Matthias’ heart went cold. “No. Never! She loves me!”
His father’s eyes were two hard, narrow slits. “Yes, she does, but even love cannot overcome the type of power you and I wield over others.” He straightened. “Sarah, remove your frock.”
Matthias gasped. “No!”
Michael stilled him with a look, and now Matthias could neither stand nor speak. His father’s eyes remained on him while Sarah began working on her garments.
Horrified, Matthias could only watch as his wife undressed. Not eagerly, the way she had when they were in bed together, but as if struggling against the command. From the way her shoulders shook and her head was bent, he suspected she was crying.
Matthias frantically shook his head and Michael straightened, his eyes never wavering from his son. “Sarah, stop.”
Her movements immediately stilled, but she still silently cried.
“You can move and speak, son.”
Now that he could, Matthias had no words to say. Michael leaned in again. “I cannot honestly say if she loves you or not. I pray that she does. The fact that it took her a year to say yes to you is proof she has an incredibly strong will. It is far too easy for us to accidentally enslave an unwitting heart to our desires. I am over one hundred years old, and you will most likely live at least as long. When you lose her to time, you might one day wish to love again and you must remember to never use the powers you have to force someone to love you. Ever. And you must ensure she understands that she holds our very survival between her lips if her tongue wags.”
Michael stood and walked to the door, his back to the young lovers. Without turning, he said, “Sarah, this never happened. I have not yet returned. You and Matthias were preparing to retire for the evening.” With that, he left.
Matthias slumped in his chair, his head in his hands. Sarah looked around, confused. When she saw Matthias she rushed to him.
“What is it? Are you ill?”
He looked at her, her deep-green eyes, and knew he was the one enslaved, not her. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her deeply, loving her, his father’s words ringing in his ears.
Chapter Twelve
After Taz’s nap they ate an early dinner, then returned to their cabin. Exhaustion had finally caught up with Taz. With Matthias there to look after her, all she wanted to do was rest and talk.
“What, exactly, is the Tribunal?”
“Over the centuries, the different Clans decided they needed a governing body to keep the peace and settle disputes. For our united survival, if nothing else. We couldn’t have it getting out that what we are is real, not legend. Leaders from the different Clans formed a partnership of sorts, sharing information and meting out justice as appropriate. Over the years it became a quasi-judicial board. Obviously no written records, but no member of the Clans would dare cross them. Especially not now in modern times, when our existence is jeopardized more than ever.”
“Rafe mentioned the Tribunal follows up on people who are marked.” It still creeped her out that there were some people who willingly wanted to enslave themselves to someone else, regardless of the reasoning. That wasn’t a consensual BDSM relationship where one could just walk away and the other could go on with their lives. Someone marked would, literally, die if the one who marked them died or chose to move on and mark another.
Matthias nodded. “It would be too easy for an unscrupulous, stronger vampire to take advantage of humans and weaker hybrids. We vigorously pursued and eliminated rogues because their selfish narcissism put us all at risk. While I’ll be the first to admit there are those I’m not fond of amongst the Clans, they know it’s far safer to abide by Tribunal rules than to risk bringing the weight of it down upon them.”
“You told me you were the oldest in the States.”
“I am.”
“What about your grandfather?”
“He doesn’t call the States home. He’s a bit of a wanderer. He technically affiliates himself with the Western European Clan, and he has a home outside of Paris, but he doesn’t permanently live here. When he is here, he stays with me if he’s not busy gadding about.”
“It’s going to take some getting used to, that I’ve gained an eight-hundred-year-old grandfather.”
Matthias smiled. “You’ll like him, never fear. And he’ll love you.”
She decided to switch to a slightly less depressing topic. “So how does a vampire know what to do?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“I mean, how did you figure out what you can and can’t do?”
“My grandfather told me a lot, and then others, as I grew older and made contact with members of the Clan.”
She was frustrated, not getting the answer she wanted. “But where’s the instruction manual? The Vampires for Dummies book?”
He laughed. “There is no such thing, Taz.”
“Then how do new vampires know?”
“Before, early on, parents would know to instruct their child depending on their powers. Remember, there are far fewer of us now than there ever were before. We can’t risk records like that.”
“You said yourself no one believes in them, except Hollywood and crazy people.”
“Not entirely. I also told you if the government became aware of us, of what we are, they might try to use us.”
“What about now?”
“That’s why we keep track. The Clans keep tabs on those who might be of the line. When someone shows the propensity, they are approached.”
“Yeah, because that worked sooo well with me.”
“I have apologized for that Taz, I don’t know what you want me to do.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
He hugged her. “It’ll get better. I promise.”
“Can’t get too much worse.” She fell quiet for a few minutes. “Matthias, when is your birthday?”
“May eighteenth.”
“What year?”
“Every year.”
She looked at him, laughed, and playfully shoved him.
“Hey, you shouldn’t pick on a man whose birthday falls on the same day Mount St. Helens exploded.”
“No?”
“You should have heard the jokes.”
Taz smiled, certain Albert had come up with a few doozies. She gave Matthias credit, he hadn’t mentioned leaving Yellowstone once. Curled against him, breathing in his scent, she closed her eyes. “Can we leave tomorrow?”
He kissed the top of her head. “If that’s what you want.”
Taz took a deep breath. “After breakfast. Let’s get all the bullshit behind us. Get the London stuff over and done with.”
He propped himself up on one elbow. “Taz, we can hold off on that. They will wait until you’re ready.”
“That’s just it. If you give me an out, I’ll never be ready, never want to do it. Running isn’t going to solve this. Let’s get it over with.”
He kissed her. “All right, sweetheart.”
“I have to get the oil changed in the Mustang,” she said at breakfast after they’d packed and checked out. “It’s overdue from the drive out.”
“There’s a garage at Fishing Bridge. I’ll call when we’re done, see if they can do it this morning. If not, I’m sure we can find a place in Cody.”
Taz started to nod when she felt a rumbling in her brain and had to bite back a snarky comment.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Matthias frowned. “What’s wrong, Taz?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just got this weird feeling when we were talking about the oil change—”
“NO!”
Her eyes darted around the restaurant. “Did you hear that?”