Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down (4 page)

“So, have out with it,” Ellie demanded.  “I think I’ve a right to know who my new Da will be.  Who is he?”

I let out a long breath.  Who indeed.

I refused to get into any details of my relationship with Jakob, only saying that I’d met
Jake
before my involvement with Bishop, and he was interested in seeing me again.  After that it was back to our get to know you session, and I avoided any questions that had to do with my blonde Sire.  Soon enough they stopped pressing for answers, and I even roped the guys into playing a round of Monopoly. 

The subject of my past with Jakob returned with a vengeance
though as soon as I started to get ready for my date the next night. 

“Your ex is mad sexy,” Ellie commented from her perch on the bathroom counter top, legs swinging as she pawed through my make-up case. 

“I’ll be sure to tell him you thought so, that ought to make him happy,” I replied, trying and failing to get my hair to cooperate with the sophisticated updo I’d seen in a magazine ad. 

“Here, let me help you,” Maggie offered, her nimble fingers combing through my blonde hair.  “He is very dishy at that,” she ventured shyly.  “Where did you meet him?”

“He um… sort of popped into my life unexpectedly, not long after I got to San Francisco.”

Maggie sighed, fingers twisting and pulling at my head so that I couldn’t see what she was doing.  “And was it love at first sight?”

“Not even close.  In fact, I think I remember yelling at him the first time we spoke.”

“Ooh, hot blooded.”  Ellie waggled her brows at me, snapping her gum around a grin.  “Lust at first sight then?”

“Maybe, a little.”  It was definitely more of a lust connection with Jakob.  Then again, I didn’t know him as well as I thought I’d known Bishop.

“You sure can pick ‘em,” Ellie continued, no boundary to her comments.  “I thought Bishop was a right go’er, but I’d take a ride with this one
m’self.  Oh look, she’s gone scarlet!” she laughed, and I did my best not to let her get to me. 

“Leave her be, Ellie,” Maggie chided her lightly.  “Anja’s not one to kiss and tell.”

I caught Maggie’s eye in the mirror, giving her a short nod of thanks. 

“What is he then?” Ellie asked, unrepentant
. 

I blinked, not understanding the question.
  “What do you mean?”

“He’s not a vampire, your beau.”

“No, not exactly.”  It occurred to me that we’d talked about the origin of the
Ellri
back in England, and I hoped she hadn’t put two and two together. 

“But he’s not human either.”

“No, definitely not a human,” I allowed, taking control of the conversation.  “He’s… something else.  Something dangerous, so watch what you say around him.  In fact, maybe don’t talk to him a whole lot, okay?”

“Fine.  I’ll lower my eyes and stand aside when he gets here then, shall I?”  She hopped off the counter, bowing and scraping her way to the door. 

“Good plan,” I teased, lobbing a foam curler in her direction, the motion making my head jot the other way.

“Careful!” Maggie exclaimed as her fingers tangled in my hair.

“Oh, sorry,” I grimaced, trying to hold still.

“No need to apologize to me, it’s your hair that got pulled,” she clucked, hands busy again.  “He obviously cares for you a great deal if he came all this way as soon as he heard you’d split with Bishop,” she ventured. 

“That’s sort of the problem.  He’s always been so… intense about his feelings for me.”

“And you don’t feel the same?”

“I don’t know what I feel right now,” I admitted freely.  “I’m all jumbled up inside between the way things ended with Bishop and coming home.  I can’t help but feel like I’m not ready to start something with Jake yet.”

“Then why are you going out with him?”

“Good question.”  I met her gaze in the mirror.  On some level I must have wanted to see him again because I could have just as easily sent him on his way.  “I don’t know.  Does that make me a bad person?”

“I don’t think you’re a bad person at all,” she smiled warmly.  “Everybody deserves a spot of happiness, especially you.”

“What if I’m leading him on?  What if I can never be happy with him?  What if Bishop’s the only man I’ll ever love and he’s gone forever?”

“Forever would be a very long time if you truly believed that.”

I couldn’t live my life for forever, it was too depressing.  “There is no forever,” I murmured, remembering something Carter had said to me once.  The hunter had the right of it, immortality didn’t automatically mean longevity for any of us.  “There’s only today… and today I choose to go out with Jake.”  Maybe I hadn’t given him enough of a chance before.  I did feel a connection to him.  Maybe I owed myself a shot to see if it turned into something deeper?

“There, all finished,” Maggie reported, stepping back so I could get a good look at my hair in the mirror.  “Pretty as a picture
.” She smiled in approval of her own handiwork.  She’d rolled the hair back from my brow and gathered it high on the crown of my head, twisting it into a series of coils that looped around to hang off the back in elegant curls secured with jeweled pins. 

“Wow, that is fancy.”  I turned my head to get a better look at it.  “Where’d you learn to do that?”

“I had all too much leisure time in my stay at Vetis,” she said, wrinkling her nose with distaste.  

“Remind me to have you do my hair all the time,” I smiled, pleased with the effect.  It made me look far more put together than the hairstyle I’d failed at.  “
Now I just need to get dressed, and I should have plenty of time to take Ellie out.”

Speak of the devil, Ellie popped her head into the bathroom.  “Pull your socks up, he’s here.”

“What?  He’s not supposed to be here for more than an hour!” I hissed, my stomach clenching into a hard knot.

“Tell that to him
.  He’s sprawled on the couch like he owns the place,” she muttered, less than impressed.

Frak!
  “He’ll just have to wait, right?  He’s the one that’s here so early. I’ll go tell him to come back later or park it for a while.”  Despite the fact that I didn’t expect him to so much as peek into the bathroom, I swept the rest of the hairpins into the top drawer, throwing my hairbrush in after it. 

Jakob clambered to his feet the second I came into view.  “Very lovely indeed.  Though I can’t say it goes with the ensemble.”  His eyes raked over my fuzzy Hello Kitty pajama bottoms and my slipper socks. 

“Well, if you’d gotten here on time, you wouldn’t have had to see the chrysalis stage,” I retorted.  “You’re awfully early tonight, aren’t you, Jake?  Is something wrong?”  I gave him a pointed look; everyone else in the room hung on our every word. 

“Not at all, I simply couldn’t wait to see you, petal.  Go and put on a frock, I’ll wait.”

“Oh, so you do want us all to go out together tonight?  Suit yourself,” I shrugged.  “Ellie, go get your shoes on, you’re coming with us.”

“Bangarang!” she crowed, zipping around the corner to her bedroom so quickly, she careened into the wall.  “I’ll be ready in two shakes,” she called out.

“I thought…” Jakob’s brows knit together.  “You said you would be all mine tonight.”

“And you said you’d be here at eight,” I pointed out.  “I told you I have responsibilities,
and Ellie is one of them.  I need to take her out hunting.”

“Surely one of these will suffice as a chaperone for the child.”

“We will go where Miss Gudrun goes.” Gunnar broke his silence, and Isak nodded beside him.

“That won’t be necessary,” Jakob smiled expansively
.

“It’s
alright, guys.  You know how when Rob’s around, you don’t have to stick to me like glue?  Well, he’s all the protection I need.  I’ll be perfectly safe with Jake.”

“But who will keep you safe from him?” Gunnar scowled.

I half expected Jakob to get angry at the open defiance, but instead he chuckled in amusement.  “I can see you are dedicated to your profession, and I commend you in this.  I can assure you, it won’t be necessary.”  The guys bristled for a half a second, and then I saw the change come over them as Jakob’s will took hold of them. 

“Look who’s all high and mighty.  Alls he’s missing is a shiny hat.”  Ellie gave a disgruntled snort, one boot in hand as she hobbled out of the bedroom. 

“You will not speak so to your betters,” Jakob growled, shifting his focus to the girl.  “In fact, you will not speak to me unless spoken to.”

Ellie’s gaze grew unfocused, her mouth slack.

“Jakob…” I sucked in a breath.  “You don’t have to do this, they can be trusted.”

“Experience has proven otherwise,” he replied with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.  “You will defer to me in all things, and you will not speak of my presence to anyone outside this household.”  His gaze swung to include Maggie who hovered by the doorway to the kitchen.  “Do you understand?”

“Understand,” Maggie murmured, her head nodding in time to Gunnar and Isak’s reactions.  Ellie remained mute, her lips pressed together into a thin line.

“Good.  Now that is settled, go and put on a pretty frock.”

His high handedness didn’t sit well with me, but since I didn’t feel like being compelled to do what he wanted, I gave him a short nod.  Instead of going straight to change, I stopped before Gunnar.  “Can you please take Ellie out to feed tonight?  She’s still very new to this, so don’t let her kill anyone.”

“Of course,” Gunnar nodded, and Isak grunted at his side.

“What shall I do?” Maggie asked, her hands twisting nervously on the hem of her sleeve.

“Whatever you want.  Watch TV, go to a movie, go shopping… sleep.  You don’t have to keep nocturnal hours anymore.  You’re free to come and go as you please.”  I offered her my most comforting smile, hating the uncertainty coming off of her in waves.  Just when she’d started to come out of her shell, all it took was one conversation with Jakob to rattle her right back into it. 

“There is something I’d like to go see at the cinema…” she ventured, and I saw Ellie’s eyes bulge wider.  She obviously wanted to go too, but either couldn’t or wouldn’t speak in front of Jakob again. 

“I’ll
go get changed then and get out of your hair so you guys can make plans.”  I squeezed her shoulder before turning back to Jakob with a last look.  “You, be nice,” I warned, ignoring the innocent
who me
expression that leapt to his face.   

* * *

“I really wish you wouldn’t have done that,” I sighed as Jakob tucked me into the passenger’s side of his sporty red car.  I hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at the outside, but the inside felt like we were in the cockpit of a luxury airplane, all the dials and indicators glowing a soft blue. 

“What?”

“Mess around with their heads like that.  You could have asked them not to talk to anyone about you, you didn’t have to, you know...” I waggled my fingers at him but he stared at me uncomprehendingly.  “You know, compel them.”   

“Now we don’t have to worry about it, and we can enjoy our evening.”  He shrugged, unconcerned, guiding the sleek auto into traffic. 

“What did you want to talk about?”

“How do you mean?”

“You said you wanted to get me away from prying ears.  What did you want to discuss?”  I assumed it had to do with his mysterious business, or possibly why he was so ticked off at Rob for abandoning his post, but Jakob waved it off. 

“Oh that
. I merely wanted to have you to myself.” 

“Right.  Just you and me. 
Shiny,” I nodded, more than a little nervous now that we were on our own.  He’d already managed to worm himself back into my life far more intimately than I’d planned.  “Where are we going?”  If he said anything like a hotel suite or a secret lair, I was going to hop out at the next stoplight. 

“A charming club, the Café Du Nord.  Have you been there?” 

“I’ve heard of it.”  It was supposed to be a great place for live music, set in an old speakeasy from the early 1900’s.  “To tell you the truth, I’m kind of surprised you want to go somewhere so public.”  Glad though.

“I have spent many an evening there
.  They are my people.”

He wasn’t just whistling Dixie about that.  The instant we arrived at the subterranean club we were ushered in like visiting royalty
and shown to the best table.  Not too close to the stage, but near enough to enjoy the music.  There were twinkle lights strung across the ceiling and candles on every table, with rich paneling on the walls, lending a very intimate air to the space.  The copper faced mahogany bar was exquisite, easily forty feet long, with leather-clad stools nestled neatly beneath it.  Warm red accents popped from the walls and the stage curtains.  I could understand Jakob’s fascination with the place – I instantly felt comfortable there, from the smiling staff, to the lavish decor.

We had scarcely been seated when a flushed waitress appeared, dimpling prettily as she all but curtseyed for Jakob.  “Good evening,” she said breathily.  “I’m Annike, and I’ll be your server tonight.”