Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down (19 page)

“You know, I think maybe you misunderstood what I meant before.  What I meant to say was, I’d be happy to pass these along.”  Byrne reached forward and snatched the sheaf of papers off the desk, paging through them quickly.  “Ah, yes… right, good
reasonings there. I don’t foresee a problem with that… yep, that should work too,” he commented, giving each page a quick glance.

“Oh good, I’m so glad to see you fit them into your busy schedule.  Well, that’s all I wanted to discuss tonight.”  I rose to my feet as Rob pulled open the door.  “Enjoy the party, and please, keep me updated on their progress.  I’ll be watching over these cases with particular interest.”

“I’ll personally see that these make it right to the top.”  Byrne folded the papers and tucked them into the inside pocket of his suitcoat.  He looked like he wanted to say more, but merely gave Rob a nervous nod, and sort of crab walked out of there, as if he was afraid to turn his back on us.   

Rob shut the door after him, favoring me with a faint smile.  “That was well done
.  You didn’t need my help one bit.”

I collapsed against the back of my chair, letting the stress seep out of my bones now that no one was watching me.  “Sure I did.  I would
’ve spent at least ten minutes trying to escape his hands before I got his attention if you hadn’t been here.” 

“I think you had him right where you wanted him.”

“Still, it was good to have you around again.  It’s nice to know you’ve got my back.”

His face clouded. 
“About that.  I’ve had a few words with Jakob on the matter, and we’ve agreed, I’ll only stay on long enough to make sure your security here is top notch.  Once I’m satisfied you’re safe and secure, I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh…” It was hard to keep the disappointment from my voice.  “
Alright then, whatever you think is best.”  Somewhere along the way we’d lost that easy familiarity between each other, and it bothered me more than I liked to feel so awkward around him now.  “I should probably get back to my guests.  Jarrod and Leander are out there if you’re looking for friends to talk to.”  Despite my best efforts, I choked on the word
friends
, since he obviously didn’t consider me to be one anymore.

“Anja…”  His voice showed more emotion in that single word than I’d seen from him in days – only I couldn’t tell what kind of emotion it was by the time I looked back at him.

“Yes?”

“It’s not what you think.”

“What do I think?”

“I’m not angry with you, so you can stop with the calf eyes, yeah?”

“I don’t understand then.  If you’re not mad at me, then what’s the matter?  Ever since you got back…”

“It’s complicated.”

“It seems pretty simple to me.  You’d rather be off having your own life, and you blame me for having to come whenever Jakob snaps his fingers.  It’s simple transference.  You can’t get mad at Jakob because he’ll squash you if you make him angry enough, so I’m the obvious target.  It’s even my fault, in a way.  If I didn’t keep getting myself into stupid situations, he wouldn’t feel like I needed safeguarding.”

“That’s not it at all.”

“No?  Then why are you treating me like some goob you just met on the street?  I thought we were better friends than that.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed, hand rubbing against his clean shaven jaw.  “Look, I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel
low, that wasn’t…” Rob shook his head.  “Bollocks…” he muttered, brushing past me in his hurry to get back to the party.

I was still deciding whether or not to go after him and make him hash it all out once and for all, when Maggie rushed up, her eyes wide with panic.

“You’d better get up here before we have a bloodbath on our hands.”

I didn’t ask any questions, I just followed Maggie through the throng of people, smiling and nodding to my guests instead of hinting we’d gone on red alert.  When she took me up to the second floor, I could guess where we were headed, and the tang of freshly spilled blood that filled my senses the instant she reached Ellie’s door confirmed my worst fears.   

Maggie turned to look over her shoulder before she pulled it open, her voice pitched low.  “I’ve been trying my best to clear the floor, but Gunnar’s got his hands full with Ellie right now.”  I could hear Isak barring the stairway behind us, but there was always a chance someone might wander up the back stairs.

“How bad is it?”

“Bad enough.” 

Once she was sure the coast was clear, Maggie opened it enough to slip in, shutting it as soon as I squeezed in beside her.  I almost wished she’d kept it open, the room absolutely reeked of blood.  The sheets were liberally smeared with it, as well as the wall above the headboard, and fat drops of blood spattered across the hardwood floors on all sides of the bed. 

A young man in his early twenties lay sprawled across the bed, naked but for the sheet barely covering his bits and pieces.  His neck and chest gleamed wet and sticky with the stuff, but the slight rise and fall of his chest told me he wasn’t a goner yet
, despite the slack mouth and closed eyes.  In the corner of the room, Gunnar sat with Ellie in his lap, desperately trying to keep hold of the slippery girl who wore the red velvet bustier and little else. 

“What happened?” I demanded, picking my way to the window and throwing it open.  If I didn’t vent the scent of blood somewhere
, I’d have a surge of interested vampires up the stairs in a heartbeat. 

“Anja!”  Ellie’s glazed eyes fixated on me, her words sloppy and slurred.  “Tell ‘im to let me go, I wash jusht having a bit of a laugh with um… Lord shtrike me… what wash your name again?” she blinked at the bed.

Once the initial stench of blood cleared, I caught the sour reek of alcohol swimming beneath it.  “Are you drunk?”

“Aw, I’ve been way more fluthered than this
h plenty of timesh.”  She waved me off and stopped struggling against Gunnar, content to chat.  “Thish ish jusht feeling mellow, yeah?” 

I
felt anything but mellow as I peered at the bed, trying not to get any blood on my dress.  “Who is this guy?”

“Matt or Mickey… shomething with an M.  Mighty fine if you ashk me,” she snickered.

I crouched down by the side of the bed, leaning closer, careful not to breathe or I might lunge at the poor guy myself.  Tilting his head gently, I realized I recognized him as one of the human feeders I’d seen with Mr. Vaughn, one of the more prominent vampires in the community.  “Something tells me you didn’t get Vaughn’s permission to borrow his companion for the night, did you?”

“He didn’t sheem to mind.” 

I remembered the guy as being deeply tanned, but his lips had an almost bluish tinge now, underneath the smear of his own blood.  “Ellie, he’s pale as a sheet.  How much blood did you take?”

“Guessh I might
’ve gotten carried away.  Hey, he looksh pretty shook, don’t he?”

I touched his ankle, staying as far away from his torn neck as I could.  His pulse was too shallow, too slow.  “Give him some of your blood right now,” I ordered and her face scrunched up with an overly exaggerated moue of protest. 

“I don’t like him that much.”

“I don’t care, Ellie.  You did this too him, now you have to fix it before he dies or we’ll all be in serious trouble.  Gunnar, bring her up here
.  We don’t have much time.”

“I guessh if he turnsh up his toesh you can alwaysh fix it,” she grumbled, complying with a bite to her own wrist.  I couldn’t understand the cavalier attitude, but consoled myself that it must be the alcohol talking.  “He’sh not drinking, I reckon he’sh too far gone,” she reported after
spilling only a few drops. 

“Oh
, no you don’t, you’re not getting out of this that easily,” I muttered, reaching up to close his mouth, and he swallowed reflexively.  “Bite yourself again.  We’re going to keep doing this until I’m satisfied he’s stable.”

Ellie grumbled and complained the whole while through, but after several attempts, I could hear his heartbeat grow steadier, and his breathing stronger.  I helped her heal the bites at his neck (because there were several), and sent Maggie out to fetch clean towels and a bowl of water to get him cleaned up.  Luckily, his clothes were flung free from the splash zone for the most part, except for his underwear, and we got him dressed without them.   

It took three tries for Ellie to compel him into forgetting he’d ever met her.  She kept giggling through it and completely losing hold of him with her will.  I kept at her though, instead of doing it all myself, hoping some of the gravity would seep into her alcohol soaked brain.  Once we had him up and on his feet, she bade him leave the party without finding Vaughn, and Gunnar made sure he went down the back stairs and left without being seen.

The blood on the wall proved harder to clean up than the floor and bedding, and I reconciled myself to the fact that we’d probably have to repaint.  Or who knew, vampires might find it fashionable or soothing.  All I knew is it stood out as a stark reminder that Ellie was absolutely out of control, and something had to be done about it. 

With only Ellie and Maggie left in the room, I decided I had to do what I should have weeks ago, when I first suspected she had a problem.  “Ellie, I want you to listen to me,” I ordered, catching hold of her will with mine.  “You are not to kill anyone ever, do you understand me?  That is the worst sin you could do, to kill a human being.  I don’t want another repeat of what happened tonight.  Do you understand?  I absolutely forbid you to ever kill anyone.”

“I undershtand.”  Her head wobbled as she nodded. 

“Good.  Maggie, help me get her changed out of that thing.  No more party for her tonight.”  Soon enough we had her in a pair of leggings and an oversized t-shirt.  “Do you mind sitting with her for a while?  I’ll go down and make sure things are all going along as planned.”

“Of course, I’ll be glad to stay with her,” Maggie instantly agreed, and I left, feeling secure in my compulsion to keep her safe.  That and the bellyful of Marc she’d already had. 

As I stepped into the hallway, I nearly ran into Rob as I carefully shut Ellie’s door. 

“Anything amiss?” he asked, a pucker of worry appearing on his brow.

“Nothing we can’t handle,” I smiled in return.  As much as I wanted it otherwise, Rob wasn’t one of us anymore, and he didn’t need to be privy to all of our secrets, especially ones he might report back to Jakob. 

“Are you sure all’s well?”

“Yep, I’ve got it all under control.”  Maybe if I said it enough times it would even be true. 

* * *

The rest of the party was something of a blur.  Not because I was hammered or even tired, but because I kept waiting for some other disaster to hit.  Half convinced I’d hear screams at any moment or Ellie would appear at the top of the stairs with a severed head or something equally awful, I couldn’t relax and enjoy the evening one bit.  I was nothing but glad when the last guests filed out before dawn, eager to seek my own bed and the dubious comfort of Mr. Buns. 

I left Maggie to draw the curtains against the lightening sky, thanking her again for her amazing efforts to make the night go so smoothly.  My steps were noticeably clumsier as I clumped down to the basement level, and Rob’s voice at my elbow made me jump.  How did he move about so quietly anyway? 

“All things considered, I’d say it was a success,” he offered the validation, and I gave him a bleary smile, soaking up the scant praise.

“Thanks, I sure hope so.”

“No one died, that’s always a success in my books.”  But not for lack of trying…  If Gunnar had been just a minute later, we might have had a very different after-party going on right about then.  “Listen, I had a chance to follow up on a few things, and I think we should be able to come up with some reasonable forgeries that could hold up fairly well against inspection.  Your friends will probably want to stay away though, since most in these parts are chipped as well, but they should be able to pass in some of the more remote areas, no worries.” 

“Oh, thank you!”  I resisted the urge to hug him again, having learned my lesson the last time,
though I couldn’t help but add, “I really appreciate that.  You have no idea how much.”

“Not at all, miss,” he said with a clipped nod.  “I’ll say goodnight then.”

“Goodnight.”  It was with a frown that I put on my Hello Kitty sleep pants and matching tank top with my fuzzy warm sleep socks.  Not that I needed them to stay warm anymore, but I liked them all the same.  Instead of climbing into bed, I slipped back up to find Maggie’s room, scratching lightly on the door to see if she was still awake. 

“Anja, what is it?  Is something wrong?” she asked, her liquid eyes wide and expressive.

“No, not exactly.  Well… maybe, I’m not sure,” I replied, waffling all over the place.  “I’m sorry, do you have a few minutes to talk?  I could come back when the sun goes down if you’d rather.”

“Don’t be silly, of course we can talk.  Would you like to come in?”  She stood back from the door, inviting me into the bedroom.  The room itself was tastefully decorated, as I would have expected given her general
sense of style, with many period touches that accentuated the Victorian architecture.  I came in to sit on the only seat besides the bed, a tufted chair in a cheery, yellow floral print.  “Has something happened?”

“More like something hasn’t happened.  Have you noticed that Rob’s not acting… Rob enough since he came back?”

“I… it’s difficult to say. I don’t know him as well as you do.”

“Yes, but… you must have noticed how aloof he is all the time.  He almost never speaks unless spoken to, and then it’s
miss
this and
miss
that, like I’m his boss or something.”

“You
are
his boss,” she said gently.

“Okay, so I’m technically his boss, but we’ve been closer friends for a while now.  He says he’s not mad at me, but… I can’t help feeling like he’s built this wall to keep me out.”

“Maybe he’s protecting himself.”

“From what?”

“Getting too involved.”

“With what?”

“With you.” 

“He was perfectly fine with being my friend before
.  Why should it be different now?  It’s not my fault Jakob ordered him to come back and watch out for me.”

“I can imagine it’s difficult to form attachments for someone in his position,” she said thoughtfully.  “Especially, as you said before, when he can be ordered away on someone else’s whim.”

“Yes, but it was his decision to leave before, not Jakob’s.  What if he got sick and tired of hanging around me all the time before he left?  What if he does hate me but is too much of a good guy to want me to worry about it now?”

“I don’t think there’s much danger of that.”

“What do you mean?  He’s a good guy.”

“I’m sure he’s the chap of chaps,” she assured me quickly, the hint of a smile playing around her lips.  “Anja, it can’t have escaped your attention that he genuinely cares about you, has it?”

“I used to think so.  Do you really think he still does?”  He seemed so different now, more formal than he’d ever been, even when I first met him.

“It seems that way to me.  I’m not surprised you never noticed it before though
.  You’ve been distracted since I met you.”

“It has been kind of crazy, hasn’t it?  Then you’re sure he still feels the same way about me?”

“I’m almost certain of it.”

“
Alright then.  All I have to do is be patient and eventually we can get back to the friendship we had before.”

A wrinkle appeared on her brow.  “Is that all you want from him, friendship?”

“Of course, he’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had.  He’s been there for me time and time again.  I never thought he had to be my bodyguard, I just liked having him around.”  Heck, I hadn’t even known it was work for him until he’d let it slip after killing Serena.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m stupid sometimes. 

“That’s not what I… nevermind.  I agree, the first step is for you to rediscover your friendship.  I’d recommend a little patience with him
.  It can be difficult for a man to find himself with few choices in life.  It can make him act out in the strangest ways.”

“I guess I can understand that.  Thanks, Maggie, I feel a lot better about things.”  I hugged her impulsively, glad to have someone who didn’t stiffen or recoil at my touch.  “How about you?  Are you happy you came to the US with me?”

“I am, yes, thank you.  I miss some things about home and some people especially.”

“Have you been keeping in touch at all?”

“I’ve exchanged a fair bit of emails with Tucker these past weeks.  He has a far greater gift with words on the page than in person.”