Chapter Eight: The Strategy
Mona Brodrick saw more than people thought she did. Not with her eyes, of course. She'd always been better with her other senses. Mona wouldn't thank Naomi for robbing her of her vision but she was always not completely crippled. Her awareness of the emotions of people around her sharpened, as did her sensitivity to even tiny changes in the environment. So she knew that her sister was more confused than she was letting on and that Beth was more furious than she would act in front of the whole group.
"How is it you can't stand to drink from me but drinking from a perfect stranger doesn't make any difference at all?" Beth hissed quietly. She'd dragged Mick into the kitchen once she'd seen Andy's neck. Now she was spitting mad but trying to keep quiet about it. After all, there really should only be one major crisis at a time. So far they had two. Three was overdoing it.
"It was an emergency," Mick tried to explain quietly, more embarrassed than he wanted to admit. Biting Andy hadn't just been about food. The vampire in him wanted to put her in her place. She'd been teasing and poking at him since the moment they met. His inner monster was satisfied while the man in him was horrified. "I didn't have a lot of options when I was filled with silver and bleeding to death."
"Of course, it always has to be an emergency. Josef bit Emma all the time and I didn't see her recoiling in horror."
Emma paused outside the kitchen doorway. Since Ellen had gotten there she had meant to pull Mick and Beth out to join the impromptu meeting. However, that little tidbit about her past made her hesitate. Josef had bitten her. Frequently. And she'd been okay with it?
"Give them another minute," Ellen whispered softly, pulling at her friend's elbow. "They've got some things to work through." Emma let herself be dragged away.
"What is the problem between the two of them, exactly?" she asked, trying not to seem too nosy.
"Mick's sensitive about sharing his vampire nature with Beth and Beth doesn't want to be in a relationship with someone who isn't willing to trust all of himself with her," Ellen told her. She smiled weakly. "Since you forgot everything Beth's been talking to me a little but it's not really the same since I'm not in a relationship and I'm a young vampire. I don't understand that part of myself entirely just yet."
"Most people don't even understand themselves as humans for fifty years," Emma murmured. "Sounds reasonable that it would take longer to adapt to being a vampire." She glanced at Andy, a woman she didn't know but felt a strange connection to for no apparent reason. Their styles were similar. Jeans, casual shirts and no particular shape to her hair. Aside from that they were very different people. Andy was taller, her mouth was wider, her hair was shorter. They were both pale but that was the only physical resemblance they shared.
Andy glanced at Emma. She wondered, not for the first time, how a perfectly average woman had gotten mixed up in a world of vampires and magic. There was probably an interesting story behind her involvement with Josef. Too bad she couldn't remember it. She shifted uncomfortably on the couch, the bite she'd hastily bandaged stinging a little. Honestly, she didn't know how to feel about being vampire chow. Andy didn't regret it but she wondered what it would mean in the long run. Blood was never casual. Never could be, no matter how some people looked at it. And Mick was a little too interesting for his own good.
"Any feelings of nausea?" Mona asked Josef, checking his pulse for the second time that day. She felt nervous about his condition. So far there were no problems but experience taught her not to hope for the best.
"I told you before that I felt all right. Nothing's changed," Josef told her. She could hear the impatience in his voice. He didn't like being monitored like an invalid. The less obvious emotion was uncertainty. It had been a long time since he'd been human. There were so many things he needed to learn how to do all over again.
"Let me know if anything does change. If it does, you'll need our help." Mona let go of his wrist. Josef studied her face, lined with worries and concern. It occurred to him that she was far too young to be that old. So was Andy, for that matter. In fact, the only person in the house that wasn't jaded and bitter was Beth. Although, she'd had her share of tragedies it hadn't left a real mark on her soul. Overall she had a good life that she hadn't had to build from the ground up. Perhaps that was the real problem between Mick and Beth. He didn't want to share the darker half of his life because he wasn't sure Beth could handle it. He believed she deserved someone normal. Human. Maybe she did. Neither of them would know until he let her in.
"Is it possible for you to get your sight back?" Josef asked. Mona nodded as she fiddled with the crystal pendant hanging from her throat.
"She did something to me that was like what she did to you. She stole a part of me and locked it away for her own use. All my sister and I need to do is find it." This immediately peaked Josef's curiosity.
"Then I could regain my immortality?" Mona smiled gently and nodded.
"Yes, of course. As I said, it's just a matter of finding it."
"And finding Naomi," Josef added, the witch's name like bitter acid on his tongue.
Mick and Beth finally emerged from the kitchen, neither looking entirely happy. The dissatisfied expression on Beth's face reminded Emma of something. She had a brief flash of the two of them curled up on a gigantic bed, drinking wine and complaining about their men. Then it faded away until she couldn't be sure if she'd imagined it or not.
"So," she said, clearing her throat. "How much damage control do we need to do?"
"Since the solid evidence was destroyed, all we have to do is convince witnesses that they didn't see what they think they saw," Mona said.
"Shouldn't be hard," Andy put in. "Most people don't want to admit to the existence of the supernatural."
"Cops aren't that easy to lie to," Beth reminded her. "You'll need a really solid story to tell them."
"We could always say that we panicked and ran. That's reasonable," Mona said thoughtfully. Beth mulled it over for a minute before nodding.
"Sure, but you'll still need to explain how Mick could get shot three times and be in perfect health." Mick and Josef exchanged looks. Did they even have to be here for this meeting?
"He was wearing Kevlar?" Emma suggested tentatively. Andy bit her lip.
"That could possibly work if we said he was just feeling paranoid that day," she agreed at last. Beth held up a hand.
"However, even if he was wearing a bulletproof vest, he'd have been bruised by the impact. They'll want to see that to make sure." This stumped all of them for a minute. Mona chewed her lip before deciding to void her idea.
"Make-up?" Ellen smiled encouragingly at Mona before she realized she couldn't see her.
"Good idea," she said. "Does anyone know how to do that?" Mona cleared her throat and Andy pursed her lips.
"I do," she mumbled. Mick stared at her.
"You do?" Andy glared at the disbelieving look on his face.
"We went to a lot of different high schools and I was on a lot of different make-up crews for the plays." The disbelief hadn't faded and neither had her glare. "Just because I don't use make-up doesn't mean I don't know how to wield it."
"Sounds like we've got a plan," Emma interrupted. She really didn't need a vampire and a witch going at it in Brandon's house. Since none of them carried stage make-up with them, they simply pooled whatever make-up they had on them and gave it to Andy. She didn't look entirely confident but there wasn't a lot of time for her to complain about bad resources. The longer they stayed away from the police, the more suspicious it looked.
"Okay," Andy murmured, concentrating on the various eye shadows and foundations. "Take your shirt off and I'll see what I can do with you." Mona let out a deep sigh. Sometimes her sister spoke without thinking about what her sentences might sound like. Ellen snickered as quietly as possible. Andy, of course was oblivious as she carried the make-up into the kitchen for the better light. Mick followed, clearly bemused.
Meanwhile, Emma pulled Josef into the hallway for a more private conversation. "I want to know the story," she told him directly. "How we met, how the hell you managed to make me fall in love with you, why I can't remember any of it…"
"That story is going to take a while," he warned her, struggling to hold back the triumphant grin. She was beginning to see her past with him as a fact instead of a creative fiction.
"Then stay the night. It's not as if we don't have extra rooms." Emma regretted making the offer the minute she saw the darkening of his eyes and how they skimmed over her body. She especially regretted it when she felt her response to his lust. Eager didn't cover the sheer desperation that seemed to pound through her veins. "We're only going to talk," she told him. The breathless quality to her voice didn't make her sound terribly convincing.
"Of course," he murmured, eyes lingering at her mouth. Josef missed kissing her and he intended to make up for at least one of the kisses he'd missed over the last six months tonight. Emma cleared her throat, crossing her arms over her breasts. Maybe she was better off not knowing about their relationship. Too bad she was curious or she would have backed out in an instant. At least, she told herself that.
"You can start talking any time now," she prodded, breaking the tense silence. He smiled.
"We met at your café," Josef began and Emma gave him her undivided attention. They weren't the only ones acquainting themselves with the past.
"You didn't strike me as the theatrical type," Mick said, leaning back against the kitchen counter. It was a cool surface but even with his shirt off he wasn't sensitive to it. Cold was good for vampires.
"I was a techie. That isn't exactly theatrical. It's more like theatrical support." Andy had, more or less, gotten the colors she wanted. Now she just had to make them look like they belonged on Mick's skin.
"You're not one of those girly girls, are you?" Mick asked. He was interested in the efficient way she moved. Her hips barely swayed when she walked and her gestures were more abrupt than graceful. He could easily imagine Andy running around with boys, scraping her knees and being proud of each injury.
"I've never had enough patience to be feminine," she told him, carefully applying the first layer of make-up to his chest. It had been ages since she'd done this but it came back to her like the lyrics of a childhood lullaby. The skill had stayed in her hands. Even if she couldn't be as useful as she wanted, she had a few handy talents.
"Is your name short for something?" Andy's hands faltered and she winced.
"No," she lied but it was far too late for that. Mick smiled down at the top of her head.
"What is it?"
"None of your business," she replied curtly, smoothing out the mistake she had made with the colors. Mick had a naturally curious nature, which was probably why he was a private investigator. He liked solving mysteries, no matter how small.
"Andrea?" he guessed. Andy resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"I'm not telling you. Better give up now."
"Come on," Mick cajoled. "How bad could it be?" She broke her concentration long enough to glare at him.
"Is minding your own business really that hard?" Andy all but snapped. It was a mistake. Not enough time had passed since Mick had had his fangs in her neck and the live human blood in his system made it harder to control his impulses. He pressed his hand against the bandage on her neck, tempted to rip it off. Instead he curled his fingers around the back of her neck and stared into her wide blue eyes.
"Tell me." She nearly did. Andy nearly let her full name spill out of her lips. She nearly curled up against his body and begged forgiveness for refusing him anything. Then her tattoo burned, snapping her out of whatever Mick had done to her. She jerked back, breathing too fast.
"What did you just do?" Mick's eyes had cleared and his saner half was mentally berating himself. He wasn't sure what he'd done. None of this had happened when he bit Beth. Of course, he'd stayed away from her for four days so maybe the effect had worn off. Even when he'd regularly used live women, he hadn't exactly spent time with them afterwards.
"I'm not sure," he admitted quietly. Andy studied his face for a moment before she nodded abruptly then went back to the make-up. Obviously she wasn't any more eager to talk about it than he was. After a few silent minutes, one extremely quiet word reached his sensitive ears.
"Andromeda." Mick didn't know what to say to that. He stared down at her head and her industrious hands.
"I won't tell a soul," he promised. And he wouldn't. Who would believe him?
