“A letter came for you, Ms. St. Clair.” The servant handed me a thick envelope then got in and drove the car around to the back.
I turned the envelope over and saw a strange seal impressed into red wax. It was right out of an ancient playbook. Olympus? I broke the seal and pulled out an engraved invitation.
“The pleasure of your company is requested at nine o’clock tomorrow night. A car has been arranged to collect you. Semi-formal attire.”
I couldn’t believe it. My mother certainly worked fast. Couldn’t her guy have at least given his name? I really, really wanted to decline this “invitation.” Ha. It was more like a command performance. There was no place to RSVP. If I was a no-show, I was sure there would be consequences. To Jerry. Who would stab him this time? Or would she go straight for the lightning bolts?
He walked up just then, his face tight with pain.
“At least it looks the same. But I’m sure it will be filled with all manner of things that I don’t understand.” He followed me inside. “Bart tried to explain some of them on the ride to Edinburgh. Televisions. Telephones. Airplanes. No wonder my head aches. There is too much to try to understand.”
“You’re right. You should probably just go to bed. Rest.”
“I feel like less than a man, Gloriana.” He stopped with his hand on the newel post. “Bloody hell. I
am
less than one if I would tell a woman such a thing.”
“No, it’s all right. I’m glad you can share your feelings with me.” I slipped my hands around his waist and looked up at him. “You’re all man. My man. I just wish you could remember that. You’ve been my rock. Everything to me. You’ve saved me from so many horrible things, Jerry.” I kissed his lips, thrilled when he just took it, didn’t shrug away.
“You have always been a warrior. It’s why we had to take breaks from time to time. I…I just didn’t have it in me to be a meek woman who let a man take charge.” I leaned my head against his chest. “I felt like I’d lose myself if I let you always take care of me.”
“That’s nonsense. I don’t think I’d like a weak woman. Hate sniveling creatures afraid of their own shadows. I remember that much.” He actually brushed his hand over my hair. “I’m glad to hear that I wasn’t worthless. Not a brute either, I hope. Though lately I’ve been so bloody angry. Not sure I can keep my temper in check once I lose it. It’s a bad feeling.”
“You’d never lay a hand on me.” I leaned back and made sure he knew I meant this, from my heart. “You were protective, possessive but not obsessive. It’s taken me a long time to realize the difference. It’s one of the reasons I came crawling across an ocean to see you.”
“Crawling across an ocean? You really do talk strangely, woman.” He smiled and leaned his cheek against my hair. “I am so damned tired of not knowing. Not knowing who I am. Where the hell I am. Who we are to each other.”
“It’s okay, Jerry. Start over. Pretend we just met.” I stepped back and put out my hand. “I’m Gloriana St. Clair. I run a vintage clothing shop in Austin, Texas, in America. I love shopping and hate doing the books, though I can balance my checkbook.”
“Jeremiah Campbell, lately from Castle Campbell in the Highlands of Scotland. I can sit a horse and, when the bagpipes call me, can dance with a sword if given enough whiskey.”
“Really? I’ve never seen you dance, Jer.”
“I guess you’ve never seen me drink enough whiskey then, lass.” He grinned and picked up my hand. “Now I’ll take one of your kisses before I go to bed. I know I’ve still got an hour or more before dawn but this damned head won’t quit aching.”
“I understand.” I moved in and put my arms around his
neck, happier than I’d been since he’d greeted me at my car when I’d first arrived. A fresh start. If I could just win his heart again…I’d done it once. Who was to say I couldn’t do it again? I slid a fingertip around one of his ears and up into his thick curls. “A kiss. I think I can spare one.”
He leaned down and met my lips with his, pulling me in until I felt his body hard against me. My undead heart pounded and I wanted to pull up his shirt so I could feel his skin, dip my hand inside his jeans to tease his stomach and lower, where I felt him stir. No, we were going to get to know each other and it should be slowly. He tasted of the whiskey he’d had earlier and I quite liked it. I hummed my pleasure and tightened my grip on his hair.
He pulled back, his cheeks flushed for the first time in hours. “Gloriana. I wish I could remember. Please believe that.”
“I know you’re trying.” I ran my hand over his rough cheek, my stomach turning with the knowledge that, even with the poison out of his system, he still couldn’t or wouldn’t recall me. “Relax and let this happen in its own time. I believe in us and that we are meant to be.”
He leaned down and kissed me again. This time I felt his urgency, like he was trying to push a memory out of his muddled brain. Finally he gave up and put me from him. “Good night, Gloriana.”
I stood there at the bottom of the stairs, my hand on my swollen lips. “Good night, Jeremiah.” Close. It had felt close that time. Or was I inventing something that only existed in
my
mind?
• • •
“The
servants said you got a package. From an expensive boutique.” Caitlin set it on the coffee table in front of me. “What’s up, Glory? Why haven’t you opened it?”
I’d been avoiding Jerry’s sister since sunset. She’d probably have a million questions about my “mother.” I’d left my stained blouse at Bart’s with a note, asking him to test it for a
match to my DNA. Using one of the doctor’s scalpels, I’d smeared my own blood on the other side of the blouse. Bart could toss the blouse when he was done with it. Hopefully the doctor wouldn’t ask questions about the test. Yeah, right.
“It’s probably a gift from my mother. I really don’t want to be obligated. But, then again, maybe she owes me. I didn’t exactly have a happy childhood. Not that I can remember it. Seems amnesia is an Olympus favorite.” I ripped open the package and pulled out a gorgeous red dress, the kind I’d always dreamed of having. I couldn’t believe it even came in my size. But a quick check in the neckline assured me it did. The red silk was soft and cut to show off my curves without hugging them too tightly. The note inside was brief: “Wear this tonight.” No need to sign it. Of course my mother had sent it. So what? I wasn’t about to turn down something so expensive or so beautiful.
“Wow. Tonight? What’s happening tonight?” Of course Cait had read the note over my shoulder.
“I have to go out. Family obligation. To get my mother off my back. You didn’t tell anyone about her, did you, Cait?” I shut the box.
“Tell anyone about who?” Jerry stood in the doorway, Bart by his side.
“Tell them, Glory.” Cait grabbed my hand. “I don’t feel right keeping this from either one of them. And Bart showed me the blouse you left there. I helped him run the DNA tests. They were a match. The bitch is your mother, there’s no denying it.”
“Mother? Gloriana, what is this about? Have I forgotten you have a mother still around?” Jerry walked over to sit in a chair across from me. “What is DNA?”
“You didn’t forget her. This is a new development. Not a good one either. As for DNA, it’s something in our blood. Bart could probably explain it in scientific terms but I doubt we’d understand a word of it.” I smiled at the doctor. “Anyway, nowadays we can do a blood test to prove if someone is
related to us or not. This woman appeared recently and has been claiming to be my mother. Last night she gave me a blood sample. I asked Bart to run the test to check out her story.” I glanced at Bart.
“She’s your mother all right. Or a very close relative. No doubt about it. The markers were all there.” He smiled. “Cait’s a witness. Must say the blood is interesting. Not like any I’ve examined before. I’m glad to have a sample. Bet her powers are off the charts.”
“No kidding. She’s the one who fried my favorite pair of shoes.” Cait shook her head. “You really don’t want to run into her in a dark alley. Right, Glory?”
“She’s a certified bitch.” I glanced upward. I was taking a chance, talking smack about her; she could be tuned in right now. Hopefully not. Maybe she was still trying to coerce one of the Olympus single guys into showing up tonight for this blind date. Why would any of them be willing? With a vampire? Even with my goddess connections I wasn’t exactly in their league. Look at the dress she’d sent me, four sizes bigger than what she wore, no doubt about it.
“Tell them the worst, Glory. It might help Bart with Jerry’s cure.” Cait got up to stand beside the doctor. I could see that they were developing a relationship. Their body language screamed hot chemistry.
I glared at her. There was no way spilling beans about my mother’s reason for poisoning Jerry would help anyone, and it was bound to ruin my tenuous start with my man.
“Spit it out, Gloriana. What is the worst?” Jerry leaned forward. “Is your mother involved in this somehow?”
Jerry might have memory issues, but he was still sharp when it came to making connections.
“Um, I had no idea who she was, if I even had a mother, until after you were stabbed, Jer. Then she showed up on the castle grounds to let me know she had played the witch and spelled Mara.”
“Really?” He leaned back. “I wondered…I know you
think I gave Mara a pass on that stabbing, but I had my doubts. She did wield the knife.”
I stared at him. He had actually sounded like modern Jerry for a minute there. Maybe things were coming back to him.
“My, uh, mother was the one who put something on the knife to make you lose your memory. She was punishing you for making me vampire. Apparently a daughter who drinks blood is disgusting in her world. She wanted you to forget me and move on.”
“It worked.” Jerry’s fists clenched and unclenched. He was getting upset and I didn’t blame him. With me? Again, understandable.
“But I don’t know, now that the poison is out of your system, why your memory hasn’t come back. I can’t get an answer from her about it either.” I glanced at Bart. The doctor was riveted. “Believe me, I’ve begged her to fix you, Jer. But she’s not in any hurry to make you whole. In fact…” I was almost afraid to put this theory out there, but it was in line with what Bart had said. “My mother’s having me jump through some hoops, dangling the hope that she can make things right. But I don’t know. I got the feeling that since Bart’s tests proved your blood is clean now, that maybe she’s bluffing. That you
could
remember, if you
would
remember.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jerry was on his feet, his face like stone. He was furious. “You think I don’t want my mind back?”
“No, I get it. It’s involuntary. You can’t help yourself.” I stood and walked around the coffee table. The box on it reminded me. If my mother did have the means to cure Jerry, I had a date to go on. “And I’m doing everything I can to get my mother to fix you. She claims she’s got another trick up her sleeve. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m beginning to doubt it. Bart suggested…” I looked to the doctor for support.
“She’s right, Jerry. All the signs point to posttraumatic amnesia. There are a few things that can break you out of it, like the hypnotism we already tried. But time might be all
you need. Unless Glory’s mother has a magic potion of some sort.” Bart stepped close to Jerry and offered a smile. “I’m not ready to give up on you and do we really want to rely on some wacked out nut job to come up with a cure?”
I nodded. He’d described my mother to a tee. I hope she’d heard him in Olympus. Maybe it would bring her to her senses. What she’d done was crazy, no getting around it.
“Thanks, Bart. But time? Screw that. I can’t spend years like this.” He shoved Bart aside and stormed from the room.
“I’ll go after him. He shouldn’t be alone right now.” Cait glanced at me apologetically. “You had to tell them, Glory. You get it, don’t you?”
“Yes, you’re right. It all needed to come out. Especially since I have to get ready to leave in about half an hour.” I picked up the box. If there was the slightest chance my mother could really help Jerry, I’d date Zeus’s dog and kiss him on the lips.
“Tell me about your mother. Maybe
we
can figure out how to cure Jerry if I can understand where she’s coming from.” Bart blocked my exit from the room.
I filled him in on the whole Olympus thing while he took notes.
“What kinds of things have you seen her do?” Bart had a page full of notes.
“Well, she’s big on lightning strikes and thunder. That’s popular on Olympus. She fried Cait’s shoes. She can freeze you in place so you can’t move a muscle, but then I can do that too. It’s a cool trick. Very handy when you’re in a tough spot. She can read through paranormal blocks. You know, read your mind when you think everyone’s locked out? I inherited that one too.” I smiled. “So watch it around me.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t worry, I only intrude in an emergency.”
“Interesting. I’ll be thinking about this. Can you shoot lightning too?” He wrote something down.
“I wish. There have been many times when I’d like to have fried a few people, her especially, though I know she’d
have been way out of my league. The woman has mad skills.” I sighed. “Good luck, Bart. I’ve got to go. If you talk to Ian MacDonald, to consult on this case, let’s keep this about my mother between you and me. As you’ve noticed, the Campbells are really uptight about the Macs. Too much historically bad blood, and to Jerry history was like yesterday.”
“I get it.” Bart grinned. “But Ian is a great source for ideas. I gather you’ve had dealings with him.”
“More than I’d like. He’s not to be trusted. And that’s learned on my own, no prejudice involved. He’s played some dirty tricks on me and I’d be skeptical about whatever he suggests to do with Jerry.” I sighed. The clock was ticking. “Now I’ve got to go get ready. I have to make this date, and a dress like this one demands serious makeup and effort on my part. Plus I have no doubt my mother will be eavesdropping to make sure I play fair.”
“Sorry about that.” He patted my shoulder. “Must have been quite a shock, finding out who she was.”