A/N:
Thank you so much for the subscriptions, comments, bookmarks, and plain old reads! It's been very exciting to get feedback and to know that people are enjoying this story. I hope you all like where I take it.
Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball are the parents, I'm just the fun babysitter.
Previously:
Suddenly, I felt another void (oh, who was I kidding—another vampire) circling the house. Liam. I tensed, looking towards the lounge room moments before the front door slammed open.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Ice ran up my spine at the sound of the gravelly voice. The vampires hissed and crouched, turning towards the newcomer who had appeared in the doorway, before quickly straightening. I was frozen to the spot. "This seems like quite the party", there was a crunch and TOTO was cut off mid-chorus, the radio falling to the floor in pieces, "which is strange as I specifically recall asking you to restrain yourselves while in my area."
Uhh, maybe this wasn't Liam after all.
The newcomer was tall, that was my first impression. Tall, broad-shouldered and blond. I didn't get a chance to take in much else before Diane broke the silence.
"Sheriff, we were just feeding," she purred. "I can assure you that the situation is in hand.
This was the sheriff? He sure didn't look like any sheriff I'd ever met before. He was wearing a leather jacket, black t-shirt, jeans and boots. He had slight stubble on his chiseled jaw. Simply put, he was beautiful. He looked like he belonged on the cover of a GQ magazine, either that or in the T-Birds.
I couldn't tell if the sheriff's presence was good or bad for me, but at least it seemed to be a spanner in the works for Malcolm and Diane. I just needed to keep my head down and wait for an opportunity I could use to my advantage…
Malcolm drawled, "Please, join us, there's plenty to go round."
There was a pause as the sheriff slowly took in the room, his gaze pausing briefly on myself, then Lafayette before flicking back to Diane and Malcolm. "Your activities this evening garnered the attention of some humans from the club you attended." He sounded bored, he looked bored for that matter.
"Sheriff," Diane spoke up. "We had no intention to disobey your orders. We were going to glamour them and then release them after feeding, but the blond can't be glamoured, she started making a scene. We had no choice." She was speaking quickly, nervously, I realised with a start. Whoever this new guy was, it didn't seem like 'sheriff' was an honourary title. He was clearly higher up in the pecking order
The sheriff's eyes slid to me. I returned his stare. "It's true," Malcolm said. "She knew something was wrong with her friends. We removed her before the situation could escalate."
"Silence," the sheriff's tone was curt. "I have no interest in your excuses. As you know they are not my orders, they are those of the AVL and more importantly, the queen." He turned to Malcolm. "If the human truly cannot be glamoured, you should have limited your exposure to the humans, not exacerbated it."
For my part, I had grabbed Lafayette's arm and tugged him to my side in a feeble attempt to stop him from reaching for Malcolm. Diane's mind control must've still had a hold of him.
"We removed her from the situation immediately," Malcolm said angrily.
"If removing her required you to expose yourselves then you should have left her, and the others if necessary. You are not children. I need not explain the basics of survival to you. We must remain covert, moreso now when we are on the cusp of the revelation." The sheriff said in an icy voice. "Clancy is cleaning up your mess as we speak, glamouring patrons to prevent a kidnapping from being investigated."
The way they were talking you'd think we weren't in the room. And on the one hand, I'll be the first to admit that at this point rudeness was the least of my worries, but also, after my night I couldn't really put up with much else, dang it. And Lafayette was stronger than me. And I was tired, and I'd already bartered away my freedom, and probably my life, so right now I was feeling pretty done with it all.
"Lafayette, stop it." I snapped, pulling roughly on his arm, before turning to the tall, blond vampire in a huff. "Look, I appreciate y'all need to sort this out but can you please send my friends home? I already promised I would do whatever they said if Lafayette and Dawn can leave."
The moment after I spoke I realised what I'd done. So much for not drawing attention to myself. I went to smooth my dress before realising I was still holding that darn porcelain cat. I tightened my fist around it and put my arms by my sides. The blond sheriff quirked an eyebrow at me.
"You are calmer than I would expect for a human in this situation." Did he want me to respond?
"Uhh, okay." Not my most eloquent moment, but hey, I was putting up with a lot right now so I felt like I was doing pretty well.
"You have not been glamoured." He was staring at me intently. His eyes were very blue.
I paused, waiting to see if he was going to ask me a question. "If you mean whatever mind-control thingy they've done to my friends, then no. They tried, but it didn't work on me." My heart was still racing but I was pleased to note my voice was steady.
"What do you think happened tonight?"
"I don't really know. I just know these two are trying to hurt me and my friends."
"Come now," he smirked and I caught a glimpse of his fangs, yep he was one of them alright. "You can do better than that," his voice was light and teasing; it sent a chill down my spine.
Malcolm and Diane were watching me quietly, their fangs catching the light thrown by the soft lamps.
"Please," my voice broke a little on the word. "Just send my friends home. Then I'll tell you whatever you want."
His blue eyes were wide and guileless. "I will not be doing that," he said calmly.
Faster than my eyes could follow he had crossed the room and was standing before me. I gasped and flinched away from him, but before I could complete the movement a pale, icy finger darted out and touched my face, angling it upwards. My eyes met his. His thumb and forefinger held my chin, anchoring me in place. As soon he touched me I felt swallowed whole by his mind, his lack of thoughts. It was deep and dark and quiet. His eyes were a swirling azure. And despite everything, I felt a sense of peace and of calm; his eyes, his mind, it felt like swimming below the surface of a quiet lake.
I felt the now familiar sensation—a scratching, itching in my mind—but this one was stronger than the others. Not painful, exactly, but certainly stronger. I vaguely realised I was staring at him blankly. And some quiet, focused part of me realised what I needed to do with a stunning clarity. I let my face go slack, mimicking the blank expressions that I had seen on Dawn and Lafayette's faces. I focused on the void of the blond vampire, letting it expand and fill my senses, trying to fall into a kind of trance to calm my beating heart.
He grunted and when he spoke next I could see his fangs had receded slightly. "Do not move. Be quiet and await further instruction." The scratch on my mind sharpened as he spoke the last words. I focused on keeping my face slack and tried to sink further into the quiet of his mind.
Do not move. Be quiet and await further instruction. I repeated it to myself like a mantra, timing my breath to the words. I could do this. More to the point, I needed to.
The sheriff held my gaze for a long, drawn-out moment.
Do not move. Be quiet and await further instruction. Do not move. Be quiet and await further instruction. Do not move. Be quiet. Await further instruction.
He slowly spun on his heel, turning toward Malcolm and Diane. I kept staring ahead, fixing my gaze on an oddly shaped water stain on the wall across from me.
"As you can see the human can be glamoured." His voice had returned to its flat tone. "I can only conclude that in addition to being insubordinate, the two of you are also incompetent vampires."
Someone, Malcolm, I think, hissed.
"You are fortunate there was an associate of mine there tonight to report the incident to me before anyone left. Otherwise we would have a far larger problem on our hands. As it stands, there has been limited harm. I will, however, need to report your behaviour to the Magister."
Malcolm hissed and leaped at the tall, blond vampire. I'm sure that I tensed slightly but I didn't move. At that moment I thanked the good lord for all those years of having to hide my reactions to people's thoughts. The was a rush of movement and suddenly the sheriff was crouching over Malcolm, holding his prone body to the floor, his hand wrapped around Malcolm's neck. My fist tightened around the little cat, some sharp part of it was digging into me. The ear, maybe.
Do not move. Be quiet. Await further instruction. Breathe.
"Attacking an elder and a sheriff," the blond vampire tutted at Malcolm, sounding almost amused with the turn of events. "That sort of behaviour could get you killed if you aren't careful." Diane had frozen, from the corner of my eye I thought I could see her head bowed deferentially. The sheriff continued, "You are exceedingly lucky you have caught me in a favourable mood."
Malcolm let out a gut-wrenching yelp as there was a tearing, fleshy sound. I stayed staring at that spot on the wall. I watched from the corner of my eye as the sheriff raised something above his head and Malcolm thrashed below him. I couldn't help it, my eyes darted to the object and to my horror I saw it was an arm. Malcolm's arm. It had been ripped clean out of its socket, shirt sleeve and all. I saw a flash of bone and meaty tendons hanging out the torn end of the shirt sleeve before the arm kind of collapsed in on itself, turning to a thick red goo. The goo was seeping out of the ends of the shirt sleeve, coating the sheriff's hand. I felt bile rise in my throat and swallowed it back, returning my eyes to the water stain on the wall. I should never have looked.
Don't move. Be quiet. Await further instruction.
The sheriff straightened, pulling Malcolm to his feet as he did so. Malcolm was making a ragged, panting noise. The blond vampire wiped his bloodied hand on Malcolm's shirt, before straightening Malcolm's collar.
Don't move. Be quiet.
"As I was saying the Magister will be told of your indiscretions and they will be dealt with under law. Now, tell me of the occupant of the house."
Diane and Malcolm shared a look before Diane broke the silence, "Drained, a few days ago. It was an accident." She added quickly.
"Will anyone be looking for her?"
"No Sheriff." Diane's head was still lowered. "She owns the house outright so there won't be any landlords sniffing around. She had no friends or family, she was an old woman."
"Well that's something at least." The blond vampire turned to look at her. "I do not need to tell you of how poorly timed your behaviour has been." He looked over at Malcolm. "The Magister will be made aware of the occupant's fate as well. As for the others, I will allow you to decide whether or not to tell him you were incapable of glamouring a mere human. I imagine that information may be…embarrassing for you, however disclosing it may lessen the punishment imposed."
"Yes Sheriff," Diane said, her head bowed. Malcolm echoed her sentiment.
"Malcolm, you will report to Clancy and he will prepare your accommodation for tonight and until the hearing. Diane, you will report nightly until the hearing, as will your nestmate. He was intercepted on his way here. Now go. I will finish here."
"Yes Sheriff" they repeated. Then suddenly they were gone. And I was alone with the sheriff, well almost alone. Lafayette and Dawn were still in the house but right now they were about as useful as a pair of tits on a bull. It was up to me to make sure nothing happened to us.
I leaned into his void as he slowly turned to face me.
Here goes nothing.
