As I stood outside the front gate, waiting for Sandy to pick me up, I watched the moon rise, her silver light shimmering down through a break in the clouds to spread across the roof of my home. The weather was cold—the islands took the brunt of windstorms coming in off the straits—but I had found a vintage lace shawl in the basement that was still in good condition, and I’d had it cleaned.
There was still a lot of landscaping to do, but instead of looking like a reject from the spook parade, my home registered as stately and mystical. “Bewitching Bedlam” was the perfect name for it. I was scheduled to open in a couple of months for the holiday season, and for the first time in a long while, everything felt like it was coming together the way it needed to.
Sandy picked me up and we headed toward Utopia. A new act was opening at the nightclub, and we’d heard the singer was mesmerizing. Since Sandy had done so much for me, I was treating her out to a full night on the town. Drinks and music, and the best dinner the club had to offer.
Utopia was on Main Street. In Bedlam, the streets were lit up like the Eiffel Tower. Faerie lights had been strung everywhere. Samhain and its season of solemnity was over, and Thanksgiving was coming up. We were headed toward the Winter Solstice with all the accompanying festivities, and Bedlam proudly displayed the holiday spirit.
The Utopia was an adults-only club, and they checked ID at the door, which could be tricky given how long-lived most Prets were. It was hard to gauge age. But Bedlam had its own identification cards, and our true ages showed there—the ones the DMV never saw when they handed out drivers’ licenses. Very few people suspected that I’d been born before 1700, in Ireland.
As the hostess led us to our table, which was right up front near the stage, I glanced around. The club had a luxurious atmosphere, almost indolent. I was grateful I’d dressed up. The divorce and last few messy years with Craig had left me feeling frumpy.
But tonight I had donned a black-gauze tiered skirt, a plum and black jacquard corset, and I was wearing a pair of black ankle boots with chunky heels. With my black hair, pale skin, and a good application of eyeliner and lipstick, for the first time in a long while I felt pretty.
Sandy took the chair next to me. She was wearing tight jeans, a fuchsia crop top, a rhinestone hair clip, and boots that came up to her knees over her jeans. She had a trim figure compared to mine—I was curvy and busty—and she could pull off the skinny jeans look without a problem. I usually felt dumpy next to her, given her love of fashion, but tonight, I was enjoying myself, flowing along with the energy.
The waitress took our orders—thick steaks, steamed vegetables, and risotto—and brought us our drinks. I toyed with mine, staring into the bottom of the wine glass.
“Is something wrong?” Sandy seemed unusually quiet, too.
“No, just feeling content. For the first time in a long while, I feel like I belong.”
Just then, the host walked onto the stage.
“Welcome to Utopia. We all know that life isn’t perfect, but here, we strive to make it as pleasurable as possible. We have a new group debuting for you tonight—so put your hands together for the Boys of Bedlam!”
We started to clap as the members of the band jogged out on the stage. The drummer, first, had a spiked Mohawk and large ear gauges. He was bare chested beneath his jacquard coat, and his chest was heavily tattooed. He had residual horn knobs peeking out of his forehead—bingo, half-satyr, half-human from what I could tell. His eyes were gleaming topaz, so yellow they glowed. He was such an arresting sight that I barely noticed the others file in.
The guitarist and bass player followed, then the keyboardist. As I shook my head and glanced over the group, I realized that they were all gorgeous, looking straight out of the land of Faerie. They all wore neo-gothic medieval jackets and leather pants, and after tonight, they’d have to fight off the groupies.
But then, the singer—the leader of the band—entered the stage.
I stiffened.
It was Aegis, in leather pants and a leather jacket, looking so hot I swear my blood started to sizzle. As he took his place behind the mic, he waved to the crowd, his gaze falling on me.
He stopped short. Then his lips curled into a triumphant smile and he blew me a kiss off the tips of his fingers. Blushing, I wanted to run up on stage and return the kiss for real. At the same time, I had the burning desire to duck out of the club and find a safe place to hide. Feeling exposed and vulnerable, I gripped the edge of the table and shot Sandy a frantic look.
“What is it?” Sandy frowned.
I jerked my head toward the stage. “It’s him.”
She followed my gaze to the stage and sputtered. “Is that—?”
“Yes. Him. My vampire. Do you think that’s Aegis?”
Sandy considered him for a moment, then slowly nodded. “No doubt about it. He looks exactly like the paintings in the museum. Oh my gods, he’s absolutely stunning. Maddy, he’s staring at you.” Her breath sounded thick.
“I know that.” I glanced back at the stage.
Aegis very slowly picked up the mic and tapped on it. He was still staring at me, his eyes burning holes through me. Then, without missing a beat, he suddenly shifted gears. The spotlight narrowed on him and I could hear the gasps ripple through the room as he smiled, his fangs showing provocatively. As the band began to play, my hormones began to rage at full speed through my bloodstream.
Sandy reached across the table and grabbed my arm. “Shake out of it. He’s got you mesmerized.”
I frowned. “He can’t. I’m a witch. We’re immune to his charms. Look at you—you aren’t drooling over him.”
But the truth was, I did feel pulled to him. Had something gone awry? I couldn’t be hypnotized by his gaze, but was his charm so powerful that my wards weren’t strong enough to guard against it? Most witches were immune to most charm spells…but natural charm…
“What if I can’t ward against him? What if…” Once again, I got lost as I watched him on the stage. He knew how to move his body, and hot and heavy images flashed through my mind. Aegis and me in the basement, Aegis kissing me, Aegis running his hands down my naked body, me running my tongue down Aegis’s naked—
“Maddy, Maddy…you there?” Sandy tapped me on the arm and I jumped.
“I’m sorry—I keep losing myself in my fantasies. I feel like an idiot.” I was so red, I felt like a freshly boiled lobster. “I don’t want to think about him this way—I really don’t. But…”
“But you’ve got it bad. Do you remember if he drugged you, or bit you? Could you be in the thrall state?” Sandy motioned to the waiter for another round.
Thrall was the state that a vampire’s victim—or host—entered after they were bitten. Unless the vamp erased their memories, or deliberately freed them from the hold, the host would be caught up in a state of euphoria for days after an attack. Eventually, it would wear off, but until then, the victim was lost in a passionate desire for their vamp.
I shook my head. “No. If I had been bitten, I would have seen the marks in the mirror after showering. I don’t know what it is. And Bubba would have sensed if I’d been drugged.”
She glanced back at the stage. “Well, something’s going down between the two of you.”
Desperate to change the subject, I said, “By the way, Bubba loves the idea of Bewitching Bedlam. He’s going to be a problem when it comes to guests. One look at that fuzzy belly and they’ll be putty in his paws.”
“You better warn them against rubbing it or Bubba’s going to lose you business faster than you can generate it.” She rolled her eyes. Sandy had been the recipient of one of Bubba’s practical jokes when we first met. She could have decked me one for letting it happen, but instead, I got a peek at just how good her sense of humor was.
“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to have a cjinn around. But I love him, and he’s been with me for three centuries now. What can I say?”
Cjinns were rare?
??they came from the elemental plane of fire, where they hung around djinns. They were mostly cat, but too much djinn for anybody’s good. Intelligent and with a warped sense of humor, cjinns loved hanging around, waiting for the unsuspecting cat lover to scoop them up and shower love and reverence on them.
“You’re wrapped around his paw so tight you’ll never untangle yourself. I figure it’s just a package deal. Friends with you? Friends with Bubba.” Sandy was doing her best to distract me, but my attention kept returning to the stage.
Our dinners came and I barely tasted the food. I was too busy watching Aegis sing. He belted out a version of the band’s theme song, “Boys of Bedlam,” that made me weak in the knees, his voice gravelly and deep, rasping over the lyrics as the drummer beat out a thundering tattoo. Everybody in the club straightened as the music ricocheted through the room like an electric pulse.
“He’s good…they’re all really good.” I found myself swirling inside the music, catching it up like a fresh breath of spring air. “Let’s dance.” I pushed back my chair.
Sandy stared at me for a moment, then shrugged. We moved to the dance floor.
Before I met Craig, I had danced all the time—around bonfires, around the house, under the moon—but he had drained the joy out of me. Now, my body was responding so much to the music that I couldn’t ignore the pull. I forgot my fear and answered the call of Aegis’s voice. Of the drums. I danced for myself, for the moon, for Aegis.
Aegis’s voice echoed through the club as he sang the ancient folk song.
“For to see mad Tom of Bedlam, 10,000 miles I’d travel
Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes, ta’ save her shoes from gravel.
Still I sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys,
Bedlam boys are bonnie,
For they all go bare and they live by the air,
And they want na’ drink nor money.”
The barriers fell away. I became the trail of lyrics echoing out of his throat. The swirl of skirts dancing. I became the flashing lights as they matched the rhythm of the music. I was the notes trilling out of the Divine Piper’s flute. As I slid further under the spell, I became Grandmother Spider, dancing on the web that bound all things together. And then…I remembered who I was. I remembered myself.
Sandy let out a soft gasp. “Maudlin…you’re back.”
I suddenly remembered she was standing beside me. I reached out and grasped her hand, drawing her into the dance. She resisted at first, but then we were spinning. Laughing, I gave a kick against the floor and we went sailing about five feet off the floor, where we continued to dance. A crowd of dancers surrounded us, clapping to the beat as we spun, hand in hand, wheeling in a circle.
I looked down at the stage. Aegis was staring at me, his eyes glowing. As the last strains of the song drifted away, Sandy and I slowly lowered ourselves to the ground. I felt on fire—glowing with an intensity that I hadn’t felt for years.
“You’re back.” Sandy stared at me. “Craig stole something from you, but you’ve got it back now, Maddy.”
I nodded. “I can feel it. The music brought it back. He…Aegis…he opened the door for me.” And without another word, I walked over to the stage and jumped on it.
Aegis set down the mic. He held out his hands, but the smirk was gone. “Damn you,” he whispered, gathering me into his arms. “Damn you. Who are you? And why do you do this to me?”
And then, he kissed me and the crowd cheered us on, because hey, this was Bedlam, and hot kisses were always in vogue.
Chapter 5
AFTER THE KISS, Aegis murmured for me to wait until the band was done. Sandy and I danced our way through the rest of the show. It felt like I had shed some sort of shackle that had yoked me down for years.
The show ended at one, and Sandy insisted on returning to the mansion with us. “I know you want to climb all over him, but he’s a vampire and I don’t trust that I’ll find you alive tomorrow morning.” She said it right in front of him.
Aegis snorted. “I promise you, I will not kill her. Now that I’m out in public, there’s no need. Even though she smells like a cinnamon bun fresh out of the oven to me. And I love cinnamon.” But he laughed as he said it.
“Just see that you behave. I’ll be here in case you don’t.” And that was that.
Sandy and I drove back to the house, where Aegis was waiting outside the fence for an invitation to come onto the property.
I tempered it with “You are invited in for this night only,” just in case things didn’t go well.
“We have to talk,” Aegis said as we entered the house.
Sandy arched her eyebrows. “That’s my cue. I’ll be in the kitchen, making cookies. I have a stake in my purse, and I’ll use it if I need to.” She opened her purse, pulling out a narrow but deadly-looking wooden stake.
He snorted, laughing. “If you think I’m afraid of that, you’re more brainwashed than I thought. But don’t worry. I will honor the truce with both of you, unless you attempt to run me through with your…toothpick.”
As the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafted up from the first floor, Aegis and I tried to sort out what was going on between us.
“You know this is ridiculous.” Aegis wasn’t one to mince words. We were sitting on the balcony that overlooked the backyard from my bedroom–sitting room suite.
“I know. It makes no sense.” I stared into the yard. The entire situation had “STUPID” written all over it in capital letters. I glanced over at him, frowning. “You’re dangerous and if I had my head inspected, they’d lock me up. I don’t trust you. You know that, right?”
“You shouldn’t trust me.” Aegis was stretched out, a bottle of beer in hand.
“You can drink that? I thought vampires only drink blood.”
“I can drink anything I want. Eat too. But it makes no difference. I never get drunk. Never gain weight. Never have to work out and I never worry about a hangover. The only thing that satisfies my hunger, though, is blood. Which isn’t quite so pleasant.”
I let out a deep breath. It was time to address our situation.
“Okay. So. Tell me what’s going on between us.” I turned to him. “I’m not charmed by you—I can’t be charmed by vampires, because I’m a witch. But…”
He shifted, obviously uncomfortable. “I’m not good at this. I’ve been around since…you don’t know how old I am. But then again, I don’t know how old you are.”
“You’re a player. You love women. I know all about that. You’re one of the Fallen, banished to the darkness by Apollo. Yada, yada, yada. And yet…”
I stared at the moon, standing to lean against the balcony railing as the silver globe shimmered through the clouds, calling to me. I was bound to her, as were all witches. Bound to the night and to the deep heart of the woods. I was bound to the cycle of life, and yet, here I stood, my heart going out to someone who broke the laws of nature, who had stepped out of the time stream, out of the Wheel.
“You say you’re pulled to me in a way you can’t explain. I’ve heard that line before, but from women in thrall. I’ve heard it, and I’ve used it to win my way into beds and boudoirs. And yet now, for the first time in…longer than I want to think about, I mean it. Maudlin Gallowglass, I’m pulled to you. I’m not sure why, and I don’t want to be. It’s dangerous to capitulate to emotion. I’ve been alive so long that I don’t even know if I remember how to care.”
“How did you know my maiden name?” I had taken Craig’s name but was in the process of reclaiming my own.
“I did some checking.”
“You say you don’t know if you can care or feel. Then leave.” I turned to him, serious. “Leave and break this spell, so that neither of us gets hurt. I’ll rescind my invitation. You’ll forget about me and I’ll…I’ll eventually consign you to the what-if box in my memory. You have to do it, because I don’t have the strength to push you away. Something about you…”
He
stood, watching me. Then, I sensed he was about to do it—to walk away. Squeezing my eyes closed, I turned back to the railing, not wanting to watch as he left my life. I knew nothing about him other than he was a bloodthirsty predator, but he had helped bring me back to life. He had helped me break through my fear. And he sparked a memory that had been lost in time. I stared up at the moon, trying not to cry.
Suddenly, the wood on the railing splintered. It sheared away from the wall, but I didn’t have time to move. The next thing I knew, I toppled over the edge. Down below was an empty concrete pool.
Oh crap, I’m going to die and it’s because of a broken railing, Craig will laugh his ass off—
I was falling then, arms flailing. As I tumbled off the balcony, I tried to conjure a spell that would set me down gently, but I had no time. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my death approaching.
The next moment, I was dangling in air. The freefall had stopped.
I opened one eye and realized I was dangling over the empty pool. Somebody had managed to catch me by the laces of my corset, which were by now constricting my breathing given that I was hanging from them. I let out a gasp of pain as I was abruptly jerked upward and found myself back on the deck. Aegis shoved me toward the French doors, propelling me back toward the room.
“Get off the deck. The wood’s probably rotten to the core.”
I stumbled through the doors, falling to my knees as I realized how close I had come to dying. Panicking, unable to breathe, I tore at the busks of my corset, trying to get the damned thing off before I collapsed. It wasn’t laced too tight, but I needed air and I needed it now.
Aegis was there, and the next thing I knew, he had managed to open the steel busks. The corset fell away, freeing my breasts from their prison. He lifted me, carrying me to the bed, where he gently laid me against the mound of pillows. I leaned back, watching the room spin.
“Water?”
I nodded, still unable to speak. He was gone before I could blink. The next moment, he returned with a glass of water. I could hear running on the stairs. It had to be Sandy. As I glanced over at Aegis, who was sitting beside the bed, I realized he was staring at my chest.