Real Vampires Know Hips Happen Part 6

"Bart! Maybe you shouldn't have started this now." Cait looked alarmed.

"Relax, Caitie. I feel fine. Better than fine." Jerry had a lopsided grin. "I'm relaxed for the first time since Mara attacked me, truth be told. Now what?" He held out his empty gla.s.s once more.

"I think you've had enough." Bart took the gla.s.s and set it aside. "Now you're going to watch me, Jerry. Follow my directions. I will tell you to do some simple things, look at my watch, count, stuff like that. It will help you relax and open your mind. Hopefully you'll remember the past years. Ready?"

Jerry wiggled his toes in dark socks then nodded. "Go ahead. I want to remember. This empty feeling is making me crazed. This woman." He stared at me. "Gloriana. She seems to be someone I know." He held up a hand when I started to protest. "I know. I know. You are someone I know." He looked back at Bart. "Anyway I kissed her. Just now. Held her. Drank her blood. Sweet. Tasted, hmm, really good. And, for a minute, I thought...But I couldn't hold on to it." He rubbed his forehead. "Hurts when I try."

"Okay. That's progress." Bart pulled out an old-fas.h.i.+oned gold pocket watch. "Stare at this as it swings back and forth, back and forth. Don't take your eyes off of it. Watch how slowly it swings. Back and forth. Back and forth. Your eyes are getting heavy. You're getting sleepy. Start counting for me, Jeremiah. Back from twenty. Are you ready?"

Jerry nodded, his eyes starting to close until he blinked them open.

"Here we go. Twenty, nineteen, eighteen..." Bart continued until Jerry's voice trailed off at twelve.

"All right. Now you are totally relaxed. Take me back to the last thing you remember before you were stabbed. Describe the scene."

"I was riding Thunder. He was restless. Had a hard time keeping him under control. I finally let him have a good run." Jerry kept talking about his horse. A fence that was down and some sheep missing. At one point he got excited. A MacDonald had crossed his path and they'd exchanged words. He was sure the man had taken the sheep but he didn't have proof. He rode back to the castle, where he and Da planned a raid to get the sheep back.

"Do you remember going to London, Jeremiah?" Bart glanced at me. "Remember meeting a woman with blond hair?"

"London? What business would I have there?" Jerry frowned. "My brother Thomas and I are headed up to Edinburgh to see a play after we take care of the MacDonalds. Plenty of women and sport there. London is too far away."

Cait made a sound and I noticed she was crying.

"What is it?" I hadn't heard anything that upset me so far except that I wasn't in Jerry's mind.

"Thomas. He's our brother who was killed on that raid to the MacDonalds' holding. After that Jerry hied off to London. He never admitted it, but he took Tommy's death hard, blamed himself for it. We never did prove that those sheep came from our lands."

"Can you go forward, Jeremiah? Do you remember living in America?" Bart reached over and squeezed Cait's hand.

"America? Who?" Jerry's hands began to shake and he pressed them to his temples. "The pain! Make it stop!"

"Never mind. I'm going to count to three. When I clap my hands, you will wake up, refreshed, and the pain will be gone. All you'll remember is that you had a nap and a fine drink." Bart counted then clapped his hands.

Jerry opened his eyes. "Well, that helped me feel better. Did I remember anything?" He frowned at his sister. "Caitie, why are you upset?"

"You didn't remember, Jerry. I just wished this had worked, that's all." She wiped at her cheeks. "I guess we'll have to give you more time."

"Yes, we've been rus.h.i.+ng this." Bart helped Cait stand up. Jerry was already on his feet.

"Time? While I'm going mad?" He stomped into his boots, then sat to get them on properly. "Surely there's something we can do."

"Drugs. But you don't like needles. And there's only one doctor I know of who has done serious work on posttraumatic amnesia with vampires." Bart put his arm around Cait. "You're not going to like who it is."

"Why not?" She looked up at him. "Spit it out. Who is it, Bart?"

"Ever hear of Ian MacDonald?"

Six.

The ride back to the Campbell town house wasn't exactly a fun time for all. After refusing to have anything to do with a MacDonald, doctor or not, Jerry was trying to be the stoic warrior. Cait had strapped him into the seat belt which he'd endured with only a few choice words for the way she'd made it too tight, then she'd announced she was going to catch a ride later with Bart after she discussed Jerry's case with him. That left me in the driver's seat. You can imagine what Jer thought about that.

"Are you sure you know how to run this machine?" he finally asked after I'd b.u.mped the post for the fourth time.

How the h.e.l.l had Cait gotten this car into the tiny parking s.p.a.ce? I wasn't all that current on s.h.i.+fting gears either and the car kept groaning objections and dying.

"I've got this, give me a minute." I tapped the car in front of us and its alarm went off. Fantastic. I backed up quickly, made a hard turn then managed to get us out of there before an angry car owner came out to check on his Bentley. Yes, this was an expensive neighborhood. As far as I could tell, I hadn't done more than dust his b.u.mper.

"There. We're on our way." I made a grinding s.h.i.+ft into second and hit the gas. "You all right?" A glance showed me he really wasn't. If his brain had been in this century, he would have been livid about how I made his Jag suffer through my gear s.h.i.+fting.

"What happened to all the horses?" He held on to the strap that dangled by the window, his other hand braced on the dashboard when I made a turn.

"People still enjoy horses. As a hobby." I stopped for a red light, the car died, and started rolling downhill. Edinburgh is all hills. Not exactly where I'd have chosen to relearn standard transmissions. d.a.m.n. I put both feet on the brake while I waited for the light to change before I started the engine again. "There are still race courses and events where people show off their horsemans.h.i.+p. But horses aren't used for transportation anymore." Green light. I got us going again, barely. It took a minute or two and the car behind me blasted his horn when I almost rolled back into his front b.u.mper.

"What's that noise?" Jerry grimaced, his head obviously still hurting.

"An a.s.s who wants me to go faster." I sped up. "You're still having headaches. Maybe that means you're trying to remember."

"Of course I'm trying to remember!" he shouted, his hand inadvertently b.u.mping the gear s.h.i.+ft during one of my wide corner turns. "d.a.m.n it, Gloriana. Slow this monster down."

"Sorry." I pulled over and stopped to study his pale face. He'd looked almost ruddy right after he'd fed. Now he was fading again. So soon. "Really sorry. I know this is h.e.l.l. I can't even imagine it. Well, I sort of have a clue. A guy I knew once made me forget we were ever together. Seems he just erased a year of my life." I shook my head. "But that's not nearly the same."

"Another man? How many have there been when we were supposed to be in love for centuries?" He leaned back against the gla.s.s. "Fill in some of the blanks in my memory, Gloriana. This relations.h.i.+p we had. How was it?"

"We took breaks from time to time, Jerry. You would see other women. I would see other men." I looked out at the dark street, remembering. It beat me if I could understand now why I'd been so dead set on my independence. Surely we could have worked out a compromise without going our separate ways.

"That doesn't sound like love to me. What happened to being faithful? Vows?" He b.u.mped his knees against the dash. "I have to get out of this thing. How far are we from the town house? This area looks familiar. It must not have changed that much since...You know."

"No, it hasn't changed in centuries. The Campbell town house is just up that hill." And the hill wasn't doing me any favors again. My legs ached with the effort to keep from coasting back when I needed to go forward. "Go ahead. Get out. And this 'thing' is your luxury vehicle that costs more than my shop makes in profit in a year." The car died again and I pulled up the emergency brake. I opened his seat belt and he reacted like he'd been released from a straightjacket.

"There. Now you can walk. I'll drive and meet you there. You'll recognize the place. The old stone buildings are historic, preserved exactly as they were back in the day." I knew I had to give him some s.p.a.ce but hated to see him distance himself again. He fumbled with the door latch and succeeded in making the window go up and down a few times before finally managing to open the door.

"They were built to last. I guess Da put more effort into keeping the town house in shape than he did the castle since we're staying there." It wasn't a question. Jerry climbed out, slammed the car door and strode away.

I started the car again, tried not to strip the gears and drove on up the hill, keeping an eye on Jerry in my rearview mirror. When I pulled up in front of the door, a servant came out to greet me and put the car in the garage. I just stood there, waiting.

"A letter came for you, Ms. St. Clair." The servant handed me a thick envelope then got in and drove the car around to the back.

I turned the envelope over and saw a strange seal impressed into red wax. It was right out of an ancient playbook. Olympus? I broke the seal and pulled out an engraved invitation.

"The pleasure of your company is requested at nine o'clock tomorrow night. A car has been arranged to collect you. Semi-formal attire."

I couldn't believe it. My mother certainly worked fast. Couldn't her guy have at least given his name? I really, really wanted to decline this "invitation." Ha. It was more like a command performance. There was no place to RSVP. If I was a no-show, I was sure there would be consequences. To Jerry. Who would stab him this time? Or would she go straight for the lightning bolts?

He walked up just then, his face tight with pain.

"At least it looks the same. But I'm sure it will be filled with all manner of things that I don't understand." He followed me inside. "Bart tried to explain some of them on the ride to Edinburgh. Televisions. Telephones. Airplanes. No wonder my head aches. There is too much to try to understand."

"You're right. You should probably just go to bed. Rest."

"I feel like less than a man, Gloriana." He stopped with his hand on the newel post. "b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l. I am less than one if I would tell a woman such a thing."

"No, it's all right. I'm glad you can share your feelings with me." I slipped my hands around his waist and looked up at him. "You're all man. My man. I just wish you could remember that. You've been my rock. Everything to me. You've saved me from so many horrible things, Jerry." I kissed his lips, thrilled when he just took it, didn't shrug away.

"You have always been a warrior. It's why we had to take breaks from time to time. I...I just didn't have it in me to be a meek woman who let a man take charge." I leaned my head against his chest. "I felt like I'd lose myself if I let you always take care of me."

"That's nonsense. I don't think I'd like a weak woman. Hate sniveling creatures afraid of their own shadows. I remember that much." He actually brushed his hand over my hair. "I'm glad to hear that I wasn't worthless. Not a brute either, I hope. Though lately I've been so b.l.o.o.d.y angry. Not sure I can keep my temper in check once I lose it. It's a bad feeling."

"You'd never lay a hand on me." I leaned back and made sure he knew I meant this, from my heart. "You were protective, possessive but not obsessive. It's taken me a long time to realize the difference. It's one of the reasons I came crawling across an ocean to see you."

"Crawling across an ocean? You really do talk strangely, woman." He smiled and leaned his cheek against my hair. "I am so d.a.m.ned tired of not knowing. Not knowing who I am. Where the h.e.l.l I am. Who we are to each other."

"It's okay, Jerry. Start over. Pretend we just met." I stepped back and put out my hand. "I'm Gloriana St. Clair. I run a vintage clothing shop in Austin, Texas, in America. I love shopping and hate doing the books, though I can balance my checkbook."

"Jeremiah Campbell, lately from Castle Campbell in the Highlands of Scotland. I can sit a horse and, when the bagpipes call me, can dance with a sword if given enough whiskey."

"Really? I've never seen you dance, Jer."

"I guess you've never seen me drink enough whiskey then, la.s.s." He grinned and picked up my hand. "Now I'll take one of your kisses before I go to bed. I know I've still got an hour or more before dawn but this d.a.m.ned head won't quit aching."

"I understand." I moved in and put my arms around his neck, happier than I'd been since he'd greeted me at my car when I'd first arrived. A fresh start. If I could just win his heart again...I'd done it once. Who was to say I couldn't do it again? I slid a fingertip around one of his ears and up into his thick curls. "A kiss. I think I can spare one."

He leaned down and met my lips with his, pulling me in until I felt his body hard against me. My undead heart pounded and I wanted to pull up his s.h.i.+rt so I could feel his skin, dip my hand inside his jeans to tease his stomach and lower, where I felt him stir. No, we were going to get to know each other and it should be slowly. He tasted of the whiskey he'd had earlier and I quite liked it. I hummed my pleasure and tightened my grip on his hair.

He pulled back, his cheeks flushed for the first time in hours. "Gloriana. I wish I could remember. Please believe that."

"I know you're trying." I ran my hand over his rough cheek, my stomach turning with the knowledge that, even with the poison out of his system, he still couldn't or wouldn't recall me. "Relax and let this happen in its own time. I believe in us and that we are meant to be."

He leaned down and kissed me again. This time I felt his urgency, like he was trying to push a memory out of his muddled brain. Finally he gave up and put me from him. "Good night, Gloriana."

I stood there at the bottom of the stairs, my hand on my swollen lips. "Good night, Jeremiah." Close. It had felt close that time. Or was I inventing something that only existed in my mind?

"The servants said you got a package. From an expensive boutique." Caitlin set it on the coffee table in front of me. "What's up, Glory? Why haven't you opened it?"

I'd been avoiding Jerry's sister since sunset. She'd probably have a million questions about my "mother." I'd left my stained blouse at Bart's with a note, asking him to test it for a match to my DNA. Using one of the doctor's scalpels, I'd smeared my own blood on the other side of the blouse. Bart could toss the blouse when he was done with it. Hopefully the doctor wouldn't ask questions about the test. Yeah, right.

"It's probably a gift from my mother. I really don't want to be obligated. But, then again, maybe she owes me. I didn't exactly have a happy childhood. Not that I can remember it. Seems amnesia is an Olympus favorite." I ripped open the package and pulled out a gorgeous red dress, the kind I'd always dreamed of having. I couldn't believe it even came in my size. But a quick check in the neckline a.s.sured me it did. The red silk was soft and cut to show off my curves without hugging them too tightly. The note inside was brief: "Wear this tonight." No need to sign it. Of course my mother had sent it. So what? I wasn't about to turn down something so expensive or so beautiful.

"Wow. Tonight? What's happening tonight?" Of course Cait had read the note over my shoulder.

"I have to go out. Family obligation. To get my mother off my back. You didn't tell anyone about her, did you, Cait?" I shut the box.

"Tell anyone about who?" Jerry stood in the doorway, Bart by his side.

"Tell them, Glory." Cait grabbed my hand. "I don't feel right keeping this from either one of them. And Bart showed me the blouse you left there. I helped him run the DNA tests. They were a match. The b.i.t.c.h is your mother, there's no denying it."

"Mother? Gloriana, what is this about? Have I forgotten you have a mother still around?" Jerry walked over to sit in a chair across from me. "What is DNA?"

"You didn't forget her. This is a new development. Not a good one either. As for DNA, it's something in our blood. Bart could probably explain it in scientific terms but I doubt we'd understand a word of it." I smiled at the doctor. "Anyway, nowadays we can do a blood test to prove if someone is related to us or not. This woman appeared recently and has been claiming to be my mother. Last night she gave me a blood sample. I asked Bart to run the test to check out her story." I glanced at Bart.

"She's your mother all right. Or a very close relative. No doubt about it. The markers were all there." He smiled. "Cait's a witness. Must say the blood is interesting. Not like any I've examined before. I'm glad to have a sample. Bet her powers are off the charts."

"No kidding. She's the one who fried my favorite pair of shoes." Cait shook her head. "You really don't want to run into her in a dark alley. Right, Glory?"

"She's a certified b.i.t.c.h." I glanced upward. I was taking a chance, talking smack about her; she could be tuned in right now. Hopefully not. Maybe she was still trying to coerce one of the Olympus single guys into showing up tonight for this blind date. Why would any of them be willing? With a vampire? Even with my G.o.ddess connections I wasn't exactly in their league. Look at the dress she'd sent me, four sizes bigger than what she wore, no doubt about it.

"Tell them the worst, Glory. It might help Bart with Jerry's cure." Cait got up to stand beside the doctor. I could see that they were developing a relations.h.i.+p. Their body language screamed hot chemistry.

I glared at her. There was no way spilling beans about my mother's reason for poisoning Jerry would help anyone, and it was bound to ruin my tenuous start with my man.

"Spit it out, Gloriana. What is the worst?" Jerry leaned forward. "Is your mother involved in this somehow?"

Jerry might have memory issues, but he was still sharp when it came to making connections.

"Um, I had no idea who she was, if I even had a mother, until after you were stabbed, Jer. Then she showed up on the castle grounds to let me know she had played the witch and spelled Mara."

"Really?" He leaned back. "I wondered...I know you think I gave Mara a pa.s.s on that stabbing, but I had my doubts. She did wield the knife."

I stared at him. He had actually sounded like modern Jerry for a minute there. Maybe things were coming back to him.

"My, uh, mother was the one who put something on the knife to make you lose your memory. She was punis.h.i.+ng you for making me vampire. Apparently a daughter who drinks blood is disgusting in her world. She wanted you to forget me and move on."

"It worked." Jerry's fists clenched and unclenched. He was getting upset and I didn't blame him. With me? Again, understandable.

"But I don't know, now that the poison is out of your system, why your memory hasn't come back. I can't get an answer from her about it either." I glanced at Bart. The doctor was riveted. "Believe me, I've begged her to fix you, Jer. But she's not in any hurry to make you whole. In fact..." I was almost afraid to put this theory out there, but it was in line with what Bart had said. "My mother's having me jump through some hoops, dangling the hope that she can make things right. But I don't know. I got the feeling that since Bart's tests proved your blood is clean now, that maybe she's bluffing. That you could remember, if you would remember."

"What the h.e.l.l does that mean?" Jerry was on his feet, his face like stone. He was furious. "You think I don't want my mind back?"

"No, I get it. It's involuntary. You can't help yourself." I stood and walked around the coffee table. The box on it reminded me. If my mother did have the means to cure Jerry, I had a date to go on. "And I'm doing everything I can to get my mother to fix you. She claims she's got another trick up her sleeve. Maybe I'm wrong but I'm beginning to doubt it. Bart suggested..." I looked to the doctor for support.

"She's right, Jerry. All the signs point to posttraumatic amnesia. There are a few things that can break you out of it, like the hypnotism we already tried. But time might be all you need. Unless Glory's mother has a magic potion of some sort." Bart stepped close to Jerry and offered a smile. "I'm not ready to give up on you and do we really want to rely on some wacked out nut job to come up with a cure?"

I nodded. He'd described my mother to a tee. I hope she'd heard him in Olympus. Maybe it would bring her to her senses. What she'd done was crazy, no getting around it.

"Thanks, Bart. But time? Screw that. I can't spend years like this." He shoved Bart aside and stormed from the room.

"I'll go after him. He shouldn't be alone right now." Cait glanced at me apologetically. "You had to tell them, Glory. You get it, don't you?"

"Yes, you're right. It all needed to come out. Especially since I have to get ready to leave in about half an hour." I picked up the box. If there was the slightest chance my mother could really help Jerry, I'd date Zeus's dog and kiss him on the lips.