Follow Me When the Sun Goes Down (11 page)

Bishop let go of my hand.  “Then it’s true what they’re saying, you’re encouraging people to revolt against the Order’s right to judge them.”

“What?  I never told anybody to revolt.”  What was he even talking about?

“Oh
, sure.  What did you say – don’t revolt, wink, wink, nudge, nudge?  Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on in your own streets.”

“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about.  What’s going on in the streets?” 

His head tilted to one side as Bishop studied me carefully.  “You really don’t know?”

“I’m starting to think I’d better find out,” I frowned.  Was Felix keeping something from me? 

“From what Mason told me, it’s open season on the Order out there.  It’s getting so they can’t do their jobs without fear of being attacked by an angry mob.”

“Then maybe there’s something wrong with the way they’re doing their jobs, did you ever think of that?”

“So you are in favor of it?”  His expression darkened.

“I’m in favor of people standing up for themselves when they’re being unfairly treated.  I never told anybody to go after the Order though.”  I’d have to talk to Felix and get the real skinny on the situation instead of through Order-colored glasses.

“Maybe you didn’t have to.  It’s clear they’re following the example you set for them.  Most of them are too young to know the way things were before the Order came into existence and the steps we’ll take to make sure it doesn’t get like that again.  Anja, you can’t allow this to continue.”

“A little revolution can be a healthy thing from time to time.  Maybe it’s what we need to get a more balanced system in the works.”

“You don’t get it,” he shook his head.  “Do you really think the Order is going to let this go for much longer?  If I’m hearing out it all the way out here, you can for damn sure bet they’ll hear about it in Rome, if they haven’t already.”

“Well… good
.  Maybe they need to get the message too.”

“Anja, they’ll retaliate with force, that’s how the Order works.  You’ll end up with martial law until things calm down
.  Is that what you want?”

It had to be an empty threat.  There was way too big of a geographic area for them to enforce something like that.  “They can’t do that, there are more of us than there are of them.”

“Not if they send in reinforcements.  They take this sort of thing pretty seriously.  If your people keep on this path, there’s going to be another cleansing.”

That didn’t sound good at all.  It didn’t escape me the way he called them my people either.  Not too long ago they’d been his people as well.  “Then I’ll have to talk to the Order, it’s as simple as that.  I’ll go to
Rome or wherever and explain that I’m not trying to advocate violence on either side. I just want a repeal of the Order’s right to execute whoever they deem fit.”

He was already shaking his head again before I even stopped talking.  “You can’t do that, you have no sway over the Order.”

“Then you can appeal to them for me.  Make them see my side of the story.  I’m only trying to do what’s best for everybody.”

“I won’t do that.”

“Bishop, please…”

He immediately looked away, eyes scrunching tightly closed.  “Don’t…”

“You really think I’d try to compel you over this?”  It hurt, but I guess I could understand the kneejerk reaction.  Only I’d tried my hardest to make him understand that I never wanted to use my compulsion against him again.  “So what I said at the airport… that didn’t affect things for you at all?”

“Nothing’s changed between us.” 

“I guess you’re right.”  I held onto the sigh of regret; there would be time to mourn the absolute loss of any chance at a relationship with Bishop later.  “Well, I guess I should get back to my friends and you should get back to… whatever you’re doing.”

Bishop relaxed when I let it go so easily, but his shoulders were still tense.  “I’m surprised you didn’t bring Maggie or Ellie back with you.  I hear they’re your regular entourage now.”

“Yes, well, Maggie didn’t have the best memories of this place, you know?  And Ellie… she’s gone.”

“She took off on her own?  I hope she remembers to keep some things secret.” 

“No, I mean she’s
gone
, gone.” My voice wavered a bit, and I cleared my throat, not wanting to risk tears in this venue.  Bishop’s voice softened as my meaning became clear, and I looked away.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Anja.”

“Don’t pretend like you cared about her, you wanted to kill her from the start,” I hissed.

“Only because of the danger she posed to you
. I never wanted her dead on a personal note.”

“I have a newsflash for you.  Wanting someone dead
is
a personal note, no matter how you convince yourself it’s not.”

He was silent for a few moments, his voice grave when he spoke.  “How did she die?”

“Rob had to... take steps.”

His eyes flicked to where Rob lingered.  “And you’re fine with
him
doing it?  Jesus, Anja, what happened to you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?  I’m not
fine
with it, not even close.”  It still bothered me more than I liked that Rob had taken those steps without talking to me about it first, but it was an impossible situation.  There was no way to ‘take care of it’ that would’ve made it easier on any of us. 

“Then why are you letting him hang all over you?”

“He’s not hanging all over me, he’s looking out for me.  There's a difference.”

Bishop wasn’t having any.  “I’ve worked security longer than he has, and there’s no reason to put his hands on you.  Or is that the picture now?  Is that what that song was about?  I thought…”

Was he jealous?  I didn’t know if I should try to exploit that to get him to admit he still had feelings for me or not, but in the end I couldn’t.  My situation with Rob was none of his business and I wouldn’t use it to trick Bishop into feeling something he was so bound and determined to ignore. 

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Bishop.”

“I guess not.  I’ll leave you to his expert care then.  Remember what I said and try to stay out of trouble while you’re here.  I won’t be able to help you if you get yourself in hot water.”   

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I scowled at his back, watching him take the long way back into the mansion
, I suppose to avoid crossing paths with Rob.

After that fun conversation, I needed a few moments to myself, but I was glad to have Bridget seek me out not too much later. 

“Hey, Anya, the party’s inside, not out here.”

“I know. I wanted a few minutes to enjoy the night air.”

“Are you kidding?  It’s cold as fuck out here.  Not all of us are immune to the temperature, now come on inside.”

“You go on ahead, I’ll just be a minute.”  My gaze flicked back to the terrace doors where I could still see Bishop inside, talking to a pretty blonde woman I hadn’t met yet.

“Jesus, An… you have to stop looking at him with those sappy
, sad cartoon eyes.”

“I’m not!” I insisted, immediately on the defensive.  “I didn’t do or say anything about Bishop.  I’m over him.”

“Oh please, you are
so
not over him,” she snorted.

“I should be
.  He could care less about being with me.”

“Yeah
, right.”

I let out a long breath.  “It makes no difference what he does or doesn’t feel when stuff like that comes out of his mouth.”

“Shake it off, girlfriend, it’s time to go back to making the rounds.”  Bridget reached inside her bodice and tucked her boobs up to sit a smidge higher.  “You ready, Your Grace?”

“Shut up.”  She knew I didn’t like it when she called me that.

“Good comeback.  I can see why they picked you to rule the world.  Who was the dumbass who decided to make you queen of the dead again?  Oh yeah, it was you.  This is all your own fault, dumbass.”

“
Well, double dumbass on you.”

“Even better.  I don’t know how you keep coming up with them,” she teased, and I had to smile that time. 

“It’s from a movie.”

“I figured.  You can tell me all about it later, how Luke makes out with his sister and then saves the Klingons from the
Cylons or whatever shit it is.  Right now I have to get back to Felix’s side before I have to cut that bitch that’s hanging all over his arm.” 

I looked over in time to see the brunette in question touch Felix’s arm with familiarity, her artificially high laughter floating out to us on the terrace.  “You want me to compel her to jump into the lake?”

“No, but a facial with a bunch of razor blades might be a good idea,” she joked.  At least I think she was joking.  It was hard to tell from the speculative gleam that came into her eyes.  She must have seen my expression because she was quick to set me at ease.  “Kidding!  I’m kidding.  Mostly.” 

“Ah, Bridget.  What would I do without you?”

“Suck more?”

* * *

The rest of the night didn’t go too badly.  There were no formal events scheduled.  Mostly it was a bunch of us milling around, introducing ourselves as people arrived and putting out feelers on who wanted to meet with whom.  Felix set up with a meeting with the Germans and the East as well as with Corley, but before I could ask him more about what Vetis wanted with us, he closed himself off in the bedroom with Bridget. 

I wasn’t quite ready to sleep yet, so I decided to make some notes on the delegates I’d met that night.  I dug out my list of houses and made a few additions, my notes sprawled across the bed beside me.

Jennike Vendal – poisonous bitch

Jean Pierre
Severine – sad, lost his wife, distrusts Belonoc

Rein Faust – Seems nice, progressive.  Reason for caution?  Still need to meet Liesa!

Chinese guy – did not get his name.  find it out

Felippo Cristobal – dude likes to party.  Thing for cowboys

Mac – likes Patsy Cline and tequila

Dante Cipriano – too smooth for his own good.  Careful

Hasan Khalid – so gorgeous!  Love his accent!

Erik Erlendur – batshit crazy.  Talk to Niels instead

Where is Sylvius?  What is Corley up to with all the smiles?

Aubrey – is he linked to Vetis?  What was with that world order crack?  What
does Bishop blame him for? 

“Whatcha working on?” Rob asked, locking the suite door after sending Gunnar off with instructions for the rest of the security team. 

“Oh, just some notes on the people I met tonight.  To try and keep them straight in my head, you know?  It’s a lot of new introductions, I wanted to make some observations while they were still fresh in my mind.”

“Good idea.  Anyone you’re worried about?”

“It’s too early to tell, really.  Everybody still has their game faces on.  We’ll see what happens when we get deeper into the talks.  I’m especially interested to see what Corley has up his sleeve.  Did you catch the Smiley Smilerson act he put on when we first got here?  But then he tries to put me on the spot with a song?”

“You showed him though, you came through like a champ.”

“Thanks,” I smiled.  “But I can’t take credit for that.  Jakob compelled me not to be afraid of performing anymore.  Not that I asked him to.” 

Rob let out a low whistle, sitting beside me on the bed.  “Do you mind, or are you glad he done it?”

“Mostly I’m relieved to be able to sing whenever I want in front of whoever and not feel like I have to vom first.  But…”

“You can’t help but feel like he took advantage of you in a way.”

“A bit, yes.  You have a remarkable sense of understanding for someone who can’t be compelled,” I mused aloud.  If anything, I’d have thought it would affect him the opposite, never having experienced it himself.

Rob gave a half shrug.  “I’ve seen what it can do to people up close and personal.” 

“Sounds like there’s a story behind that.”

“I s’pose there is.”

“Someone you cared about?”  Our shoulders almost grazed against each other, and I could feel the heat of his thigh next to mine through the gauzy dress fabric. 

“Very much,” he replied soberly, staring down at Jakob’s ring on my finger.  “It ended badly.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault, it was a long time ago.  You remind me of her a bit.  But you’re stronger than she was.”  The hint of a smile lifted the corner of his mouth.  “You’re a survivor, you are.”

“Especially with you by my side to keep me safe.” I nudged his shoulder with mine.

“You’re not wrong there.  I won’t let anything happen to you.  You know that, right?”  He nudged me back. 

“It’s one of the few things I’m sure of these days.”  We sat there, shoulder to shoulder, just sort of looking at each other, neither of us feeling the need to speak.  Until some… amorous sounds came through the walls from Felix and Bridget’s room and we both smiled uncomfortably and looked away.   

“Hey, did you know that the vamps back home are openly challenging the Order?” I said, more for something to fill the silence than because I thought he really did have any information on it.  

“Seems to me I might have heard something along those lines, yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?  Bishop says if we don’t stop it, the Order will send a bunch of reinforcements
to crack down on us and make it worse for everyone.” 

Rob seemed largely unconcerned.  “Don’t get your knickers in a knot, Bishop was trying to get you riled up
is all.  It’s only in the San Francisco area as I heard tell about it, and there wasn’t any riots in the streets or nothing.  The vamps in town are just standing up for themselves instead of cowering in fear.  If the Order is scared about it, that’s their problem.”

“But what if they…”

He stilled my words with a single finger across my lips.  “Anja… don’t go borrowing trouble.  The Order’s got more to worry about than a few upstarts in a single town half the world away.  We’ve plenty of time to see how it plays out.  Now, you should get some rest.”

My lips parted, brushing across the pad of his finger.  In the worst way I wanted to draw it into my mouth, but all I did was nod, lips curving the slightest bit to form an open mouthed kiss of sorts.  Rob’s eyes were
riveted to my mouth, and I felt his sharp intake of breath before he pulled his hand away. 

“I’ll be quick in the bathroom, then leave you to your rest,” he said, sliding off the bed.   

I slipped out of the pretty dress while he was in there, almost half hoping he’d catch me mid change, but I had my pj’s on by the time he emerged, smelling minty fresh. 

“You don’t have to sleep out there on the couch, you know,” I threw out there, lingering by the door as he passed by with hardly a look at me.

“I’m not leaving you here alone, I don’t trust their security.”

Not what I meant, but I moved on.  He obviously wasn’t thinking about sharing anything more than the bathroom.  “You don’t have to be uncomfortable all night just to keep me safe.  I’ll lock the door, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“You want me to leave?” His head canted to one side in puzzlement.

I let out a long breath.  We were on two completely different wavelengths and I wasn’t brave enough to come out and invite him to share my bed.  “No, that’s not what I meant at all.”

His shoulders dropped in exasperation.  “If there’s something you want me to do before we settle in for the night, just come out and say it.”

“It doesn’t matter what I want, you’ve already made the decision for both of us.”

Understanding dawned, but with it came that tight reserve once more.  “Goodnight then.  I’ll wake you when the sun goes down.”

“Rob?”

“Yeah?”

“I meant what I said before.”

“You say a lot of things.”

“In the hall, when I was singing.”  I might have been imagining it, but I thought his eyes warmed for just a moment before they became guarded again.

“You also said you were over Bishop.  Is that true?”

“I want it to be.”  I couldn’t say more than that, not with certainty. 

“It doesn’t matter, forget I said anything about it.  I’m sure he’ll come around and you’ll work things out together.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“We don’t all the time get what we want.  Leastways not with someone like our benefactor in the picture.”

“And if he wasn’t there?”     

His hazel eyes locked with mine, sending me a heated look that made my toes sweat.  “I would fight for what’s mine.”

I let out a shaky breath.  “I would too.”

“Well now, seeing as how we know where we stand, I’ll say goodnight, miss.”

“Goodnight.”  I shut the bedroom door, leaning against it as a truth settled over me.  I might get the occasional kiss out of a moment of weakness, but Rob would never choose to be with me, not while Jakob was alive.  I could torture myself by singing him love songs and sighing every time his fingers brushed against my skin, but it wouldn’t make him mine. 

The man was made of restraint, he’d proven it time and again.  Apart from a few slips here and there, he’d been able to completely hide his feelings for me for months.  Part of that was my own density, but mostly it was because he didn’t allow himself to give into his emotions.  Bridget was right, a man like Rob would never let me all the way in to his heart.  He might love me, but we didn’t stand a chance. 

I
lay awake for far too long contemplating that single thought before sleep finally claimed me for the day.