Forget Me When the Sun Goes Down (Forged Bloodlines Book 11) (17 page)

Okay, so I knew I shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but I had to know who she was and what was going on.  I shut the door, with me still out on the front porch.  They’d gone around the side of the house, but I could still hear them easily, especially after I inched a few feet closer to the corner.

“You could’ve told me if your business was gonna drag on for so long, Rob.  I been going out of my mind with what passes for the local nightlife,” she was saying.  “Our reservation’s up, the manager said he can’t hold the room no more and I can’t persuade him otherwise without your magic touch.  What do you say?  Come back with me for a bit of slap and tickle, and set things right?”  There was a sultry invitation in her voice, but Rob was either immune to it, or super pissed off that she was there. 

“You and I are done,” he bit out bluntly.

Holy catweasels, was she his mistress?  If so, she was either the worst at hiding it, or Rob and I had an open relationship.  I couldn’t imagine myself being cool with that sort of thing, but he had tried to tell me he’d been unfaithful before.  I’d assumed it was in the past, but what if he was trying to tell me about her?

Either way, Laveda didn’t sound like she was about to go gently into the night.  “Oh that’s it then?  Miss high and mighty crooks her finger and you go running back to her?”

“That ain’t it at all.  I’ll explain later, just go on home.  I’ve money if you need it.”

“I don’t want your bloody money.  I ain’t some slag you picked up while you was getting bladdered at the pub.  If you’ve something to say to me, then say it here and now.”  Her accent got thicker as her voice rose in volume.

“Don’t you start with me.”

“Why, ’cause you’re ready to end it?  At least have the bollocks to tell my why if it ain’t her.”

“You know it wasn’t ever love between us, it was something else.”

“Maybe not true love, but... I know you care for me.”  Her voice softened, and I felt like I was going to be sick – for her, for me, I couldn’t have said. 

“I cared that you were warm and willing, that’s all.”  Rob’s coldness gutted me.  I expected her to blow her stack at that, or at least be hurt, but her voice took on a sympathetic note. 

“You just need to feed, luv.  Don’t take on so, I’ve got what you need.  Don’t I always?”

“Don’t want it, I’ve got a shot at something better now.”

“Then it is about her.  After all this time, you’re still panting after her.”

“Fine then, if that’s what it takes to make you go.  It is about Anja.  I finally have a chance to start over and I ain’t about to let you bollix it up.”

“What do you mean start over?  After what you done?  You expect her to forget all about it?”

“That’s
exactly
what I expect her to do,” Rob retorted.  “And I’ll have more than words with you if you muck this up.”

“Don’t you get stroppy with me, I ain’t afraid of you,” she fired right back at him.

“You should be.”  There was straight up menace in his voice, and I started to wonder if I should step out from around the corner and let them know I was there.  While I was absolutely mortified at what I’d overheard, I didn’t want her to get hurt either, even if she was the other woman. 

Laveda didn’t sound the least bit scared though.  “You gonna hurt me now, Robby?  You know I likes it rough.”

Wode tìan
, he liked it rough?  How did she know that about my own husband when I didn’t?  Or maybe I did?  Maybe I didn’t mind him going to her for some of his rougher appetites?  If so, then why was he so keen to get rid of her?

“I’m done with this conversation,” Rob growled.  “Sod off before I lose my temper.”

“That’s it then?  You’re back together with Anja and suddenly you’re too good for the likes of me?  Don’t kid yourself on that score.  We done things you can’t never do with Miss Perfect, and you loved every single one of them.  She’ll never satisfy you now I’m in your blood.”

Had we been separated?  And he knew about it?  I was so confused, I didn’t know what to think.  “What do you mean
back
together?” I demanded, stepping around the corner. 

“It ain’t what you think.”  Rob’s hands came up in a supplicating gesture as I tromped out to them. 

“No?  So you haven’t been carrying on with this Laveda, who knows you like it rough, by the way?” 

“Too right I do.”  Laveda’s chin came up proudly.  “I can satisfy him in ways you can’t, and I don’t just mean my blood.”

She had an advantage over me there, I could scent her blood even a few feet away, and she smelled scrumptious.  But she was right, this went way beyond that.  “And it sounds like you’ve been lying to her too.  Did you even tell her we’re married?”

“Married?”  Laveda’s amber eyes widened in shock.  “You daft bugger, you’ve gone and married her?  When did this happen?”

“I told you, I’ve got a new chance with Anja, and I ain’t about to waste it.”

“Right, well, I ain’t sticking around for this.  You want me gone, I’m gone.”  She whirled on Rob, her finger poking at his shoulder to emphasize her words.  “But hear me now, Rob.  You don’t show your face begging for my forgiveness before sun up, and I’ll make you
crawl
when you come back to me.  Mark my words.”  And then she stalked off, climbing into a black SUV, the wheels spinning as she tore down the driveway.

We stood watching her drive away, and I winced every time the rear end fishtailed.  She might not be my favorite person in the world right now (huh, who would’ve thought someone could take Carys’ spot), but I didn’t want her to roll down the mountain either.  After a while, she disappeared from sight, and that meant I had to look at him again. 

“I don’t even know where to begin,” I said, at a complete loss for words.  How could someone who said they loved me so much be hiding an affair like that?

“I’m sorry she came here to upset you.  That’s why I tried to end it.  I love you, Anja, I want to be with you and only you.” 

“Then why would you bring her here in the first place?  What kind of a man packs his mistress when he goes out of town with his wife?  No wonder you didn’t want to stick around town the other day.  You were worried about running into her, weren’t you?”

“I didn’t want to upset you is all.”

“Well, you did a craptastic job of it.”   

Rob took in a long breath, choosing his words carefully.  “We’ve had some troubles in the past, you and I, and I strayed.  But I’m fully committed to you now, and I will prove that any way you ask.”

“Like Bridget?  Was that another time you strayed?  Is she going to show up here next?”

His eyes widened in dismay.  “You remember that?”

“Yes, do you?”  It occurred to me that he’d had instant recognition of Laveda and everything about their relationship, and now he knew exactly who Bridget was and why I might not like to talk about her.  “I’m a little fuzzy on what you do and don’t remember right now.  Would you care to enlighten me?”

Before he could answer, another vehicle came winding up the road, a big red Jeep with tinted windows. 

“Who is it now?”  I folded my arms across my chest.  “If you’re sleeping with this one too, tell her the line forms to the right.”

“No, it’s someone else,” Rob murmured, his lips compressing into a hard line.

The guy who hopped out was big, at least six foot two, with broad shoulders made even broader by a puffy vest over a black turtleneck and dark cargo pants.  His brown hair was thick and a little bushy, like he was in need of a haircut, but his beard was very neatly trimmed.  Despite the fact that I saw the telltale bulge of a gun peeking out by his shoulder (and how did I know how to recognize that?), Rob didn’t tense or react in any way, except for the look on his face like the guy had run over his new puppy.

“Hey, guys,” he called out with a friendly smile.  “Signal’s for shit up here.  Is Hanna inside?”

“Ah... Hanna?”  Shoot, he must be looking for the dead girl.  I was ashamed to admit that I’d forgotten all about her.  Was he going to blame us when he found out she was dead?  Clearly, he knew us, and we were on friendly terms, but I had no clue who he was.

“Yeah, I haven’t been able to reach her by phone.  Don’t tell me you guys still haven’t done the thing yet.  ’Cause if I have to stay one more night in the shithole cabin I’m staying in...”  He lifted two fingers to his temple and made a sound like a shotgun.

“We did
a
thing,” I hedged, not sure how much I should say.  The guy was a vampire, I noticed that as soon as I listened hard enough and couldn’t pick up a heartbeat.  That seemed to indicate we were on the same side, but I couldn’t know for sure.

“Hanna’s inside, Mason,” Rob said, taking the decision out of my hands.  He seemed to know the guy at least.  “You’re not going to like how you find her though.”

Mason froze.  “Why does that make me feel all ooky inside when you say that?”

“Because you know I’m not given to exaggeration,” Rob replied, leaving me wondering again about how much he remembered. 

“She’s pissed because I didn’t want to stay here at the house, isn’t she?”  Mason shook his head.  “I knew I was only trading one shitstorm for another,” he muttered.  “Not to worry though, I came prepared,” he grinned, jogging back to the Jeep and coming back with a small plastic bag.  “Bubblegum ice cream and Skittles.  Who’s the man?”

Wode tìan
, I had no idea how to tell him.  “See, the thing is, Hanna is...”

“Inside, like I said,” Rob interrupted.  “Better come and see for yourself.”

Mason lost the smile, his long strides eating up the driveway as he headed for the front door, not bothering to knock as he let himself in.  “Hanna?” he called out, his hands coming up when Bishop moved super fast, blocking his way.  “Whoa, dude, chill.  It’s just me.”

“And you are?” Bishop asked mildly, blinking as though maybe he looked familiar.

“Starting to get weirded out.  Where’s Hanna?”  Mason looked over Bishop’s shoulder, his frown deepening when he didn’t spot her.  The others all stood, with varying degrees of alertness over the new arrival.

“It’s okay, Bishop, let him through,” I said, and Bishop backed off, letting us all deeper into the room. 

“Are you alright?” Bishop asked softly when I passed by him, and I waved him off.  I couldn’t talk about the stuff with Rob right then. 

“Well, where is she?” Mason demanded, hands on his hips. 

“She’s, um... she’s over there in the corner.”  I pointed to the body, still tucked out of the way, draped in a blanket. 

“What the fuck?” he muttered, kneeling beside her to pull the blanket off.  “It’s way after sundown, what’s wrong with her?”

“After sundown?”  The words suddenly clicked for me.  “You mean she’s not dead?”

“Dead?” he snorted.  “There’d be nothing left but a pile of ash if she was.  She’s just passed out.  Still, even if she was dead, how could you leave your own sister like this, all covered up and shoved in the corner?”

“She’s my sister?” My jaw dropped in surprise.  Hanna
Evans
– why hadn’t I clued in on it before?

Mason’s head tilted to one side.  “Does the word
duh
mean anything to you?  What’s going on around here?  Why would you think she’s dead?”

“Of course, it makes perfect sense,” Bishop nodded.  “A vampire wouldn’t have any vital signs, could easily be mistaken for a corpse.  Only why would she still be unconscious?”

“How long has she been out?”

“Since last night when the spell knocked us all out, and left us with amnesia,” I replied, and Bishop shot me a scowl.

“I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone about that,” he muttered.  “We don’t know this guy.”

“He’s dating my sister, I’m pretty sure we know him,” I fired back.  Besides, I trusted the guy, he didn’t trigger my Spidey senses at all. 

“No shit, you all have amnesia?” Mason’s eyes stretched wide.  “Man, that blows.”

“Not all of us,” Aubrey pointed out.  He didn’t look happy to see Mason at all.  In fact, he’d edged about four feet closer to the door since he’d arrived, holding tight to Carys’ hand. 

“Yes, I cast the spell to return the memories for Aubrey and me,” Nelleke nodded from her spot by the couch.  “I am sorry, I should have realized she was not dead once I am getting my memories back.  But it has been distracting times.”

Mason waved her apology away.  “No, yeah, I get that you all have a lot on your minds – or not enough – or whatever.  But, ah... she’ll be okay, won’t she?  I mean, whatever knocked you guys out wasn’t permanent, so she’ll be waking up soon, right?”

Nelleke shrugged.  “I wish I know.”

“Maybe she just needs to feed?” Mason frowned, biting into his wrist without hesitation and bringing it to her lips.  Unfortunately, the trickle of blood just dribbled into her mouth, and the wound closed up without pressure keeping it open.  “Come on, kitten, take your medicine, it’s good for ya,” he crooned softly, trying again, but she didn’t react to the blood at all. 

“It doesn’t seem to be working,” Carys said, her voice more sad than her usual snooty tone.

“Perhaps another spell to restore her?” Jakob suggested, but Mason was already shaking his head. 

“I’d rather not throw any more magic at her since that’s what did it to her in the first place.  “Hey, what about Jakob’s blood?”

“No, his blood made Carys sick,” I replied.  “Like crazy sick.  She needed blood to recover from it.”

“It did?”  A deep furrow appeared on Mason’s brow.  “Anybody want to clue me in on what you all gathered here to do?  Hanna was pretty hush-hush about it, and I can’t say I got the gist of what she did tell me, because maybe I was watching Mexican wrestling at the time, but I know it had something to do with magic.”

Nelleke explained the lifeforce spell and how we needed it to restore Jakob.  By the time she was done talking, Mason looked more discouraged than ever.  “Then you have absolutely no idea why she ended up like this at all.  That’s it, I’m taking her home.”

“No, you must not,” Nelleke objected, moving to block his path.  “Still we are needing her for the spell.”

“Oh, and you just want to prop her up in the corner while you try it again?  No dice, Nelly.  I’m sorry you’re sick, Jakob, but I draw the line at killing my fiancée to give you a pick me up.”  

“Jakob is
Ellri
, and his needs are above all else,” Nell declared, her cheeks stained pink with color.

Mason rose to all of his impressive height, his shoulders swelling wider as he drew in a breath.  “I don’t give a good goddamn what his needs are, Hanna already gave plenty.  I’m not putting her in any more danger, not unless you can swear up and down on a stack of bibles that the same thing won’t happen again.  She’s already passed out, another mistake could kill her for reals this time.”

“Everybody calm down and take a breath,” I interjected, pushing my way into the middle of the room.  “Nobody wants Hanna to die, but Jakob
will
die if we don’t help him.  Now, can we substitute someone else to take Hanna’s place if she’s too sick to participate?”

Nelleke shook her head.  “No, it must be she.”

“What if we left her out entirely?” Bishop suggested.  “It would take a little more out of the rest of us, but we should still be fine, if I understand what the spell does correctly.  Shouldn’t we?”

“It is possible,” Nell allowed, though she looked skeptical.

“Hey, I’m all for it if you think we can pull it off,” I volunteered.  Rob kept looking down at his shoes, and didn’t make a peep.  I thought about trying to figure out if he was upset about more than our conversation outside, but decided I didn’t have the brain power to sort that all out yet. 

“You wish us to give more of ourselves?” Carys scoffed, the disdain creeping back into her voice.  “But what if we are permanently diminished?”

“In time you would regain your strength,” Nelleke replied.  “And if you are drinking much blood.”

“So you say, but you don’t know.  Do you?” Aubrey pointed out.  “This is all nothing more than guesswork.  We could end up far weaker for decades or longer.”

“What if we give this sacrifice and it is not enough?  Will he ask for our lives next?” Carys sniffed.  “Why should we be punished simply because our Sire grows weak?”

“It is not meant as a punishment,
älskling
,” Jakob replied, his rich voice pleading.  “I would not ask if I was not in dire need.”

“Punishment...”  Her gaze grew distant before shock and dismay twisted her delicate features.  “You disavowed me for a hundred years.  You said I shamed you and you cast me off.”  Her china blue eyes grew shiny with tears as she turned to Aubrey for confirmation.  “Could this possibly be true?”

“It is,” Aubrey said, his voice grave.  “You were stripped of all of your titles and lands.  We were all of us instructed to shun you, but my love for you never failed, dearest.  I have always stood by your side.” 

“Hey, it’s not like you didn’t have it coming to you,” Mason butted in.  “Because of you a lot of people ended up dead, or undead,” he added, sitting down beside Hanna again.  “It figures a weasel like Aubrey would be the one to take you in.”

Aubrey’s eyes narrowed to slits as he stared down at Mason.  “That’s
Your Grace
to you.”

“Sorry, Your Grace of Weasels,” Mason smirked back.  “You’re not
my
grace.”

The rest of us watched as the drama unfolded, and I traded a raised brow with Bishop.  So not only was Carys with Aubrey, not Bishop, they’d been together for a while, from the sound of it, ever since she’d been banished.  Did this have something to do with why Aubrey had been chained to the wall for the spell?

Jakob’s jaw dropped as he watched his best chances of being restored go up in smoke.  “I have no memory of this,
älskling
.  I could never abandon you for so long.  I’m certain that whatever it was is now long buried in our past.” 

Her eyes hardened with scorn.  “Don’t try to soften me with meaningless endearments.  You said your heart was cold to me, and so is mine.  Aubrey, fetch our belongings.”

Aubrey scurried off to do her bidding, and Nelleke stepped in Carys’ way to keep her from following.  “Please, I beg of you,” Nell insisted.  “His life is in your hands.”

“Jakob cast me away and now you expect me to sacrifice for him?  I think not,” Carys scoffed, easily brushing her aside. 

Everything was unraveling so fast, I wasn’t sure what to do.  I had no doubt that Carys deserved whatever punishment she’d gotten, but surely there was some way to sweeten the deal and make her stick around.  Jakob needed her.  “Don’t you want your memories back?” I asked, catching her attention.  “If you help us fix Jakob, then Nell will do the memory spell for you so you can get back to being your old self again.”

“Yes, I would do this,” Nelleke nodded vehemently. 

“I’d rather trust the memories that are returning on my own,” Carys sniffed.  Her gaze landed on Bishop, and only then did her expression soften.  “I am sorry things have not worked out between us,
cariad
.  I know I did truly love you once.  But it was not meant to be.”

Bishop regarded her just as intently.  “Thanks, Carys.  I’ll have to content myself with the memories I have of us.”  I could’ve been wrong, but I thought I detected the teensiest bit of sarcasm in there.  Either way, Carys didn’t pick up on it.   

“I’m sorry to hurt you, but I can never be your wife,” she said, pulling off the engagement ring she’d so greedily latched onto before, offering it to him. 

Bishop took the ring and tucked it into his pocket.  “I’m just glad you have someone to take care of you.  Be happy, Carys.”  He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. 

“You thought you were engaged to
her
?”  Mason’s eyes bulged, and he looked like he was about to burst out laughing until he caught sight of Bishop’s expression, that clearly said –
cool it
.    

“Aubrey, are you coming?” Carys called out, backing toward the door, her eyes on Bishop.  I swear, she looked like she was about to start parade waving to us.

“Of course, sweeting.”  Aubrey appeared, his arms laden with her bags and one of his own.  “Let me take you home.”  The poor sap, he looked absolutely smitten.  And then they were gone with a flounce of hem and the solid slam of the door.  The room got super quiet. 

“Wow, talk about awkward,” Mason blurted, and sort of unstuck the rest of us. 

“What will we do?” Nelleke cried out, wringing her hands.  “The spell is not working without them.  We are needing all of Jakob’s line here to do it.”

“Is that why you needed Hanna here?” Mason gaped.  “No wonder it went tits up.  Hanna’s not from Jakob’s line, she’s mine.”

Everyone’s head swiveled in my direction.  “Don’t look at me, I’m as in the dark as you are.  I didn’t even know she’s my sister.  What made you think she was from Jakob’s line?” I asked Nell.