself a beer, draining the last of the pitcher. He put his glass down and glanced at her. "Hey there, you have a nice talk with our resident freak?"
Anna winced. "He can hear you."
"And?"
"He's not so bad."
"Compared to a demon possessed gargoyle you mean?"
"I take it the two of you are not friends."
"Virus doesn't have friends."
"But he lives with you, right?"
Matthias made a face. "In a manner of speaking."
She quirked an eyebrow.
"We all go back to one house and sleep occasionally."
"Otherwise where do you go?"
"When we're not taking out demons? Where ever we feel like going."
"So-you work together, sort of live together, but don't hang out together?"
He barked a laugh. "Some of us hang out. I occasionally hang with Michael-angel-o and Wolfie. And of course wherever Wolfie goes Code-red goes too, so...." he shrugged.
Anna glanced at Seth and sure enough Coderin was sticking by his elbow. "Is he gay?"
Matthias erupted in laughter at that. "Nah, though I like to give him shit like that, it's just a little idol worshipping."
Will was still grinning and he jumped in, "So how long were you on the high seas?"
"On and off for a century and a half. Treasure hunting is a hell of a blast. Of course most of the time the bastards robbed other ships for their loot, which was fine by me, I just kept the killing in check. There was never a reason to hurt anyone when I could just zip in and take what we wanted and leave without anyone the wiser. They called me the Phantom Pirate."
"Nice."
So he'd been a pirate minus the killing and hopefully the raping. That was definitely an exciting past.
"So sweetheart, you coming back to England with us?" He asked.
Will looked at her, interested in the answer.
"I guess I don't have much of a choice. My presence in people's lives puts them in danger."
"I'm sure Michael-Angel-O will be thrilled with that decision."
"But not you?"
Matthias looked her over slowly, his green eyes growing heavy lidded. In a sexy voice he asked, "Do you want me to be?"
She flushed and looked down.
Will's expression changed dramatically. “Hey, she's a good girl, don't fucking treat her like that."
Matthias looked at him in surprise then turned back to her. "I apologize. Spend too much time with whores you forget how to treat a lady."
Anna shrugged and smiled. "It's okay, guys will be guys."
"You forgot to add Thank God for that," Matthias told her grinning.
"No I didn't," she said grinning back.
He laughed. "Nicely done." He poured himself another shot then held the bottle up to her in offering.
"No thanks, I'll let you get back to your pillaging stories," she meandered over to Josh again.
She listened in to Will and Matthias for a minute to see if they'd talk about her. They did.
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