Tempt Me When the Sun Goes Down (33 page)

Bishop rolled with the subject change without missing a step.  “We’re not the ones offering the bounty, I’d talk to Felix about that if I was you.”

I couldn’t help but frown at that.  Felix was the one who put up the bounty?  “But you guys still have him on your most wanted list, right?”

“He is on our list of sanctioned kills, yes.”

They had a list of sanctioned kills?  Where did that fit into their revised charter?  “Do you think you could grant him amnesty or something?  You know he wasn’t responsible for killing Tommy and he hasn’t killed anyone since I compelled him not to.”

“You compelled him not to kill people?  Doesn’t that sort of limit his effectiveness as a vampire Hunter?”

“No, it just means we have to get more creative.”

Bishop raised a brow.  “We?” 

“It’s a long story,” I waved it away.  “The point is, he’s not doing anything wrong, there’s no reason for the Order to target him.”

He thought it over for a few seconds before giving me the nod.  “Fine, I’ll rescind the kill order, but that won’t help you with the bounty.”

“I’ll take care of that if you can keep the Order off his back.” 

“It doesn’t mean my guys won’t go after him freelance for as long as that bounty’s offered.  Hell, I thought about taking him out myself,” he joked.  At least I thought he was joking. 

“Trust me, Carter’s one of the good guys.  I bet you could even be friends if you tried.”

“Don’t hold your breath on that one,” he snorted. 

“Well, he’s under my protection now, so if you really want to make me happy…”

“I already said I wouldn’t kill him, what more do you want from me?” he scowled, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Not a thing.”  This was exactly how I wanted to remember him – a mixture of hard bitten cop and lovely sentiment all wrapped up into one gorgeous enigma that was Bishop.  “If you’re ever in San Francisco…”

He recovered his smile.  “You know where my first stop will be.”

Bishop was right, it wasn’t hard to love him at all.  It was the being in love part that sucked on occasion, leaving him now being one of those occasions.  “It’s not the right time for us.  I hope someday it will be, but not now.” 

“Maybe…” he started to say, but Maggie and Tucker appeared with his belongings stuffed into two cardboard boxes he had stacked on top of each other.  There was more I wanted to say to him too, but it was time to leave. 

“Maybe,” I nodded, giving him a last smile before I turned to go. 

In the car, I listened to Maggie and Tucker make whispered plans in the back seat and it made me smile.  Whipping out my phone, I sent a message to Carter. 
You’re officially off the Order’s hit list.  You’re welcome.

Aw man, don’t do me any favors.  Life just got super boring. 

I smiled, picturing his sulky pout. 
Get ready for it to get un-boring.  I’m coming home.

The farther away Anja got, the more uncomfortable Bishop felt staying behind at Vetis.  The fact that Rob hadn’t gone home with her tipped the scales highly in his favor, but still, the timing wasn’t right.  He could accept that and give Anja the space she needed to muddle through her swirl of emotions, but as long as he stayed with Carys, it would
never
be their time. 

It was up to him to take the first step, and Bishop started by going back to his bedroom to pack up his gear.  He debated back and forth whether he should risk saying goodbye to Carys at all, or leave her a letter.  Or maybe nothing?  That might be the strongest message of all. 

That decision was taken out of his hands when Carys appeared at his door, entering without knocking.  “There you are,” she said, a scolding note to her voice.  “I’ve been looking for you for ages.  Where did you bed down for the day?”

“Down in my old quarters on the lower levels.”  Never mind the fact that he’d known about her fight with Anja and that she hadn’t been in his bedroom anymore, Bishop hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of sleeping in that bed. 

“Ah, my sweet Ulrik, ever jealous,” she smiled, sitting on the end of the bed.  “That’s good.  I was beginning to doubt you cared.”

He ignored Carys and her useless prattle, gathering up the last of his toiletries from the bathroom and stowing them in his bag. 

“What are you doing?” Carys asked.

“I’m leaving.”

“That much seems obvious, where are you going?  Not down to those primitive levels you spoke of, they’re simply barbaric!”

“Nope.”

“Where then?”

“Rome to start with.  There are some changes I need to set in motion in the Order.”  The sooner he got his professional life settled, the sooner he could figure out his personal one. 

“Again with the Order,” she huffed, falling back against the rumpled covers.  “I wish you’d leave that petty business behind so we can have some real fun.”

“It isn’t petty and life isn’t all about fun.”

“It should be,” she grumbled, watching him look for his boots.  “Are you cross with me, Ulrik?”

He didn’t trust himself to answer, pressing his lips into a thin line.  A few more items to pack and he’d be set. 

“But you still love me.”  It was phrased as more of a statement, but he heard the question in her voice without having to look up and see it in her eyes. 

“Yeah, you
know
I do.”  She’d seen to that.

“That’s alright then,” she smiled, and Bishop lost the tiny thread of restraint holding back his temper. 

“Is it?  Is it alright?” he demanded, unable to choke back the bitterness.   “It isn’t like I don’t know what you’re doing this time, Carys.  I know you compelled me to love you.”

“I did no such thing!”  The denial sprang to her lips and he lost it, his fist lashing out to smash against the mahogany bedpost.  With a resounding crack, the heavy post crashed onto the bed, landing barely a foot from her head and sending the bed curtains tumbling down.

“The hell you didn’t!” he thundered, even as she scrambled out from under the pile of fabric. 

Her eyes narrowed as she gained her feet.  “Did Anja say something to you?  She’s only trying to poison you against me,
cariad
.  Our love is true.  I’d never…” 

“Stop it, just stop it,” he cut her off in disgust.  “I know myself a lot better now than I did three hundred years ago.  I sure as hell know I’d never love what you made me do last night.”

“You used to like it,” Carys pouted, dropping the innocent act.

“That was before I knew you were using your compulsion on me.”

“All I did was give you a nudge so you could let your inhibitions go.”

“No, you took away my free will to choose.  I’d call that more than a nudge.”

“Where’s the harm?” she asked, edging closer to him.  “You enjoyed it, I know you did.”  Her hand slid over his arm in a light caress.  “I felt it inside me.”

“And how am I feeling now?” he glowered, ripping his arm free of her touch.  “You don’t get it at all, do you?  If you want a slave you can brainwash, then fine, go play with Rob or Aubrey.  I’m done being your puppet.”

“I don’t want them, I want you.  It’s always been you.  If you don’t want to share our bed with another, then…”

“This isn’t even about last night, this is about you playing me from the start.  Why did I choose you, Carys?  Can you look me in the eye and seriously tell me you didn’t compel my love?”

She met his gaze evenly, but all she said was, “Ulrik, I love you.”

“This isn’t love, it never was.  This is you maintaining control, the way you always did.”  Bishop lost his scowl as a revelation came to him.  “It’s not even your fault.  How could you know what true love is?  You’ve never seen it.  Love isn’t about manipulating someone into feeling for you.  It’s not about forcing them to submit to doing what you want them to.  It’s about wanting them to be happy.”

“Like your precious Anja,” she spat out venomously. 

“Yes, I love her, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.  Even if you were to will it all away and make me your puppet again, know that somewhere, deep inside, I will always love Anja.  She’s everything you’re not.”

Carys reacted to his words like he’d struck her a physical blow.  Her shoulders sagged as if he’d plunged a dagger between them, her voice dropping to a pathetic whimper.  “Did you ever love me?”

“I don’t know,” he replied in all honestly.  “I used to think I did, but now… I don’t know if you ever gave me the chance to love you of my own free will.  What I feel for you now, it’s…”  Bishop stopped, more moved by her tears than he wanted to be.  Reaching out, he brushed his thumb against her cheek to catch them.  “I see your loveliness, and I feel the power of your smile when you look my way.  There’s a pull there, but it’s so tainted with dread and anger, I don’t know if I can…”

“I release you,” she whispered.

“What?”

Carys sucked in a ragged breath, her words growing stronger.  “I release you from my compulsions.  You’re free.”

That core of pain mingled with love he’d held in his heart unraveled and whispered away like smoke, and for once, he could see Carys with his own eyes.  Carys who he’d loved a lifetime ago, Carys who’d sacrificed so much for him for her own flawed reasons, Carys who he pitied as she stood there, eyes ringed with ruined mascara.  But there was no love, not anymore. 

“Thank you,” Bishop whispered, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead.  “Thank you for giving me my life back.” 

And he didn’t intend to waste one second of it. 

Carter was there to meet us at the San Francisco airport, decked out in his usual jeans and a hoodie, with the addition of at least three guns that I could see strapped to various parts of his body. 

“Aren’t you not supposed to bring weapons to the airport?” I asked as I got to the bottom of the short stairway.  The others followed behind, dealing with getting all of our luggage deplaned and loaded up.  “How did you get onto the tarmac?”

“It’s a private airfield, security’s a joke,” he scoffed, raising a finger to point.  “Not that I couldn’t get through the regular TSA with a case full of explosives if I wanted to.”

I raised a brow.  “Why would you want to exactly?”

“I’m just saying it’s an option,” he shrugged and I tried not to laugh.

“I’ll keep that in mind.  Why the need for the heavy artillery though?  I told you the Order’s not after you anymore.”

“I’m not taking any chances out in the open until I’m good and sure they’re all getting with the program.  Besides, that bounty’s still in effect.”

“Nope, I took care of that on the flight home.”  I’d torn into Felix something fierce for putting it up in the first place, and I was assured he’d put out the word that Carter was no longer on the shoot first ask questions later list, and he was guaranteed sanctuary under my direct command.

“You
have
been busy.”  He sounded impressed.

“You have no idea.”

“But I’m dying to find out,” he grinned.  “I’m also dying to check out my new digs.  I’m getting tired of crashing at your boyfriend’s place.  He doesn’t have cable or satellite or nothing.” 

That brought me up short.  “You’ve been staying at Bishop’s this whole time?”  So much for them being buddy-buddy friends if he ever found out about it. 

“Why not?” he shrugged, unconcerned.  “He’s not using it.”

“Well, I have plenty of room at my place, so you’re more than welcome.”

“Great, that’s exactly what I was hoping to hear.  So much so, that my stuff’s all under a tarp in your back yard.  You really should get that old garage torn down, you know.  It’s gonna collapse under the next high wind.”

Anyone else and I would’ve thought it was kind of weird for him to be prowling around my house, but for Carter, I took it as par for the course.  If my house hadn’t been spellwarded, I imagined he’d already be set up in one of the bedrooms.  There weren’t many boundaries between us after living together for weeks. 

“First things first.”  I brought him to where the others stood waiting by the cars.  “Everybody, this is Carter.  Carter, this is Maggie, Tucker, Lee, and Gunnar.”

“I already know who they are,” he pointed out.  He probably knew more about them than I did, Carter was thorough that way. 

“But now they get to know you too.  Carter’s going to be staying with us,” I announced, and it was met with a favorable murmur.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Maggie smiled and Tucker gave him a shy wave. 

Gunnar nodded stiffly, as if uncomfortable around the vampire hunter, but he was polite enough.  “I am please to meet you,” he said. 

“Any friend of Anja’s…”  Lee held out his hand, and Carter took it after a moment’s hesitation, as if he expected it to be some kind of a trap.  His eyes were wary until Lee let him go again.  I could tell it was going to take some time on both sides for them to feel comfortable around each other. 

“Come on, guys, let’s go back to the house and we can all get to know each other better.”  

Carter hesitated, eying the car suspiciously.  “You’re not gonna make us sit around and like, tell a meaningful story from our childhood or anything, are you?”

“Naw, it’ll take a lot more liquor to pry that loose from these old lips,” Lee chuckled. 

“Is that all it takes?” I elbowed him with a teasing grin.  “I declare the bar officially open at Chez
Anja!  Let’s go!”

“I like your Glock,” Gunnar offered conversationally as we climbed into the car.  “It is my favorite for travel as well, but my Beretta Pico is good for concealment.”

Carter eased as the conversation turned to one that didn’t involve feelings or showtunes.  “I favor the Sig myself if I had to pick one.  But yeah, the Glock is a thing of beauty.”  They talked guns the whole way back to the house, with Lee weighing in every now and again about stopping power.

I didn’t pay close attention to the conversation until Carter started to tell the story of my first round of target practice and I put a stop to that
pronto
.  Not that I cared all that much about his gentle roasting, but them thinking I did gave them something to bond over.  Totally worth it. 

Of course neither Tucker or Carter could enter the house without my invitation, and I made him wait out in the cold for an extra few moments while I got Tucker settled into the bedroom next to Maggie’s. 

“Come on, Anja, I’m freezing my chestnuts off out here,” Carter grumbled as I came back down the stairs. 

“You are not, vampires don’t get cold.”

“That’s not the point.”

“It’s entirely pointy.  You’re just impatient, not uncomfortable.  But before I invite you in, we have to settle some ground rules.”

His face took on a mutinous cast.  “You didn’t make that wolf kid agree to any ground rules.”

“That’s because I know he wouldn’t hurt a flea.  You, on the other hand…”

“What do you want me to do, Anja?  Even if I don’t technically get cold doesn’t mean I like standing out here.” 

I’d wanted to make sure I had his complete attention, and I had it.  “If we’re going to make this work, you need to agree to a few rules, like I said.”

“What kind of rules?”

“No killing, obviously.”

Carter snorted.  “Like I have a choice, I’m still under your compulsion not to.  That was a real bitch while you were gone, by the way.”

“So sorry to have put a cramp into your lifestyle,” I smiled, ticking off the next one on my fingers.  “Rule number two, there are five other people living here, so you can’t take over the entire living room for Call of Duty every night.”

“I don’t play every night, only on nights we’re not working.”

“That’s another thing, I won’t be able to help you as much since I’ll be taking up my Elder duties again.”

“I thought you were done with that.”

“I’m looking at finding a balance between changing what I can through politics and supplementing it with more direct action with you when diplomacy doesn’t work.” 

“Okay,” he shrugged.  “How is that a rule exactly?”

“It’s not.  It means I’d like it if you took on a more active role in my administration.”

His eyebrows hit the sky.  “You want me to take a job working for the man?”

“Working for me.  Well, with me.  What do you say?  How does Chief of Intelligence sound?”

“I’d rather be chief of your secret police.”

“You can call yourself that if it makes you feel better, but it’ll be a department of one.”

“Even better,” he grinned, rubbing his hands together.  “I take it I’ll be basically doing the same thing I’ve always done?  Digging up the dope on the more violent elements in the community and finding their vulnerability?”

“Nobody does it better,” I nodded.  “Are you in?”

Carter paced up one side of my front porch and back.  “I don’t know, going legit isn’t exactly my style.  I’ve made a lot of enemies over the years.”

“Then what better way to re-enter society than under my protection?”

“Who says I want to re-enter society?”

“Do you really want to go back to the way things were before, all alone?”  His belongings stacked in my backyard told me no. 

“Alright, I’m in,” he caved in, drumming up a sarcastic smirk.  “But don’t expect me to be nice to those asshats you call a council.”

“I expect you to be civil.  You don’t have to kiss up to them, but you can follow the old credo – if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”  The last thing I needed was him pissing off the people I wanted to stay firmly in my corner.  

“I can do that.  I’ve gone an entire year without talking before.”

“Ha, I find that hard to believe.”  Carter did have his quiet moods, but also had periods where he talked my ear off. 

“Okay, okay, I agree to your rules,” he grinned.  “Now are you going to invite me in or not?”

“Come on in.”  I stood back from the door with a sweeping gesture.  Carter stepped in gingerly, not quite sure what to expect, but nothing prevented him from entering the house. 

“Is that it?”

“That’s it,” I smiled.  “Welcome to the family.” 

* * *

Carter turned out to be pretty handy around the house, converting the entire attic space into his bachelor pad.  I offered him one of the furnished rooms, but he liked being up high at the top of the house to get a better lay of the land, he said.  I suspected he liked having the privacy to retreat to as well, not used to living with others. 

I got him the sixty inch Sony TV with all the bells and whistles, Blu-ray player and surround sound loud enough to rattle my basement windows when he had it turned up high enough.  He found a gamer buddy in Tucker, and the two of them disappeared for hours when Maggie and I spent time at the office.  It only took one time of being startled out of my work by the sound of machine guns at full blast before I instituted the rule of twenty.  No playing videogames louder than a volume level of twenty unless he was home alone. 

The rest of the house welcomed Carter into the fold, and Tucker seemed to be making the adjustment back to stateside life well.  Lee continued to take him under his wing when Maggie and I were busy at the office, and I was glad to see the young shifter gradually gain more confidence. 

Jakob sent me some old fashioned postcards from Morocco and Indonesia, and the occasional text with a pic of him and Nelleke having a blast on the first leg of their world tour. 

November and most of December flew by before I’d even noticed.  Still caught up in my whirlwind life, I let myself get lost in work to keep from processing the feels whenever I thought about Rob or Bishop.  Time was a healer all on its own though, and each day I felt less frazzled emotionally. 

I didn’t hear a peep from Rob.  There was a brief mention of him in an email I got from Aubrey, saying that he’d run into him in France, working for Jean Pierre Severine, the Elder of Toulac.  I was glad to hear he was finding his foothold in vampire society again, and I knew with the security concerns Severine had, he’d be needed there.  I had a notion that Rob felt the keen desire to be needed at the moment. 

I got a letter in the mail from Bishop every Wednesday without fail, but they were nothing more than brief notes to tell me he hoped I was doing well.  It was easy to tell he was trying his hardest to give me space, and I appreciated it more than I could say.  I wrote him back via email, but I kept it light, not wanting to get too deeply into anything for the time being. 

Aubrey also dropped a couple of hints that Carys and Bishop had parted ways, but I didn’t want to ask about it.  I couldn’t.  Not yet, anyway.  The last thing I wanted to do was get my hopes up only to have Carys step in and crush them again. 

I missed him something fierce.  I missed both of them.  But I was learning how to live my life without being dependent on a man again, and it felt good. 

Christmas was coming, and I decided to throw a big party on New Year’s Eve.  Not so much for the high muckety mucks of society, but for all the local vamps to go to as well.  Maggie had enthusiastically caught onto the idea and was planning up a storm.  Even my sister Hanna had been excited by the idea, intending to attend her first vampire event.  I had mixed feelings about that.  The farther I could keep my sister away from that world, the better, but I wasn’t her keeper.  All I could do was try and make sure she stayed as safe as possible (which included enlisting a half dozen of my friends to keep an extra eye on her at the party). 

When the knock came at the door, I didn’t think twice about getting it myself.  Maggie was down at the office with Gunnar and Tucker.  Lee was out recruiting employees for his business, eager to get it off the ground, and Carter was off doing something secretive as usual.  For once nobody fought me about keeping extra security around, since nobody had tried to kill me in months. 

You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when I found Bishop standing on my front porch with a bunch of white carnations.  “I made it my second stop,” he said with a lopsided smile.  “Had to pick up some flowers first.”

“Bishop?  What are you doing here?”

“I thought I’d come and pay my respects to the Elder of the West, and update you on some changes you might need to know about.”

“Ah, I see.  So you’re in town on Order business then?”

“Yes, and no.  I’m in town permanently, and while I will still be working for the Order, it’ll be in my old position, not in charge of the entire organization anymore.” 

He was moving back to San Francisco?  Permanently?  I might’ve gaped at him like a fish for a few seconds, but Bishop was very polite about it, waiting for me to get over my shock.  “What about Frost?  Won’t he be upset about losing out on his spot?”