Lena was slicing an assortment of cheeses onto a wooden cheese board and Hal was washing grapes in preparation for a late evening snack when there was a knock at the front door. Alex popped over immediately and peeked through the blinds. "It's Rook!"
"Oh yeah," Tom said to Lena through his jam sandwich. "Mr. Rook wants to meet you."
"He's the head of the Department of Domestic Defense," Hal explained further.
"Ah, the Men in Grey," Lena nodded her awareness of the DoDD and added. "Do you know him?"
"We're acquainted," Hal said with an undertone to his voice that Lena noted. She would ask him more about their acquaintance later. Tom was already opening the door for the man, so Lena called the bola off Hal with a warning look. He nodded in thanks as he placed the grapes in a bowl and joined her in carrying their food to the dining table, where he immediately took charge of introductions.
"Mr. Rook, it's a bit late for an unannounced social call, don't you think? Never mind, I'm sure you have good reason for your visit." Hal met the slender, blue-eyed man at the bar and ushered him back into the dining area where Lena stood waiting. "Allow me to introduce you to Lena Perennis, our new landlady and housemate, and the Seraphin Nepos who defeated Captain Hatch."
Rook had begun to extend his hand for a cordial handshake, but when he heard the last bit of Hal's introduction his hand, and the rest of him, froze momentarily. His eyes began to glow with excitement and a smile spread across his usually serious face.
Lena caught his hand and shook it, jolting him from his momentary stupor. "Mr. Rook. You look like you've had a long day. May we offer you some tea?"
"That would be most appreciated," the MiG replied, "and please, call me Dominic."
"Very well Dominic. If you'll excuse us?" with that Lena and Hal returned to the kitchen to fix a pot of tea and gather plates and napkins. Dominic Rook watched them closely through the pass-through window between dining room and kitchen, a puzzled look on his face as he witnessed yet another example of two sworn enemies working together. Lena noticed his scrutiny.
"I think we should expect that look from most people who know what we are," Hal said, apparently noticing Rook as well. "Did I see apples among the quantity of questionable food items that Tom purchased? I wouldn't mind apple slices and water biscuits if we have them."
"We've got both," Lena replied as she pulled a couple of apples from the fridge. She washed and sliced them and dropped them into a bowl; Hal wasn't coming near a knife for some time, as far as she was concerned. Hal found the box of water biscuits and insisted on plating them before carrying them into the dining room. Lena would happily have eaten them from the box. Alex rent-a-ghosted things to the table, primarily so she could make Rook jump when they magically appeared near him.
When they were all seated Hal broached the subject of Rook's late visit again. "So Rook, why exactly are you here?"
Rook set down his tea and looked at Hal. "I've come with a warning," he said. "We have news that Hetty is planning your assassination."
Rook had barely finished his sentence when the world shifted around him and he found himself terrified by something he had never encountered in all of his dealings with the supernatural. The air brightened and seemed to fizz; the ground trembled; he was thrown into the shadow of great grey wings that unfurled and wrapped protectively around the table and its occupants, their wingtips nearly brushing his shoulders. He saw Tom's hair stand up and felt his own doing the same as a surge of energy flooded the room. He quickly lowered his gaze to the table, afraid to look across it at the creature who had just moments before handed him his tea.
He saw Lena's hands slam onto the table with a weight that caused it to groan as she rose to her feet and leaned across it toward him.
"Where is she?" Lena growled out her words through gritted teeth.
When he dared to raise his eyes Rook found himself caught by eyes hard and bright as diamonds that fixed on him, unblinking, predatorily. Her hair stood out from her head like a mane; a shadow of cold grey armor covered her body, waiting to be called into existence. She lowered her head and braced herself as if preparing to leap across the table at him, and Dominic Rook realized that for the first time in his adult life he was facing a creature against which he had no defense. He also realized that he may have allowed a miniscule bit of urine to escape his body at an inappropriate time.
Hal placed a hand over Lena's on the table and drew her attention to him. He winced as he looked into the white fire of her eyes and said as lightly and as casually as he could, "You're scaring our guest."
She blinked, closed her eyes again and took a breath, and forced herself to calm down. She stood up from the table and looked at Rook with eyes that were once again human; she spoke to him in a voice that was once again human.
"Is she an imminent threat?"
Rook carefully shook his head. "We don't believe so."
Lena furled her wings and sat down as the atmosphere in the room returned to normal. "Tell me everything you know," she demanded quietly.
Dominic Rook never told everything he knew—it was a matter of pride for him both personally and professionally. Knowledge is power, and knowledge kept to oneself gives one a great deal of power when needed. He had been keeping secrets since childhood. Nobody knew how to keep a secret better than he.
Rook looked into Lena's cool grey eyes and realized that she knew he was a secret-keeper. He also realized that she could remove every secret from him in whatever manner she found most fitting, and that nothing on earth could stop her. Rook picked up his tea cup in a shaking hand and took a long drink. He set it down and took a breath. He told Lena everything he knew.
By the time Rook had completed his narrative and answered Lena's questions the conservative amount of urine that he had inadvertently let slip from his body had dried up and he felt able to get up from the table and say his good-byes without being self-conscious about it. He expected that the werewolf and vampire, with their heightened senses, may have caught the scent of his rather embarrassing accident, but they were considerate enough not to mention it. In fact, Rook wondered if Tom hadn't had a similar problem—he had certainly looked terrified enough when the Seraphin Nepos had manifested.
Dominic Rook was a cautious man; he credited his longevity to the fact that he didn't rush headlong into danger but rather prepared himself for every known eventuality before proceeding. He had, therefore, delved into the archive and studied everything he could find referencing Seraphin Nepos. Nowhere in the record had he found anything to suggest that a Seraphin Nepos would threaten an innocent human, although the monsters who were their dark twins were happy to do so. While he knew better than to consider himself 'innocent,' in this situation he was doing no wrong and was in fact being helpful to the Seraphin Nepos by warning her of a potential danger. With that in mind, he was completely unprepared for her reaction, which he considered as directly threatening to him. It was something to ponder, once he was safely away from Honolulu Heights.
Hal, Lena, and Alex gathered up the dishes while Tom saw Rook to the door. They barely noticed the brief conversation the two men had, although Tom was frowning thoughtfully as he entered the kitchen after seeing Rook out. Alex had something else on her mind and was quick to speak up as soon as she knew the housemates were alone.
She looked at Lena. "Why'd you get all…?" she waved her hands around to signify Lena's sudden manifestation. "I thought you'd be glad to hear that someone was comin' for Hal. Don't you want him dead? And what's with the eyes and stuff? You didn't look like that when you were fighting Hatch."
Hal had been thinking much the same thing. "Yes, why did you suddenly get so protective? Surely it was a bit of an overreaction on your part, wasn't it? Don't tell me that you care what happens to me."
"Not just Hal, to all of us," Tom added. "You wrapped us all up, except Mr. Rook. Ya nearly scared him to death, I reckon." He muttered to himself, "Scared me too, like."
"Hetty is Lucifer's bitch," Lena said. "When she finally gets dusted she has a throne in hell waiting for her. You can't overestimate how dangerous she is."
"She is a treacherous, cunning little minx," Hal said. "But surely she isn't more of a threat than Hatch?"
"All right, fine, I jumped the gun on the wings and armor thing. It was a reflex. I go balls to the wall until I know what I'm facing." Lena looked at her new housemates in disgust. "Oh and fuck you all for not appreciating the fact that I was protecting my new home from a dangerous threat."
Tom looked guilty at her comments, but Alex was unaffected and persevered with her questions. "But Rook said she was after Hal, not the rest of us. Why do you care?"
"Did Hal blow up the Old Ones all by himself? Do you really think Hetty wouldn't destroy every one of you if she had a chance?"
"So it isn't just me you care about," Hal answered, sarcasm thickening in his voice. "And here I thought we had something special, my lady."
You don't get it yet, do you?" Lena looked at them all before focusing on Hal. "I'm not allowed to harm you or to cause harm to come to you through a third party. That means I can't ask someone else to kill you, I can't pay someone else to kill you, and I can't stand aside and let someone else kill you. If I know of a threat against you, I have to protect you." She called out the bola, still tied in a slip knot on one end.
"Not this again," Hal muttered as she opened the loop. Instead of dropping the loop over his head, Lena put it over her own and handed him the other end. He took it, still puzzled over what she was saying.
"I'm as bound to you as you are to me, Pet," she said simply. "No matter how much I hate it, I'm honor-bound to keep you alive."
Hal looked at the end of the bola in his hand for a moment before dropping it. "There is one difference, my lady. You can remove your noose whenever you choose."
"The one you can see, yes. The one that truly keeps me here is stronger than this rope can ever be." She sighed and put the bola away. "I'm done with the leash, Pet. It's too tedious to deal with any more."
Tom spoke up. "Sorted, then, eh? Sorry if I was rude to ya Lena, you scared me and all, but I'm glad you're watching out for Hetty. Right, I'm first for the shower. Got an early start tomorrow." He finished his sentence as he headed up the stairs, happy to take Lena at her word that she would protect Hal. Tom didn't really understand what all she said, but he'd think about it in the shower, that and what Mr. Rook had asked him about.
Alex shrugged. "Telly for me, then," she said as she pushed through the kitchen doors toward the front room and television.
Hal and Lena looked around the suddenly empty kitchen for a moment, then moved together to finish the cleanup. Tom was done in the bathroom by the time they got upstairs, so they collected clean nightclothes and took their turn. Lena sat on the floor in front of the door and read her Kindle while Hal did his thing. When he was dried and dressed in his shorts she got up and sealed the bathroom door as she had done the conference room door in the television studio. She also sealed the window, effectively blocking Hal from leaving the room.
Hal took her place on the floor and leaned against the door with Kenilworth, which he had decided to finish reading. He intended to watch her undress and shower, of course, especially now that he knew what her body looked and felt like. The thought of her skin against his stirred his blood and darkened the curse that hung over him.
"Hal, whatever you're thinking is making the curse stronger," Lena said, watching him closely. "Can you tell?"
"Yes I can," he replied, meeting her look. "I was thinking that I'd like to help you out of your clothes."
"For fuck's sake, man, do you ever give up? Thinking that is a waste of time and it makes the curse stronger! Do I need to tie you up again? Blindfold you? What?"
Hal heard Lena's anger and frustration, which were expected, but he also caught an undercurrent of sadness in her voice. It moved him more than it should have, considering who he was, and he responded to it. "You are right, of course. Blood and sex are closely linked for vampires, especially for me. Although I think the no peeking rule is ridiculous for two adults, I can see that you have good reason for it."
With that, he turned his back to her and pretended to focus on his book. In fact he was pondering her word choice. She had called him 'man,' not a vampire, not a pet, not a beast. For reasons he didn't fully understand, Hal was deeply pleased by that.
Lena kept her senses tuned into him as she undressed and showered, but as far as she could tell he didn't so much as turn his head. When she was dressed in sleep shorts and a black t-shirt with the slogan "Keep Calm and Love Bacon" on the front, Lena gave Hal a nudge with her foot. He stood as gracefully as always and stretched just a bit before moving aside to let her unseal the door. She opened the door and stepped back to let him lead to the bedroom. Once there she sealed the bedroom door and window and turned on the table lamp by her her bed before turning off the overhead light.
"I'm going to finish this chapter before turning out the light, if you don't mind," she said as she got into bed with her Kindle.
"I'm happy to do the same," Hal replied as turned on the lamp by his bed. He stretched out and went back to his reading, but he glanced over at her from time to time. Hal was waiting for Lena to bring the bola over. Surely she would tie him to his bed for the night. She couldn't possibly sleep in the same room with a free-roaming vampire. Could she? Especially not him. He had assaulted her twice, after all, and had already broken their agreement to stop making sexual advances with his suggestion in the bathroom.
"Good night, Hal." Lena closed her Kindle, turned off her lamp, and slid down into her bed, turning her back to him once again.
He froze for a second. Should he remind her of the bola? Was she so tired that she forgot?
"Good night," he replied. "Sleep well."
"I hope you do the same. I won't leave you this time, you have my word."
Hal sat staring at his book, unable to focus on the words on the page. In truth, he would have to reread every page he had gotten through since coming to the bedroom. He stayed there quietly and listened to her even breathing and steady heartbeat in the next bed. He could tell that she had quickly fallen asleep, but a part of him couldn't believe it was true.
He was an experienced killer with a reputation that she knew was based on fact. She had read his dossier, so she knew what he was capable of. And she was just a few feet away, sound asleep, making little purring noises in her throat that human ears wouldn't detect, and that he found adorable.
He decided that Lena wasn't stupid enough to trust him, so she must believe that she could handle whatever surprise attack he might attempt. Her action meant that she was, quite simply, fearless. He considered her manifestation of power from earlier that night and decided that she had every right to be fearless. Hal was oddly comforted by the knowledge that this crazy, scary, foul-mouthed creature was staying close to him at night. He turned out his lamp and went to sleep.
# # #
Lena was awakened by a quiet knock on the door. She immediately opened it, aware that Tom was on the other side.
"Good morning, Tom."
"Mornin' Lena, sorry to bother you, like, but I need to talk to you before I go to work." Tom spoke softly, his discomfort at seeing her in her nightclothes made apparent by his lack of eye contact.
"I'm awake." Hal spoke from the interior of the room and Lena heard him moving to sit up in his bed. She motioned for Tom to come on in, returned to her own bed, and perched on it comfortably.
"What's up, house meeting?" Alex popped her head in and, seeing her housemates assembled, came on in and plunked down on Lena's bed.
Tom stood in the middle of the floor and announced, "Mr. Rook has two new werewolves at the Archive and he wants me to meet them before their first full moon." He saw the startled looks on his friends' faces but plowed ahead. "I was thinkin' maybe we could have them come to dinner tonight, if Lena would promise not to scare 'em, like." He flapped his hands in vaguely birdlike fashion. "Mr. Rook could bring them." He finally stopped talking when he had made his full proposal.
"Tom," Hal asked carefully, "did Rook tell you how he came to acquire the two werewolves?"
"He said they was a family, on holiday, camping rough up at one of the lakes," Tom pointed in a sort-of northerly direction. "A werewolf attacked and killed the parents, scratched the kids. He said they was a girl, 16, and a boy, 14. Mr. Rook said he got them rooms at the Archive instead of sending them to Social Services 'cause he had to know if they was werewolves."
"Did Dominic tell you why he wanted you to meet the new werewolves?" Lena was the only one of the household who used Rook's first name, because she was the only one he had given permission to do so.
"He wants me to tell them what it's like, having the wolf. To help them understand that it'll be okay, they can get through it. He said I could explain it." Tom looked slightly worried. He wasn't known for his powers of exposition.
"You know, Tom, this could be a good thing," Alex said. "They're probably scared shitless right now, and spending time with Rook's bloody crew isn't helping them. They need to see that being a werewolf isn't the end of the world. I say let 'em come on over."
"Right, but I'll be at work until after 6 tonight, so I won't be home to cook nothing. And there's people coming and going here today so the house will be a right mess, or at least enough of one to set Hal off on a cleaning spell. And we don't have a table big enough for that many people." Tom was presenting the arguments against his proposal so well that nobody else needed to say anything.
Lena spoke first. "Dinner we can work on together, and a table big enough to seat seven can be my concern. I'll handle it."
"And I'm not nearly as likely to be set off by a little mess as other me, so you needn't fear that," Hal added.
"Oh, I thought you was good Hal, sort of," Tom said. "You been acting alright."
"I told you, Tom, your friend is…gone." Hal didn't use the word 'dead' this time. The pain on Tom's face in anticipation of hearing it again kept him from it. "Lena's presence hasn't turned me into somebody else, it's just…turned down the volume, shall we say, on some of the more challenging aspects of my personality."
"I didn't think you were uptight enough to be good Hal," Alex said. "He'd be wearing a shirt buttoned up to his chin and have his bed made by now." Her eyes skimmed over Hal's finely-muscled torso as she spoke. He was still wearing only the shorts he had slept in.
"Quite. He is unable to relax, whereas I am quite happy to do so, especially without the nagging bloodlust to bother me," Hal smiled at Lena as he answered Alex. It was the first time he admitted aloud that he appreciated her proximity. It was amazing what a good night's sleep could do for his attitude.
"We'll have the extra people cleared out and things in order by the time you get home, Tom. Why don't you call Dominic and confirm dinner for, say, 7 o'clock?" Lena watched Tom's face as she spoke. Seeing a slight frown forming again, she added. "7:30? You set the time and let us know, okay?"
With the agreement made, Tom left for work and Alex left the room in order to allow Hal and Lena to get dressed for the day. They moved through their morning routine while Lena went over the details of who would be in the house and what she expected to have happen, with Alex joining the conversation over breakfast.
There would be three trucks and crews to haul away everything from the three unused rooms that were slated for renovation, as well as a few items from the attic and general living area. Tom wasn't sure he wanted the attic touched, but Hal encouraged him to at least have the drum set removed, as Alex had mentioned learning to play the drums and nobody needed to hear that. Lena intended to add their current dining table and chairs to the haul-away list.
A waste disposal company would be setting a large commercial-grade waste bin against the back of the house, preferably under the windows of the two rooms that would become Lena's dance studio. All construction refuse would be thrown in the waste bin, although Tom requested that any lumber which might come in handy later be left out for him to have a look at.
Lena was expecting her people to come down from London in the early afternoon, a group that included an IT expert to finish setting up the encryption-secured computer network and a crew to deliver her personal belongings, which she would store in the attic until she had time to unpack.
Finally, Lena was going to buy a new dining set capable of seating at least eight, and would have it delivered around 5 o'clock.
As Hal listened to the plans for the day he began to worry about the number of people who would be in the house with him. True, Lena's proximity was working to mute his bloodlust, but all of those humans traipsing in and out, up and down…his mouth began to water just a little bit at the thought.
Lena noticed the curse darkening around Hal and put her hand on his arm to bring his attention back to her. "Remember Hal, I've given specific instructions that anyone who enters the house must be non-human, at least for the time being. Humans may be working outside the house, but I think we can handle that, don't you?"
Once again Hal was reminded of Lena's thoughtfulness, although he suspected it had more to do with protecting humanity than making him comfortable. He nodded his agreement. They could handle that.
"How'd you manage to do that?" Alex asked.
"Well, the IT tech is a werewolf, she's catching a ride with the Seraphin Nepos who's in charge of my personal belongings, and he knows to bring only non-humans into the house. Bernard, an old friend, I trust him to take care of the details. The furniture haulers are Seraphin Nepos, oh, they're bringing ghosts with them to speed up the process, rent-a-ghosting you know. And the waste disposal company will receive payment online so there's no reason for the driver to enter the house." Lena frowned. "The dining set delivery is a new wrinkle, but we'll figure it out."
"Wait, they're bringing ghosts with them? Real ghosts? Here? Today?" Alex's voice went up in register and volume as she caught hold of the one tidbit of Lena's narrative that truly interested her.
"I have an 'Equal Right to Employment' policy."
"Which also explains the werewolf," Hal nodded approvingly. "No vampires in your employ?"
"No, I find them too unpredictable and murderous to be reliable employees," Lena spoke coolly, but her words were razor-sharp. Hal had to agree that she was right. He had learned from experience that even as an Old One, other vampires were difficult to manage.
"Any other supernaturals?" He decided it best to leave the challenges of vampire employees alone.
Lena willingly moved away from the topic as well. "Well, most of them have particular challenges that we have to sort out, but we do our best. We employ several incubi and succubi through our work-from-home arrangement. It's easy to do these days, thanks to modern technology."
Lena finished her coffee and turned to Hal. "So, what shall we do about dinner? Surely we can put together a meal from the stockpile of food that got hauled into the house last night?"
"Am I a chef now? I don't remember seeing that on my CV," he replied with a half-smile.
"We could just order pizza, I suppose. We are feeding teenagers," Lena said.
"Pizza isn't a meal that one invites people to share. Pizza is an act of desperation or exhaustion when actual food is for some reason beyond reach." Hal was under no circumstances willing to wrestle an oddly-shaped bread slice with assorted slippery toppings from a box onto a plate, let alone attempt to eat it. He may be a vampire, but he was no savage.
"Let's do a little menu planning then," Lena responded with her own half-smile. She figured the pizza line would get him. "I can call for delivery of any fresh food that we may need to get."
What am I going to do?" Alex felt left out by their couples' planning session.
"You are in charge of the haul-away crew, if you don't mind."
"Seriously? I'm in charge?"
"Why not? Everyone who comes in should be able to see you. You know what needs to be done. You're a competent woman, no reason for you not to be in charge." Lena gave Alex responsibility and a compliment with one deft stroke, leaving the ghost excited about her upcoming day. She disappeared into the living room to check out the front windows for the haul-away trucks, then popped upstairs with her laugh trailing behind her.