Death Become Him - 40

“Go away,” Trent groaned when the sound of the doorbell pulled him out of a deep sleep. His body clock was now so attuned to his regime that even though it was just midnight he had been dead to the world for hours. He tried to ignore the bell, but it kept ringing. Finally, ready to tear someone a new ass, he got up, pulled on a pair of jeans and went down to answer it.

He flung open the door and froze when he saw Phillip standing there. “Something’s happened to Rory,” Trent said, his voice filled with panic.

“No, not at all,” Phillip instantly assured him. “He’s out on the midnight tour so I thought I’d take advantage of that to come have a talk with you.”

“About what?” Trent asked ungraciously, crossing his arms as he stared at Phillip. Now that he knew Rory was all right he wanted to go back upstairs and sleep again until he returned home.

“About you,” Phillip replied. “And it would be easier if you’d let me come in, rather than doing it here,” he added pointedly.

With a nod, Trent stepped aside.

When they were seated in the living room, Phillip asked, “How long has it been since Rory’s turning?”

“Over five years now, which I’m quite certain you know.”

“I do. I just asked as a way to reinforce it, as it has to do with what I want to talk about. If I’m correct, you’re thirty-five now, or close to it. Rory on the other hand will always remain thirty.”

Trent nodded. “I’m well aware of that.”

“The same will hold true when you’re forty and fifty and…”

“You’re pointing out something I already know. I see it every time I look in the mirror. I’m showing my age, he isn’t. We both know that in time we’re going to have to move somewhere else before people begin noticing he isn’t aging. It’s a way of life with vampires.”

“Exactly,” Phillip agreed. “But that’s not why I’m—why we’re talking about this. When the two of you move on, are you willing to tell people he’s your young, with the emphasis on ‘young’, lover. Or your boy-toy? Or whatever other excuse you can come up with for why an old man is keeping company with a much younger one?”

“Are you saying I should get out of his life before that happens?” Trent spat out angrily. “If so, it’s not an option. Or at least not until he asks me to, and he won’t.” He sighed, “I don’t think.”

“As much as he loves you, no he won’t. However”—Phillip paused, obviously waiting until he had Trent’s full attention—“there is something you can do to alleviate the problem. Something you may even have considered, at least subconsciously.”

Trent nodded, staring down at his hands clenched tightly in his lap. “Become one of you,” he replied tightly.

“You make it sound as if it were a death sentence.”

“Isn’t it, both literally and figuratively? Never being able to see your family again? Losing any friends you’ve made? What about work? I’d be hard pressed to find another job doing what I do best unless I changed my name and started over again, without, I might point out having any resume or recommendations from past employers.”

Phillip chuckled, earning a glare from Trent. “To begin at the end, we’re a large network. If you want to run a hotel we can arrange it with no problem. As for losing friends, you’ll make new ones. We always do. I understand about family but be truthful, Trent, how many times have you visited them since Rory came back into your life?”

“Well—never. I call them, we email, but in the last five years I’ve managed to use work and distance as a reason for not going home for any of the holidays. They accept that, reluctantly. But they do.”

“Exactly. To some extent you’re already doing what you would have to if you became one of us. Cutting ties with family always hurts but, and this may sound harsh, family is transitory. Soon enough in the grand scheme of things they’ll be dead and gone. The same holds for you at this point. A hundred years from now, when you’re long in your grave, Rory will look back at his life with you with fond memories, knowing he loved you and was loved in return. He’ll be sad, for a while, but…” Phillip spread his hands.

“In time he’ll move on to someone new.” Trent did not like that idea at all.

“He will. We all need love. Some of us are lucky and find eternal love with another of our kind, or at least someone close to it in my case.” Phillip snorted softly. “Thankfully the whole mated-for-life thing you read about in romance novels is not real. If it doesn’t work out, you can try again.” He looked thoughtfully at Trent. “In your case, if you decided to be turned, I think you’d have nothing to fear in that respect. You have accepted Rory for what he is, and he has stayed with you despite what you are.”

Trent managed to chuckle at that. “Meaning one of the lesser beings.”

“Humans aren’t ‘lesser’. After all, we were all human at one point in time.”

“True.”

“Will you at least think about it, for both your sakes?”

“Of course.”

Death Becomes Him - 39

As the days again passed into weeks, Trent and Rory established a pattern so they could spend as much time together as possible. Rory made it a point to take one night off during the week, no matter what, to stay home with his lover. Trent on the other hand learned the stories of the New Orleans ghosts and vampires so well, while tagging along with Rory on weekend tours, that when he volunteered to become one of the substitute guides on Saturdays if they needed him, Rory readily agreed. The only stipulation being, he would be accompanied by two of the other guides rather than being paired off with just one.

That was the one thing Rory had always insisted on; even back when he’d owned his first tour company, no one did it alone. As he explained more than once, “You never know what sort of freaks might be among the tourists or out there planning on preying on them or on our female guides.”

The first time he’d said that to the assembled vampires and werewolves who worked for him, the reaction had been mixed to say the least.

“You think one of us is going to go off the deep end and attack someone,” Alan said, hissing angrily.

“Not at all,” Rory had replied firmly. “If I did, you wouldn’t be working for me.”

“Don’t you think we could protect the humans if some bastard tried to pull something,” one of the werewolves asked in disbelief.

“You could but in the process, if there was just one of you there, you might reveal that we, vampires and werewolves, exist. It’s fine to make the tourists think it’s possible. It fulfills their romantic fantasies. But the reality, and you know it, is we’d be hunted like animals if that occurred. So if there is any trouble, one of you can continue on with the tour while the other handles the problem quietly. That’s especially true when it comes to the two human guides. They’re Sienna’s friends, but they have no clue what she or the rest of us are. I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

There was more discussion along the same lines but in the end everyone agreed that working in pairs was for the best.

“So who are you putting me with?” Trent asked the first time he was set to take out a group of tourists.

“Celeste and Dominique.”

“Oh really? Why them?”

Rory smirked. “I figure that way you can concentrate on the tour, not on your partners.”

“As if I would,” Trent retorted while he finished dressing.

Rory came up behind him, putting his hands on Trent’s shoulders to turn him toward the mirror. “Look at yourself. You’re so damned sexy I’m drooling.”

Trent snorted. “Vampires don’t drool.”

“This one does, when he’s around you.” He nibbled the back of Trent’s neck, causing an immediate reaction that made Trent wish he hadn’t listened when Rory told him tight leather pants like the ones Rory wore would be perfect for him.

“Stop that,” Trent muttered.

“And if I don’t?”

“Celeste and Dominique will be taking the tour out without me,” Trent replied, turning to look at Rory. “And since you wouldn’t be around either… Well you can imagine what everyone will be thinking.”

Rory grinned. “They’d be right, too. But…”—he sighed, stepping away—“tonight, being a Saturday, is not a good one for both of us to be among the missing.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right. No rest for the wicked as the saying goes. And you, my dear man, are very, very wicked. So move it or we’ll be late.”

Death Becomes Him - 38

Rory nodded slowly. “That would be nice. But right now I have to go. Dolph should be here any second now.”

 “Dolph?” Trent stepped away, trying not to glare. “Why is he coming here?”

“He’s been picking me up and taking me in, so I don’t have to waste time waiting until it’s dark enough for me to catch the trolley.”

“How convenient,” Trent said sourly. He scowled when the doorbell rang and Rory hurried to answer. “And here he is, Johnny-on-the-spot.” His scowl deepened when he finally saw Dolph for the first time. The werewolf was one of the handsomest men he had ever seen, tall, muscular, with dark brown hair and deep-set brown eyes. The outfit he was wearing accented all of that, something Trent wouldn’t have thought possible considering it was the height of Victorian fashion, quite unlike the tight leather pants and full-sleeved poet’s shirt Rory had on at the moment.

“You must be Trent,” Dolph said, holding out his hand.

“I am,” Trent agreed, ignoring his gesture while moving to join him and Rory, putting his arm around Rory’s waist.

Dolph seemed nonplussed for a moment. Then he chuckled. “Staking your territory, Trent?”

Trent tilted his head slightly, acknowledging his words.

“You don’t have to. I’m more than well aware the two of you are a couple. Rory made that patently clear the first time I”—he grinned broadly—“tried to come on to him.”

“Oh my God,” Rory said, looking at Trent in disbelief. “Did you think…? Is that why you’re…?”

“Well,” Trent replied, beginning to feel a bit foolish, “you go on and on about him, and then here he is and you said he’s been picking you up, and we barely have any time together now and, well…”

“Get that idea out of your head this instant! I love you. Always have, always will. How many times do I have to say it before you believe me? Yeah, we’re both so busy we hardly have time to say ‘hello’ in passing these days but still… Damn it Trent.” Putting his arms around Trent’s neck, Rory kissed him passionately.

“Umm, guys,” Dolph said a moment or two later, “this is all very cute and all, but we do have to get moving.” Trent glanced at Dolph over Rory’s shoulder, then flicked his fingers at him. Dolph laughed. “So you’ll bring him in, and soon?”

Trent broke the kiss long enough to say, “Maybe, maybe not.”

“No, I’ll go with you, Dolph,” Rory said, contradicting Trent then whispering to him, “We’ll finish what we’ve started when I get home tonight. So let him drive me while you go get some sleep. You’re going to need to be wide awake later.”

Trent hissed in a breath of anticipation and frustration. “I don’t think…”

Rory grinned. “If I can wait, so can you.” He gave him another deep kiss. “So deal.”

“I will. Reluctantly. I’d much rather…”

“I don’t need to hear the details,” Dolph broke in, chuckling.

“Then get him out of here before I take him upstairs and ravage him.”

“Now that idea will have me switching shifts with Phillip tonight,” Rory said huskily. “Come on, Dolph, let’s get moving. I have one hot, sexy man I intend to come home to as soon as possible.”

Trent smacked Rory’s ass. “Hot, definitely, in the ‘I need you now’ sense of it. Sexy, not so much so.”

“Very, very sexy,” Rory retorted. “So live with it.” With those parting words, he and Dolph left.

“And an idiot for not trusting you,” Trent murmured as he closed the door. “But never again. And I’m not sexy.”

“Yeah, you are.” Rory’s words echoed in Trent’s head, followed by a laugh. “So there.”

Death Becomes Him - 37 (And a cover reveal)

Life went on as well as could be expected for Trent for the next month. Work during the day, staying home with Beau most evenings while Rory was running his company and leading some of the midnight tours. There were brief interludes of their being able to spend some quality time together. Too few, too brief interludes in Trent’s opinion.

The tours became so popular Rory expanded them to four a night to accommodate all the tourists. At Sienna’s suggestion, he hired two of her werewolf friends, one as the accountant to do the books for the growing business, the second to handle the sale of tickets during the daylight hours.

The latter, Dolph, had a definite flamboyant flair, outdoing even the guides according to Rory. Dressed in full Victorian attire including a flowing cape and top hat, he strolled the Quarter, proclaiming to one and all that if they wanted to meet ‘the real thing’ they should purchase tickets immediately for an evening tour.

“He’s really quite amazing,” Rory told Trent soon after he’d hired Dolph.

Trent had smiled indulgently at Rory’s enthusiasm. He became a bit less indulgent when Rory continued to talk about the werewolf during the ensuing days as if he was someone very special and unique.

Finally, Trent decided it was time to meet Dolph in person. The only reason he hadn’t taken the time to so far was because managing the hotel took more and more of his time, even on the weekends. When he had told Rory and Sienna early on that he would be able to help them out during the day if necessary, he hadn’t taken into account how busy he’d be now that the hotel had doubled in size. So much so that he’d finally had a long talk with the hotel’s owners. He convinced them it would be in their best interests to hire an assistant-manager. He, or she, could work evenings and the weekends. When he told them he was beginning to burn out, they readily agreed, apologizing for not having done so sooner.

Two days later he was introducing his new assistant, Molly Burns, to the hotel employees. He spent the rest of that Thursday explaining to her how he ran the hotel. As she had been brought in from one of the owners’ other hotels she caught on quickly, much to his relief.

Late Friday afternoon, he was feeling confident Molly that could handle things on her own. So he headed home, arriving there just as Rory was about to leave.

When Trent walked into the house, Rory looked at him in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here?” Trent replied with a tight smile, sensing Rory was less than happy to see him.

“I know that. It’s just—well you’re never home this early.”

“And that’s going to change. I miss you. We barely spend time together any more. I told you… No, I guess I haven’t had a chance to have I? Anyway, I have an assistant now so I won’t have to be at the hotel or on call twenty-four/seven.” Trent closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around Rory’s waist. “I can take you to work, help out some there the way I promised, and when you get home I won’t be so damned tired I just roll over and go back to sleep again. Also, I won’t be working weekends at all. Things can be like they were before.” 

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The cover, by the amazing Reese Dante, for 'The Exile and the Detective', coming January 11th from Silver Publishing.

Blurb:
Exiled from his homeland, Doran Taggart now runs a bookstore in his new home town. His only companion is his cat, Inwe. His only duties, despite his exile, are to protect the allies of his king and kill the king's enemies, should they appear where he now lives.

Detective Nick Groves is searching for leads in the disappearance of two men and a woman. In the process, he meets Doran and is instantly captivated by the violet-eyed young man. Soon afterward, things take a strange turn with his case. Is Doran, the cause, and if not, does he know why strange things are happening?

Nick must find answers to all this and more while dealing with his growing feelings for Doran—feelings that are reciprocated, even though Doran knows nothing can come of them. The men are, after all, from two different worlds. If Nick learns the truth about him, Doran is certain it will the end of any chance for the two of them to be together.

Death Becomes Him - 36

It took a week to pull everything together.  Flyers were printed, Phillip came through and brought six vampire acquaintances to the shop one evening. Sienna added two friends of hers, a pair of human women who were more than willing to work nights so they’d have their days free to spend with their children. After explaining exactly what was needed, and giving his new employees a crash course on what each of the three nightly tours would encompass, Rory handed everyone a folder containing stories about the local haunted buildings and where various vampires from the past were thought to have lived. He smiled to himself when a couple of the vampires scanned the information with more than a bit of disbelief. One of them, Alaine, or Alan as he was now known, took him aside after the briefing.

“This,” Alan tapped one of the pages in his folder, “is an unmitigated crock. There are no coffins that contain vampires in the attic of the convent.”  He smiled wickedly. “I should know. I was the last vampire to vacate the premises and that was in the late seventeen hundreds.”

Rory turned to look at Trent who had come up behind him to eavesdrop. “There goes another myth down the tubes. Still,” he returned his attention to Alan, “it makes a great story for the tourists, one of many, so try not to be too patronizing when you tell it.”

Alan laughed. “Far from it. I can make it seem more true than you can begin to imagine. Although,” he smiled, “I’ll try not to scare them away from the rest of the tour.”

“That would be nice of you,” Rory muttered, though he did smile too.

Sienna clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention before asking, “Is there anything else we need to know, Rory?”

“Not that I can think of. Timothy, Dahlia and Jackson, be here at six-thirty Friday evening, and remember—the tours supposed to be scary, but fun. We want people talking about us as the tour company to come to, not running in fear.”

Everyone laughed and cheered, and then left, either on foot or by just vanishing, something no one walking by would see as the shop windows were covered by dark curtains behind the displays and posters about the tours.

“You look happier than I’ve seen you in a long time,” Trent said as he and Rory were driving home.

“I am. I’ve got you, and new friends. Plus the start of a new tour company that I hope will become the most popular one in the city.”

“That’s important to you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I know it’s not much in the grand scheme of things but at least it’s something I can do and do well.”

Reaching over to squeeze Rory’s thigh, Trent told him, “I suspect you’d do well at anything you put your mind to. It’s who you are. If a project means something to you, you go all out.”

Rory grinned. “If you didn’t have to be at work in a few hours I’d prove to you that’s true.”

“Well”—Trent grinned back quite wickedly—“I have been know to do my job on just a couple of hours of sleep, if staying up late the night before was worth it.”

“Believe me, love, I will definitely make it worth it.”

Trent stepped on the accelerator and they made it home in record time.