The Doyennes' Worldly Convergence

Chapter 11 - Fairy Tales

Harlee

My eyes shot open to realize I was lying on my back, slightly propped up with pillows, and Cole was lying next to me with his hand cupping my breast.

I really didn't want to get out of bed. I also didn't want to leave the touch of his hand. But damn it, I had to pee.

"Go ...." Cole's voice whispered from next to me.

"How long have you been awake?" I asked, making sure not to blow my funky breath into his face. I seriously needed to brush my teeth ....

"Long enough to know that you squirm in your sleep when you have to pee ....and you snore a little bit, too."

I scoffed as I lifted Cole's arm off of me before I grabbed my slightly bent glasses off of the nightstand and put them on my face.

The stiffness and pain in my body reminded me that I was still alive, and as I got out of bed I grabbed the bottle of meds that the doctor had given me, not bothering to cover up as I made my way towards the bathroom.

"You're really not the bashful type, are you?" Cole asked as he watched me from the bed.

I turned around to stare into his green eyes as I took off the only article of clothing that was left on my body .... if thongs could even be considered clothing.

I couldn't help but smile as Cole quickly turned his gaze towards the floor, "I never would have thought that someone who has been around as long as you have would be so, I don't know, shy? Especially since you were cupping my boob just a second ago."

Cole returned his eyes to my own, a serious expression forming on his face, "I like you Harlee, and I honestly don't know what to make of it right now. I'm ..... treading lightly until I see where this goes."

I smiled at his words, appreciating his honesty, "I guess only time can tell, right?"

Cole's smile matched my own, "I have all the time in the world."

"Good, then you don't mind waiting for me to pee and take a shower," I said as I continued my way towards the bathroom.

The nap did its job of helping to calm my nerves, and I had to admit that between the pain pills, arnica gel, and massage, my body wasn't in nearly as much pain as it was before .... but oh my God did the hot shower feel good. The fact that I now smelled like Cole since I used his soap was just an added bonus, but not as big of a bonus as being able to use his toothpaste and mouthwash, despite not having a toothbrush.

When I walked back into the bedroom, Cole had set a pair of his black sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a lightweight hoodie on the bed for me, yet he was nowhere to be seen.

I smiled when I saw that all of my dirty clothes were picked up, even my thong. I just hoped he didn't wash everything together on hot. Otherwise, it would be like trying to fit 15 pounds of potatoes into a 5 pound bag.

After I dried off my body, I managed to get the hoodie over my head and pulled up the sweatpants, thankful for the somewhat loose attire. Laying the t-shirt on the bed, I bent forward and tied it around my wet hair.

As I stood back up, Cole walked in with a mug in his hand.

"Not what I thought the t-shirt would be used for. Does everything fit ok?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Probably better than what your jeans would have, I really would have had to suck it in to fit into those, and then cut them off at the knees so that I wouldn't trip ....."

"Stop."

I gave Cole a confused look, "Stop what?"

"Stop degrading yourself."

I shook my head and chuckled softly, "I'm not putting myself down. Don't ever think that my jokes aren't in good fun. You'll know when I'm serious. I know I'm curvy, but I'm also healthy and active. I just happen to like food, too. I'm not degrading myself, I'm just joking about facts because I'm that secure with everything about me. If I wanted to be cookie cutter cute and look like every other broad out there, I'd easily lose weight and get contacts, but it takes all kinds to make this world turn, and being different is what makes life beautiful. Plus, I love my boobs ...."

Cole smiled and nodded his head, walking over to me to hand me the mug, "Coffee?"

"With creamer?"

"I think I got it right. It smells pretty close to what was all over your clothes ....."

I took the coffee from Cole's hand, inhaling deeply before taking a sip, "Damn, you're good .... and a little creepy, too."

"Vampire sense of smell is pretty handy. Anyway. Mrs Laramie and Mrs Mia are back, they'd like to meet you."

"Time to meet the rest of your family, huh?"

Cole lightly ran his index finger down my jawline to my chin before tracing my lips with his thumb, "Basically, yeah ..."

That wasn't the answer I was expecting, the confusion probably evident on my face.

Cole left a chaste kiss on my forehead, "I'm not one for telling stories about myself, so this will be as short as possible. Sophia and I haven't been vampires long, not like some of the others. And we weren't born into it. Our surname is actually Smith. We've changed it many times over the years. Our family came from decent money, enough that our parents wanted to take us on a family cruise. Little did we all know that the ship we were on would never reach its destination, and less than 4 days after it's departure ..... it ..... sunk .... Sophia and I didn't know that one of the family servants was a vampire. She .... didn't make it to our parents in time, and she was almost too late to save me. It's amazing how quickly the cold water takes what she wants ...."

"Wait, are you saying that you were on the ...." I went to ask what ship they were on, but Cole didn't give me a chance to, his interruption making it clear that he didn't want to talk about anything more than what he was telling me.

"A few years later, Sophia and I made our way to New York City after we realized what we had been turned into, and we met the Kurtzs. They had just purchased this place, and in all honesty, helping them remodel was far better than living the clueless way that we were."

"If you and Sophia have money, why was she sucking around with Allen?"

Cole let out an amused sound that was a mixture of a snort and a scoff, "I never said she was smart. Being spoiled and ignorantly selfish is a bad combination. So, are you ready for dinner? They ordered pizzas."

I smiled softly and took the shirt off of my head, letting him lead me out to the hallway.

Cole had just told me a part of his life that he clearly didn't like to discuss, and as we walked down the hall, I couldn't help but wonder the same thing that I knew he did ..... where was whatever we have going on heading?

We came to a stop outside a door that was slightly ajar, and Cole hesitated a second before pushing it open.

Izzy

Lian, Aiden, Damian, Jay, Mia, and I helped ourselves to pizza and sides as we waited for Cole and Harlee. Once Jay told us what happened, we decided ordering out would be easier than worrying about what to cook on top of everything else.

The Harris family. Of all the vampires that the human staked, it just had to be Jennifer Harris. We'd heard rumors about her, but they were rich .... rich, smart, and her family was still human. We couldn't touch them because of that fact. Humans weren't our jurisdiction, and Jennifer stayed out of everything just enough that we never caught her in an act on her own. Cole shouldn't have broken into the funeral home, but then again, Miss Harlynn Danovich shouldn't be breathing, either.

Cole carefully placed his hand on the back of the beautiful, voluptuous woman as he led her in the office, making it pretty obvious he had strong feelings for her.

"You didn't tell us that Cole had a thing for the human," I linked to Damian, a little irritated that he didn't give me all the details when I got home.

"Does it matter?" he asked as he reached a hand under the table and gently squeezed my upper leg.

"I guess we'll find out ...."

Cole started to introduce Harlee to us, "Everyone, this is Harlynn Danovich, she prefers to be called Harlee. Harlee, this is Mrs Isabella Kavanagh-Reynolds, and her twin with the ... You got rid of your pink hair?"

Mia started playing with her hair, which was back to brown with green streaks, "I figured the pink and green was a little too much right now and decided to tone it down. I'm Laramie Ditlihi. You can call me Mia, though. Don't worry about reaching out to shake hands until you're healed up. There's plenty of time for formalities."

I was a little irritated that Mia decided to talk to Harlee like she was going to be around long term, but I decided to keep it to myself. Instead, I smiled at Harlee as I watched her walk to an open chair next to Lian, "Everyone calls me Izzy. Except for Cole. He insists on being proper ...."

Lian, however, was the opposite of proper and formal, "That's Ok, everyone just ignore me, I'll introduce myself. I'm Lian Tshui. I hear you've already met my mate ....... " Lian grinned and bit her bottom lip as she reached her hand under the table towards Aiden, and I knew exactly what she intended to do to him.

"Lian ...." I warned her before she had a chance to ask if they could be excused.

"You guys are never any fun ....." Lian huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair.

I let out an irritated sigh, turning my attention back to Harlee as Cole gently pushed her chair in before he took his place next to her, "I'm sure you're exhausted and what not, so I'll get right to it, we know why you're here. To say we're surprised at how much you seem to know about vampires is an understatement. There's no doubt that if the Harris family find out you're still alive they'll want your blood. So, how do you know so much?"

"That's kind of a funny story. My best friend, Cordelia Craig, and I attempted to beat up Cole for attacking our ex-boss ...."

We all turned to give Cole an irritated look, which he completely avoided by choosing to focus on his pizza.

" ..... which Allen is a douche, so we should have let him, but that's beside the point. A police officer familiar with the supernatural interfered by chasing Cole off ...."

Cole started coughing as he tried to quickly swallow the food in his mouth, "He didn't .... that's not ....."

"Pfft. Keep telling yourself that, babe. Anywho. We became friends with the officer, and he taught me just enough to protect myself, or get myself into trouble. It really depends on how you look at the situation."

"So, what do you know?" Jay asked as he stared at Harlee with interest.

Harlee shrugged and took a couple of sips of water before answering, "Stakes have to be made from juniper wood to be effective. Sunlight doesn't kill you, but your eyes are sensitive to it. Concentrated UV will f***k you up. You guys eat normal foods and drink normal beverages, obviously, but you do require a certain level of blood to survive. Garlic is a myth. So, how am I going?"

Lian raised her hand, "I don't need blood. I'm actually a water fairy that was turned into a vampire, so I need added oxygen instead."

Harlee gave Lian her complete attention, "Now, that's interesting .... a fairy, huh? And do fairies shift?"

"Yep, into different creatures among our specific elements."

"Seriously?!"

"Deadly! Every creature that you think is nothing more than a myth probably has fairy lines. So, a fairy's element is based on their zodiac sign. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are fire. Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are air. Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are earth. And Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are water. Parents try to plan the births of their kids so that they're all the same element. Well, until you get to the first fairy princess to get pregnant, she is the lucky one that carriers one of each."

Harlee raised a questioning eyebrow, "Lucky?"

Lian shook her head, "Yeah, no .... I was being sarcastic. I'm a Scorpio, so that means I'm a water elemental, the best element there is! I shift into a jiaoren, basically a mermaid. I have friends that are kelpies, or swimming horses. A dobar-chú, which is a dog otter fish thing. A cecaelia, or half octopus. Nãgas are half snake. Ichthyocentaurs are half horse fish, but don't get them confused with seahorses because it really pisses them off. A vodyanoy is really gross, they're basically frog people. Gag. Selkies are part seal. Fiona, the water fairy princess, shifts into a serpent. She's even been caught on video and labeled the Serpent of Seneca ....'

"Wait .... the Serpent of Seneca is real?!" Harlee asked Lian with wide eyes.

Lian nodded her head as she quickly chewed the pizza in her mouth, "Yep, that's a long story. Nessie is real, too ...."

I needed to put a stop to Lian, otherwise we'd be listening to fairy tales all night, and there were still three other elements to go, "Ok, that's enough for tonight Lian ...."

Lian rolled her eyes with annoyance, "She asked. I bet if it was about impundulus, thunderbirds, or gonakadets you'd all be fine with my rambling ..."

Harlee turned to look at me, "Impunwho and gonawhat? They sound like STDs ...."

Damian almost choked on his beer while Mia bit her bottom lip to hide her laughter.

"Mia and I are impundulu vampires. That means that at some point in time our family became bound to witch doctors. Our birds didn't come forward until we were near the witch doctor blood again, which ended up being members of the werewolf pack that Damian and Jay belonged to ....."

"Hold up, you're both werewolves?" Harlee clearly had no problem interrupting someone to get the answers that she wanted. I hated to admit it, but the human was growing on me.

Damian chose to answer Harlee first, "Kind of. I'm a wolf, vampire, and water fairy hybrid. The magic from the water fairy means that my wolf can turn into a gonakadet in water, basically a water wolf. The vampire part takes a back seat. I can evanesce, but that's about it."

Harlee's focus was now on Jay, and I knew that this would be difficult for him. He hasn't really talked about his past much, especially since we've moved.

Jay quietly collected himself before proceeding, "I ..... Mia had to change me after a fight to save my life, and that's how I got my thunderbird. When .... when I lost my wolf, the vampire side of me took control ...."

Thankfully, Harlee was smart enough not to push the topic with Jay, "This is so interesting ....." she whispered as her gaze went between all of us.

"Girl, if you think that is interesting, wait until you hear what happens when a fairy or werewolf mates with a dragon. Now THAT'S some interesting sh.it!"

Suddenly, the door flung open and Sophia came barging in with a slightly shocked look on her face, "Guys! Have you heard what happened?!"

"Don't you ever fu.cking nock?!" Cole snipped at his sister in annoyance.

But Sophia's expression quickly turned to irritation as her attention was fully out onto Harlee, "Why is she here if you guys are having a meeting!? Are you kicking her out? Please tell me you're kicking her out ...."

Harlee turned to look at Sophia, not missing a beat, "Find a new topic, succubitch."

Lian started snort-laughing.

"That's a good one!" Aiden blurted out, only adding to the tension already in the room.

"What did you just call me?" Sophia hissed out in anger.

"I know I don't have a speech impediment ......"

"That's enough, you two," Mia warned with a serious tone as Damian tried to contain his laughter.

"You're already on thin ice, Sophia, so you may want to shut up for once. Besides, didn't Damian tell you that there was to be NO issues regarding this subject?" I glared at the young vampire, daring her to push her luck.

"Why don't you get to why you're here, Sophia?" Jay asked, trying to change the topic away from the drama.

"The Harris-Inn is gone ...."

"What? How?" Aiden asked as we all turned to look at each other before looking back at Sophia for an answer.

"Humans. They arrested a group of humans who claimed zombies lived there. They set off a bomb ......"

"I bet they were the ones outside the Blavelts when I got to work," Harlee said out loud to no one specifically.

I looked at Jay, Damian, Aiden, and Lian, "You guys get all the clients out of here. We're going on a lock-down until further notice."

Mia stood up and started walking towards the door, "I'm going to get a hold of Rhi, Layla, and Fiona, we need to make sure that everyone else is on high alert."

"Do you think this is going to escalate?" Cole asked me as the others started to leave the room.

"With what's going on in the news? I know it is."