“She hasn’t sat yet,” Parker pointed out.
The man rolled his eyes and hit the delete key. “One can hope, can’t one?” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Dominic Davis. Pleased to meet you.”
“Parker Hollis.”
Dominic slowly smiled at him. “Aren’t you—” They were interrupted when Kate cleared her throat. “We have two new residents of Maggie’s Grove. Parker Hollis, vampire, and Gregory West, apparition, now reside at 213 Ghost Haven Lane. Please welcome them to the community.”
Most of the audience didn’t make a move. Some clapped, some waved. One or two turned away. Parker made note of them all. He wanted to attach names to those faces.
“What a warm, fuzzy town. Why did I tell you to move here again?”
“You had a vision.”
“Oh yeah. Next time I have a deathbed vision, ignore me. We’d get a warmer reception at the Vatican.”
Parker hid a grin behind his hand.
The woman opened her mouth to speak again, but Dragos stopped her by the simple expedient of standing. He waved her to her seat, and she took it, staring up at him with adoring eyes.
“There’s something fishy about that woman.”
Parker agreed. Something was off about the brunette, something that reminded him of Terri. He’d have to talk to Amara about it, after he spanked her ass for scaring the shit out of him.
“It is time to honor our dead.” Dragos’s eastern European accent had thickened, whether in sorrow or anger or both, Parker wasn’t sure. “Kenneth Madison, aged seventeen.” Parker winced. The kid really had been a kid. “Steven Wu, aged thirty-four.” The other victim of the exploding tree. One of the bits of shrapnel had gone through the back of the man’s head, severing his spinal cord and almost taking his head off. “I call for a moment of silence as we pray for our departed.”
All the heads in the hall bowed, including Parker’s. He felt somewhat responsible for bringing this evil to Maggie’s Grove, but he’d finally figured out Terri was the only one responsible for her actions. He had the feeling that, like most stalkers, if he had given in to her, anyone he cared about would be in danger, even if it was only in friendship. That reminds me. I need to figure out a better way to protect Brian. If anything happened to the Renfield, Greg would be inconsolable.
Who knew Greg would find the love of his life after death?
“Thank you.” Dragos didn’t speak loudly, but his voice echoed through the room, his vampiric powers ensuring he would be heard despite the lack of a microphone. “This meeting has been called to discuss the events at the farmers’ market yesterday evening that resulted in two deaths and countless injuries. The murderer will be caught. I promise you that.”
Way to keep the masses calm, Dragos. Parker prepared himself for one hell of a fight. Most of these people believed Amara had killed Ken and Mr. Wu, and Parker had to convince them otherwise while the word murderer rang in their ears.
“We believe we know who the intended target of the attack was and who was responsible.” Gasps filled the room. “At this point I would like to hand the floor over to Dr. Parker Hollis, the man who truly understands what is happening to us.”
Parker stood, ignoring the mutters from the crowd. He held up his hands for silence, not surprised when he didn’t get it. He sent forth his will, used his powers to whisper in their ears. “Do you want to know what happened, or don’t you?”
The murmurs reluctantly died down.
“Good. As some of you may know, I labor under a curse. What you don’t know is this curse was bestowed upon me by an insane witch who believed that by changing both herself and my dietary needs, I would form the singele sotiei bond with her, thus taking her as my blood wife and feeding from no other. The bond is irresistible, unforgettable, similar to the mate bond weres experience.” The vampires in the crowd turned paler than normal, horrified by the perversion of a sacred bond. The shock on the faces of the nonvampires showed they understood exactly how serious Terri’s crime was. “I knew when I met my sotiei that she was the one, but Terri believed she could influence the bond by turning herself into what my sotiei calls a weed and changing me into a vampire who could only drink green, leafy blood.” Some of the vampires in the audience smirked, but Parker didn’t care. He’d lived with this curse for over fifty years. He doubted any of them would have done better. “I found myself unable to kill her, no matter how desperately I wished to. Something stayed my hand, and because of that, I humbly apologize.”
One vampire in the back spoke up. “If you felt she was your sotiei, why didn’t you claim her?”
“Because some part of me understood she wasn’t. She frightened me in ways I can’t possibly explain. The few times she caught up to me, I ran as fast and as far as I could, but Terri always seems to find me. And now I have found my sotiei, and I believe Terri is taking revenge.”
“Amara killed them by making that tree explode, not some fairy-tale wicked witch! Stop trying to protect her with lies!”
Several of the townsfolk shouted their agreement. He prayed it wasn’t one of the Madisons or Wus; that would break Amara’s heart. “No. Amara didn’t kill anyone. She’s a dryad, incapable of harming a tree. Terri is the one most likely to be responsible. She was a witch before she cursed us both, and that power resides within her. She would think nothing of taking a life to get to me. Indeed, she’s done it before.”
At that the shouting turned angry. “Silence.” Dragos’s voice whispered across the room, and his power flowed with it, staggering in its intensity. Silence fell, instantaneous and total. Parker could barely hear them breathing.
Parker had a hard time getting his voice to work. Damn, Dragos was strong. “Please, try to remember, I was incapable of harming Terri before I found my sotiei. My beast believed there was a connection between us and refused to allow me to kill her. It was fight or flight, and every time, I was forced to choose flight. If I had not found my sotiei, I would be fleeing right now.”
“Is it true? Is Amara your sotiei?”
He didn’t recognize the voice, but the features could only belong to one of Brian’s siblings, and he sounded like he was on Parker’s side. “Yes, Amara is my true sotiei.” Parker leaned on the table and growled, “Speaking of which, have any of you seen her?” He allowed enough of the beast out to remind them of the threat he’d made in the market before all hell had broken loose. He wondered if his announcement there was what had triggered Terri’s wrath. “By the way, now that I have her, my beast is no longer confused. I am free to kill anyone who threatens her.” He let that sink in before adding, almost as an afterthought, “Including Terri.” His eyes turned red, but he kept his voice mild, knowing the effect it would have. “Now. Where is my wife?”
No one answered. Their guilt was matched by their defiance. “I still think Amara did it,” one woman shouted. “How do we know you aren’t protecting your sotiei? Do you know what she truly is? She’s an abomination!”
Parker was nose to nose with the woman before anyone, even the other vampires in the room, could blink. The only one who might have been able to stop him had chosen not to. “I’m sorry.” His fangs were fully extended, the hunt burning red in his eyes, an open threat to the woman who’d dared malign his wife. She couldn’t run fast enough to escape him, and they both knew it, the knowledge obvious on her pale, suddenly sweating face. “Would you care to repeat that?”