A/N: So, this prompt once again came from Facebook's DWP - MirAndy page. The guys 'n' gals on the page keep my muse happy.
Summary: Miranda is a very successful nightclub owner. Andy is new to town and applies for a job at one of Miranda's nightclubs. Andy then finds out that Miranda is not all she claims to be.
Disclaimers: The usual disclaimers apply. Do not own them and definitely do not make $$ from them.
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"Lycanthrope." Nigel's words cut through the room and Miranda shuddered at the word.
"Impossible. I got no sense of this last night." Miranda hissed the words through her teeth as her jaw clenched. She caught Nigel's eyes. "Get me, Jocelyn." Looking beside her, Miranda noticed the concern etched in her Andréa's eyes as Nigel clattered quickly from the room and the young woman's grip on her hand tightened.
"What's a Lyca... Lycanthrope." Andy stumbled over the unusual word.
Miranda gazed at the young woman and saw her confusion. "It is what you would recognise as a werewolf. Some believe they pass the curse along from a bite, much like our own, which can be the truth. There are old legends that suggest there are those who are born with the curse and it is triggered by events later in life. We are not privy to all of their legends."
"And Nigel believes Nate is a werewolf?" Andy let out a bark of laughter as she untangled their hands and stood up but sobered quickly and frowned, disbelief replacing the concern. "I've known Nate since elementary school, and although he's quite the hairy beast, he never howled at the moon or...or..."
A low chuckle escaped from Miranda at Andréa's words. "I cannot say what once occurred, darling and we have no details, yet, regarding what happened tonight, but it is not the first Lycanthrope Nigel and I have come across. Many years ago, possibly before you were born. We were in London and..."
"Was he American?" Andy grinned and sat back down beside Miranda, sitting as close as possible without draping herself over the immortal woman.
Miranda welcomed the warmth of the young woman but rolled her eyes which had the young woman beside her giggling. "As I was saying, we met with one in London, he was quite the friendly mutt. His pack, however, were less than amused when he welcomed us into his little community. We learned things, but they are a secretive breed, they do not trust easily." She pursed her lips as once again they were interrupted by Nigel and a young blonde woman in a flowing gypsy skirt and peasant blouse." Ah, Jocelyn. Thank you for coming so quickly."
Jocelyn looked at the two women and gaped. Closing her eyes, she muttered indecipherable words under her breath before opening her eyes and smiling at them both.
"I was already on my way, Miranda." She watched carefully as Jocelyn took two steps and knelt in front of Andréa. "Andy, it is a pleasure to meet you. May I?"
Jocelyn held her palms out and Miranda noticed as Andréa stiffened and looked to her. Miranda nodded once to reassure her. "You can trust Jocelyn." She marvelled as they joined hands and an aura or yellow light surrounded them.
"The spirits told me I would meet you, and I admit to being doubtful." Jocelyn smiled as if the spirits had granted her the best gift. "You will form an extraordinary bond with this family, Andy, and you will join them as an equal." She frowned. "But not yet. The spirits tell me you have enemies. Two. One holds a darkness and despair deep within, the other a meanness of spirit. There will be hard times for you and for your mate. You must trust one another. Without trust, there is no hope."
"How...What..." Andy stuttered.
"Jocelyn is a Wiccan, Andréa." Miranda smiled at the brunette.
"Oh, so you're a witch?" Andy asked the woman kneeling at her feet.
"I am what they call a white witch. My grandmother forged a unique bond with this family of immortals when they first arrived in New York. Miranda saved my grandmother from a man, who was not always a man. He turned into a wolf upon the full moon. The trigger for his transformation was a curse, placed upon the males of his family, by another witch, a distant cousin of mine, who died at his hands." Jocelyn licked her lips. "Death is the trigger for the curse and the only salvation for these men is the end of their bloodline. Which is a person you are familiar."
"Nate?" Andy whispered.
Jocelyn hummed in agreement and looked towards Miranda before returning her gaze to the brunette. "The spirits are happy you are here with Miranda. Here, you are safe, no one can extinguish the light that shines brightly from within you."
"How...I mean...What next?" Andy asked breathlessly.
Jocelyn stood up and handed Andy her card. "I will leave you two to talk. Call me any time, Andy."
Miranda watched the emotions battling within Andréa as she fought her swirling panic and moved closer to her. "There are certain protections I can offer, Andréa, even while you are still human. But I need your consent to do so. These are steps I hoped to navigate once we had worked things out, given ourselves a chance to learn about each other, but there is no time to waste." Miranda scowled, her displeasure etched in her eyes.
"I consent to it all," Andy whispered.
"No, do not blindly agree to this. You need to understand there will be repercussions for what we might need to do now." Miranda advised. "Let me explain and then you will have the night to decide. What we do needs to be done at the break of dawn if it is to work."
"Okay," Andy agreed, knowing the events of the night would change her life forever.
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Miranda waved Nigel and Jocelyn away as Emily entered the room carrying a tray holding a proper English tea.
Andy looked up and offered the redhead a smile, stunned to see her looking slightly dishevelled. As comprehension dawned on her, the smile widened and Emily caught her eye and blushed again.
As they sat side by side, Miranda poured two cups of tea and handed her a plate of finger sandwiches filled with various meats. Miranda did not drink her hot tea but seemed to take pleasure from the warmth as she inhales the subtle scent.
Andy took a delicate bite of a sandwich as Miranda watched, content to do so. She shook her head when Andy offered her the plate. The immortal woman spoke quietly as Andy washed the sandwich down with a sip of her tea. "As you might be aware, Andréa, we do not need food or water to give us sustenance. Food is unpalatable to us. Alcohol has other effects. It helps to curb certain urges and numb our overwhelming feelings, with none of the usual hangovers."
"Lucky about the hangovers, it's why I imbibe little." Andy grinned and bit into another small sandwich, hungry after her long day travelling.
Miranda took the information in, giving herself a moment to process yet another fact about the woman before continuing her story. "There are two things we can do, to strengthen a bond with our eternal mate while keeping them mortal. The first is making you immune to my compulsions, and those of the immediate clan. Something you have already managed." Andy bit her lip and giggled. "There are other benefits though that you do not have, such as a greater healing ability, a higher threshold for pain and increased strength." Miranda placed her cup down, no longer finding comfort in the cooling liquid. "I could still hear you, but there would be no link to me."
"How is this done?" Andy asked.
"You drink from me," Miranda admitted. "I'd pierce my tongue or wrist..." Miranda faltered, expecting to see the horror in Andy's eyes. Instead, she observed the curiosity.
"And the other thing? You mentioned there were a couple." Andy asked.
"There are things that create a link so you can hear me but I would then, not only respond to your call of my name but see your dreams and read all your thoughts. We would gain the ability to communicate with each other fully, sharing our thoughts, emotions and memories without words. I could even savour the food you eat. It would be intoxicating." Miranda saw Andy blush. "I realise it may sound intrusive, I would try not to breach your privacy unless you called," Miranda stated.
Andy turned toward her. "That's not what concerns me, Miranda, but once you read my thoughts, well, it's kind of embarrassing how much I desire you. You are absolutely beautiful." Andy let out a loud exhale.
Miranda's breath caught. "You can't mean that. Surely you see I am a monster?"
"No, I don't believe that. My Grandma saw your innate goodness too. I remember from what I read you only feed off those who are inherently evil, and by Jocelyn's words and your own, you have saved many people, even unknowingly. I'm sure you didn't ask for this...for your children to be...Jesus." Andy put the plate of sandwiches down and ran her fingers through her bangs, showing signs of her frustration. "So, tell me how this link is formed?"
"I take a small amount of blood from you while you do the same. This opens our minds and we would share the first memories." Miranda frowned. "It may be painful, that initial bite, but some have claimed it can also be arousing. I can heal you after, you would have no permanent scarring."
Andy weighed up the options. "What makes you imagine this link between us would be beneficial?"
"Others, like me, will smell you on me and vice versa, it is a combined scent indecipherable to mortals. The same applies to those like Nate. They will recognise you belong to me, and it would provide you with a security you do not possess now." Miranda stalled. "There are certain rules between immortals. We do not kill an eternal mate, we do not inflict that pain on one another."
"And if I agree to neither?" Andy whispered, unsure she wanted the answer.
"Nate may hunt you down and bite you, claiming you as his own. At that moment, it will break our bond, and I will have no choice but to kill him." Miranda's words were cold and deadly. She looked at the young woman and tears formed. "I hoped I would have time, to woo you and to make you love me."
Andy saw the streaks of red trailing down Miranda's face, tears tinged with blood. Unable to watch the woman fall apart she did the only thing she could think of and pulled Miranda into her arms. The moment her arms surrounded the silver-haired immortal woman, she experienced an immeasurable amount of peace but Miranda was stiff in her arms. "I wasn't saying no, Miranda, to any of it." Miranda relaxed into the embrace. "I wonder what it would be like to be courted by an immortal. I'm sure you have seen some amazing romantic gestures over the years."
Miranda let out a small chuckle. "And some awful ones. There was once a young man from New Jersey who was madly in love with one of my neighbours. One night I detected what I assumed what was a cat screeching. It was, in fact, the young man, serenading his love, badly. She turned him down, flat."
Andy laughed briefly pulling back to look into Miranda's eyes. "Okay, so I shouldn't expect poetry, sonnets or you serenading me with...Oh, I don't know. Bon Jovi?"
"Mm, definitely not. I am more of a Dusty Springfield or The Ronettes type of woman." Miranda's lips quirked as she swiped her cheeks removing the blood tears. "You have time to consider all I have said, Andréa. Take the time, speak to the others. I will await your decision."
Andy was reluctant to break the embrace. Looking at Miranda, she bit her lip and blushed. "May I try one thing?" She inched her face closer, only to have Miranda cup her face and stop her.
"No, Andréa. I do not think it would be wise," Miranda told her.
Andy looked stricken and moved back quickly before launching herself to her feet and leaving the room quickly, tears of embarrassment clouding her eyes as she went in search of Nigel.
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It wasn't Nigel Andy found as she searched the rooms of the house, it was Caroline. Andy stalled as the young one looked up from her book and scowled at her. She tried to engage the girl.
"I realise you probably don't want me here, Caroline, but I wasn't given much choice in the matter," Andy muttered, sitting in a chair opposite the little redhead.
"I wasn't either. It's the first-time mom hasn't considered our wishes." Caroline looked at her. "You're different."
"I doubt that," Andy stated, still feeling the sting of Miranda's rejection. "I don't want to force myself into your life Caroline, but if this eternal mate thing is real, and something tells me it is, I don't want there to be any animosity between us. From the little I have seen of you and Cassidy, given time, we can learn to like each other and perhaps find we have things in common." Andy gazed at the book in Caroline's hands and recognised it was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She nodded at the book in Caroline's hands. "I remember reading Harry Potter the first time. It opened an entire world of magic I couldn't help but want to experience."
Caroline's head snapped up and her smile was blinding. "I liked the introduction of Ginny in this book."
"A spark of recognition, perhaps? Another smart, little redhead." Andy smiled. "Ginny was the first girl to arrive in the Weasley family in generations, and the seventh daughter which means she would become a gifted witch. I wished she had been a central character from day one."
"Me too," Caroline admitted. "Cassidy prefers video games but for me, reading opens a whole new world. I've seen so much, yet I'm just a little girl."
"That must be hard." Andy tried but could not put herself in Caroline and Cassidy's shoes. To be stuck in a suspended state must be difficult. What kind of monster would do such a thing to children? She swore if she stayed she would be whatever Caroline and Cassidy needed. Andy would give them time to warm up to her, to realise she would not hurt their mom. She understood she would have to try not to rush into things and let them develop naturally. "Um, it was good chatting to you, Caro." Andy shrugged as Caroline looked shocked at the nickname and stared at her, searching her eyes.
"Nigel will be up on the roof or on the back porch, they're his usual spots." Caroline offered a small smile as Andy stood up and made to exit the room. "Andy, mom will try to keep you at arm's length. You shouldn't let her."
"I won't, kiddo," Andy promised. "But we are two different people, inexplicably bonded by something beyond our control. I realise it won't always be easy, but I don't give up easily." She offered the little one a wide smile and a wave and made her way up the stairs towards the roof.
On the next level, she heard cheering and poked her head around the door to see Cassidy and Serena playing FIFA on the Xbox One. Serena's eleven men ran around the field in bright yellow jerseys, showing she was playing as Brazil, Cassidy's team ran around in red jerseys and on closer inspection she saw she was playing as England. Their movements on the controller advanced lightning quick, and they were both concentrating on the screen.
Serena paused the game and stood with feline grace, turning to Andy she smirked and handed her the controller. "I will leave you to talk, Andy."
Cassidy turned to gaze at Andy, smiling. "Yes, I'll whoop your butt."
"Hey, you guys have quicker reflexes. It is certain you'll win." Andy chuckled and folded herself into a sitting position beside the little one and un-paused the game. Within moments Cassidy had taken the ball and was initiating a cross. Her attacker fired the ball at the net. Andy had her goalie launching himself in the opposite direction as the ball hit. Andy groaned as Cassidy roared her success.
"You play okay, for a mortal," Cassidy stated. "Are you going to stay?" She asked.
"I don't know, Cass. I have decisions to make tonight," Andy stated. "Your mom mentioned strengthening our bond. But I'm a little concerned it's not what she really wants."
Cassidy paused the game as Andy tackled the ball from her player. "You may not see it, but she likes you very much. She told us she hoped you felt her warmth." She looked at Andy. "Caroline will get used to your presence should you stay. Deep down we want the same thing, for Mom to be happy. I think you can help with that. She seems..." Cassidy frowned. "...lighter. I can't explain it. You impress her and she is curious why we can't use our skills on you. Eliza was the same, she would tap her nose and say it was a secret." Cassidy smiled at the recollection and Andy grinned at her own remembrances.
"She used to do the same to me and my brother," Andy stated. "Now, how about we finish this game?"
"I think I'll play something else, what do you think of Fallout 4?" Cassidy smirked.
"I must admit I know little about it apart from it is set in a world rebuilt after a nuclear apocalypse," Andy admitted.
"I'll create you a game, I'll teach you how to play tomorrow night." Cassidy bounced where she sat and Andy couldn't help but smile as she left Cassidy creating her Gamertag and setting her up with her own profile.
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Andy spent the rest of the late evening talking to the other immortals, but it was her conversation with Serena and Emily that left Andy stunned.
Nigel had started by telling her what little he knew of werewolves, the bite would either turn her or kill her, he then moved on to tales of the places they had been, the legends of other immortals they had discovered and of his human life as an artist.
When Emily and Serena joined them under the outdoor heater Serena spoke honestly about meeting Emily and wooing her. Emily was quiet while Serena spoke, it was the first time they had spoken of things from Serena's perspective. The hours passed quickly and as the three immortals left her to her thoughts, she reflected on all they had told her.
"You realise, Andy, that a human-immortal relationship is not something easy?" Serena stated. "When I met Emily, I had only recently found Miranda, she is my sister in the blood, sharing the same maker, and she had welcomed me into her family, even though she will have nothing to do with Asher." Serena smiled softly. "It was hard, to begin with. I am so very Latina, and Miranda is still very English. We are polar opposites, brought up in different eras."
"When were you turned immortal?" Andy asked curiously.
"1966." Serena smiled when Andy's jaw dropped.
"I have so many questions," Andy whispered.
"I will answer anything you ask," Serena told her softly.
"How did you become immortal?" Andy asked.
"I met Asher one night, and he held me captivated. I believed in my youthful naivety he loved me. Little did I understand that he was feeding on me like I was a delectable morsel." Serena frowned. "The glamour wore off when I woke one evening with a burning thirst and he explained that I was Vampire. He drank from me almost to the point of death when he then compelled me to drink from him." Serena saw the concern etched in Andy's eyes. "No, Andy, it is not the same as being bonded."
"In what way is it different?" Andy whispered.
"I was not bonded with Asher before that night, I couldn't be because I was not his mate, I was not meant to be his. When we bond it is just a taste of each other, to create a link between our minds. Bonding takes a restraint which is only possible with those who sense our warmth. It is something only they can bring out because we do not want them dead. I have to tell you most of us do not want to inflict what we are on others. We have to work hard to attain the ability to have what we call a 'little drink'. Decades, if ever. And when we reach that point we heal the wounds with our saliva leaving the victim unaware." Serena looked at Nigel. "I have only ever discovered one person asking for immortality, his life was almost over when he learned Miranda's secret. They had somehow become friends, and that friendship has lasted over 80 years."
Andy's head pivoted, and she gazed at Nigel. "You asked for this life?"
"Yes, Six." Nigel smiled.
"Wow." Andy's exclamation was low.
"I will leave you be." Nigel stood and stretched. Looking down at Andy he gave her a close-lipped smile. "You realise, Miranda is not one to act in haste. If she didn't believe in whatever was between you, she wouldn't even consider this. Call her when you are ready, she'll come to you, she can't help but do so." He stepped away, hurrying towards the house.
"Is that actually true, if I call, she'll come?" Andy asked.
"Oh yes," Serena smirked. "Do you not accept what I said earlier?"
"I imagined it was a small exaggeration, to tease Emily." Andy grinned at Emily who rolled her eyes. "It's hard to imagine having that influence over someone so extraordinarily powerful. And in the moment of such pleasure being shocked within an inch of your life to find the focus of your daydreams there in your bedroom."
Serena and Emily chuckled. "True. But the bond between eternal mates is potent. Do you know how Emily came to be immortal?" Andy shook her head. "She was running errands for that woman she worked for. The persistent ringing of her cell took her attention away from her surroundings, the French woman made impossible demands for things you wouldn't believe. As Emily crossed the busy street a speeding cab hit her. I woke that evening to a sense of dread, my name muttered repeatedly. I followed the voice to the Presbyterian. The doctor was in the room, he was speaking to a specialist. They claimed there was no chance of survival and her parents had expressed their wishes to pull the plug on her life support. I persuaded them to amend her records and leave. She would make a miraculous recovery. I couldn't let her..." Blood tears formed in Serena's eyes. "...She couldn't die. She knew the secrets of my heart, we opened our minds to each other. Emily was still calling from the depth of her mind, her body broken, begging me to save her. I unhooked her from all those machines and pulled her from that bed and carried her as quickly as I could back here. I could feel Emily weakening and I understood if she died I would fade away too. Completing the transition strengthened the bond between us."
"Did it?" Andy hated interrupting Serena's tale.
"Yes, we are stronger together and we are equals. When Emily was human, although the bond stopped me from losing control, I had to handle Emily carefully. We do not always know our strength so one wrong move and bones become broken, or the skin is torn. Then there were times she saw me in my monstrous form. When my hunger and the passion I held for her expressed itself."
"The lengthening of your fangs and that...I don't know what to call it?" Andy let out a breath. "It's like your face changes."
"Yes, it is not pretty. It is when we have the least control over ourselves." Emily explained. "I will take my woman for a few drinks. Think about what Serena has told you. This will change your life."
Andy sat under the heater still deep in thought. She knew she could love Miranda given the chance, and she wanted Miranda to give her an opportunity. She knew she desired the immortal woman, she was immeasurably beautiful to her and thoughts of Miranda left her aching. Then there was the peace and safety she felt. She hadn't let herself consider what it all meant over the two months since they met, but she understood it would only be a matter of time until she found herself in a situation like Emily had, calling to the woman in the throes of her own self-pleasure.
She had caught the shock filtering in Miranda's eyes earlier that night as they greeted one another, her mind had whispered Miranda's name as she found herself enveloped by her presence, and Miranda had picked up on it, she was sure. Unable to stop herself her voice rang out, knowing Miranda would hear her.
"Miranda..."
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