Note: Please see Prologue for warning, copyright and disclaimer information.
Falling
A week or so after my heart to heart with Glenn about hunting, I walked out of the Memphis at closing time to find the subject of our conversation waiting for me. I stopped for a moment then looked around, reaching out with my senses to make sure there wasn't any vamps nearby. I had to tell myself I wasn't glad we were quite alone.
"Hi, Mac," I said warily, wondering if tonight would be the night I gave in and agreed to go out with him.
"Eliza," he drawled, his voice and light accent playing havoc with my mind. "It's late, mind if I walk you home?"
I looked around again, almost hoping for a vampire to jump out and ruin the romantic mood. "You think I need protecting?"
He smiled. "Would you believe me if I said I did?"
I smiled back, despite myself. "I might."
He held his arm out to me and reluctantly I put my hand in the crook of his elbow. He led me out of the alley and onto the sidewalk.
"Where is everyone tonight?" he asked almost too casually. I wondered if he knew that they were out hunting.
I didn't like lying to him so I stuck to the truth as much as I could. "I'm not sure," I replied, not looking at him. "No one's been in tonight."
Silence filled the air between us as we walked along, but it was a good silence. After a while, he said, "I heard about a restaurant just out of town I thought you might be interested in."
"Oh?" I'm not much for dining out. I didn't really have anything to dress up in, and looking at what Mac usually wore, I figured he probably wanted to go someplace nice.
"Yes, apparently the owner travels quite extensively and brings back different types of orchids from every country he visits," he told me. "He has a wide variety on display in the restaurant."
I looked up at him in surprise. "How—" I was going to ask how he knew I liked flowers, but that would have been giving too much away. "How many?"
"At least a dozen," he replied, a smile playing on his lips. "I thought I could take you for dinner some time."
I knew this was a ploy to get me to go out with him. I frowned up at him. I knew it.
"You do eat, don't you?" he asked.
I looked away. "I eat."
"How does Friday sound? They have a band on weekends. It's a little quieter than the Memphis, though."
"The Memphis is a dive," I reminded him with a smile, looking up into his face. "Riots are quieter on Friday nights." Then I felt it, the prickle at the base of my spine that told me there was a vampire nearby. I stiffened and looked around, searching for it's hiding place.
"What's wrong?" Mac asked in a low voice.
I pulled away and stepped back from him, looking toward the house we'd been walking past. A glance at the address told me that this was the house Glenn and the others had planned on visiting tonight. How had I forgotten that we'd walk right by it on the way home? I listened carefully for a moment and heard the faint sounds of struggle coming from inside.
"Damn," I whispered, pulling a stake from behind my back. "Stay here," I told Mac over my shoulder as I ran up the steps. The door wasn't quite closed all the way and I pushed open very slowly until I could slip through the opening. I could hear the fighting much better now, and I slid into the dimness inside as if it were a part of my soul.
A nightlight illuminated the hall and lit my way toward the kitchen where I knew the basement steps would be. I'd just reached the doorway when I heard a noise behind me and spun, stake raised to strike. It was Mac.
"I told you to wait outside," I hissed at him. He just shook his head and pointed toward the stairs.
I heard Jared cry out and I knew that there was no time left for arguments; they needed help down there and they needed it now. I ran down the steps and immediately went for the vamp that was standing over a bleeding Jared. The mage was on the ground next to another body that wasn't moving. I refused to let myself get distracted by worrying who it was and I called out to the thing that was threatening my friend.
It seemed to be confused for a moment and I took advantage of its hesitation to thrust a stake in its heart. It fell to the ground and I turned to look across the room at the other vamp that Glenn and a wolf-man I recognized as Bobby were fighting.
Bobby was doing a good job of keeping the fiend distracted while Glenn worked his magic to paralyze it for the killing blow. Bobby struck and the head rolled to the floor, followed quickly by the limp body of the creature.
I looked down to see that Jared was trying to sit up, but I quickly pushed him back down. "Glenn," I called urgently, putting pressure on a gaping wound on his thigh, "Jared needs you." I'd seen Glenn heal things I would have sworn would kill people, and Jared's leg looked that bad.
Once Glenn was there and started to work on the wound, I looked at the other body. Right away I knew it was Paul, Bobby's brother. He'd been hunting with us almost from the beginning and now he was dead, his blood pooling on the floor of the basement under his body.
I looked up and into Mac's hard eyes. I could feel tears on my cheeks, but Mac's face was dry and cold. Mac and Paul had become close over the last few weeks, and I knew that the pain he must have been feeling had to cut just as deep as mine did. Paul was like a brother to me, but to Mac he was like a son.
Suddenly I heard a deep growl coming from across the room. I looked to see Bobby standing over the body of the vamp staring across the room at the body of his brother. He was going to frenzy; I could see it in his eyes. Damn, I didn't want to have to kill him just so that the rest of us could survive.
Glenn stood up to stop him, but Bobby flung him aside. I grabbed at his arm, but he shrugged and I went flying. I hit the wall hard enough to see stars and for a long moment I was dazed. When I could move again, I looked up to see Bobby standing next to Mac, rage still running through his body.
"You can't revenge him by losing yourself here," I heard Mac whisper to him. "This is not the time or the place. There is no enemy here, Bobby. Save your rage and use it when the time is right."
Bobby threw back his head and screamed, but the danger was over. He fell to his knees and I rushed to take the boy into my arms. The side of my face burned where I hit the wall, but I blew it off; Bobby was far more important than my pain. I heard Mac walk over to where Glenn was getting to his feet.
"I want in," Mac said calmly.
"No," I cried quickly. When Glenn glanced at me, I saw the warning in his eyes. I ignored it. I'd much rather have both of them pissed at me than Mac dead. "Damn it, Glenn, I won't have it." I know that I'd agreed to let him join if he asked, but when it came down to it I couldn't let it happen without a fight.
"This has nothing to do with you," Mac stated calmly without even turning to look at me. "It is not your decision."
"It's dangerous, Mac," Glenn told him seriously. "Paul isn't the first one of us to die hunting these things."
"I know," he replied in the same tone.
I wanted to cry out again, to refuse to let him do this, to beg him to take it back, but a part of me knew it was already too late. He'd made his decision and now he'd live or die by it. I prayed to whatever gods would listen that he wouldn't have to die by it.
"We need every man we can get," Glenn said after a moment, smiling grimly as they shook hands.
Bobby pulled away from my arms and picked up his brother's body. I watched him head for the stairs and saw the vamp that I'd staked, the one that had killed Paul. Time for justice.
I pulled my knife and leaned over to brutally grab it by the hair. I was glad the vamp knew what was going on as I ran the blade across its throat, deliberately taking my time to cut its head off. I almost wished it could fight me, that way I could vent my rage on it even more. In my mind I believed that if it hadn't been for this monster murdering Paul, Mac would never have asked to join us in the hunt. By the time the head was free Glenn had already helped Jared from the basement and Mac and I were alone.
I wished Glenn had stayed, I needed something to calm the beast inside of me. I was terrified of the future; I knew that if Mac hunted with us he could die, just like Paul had died here tonight. Just the thought of his death brought me dangerously close to frenzy myself. I kept my face blank as I cleaned the knife on the dead Kindred's clothing. Mac walked over to me and held his hand out, but I ignored him to put the knife away.
"Come here, Eliza," he says softly.
I looked up at him, still feeling the rage boil inside. Why had he come to Baltimore anyway? Why couldn't he have stayed in Ireland where he'd been safe with his family? A part of me wanted him to go back there, but a stronger, bigger part knew it was too late. I loved him and would always love him, no matter what happened. I didn't know if I could survive without him being a part of my life.
"Now," he added firmly, sounding more than a little like Glenn.
Something about the tone of his voice hit me just right, helped me get the beast under control. Or maybe he used magic on me like he had on Bobby, I don't know. Whatever it was, I was able to bury my anger and take a deep calming breath. At last I took his hand and let him help me to my feet. To my surprise, he pulled me into his arms.
"I won't die on you, Eliza," he whispered against my hair. "I swear it."
How had he known what I was thinking? Feeling? I pulled back to look up into his eyes and wished I could read his heart. As much as he'd tried to get close to me in the last month, we'd never been this close.
He stared at my mouth for a long moment then lowered his head to kiss me. I raised up on my toes and met him half way. His lips were soft and sweet, just like I'd known they would be. It was definitely magic, but it had nothing to do with his powers.
After a long moment, he pulled back to look down at me with a smile. "Is Friday good?"
I had to laugh; the man had a one-track mind. If we both died tomorrow, I knew my only regret would be not agreeing to go with him. I raised my hand to tuck my hair behind my ear, but his hand was there already doing it for me.
"Friday," I agreed softly. He put his arm around my waist and led me away from the stench of death and into the light.
That same night he took the vows we had all taken when we'd joined the fight: to destroy vampires and their servants whenever possible; to give our own lives to protect the innocent; to destroy a fellow hunter if he or she ever fell beneath the thrall of a vampire, whether they were ghouled or embraced. It was a vow we all took seriously, and one the group had been called upon to carry through more than once.
For the first time I wondered if I could fulfill the vow if Mac were to fall into the clutches of the vamps. I couldn't picture myself doing anything to destroy him, but if it came down to it, would I? Could I?
Paul's funeral was a few days later. His mother had the viewing at a nearby funeral home, but the body would go to a caern just outside of town. None of the group from the brownstone would be allowed to go with the body mostly because most Garou don't trust mages to be around their caerns. When Bobby came over to my apartment afterward Mac and I sat and talked to him well into the night.
Friday came way too soon to suit me. I'd borrowed a dress from Jane, but I felt wicked uncomfortable wearing it. The restaurant was quiet and nice but not as exclusive as I'd expected it to be.
A small brass band played softly in a corner of the room, and there were candles on all of the tables. Photographs and paintings of orchids lined the walls, and real orchids were everywhere. The air was warm and humid to keep the orchids alive.
Mac ordered wine from the waitress and sat back to look at me while I looked at a brochure that told all about the orchids in the room and the owner's travels.
"How's your face?" he asked me.
I looked up, confused. When he gestured toward my cheek, I covered it with my hand. "Well, I heal quickly," I told him, trying to dismiss the subject. How could I explain to him why I healed faster than your average mortal did? "What are you going to eat?"
We discussed the menu for a few minutes and when the waitress returned with the wine that he ordered both of us. To my surprise, the wine was quite good. We talked a little about Paul while we waited for our dinner. It felt strange to be going on with our lives so soon after his had ended. Paul had known the risks, but it was ironic he was killed on the first hunt Glenn had let Bobby go on.
"If I hadn't had to work, I would have been with them," I whispered. "Things might have different." Paul would still be alive.
"You shouldn't think that way," Mac told me, reaching across the table to put his hand on mine. "You might have been the one killed."
I smiled wryly, mumbling something about poetic justice that I hoped he didn't hear. At that moment the waitress brought our food.
We talked about orchids, and plants, and places we'd been. When he started talking about Ireland he made it come alive for me. I wished I could go there and see everything he described. His family sounded very nice, very close. I wondered why he'd left them.
"I'm sorry," he said after a while. "I didn't mean to go on like that."
"No," I said honestly, "I like to hear you describe it. It almost makes me feel like I'm there, like I know those people. You must miss it very much."
"I do," he admitted softly. He looked away distractedly.
"Why did you leave?" I asked quietly.
He focused on me again. "Ah, it's complicated."
It was obvious he didn't want to tell me. "I'm sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to pry."
"No, that's okay," he replied. "If you don't mind if I pry. What brought you to Baltimore? Have you lived here long?"
I didn't like him asking about my past, there were too many things there that would drive him away. "I've been here about a year," I said reluctantly. "And Greyhound brought me. How did you know I liked plants?"
"Bobby." He looked at me closely as if trying to figure out what I was hiding "Why don't you want me to help you and the others hunt?"
I looked away and bit my tongue before I said something I regretted. It wouldn't do for him to know just how much I cared about him. "People die doing what we do. Like Paul did. I don't want to see you get hurt, or worse."
"But it's okay if Glenn gets hurt."
I sighed and shook my head. "I don't want to see anyone hurt. These things are stronger than you realize Mac. They're dangerous. They're hard to kill, and won't stop until they're dead or you're dead."
"We took care of them easily enough," he told me.
"If you call Paul's death easy," I shot back. "And we don't know who they were, we may get payback from killing them."
"How do you know so much about vampires, Eliza?" he asked.
What had he heard about me? Could he see the color of my aura that marked the Kindred blood inside of me? I looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it," I said coldly. "I know how to kill them. That's all you need to know."
"Why do you kill them?"
Why couldn't he leave it alone? "My life before I came to Baltimore is not open for discussion," I told him as calmly as I could. "If you want to talk about vampires, find someone else to date. If you want me to go out with you Mac, talk about something else."
He nodded, but somehow I thought he wouldn't let this topic rest for long.
To my surprise, Glenn and Jane began dating around the same time I agreed to go out with Mac. He still teased me once in a while about giving him a second chance, but he did it less and less as his relationship with Jane progressed.
Mac and I started spending time away from the rest of the group, and it was better than I ever imagined it would be. We took long walks in the city's streets and talked for hours about everything. Everything except my past, that is. I made sure he knew that it was off limits, but I did tell him a few things that had happened to me.
Our mutual fascination soon became a joke with the rest of our friends. Not in a mean way, of course, but they took to making comments about it whenever they caught us staring. One afternoon Glenn had taken everyone to a beautiful beach in the middle of God knows where. It was very charming, the lake lay in a lush valley with tall snow capped mountains all around us, and while there was a crowd of people swimming and on the beach, it wasn't over crowded.
I picked up a blanket and had started to lay it out when I saw Mac take off his shirt. The sight of his muscles and his skin was enough to take my breath away. When he turned and caught me staring, I blushed and looked away.
"Let's get in the water," Glenn said with a smile. "She can stare anytime, right now we're burning daylight."
With a backward glance at me, Mac followed Glenn toward the water. I watched until Jane sat down next to me.
"He is handsome," she said softly.
I glanced at her. "He is."
"Are you going to watch him all day or are we going to go swim?" she asked.
I smiled. "Let's go." I took off my tee shirt and followed Jane down to the beach. We waded over to where Glenn and Mac were swimming, and within a few minutes Jane and Glenn had moved off, leaving me alone with Mac.
Because we hadn't been dating very long, I still wasn't very comfortable being around him, especially in a bikini. I had a few scars that didn't leave me the prettiest girl on the beach, but he didn't seem to mind. We talked and swam and played like kids in the sunshine. Somehow I ended up breathless in his arms and I know he would have kissed me if Bobby hadn't splashed us right at that moment.
"Save the show for somewhere else," he laughed as he moved away.
Mac and I laughed too. We walked out of the water hand in hand and laid down on the blanket I'd spread earlier. The beach was crowded and noisy, but we fell into a comfortable silence. I was a little sore from the last time we'd gone hunting, and the sun felt good, warming my muscles. It wasn't very long before I fell asleep.
My dreams were filled with Mac, with the two of us living together with a little girl I knew was ours. She looked at Mac as if he'd made the world, and he looked back at her adoringly. I watched them play in the backyard while the afternoon sun beat down on us, warming us. I felt such contentment in the dream, a rightness knowing that all of this was meant to be.
I woke some time later knowing instantly that Mac was there and that he watching me. I opened my eyes to look at him and saw the intensity on his face. I would have been pissed if he was any other man, but seeing that look on his face made me feel warm and fuzzy. I smiled and reached out to take his hand.
"What were you dreaming about, Eliza?" he asked softly.
"You," I told him honestly.
He seemed a little surprised, but before he could ask me about it, Glenn and Jane walked up.
"Time to go," Glenn said softly.
For the first time I noticed that the shadows had grown and that the sun was going down. We dressed and packed up our things then walked into the woods where Glenn made us a gateway back to the brownstone.
The people at the brownstone usually went to a shooting range on Saturday afternoons. I never went with them, mostly because I couldn't shoot the broad side of a barn. Mac was surprised to hear that, and he was very insistent that I learned how. He didn't seem to think I could defend myself and I didn't bother to remind him that I'd been taking care of myself for a long time.
He talked me into going with the others to the shooting range one Saturday. He was good with a pistol, he'd hit the target quite easily, but I didn't think I would ever be able to match his skill. Or even hit the target at all, for that matter.
"You can do this," he told me encouragingly as he held the gun out to me. "Don't be intimidated it, just hold it firmly, point at the target, and squeeze the trigger."
"Mac, I can't shoot," I protested as I took the gun from him. "I'm telling you, people have tried to show me before and given up in disgust."
He smiled as if he couldn't believe I could be that bad. "Give it a try," he said, standing behind me and helping me aim toward the paper target ten feet away.
I stood stiffly with my arm extended, ready for the recoil. I squeezed the trigger like he'd told me to, but never even hit the paper. I looked at him without saying 'I told you so.'
"Try again." He put his hand on my wrist in an effort to help me aim, but again my bullet never touched the target.
Twenty minutes and a box of shells later, he threw up his hands in defeat. "I can't believe that you never once got the target," he said with a smile, obviously not wanting to hurt my feelings.
I smiled and shook my head. "I told you I can't shoot a gun."
"Eliza," he said haltingly, "don't you think it would be better if you didn't come with us tonight?" It would be the first hunt the group had gone on since he'd joined us.
I shot him an amused look. It was pretty obvious he thought I'd be a shooting duck for the black hats when we joined the others to go hunting that night. "What, you think I can't take care of myself?" I demanded.
"I didn't say that," he protested.
"But you think it," I replied. "Look, I said I can't shoot a gun, Mac. I never said I was defenseless." I pulled a stake and held it near the pointed end.
"Is that a stake?" he asked, puzzled.
I don't think he knew before that moment that I always carried at least one stake with me everywhere. Most of the time I had two stakes, and a knife. I also didn't think he'd seen where I'd pulled it from, and that made me smile. "Yeah, a stake. We are expecting trouble from vamps, aren't we?" I threw the stake at the paper target, and immediately pulled another that followed the first very closely.
"I think I can hold my own," I told him smugly, gesturing for him to look at the target.
He turned to look and saw that both pieces of wood were in the center area of the target. I pulled the knife from my boot and threw it too. It landed between the two stakes.
"Of course, sometimes you need more than a piece of wood," I added, walking toward the target to retrieve my weapons. I examined the stakes and sharpened one with the knife a little before putting them away. Then I sheathed the knife in my boot and smiled at Cormac.
"Where did you pick that up?" he asked me as I walked back to him.
"There was a biker in Atlanta that had a thing for knives," I replied, sliding my arm around his waist. "I learned a few things. Maybe I could show you, that way you wouldn't be helpless without your gun."
He laughed and took me into his arms for a kiss. He gave up teaching me to shoot a gun, but he talked me into teaching him how to throw. He picked it up pretty easily, and he wasn't as good as I was, but that was okay. I'd be there to protect him if he needed it.
