Tymber Dalton - Brimstone Blues

An e-mail saved to Matthias Hawthorne’s BlackBerry, dated eleven days prior.

To: Matthias Hawthorne

From: Rafael Collins

Subject: Y-stone

Hey, cuz, just a quick note to let you know I got your voice mail. I’m sure you’re in the air heading out west by now, so I figured it’s easier to send your BlackBerry an e-mail. Glad to hear you’re healed up. She sounds like a dream, big guy. Lucky bastard. Had to dart her, huh? Good to hear Al’s still quick on the draw with that tranq pistol. Bet she’ll have some choice words for you and Tim when she wakes up! Yeah, wasn’t the best way to break the news to her about what she is, but what could you do? Not like you had a choice. Bartholomew’s going to have a holy cow when he hears the latest about her.

Listen, I’ll finish a few things up here, call the other Tribunal members, and meet you out in Y-stone in a couple of days. Tell Al to send the jet back to Atlanta for me, I’ll catch it there. I have to go up to Marietta anyway. I’ll leave the GT at my house and take a corporate car. Damn sure not leaving my new pony in the airport lot. Oh! You should FEEL how this car drives! It’s a SWEET ride, Matts.

And thanks for the warning. I’ll keep an eye out, but I don’t think those assholes would dare try something with me, especially not this soon after Mexico City. By the way, did you ever get an ID back on that fugly bastard’s head? I’d love a chance for a little payback. My shoulder’s still not one hundred percent where that fucker shot me. Maybe your girl could give me a taste and heal me up quick too? *wink* Haha, just kidding, big guy!

Rafe.

Another e-mail saved to Hawthorne’s BlackBerry, dated five days prior.

To: Matthias Hawthorne

From: Travis Padrino

Subject: done

Arrangements completed, no interference upon leaving YNP. RC to be returned to FL as requested via corporate courier once process complete. Death certificate will read heart attack, per instructions. Resource in Cody will contact Albert directly, if necessary, to coordinate neutralizing any official inquiries should they arise. However, I believe we have secured all possible information breaches in this matter. I will cc you, Albert, and Tim with the final report when it’s ready.

Again, sir, my condolences. He was a good man, and will be missed.

T. Padrino

A third e-mail, saved to Hawthorne’s BlackBerry, dated two days prior.

To: Matthias Hawthorne

CC: Albert Thompson

CC: Tim Robertson

From: Travis Padrino

Subject: Situation Report

Full report attached as file, summary below.

As a result of a daemon pulverem attack on Anastazia Proctor in the Tampa office, we have totally revamped security protocols and implemented stringent exclusionary measures, both at Tampa HQ and at the residential compound. DNA report on the head of the lupine “Other” killed by Matthias Hawthorne at Proctor’s residence is still pending. Preliminary reports link it to the one from the Mexico City incident a few months ago.

Initial interrogations of Caroline Abernathy indicate she worked through handlers to hire the daemon pulverem , and she is the one who murdered Rafael Collins in Yellowstone. She is securely in custody in London, under Tribunal control. Coordinating with Dame Agnew and Torvald Bartholomew on gathering further intelligence to locate and neutralize her handlers…

“What do you mean your grandfather’s coming to visit?” Anastazia Proctor threw back the covers, jumped out of bed, and paced the room. This was too much, too soon. “No more surprises. That’s what you said, you promised me!”

So much for no more surprises.

Matthias swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Taz. I meant to tell you, but with everything that happened—”

She turned on him. “How old is he?”

Matthias shook his head. “I don’t remember exactly.”

“Matthias!”

He ran a hand through his sandy-brown hair. “At least eight hundred.” His voice sounded so quiet she almost couldn’t hear him, even with her super-duper whackadoo vampire hearing.

Taz held her head in her hands. She still struggled to come to grips with her new “lifestyle.” Learning she was a vampire and that her life had been a lie, falling in love with a vampire hunk who happened to be her boss, and unwittingly contributing to the death of her new fiancé’s handsome cousin because her powers made her lose self-control and go totally batshit—all within the space of less than two weeks—was a hell of a mind trip.

Now this.

“Matthias, I can’t take any more surprises. I can’t! I want a normal freaking life. I don’t want to find out about eight-hundred-year-old grandfathers, or thousand-year-old aunts, or talking cats or…or…giraffes or whatever. I want my life back. I want to be a corporate lawyer with a normal fiancé, and I want this friggin’ feeling of my skin crawling off my body to go away!” She ran her hands up and down her arms as the sensation enveloped her again.

Matthias gathered her in his strong arms, folding her against his chest. “I know, cara . I’m sorry. I say that a lot, don’t I?” His voice always soothed her, a trace of what she now knew was a British accent.

She hugged him back. “It’s not your fault. Well, it is, but it’s not.” She thought for a moment, then pushed him away. “No, I take that back. It is your fault.”

“I swear there are no thousand-year-old aunts or talking giraffes.”

His playful half smile and incredibly deep, blue eyes melted her. Matthias Hawthorne looked like a handsome executive in his mid-forties, not a six-hundred-and-nine-year-old vampire.

She suspiciously eyed him. “You’re sure?”

“If you want, I’ll call Grandfather and ask him to wait a few days.”

Stepping away, she closed her eyes and rubbed her hands along her arms. She still felt like her skin was one size too small for her body and wondered if or when that sensation would go away, or if it was yet another side effect of what happened to her last week in Yellowstone.

She sighed. “I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter, does it?” Rafe had only been dead seven days, but it already felt like years. Will it ever get any easier?

She let Matthias coax her back to bed, but with the latest revelation, she wasn’t in the mood to do anything more than cuddle. Her dreams took her back to Yellowstone.

For the past three nights, since Matthias coaxed her out of her catatonic state, Taz had dreamed about Rafe. She didn’t tell Matthias about the dreams. They were clear and haunting, more like memories, fully remembered upon awaking.

Tonight was no different.

Rafael Collins, Matthias’ younger cousin. He was only four hundred and fifty-two, but looked like he was in his mid-thirties. He had the same incredibly deep-blue eyes as his older cousin, but he was shorter, with a marathon runner’s build and short, dark wavy hair. A brooding, playful nature. Both cousins possessed the same melancholy air, their eyes careworn, aging them both. Yet when either man smiled, it lifted years from their face.

She relived their first meeting on the boardwalk at Midway Geyser Basin. Upon feeling Rafe’s mental probe, Taz had fearfully slammed down a strong wall in her thoughts, knocking him off his feet in the process. He’d been immediately impressed by her power.