Note: Please see Prologue for warning, copyright and disclaimer information.
Conversation
I took off my jacket and realized that I had nothing on under the tank top. I pulled on an oversized tee shirt and changed into a pair of jeans, then walked barefoot back into the main room.
Mac was sitting on the floor near the fireplace with a cigarette, staring broodingly into the cold hearth. I didn't want to break his concentration, but I knew I couldn't stay away. I'd never been able to stay away from him. I was beginning to think I never could.
I walked over to him and gestured toward his cigarette. "Got an extra one of those?
Without a word he handed me up the pack and a lighter. I took out a cigarette and lit it before giving them back to him. "Are we done breaking windows for the evening?"
"Unless a stake goes awry, I believe so," he said softly. "But you have better control than that."
"Better aim than that," I muttered. "Usually, anyway." I found a shallow dish to use as an ashtray and sat it on the low table, then perched on the arm of the couch smoking for the first time in years.
After a few minutes Mac tossed his cigarette into the empty fireplace, then crossed the room to sit in the middle of the couch, one leg tucked underneath him and his body facing me. I put out my cigarette even though I'd only smoked half of it then turned to face him, resting my feet on the couch.
He sighed. "Did you enjoy yourself this evening?"
"Most of the evening," I told him honestly. "I can't say I enjoyed the visitor in the hall." Or seeing Mac in the state he'd been in.
"I don't know that he'll bother us too much anymore."
I wondered how he could be so sure. I'd thought that about Gustav last night and I'd been wrong. "I have no idea. For some reason, we seem to be getting messed with quite well here in Paris. It's not something they put in the tourist books."
He reached out slowly and caressed my ankle lightly, almost absentmindedly, watching my face. After a moment I slid down to sit on the cushion, tucking my leg beneath me with the arm of the couch at my back. Mac's hand slid upward as I did so, ending up on my knee. I covered it with mine as he reached up with his other hand and tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. "So, it's 4:30," I commented. "You said we're not breaking any more windows tonight."
"No."
"What a disappointment," I said sarcastically, enjoying the feel of his skin beneath my fingertips.
"If you would like to," he offered.
"That's okay. I'm sure we can find something better to do." When he raised an eyebrow at me, I asked, "What?"
"What did you have in mind?"
Like I was going to share. "I don't know that I had anything in mind." I shot for an innocent look, but I don't think it went over very well.
He turned until he was sitting right on the couch and put his arm around me, pulling me closer. I went easily, turning until we were touching from knee to shoulder.
"Did you have something to do in mind until dawn?" I asked. "I suppose going out and watching the sunrise is out of the question." Unless we wanted a barbecue, that is.
He laughed dryly. "No."
"So you have nothing in mind?"
"Just relax," he told me. "It's been a rather eventful evening."
"In more ways than one," I agreed.
"In several ways."
We sat there together in silence for a long time. I thought about how strange it was to just be sitting quietly like this, let alone with Mac. Mostly my life was filled with research, or strategy, when I wasn't with Corrine or out hunting, that is. It felt good to just be with him like that, the two of us. It made me long for the past almost more than I ever had before.
Mac kissed my temple and pulled me even closer. I looked up at him and threaded my arm around his waist.
"It would be even more romantic if the fireplace was lit," he said softly.
I gestured toward the daisies. "But at least we've got the flowers."
"Yes," he agreed. "So will you be taking them with you?"
Why would he ask that? Had he remembered that I used to save the flowers he gave me? "Why would I do that?"
"Nice vase," he murmured.
I smiled. "That would be stealing."
"It would make that apartment of yours a bit livelier," he told me.
"You don't like my apartment?" It was bad, I had to admit, but it wasn't that bad. Was it?
"What's left of it."
"After you ruined the door," I said, shaking my head.
"And the table," he reminded me.
"And the table, and the chair that fell apart after you left," I told him. "There's nothing wrong with the apartment, you sound like Corrine."
"What did you and Corrine talk about?" he asked.
"When?"
"This evening, on the phone."
"Oh, like you weren't listening," I said, poking him in the side.
"Who, me?" he asked innocently.
"You, yes," I replied, not buying it for an instant.
"Why would I do a thing like that?"
"'Cause you always do," I chuckled.
"Not always." When I shot him a look that said I didn't believe him, he said, "What? I don't always listen."
I knew him better than that. "Yeah, just when you're anywhere near where I am with the phone."
"Pardon me for being concerned about our daughter," he said huffily.
"Mmm-hmm, and that's the whole reason you listen," I drawled.
"As a matter of fact, yes it is."
I looked at him. "You don't think that if you asked her questions, she would answer?"
"I don't think she would answer me as readily as she would you," he told me.
"You might have a point there," I said with a smile. Corrine seemed to like him well enough, but probably not enough to trust him like that. I hoped there would come a time when she did. "You don't think that if you asked me what she said that I would tell you?"
"There is no need to when I can listen."
"Uh-huh." I didn't think that was the whole story either. He'd always wanted to know everything that was going on.
"Its not like you don't listen in either," he told me.
"I don't always listen," I replied.
"Uh-huh," he said slowly.
"Uh-huh."
"Only when I'm anywhere near you with the phone," he told me.
"Can't I be concerned about you?"
"I'm not the one you can't hear," he reminded me.
"And the point is?" It was hard not to laugh when I knew he was right. "So are we going to sit here and bicker for the next hour and a half?"
"At least you're not throwing stakes at me yet."
"I could," I told him.
"Not at this range," he said.
"I could move back a little," I offered. When he shook his head, I added, "You seem to have a fascination with my stakes."
"They're a vivid part of my memories," he told me.
"Are they?" That was surprising.
"Yes, quite."
"So what exactly is it that you remember?" I asked, looking up at him. "Because you haven't been forthcoming on that."
"What would you like to know?"
I laid my head back down on his shoulder. "What you remember."
"We only have an hour and a half."
Was he remembering that much? "Okay, what you remember about Baltimore."
"Very little outside of meeting Kate and the night of the attack," he admitted. "The mountains and the daisies." At that he leaned forward and took one from the vase. I blushed at the memory as he twirled the stem between his fingers and added, "And trying to teach you to shoot."
I shook my head and smiled. "I told you it wouldn't work."
"As I said, I have a few new ideas."
"If I haven't learned how to shoot a gun in—" How old had I been when I'd picked up a gun for the first time? Twenty? Twenty-five? "—a long damn time, I'm not about to start." Stakes and knives worked well enough for me with a little help from the crossbow. They got the job done.
"I believe we've been approaching it wrong," he told me.
Didn't he think he'd already tried everything when we lived in Baltimore? "Maybe I've had the wrong target."
"I believe I resemble that remark," he murmured.
I shook my head. "Brenda would make a fine target," I suggested.
"Now, now," he cautioned patiently. "She's going to be joining us shortly."
I groaned. "You did say that, didn't you? Why is she joining us?"
"She's been to Nashville."
"So has Elvis," I reminded him. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Elvis isn't Tremere," he said calmly.
"And what does that have to do with it?" I demanded softly. "Do you have to be Tremere to go to Nashville?"
"I don't really know too many other Kindred that would be willing to fly halfway across the country to help us out," he told me, his tone calm and rational.
"We didn't need a Kindred here," I said firmly, "what do we need one there for?"
"We needed Jax here," he replied. "He knew people, he knew places."
"Jax has not been to Nashville?" Jax wasn't so bad. Much, much better than Brenda.
"Brenda has and she was interested in accompanying us," he stated. "I saw no reason to decline."
"I can think of several," I murmured irritably.
"Try not to get into a fight with her while we're there," he said patiently.
I looked up at him. "Afraid I would win," I asked softly, "or afraid I would lose?"
He shook his head slightly. "Just try not to get into a fight."
That didn't answer the question. "Well, I can try, but I've never been one for holding my temper," I told him, just in case he didn't remember. "Ever."
"Do try," he suggested.
"I have been making some progress," I said with a smile. "For example I haven't lost my patience with you."
"Actually you have lost your patience with me," he reminded me.
I chuckled. "Yeah, but I haven't staked you."
"You could try," he murmured.
"Try?" My eyebrows shot up, but he just looked calmly back at me.
"You've thrown a number stakes at me over the past week," he explained.
"And I missed on purpose," I told him.
He studied my face for a long moment. "Did you?"
"Yeah. Would you like me to aim for real?"
He smiled a little. "I'm beginning to doubt you can," he said, then added quickly, "Not in general, mind you. Just me."
"Just you?" I thought about that for a moment. I'd honestly wanted to hit him with the one I'd thrown from the balcony. "You might have a point there."
"Where?" He looked down and felt around on his chest as if expecting to feel a wooden point. I laughed and laid my head on his shoulder.
When I'd sobered, I asked, "So you remember meeting Kate?"
"In Baltimore," he confirmed.
"And you remember the last night in Baltimore."
"Yes."
"And that's all you remember?" I asked softly. He'd forgotten so much of our life together.
"A few nights in between," he said vaguely.
"You don't remember the brownstone?" Glenn and his bunch had lived in a large brownstone not far from my apartment. Mac had lived there too until we'd found the apartment together.
"No."
"Or that bar downtown?" I asked. "The one I got fired from for hitting the customer?"
He looked down at me, intrigued. "No."
I smiled wryly. "Yeah, I did." The guy had suggested something I wasn't sure was physically possible, and I hadn't liked it. My anger management skills had gotten me fired. "Anyway, what was the name of that place?" Then it came to me. "The Memphis Club."
"Speaking of Kate and listening," Mac said suddenly, "do you not believe me that she was there?"
Did I? Or was I still wondering how much Dougal had changed him? I honestly don't know. "Other than the fact that you don't like Kate, you have no reason to lie," I said, avoiding answering him directly.
"Then why are you having Glenn check into it?" He almost sounded hurt that I didn't trust him completely.
"I asked Glenn to check into it before we left Boston," I told him. "If I'm to kill her and not get in trouble for it, I need to have some kind of proof to show your prince," my mouth soured around the word, "that I have a legitimate reason."
"You don't think the memories of a Tremere are enough?"
"I don't know, are they?" I had no idea what would be enough. "I'm not Tremere."
"And I'm not the political type," he replied.
I shrugged. "Better to be safe than sorry," I said softly. "Or dead."
He squeezed me gently in reassurance. "I don't think we have too much to worry about. I don't believe we'll get too much resistance."
"Well, hopefully no one else will do it before we get back." I wanted her to see my face when she died, to know that I was the one who ended her existence.
"Are you savoring that satisfaction already?" he surprised me by asking.
"Yeah. Aren't you?" When he didn't reply, I pulled away a little looked up at him. "Tell me you're not going to like knowing that she's dead, really dead."
"Don't you feel in the slightest a twinge for the one that gave you life?" he asked, searching my face. "Twice?"
"Gee, let me think," I said, pausing dramatically. Then I looked him straight in the eye. "No."
He just watched me, and I didn't like that I couldn't read his face. I looked away.
"If she was in on that then she might have been in on the planning of it, and she has to die," I explained irritably. I hated having to explain this to him, he should be agreeing with me. He despised Kate. "There's no way around it, especially not if she's trying to plan something with Simon and Corrine." If she were trying to hurt my daughter, all the Tremere in the world wouldn't keep me from destroying her.
"On to more pleasant subjects, shall we?" he suggested.
"Please," I agreed. "I was just starting to relax, before you brought her up."
He pulled me close to him again. "Did Corrine say how her studies are going?"
"College or Jared?" I asked. Then I shook my head. "And you were listening, so why are you asking?"
"I told you," he said softly, "I'm not always listening."
When he used that voice I couldn't even pretend to stay irritated with him. "Yeah, well, I can't quite figure out a way to get her out of Salem until we get back."
"Why don't you call the Wrights?" he suggested.
"Because they know Kate." I couldn't take the risk that they might tell her where Corrine was.
"Can't we have Jared take her somewhere?"
I'd thought of that. "What excuse would he give?"
"Training."
"That sounds good, I like that idea." I knew that Mac would come up with something. "Why don't you call him?"
"I don't have his number," he told me.
That could be a problem. "I don't have his number either. Who would?"
"Summer." He thought for a moment. "Corrine, I think. Glenn."
I looked up at him in surprise. "Glenn would have his number?"
"He has people in Salem, doesn't he?"
"And you don't always listen," I muttered. It hadn't occurred to me that Jared might be one of Glenn's contacts in Salem, although I guess it should have.
"Not always." There was that voice again.
"Why don't you call Summer and get his number," I suggested, "and see what you can do to her out of Salem?"
"Where would we have him take her?" he asked.
"Elsewhere?" If I had a safe place for her, didn't he think I would have suggested it already? "Maine's probably not a good idea, because Kate might find her there, if Kate's looking."
"How far away is elsewhere?"
"I don't care," I told him. "Do you have someplace in mind?"
"Hmm. Whatever became of the cabin in the mountains?"
I looked at him in surprise. "Jane's cabin?"
"Yes."
"I really don't know," I replied honestly. "I didn't really keep in contact with anybody after… what happened. It probably wouldn't be a good idea anyway."
"Why?"
"Jane was Glenn's girlfriend," I said slowly. "Do we really want him to know where Corrine is?"
He looked at me thoughtfully. "I thought Glenn was a good guy?"
"Yeah, well, I thought I was too," I told him sadly. "Good guys don't always do good things." I knew from experience that sometimes good guys do bad things for good reasons. The road to hell, being paved with good intentions, and all that jazz.
"What about Bobby?"
"What about him?" He hadn't said anything about remembering the werewolf who had been like a brother to him.
"For her protection," he explained.
"Bobby is probably wherever Glenn is."
"What do we have against Glenn?" he asked.
So far? "Nothing." I couldn't guarantee we wouldn't have something against him before all was said and done. If Glenn found out the truth about me and what I was doing in Salem there would be trouble for sure.
"Other than he doesn't know what you are," he murmured.
"Or what I do for a living," I reminded him. And more importantly, "Or who I do it for."
"Corrine doesn't either."
"That's true," I admitted, "but Corrine doesn't hunt vampires."
"Why don't we just have Brenda pick her up tomorrow night and bring her to Nashville," he suggested impatiently, "where you can watch her yourself?"
Not a good idea. "I like the idea of having Jared take her elsewhere better." When he looked at me in surprise, I added, "I don't want her around Brenda. I don't trust her, okay?" How could I trust my daughter with her? She was Tremere, and I really hadn't had good experience with the clan. Besides, it would violate the contract.
"I'm sure Summer knows of a place," he said finally.
"I'm sure she does," I murmured resentfully as Mac laid the daisy on my lap and leaned over to reach for his cell phone. I picked up the flower and watched him dial the phone.
"Hello?" a woman said on the other end. It was the same one he'd spoken to earlier when he'd gone into his room.
"Summer," he said pleasantly, watching my face. I tried to keep it carefully blank.
"Cormac?" She seemed surprised to hear from him.
"Yes," he replied. "I have one more favor to ask. Have you already spoken with Jared this evening?"
"No, I was actually on my way over to his house."
"How far away is he?"
"Fifteen minutes," she told him.
"Just call me back when you get there," he said. "I will deliver the message myself and I have a favor to ask both of him and possibly of you. We have someone in Salem that we need to get out of Salem."
What message was he talking about? I didn't like not knowing what was going on here especially if it involved Corrine.
"The girl?"
"Yes."
She hesitated for a moment. "Is there a problem?"
"Possibly. For a few days at the very least."
"Okay," she said slowly, obviously not understanding but still willing to help. "Well, I'll call you when I get there."
Just how close was Mac to this witch, anyway? Not physically, he'd told me he hadn't been physical with anyone since his embrace and I believed that. It was his emotional closeness to her that I wondered about. I tried to drive the thought from my mind but it lingered like a bad smell.
"Okay," Mac replied. "I'll be waiting." He hung up the phone, still watching me.
"So—" I began, but he interrupted me with a smile.
"You were listening."
I laughed in spite myself. "I'm sitting right next to you," I reminded him. "How can I help but listen?"
"You don't buy that when I say it," he told me.
"Why did you think I tried it?"
He shook his head. "One day I'm going to be planning a surprise party for you and you're going to ruin it."
"I don't like surprises." I also wasn't sure I liked him talking like we had a future. We didn't really, we couldn't. The contract and his clan made sure of that.
"I'm not talking about someone jumping out of a cake," he said.
"Things that jump out and surprise me usually end up, you know…." Dead.
"Staked."
"Yeah." Close enough. I rubbed my cheek against his shoulder a little, trying hard not to think about the life I'd be going back to way too soon.
"So what was that you were saying earlier about fangs and a fireplace?" he asked pleasantly.
I tried to play dumb. "What?"
"Fangs and a fireplace," he repeated.
"Fireplace," I said, pointing to it.
"Very good," he replied sarcastically.
"Fangs," I added, pointing at him, then back at the fireplace. "Fireplace."
"Two for two," he murmured with a smile.
"Yeah, they were there."
"Do you care to elaborate?"
Not particularly, but I figured what the hell. If I was serious about wanting to be with him, I had to learn how to share things again. "Well, there was a fire in the fireplace."
"That could be arranged," he told me.
"Do you have that thing where you can, you know, spooky-boo the fire?" I asked. That would have been one cool side effect of his vampirism.
"There's that word again," he muttered to himself.
"What word?" I asked. "Fire?"
"Spooky-boo." He looked down at me and smiled. "No but I have a lighter that would work just as well."
I shrugged. "There was a fire in the fireplace and you had fangs, kinda like you did earlier."
"Mmm-hmm. And you were there?"
"Didn't I say that?" Actually I would have thought it was obvious.
"Not yet."
I was pretty impressed by how well he was keeping his patience with me; I knew I was pushing it a little. "There was fire."
"You said that." Okay, maybe he wasn't keeping it all that well.
"Yeah, I was there," I told him, "with fangs and fire and fireplace."
"And you staked me to what?" he asked calmly.
"I didn't," I replied honestly. Actually, that thought hadn't occurred to me before. You'd think I would have staked him in my dream. That I hadn't even tried to just made me believe I wouldn't be able to if I tried it awake.
"Oh, really?" he said in mock surprise.
I nodded. "I was kinda surprised at that too, but it was a dream, so stranger things have happened. It was actually a pretty interesting dream." I admitted.
"Did it involve philosophy?" he asked.
"No, actually, it didn't," I said with a frown. "Why, did you have a dream involving philosophy?"
"Yes."
"What else was in your dream?" I asked him suspiciously.
"Fangs and a fireplace."
I thought back to what I remembered of the dream. It had been so realistic that it was hard to believe I'd only been dreaming. "Was there peace in your dream?"
"Yes," he murmured.
His voice sent shivers down my spine. "This is odd."
"I believe we have Gustav to thank again," he told me.
"I'm not sure thank would be the word." I didn't like knowing some vampire had invaded my dreams like that, no matter how nice it had been at the time.
"You seemed to be enjoying it when I woke you this evening," he reminded me.
I blushed, knowing that I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if Mac had joined me in the bed. "So what else was in your dream?"
"What else was in yours?" he asked.
"I told you what was in mine."
He smiled. "And I told you what was in mine."
"Did you tell me everything?" I didn't want to ask if we'd made love in his dream if we hadn't, that would be telling.
"As much as you've told me," he said.
I'd thought he was holding something back. "Do we just want to write it down and compare notes?" I asked impatiently.
"Ah, no."
I looked down at the rings on my hand. "Well, there was blood in my dream," I told him softly. "Was there blood in your dream?"
"Mmm-hmm."
When he didn't elaborate, I glanced up at him. "Now it's your turn."
"That pretty much covers it, Elizabeth," he told me softly.
I closed my eyes and felt blush creep into my cheeks again. "So we can pretty much say that we were having the same dream."
"Or close variations thereof," he agreed.
"Except I didn't dream about philosophy." And he hadn't dreamed about us making love.
"Not a normal subject for you." At that moment, his cell phone rang. He answered it, looking at my face. It was Summer.
"I'm at Jared's," she told him.
"Mmm, good."
"I assumed you wanted to speak with him?"
"Yes, I have that message and all," he said softly.
"Okay, hold on a minute."
While he waited for Jared to come to the phone, I could see him slipping into 'Cormac' mode.
"Hello?"
"Jared." His voice held no warmth; it was almost as if he were a different person.
"Mac," Jared replied. "What can I do for you?"
"I have a simple request and a favor to ask of you."
"Okay."
"It is most imperative that Corrine not be involved in the movement," Cormac said firmly, "in any way, shape or form."
"What movement would that be?" Jared asked innocently.
Cormac's voice went low and hard, showing his anger. "You know damn well what movement I'm talking about, Jared."
I almost laughed at his reply. "Oh, that movement, sorry. Why is it that imperative?"
Other than the fact her father was a vampire and her mother works for his clan? Gee, let me think.
"It is."
"Okay," Jared said slowly, obviously not convinced.
"Let me tell you this, Jared," Cormac replied warningingly, "I'm not a threatening man."
"You never were," he agreed.
"I never will be. But know this; I'm holding you responsible."
I suppressed a shiver at the threat behind his simple words and was glad that he wasn't talking to me.
"I understand," Jared replied slowly.
Mac relaxed a little; I hadn't realized how tense he'd gotten. "Thank you. And to that end, I have a favor to ask of you. Corrine needs to be… removed from Salem for a time."
"Removed?"
"Taken somewhere safe," he explained.
"Are we talking safe from your kind, or mine?"
"All of the above," Mac replied. "More specifically, my kind."
"Any preference on where?"
"Not Bar Harbor."
I shook my head; no one had known where I'd disappeared to, Jared would be clueless.
"Bar Harbor?"
"Forget it," he said. "Not Baltimore, either."
"I wouldn't take her to Baltimore," Jared told him firmly.
"I discussed it with Summer previous to her arrival," Mac added. "Perhaps she's come up with a place, her or one of her sisters."
"I'll talk to her and see, but Corrine would have to agree," he said carefully, "unless you want me to take her bodily."
"No, it would do more harm than good."
I was glad to see he at least knew her that well already. Corrine was more likely to dig her heels in if you pushed her too hard. Just like her father.
"As to the other," Jared stated cautiously, "it's easy to want to keep someone out of the movement, but you should know from your own experience that if somebody wants in bad enough, they'll find a way."
I doubted Mac would remember that, but I did. I'd made the mistake of trying to keep Mac out of the movement. It hadn't worked for long once he'd known what we were doing.
"I do understand that," Mac told him. "Do all that you can."
"I will try." He cleared his throat. "Do you want me to let you or Summer know where we go?"
"Yes, I would appreciate knowing."
Jared paused expectantly for a moment, then said, "So you want me to let Summer know and have her call you?"
"Ah, yes," Mac replied. "She has my number."
"I'll let her know then."
"But call me when you've decided," Mac added, "and I will call Corrine. I don't believe she should present too much resistance. We can talk her into almost anything."
We could? He didn't know her as well as I thought if he believed that one.
"All right, we'll call you then."
"Enjoy your evening," Mac told him.
"Yeah," Jared replied ironically.
"What?" That one word sounded so innocent, as if he hadn't just threatened Jared's life or anything.
"I just hadn't planned on doing this tonight, I had other things in mind."
"Well, it need not be your most climactic concern," he said wryly.
"I'll take care of it," Jared assured him.
"Thank you."
"Did you need to talk to Summer again?"
"No, just tell her thank you. She knows how to find me. Good evening." He hung up the phone before Jared had a chance to reply. "Do you approve?" he asked me.
"As long as she gets out of town and is safe, I don't care," I told him honestly. I thought we could count on Jared to take care of her.
"You trust her with two other mages?"
Why did he seem surprised at that? "Do I have a reason not to? Better two mages than two vamps." Much better.
"We've had two vamps looking after her," he reminded me. "One willingly and one quite unwillingly on our part."
"I think she'd be safer with the mages," I said confidently.
"I don't know," he murmured, fighting a smile. "Brenda can be deadly in a firefight. Unless she's aiming at you." To my surprise he burst out laughing.
I frowned at his reaction. "Is she as bad with a gun as I am?" Then I remembered the battle at Jester's a few weeks ago. "Wait, I've seen her in a firefight before, she was pretty good."
"Maybe it was just Christina, then," he said, still laughing.
I shook my head, not understanding the joke. "So when are they supposed to call you back?"
"When they've decided on a plan," he told me, finally getting a hold of himself. "Then you will call Corrine and persuade her."
"I will persuade her?"
"She listens to you better than me."
I smiled wryly. "Yeah, right, she listens to me."
"She said she would do anything for you."
"Yes, but she's a teenager," I reminded him. Didn't he know what teenagers were like? Well, maybe he didn't.
His phone rang again, and again it was Summer.
"That was quick," he murmured.
"Did you want us to drag our feet?"
"No, no, I just thought you had…" he paused to clear his throat, "other things in mind for this evening."
"What kind of things," she asked suspiciously, "and where is your mind?"
"In my skull," he said, straight-faced, "where I've always kept it."
"Are you doing things that are immoral?" she demanded good-naturedly. "What is it that you're doing that would put your mind in such a place?"
"In my skull?"
"Okay, you're in Paris," she murmured, "the most romantic city in the world, with I'm still not sure who yet."
"A traveling companion."
"Uh-huh. Would that be a male or female traveling companion?"
"One of each," he told her.
"Oh, really?" She sounded surprised and I couldn't help but smile. "I never knew that about you, Cormac."
"One of them is the attaché and the other one isn't," he added.
"Okay, anyway—"
He moved the phone a little away from his mouth and said to me, "No, the eyelashes weren't mine either."
I covered my mouth to try and stop my laughter at that comment, but it didn't do much good, Summer heard me.
"Ah, I can figure where your mind is, so I'll keep this brief."
"No, the sun is up soon, at least here."
Like we couldn't do anything in the hour or so we had until dawn.
"There is a safe house of sorts in Boston that Jared will take her to," she said, suddenly serious.
"When was he planning on doing so?"
"Its getting late here," she told him, "so probably in the morning. I don't know how late she stays up or anything. Would you rather we try to get her out of there tonight?"
"No, why don't you give me Jared's number and I will have Eliza—" He closed his eyes and winced at his slip, then continued, "call him."
"Eliza?" Summer was obviously intrigued by my name. She almost sounded as if it meant something to her.
"When Corrine is ready to—"
"Do I know Eliza?" she interrupted.
"No," he said quickly, too quickly.
"Eliza," she murmured slowly. "You know, that's an unusual name. What does Eliza do?"
"You're one to talk, Summer," he drawled in return.
"Well, I just meant that there's not very many girls in town with the name of Eliza. I seem to have heard of one recently." I closed my eyes, knowing what was coming next. "It seems like, um, over in, oh, what's that church…?"
Just what I needed, some witch who knew I was a hunter also knowing that I was tied to Mac in some way. I could almost hear the rumors going around Salem now. How was I supposed to hunt there after this?
"Don't worry about it," Mac said firmly, interrupting her train of thought. "Jared's number please?"
"Okay," she said slowly. "When you get back, you'll have to explain to me why you're with her." She started to give him the number, but he wasn't listening.
"I'm still working on the 'why you're with her.'"
"Why you're with a hunter who kills all vampires?" she asked simply.
"I did not say she was a hunter who kills all vampires," he told her. "Besides, that is not her. If it were, she would have killed me, wouldn't she? By your own logic, of course."
"Okay," she said slowly. I think she knew she wasn't getting any information from Mac about me because she gave him the number without any more questions.
"Thank you," he told her. "We'll be in touch."
"I just hope you're not in touch with stakes," she murmured.
"So do I. Have a pleasant evening." He hung up the phone without waiting for her reply and placed it in my lap.
I wasn't in the mood to play games about whether or not I'd been listening to his conversation, so I picked it up and dialed Corrine's number. "Okay, Jared, Boston," I murmured as I listened to it ring.
"Hello?"
I winced when I heard her voice, she sounded tired. "Corrine, did I wake you?"
"Eliza?"
"I woke you, didn't I." It wasn't a question, I knew she usually went to bed fairly early and it was midnight in Salem.
She yawned. "It's okay. What's going on?"
"Oh, not a whole lot," I said, stalling. "We went clubbing. Minus the club."
"You went clubbing minus the club."
"Well, no," I said. "We went clubbing but didn't take a club with us. Does that make sense?"
"Too much," Mac murmured.
"It makes the kind of sense that doesn't," she told me. "So did you have fun?"
"Yes, actually," I told her honestly. "Quite a bit."
"That's good."
I smiled at Mac. "You know, I think the best part was the gold lame."
"Gold lame?"
"Vest," I added, "that Mac wore. It matched his pants."
"Oh, my God," she whispered, awed.
"What, you didn't like the thigh high patent leather boots?" Mac asked me with a smile.
"What was that?" Corrine asked.
"Boots," I told her.
Mac raised his voice so that our daughter could hear him quite clearly. "Thigh high, patent leather, shiny boots."
I shook my head and grinned. "Lets not forget the orange stockings, okay?"
"Orange stockings," he repeated agreeably.
"Oh, my God," she said, shocked. She'd rarely seen me in anything but my usual break-and-enterish attire. "I hope you at least took pictures so I can see these later."
"We're bringing the outfits home," Mac said loudly.
"Do you want to talk to her?" I asked, irritated that he'd told her that. Where the hell would I wear that outfit in Salem?
"No, go ahead," he told me.
Corrine yawned in my ear. "Sounds like you guys are getting along good."
"Yeah, so far," I admitted.
Mac distracted me a little by whistling that Irish tune his mother had taught him. He distracted me to the point that I almost didn't hear Corrine's next statement.
"Good. Are you scrumping again?"
At that, Mac's whistle turned into a sputter.
"Excuse me?" I demanded.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I don't know where that came from. I didn't mean to ask that, forget it. But if you want to answer it, go right ahead."
"Corrine Mackenzie Wright," Mac said disapprovingly.
I held the phone out to him. "Say that louder," I told him.
He put the phone to his ear. "Corrine Mackenzie Wright," he repeated in that same tone.
"That's my name," she said cheerfully. "Don't wear it out."
He sighed and handed the phone back to me, whispering, "She's your child."
"What?" Corrine said as I put the phone to my ear.
"He's just mumbling," I told her, slapping his leg.
"At least you didn't use the paddle," he murmured.
I laughed. "You know, it's in the bedroom, I could get it." I laughed again at the image that thought brought to mind.
"I think I'm in the twilight zone," Corrine said slowly. "Who are you and what have you done with my Eliza?"
It took me a minute to control my laughter. "I'm sorry," I said, clearing my throat. "That is not why I called."
She yawned again. "I'm glad that you didn't intend to call me and totally freak me out, okay? That's a good thing."
I chuckled one last time, then brought my humor under control. "I need to ask something of you," I told her seriously. "I need a favor."
"Okay, you take it out of the package—"
That got me laughing again. "No, ah, not," I said firmly. "Let's not go there, please. I need a favor of you; I need you to do something."
"Okay."
"Will you?"
"That depends," she said slowly. "I know you don't have any plants for me to water."
"No pets for you to walk," Mac added.
"No mail probably to pick up, what did you need?"
I crossed my fingers. "I need you go somewhere for me."
"Okay," she said distrustfully.
"But you'll like this," I added quickly. "It's with Jared."
"All right," she began.
I quickly interrupted. "Good, I'm glad, I'll have him call you in the morning."
"You know Jared?"
"He's a friend of a friend," I told her. "Of a friend."
"Okay, I don't think you could stretch that out anymore. What's this about?"
"There's this place in Boston that I'd like you to go to with Jared for a couple of days until we get back in town."
"Why? What's going on?"
"It doesn't matter," I told her, trying to make light of the whole thing. "I just need you to do this for me."
"What's there?" she demanded. "Why do you want me to go there?"
"I think Jared could explain what's there a lot better than me considering I've never been there." That would also get me out of the hot seat.
"So why do you want me to go there? I have class and stuff," she reminded me.
"It's in Boston, you can go to class," I replied. I tried to remember her class schedule, but I'd been so busy since the fall term started that I wasn't sure what it was. "You have class in the day, right? Day class?"
"Well, I've got that one evening class, it's tomorrow night."
Damn. "Jared can go with you," I suggested. I should have known she wouldn't like it.
"What?" she demanded. "I am not a baby, I do not need someone to hold my hand and take me to class."
She might if Kate knew her schedule. "He could carry your books."
"You're starting to sound like Shelly," she said with a sigh.
"Who?" I didn't remember hearing that name before.
"My friend Shelly," she told me. "'You need to have a boyfriend, blah, blah, blah.' Jesus, I just talk to somebody and now you're trying to shack me up or something."
"No, I'm not trying to shack you up," I said firmly. "I'm just trying to… help you study." Like I really expected her to buy that.
She didn't. "How is having some guy going to class with me supposed to help me with my studies?"
How was I supposed to know? "You know, things come up," I said quickly. "It's like that whole, you know the thing where things happen in life and you learn from them when they happen unexpectedly. Maybe he can teach you about, I don't know."
I was rambling and I knew it. I shot a look at the girl's father. "You want to help me here Mac?"
"Because you're totally like bombing," she informed me coolly.
"You said you'd do it anyway," I reminded her, "so I'll have him call."
"I didn't say I would do anything," she stated bluntly. "I want an explanation."
Mac held his hand out for the phone and I gave it to him. "It is not necessarily what is there that we need you to go for, Corrine," he told her. "It's what isn't there."
Yeah, Mac, that made sense. Not.
"And what isn't there?" she asked caustically.
"What we need you to get away from."
"I do not understand what you are talking about," she said stubbornly.
"At the moment that is for the better," he replied.
She sighed. "Okay, look. I'll talk to Jared tomorrow," she conceded reluctantly. "I'm not going to agree with anything until I talk with him because I have things I have to do. There had better be a really good reason, and he'd better explain everything."
"He won't be able to," Mac warned her.
I held my hand out for the phone and he gave it back. I took a deep breath and glanced at Mac before I said anything; I hadn't filled him in on what I'd told Corrine before I left Salem. "Remember the conversation we had at my apartment about black hats and St. Stephen's?"
"Yes."
"It has to do with that," I told her softly. "That's pretty much all I can tell you right now, I can explain it better when we get home."
"Okay, fine," she said crossly, "but I have to go to class."
"You can go to class," I agreed readily. "Just take Jared with you to your night class."
"Yeah, make sure you bring me back a pacifier," she replied, her voice dripping with resentment.
I sighed. "I know you don't like this, but just trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong? Ever?"
"No, I guess not," she said reluctantly. "But that doesn't mean that I can't question."
"I'll explain everything when I get back," I told her, knowing that my explanation wouldn't quite be the full truth.
"And when's that going to be? How long do I have to be incognito for whatever reason?"
"At least a few more days, maybe a week." When she didn't say anything, I decided to try a different angle. "We're in Paris, it's the most romantic city in the world," I reminded her. "You wanted us to have time together, what do you want? Do you want us to come home or do you want us to spend time together?"
"Whatever," she said petulantly, adding under her breath, "Give up my freedom for them scrumping."
I was shocked at her language. "Excuse me?"
"All right, I'll talk to you later," she said louder.
I decided to ignore her earlier comment, for the moment, anyway. For real now, I didn't care what she said as long as she agreed to be elsewhere until we got back. "Okay, Jared will call you in the morning."
"Fine."
"It's for the best, trust me," I repeated. "Now, just go back to bed and don't worry about it."
She yawned again. "Oh, yeah," she said wryly. "I need to learn how to take care of myself."
"Well, Jared will help you on that."
"Bye."
"Bye." I hung up the phone and looked up at Mac.
He shook his head. "Not the least bit impatient, is she?"
"No," I told him. "She's just like her father."
"Hey," he said warningly.
"Which reminds me," I said suddenly, remembering something I'd thought of earlier. "Okay, stupid question. What generation are you?"
He looked at me suspiciously. "Why?"
"Just—" I wanted to know if birth control would be an issue, but I didn't want to seem like I was assuming we'd have sex at some point. "You don't want to tell me?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Like, really high," I asked, "or kinda middle?" I didn't think he was low generation; he would have thrown his weight around with other Kindred if he were.
"I'm lower generation then Kate," he told me.
I hid a sigh of relief. "Okay. That's all I need to know." Kate was fifteenth generation, or had been when I was a child. A vampire had to be that high in order to have children.
"You haven't seen me up and walking about in the day, have you?"
I hadn't thought about that. "No. I was just curious, don't get offended. Just asking."
He glanced at the clock. "I want to freshen up before I… sleep," he said reluctantly.
I followed his gaze; it was a little over half an hour until dawn. "It's getting late," I agreed, "or early, or something."
He started to get up, but then stopped. He put one hand on the side of my neck and the other under my chin, then tilted my face up and pulled me close for a kiss. I put a hand to the back of his neck and kissed him. It wasn't the earth-shattering kiss we'd shared at The Pinnacle. This kiss was tender and sweet, a reminder to me of everything we had shared in Baltimore. This kiss was better.
He pulled away just enough to speak. "I love you," he whispered, his nose still touching mine.
Tears pricked at my eyes, but I refused to spoil the moment by crying. Did he really love me or did he love the girl he remembered from his past? Did it matter? At least I had this time with him, no matter what happened in the future. I smiled and said the words I'd never said to anyone but Corrine since the night he'd died. "I love you, Mac."
He pressed his forehead to mine for a moment, then stood slowly. "Enjoy breakfast."
I watched as he picked up his leather jacket, his bag and his guns then walked into his bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and sat looking at the closed door of his room. I rested my chin on my knees and thought about how much different things were now than what I'd expected them to be when we'd left Boston. I knew that we couldn't go on this way, when we got back to Salem the world would come crashing down on us and our little… whatever it was would be over.
Would this time together be enough for me when all was said and done? It didn't really matter, it was all we had. I smiled sadly and closed my eyes. For years I'd lived off the happiness I'd had with Mac in Baltimore. At least now I'd have more good memories to draw from when the darkness closed in on me at night.