“I’m not. I’m making a choice. And a request…if you’ll have me.”
“You’re welcome to be called whatever you want,” Alicia said warmly.
*
Lee slammed his empty stein down and howled with the wolves nearest him. Some of which he had been fighting only a day earlier. Though this was his experience. You fight, you fuck, you move on. Sometimes you’re lucky to get another go of either, but generally it’s hit it and quit it.
“You pommy cunts are alright aye…”
“Not so bad yourself ya overgrown Aussie leech.”
They cheered yet another round, and Lee downed the contents of the stein in three mouthfuls, slamming it down again to more cheers. “Another!” Lee roared.
“I thought you vamps couldn’t drink anything other than blood or you get sick?”
Lee pointed his finger at the speaker. “That my man, is a fuckin’ gross misunderstanding. A true representation is that all other vamps…are just pussy’s…hold that thought.” He held up a finger, and bent over to spew all he had drank down a grated gutter next to the table. “Worth it,” he coughed. “Speakin’o’ which, this a total sausage fest! Where’s the women? Big Dog has yet to christen this country and a lucky lass with the glory of a Nightingasm.”
“You ever had a Brit woman before?”
Lee cleared his throat, thinking. “Nup…nup…but I did have one that called me king, so that’s close enough.”
The wolves laughed at this. “Tell you where ya need to go for the best ball draining experience of your life. America.”
“Wouldn’t go to that hell hole for all the wars in the world,” another wolf chimed in. “You go over there, you get on the wrong side of anyone, you don’t come back. Wolf, human, vampire. No one is safe over there.”
“Yeah…” Lee said, “but the women?”
“Big mouths and tight twats. That’s why you find a lot of bait over there.”
“What?”
“There’s this group called the Fishermen. It’s based in Oregon. They have a front as a Baptist church, but it’s not one. They snatch girls and use them as bait to lure lads in…to sacrifice to their heathen god. They say this thing lives in the bottom of a well, and the stench of a thousand souls reeks through the air. Priests and priestesses in the church work dark magic to reanimate corpses. They look and sound human but they aren’t, and you want to go there?
“Are you kiddin’? I’m hard just thinking about it.” Lee rose and looked over at Alicia, sitting alone on the main table with Talia nearby. “Now excuse me fellas, I’m gonna see what I can do about my situation here.”
*
“I’m so sorry about what happened to Dr Sarsky and his partner,” Nick said, as both he and Nicole, carrying Deacon, looked out over the destroyed grounds from the patio. The night was lit by a stunning half-moon, and they had escaped the busy feast to find a precious few moments alone. They had finally been filling each other in on what had happened since they had last seen each other. Last night hadn’t been the time. Now, they were facing reality and all its harsh truths. There for each other, to listen, if nothing else.
“I need to tell you something. I went to your house looking for you. I spoke to your parents. They are really worried about you.”
She planted a soft kiss on Deacon’s head and gave a small nod. “I’m sure they are…”
“Nikki, look, I know what was said between you and your mum. Your dad told me.”
“Did he…” Nicole asked, looking from the view back to Nick. “So you know all the horrible things she said to me? The things about you. You know what? I could even forgive all that. She was angry and things are said in the heat of the moment. But to demand I have an abortion? Calling me stupid for not going through with it?”
“Going through with it?”
“I was there, baby. In the clinic. I’d got my referral; I had the form in front of me. I kept telling myself, over and over, it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t possibly look after this child. I signed my name and they called me through, but I couldn’t move. I just had one thought going through my head: you. This was ours. You were inside me. Against all odds, despite all the precautions we used. Then I just started thinking, killing this baby would be destroying the only thing I had left of you. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let you go again.”
“And she told you that you were out of your mind, I take it.”
“If only that were it. Disgusting things, degrading things. In her eyes she may have had a point, but I needed my mum’s help. I needed her support and guidance. Not abuse. Not making me feel worthless and like I didn’t have a brain in my head. I know I let her down with my choice…but she let me down too.”
Nick absorbed the words she spoke and placed his elbows on the top of the stone barricade of the patio. “I won’t insult you by saying I know how hard it must’ve been for you, because I don’t. I can’t imagine what it was like to go through that hell alone, and you have a right to be angry.”
“But?”
“But I gave your dad my word that I would bring you home or at least let them know you were ok. Your dad said he transferred some money to your account.”
“If he did, I don’t want it. I love my dad. He didn’t do anything, really. But I really don’t want anything from them at the moment. That my mum can use against me at a later
