Vampire Bride

Chapter Twenty Four - Part Two

Maxwell

Before we get to the hotel Charlie falls asleep. As gently as I can, I gather her in my arms without letting her limbs bob around too much. Her head rolls back over my forearm only to prop itself in the groove of my shoulder. It gets tricky when opening the doors, but within minutes I manage to get safely inside my suite. Propping one knee on the mattress, I lay her in the center of the bed. The sound of her heartbeat is calm and steady. With her deep in sleep there's nothing for me to do besides let her rest.

Instead of sitting in here and watching her sleep, I go to the living room. There's nothing to do in here, but it's better than hovering over her. Before I sit down, I gather a small box I have hidden. I fiddle with it between my fingers. She's hell-bent on human traditions and this little box will only connect those human traditions to her future vampire life.

It seems all too soon that the pressure of the rising sun bears down on me. I need to call in reinforcements.

"Hello," she answers in her usual perky tone.

"Morgan, I need to ask a favor of you."

"Is something wrong? Is Charlie okay?"

I don't know how much I can tell Morgan, trust her with, but I go all in anyways. "Charlie found a threatening letter on her doorstep this morning. I think it's connected to the attack on Juliet. Can you keep an eye on her at work? I would be by her every waking moment, but I can't."

"That's awful. I can't believe she didn't say anything to me. Of course I'll keep an eye on her."

"Perfect. She's supposed to be leaving to help out Juliet today. Could you be so kind as to call me when she leaves the office?"

"No problem."

"Thank you, Morgan."

"Oh, before you go, I'm supposed to tell you James says hello."

"James?" Not the James I've known for seventy-five years? It's not like I can ask her that to be sure.

"Yeah, my boyfriend, James. I've been talking to him about Charlie and you. That's how I got your number. I'm sure you were pretty worried about Charlie to question how it got at the time. He said something about seeing you again sometime soon. Maybe he has a double date planned. How fun would that be?" She takes a deep breath as if she didn't breath through that whole spiel, "Maybe next week since we're going on a mini vacation this weekend." She excitedly goes on to tell me.

"A trip to where, may I ask?"

"Austria. Totally blew me away when he offered to take me there, but how can I resist?"

Morgan's dating a vampire and going to the very same The High Council resides at. Charlie is not going to be happy. "Good to know. I look forward to hearing all about it and seeing James again." I hang up after I hear her say goodbye.

The more troubling, but yet reassuring outcome of this is that Charlie and Morgan are ultimately in the same situation. If Charlie ever finds out, which won't be by me, she's going to go ballistic. Morgan, her assistant, could be taken away from her, but not by her own departure into the vampire world...by Morgan's.

It doesn't take long for a fully clothed Charlie to exit the room in a manic rush. I keep silent, afraid she'll sense that I'm hiding something.

"Would it kill you to wake me?" she says as she rushes to gather her purse, digging through the contents for her keys.

"I'd rather have you rest. Be careful at work today. I parked the car in the same place."

"Thank you." Her kind eyes briefly stare at me before she bustles out of the door unaware or unfazed by my strained smile.