Rumy elbowed him. “She’s a good person. Shayna, I mean. I take it she saved your ass again by donating.”
“Yes, she did.” He told Rumy about what had happened in Costa Rica and on the flight to Cuba, which had Rumy whistling. He then eyed Rumy. “You have one helluvan operation here. Was this always your plan? To rescue slaves?”
“Not hardly. It just sort of happened. Yvonne was the first. She belonged to Daniel, a favorite of his, and you can imagine the hell she went through. He made a fortune off her and of course used her himself. One of my men who worked undercover at the Dark Cave system got her out of there, which meant I couldn’t send him back. I knew your father would have hunted her to the ends of the earth to bring her under his control, so I took her in. After that, well, I couldn’t help them all but if I heard of women who’d escaped, I’d search for them and bring them here. As rare as it was to get out of the Dark Cave system alive, I thought they deserved a shot.”
“You’ve done a good thing.”
“Least I could do.”
Rumy glanced at the blood-chain at Marius’s neck and frowned. “And you’re sure you’re still connected to Shayna?”
“We are. I know it’s seems strange, but we don’t have the usual proximity issue, and I can carry her in altered flight without a problem—but no, I can’t tell you why. However, I can tell you what she’s experiencing moment-to-moment, as clear as a bell, so I know the bond holds.”
“Well, this is a real mystery.” Rumy rubbed his lower lip, just between his fangs. “But that might explain why, when I told Gabriel what was going on and suggested he have the set of double-chains ready for you, he said it wouldn’t be necessary.”
Marius was grateful in this situation that Gabriel hadn’t pushed the issue, but he wondered what it was Gabriel knew that he didn’t.
Rumy’s phone rang and he stepped away, only to cover the phone and turn back to Marius. “Something at The Erotic Passage.” He grimaced. “One of the club owners. No big deal but I’d better take it.”
Marius nodded. He turned his attention back to the potluck. The children had already started going down the buffet table, and mothers hovered nearby to help them fill their plates.
Eve left Yvonne and Shayna, and returned to stand next to him. “Isn’t this a surprise? Rumy’s commune?”
Marius smiled at her. “Astonishing. And he just told me about Yvonne.”
Eve’s gaze traveled her direction. “Yeah, she gives me perspective. I’ve lived an exceptional life. I’ve always done as I pleased and I’ve never had to deal with anything like what these women have been through. Daniel needs to be put down.”
“Yes. He does. No question.”
He waved an arm to encompass the full stretch of river. “Do you know what’s funny about this? I always thought Rumy kept a harem of women here to satisfy his every whim. I imagined orgies at his villa. Never kids, families, or potlucks, for God’s sake.”
“I know. It’s extraordinary, but then I’ve had all these years to get used to it. Of course, that meant I had to pretend I’d never been here, and I really had to keep my trap shut about how great he is. But I’ve helped as best I could with the transition for these women.”
“So you’ve been coming here for years.”
“I have.”
He felt Shayna reach for him telepathically. He caught her gaze from across the lawn. What is it? he asked.
Would you mind if I sat with Yvonne and her family? Now that you and I don’t have a proximity issue, I’d love to get to spend some time with her kids and her husband. I have so many questions.
He couldn’t help but smile. He recognized the particular thrill Shayna was experiencing when she knew she had a rare opportunity to explore an aspect of his culture, something she might not get to do again. He wouldn’t have denied her for the world.
He nodded. You do whatever you want.
She held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. Thanks. And with that, without even another glance at him, she turned back to Yvonne. He could tell she’d asked yet another question, this time of the vampire husband.
Marius shifted toward Eve. “She’s dining with Yvonne and her family.”
“I’m not surprised. You know, I like your woman. I like her a lot.”
His woman again.
“Don’t start with me, Eve. She can’t stay and everything I do from this point forward is to keep Shayna alive so she can go back to the life she has planned for herself.”
“Fine.” She lifted both hands in surrender. “But you’re an idiot to even think of letting her go.”
He resisted rolling his eyes. “A few minutes ago, when you were with Yvonne and Shayna, what did she ask you?”
Eve grinned. “Sure you want to know?”
Marius suspected Shayna would have asked about The Erotic Passage, and he was curious. “Absolutely.”
Eve leaned close. “She asked me how long my period lasts and when I ovulate and if that helps sales at The Ruby Cave.”
If he’d just taken a sip of something to drink, he would have spewed it everywhere. “What?”
“You said you wanted to know. Actually, the moment Yvonne’s husband turned away to discipline one of the kids she asked at least five similar questions, all in a row.”
Marius laughed and Eve joined him.
Eve eyed him. “You know, you haven’t done that in years, not that I can recall—laugh, I mean. She’s done that for you.”
His amusement gave way to a warmer feeling as his gaze once more drifted in Shayna’s direction. “She’s unusual, even for a human. She’s an academic and she wants to teach.”
“She can teach here, in our world.”
“I know, but why would I ever deprive her of a normal human life? That would be impossibly selfish.”
“But you deserve to be happy, Marius, more than anyone I know. Why shouldn’t she be part of your life?”
He didn’t respond. He and Eve had argued this subject to death in past years, what she believed he deserved and why he knew she was completely wrong.
She elbowed him. “So how is it with her?”
With his gaze fixed on Shayna as he watched her lift one of Yvonne’s children and balance the girl on her hip, he said, “She’s great. Very easy to be with. And she has a helluva lot of courage.”
Eve made a disgusted sound. “I meant the sex. Jesus, you are an idiot.”
He sighed. “We haven’t really done it yet.”
“Yes, you have. I know you have. I can smell it on you.”
“No, I mean we have, but we haven’t. Hard to explain and I really shouldn’t be discussing this with you anyway.”
“You need to throw that woman on her back and give it to her good, that’s all.”
This time, Marius did roll his eyes. “Let me try to say this in a way you’ll understand. The chain-bond ramped things up, but we haven’t really been close yet. And maybe it’s better that way.”
She mocked him in a singsong way. “Because she’s going home.” She made another disgusted sound with her lips. “You’re being really obtuse, Marius. Besides the fact that she smells like a woman falling hard for a big, beautiful bone, she’s already enamored of our world. I’ll bet you that after a trip to your secret New Zealand home and a swim in that pool you’ve bragged about more than once, she sticks.”
“You’re on. And in return, I want you to take a week’s vacay from The Ruby Cave.”
Eve’s eyes went wide. She’d never left The Erotic Passage longer than two days, not in all the decades her club had been open.
Marius pointed an accusing finger at her. “See, you’re addicted to your work so much that even the thought of taking a week off leaves you gasping for air.”
Eve lifted her chin, but brought the end of her ponytail around and flipped it a few times. “Fine. You’re on. But this is one bet I’ll win.” She let her ponytail drop. “And now, to change the subject. Do you know what she needs help with? Why she wanted
someone to talk to besides you, I mean?”
“I don’t know except that her visions are really bugging her. I know she wants to do better at it, but I have no idea how to help her.”
“Well, after dinner I’ll have a talk with her. Maybe I can gain some insight.”
* * *
After the communal meal, Shayna walked with Marius and Eve back to the villa. The structure was made of cream-colored, unpolished marble, a really beautiful look, but different from the ones down by the river. The village homes had the look of the surrounding stone, but the villa was all Rumy, a reflection of his love of all things Italian.
Rumy had returned to The Erotic Passage with the hope that he could eventually report back on Daniel’s movements.
The villa structure included a large inviting foyer and a curved staircase leading to a second story. The front of the villa faced the river.
As Shayna walked up the steps, she turned back and saw that on the other side of the river, Rumy had planted a whole bunch of trees. “How does everything grow so well underground, without sunlight?” The commune had an enormous vegetable garden as well that served the entire community.
“A special system of grow-lights,” Eve responded. “I’ve seen them and they’re amazing. The whole community is asleep during the hours the lights are on, otherwise it would be intolerable for vampires.”
Shayna waved a hand. “But this level of light is acceptable to you?” She glanced at Eve.
“Sure. We can adjust to most artificial light really well, but the ones used for growing plants are industrial-strength and mimic sunlight, which we can’t handle except during altered flight.”
“Absolutely fascinating.”
She turned toward Marius and Eve and saw that they were watching her, both smiling in an indulgent way. “I’ve been asking too many questions again, haven’t I?”
“Not at all.”
“No, I’ve been insufferable. Admit it.”
Marius slid his arm around her waist. “You’re being yourself.”
She held his gaze. “Tedious, would you say?”
He shook his head.
She winced. “Aggravating?”
“You do realize you’re asking questions about how annoying the asking-of-your-questions has become?”
She groaned. “I’m ridiculous, but I really am fascinated.”
Eve murmured. “I’m going to win that bet. I just know it.”
“What bet?”
Marius glared at Eve, who in turn laughed. The vampires had something private going on between them and though her usual curiosity had her dying to know why, Shayna held back the probing questions that sprang to her lips.
Eve cocked her head and caught Shayna’s gaze. “Ready to talk?”
“I am.”
“Do you want Marius with us, or not?”
Shayna glanced at him and weighed the situation. “Actually, I think he should be with us. I mean, my problem, whatever its source, affects him as well since this is about my visions, or rather, my impaired visions. Although, I have to say I’m not sure you can help with that.”
“If not, I’m sure I’ll be able to send you to someone who can.”
She led them into the villa, to the sitting room off to the right. A large picture window had a view of the grove across the river. “Well, let’s all sit down, you tell me what’s going on, then I can best answer you one way or the other.”
When Shayna sat down on the couch across from the window, she glanced up at Marius and patted the seat beside her. When he sat down, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. He really was the sweetest guy, especially for someone who looked as fierce as he did.
“You can tell Eve anything. She’s good people.”
Shayna smiled. “I know.”
Eve sat opposite, in a club chair off to the left that angled toward the couch.
Shayna decided to just launch in and offered up a sampling of the visions, her thoughts surrounding those moments, and how the wavy lines had blocked what she could see from moment to moment. “The thing is, I don’t think it’s about power, since I’m streaming Marius’s all the time and the flow is amazing.” She put a hand to her chest. “I mean, really amazing. So I honestly think this has to be about me, that I’m doing something wrong.”
Eve held Shayna’s gaze. “You mentioned that during one of these visions, you’d started thinking about your professor, the man you had an affair with. What was your relationship with him like, and was it a recent breakup?”
“Not real recent. A year ago.” She then found herself unburdening her soul with all sorts of details about Michelson, his demeaning way of offering criticism, his complaints about her body, her work ethic, that she didn’t have a tidy desk.
“And what was the sex like?”
Shayna turned toward Marius and met his gaze. She felt really uncomfortable discussing this in front of him. He’d grown tense as well, and she felt a certain amount of hostility emanating from him.
He took a deep breath. “Do you want me to leave?”
Shayna was about to express her gratitude that he understood when Eve immediately intervened. “On no account should Marius leave right now. I think I understand what’s going on with you, Shayna. But Marius needs to hear this. All of it. I suspect something happened in the bedroom with Michelson, didn’t it, something bad? And if I’m right, trust me, it will affect every area of your life, including these visions.”
Shayna had never told anyone the details of her last sexual encounter with Michelson, the straw that ended her relationship with him.
She must have grown really quiet and her distress no doubt thoroughly communicated itself through the chains, because Marius leaned forward to meet her gaze. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, not exactly. No. It was more like neglect, but it was profound. I’ve just never really talked about it before. Once I ended the relationship, I was done. I mean, I had some counseling, but I didn’t talk about this one part.”
Eve spoke in a quiet voice. “Take your time and start with whatever comes into your head.”
Shayna found her eyes filling with tears. “It was that old saying, All of a piece. Michelson was—is—a completely self-absorbed man. I know that now. He might even have sociopath tendencies.” She stopped as though her vocal cords had just shriveled and wouldn’t let her go any farther.
“You can do this,” Eve said, more firmly this time. “And I think you’ll find it very healing and probably the release you need to get these visions unblocked. Okay?”
Shayna licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. “I fell hard for Michelson. He was a man I admired a lot for his work in the field of anthropology. I knew going in that I was a starstruck student, an absolute cliché, but he was handsome and inspiring and unattached. I wouldn’t have dated him if he’d been married, or anything like that.
“The sex was glorious at first, but I honestly think it’s because I was so deluded, so infatuated with him. I couldn’t get enough of him. So in those early days, I didn’t notice how critical he was of me, I think because it began so gradually; how I looked, what I wore, my makeup, my hair, comments about how I studied, that he thought I was messy and disorganized. He’d make suggestions on improving everything but never seemed to be satisfied when I made the changes. I kept waiting for some kind of affirmation that he finally approved of me.
“Then, about three months into the relationship, he brought out a few of his neckties. The first time he bound me to the four posts of his bed was really intoxicating. I mean it turned me on and though he might be critical of me, the sex was great, or so I thought. The first few times were really exciting.”
Eve nodded. “It can be a profound experience. Bondage is as much about trust as it is about the thrill. So when did it go wrong?”
Shayna ignored the increasing tension in Marius and took a deep breath. “The first time things started going bad, he left me spread-eagled on the bed, tied up at both wrists and ankles, sa
ying he’d had an inspiration for an article he was writing, but he wanted to write it down immediately and that he’d be right back. I was stupidly exhilarated that I could be a muse for such an important man. And he came back ten minutes later.
“Part of me thought it a little odd, but again I believed in him and he’d already trained me to think much less of myself than I deserved and to keep him on a pedestal. He’d get angry at even the slightest interruption in whatever project he was working on. I’d learned early on not to disturb the waters when he was engaged with his work.”
“It got worse each time, didn’t it?” Eve asked. “The length of time he’d be gone, that sort of thing?”
“Yes. I tried talking to him about it, but he invoked how important I was as his muse, which of course led to a lot of guilt and fear on my part.”
She could feel that Marius’s level of tension had now jumped several notches, but she had to see this through.
Eve spoke to Marius. “Dial it down, warrior. Please.” To Shayna, she dipped her chin. “Go ahead. Tell me about the last time.”
Just thinking about it brought tears flowing down Shayna’s cheeks, something she hadn’t intended or thought would happen. “I had no pleasure that time, and hadn’t had for the last few sessions as far as that goes. I faked it the whole time because of course he’d get mad if I didn’t appear to be enjoying sex with him. But I was barely aroused. The truth was, I was afraid of being left tied up again. And by then, he had only one goal, to have his release, which he would insist gave him some kind of inspiration for his work that he had to attend to while I was lying tied up in his bed.
“But this time, when he left me, he was gone for hours. But he didn’t go to his desk and work. Not this time. No, he got in his car and left because I heard the car on the gravel drive pull away. I screamed my rage not once but several times as the hours passed. Later, I fell asleep, having worn myself out.
“When he came back, he told me how thrilling it was to know that I was waiting for him. I remember forcing a smile and telling him how glad I was that he’d had a good time because by then I was scared to death.”