[Vengeance]

Ras wasn’t given to fits of temper or fury. A few hundred years ago it would have been a different story but now, he’d learned to bide his time. Good things came to those who wait. He watched the club from his Audi, smoking dancing through the cracked window.

Two days ago Abby had shown up on his doorstep, Gavin in tow. That in and of itself wasn’t unusual. She and Gavin often came to use the pool, have martini’s with Charlie or just to annoy the crap out of him. However, this time she had been crying. Very few things made Abby cry. After several martinis, more vodka than vermouth, she’d finally confessed to Charlie what was precisely the problem.

“He only kissed me because he was drunk.”

Ras wasn’t certain why Abby’s self esteem was so fragile as to let that be the cause of her tears. It was more common for her to be the source of tears rather than the other way around. Charlotte had attempted to explain it to him at one point using a great many hand gestures, curses and threats. From what he’d gleaned, Abby had apparently liked this guy. That he supposed could account for her state. In any case, Abby had been in tears and even on his own, he would have come to the conclusion that the person responsible should be hurt. However, Charlotte had enforced this conclusion rather pointedly.

That was exactly why Ras was sitting in a parking lot and Charlie was at home with Gavin to keep her company. He had just about into a coma from boredom when the guy stepped out of the club. Ras slipped out of the car soundlessly at the same time. He shadowed the guy as he headed toward his car, thoroughly amused. It was obvious the man thought a great deal of himself. Ras waited until he’d reached his car and had his keys in hand then he slipped up behind him and snapped his neck. The body crumbled to the pavement and Ras turned on his heel, there and gone before anyone could see him.

He didn’t have many people in his life and he didn’t tolerate the ones he did have being hurt.

Bi-polar, psychotic and screwed-up is one way to describe them

Where do you see your relationship going in the next few years?

It’s Charlotte’s birthday, her twenty-first and she spent the evening before it with her friends on the strip; the day and evening of however is his and he’s working on a few ways to make it special. He wanders out into the pool area and watches as the party planners set adrift three dozen candles into the pool. There is a chef in the kitchen preparing dinner and dessert and a crew of movers are very carefully moving his baby grand out to the patio. One of the ‘gifts’ he’s come up with for Charlotte is her own symphony. It took him weeks to write and he’s not quite certain she’ll appreciate but at this point he’s already bought her most of the things she wants. He gives some final orders to the planners and turns to walk back into the house. Charlotte has slept most of the day and he has a massage therapist scheduled to arrive within the hour.

He is silent as he walks up the stairs and into the bedroom. She’s curled up into the blankets and her hair is standing on end on one side of her head. He chuckles and picks up a silver tray from one of the dressers. On it he places a blue box containing an engagement ring . With it he’s placed an elegant script note card that says Cherie, will you? He’s aware he’s probably supposed to actually, verbally ask, however it’s really not his style and he has no doubt that she’ll make him say the actual words before the night is over. He leans over and places the tray on the bedside table then kisses her on the temple.

“Cherie wake up. It’s your birthday and you can’t sleep it all away. I’ve got gifts to distribute.”

If we ever break up it will be because Charlotte has either gotten tired of the eccentricities demands of living with me or she will realize that I am entirely the monster I tell her I am. I would not blame her in either case but I would miss her immensely. I don’t tell Charlotte often enough but I love her, at least as much as something like me can love. It is cliché to say that I can’t imagine a life without Charlotte and quite wrong. I lived 600 years without her. I am well aware of what a life without her would be like. To say that I don’t want to live a life without Charlotte is much more accurate.

One of these days, ring on her finger or not, she will realize that she deserves better and she will leave me. Until then, my home is hers for as long as she wishes to make it so.

Or perhaps she'll just get pissed off because I refuse to bring home more than twelve items from the grocers.

Go Shopping With Your Partner...


I work the night shift at Las Vegas CSI while Charlotte sleeps. By the time I get off work, she’s waking up so she calls me and talks to me on my drive home. She always has a list of items for me to retrieve at the store. I tell her to keep it to 12 items so that I can go through the Express lane. Invariably she gives me a list of 13 items which I make careful note of. Once I’m in the store I pick her items, determining which one it is that she doesn’t need. I told her 12 and I’m only going to bring home 12.

Of course the moment I get home, she goes through the bag and sees that I’ve only bought 12 of her items. She immediately declares that the one I determined she didn’t need is precisely the one that she needed the most.

She’s incorrigible and I’m stubborn. We make a lovely team.

It was supposed to be one werewolf. There weren't enough bodies to support more than one. He'd been at the autopsy all afternoon. The signs were obvious but there was no way the LVPD was going to catch this guy. And if they did, they wouldn't have a clue what to do with him. Ras was going to take care of it before they ended up with more bodies. He had a gun with silver bullets in it tucked into his jacket and he could smell the stink of the wolf long before he ever got there.

It was holed up in a warehouse out on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The place was without a doubt deserted and had been for some time. Ras was dressed in all dark clothing and he parked his car out away from the street. He could sneak up on some one like nobody's business so getting into the warehouse wasn't a problem.

He nudged aside something that had been dead for a while and screwed his face up in disgust. Thank god he didn't have to breathe. A feral grin spread over his face as he caught sight of the wolf hunched over something that might have once been human. He raised the gun and fired two bullets into it. It screamed and turned, lunging at Ras. Ras lunged back, fangs bared. They clashed and for a moment there was a struggle before the wolf dropped. The bullet wounds had taken their due and then Ras had half ripped out it's throat.

Then he heard the growls behind him. He swallowed hard and turned around. He counted six werewolves. And he only had four bullets left.

This was gonna hurt. A lot.

Ten Holiday Gifts You’re Giving This Year:

1. A case of Grey Goose for Abby

2. A case of Cognac for Gavin

3. A case of Godiva chocolate for Charlie.

4. Several tins of Godiva hot chocolate mix for Charlie

5. I redecorated the ballroom as a dance studio for Charlie.

6. A 2008 Porsche 911 in custom dark purple for Charlie

7. A purple cashmere scarf for Charlie

8. A gift certificate to have a pair of Jimmy Choos custom made for Charlie

9. A new backpack for school for Charlie

10. This for Charlie

I attempted to make a list of those I've hurt. It was much too long. And the only one I regret is Charlie

Ten People Who’ve Hurt Me

1. Amabel Bontecu
2. That damn werewolf
3. My father
4. Aimee Guischard
5. Ingrid Marchel
6. Madame Butterfly
7. Me
8. Abby Parker
9. Marcella Russo
10. Christina Parsons

Ten Thing I Wish Didn’t Take So Long

1. Charlie to get ready
2. Waiting for blood work
3. Abby to get her ass ready. She takes twice as long as Charlie.
4. Paper work
5. Immortality
6. Going down the strip
7. Getting intoxicated
8. Continental travel
9. time periods between interesting cases
10. The dry cleaners

Ten questions you will never ask:

1. Would you mind terribly much if I killed you?

2. What blood type are you?

3. Would you mind not drinking so much coffee This is a lie. I asked Charlie this the other day. She ignored me and consumed twice as much coffee.

4. Mind if I have a nip? It will only hurt for the first couple of seconds or so.

5. Was it good for you? Because I know I’m good. I don’t need confirmation.

6. Could I get a really good serial killer in here to study?

7. Can I kill him? Her may be interchanged as need be.

8. How do you feel about threesome’s?

9. Will you spend the night?

10. Will you tell me I’m not a monster? Reassure me that I’m doing the best I can and it’s really not bad