Mile High with a Vampire - Episode 10

In this episode we get into a little bit of heavy emotional things and Jet "Thunderbuns" Lassiter proves that he's a petulant teenager even though he's in his 30's. We're introduced to some new characters and then there's a dog. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to Storytime with Uncle Beanbag, Mile High with a Vampire Episode ten, chapter ten. Mary Sleeping Quinn had been looking out the plane window, staring blindly at the clouds moving past oh sorry, that's Jet that asked that. Mary sleeping? When Jet asked that question, turning her head she watched Dante settle into one of the seats across from the table to from them and nodded. See, Mary has not slept since we heard about the crash, Dante said on a sigh. I did on the plane on the way up, but I know she didn't, and neither of us had slept since arriving. And you're awake, Jet pointed out with amusement. Dante shrugged, and rather than address that, said, I'm wondering if anyone took the precautions of checking this plane for bombs before we left. Quinn felt Jet stipping beside her, and knew Dante's words were making her do the same. Sid Wheeler's the pilot. I know him. I'll go up and ask if a check was done, Jet said abruptly, getting up. Dante nodded and watched him go and then turned and smiled at her crookedly. I suppose it would have been better for me to think of that before we were in the air. At least you thought of it, she pointed out. Considering what Jet and I went through during the last flight, it should have been on the top of our minds when Andrews drove us to the airport. So I'm assuming, as per the last episode, they got to the airport. They're going to Italy from Toronto. Because it would be kind of dumb just to have him go to Toronto and then fly to Italy, 'cause you could skip all of that. Dante smiled faintly and then turned a glance toward the front of the plane. When there was no sign of jet yet, he settled back into his seat with a sigh. They were both silent for a minute and then Quinn cleared her throat and said, Mary mentioned that she had to leave her children after she was turned. Dante looked startled at the comment, and then sadness and regret crossed the space and he nodded. See, I can't do an Italian accent, unless it's a really bad accent. See, they are a grown with the children of their own. Oh what a mistake to make. Yeah, I'm not gonna do that. They're grown with the children of their own, and she had to give them up as well as her grandbabies for me. And yet she still agreed to the turn? Gwynne asked with wonder, not sure if she was more surprised than that the woman was old enough to be a grandmother or that she had to give up children like that. Quinn didn't think she could have done it. In fact, she was quite sure she couldn't have. I'm willing to bet Mary didn't have a choice in the matter, Quinn. And had I read the next line, she was not given a choice, Dante admitted quietly. I had to turn her to save her life after the RV we were in was forced off the road and rolled. Her children and grandchildren believe she died in that accident. The RV we were in. Dante was in an RV with her. What? Were they like cruising across America or some shit? Oh, Quinn breathed. Dante considered her briefly and then said, I'm surprised she would share that with you. She normally doesn't speak of it. Quinn recalled the woman's words at the time. Frankie looking at the different permutations, it seems to me that this is the happiest of outcomes. The three of you were turned and still have each other, she'd said, referring to her pet and Parker. And as a mother who'd had to remove herself in the lives of her children and grandchildren after being turned, I cannot exp express how much I envy you that. Their conversation had been interrupted their conversation had been interrupted then, but Mary really hadn't spoken to her since. True, she'd gone for pood and there had been the but the rush to the airport, boarding, getting seed, and so on, and now the woman was sleeping, but Quinn couldn't help wonder if Mary also might not be avoiding her. That perhaps she resented Quinn for not appreciating how lucky she'd been. I don't I don't think that's what it is, Quinn. I think you're an idiot if you think that. Because Quinn was beginning to see that she had indeed been very lucky in that respect. She still had her son and her sister, and Mary was right, it easily could have not turned out that way. Anyone or all of them might have been killed by Dressler. I guess Dressler's the rogue dude. Or Pet and Parker might have been turned alone and she still mortal might have been left to think they were dead, victims of the car accident or some other tragedy. As Mary's family and her own adopted parents now believed them. Quinn wasn't sure she should have survived that outcome. No, Quinn wasn't sure she could have survived that outcome. My Tresoro has a generous heart, Dante said quietly. She will not resent you or regret you your good fortune. She's just tired. Oh yeah, because Dante's listening to her mind. Quinn managed to smile for the man's kindness and telling her that, and then glanced up with surprise when Jet appeared to reclaim his seat. According to Sid, Lucian ordered that all the Arginot planes be guarded when on the ground, and then are double checked for any tampering before taking off too, including this one, he informed them as he did up his seatbelt. We should be good. Did up his seatbelt? You're in a plane in the fucking air, Jet. You only need seatbelts for landing and takeoff, otherwise you're in turbulence. Good, Dante said, the tension leaving his body. Then I think I'll get some sleep too. Standing he nodded to them both and then moved up the aisle to the front of the plane and disappeared from sight. When he settled back in the seat next to where Mary was sleeping. I guess joining the mile high club is out of the question with Dante and Mary on board, Jet murmured, reaching out and taking her hand in his. Gwen smiled wryly, her gaze moving to his hand encompassing hers. She watched his thumb move gently back and forth over the inside of her wrist, amazed to even find that the small crest was affecting her. Shaking her head at that realization, she squeezed her legs together and murmured, Toronto too. Okay, so they're not at Toronto yet. Yeah, it's gonna be hard to find any privacy with a house full of enforcers around, he agreed on a sigh and then shook his head. This lab made business is a bit crazy. I never wanted anyone like I want you. Just holding your hand like this is he broke up and shook his head again, his fingers tightening around hers. I know, she's uh Lindsay Sands. Come on chapter ten. Hundred and eighty-two pages into the book. And I believe this is bordering account number forty for the word solemnly. I was very much considering reading the rest of this book and then possibly recommending if you wanted bad vampire romance fiction or whatnot, possibly setting aside and keeping it as an archived book, like going, hey, this is the first one that started storytime with Uncle Beanbag. I think now though, I'm going to take this book out into the desert when I'm done, and I'm going to shoot it with so much fucking shotgun rounds that there will be nothing left of the book so that this evil of solemnly never graces the face of the world again. Now, unfortunately, I can't do that to all copies of Mile High with a vampire, but I can do it to this one, and the people who find the remains will not ever see that word intact. Because here it says, I know, she assured him solemnly. Again. We should probably talk about something oh, this is a jet. We should probably talk about something else, he muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He grimaced and reached down to tug the front of his jeans as if trying to make more room, and Quinn couldn't help looking. She's looking at his cock. Nice cock, bro. Her mouth went dryer when she saw that he was sporting an erection inside the tight jeans that it appeared to be trying to push its way out of the heavy cloth. It looked huge and made her realize that while she touched him she hadn't actually seen him naked. She wished she could now. She wished she could she she wished she fuck me. Let's try this again. She shells she shells by the seashore. She wished she could unsnap and unzip his jeans and ease them out so she could look at him. She also wished she was wearing a dresser skirt instead of the jeans Mary had gotten her. Quinn, Dante's not asleep yet and he's listening to you think this. He's probably smiling to himself. The idea was ridiculously exciting to her as she considered that they might have to be quiet so that Dante and Mary didn't hear and Jesus, Quinn, don't look at me like that, Jack growled. All I want in the world is to tear your clothes off and make love to you right here and now, and you're looking at me so hungrily, it isn't helping. Quinn closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths, trying to stop thinking what she was thinking. It was hard though, especially with his thumb moving over the pulse of her wrist back and forth, back and forth. When I was a kid, shouldn't really say kid, when I was teenager type things, just having like around especially 16, 17, 18, just having a woman that I was interested in touch my hand got me a wreck. I mean that's a lot of guys, that's what happens with. But it's kind of weird because like after I had sex I didn't have sex till I was 21, but after I had sex, none of that happened that way anymore. It's like that hurdle was gotten over, that dam was broke. So yeah, no, I still enjoy like the touching and and the cresting and all of that, but I didn't get hard from just a touch. It would take a lot more. It's kind of interesting though. Because they're basically being like kids where they're just touching hands and they're getting insanely horny for each other, but that's also the live mate business, which again I do not like. Erosion of free will and all that other shit. Yeah, they want to fuck each other's brains out, but neither one of them consciously chose that. Tugging her hand free, she sat up in her seat, relieved to find that it made it easier. A couple deep breaths later, her mind had cleared enough that she was able to come up with something they could talk about that was far away from anything to do with life mate sex or lifemate sex. Who do you think the bombs are meant for? She asked, and then risked glancing at Jet. She noticed he seemed to be gaining his composure now, though they weren't touching. Apparently refraining from hand holding would be a good idea in the future, which just seemed ridiculous to her. Hand holding had always seemed relatively benign way to show a function before now, and they couldn't even manage without wanting to tear each other's clothes off. Jet was right, this is madness. Hera, he said finally. Me too, she admitted, and then said, I don't know why though. She seems nice to me. Yeah, he agreed, but who else could be the target? Like you said to Lucian, everyone knows that you're dead, as far as me for me, as far as I know, I've never pissed off anyone at all, let alone to make them try to kill me. But the back of the book already told us that Jet uh not Jet, Quinn was the target. Kira could be a possible target. It could have been throwing us a red herring, so we don't know exactly what's going on. And Kira, I think, was a the daughter of a vampire mob boss or some shit. Vampire princess. I don't remember what the hell Kira's thing was, but her father, Lucian, was saying was an asshole or something. Fuck you, Lindsay, for making me try to think about how this fucking relationship works fucking solemnly. I still think it's Quinn, though, for some reason. And I do think that Patrick is involved in it. But you think Kira has? Quinn asked with interest. I mean she has a guard for a reason, he pointed out and then frowned slightly and added, a guard who only took out the bear after the fact. Didn't even take out the bear. Just Oh She didn't dick punch the bear, she belly punched the bear, but the bear ran off. Should have used a barrier to jet fire. And that any attempt on her life might be get back at her father for something. Why? Who's her father? Queen asked with curiosity. Athanos. Athanos Athanasios. Oh wow. It's kind of a hard name. A-T-H-A-N-A-S-I-O-S. Athanasios Sarka. And I believe he's pissed off a lot of people, Jet told her, then explained. He's the head of the Russian Immortal Council, like Lucian is here. Okay. So Lucian's head of the Arginal clan, which is probably Italian-based or maybe like Western Europe and the Russian Immortal Council over Russia and everything. So he's probably well, this is Quinn. So he's probably as much of an ass as Lucian then. Worse from what I hear, and Jet said dryly. I'm surprised he didn't fucking say it solemnly. Not possible, Quinn assured him. Athanasios means immortal death in Greek. That's what I thought. I thought it was a Greek name. He informed her. His people named him that when he lived in Greece ages ago, but I was told it's because he seemed immortal to them and brought a swift and brutal death to his enemies. I gather he's a bloodthirsty bastard. If she makes him Alexander the Great. Because I hate it when they do that. That's one big part of contention I have with Warhammer, is that the Emperor of Mankind was Alexander the Great. That's ridiculous. Alexander the Great achieved a lot of stuff in a very small amount of time, but the the entire planet's still around. Had he been the Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer 40k, he could have completely unified the planet, but he didn't. Alexander the Great died at 32, and his body was supposedly interred in a coffin that was then filled with honey to preserve it. And then Ptolemy supposedly took the body to Alexandria in Egypt, and that's where it was buried, until I believe just before Julius Caesar got there, the body was moved, or what they thought was the body was moved. But I hope they don't make him Alexander the Great. Because it's it's kind of shorthand for like, oh no, here's this great key figure from history, and then he just disappeared. It's like, no, just let Alexander the Great stay, Alexander the Great. You know, that's kind of one thing I do like with the way that the Twilight setup is the Council of the Bulturi in Italy. Why is it all this shit happening in Italy? That just suddenly occurred to me, like the Bulturi are in Italy, the originals are from Italy. Why is the Italian stuff so popular? I understand Venice and the vampire legends is around associated with that, plus with all the people who came over during the Black Plague that were pushed out of Eastern Europe, brought the Strooghi or Strogoi legends with them, and the vampire stuff kind of spread, and then it became kind of like folklore in Italian Renaissance time periods. So maybe that's why all of that makes sense for Italy. But don't have them be Alexander the Great. Well, to be fair, all blood well, to be fair, all immortals are bloodthirsty, Quinn pointed out dryly, referring to their need to drink blood. I love your mine. I love your mind, but the kind of bloodthirsty I'm talking about is dragging the man Kira loved from her bed and cutting his head off in front of her because he didn't approve of the relationship. Oh fuck. Okay, that's a bit bloody, yeah. Fucking hell. What? She gasped with dismay. Really? Jet. Okay, this time it's appropriate. The solemnly. So I will give this one solemnly a pass. I'm gonna write this down too, so I don't forget. Page 185 solemnly pass. So Okay, the very first page of the book. I wrote page 185 solemnly pass. That's the only time I've seen it be extremely appropriate. Jet nodded solemnly. She told me that herself. His name was Bogdan or something. She told you that? Quinness was surprised. Yeah, he smiled faintly. It was on the flight to British Columbia. She was out doing some job for the council. I guess her guards have fallen asleep. She was only on board and came up to the cockpit for company. And she told you something like that, she asked with obvious disbelief. Jet shrugged. Well, she just propositioned me, and I guess I felt it was only fair that she let me know what I was risking if I took her up on the opera. She wanted to puck you. That's kind of funny.

unknown 16:18

What?

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Quinn snapped sitting abruptly, jealously as j as jealousy roared through her like a tsunami, glowering, she turned on, snarling. That bitch propositioned you? No, he said quietly. No, he said quickly on a lap and caught her pisted hands in his. I was just kidding. Oh, come on, Jet. That would have been fucking funny. Don't oh well. I was just kidding. She never pre propositioned me. We just talked for some reason. Females often like to talk to me like I'm a girlfriend and tell me all their troubles, he admitted. I always figured it was something to do with my growing up with abs and Mom Marge. Still don't like the name Mom Marge as my main influences. Quinn narrowed her eye narrow the Quinn narrowed her eyes on him. Kira really didn't proposition you. No, he assured her. This is the third fucking solemnly in like six pages. No, he assured her solemnly and then considered her briefly before saying, But I find it interesting that you'd react so jealously when you aren't interested in having me as a lifemate. I didn't say I wasn't interested, I said I wasn't ready, she pointed out sharply. Jet stared at her silently for a moment, finding himself annoyed with those words. Quinn might be saying she wasn't ready, but he was hearing I don't want you. And frankly, it's done as much this time as it had the first, and she had had the nerve to glare at him while she said it. Like it was his fault, that stung too, but he found himself asking, Ready for ready for what exactly, Quinn? Because it certainly doesn't seem to be the sex. Oh Jet. Almost every opportunity you two have had to actually fuck has been interrupted by something. Had you wanted to press the sex issue very hard, you could have done that back at the hotel room. Mary would have advocated long before you came in there. Or you two of you instead of talking could have just fucked. He's being a little fuck. He's being pissy about it. Well, I didn't get the sex from you. Even as he released her hands and sat back in his seat, Jet was silently asking himself why he was acting like a teenage girl with a boyfriend who wouldn't give him to go steady, see. They were both silent for a moment and then Quinn muttered, We haven't had sex. No, we haven't, he agreed. And maybe it's good that we'll be at the enforcer house and able to do anything. It's probably better that we keep it that way until you're ready for a life made anyways. He's just being a total fuckhole, dude. What a fucker. She's saying that she's not ready for him yet. She needs to sort some shit out first. She needs to get the help. Mary gave her the kick in the ass. Now she actually needs to get the help before she's ready to commit to Jet. And he's being a little fucker about it. She and quite clearly she said not yet, and he's like, Well, that means I don't want you. Fuck you, Jet. Fucking lunder Lunder. Thunder Buns fucking last her. What a cock nugget, man. This guy's being such a dick. It's probably better to keep it that way until you're ready for a life mate, anyways, he said grimly and then closed his eyes. I'm gonna take a nap now. Wake me up when we're about to land. Jet knew she was looking at him. He could feel it. He could actually feel her confusion and upset at her his words, and had no idea why he was acting the way he was. Because he's a fucking dick. Except that he wanted her so damn bad he could taste it and a burn that she claimed she wasn't ready for a life mate, but it was all over him like a dirty shirt every chance they got. But was all over him like a dirty shirt. Not that he wasn't all over her, too, he acknowledged, but uncertainty uncertainty But his uncertainty as to whether he was willing to be a life mate of Fled at some point since the conversation in the woods. He wanted her, but he also liked her, respected her. No, you don't. Dude, if you respected her, you wouldn't be fucking doing this condescending fucking teenage shit. Good Christ. Wanted to pro protect and pamper her, especially after hearing the conversation he'd overheard between her and Mary. He hated that she blamed herself for not being able to protect her son and shutting herself away from the world these last four years, since being turned was just criminal. It was hard for him to align that knowledge in his mind with the self-possessed woman who had charged through the woods with him over her shoulder. Wow, you know, I read that, right, but my brain didn't connect it. Who had charged through the woods with him over her shoulder? And then had shown such courage at the lodge. Quinn had placed herself between them, all in the Russian women in the basement without hesitation, ready to defend them to the death. And it really could have been her death if the woman had come through the door rather than Lucy and Arjuno. Kira's bodyguard certainly knew how to kill another immortal and in their madness might have twisted or cut her head off. If that had happened and help hadn't come soon enough to put her back together, she would have died. Huh? This just lends validation to the theory I had back in chapter one or two. Cause okay, I'm gonna read these lines again. Here's bodyguard certainly knew how to kill another immortal and in their madness, so you know, Annika, whoever the hell else was there at the lodge, might have twisted or cut her head off. Quinn said. If that had happened and help hadn't come soon enough to put her back together, she would have died. So head removal is not an immediate death. That's kind of a thing I was thinking about when I was listening to the podcast when I was doing lawn runs, because I'll listen to all my stuff again, because I mean I think I got a great voice, I think I got a great cadence, and I find myself eternally funny, especially since I don't remember 99% of the stuff I say on this podcast. So I'm glad it's recorded. But I was listening to it again. And they were talking, or I was talking, but in the book, they were talking about the ways to kill our immortal or decapitation. And then I went on that on that speculation about cutting off an immortal's head and grappling it onto another body. Could that happen with the nanobots? Since decapitation is not an immediate death in this universe for a vampire, nanobot vampire, I should caveat. Then that is entirely possible that you could have a torso. You cut off the legs, you cut off the arms, and possibly cut off the genitalia too, I don't know. And then graft heads all around every single which way of the torso. That's some freaky fucking human centipede type shit that I don't even really want to think too much about. But it's possible in this universe to create homunculi, which is a thing that Lindsay just casually drops in conversation, well, not conversation, but casually drops in the book, and we'll never fully explore. That is freaky shit, and I'm really interested to see if anything comes up with that. But no, I'm sure it won't because she probably just threw that out there without ever thinking deeply about it, like I did just now. The very idea shattered him. Quinn dying. Quinn was beautiful and smart, and he adored the way she mouthed off to Lucian. Just watching the tiny five put nothing Quinn standing up to the huge, most powerful mort immortal. Around turned him on like crazy and made him want to tear her clothes off and fuck her all day, every day, until the world ended. Which might be crude, but it was the truth. Is that the first time we've had a fuck in the book? I think it might actually be. I know I've said fuck a lot, but I don't remember reading one before this. The woman had got under his skin. Worse yet, she had him by the balls. One squeeze and she could bring him to his knees. Hell, he thought. She already had him there, but she obviously didn't feel the same way. Yes, she fucking does, dude. You heard the conversation with fucking Mary, you understand No, you don't. You don't understand shit. You're a fucking pissant, fucking retard. This is exactly the type of shit I was talking about several episodes ago with with Jet. How he's being a total fuckhole about what's going on with Quinn. He understands a lot of the context now of what she actually went through from her own mouth because he was eavesdropping when she was talking to Mary, and he's still being a little fucking prick about this shit. Instead of like completely understanding and just being there for when she's ready to approach him. Although I do understand a little bit in his situation, because I was I did that one time with a woman that I was really into. She was going through a divorce and she wanted to be fully divorced before hooking up with me. And so we would still be friendly, we'd go out on dates and everything, but nothing sexual came of that. And then like two weeks before her divorce got through, I was hanging out at her place, and another one of her friends came over. And like he made casual mention to her about how great last night was, and he had trouble walking this morning. And I'm like, What what are you talking about? He's like, Oh yeah, we had sex last night, and I'm like, What the fuck? You said you wanted to wait until you're divorced. She's like, Well, it got horny. I'm like, I'm I'm fucking out. So I walked out of the fucking house. I got so fucking pissed off because we had been dating by this point for like a month, and I had no idea who this other fucking guy was. And I had been with her earlier that day, and she's the one who was like, Okay, well, I'm gonna go, you know, shut down for the night. And I'm like, okay, well, apparently she got horny and called the other guy over, even though I was only like 10 minutes away. But I'm glad that situation didn't work out either because it would have been an another fucking nightmare. Because like the first woman I was with was married. I didn't know that at the time until months into the relationship, and then it came up she was on a trial separation, and I'm like, oh fuck. Well, I'm already committed at that point, but wish I would have walked away then. But I had learned my lesson, so anytime anything like that came up again, I just walked the fuck away. Went to the car, screamed my lungs out, slammed my hand into the steering wheel, and then drove off, and I was fine. Never talked to her again, even though she tried to keep contacting me, but fuck her. I would have waited. She couldn't. Jet sighed and gave his head a shake. He was expecting too much too soon and he knew it. Why are you acting like a little bitch? He'd been assisting about her for four years, thinking of her, fantasizing about her, listening for any whisper of news about her, but as far as she was concerned, they'd only just meant yeah. He should be more patient, give her the space and time to deal with the stuff she needed to. Yeah. Not that he really thought there was anything to deal with. What? Not that he really thought there was anything to deal with. I'm just really hating this guy right now. Cause in his inner monologue shit, he's like, Well, I should give her time to deal with this stuff, but there's nothing really to deal with. It's been four years now. It's like, dude, she's just come to terms with that she's not a fucking monster. Oh, goddammit, dude. He suspected Mary was right and Quinn felt guilty about not being able to protect her son and then punishing herself for what she saw as her failure. But what if punishing herself included never being ready for a life mate? Then you move on, man. This is why I fucking hate being locked into the lifemate shit. I was thinking about it too, listening to the podcast, speculating about life mates and stuff. I'm a monogamous guy. If I decide to commit to somebody, I am fully committed to them. I'm not gonna stray, I'm not gonna cheat. There will be no situation in which I will ever break that trust. Unfortunately, everybody I've been with has not shared the same and has cheated on me or other shit. That's another reason why I just I gave up all the fucking relationships, man. But what if you have more than one potential life mate that shows up? Do you have a threesome? Are they gonna get along together? The guy who wrote Wonder Woman was in, I guess I I don't like the term, but I guess they call it a thruple with his wife and another woman. And so all three of them were kind of together, and then after he died, the two of the two women stayed together for the rest of their lives. Which is kind of nice in a way, but I'm I'm not I'm not a multiple person type of guy. Polyamorous, I guess is what you call that. I'm not polyamorous, even though I was raised Mormon, and you know, in Mormon traditions, even though it hasn't been that way since you know Utah statehood and everything, outlawing and polygamy. Mormon traditions, you have more than one wife. Um, sometimes not all Mormons did it, but a good portion of them actually did. And so I grew up with that, and so I was completely fine with harem anime and all that type of stuff. Having multiple women like me and anime fucking lied to me that said if I was just gonna be myself, then the girls would flock to me. Well, that never fucking happened. And now that I'm mid-40s and I am myself, women are kind of interested in me, but I have want nothing to do with any of that. So yeah, what if you do have more than one life mate? But let's let's step back for a second. Not even that, but this does not allow Jet to move on at all if he decides that Quinn is never going to be ready. And if Quinn decides she's never gonna be ready, then he's kind of fucking tidally locked to her and her only, just kind of like how the moon and the earth are locked together. He's gonna be constantly orbiting her but never touching her, and that's fucking ridiculous. There should be a way for him to break away from that and to go seek another person elsewhere, to go be with someone else elsewhere if Quinn's never going to be ready. This is a vampire fiction, you know, schlock romance novel fucking retard thing. So of course they're going to fuck in the next hundred pages or whatever the fuck. But I hate that it just completely locks them into the situation where neither one of them are working well together at all right now. There's so much fucking friction and tension there. Yeah, I'm just gonna start this paragraph again. But what if punishing herself included never being ready for a life made? That's what was scaring the hell out of him. His mother had been punishing herself for the argument that had led to her his father joining the Navy and dying for most of Jet's 31 years and showed no signs of stopping. If the saying was true that you married a woman like your mother, Quinn could punish herself that long and more and might never be ready for a life mate during his lifetime. I was gonna make a quip about that not being true, but then again I never married anybody. But the women I was pursuing were nothing like my mother. What if that's what happened? Did he want to spend his life as her plaything, trailing around at like some modern-day Renfield to her Dracula? He pictured himself drooling after her, popping bugs into his mouth as he waited for her to pay him some attention all the while, hoping against hope that someday she'd be ready. Is that what he wanted? That's why I hate fucking life mates. If it's gonna be a thing, it should be like multiple choice, multiple options for shit. And then whoever you vibe with the best, that's who you're with. I fucking hate it. Did he have a choice? Jet thought grimly. For a while for a while he said he was probably good. They couldn't do anything at the enforcer house. He was already trying to figure out a way for them to sneak away together. The woman was like a drug and he was an addict, and he'd seen what his mother's alcohol addiction had done to her. Sighing he pushed these thoughts over his mind, and he really tried to sleep, thinking it might help him to clear the confusion from his mind so he could figure out the best thing for him to do about Quinn. So this is the first time we've had a complete shift in mid-per mid-fuck me, try this again, beanbag. This is the first time we've had a complete um perception shift in the middle of a chapter in a while. Or a few chapters now. You ladies go on in. Sam's expecting you. I'm just gonna run the guys down to the garage to see my new toy. Quinn stopped walking, glanced around at the announcement just as Mary turned to smile and waved the men off, calling, all right. I don't know who the fuck said that first. They both watched Garrett Mortimer, okay, so Garrett Mortimer, the enforcer, is the one who said the first lines. Hit the gas and speed up with Jet and Dante in the Jeep, and then Mary turned to Quinn, her smile dropping like a pancake sliding off of a plate. Something's up. What? Quinn blinked at the suggestion. What do you mean? I mean something's up, and Mortimer's taking the boys out to the back to fill them in without us around. Quinn appeared after the vehicle as it disappeared around the house, and they'd just been dropped in front of. What makes you think that? Maybe he got a new car or something wants to show them. He did get a new vehicle, Mary assured her and then added, The JP's driving them in, and he showed it to Dante while we waited for the plane to arrive to us to take us to Cochrane. Oh, Quinn frowned and then started to move when Mary urged her towards the house, but said, Well, maybe he wanted to show it off to Jet then. Jet's no autophile, he's a pilot. Speaking of autophile, so I work for as a parts delivery driver for an auto place, and it's really funny because people keep trying to talk cars to me. I don't know jack shit about cars. You want to talk World War II tanks or jeeps or airplanes or World War I equipment or even Korean War equipment and stuff, I can talk you, you know, your ear off all day about that. Don't know dick about cars at all. Don't want to know anything about cars, honestly. Now, if if Mortimer wanted to show him a new plane, he'd be all over it. See, that would be kind of me. But even not even a new plane. I want old stuff. The way that I approach a lot of things is anything designed and built after 1965, I'm generally not interested in. That includes a lot of guns. Although I do love my space shotgun and I do love my AR-15, but my AR-15, of course, primarily designed was before 1965, but the KS7 shotgun was designed only a few years ago. But that cutoff on 1965 is like I think a good place to kind of put everything at just the year before my brother was born. Nope, it's something else. What do you think it is, Quinn asked? A little annoyed of the possibility that means she'd been that she'd been left out of the discussion about the plane in Oh my god, Lord. Have mercy. What do you think it is? Quinn asked, a little annoyed at the possibility that she'd been left out of a discussion about the plane accident. It affected her life too. She should have been included, if that's even what was happening. Well, Mary said thoughtfully, it can be anything about the new plane. The special investigator won't arrive till tomorrow. That was news to Quinn. Lucian had mentioned a special investigator, but she hadn't realized they had one scheduled to show up so soon. So it must be that they found out something that gives them an idea of who the target was, Mary decided. Quinn stiffened and turned with her amazement, but then shook her head. Surely they would have included me if that was the case. Probably not if you're the target, Quinn. Probably, she allowed with a nod and then said, Unless you were see Mary saying exactly what I just said. Unless you were the target and they were concerned about how you take it. Quinn gaped at her. I wasn't the target. I couldn't have been. Nobody knows I'm alive, but Pet Parker and Santo. And Patrick. I'm 90% sure Patrick's the one who's fucking pulling the strings here. Pet Parker, Santo, and every knot who knows them, as well as most of the Arginos, she corrected and then added, plus probably 20 other enforces and immortals who were involved in the operation in Albany. Then there are other immortals who helped make that look like you, Pet and Parker, died in the car accident with your husband, as well as the other ones who arranged new IDs for you, and all the other ones who arranged it so that your house, cars, and belongings were sold, and the proceeds from it, along with your savings and the money from your insurance and whatnot, all made their way to you. Quinchu down her bottom lip as she considered that. She hadn't really thought about how much work it must have gone into erasing her old life and arranging her a new one. There's I can't remember what the term is in Japanese. There's a tradition, is that the right word? There's an understanding in Japan that if you get to a point in your life that you need to start over, you can just literally disappear. You have to pay the right people to make it happen, but then you can come back as someone completely different, and your old life is gone. And there was an I think it was Radio Lab, if I remember correctly. There was an NPR radio thing on it that I listened to a few years ago that was super fascinating. I gotta go search that one out again because it was really interesting that that was a thing that could happen, and they interviewed several people who had done that, that their lives got either too much in debt or to the point where like their spouses were cheating on them and their life was going to shit, that they just decided to pay a bunch of money and have their previous life stop. It's not full erasure, but like they provide you with new identity, new papers, and everything else, and you just become someone else. You live a completely different life. Sounds ridiculously hard in the modern digital age, but Japan in many ways is actually really backwards technologically, which is kind of funny to think about because in the 80s they were heralded as this, you know, technology forefront where they were creating everything from the robots and the computers and all of that. But in reality, while they do have a lot of really good tech, half the country is still doing like honkos, which are little seals that you do to sign your name with. You know, you you ink pad and honko stamp on everything, and it's all paper and non-digitized stuff, and like cash is everywhere. And there's a lot of banks that aren't even open after certain hours that you can't withdraw cash. And so it's it's gonna be super interesting when I get there to see that first uh hand. I'm aware of a lot of it. And my brother-in-law, who lived in Japan for several years and speaks fluent Japanese, knows what we need to do and where we need to go and everything, so I'll follow his lead. But I want to see a lot of the stuff that the tourists don't pay much attention to in Japan, and I want to kind of experience a lot of the things that aren't normal for non-Japanese to experience. No idea where I was going with that. Oh, yeah, Quinn's identity being erased and everybody thinking she's dead. So that's a thing you can do in Japan if you're Japanese. I'm not Japanese. I always wanted to go to Japan though and marry um. I always had this kind of a fantasy when I was a teenager because I used to watch a lot of fucking anime and shit when I was a lonely kid. But I had a fantasy of uh ending up in Japan for some reason, then like falling in love with a Shinto priestess and end up marrying her and taking over the Shinto shrine, and uh then her grandfather would pass and leave the shrine to us. Never fucking happened, obviously. But it would have been a fun thing at some point. Man, it would have been incredibly fucking difficult. I was completely naive as a teenager, and what the realities of moving not only to a new country, but learning the language and being completely culturally separate from all of that. Plus, the Japanese are extremely racist. Well, I shouldn't say all of them, but culturally, they're extremely racist to anyone who is not Japanese. That includes Americans, even though they love Americans. Actually being involved with one of them and marrying one of them extremely difficult. So Quinn shooter bottom lip, she considered that. She hadn't really thought about as much she Quinn shooter bottom lip as she considered that. She hadn't really thought about how much work must have got Oh, okay. I read all of this stuff. Erasing her old life and arranging her new her a new one. Not to mention making sure she and Parker didn't lose the money she and Patrick had made over the years. She wasn't really sure how they'd manage that. Their wills left everything to one another in the event of one of them dying, and their son, if they had both died, but Parker was supposedly dead too, so the money should have gone to her parents, but it hadn't. It had been put into account for her, obviously Lucian had arranged for that and somehow made it okay with her parents and everyone else. Probably through her mind control or whatnot. She said, No, but why would any of these people want me dead? I don't know, Mary admitted with a shrug. People are weird. That surprised a small pup of laughter from Quinn, and then she asked, Okay, then why would the men be concerned about how I'd take it? Probably because you shut down and retreated from the world after waking up to find yourself turned and they see you as weak and fragile. Because her response was fucking weak and fragile. That's not it's not a response of somebody who's not. Quinn was stipping at the suggestion when Mary added, They aren't trans psychologists like Mary's a psychologist. Okay. They aren't trans psychologists like me, so don't. Well then why? Had Quinn actually met Mary before any of this? She was going to go see the guy in Toronto, the psychologist. She had met Dante before, I believe. I know Jet had met Dante and Mary, but I believe Quinn had met Dante. So she probably did end up meeting Mary. So why wasn't Mary the one to help her with her therapy shit? I don't know. There must have been a reason why she was going to Toronto instead of staying in Italy and getting help from Mary. They aren't trained psychologists like me, so they don't see you as actually quite strong and resilient with incredibly robust self-defense system in that wickedly smart brain of yours. Uh I'm not a trained psychologist, but the way that I kind of see Quinn is that she has the potential for that, but her responses have been anything but that. Now she was blinking again with confusion. Do you really see me as a wait, you're a psychologist? Yeah, that's exactly what I just fucking asked Quinn. Mary Grinned. I used to be. I retired not long before I was turned. Still, you could have been practicing with the Arginal clan. Oh, Quinn murmured. But I've been considering putting out a shingle again now that Dante and I can manage an hour or two out of bed at a time. Oh, uh okay, yeah, because she's I think only a year older, and she was saying that it takes like three years before you stop fucking constantly and passing out, and now they're probably just to the point where they're nearing the end of the honeymoon phase where they wants to continuously fuck each other. Smiling, she urged her to start walking in. We smart girls need something to keep our minds busy, or we get depressed or in trouble. She added wryly, and then left Quinn to think about that as they walked up the sidewalk to the front door of the large white house that apparently had been the base for the Toronto branch of the North American enforcers. Mary reached at first and opened it, but Mary reached at first and opened it, but rather than enter, she gestured for Quinn to go in and ahead of her. Murmuring a polite thank you, Quinn stepped past her into the house and immediately froze when a bark. Juror gazed up to a large German shepherd charging up the hall toward them. Bailey, Mary squealed behind her and then moved around. Quinn to drop to one knee to greet the excited animal. That's my girl. Did you miss your mama? Mama missed you. Yes, she did. There's so much I want to say about that. I don't know what to say though, because it's still kind of relatively fresh. I'll just say it. My sister had a dog named Salem. Wonderful girl. My best cuddle buddy. And she would greet me like that every single time that I came to my sister's place. And when I would stay over with them, um, the dogs, she would basically sleep right next to me, and I'd you know put my arm around her and curdle up with her and she'd stay there for hours, and um she was my favorite. So seeing Bailey come out here in that type of situation just brings back all the memories of Salem. And I'm getting pretty misty-eyed right now. I'm not gonna say I'm ashamed of it, because uh I will straight up tell you I am crying over that. It hasn't been too long since Salem passed, and I thought I was doing better until that. Ah, hell. You know, it's um proof though that I loved her and that I adored her. That I feel so sad about it. So continuing on in the story. Quinn watched Wide Eyes, the ferocious looking dog did a good impression of a puppy licking Mary's face excitedly, her tail wagging madly, and then sliding onto her back and riddling ecstatically, as Mary petted her belly and continued to coot her happily. Bailey mister. Okay. Yeah, it is pretty damn hard though for me to continue after thinking about all that shit. But it was the same way when my mom and dad passed five years apart. It took several months before I stopped crying, thinking about stuff like that. And Salem, it's only been a little bit. So Quinn turned to find oh, this is Marguerite talking. Bailey missed her. Quinn turned to find Marguerite standing beside her and shifted uncomfortably. The Arburn-haired beauty and had been kindness itself to Quinn, seeing her through the turn, and then cutting her short RB trip with her husband, Julius. Excuse me, I need to blow my nose. Then cutting short her RB trip with her husband Julius and taking her into her own home to try to help her adjust. Truly, Marguerite had done everything she could to try and help, but Quinn had refused her aid, and in every turn until the woman had given in and allowed her to fly to Italy to join her son and sister. Looking back at it now, Quinn supposed she would have been better served to let Marguerite help her. She'd certainly been further ahead now than she had. You were not ready, Marguerite said with a gentle understanding, obviously reading her mind. And you did not choose this. You were not the first new immortal to be turned without their permission who struggled with finding themselves changed. And you're not even close to the worst case of denial and rejection of the change I have seen. Really, Quinness Stop using the fucking word, Lindsay, Quinness solemnly. Really, Marguerite assured her, sliding an arm around her waist and giving her a quick hug, and then she released her and smiled widely. And now you're here ready to help. And now you are here ready to get help and accept and embrace your new reality. That is wonderful. Quinn flashed under her praise, feeling she didn't deserve it, admitted wryly, only because Pet made us. That may have been the impetus at the beginning, dear, but I can see that you're ready now to make the change. She patted her arm and then glanced at Mary as the other woman gave her dog one last pet and then straightened. So is our Mary, it seems. My sister's friend, I gotta this is just it's in my mind. I gotta get it out. I don't think she's ever really grieved a dog like my sister and my sister's family and I have. The gesture that she did was really sweet, but it was the one of probably the worst thing to possibly do. Came from really good intentions, but she got she knew someone who would make stuffed animals in the exact likeness of the pet that had passed. And she got one from my sister of Salem that looks identical to her, but about a third of the size. I don't like it. My sister doesn't like it because it fucking freaks us out and makes us keep thinking it's Salem. So I'm hoping my sister's daughter, my niece, will take care of it because neither one of us want to see it. Because every time we do, it just keeps bringing all back all that shit and makes us start crying and having emotional issues and stuff. Uh, my sister and I are being a bunch of boobs, but yeah, you know, I'd much rather feel than not. I'd much rather grieve than let it fester and pretend I'm okay, because I'm not when it comes to that. But yeah. So is our Mary what? Mary asked, giving Marguerite a hug and greeting. Ready for a change, Marguerite explained as they broke apart. Are you really considering working in the field again, dear? Oh, Mary smiled. Yeah, I think it's time. Well, then I'll call Bastion and put a bug in his ear about getting the paperwork together for you, diplomas and licenses, whatever psycholog or whatever a psychologist needs. And your new name will be necessary, I'm sure. In the meantime, she said, glancing from her to Quinn. Since you're already stuck here, helping to guard Quinn, you can practice on her. She wants counseling, and I think the two of you would suit each other beautifully. Besides, it seems you've already made a good start off with her. I like Mary a lot right now. I'm not big on psychologists, though. Maybe I should have gotten therapy. For people who want it, I'm a big advocate of them seeking it out, but I never wanted it. So like the only thing that I have against Mary right now is her being a previous psychologist. Because I feel like if I was talking to her, she probably would try to psychoanalyze me uh without even knowing she's doing it, and I don't like that type of behavior in people in regards to me. I'd rather just them see what I present to them instead of trying to analyze absolutely everything. But I mean that's human nature though. I mean I do the same thing too. When I see a situation or a problem or something, I think about all sorts of things like the Minotaur milk and centaur discussion and all of that. Mary's eyebrows rose at the suggestion and she considered Quinn briefly before saying, I'd be willing, but only if Quinn is okay with it. She planned on contacting your son-in-law and may prefer that. I know I'd be glad to have you therap therapise? Is that a fucking word? I'd be glad to have you therapise me, Quinn said at once. She liked Mary, but more importantly, a lot of what Mary said to her made sense. She also hadn't pulled any punches. Quinn suspected the woman was exactly what she needed. Good, then it's all settled, Marguerite said on a satisfied little sigh. Are you guys ever coming in here? The tea's getting cold. They all smiled at the oh, I guess it's a guy now. Are you c guys ever coming in here? The tea's getting cold. They all smiled at the sound of Sam's voice from the kitchen. I still don't know who the fuck Sam is. And with Bailey following, made their way into the large room where Mortimer's wife. I guess it's not a man. Sam must be Mortimer's wife. Okay then. Mortimer's wife was setting chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen table. It was already set for tea for seven. Obviously, Sam had expected the men to join them. Now that I haven't known women named Sam. I just thought without any context, maybe she said it was Mortimer's wife before. I don't know, but I started thinking about, you know, changing life in Japan and Salem and everything, so my mind just kind of forgot if that was mentioned at all. Quinn found herself eyeing the woman with curiosity as the tall, slender Sam gave Mary a hug and greeting. She knew she'd met the woman when she was last in Toronto, but that had been three and a half years ago when she was waiting for the plane to take her to Italy. As she recalled, the woman had been cheerful and chatty, but Quinn had not. She'd been tightly wrapped in her anger and desperation to leave North America for Italy, so she was a little surprised at the warm, sympathetic smile Sam Mortimer offered her. Sam Mortimer? I thought Mortimer was the enforcer's first name. Wait. What the fuck? Is Sam Mortimer No, but that's Mortimer's wife? So who the fuck is his name Mortimer Mortimer like Mario Mario? What the fuck? What's Mortimer's first name then? If Sam's last name is Mortimer, I'm pretty sure Mortimer's name is not Mortimer Mortimer. And she's fucking Mortimer's wife, but she's a Mortimer. It's a Taylor Lautner, Taylor Lautner shit all over again, man. Sympathetic smile, Sam Mortimer offered her now as she turned to her. Wow, look at you, Sam said, taking in her outfit. Last time I saw you were all buttoned up and business like now you're a raging hottie. Jeans look good on you. I'm afraid I can't I'm afraid I can't take credit, Quinn said self-consciously. Mary bought this outfit for me. She and Jet lost their luggage in the crash, Mary explained. Sam's eyes widened in squirrel to light. Shopping trip! Oh no. Oh yes, Margaret agreed with a wide smile. I'm in for a shopping trip if I'm invited. Just that the reason I say oh no is because I went on a shopping trip one time with one of my good friends who was a woman, and she said the exact same thing, and then we went and she spent like two thousand bucks on shit. And I'm like, fuck. I was really interested in her at the time too, but I was just trying to sort shit out, and so I never actually hooked up with her, which was good because she was a lesbian, and she referred to herself as my lesbian girlfriend. We were pretty close and used to go on dates all the time, used to go drinking all the time, never anything like that. But then unfortunately, after like a year, I'd start liking her, which is really bad, and then we were still together for a while, like dating and everything, you know, casual dating. It got to the point where she asked me one time, do you want to spend the night? I don't think she meant it sexually. She'd never been with a guy, so maybe she did. Maybe she wanted to cross that, maybe not. But the next week I was moving down to St. George, Utah, well, Washington County, Utah, to take care of my parents for the next however fucking long that would have been. I had no idea at the time. So I didn't want to have a situation where things went too fucking and then have to leave. And this is long after two that I just kind of I like, I was still slightly testing the water, seeing if I could trust anybody to get back into any type of a relationship, but I couldn't. Every time anything broached that, I would get really I wouldn't say anxious, but I wanted nothing to do with anything sexual. And so I told her no. Trying to be very nice about it. But she was really drunk and she took it the wrong way, which thinking about it now, maybe that means that she was wanting to fuck me, I don't know. For sure, but she took it the wrong way, and we kind of lost contact and I haven't talked to her since then. It's another girl. I don't even remember her name, man. I I was so close to her for like two years, have no memory of what her fucking name was. I can remember her face. God, I'm just horrible with fucking names unless I know the person for a very long time. Ur, Mary said looking uncertain. I'm not sure we'll be allowed to take Quinn shopping. Lucian wanted her and Jet under protective custody. Puffed, Sam said. PFFFT. Waving an unconcerned hand. That just means we'll have to take a couple of the boys with us to play babysitter. I'm thinking Francis should be the one. Oh, definitely, Mary agreed. The concern slipping from her place, so she replaced it with Glee. And he'll love it. More importantly, he's good at it, Marguerite said with amusement and patted Quinn's arm. He'll have you looking so hot, Jet won't be able to keep his hands off you. He already has that problem, Mary said with amusement. Quinn felt her slough slough. What the fuck? Quinn felt herself flush with embarrassment but shook her head. He's mad at me and halting abruptly, she turned on Marguerite. How did you know Jet and I he's your life mate, dear? Of course you and he. She wagged her eyebrows comically, doing the millhouse eyebrow wag type thing. Quinn stared at her blankly and then glanced around at the woman. Can everyone tell? Yes, Quinn. Everyone fucking knows. If if not from your side of it, everyone fucking knows from Jet's side of it for the past four fucking years. Well, our little conversation about life mates was pretty telling, Mary said. But I wouldn't have realized it pretty qu I but I would have realized it pretty quick anyways. The way you can't take your eyes off each other is a very big tell as well. Marguerite told me, Sam put in, she didn't want to be startled if I stumbled over the two of you after you passed out naked or half naked in one room or the other. Here's new life mates are wont to do. Quinn covered her burning cheeks with her hands and shook her head. But now, Sam said, pulling out a chair, sit down and let's have tea while you tell us why Jet's mad at you. That's chapter ten. I'm not gonna read on. I'm interested in why Quinn thinks Jet's mad at her. And we're about 200 pages in, so we got like a hundred and what fifty something pages left. So this episode got a little heavy on my side of things. But I think it's good to talk about it sometimes. It's good to also understand that other people do have a lot of things going on in their life or things that they've been through, and the grieving process is different from everybody, and sometimes things are still really raw. I have no problem talking about any of it, like and unless it's the really heavy abuse stuff that I went through, like I said, I think last episode or whenever, that there are things that happen to me sexually and physically that I will never talk about, but everything else for me, anyways, is on the table, and I'm not ashamed of any of it because it kind of forged me into who I am. I wouldn't change any of it. I don't like I wouldn't say I don't have regrets, and I wonder had things played out slightly differently, but had I changed anything that had happened in my past, I would be fundamentally completely different than how I am now. And I I genuinely love myself now. I like who I become, I like my capabilities and what I am. So changing any of that, I would not be nearly as strong and as complete of an individual an individual as I am now. Which is good that I've come to this place because a lot of people never get there. Because yeah, it's just important to talk about things and to understand that everybody's going through something or has been gone has been gone through what the fuck, dude. Has been gone through something. You were legitimately were gonna fucking say that, weren't you? And expect people to understand it. Well, look, they understand it, but you Okay, I'm talking to myself now. Everybody has gone through things, everybody has issues in their life. It's important to recognize that and not hold it against them. Unlike Jet Thunderbun's dickhead Lassiter is doing with Quinn right now. So I'm interested to see where that's gonna go.