Building From Ashes
Page 48

He wasn’t going to leave her alone. She could feel it.
Brigid sighed. “Well, shit.”
Two weeks later, Carwyn, Brigid, and Anne were bumping over deserted roads leading to the isolated castle owned by his two sons, Maxwell and Tavish Mackenzie.
“How far north do we have to go?”
Brigid was sitting in the passenger’s seat with her hands folded carefully in her lap as they travelled over rocky roads. Carwyn asked, “Are you comfortable enough?”
“I’m fine. How much farther?”
She didn’t look fine, he thought. She looked nervous, no doubt worried over what kind of hellish place she was going to spend the next year. Damn Deirdre. The stubborn Irishwoman had made her low opinion of Max’s wife well-known. “Just a few hours.”
The car fell silent again until Brigid spoke.
“What’s the best thing about being a vampire?” she asked.
“Not having to breathe,” Anne said. Carwyn looked over his shoulder. “What?” She shrugged. “I like to swim.”
“Looking at the stars,” he said quietly.
“Colors are much more vivid,” Anne said.
“Music. Good music anyway.”
Anne laughed. “No grey hair. Well, if you’re not Tavish.”
“Amnis. I’m not going to lie, it’s fun messing with people sometimes.”
“Amnis. It’s amazing to be able to help humans the way I can.”
He smiled. “Anne, have I told you that you’re a truly lovely person lately?”
“No,” she quipped. “I’m quite offended when I think about how long it’s been.”
“Independence,” Carwyn said. “Because—let’s face it—we all accumulate quite a bit of money over the years unless we’re idiots. Hunting. And… no deterioration of my dashing good looks.”
Anne laughed. Brigid just smiled.
“How much are we telling her, Carwyn?”
Brigid looked over her shoulder. “You’re telling me all of it. I asked, didn’t I?”
Anne just gave a wicked laugh. “Fine. Drinking from humans. Don’t let the virtuous animal drinkers fool you. Once you’ve perfected control? It’s fantastic.”
He saw Brigid looking at him. “Don’t ask me. My sire only drank from animals. That’s how I was taught. The few sips of blood I’ve tasted over the years have been minimal, other than turning my children, but that’s not the normal kind of drinking.”
“But for sustenance, you’ve never…”
Carwyn kept his eyes firmly on the road. “No.”
Anne said, “Carwyn is extra virtuous because drinking from humans also brings out our… other hungers, if you understand me.”
Carwyn kept his eyes on the road as tension descended on them. Anne was right. Bloodlust and sexual lust were closely tied. For a mated vampire? Not a problem. For one who had accepted the celibacy his office demanded? Well…
“You know,” Anne said, “sex is one of the—”
Brigid cleared her throat. “I get it, Anne. Thanks.”
“I just mean that it’s another thing that’s better. Sex is fantastic. Particularly with another vampire.”
Carwyn gritted his teeth, feeling his fangs fall as he stared ahead, never taking his eyes off the road. Anne just kept talking.
“You know, come to think of it, I think sex is the best part of being a vampire. You don’t get tired or sweaty. And then, with the amnis, you have the added benefit of—”
Brigid’s voice was hoarse when she interrupted. “Pretty sure I get it, Anne. Thanks.”
Carwyn could smell the smoky sweetness of her scent as it filled the car, and he bit back a growl.
“Okay, moving on…” Brigid said. “What’s the worst thing?”
Both Carwyn and Anne said together, “The sun.”
Silence fell for a few minutes until Anne spoke. “The electronic thing has become very problematic, as well.”
“Oh,” Brigid groaned.
Carwyn said, “What?”
“I was just thinking about work. If I go back to work for Murphy after my year here, I’ll have to hire a set of hands, like Declan. It might be too much bother.”
He curled his lip thinking about Brigid going back to working for Patrick Murphy. “I think he’ll be willing to put up with the bother.”
“Boredom can be a problem when you live as long as we do.” Anne paused. “Not boredom, exactly… aloofness. We tend to become quite separated from the world, if we let ourselves. Very set in our ways. I’m starting to feel it myself. Change, after so long, becomes quite difficult. But change is the only thing that keeps us truly alive, isn’t it?”
Brigid answered softly, “I suppose so.”
Her voice was so sad that Carwyn reached over and ran the back of his finger along her chin, flicking the corner of her mouth until she smiled.
Anne piped up from the back seat. “I’m going to zone out and read for a bit.” Anne, Carwyn remembered, needed quiet. She always had earplugs with her.
He put his hands back on the wheel and there was silence for a few moments as Anne opened her book.
Finally, Brigid spoke. “So, being able to read without getting motion sick, is that one of the benefits?”
He smiled. “No. Afraid that’s just Anne. I still get queasy. Especially in planes.”