As I came down the stairs I could see Bill standing in the hallway wearing a smart grey tailored suit and looking at his watch. He looked up, saw me and smiled.
"You look lovely" he said "That colour suits you really well….." he stopped, staring at me, his eyes wide with shock.
"Bill? What's the matter?" I said as he moved slowly towards me staring at my throat.
I hadn't thought it possible for his face to get any paler, but it had. He looked as if he had seen a ghost. I backed away from him nervously.
"Bill? What is it?"
He reached forward and took hold of me by the shoulder, still silent, his fangs beginning to extend slightly. I tried to pull away and he tightened his grip, his fingers digging into my flesh hard enough to leave bruises.
I took hold of his arm and tried, ineffectually, to pull him off me. "Bill! Stop it, you're hurting me!" I began to panic and struggle in earnest now but I knew that I had no chance of getting away from him. Not if he wanted to hold on to me. Suddenly he seemed to wake up and let go of me, backing away.
"I….I'm sorry…" he said shakily.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?" I asked angrily, rubbing at my shoulder with my other hand.
"Wh….where did you get that necklace?" he whispered.
"This?" I asked putting my hand up to the necklace "it belonged to my grandmother…..well, my great grandmother actually, why?"
Bill seemed to snap out of the little trance he was in. "Can we talk about this later?" he said. "We'll need to be going soon." He seemed to suddenly notice me absently rubbing my shoulder and reached out for me. I flinched away from him.
"Oh Alex, my precious!" he whispered, a tiny red tear appearing in the corner of his eye "I've hurt you…..I'm so sorry…it's just…." His head snapped up as I heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway.
"We have to go, I promise I'll explain everything later….." He took my arm and started towards the front door, then paused and turned to me. "Wait….I have to ask you to change that necklace. You can't wear it to the party."
"Why on earth not!"
He came towards me and took my face gently between his hands. I flinched again, I couldn't help it, but the pain in his eyes as I did so simply tore at my heart.
"Please Alex" he said quietly "you've said that you trust me? Please, please trust me now and do as I ask. I promise I will explain everything when we come back." He kissed me tenderly and then brushed his lips across the fingertip shaped bruises which were already beginning to form on my shoulder. I took a deep breath. Thanks to Bill's blood the pain in my shoulder was easing already and I knew that the bruises would fade quickly.
"All right, I'll change it." I said heading back upstairs, "But Bill….." I turned to look back down at him "…..this had better be good!"
Gerry was driving and there was a bodyguard with him, supplied by Charles "just in case". We climbed into the back of the car together and sat in silence. Bill took my hand and began to stroke it gently, but he didn't look at me until we reached the Town Hall where the party was to be held. As Gerry and the bodyguard were getting out of the car he turned to me and said "We really need to appear normal for the cameras, you know how important this is to our cause, can you do that for me?"
I straightened up a little. "Sure, I can do that." I said.
He gave a little sigh "I'm sorry about this but..." Gerry opened the door and offered his hand to help me out with a bright smile and I turned away from Bill and concentrated on getting out of the car and ignoring the camera flashes.
The party seemed to be the longest I had ever attended and seemed to pass in a blur of faces. I was constantly being introduced to important people, only about half of which I actually remembered. But I was unable to concentrate properly as I was seriously worried about what was going on with Bill. I had absolutely no idea what the problem was but I told myself that he had never lied to me, I did trust him and I would just have to wait. Nevertheless, I had to make an effort to appear to enjoy myself and I could tell that Bill was uncomfortable too, although he was as charming and photogenic as ever. Whenever we were together he held on to my hand as if he were afraid that I would run away and on the couple of occasions when we danced together he held me tight to him, his arms wrapped firmly around me. When we were separated by the other partygoers I noticed that he kept his eyes on me as much as he could. I'm sure that other people noticed this as well but perhaps, after his declaration on "Late Night Talk", they simply thought it romantic.
Eventually we were able to say our goodbyes and leave.
Two hours later I was lying back in Bill's huge bed staring at the ceiling and trying to take in all that he had told me. He sat at the head of the bed in a pair of silk pyjama trousers, leaning against the padded headboard and watching me with an expression in which sadness and guilt appeared in equal amounts.
"Alex? Are you okay?" he asked tentatively.
"Yes, I'm just...shocked." I said. "Poor Daisy, we always believed she had gone to America to be married and now..."
"Alex, I'm so...so sorry!" He said.
"You didn't want me to wear the necklace to the party because you thought that Gerry might recognise it?" He nodded silently. "What does he think about it?" I asked.
"I've no idea, we've never spoken about it since that day." he said bleakly. "All these years and I've never asked him how he felt, how long he stayed with Lazlo, how many other bodies he had to dispose of after I was gone..." He buried his head in his hands and gave a sob. "Oh Alex, what must you think of us?"
I turned to look at him and saw the red tears oozing out between his fingers. "Bill, you have nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't your fault. There really wasn't anything else you could have done." I reached out for him and pulled him to me. He offered no resistance and slid down beside me putting an arm around my waist and burying his face in my hair. "Oh Bill, darling..." He clung to me, sobbing. I had never seen him like this before.
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." he repeated.
"But what else could you have done?" I asked.
"I should have had the courage to leave after the party" he said "I knew it would happen again, but I was afraid, lonely, I didn't know if I could survive on my own."
"And what would have happened if you had left?" I asked "Daisy would still have died and Gerry would simply have got someone else to help him. Worse, Edith would have asked questions about her disappearance." I ran my fingers through his thick soft hair, stroking him, trying to comfort him. "She never said who gave her the necklace, just that it was given to her, almost as if she couldn't remember." I looked down at him "did you glamour her?" Bill looked back at me with that same guilty expression.
"Just a little" he admitted "I wanted to persuade her to leave. It wasn't safe for her to stay in service there."
"And you succeeded" I said. "She married her Thomas and moved away to the country. If you hadn't done that she may well have met the same fate as poor Daisy and I...I would never have existed at all..."
"I'm sure Lazlo had no trouble replacing her, Daisy too. How many others died in that house?"
"Bill, you are only responsible for your own actions, not anyone else's. You can't blame yourself for what may have happened after you left!"
"It's strange" he said "I've killed a good many people over the years, and most of them I don't regret. But that poor girl's death has been on my conscience all these years. I've never spoken of this to anyone before, I was too ashamed." He looked up at me with such pain in his eyes that I could hardly bear it.
"What must you think of me now?" he repeated. "After what I did to that poor girl after Lazlo drugged me at the party, how could you ever trust me again?"
"Of course I trust you." I said "I trust you because you've told me the truth. You could easily have told me the same story you told Edith, that Daisy went to America to be married. I wouldn't have known any different, would I?" I took a tissue from the box on my side of the bed and began wiping the bloody tears from his pale face. "But you told me the truth. I can only imagine how hard that must have been for you. Her death was tragic, but it was not your fault. And you certainly saved Edith, for which, since she was my great grandmother, I am very grateful!"
Bill gave a sigh and rolled onto his back. "I'm sorry I behaved so strangely earlier. I didn't mean to frighten you, much less hurt you. But seeing the necklace again, after all this time...it just took me back." He turned on his side and looked down at me. "I find it hard to believe that you could feel the same about me, having heard this. There is so much about me that you don't know, that I have been afraid to tell you."
"Oh Bill, what have you told me tonight?" I asked. "You've told me how you broke away from your maker. How you arrived in a strange country, friendless and alone and immediately tried to better yourself. You were starving, and yet you only killed someone who had tried to kill you first. You actively tried to find someone who would. Then when you fed on someone else, rather than kill her, you glamoured her into forgetting it. Damn it Bill, you even paid her...overpaid her in fact!" I shifted over to snuggle up against him. "What more could you be expected to do? You found somewhere safe to live, you can't be blamed for trying to keep yourself safe! You only attended that party out of respect for your host and what happened there was caused by the drug that Lazlo had administered without your knowledge. After that you had nothing more to do with him."
Bill put his arm around me and said "I tipped that poor girl's body into the lake!"
"You did it to help your friend. Sure, it wasn't the honourable thing to do but there was nothing you could have done to help her at that point was there?"
"I suppose not" he said with a sigh.
I gave a little giggle.
"What?" he asked looking down at me somewhat disapprovingly.
"Sorry," I said "but I've just realised that I'm lying in bed with a man who knew my great grandmother. That is just weird!"
He laughed "I'm sorry" he said, "it's true what they say, it's a small world!"
"What was she like?" I asked.
"Edith?...she was quiet, a little shy. Daisy was by far the more outgoing, which was probably the reason Lazlo noticed her. Edith was just pulled along with her." He brushed a strand of hair back off my face. "She had your colouring, dark hair and pale blue/grey eyes. You said she married Thomas...the chauffeur she told me about?"
"Yes, she moved out to the country with him and had four children, one of whom was my grandmother." I paused "You do realise that if it were not for you she might have died the same way Daisy did. If it were not for your action, I might never have existed...or not been the same person..." I stared up at the ceiling trying to get my head around this idea.
"Well, at least I've accomplished something then" he smiled down at me "something good, since you mean the world to me." I rolled over and snuggled up against him again. I could feel through the bond that his distress was easing away. "So you forgive me then?" he asked quietly.
"Whatever for?" I asked surprised.
In answer he leaned down and kissed my shoulder gently. "I hurt you didn't I?" he asked "I should have been more careful."
"Oh, it's fine, it didn't last long and you'd had a bad shock."
"That's no excuse!" he said "I just wasn't thinking, I should have known I was hurting you. I'm so sorry." He leaned down and kissed me gently "You're so good to me, so kind and generous, I really don't deserve you."
"No you don't!" I laughed "but I think I'll put up with you for a bit longer."
Bill took me in his arms and kissed me again, harder now, more urgently. Pushing me down onto the bed and running his hands under my silk robe and over my naked body, gathering my full breasts in his hands and burying his face in their warm softness. I felt his mouth open and take a nipple between his cool lips, running his tongue over it and then sucking hard, teasing it erect. He moved his mouth slowly down my body, leaving cool wet kisses on my hot skin.
"Lie back" he commanded as he moved between my spread thighs and began to lick gently at the juices which were flowing from my warm flesh. I moaned as he moved his mouth onto my wet folds, sliding his tongue into my opening and beginning to probe deeper. I frantically grabbed a handful of the sheet beneath us and hung on to it as Bill slid two of his long elegant fingers inside me and began to stroke me with them, the tip of his tongue now moving over the sensitive little bud buried within my folds.
I cried out as I felt the familiar rush of warmth burst inside me, but he didn't stop. I felt his mouth move to the inside of my thigh and the sudden, sharp pain of his fangs penetrating my flesh as the warmth flowed out into me, turning my limbs to water. He continued to move his fingers inside me as he drank deeply, carrying on through my climax and drawing me up towards a second peak.
"No...no Bill please!" I was writhing against him now and begging him to take me. He took pity on me and withdrew his fingers, moving up to straddle my hips, the tip of his thick, solid shaft brushing against my soft dark hair. His hand slid down my thigh and grasped my calf pulling my leg up and over his shoulder, spreading me open wider as he thrust himself into my slick, warm passage and began to move strongly inside me, driving in harder as he felt my heightened arousal through the bond. I pulled my leg down and wrapped it around his waist, running my hands over his muscled chest and around his neck, pulling him down to me and covering his throat with hot kisses. Just as I thought that I couldn't bear it any longer I felt the muscles in Bill's thighs tightening and I bit down into the soft flesh at the base of his throat. As his sweet, thick blood ran over my lips, he gave a deep growl and I felt him twitch and jerk inside me as he reached his own climax.
I clung to him, licking at his blood as it oozed from the ragged little wound. I always hated the way it looked, but it healed up almost immediately and he loved it so much. It had seemed strange to me at first that a vampire would find being bitten himself to be so erotic, but he obviously did...I could feel his powerful arousal through the bond and I knew he was not finished with me yet. I smiled as he pulled away from me and sat up.
He knelt on the bed in front of me and ran his hand down his stomach, his fingers sliding into the soft hair at his groin. Without taking his eyes off me he wrapped his long fingers around his thick manhood and began to stroke himself, his fingers curled around the shaft and his thumb caressing the swollen head with each stroke. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. It was the most arousing sight I had ever seen in my life.
Suddenly I wanted him, again. I couldn't bear the thought that he was apart from me. I got up and moved in front of him putting my arms around his neck and kissing him frantically. He released himself and put his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, his tongue gently probing between my lips, his substantial erection, encouraged by his own gentle ministrations, pushing itself against my stomach.
He removed his mouth from mine and breathed into my ear "Tell me what you want sweetheart, I'll do anything you ask of me."
I gave a little groan. "I want you inside me Bill" I whispered "I want to feel you deep inside me."
"I think I can oblige you in that case" he murmured, laying me down on the crumpled sheets and running his cool hands down my thighs. He slid his arm under my hips and rolled me over onto my stomach. "Like this?" he asked softly. I gave a little moan in answer and he pulled my hips up off the bed and drove himself into me deeply with a cry of pleasure. I gasped and dug my fingers into the sheets as he pulled out and then pushed back in powerfully, the friction of his long slow strokes driving me wild with hunger for him. "Oh Bill!" I moaned "That feels so good!"
"Is this what you want?" he breathed.
"Oh yes...please don't stop!"
It soon became obvious that he didn't intend to. He was relentless, driving into me and growling savagely with each stroke. The end came too soon, but at the same time for both of us and we clung together, entwined on the damp sheets, Bill's strong arms holding me tightly against his hard body as we drifted into sleep.
I didn't wake until after dusk the next night, a combination of the party and it's emotional and physical aftermath had left me exhausted. I opened my eyes to see Bill gently stroking my hair.
"Hello sweetheart" he said, smiling down at me "I didn't wake you did I? You were sleeping so peacefully."
"Have I slept all day?" I asked drowsily "what time is it?"
"I woke about ten minutes ago, to find you still curled up in my arms." he said. "You looked so comfortable I didn't like to move in case I disturbed you."
"I should get up" I said yawning. "I'm really hungry!"
"Why don't you phone for something to be delivered?" suggested Bill.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" I asked crawling out of bed and heading for the bathroom.
"Of course not" he said lying back and watching me. "You need to keep your strength up!" I turned back to him.
"You can't still be hungry surely?" I asked.
"I'm always hungry for you!" he said running his tongue over his fangs.
I just laughed and climbed into the shower. I half expected him to join me, but he didn't and when I got out and went back to the bedroom for my clothes he was already dressed.
"I have to go into town for a while on business" he explained. "Some disagreement which requires my judgement as Sheriff. I won't be very long. Charles will be arriving in an couple of hours, he says he has someone he wants me to meet. Will you stay here and wait for me?" he asked smiling. "I'll make it worth your while!"
"Sure" I answered "I'll be waiting."
I gave him a kiss and he left. A moment later I heard his car start up and move off down the driveway. I phoned my favourite Chinese Restaurant for a takeaway and went into the lounge. Turning on the lamp by the end of the sofa, I curled up amongst the cushions and was soon buried in a book.
My food arrived in record time and I ate ravenously, devouring everything in the small plastic trays and, leaving them in the kitchen, went back to my book.
I was so engrossed in my reading that I jumped when I heard the doorbell again. I looked at the clock in surprise to see that more than two hours had passed and I had hardly noticed. Bill's business must be taking him longer than he had thought. I assumed that Charles must have arrived and I went to the door a little uneasily. I had thought that Bill would be back before he arrived but I didn't feel that I could keep him standing on the doorstep. It was hardly polite!
Sure enough, when I opened the door Charles was standing outside with a young man who had his back to me and was looking back down the driveway. He turned and smiled to see me standing at the door. "Well, you're not at all what I expected!" he said looking questioningly at Charles.
"Good evening Alex" he said giving me a bright smile, "I think Bill's expecting me?"
"He had to go out to take care of some business." I explained. "Please, come in."
We walked together into the lounge and Charles introduced me to the young man. "This is Alex, Bill's...what?" he asked gazing innocently at me "girlfriend...partner...lover...companion?"
I gave him a nasty look "All of the above" I said sweetly.
"Alex, this is an old friend of mine, he's come down from London to meet my newest Sheriff, Laurence Peterson." I smiled politely at the young man wondering vaguely where I had heard that name before.
"Can I offer you a Tru Blood?" I asked "We only have O negative I'm afraid."
"That would be very kind" said Charles and I headed into the kitchen to fetch the refreshments, leaving Charles and Laurence in the lounge. As I opened the fridge I suddenly remembered where I had heard the name before. I glanced back into the lounge and saw the short blonde hair and grey eyes that Bill had described to me. Lazlo! This was Lazlo Petrovic!
I felt in my pocket for my phone and while the bottles were warming in the microwave, sent a quick text message to Bill's personal phone. He hated sending texts himself so I didn't expect any reply but at least he would be forewarned of who was in his house.
I took the drinks into the lounge and mixed myself a gin and tonic. The three of us sat down and made polite, inconsequential conversation for the next ten minutes or so, which, it turned out was the length of time it took Bill to come racing back up from town.
I heard the front door open and seconds later he came into the lounge. Lazlo was standing at the terrace window looking out and he turned as Bill came in. I saw his eyes light up with recognition as soon as he saw him.
"William!" he said, sounding genuinely pleased. "Charles, why didn't you tell me the name of your new sheriff?"
Charles looked surprised. "I didn't know that you knew Laurence?" he said.
Bill turned to him "Oh yes! I've met Lazlo before."
If Charles was surprised before, now he looked positively shocked to find that Bill knew Lazlo's real name.
"You've never mentioned him!" Charles sounded almost accusing.
"I haven't seen him since the nineteen thirties" explained Bill.
"That's right" said Lazlo, "you stayed at my place in London for a while didn't you and then disappeared one night. I came home to find that you had left. Gerry never did quite explain what the problem was."
"Gerry!" said Charles, snapping his fingers "Of course, he's one of yours isn't he? I should have guessed!"
"The problem" said Bill quietly "was your housemaid, Daisy."
"Daisy?" Lazlo's brow furrowed in thought "wasn't she the one who ran away with next door's chauffeur?"
"That was Edith" said Bill coldly "Daisy was the one that Gerry and I were forced to dump in the lake after one of your little parties!"
Lazlo gave a short laugh "I must say you're surprisingly well informed about my household arrangements! I never knew that you were so friendly with my domestic staff…..oh wait, wasn't she the redheaded one? The one that that you had over the back of the sofa…"
"I was drugged!" cried Bill angrily.
Charles gave a bellow of laughter. "Bill!...you took drugs and screwed one of his housemaids? Damn it Bill, I never knew you could be so much fun!"
"It was not funny!"
I could feel Bill's anger surging up through the bond and I suddenly felt I needed to be somewhere else. "Um….I'll just be…."
"You say right where you are!" ordered Bill.
"…..staying right where I am." I whispered, climbing into an armchair in the corner and trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible.
"Oh come now William" said Lazlo soothingly "Charles has just been telling me what an asset you are to our cause. Now I'm sure we're not going to fall out over some little slut of a housemaid who has been dead for the last seventy years are we?"
I could feel Bill hanging onto his temper with an effort.
"Besides, I think I might want to buy a property around here, it's such a lovely area, such beautiful views" he said, staring at me with a worrying intensity. "I'd certainly like to get to know your friend a little better...she smells delicious!" He turned to Bill who appeared to have gone rigid with fury. "She has the fae blood, doesn't she?"
Charles gave a little gasp "So that's it...I've never tasted it before so I didn't recognise it. But I suppose you'd know."
Bill stared at him with a puzzled expression.
"You didn't know?" Charles asked "He has the fae blood himself."
Lazlo smiled, his startling pale grey eyes wide. "That's right...I'm part fairy! Quite a large part in fact." he laughed. "Wait...you've tasted her Charles? So now it's my turn!"
Bill stood directly in front of Lazlo and glared at him furiously. "You will not lay so much as a finger on her! She is mine!"
Charles turned to Lazlo and said "He has a point..."
Before he could finish Lazlo had whipped around like a snake and punched him on the jaw so hard he flew across the lounge and crashed down onto the glass coffee table which shattered leaving him lying stunned in a sea of broken glass and blood.
He calmly turned back to Bill. "Now you're surely not going to challenge me are you William? I'm over ten times your age...you wouldn't stand a chance!"
Bill said nothing. He simply stood his ground while I crouched in the armchair, watching them. For a second or two they stood and stared at each other, then there was a brief blur and Lazlo was on him, his hands clutching at Bill's throat. Bill was putting up a good struggle but it was clear that Lazlo was much the stronger. Now that his piercing eyes were off me I found that I could move and I slid out of the chair and backed quietly away into the kitchen.
I looked back into the lounge. Lazlo had Bill on the floor now and was crouched on top of him, choking him slowly. Bill still had a good grip on him but it was clear that he was weakening. Damn it, what could I do? I opened cupboards at random and spotted the old heavy iron pan that I cooked my breakfast omelettes in. It was so heavy I struggled to lift the damn thing. Hadn't I read somewhere that iron was proof against fairies? Wasn't that why people nailed horseshoes over their doors? It was the only piece of iron with holes in that they were likely to have lying around. I picked up the pan and slipped back into the lounge unnoticed. Bill and Lazlo were struggling on the floor at the side of the sofa and I climbed up onto it and braced myself against the arm.
"Hey! Tinkerbell!" I yelled.
Lazlo raised his head, surprised, just as I swung with all the strength given to me by Bill's blood and the heavy iron pan caught him right behind the ear throwing him off Bill and laying him out on the rug.
Bill immediately struggled to his knees, coughing. "My case" he gasped "in the hall...quickly!" I dropped the pan and raced into the hall where a small suitcase stood next to the door. I'd never seen it before but I grabbed at it and tried to rush back to the lounge. I nearly pulled my arm out of the socket, the case was so heavy I could barely move it! I dragged it back into the lounge with a huge effort.
"Open it...quickly" said Bill, backing away slightly.
I prized open the catch and opened the case. To my surprise it was full of thick, heavy chain. No wonder I hadn't been able to lift it!
"Spread the chain over him Alex...it's silver, I can't touch it!" I heaved at the chain and pulled loops of it out of the case spreading them over Lazlo's body. Most of the chain was over his clothing but I noticed that where it touched his skin, the flesh began to smoke. As I pulled at it a pair of thick leather gloves fell out of the case and Bill reached for them, pulled them on and began to help me.
"We just need to immobilise him before he comes round" he explained, his voice harsh with pain.
"Immobilise him!" I gasped "Bill, there's enough chain here to hold the Titanic!"
By this time Lazlo was covered with sufficient silver to satisfy Bill and he sank back onto the rug with a sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. I sat beside him and examined the purple marks on his throat. He opened his eyes and looked up at me.
"Tinkerbell?"
"Don't knock it! It got his attention didn't it!"
There was a muffled roar and a crash of broken glass from the other side of the room and Charles stood up from the wreckage of the coffee table holding a hand to his jaw. The whole side of his face was black with bruising where Lazlo had hit him and I could swear that I saw a distinct dent in his cheekbone.
"That little rat" he muttered through his clenched teeth. "He got lucky, caught me off balance! Are you all right?" he glanced over at me "I'll call my security, don't worry, he won't get far." He came around the corner of the sofa and saw Lazlo lying on the rug. He froze and stared at Bill who was still on his knees rubbing at his throat.
"You...you did this?" he said in amazement. "There's more to you than I thought. I'd have had trouble subduing Lazlo myself..." He looked at Bill with a new respect. "Well, Gerry was certainly right to recommend you as sheriff!" He pulled a phone out of his pocket and turned away, in a moment we heard him barking orders into the phone, calling for backup.
I began to relax a little and looked down at Bill whose throat was still circled with ugly purple bruises. I offered him my wrist with a little smile. He sat up and gave me a gentle kiss, taking my wrist in his hand. I gritted my teeth as he bit carefully into the vein and took a mouthful or two of my blood. I could see the purple stains beginning to fade almost immediately and he kissed me again. "Thank you" he whispered. He looked over to where Charles was still talking into the phone, tapped my wrist with a finger and glanced over at Charles.
"What?" I whispered "You want me to offer to...?"
"He's badly hurt, and he would be indebted to you" whispered Bill "and besides..." he lowered his voice further until he was just breathing into my ear "we might need his help when Lazlo comes round."
I took a deep breath "Okay...but you watch him, I don't trust him!" I got up just as Charles turned back to us. He was still holding his jaw, which did indeed appear to be broken and was obviously in some pain brought on by his phone conversation.
"Charles!" I called and held up my wrist which still had droplets of blood oozing from Bill's fang marks. He stopped dead and stared at me for a moment. Bill got to his feet and put an arm around my shoulders.
"You're hurt Charles" he said "Let her help you."
Charles looked from Bill to me and then back to Bill. "You're okay with this?" he asked, surprised.
Bill gave him a severe look "You'll only need a mouthful!" he said "I've got my eye on you!"
Charles laughed and then grimaced as he clutched his face in his hands "Oh...you're right!" He came over to us and I held up my wrist. He looked me in the eyes and smiled, then gave my wrist a gentle kiss before fastening his lips around the little wound and drawing out a mouthful of blood. He pulled back immediately and I could see the ugly black bruises beginning to fade, just as Bill's had.
"Thank you Alexandra, that's much better." he said seriously. "I'm really very grateful."
Suddenly I heard a banging on the front door and several shadows appeared in the darkness of the terrace outside. I gave a little cry and jumped back into Bill's arms.
Charles smiled "Don't worry, that'll be my security" he bit the tip of his finger and carefully smeared the blood over the two tiny punctures in my wrist, healing them instantly.
Just then the door to the hallway opened and three vampires ran into the room. One went straight to the terrace doors and opened them letting two more in from the terrace. I noticed that they were all wearing thick leather gloves and two of them carried more loops of heavy silver chain, evidently the vampire's weapon of choice against other vampires.
Charles gestured at Lazlo who was just starting to come round. Get him in the van boys, and make sure he's secure.
I pulled away from Bill and retreated to the relative safety of my armchair while the five vampires hauled the smoking Lazlo out, hissing and struggling in the silver chains. Charles went with them and Bill came over to where I sat.
"Bill" I said quietly, taking his hands "promise me you'll never tell Charles that I hit Lazlo round the ear with a frying pan?"
He laughed "Why on earth not?" he asked "you deserve the credit, you saved my life. There's no way I could have beaten Lazlo and you know it!"
"And yet you stood your ground to protect me" I said "even though you knew he could easily have killed you. The same way you did with that gunman."
Bill sank down to his knees in front of the armchair. "Because I couldn't bear to lose you." he said simply. "I promise I won't tell him. Besides, he probably wouldn't believe it if I did tell him. I'm still not sure I believe it myself, and I saw it!" he stared at me for a moment "You must have had more of my blood than I thought, to be able to knock him out like that."
"I think it was the pan rather than me" I explained "It's iron." Bill looked completely mystified by this statement. "Fairies can't bear the touch of iron." I said "It's in all the best fairy stories! He did say he had a lot of fae in him. I guess he was right." Bill was staring at me in amazement.
"You thought of that in the middle of that fight? You're incredible, you do know that?"
"Of course I know that!" I laughed "But then so are you. More so now, in fact. Charles was certainly impressed with you!"
"But it wasn't me though was it?"
"Well I'm not going to tell him now am I? Let's just hope it never happens again. Lazlo's certainly going to be good and mad at us!"
"Lazlo may be very old and very powerful, but so is Charles and you may have noticed that he's not a man who forgives easily. It's highly unlikely that he would forgive Lazlo for attacking one of his sheriffs, but attacking him...no, I think we've seen the last of him for a while!"
"Do you know," I said " I thought just for a moment of Daisy when I swung that pan."
Bill laughed again "Well" he said with a smile "you certainly gave him something to remember her by!"