And then the illusion vanished, along with the haze in the air.
I blinked in surprise as I saw that the room itself looked completely different now. The walls and floor were covered in graffiti, and the place was significantly more trashed than it had originally looked. I glanced over at Lily to see that she was safely still wrapped up in my astral shield, her eyes wide with panic. I realized she was on fire too, her flames contained in my invisible sphere, but I had been too focused to take the time to pay attention to the heat.
For a moment, I wondered why she hadn’t just blasted the place with her fire, but then realized she couldn’t have if I was containing her flames too. A tradeoff to protecting her I supposed. I was glad the fight didn’t last any longer though, because she might have suffocated from a lack of oxygen. I had no idea if I could let fresh air in while keeping everything else out. I’d have to try practicing in the future to see if it was possible.
John was lying unconscious where Freya had swiped at the air, and the monster was actively digging her teeth into a dying…Camila?
Shocked, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I could tell it was Camila, but she wasn’t ugly. She was actually really attractive, which meant the unappealing appearance must have been an illusion too. But why? Why make yourself looking nerdy on purpose? A disguise?
I watched with relief as Freya’s body slowly transitioned back to a human form, her wounds already healing, her partially missing arm regrowing.
I stayed where I was though. I was hesitant to do anything other than protect Lily, afraid that if I left her unprotected then John might wake up and use the opportunity to kill her. So instead, I waited for Freya to finish her meal, relaxing small spaces in my astral shield to allow fresh air in.
After about a minute, Freya jumped up, completely naked, and ran back over to John to begin scanning his memories too. Once she was done, she finally looked over at me and Lily. “Would either of you like to do the honors?” She asked seriously. “We need to make it quick though, in case he wakes up.”
“I’ll do it,” I said quickly, knowing that Freya wasn’t just being generous. She was afraid of how it would make her feel later. I glanced back at Lily. “You might want to close your eyes,” I added.
Lily shook her head. “I want to know he’s dead.”
I nodded and quietly began slicing up his body, starting with cleaving his head off. I let go of Lily then, once I was sure he was dead. She walked right up to the mutilated corpse, even as I continued to slice it up, and held out her hands. Freya jumped back as Lily forced out a blaze of fire, igniting John’s remains with enough heat that the floor began to melt. It was the first time I’d ever seen her use her flames intentionally without her entire body being lit up. Apparently, our months of practice on her control had really paid off.
“Might as well burn the other one too,” Freya suggested in a shaky voice. It was obvious that killing Camila was already starting to bother her…or maybe it was something else?
Lily nodded in agreement and ran over to take care of Camila’s corpse. Freya waited for her to return and then they both walked back over to me. I took off my shirt and handed it to Freya, so she could cover up. She accepted it tentatively, her expression vulnerable.
“I love you,” I whispered. “You saved us Freya.”
Her shoulders slumped, looking defeated. Suddenly, I realized it must be because we had seen her fully transformed for the first time. I had no idea how many times she had done it, or who had seen it. But I at least knew that the first time was when she killed her abusive father and lost her family in the process. They were horrified at what she had become and left her because of it.
“Seriously,” I continued, closing the gap between us and wrapping my arms around her. She held onto my shirt, clasping it against her chest as she began trembling in my grasp. I took a deep breath. “I was helpless against Camila’s illusion. I never would have been able to stop them, not without risking Lily’s life.”
“Not to mention you both thought I was John,” Lily added, pressing up close to us. “Only you could see through her illusion.”
Freya nodded silently, her eyes brimming with tears, her bottom lip quivering. I leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. Lily surprised me by leaning forward too and kissing her on the temple. Freya sobbed in response, doing her best to keep herself together.
“Let’s get out of here,” I suggested, not wanting to hang around as the air filled with the scent of burning flesh. “We can talk about what you found out later.” I paused. “Unless we need to do something here beforehand, like grab a computer or something?”
Freya nodded, taking a deep breath. “Actually, yes. I need to wipe the video feed involving Lily, and then I’ll need you to use your astral limbs to handle John’s phone and send an anonymous written message to the police so they know what’s been going on.”
“I can do that,” I responded, “but why do they have the video feed of Lily?”
Freya pulled away and put on my shirt before responding. “Because Camila was the one in charge of the kidnapping ring. The only reason John is here is because she was trying to brainwash him with her illusions to build up her crew again.”
Both Lily and I gawked at her. “Shit! Are you serious?” I exclaimed.
Freya nodded again, before running over to grab her phone from her shredded clothing. She then pointed at her torn outfit while heading back towards the office. “Lily, can you burn my clothes for me? I don’t want to leave any evidence behind that we were here.” She then looked at me when Lily moved to comply. “Sam, his phone is in here. Go ahead and send the message while I work with the computer. Be careful not to touch anything with your hands.”
“What about you?” I asked seriously.
Freya grimaced as she paused to hold up a handful of small claws. “These don’t have fingerprints,” she said quietly.
I nodded and rushed to join her, not wanting her to sense any hesitation from me. I accepted her. All of her. And I wanted to make sure that was crystal clear.
After taking care of the video, we realized we should probably try to find an accelerant to avoid having the police show up at Lily’s place again. Freya found some paint-thinner in their office and splashed it on the smoldering corpses before having Lily burn them again.
“What about the cameras in the parking garage?” I wondered seriously.
“It looks like Camila had the video feed on a loop stretching several weeks so no one would notice – this was basically their headquarters after all, so they put in the effort to keep their existence from being known.”
I nodded to indicate I understood, contemplating other things we might have to worry about. I couldn’t think of anything else though.
Once we had taken care of everything, we all hurried back the way we had come to return to our vehicles. I didn’t want Freya to be alone, so I had her ride with Lily while I drove her orange convertible. I was glad for my second-sight, because it allowed me to feel close to them even though we were in separate vehicles.
Lily had put her car on autopilot and had Freya climb into the driver’s seat with her, who was still only wearing my shirt and nothing else. They were sitting side-by-side, squished together with their arms wrapped around each other. I honestly wasn’t sure how they fit, but they made it work.
Freya was trembling again, causing me to suspect she was falling apart now. I was a little confused by what Lily was doing when I saw visible heat waves coming off her body, concerned she was going to hurt Freya, but it seemed to calm her instead. I watched the tension in her muscles visibly relax after a few seconds.
As I followed behind them in silence, I began to think about everything that had just happened. Camila was dead. John was dead. And only the latter of them had been involved with the shadow organization, although both were responsible for trying to kill Lily. I was glad we had gotten revenge and ended any further threat on Lily’s life. But I just hoped Freya
was able to find out something useful, because John was our last lead.
Camila’s mind probably didn’t reveal anything that would help our long-term goal, though her death would likely save the lives of numerous people in the future.
Unexpectedly, while thinking about Camila’s involvement, a thought occurred to me.
A ridiculous, obnoxious, stupid thought.
A thought that made me want to laugh and vomit at the same time.
I supposed Nick wasn’t getting his wish for a threesome now.
34: Unexpected Jealousy
I was following Lily’s vehicle somewhat absentmindedly, so it took me a moment to realize we were heading to Freya’s house. When we arrived, the two of them climbed out and Freya headed inside to get dressed. Lily waited for me before grabbing my hand and walking with me up to the front door.
“So we were thinking,” she began cheerfully, “that it might be a good idea to go out and do something. Maybe have dinner together.”
I gawked at her in surprise. I couldn’t believe she was handling what we had just done so well.
Lily continued when she saw my expression, biting her lower lip. “It’s just, Freya needs a distraction, so a date with the three of us would be nice. Not to mention, it would be good to have a money trail in the event we needed an alibi again.”
I nodded in agreement. We were standing in Freya’s very luxurious kitchen, which was completely devoid of anything edible. “But won’t that be boring for her?” I wondered seriously. “I mean, she won’t be able to eat after all.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s a date Sam. You’re not only supposed to eat. She can just order coffee, and we can all socialize about less stressful things.”
Wow. She had a point. I almost forgot Freya liked coffee. I needed to start making it for her regularly, since it was one of the few nice things I could do for her. “Want to go to that Italian restaurant, then?” I suggested. “The place we had our first date.”
Lily’s eyes lit up, both figuratively and literally. “Yes! I’d love that!” She was then thoughtful for a moment. “Actually, that really is perfect! Even though all three of us have hung out together, we’ve never all been on an official date like this!” She squealed in excitement. “So our first date,” she twirled her finger in the air to indicate all three of us, “will also be where we had our first date! I love it!”
I couldn’t help but smile. “It makes me happy to see you really getting into this three-way relationship thing.”
Lily’s eyes widened slightly, before narrowing. She stuck out her finger. “No threesomes!” She clarified.
I rolled my eyes. “I know, I know. And that’s fine. But still, I like this. I like having this relationship with both of you.”
Lily smiled warmly at me. “I do too,” she admitted. “I thought I’d be super jealous at first, but I really love Freya and I like sharing you with her.” Her expression was bittersweet then. “It feels like we’re a real family.”
Unexpectedly, my breath caught in my chest, because I just now realized something after all this time. Having dated for almost eight months now, we had celebrated most of the major holidays together – just the two of us. Just the two of us. No one else. None of Lily’s parents or grandparents. No brothers or sisters.
I hadn’t met any of Lily’s family. And she should have family, unlike Freya and myself who had outlived our immediate family.
“Lily,” I exclaimed breathlessly, moving to wrap my arms around her. My voice caught in my throat though, uncertain if this was a good time to ask. She gave me a confused look, not knowing what was on my mind.
Freya showed up then, dressed in black leather pants, a leather jacket, and a shimmery gold shirt underneath. She basically matched Lily now, her golden top complementing Lily’s bronze latex tank-top. Freya’s jacket wasn’t as short or shiny as Lily’s FRIL mini-jacket, but it was sure just as hot. I immediately decided on later, regarding Lily’s family.
“Damn,” I exclaimed. “We’re never going to leave the house with you dressed like that Freya.” Really, I could say the same about Lily, but I was more used to going out in public with her dressed sexy.
Freya smirked at me. “I mean, we can take a detour to my room if you want.”
I smiled warmly in response. “Maybe later. We should make our date a priority for right now.”
“Okay!” She skipped over to me and wrapped her arms around my own. “So, we’re going to that Italian restraint then?”
I blinked in surprise. Freya’s sensitive hearing still took me by surprise. “Oh, yes. If that’s alright with you?”
“Of course!” She said cheerfully. Really, I supposed it didn’t matter to her either way, since she wouldn’t be eating the food.
I knew Freya was happy about the date, but it seemed like there was something more behind her elated mood. I decided to ask indirectly. “You seem really happy,” I mused.
She paused unexpectedly, her expression vulnerable. Lily spoke up. “It’s because we still love her,” she explained, grabbing my other arm, squishing it against her heavy chest. “Even though we’ve seen her fully transformed.”
“Oh!” I looked back down at her. “Of course Freya! You saved our lives.” Technically, I wouldn’t have died, but she knew what I meant.
She nodded, her expression slightly somber now.
I bent down and kissed her on the forehead. “Please don’t be sad about it. I didn’t mean to ruin your good mood.”
She tilted her chin upwards and met my lips with hers. “Thank you,” she whispered seriously. “Everyone who has seen me like that has left me. Everyone.”
“Well not us,” Lily said firmly. “We both love you no matter what.”
Freya reached across me and grabbed a handful of Lily’s mini-jacket. “Thank you,” she repeated.
“You’re welcome! And thank you! Now, let’s get going and enjoy our first date together!”
Freya got a huge grin on her face and nodded eagerly.
We decided to take Lily’s car, and go straight to her place afterwards. Freya wasn’t planning on going to work the next day anyway, so she wouldn’t need her vehicle. And honestly, I wasn’t in the mood for work right now either. I definitely didn’t want to see Nick anytime soon. I wasn’t sure how I felt knowing I was involved in killing his girlfriend. Part of me reasoned that I was doing him a favor, because she was obviously just using him. Not to mention she was a psychotic murderer who made a living by filming people being tortured. He deserved better.
Granted, I also still wasn’t over the fact that he was being paid to keep tabs on me. It was difficult to really even consider him a friend. But at the same time, he had been one of my only friends for several years now since I was such a shut-in most of the time.
When we got to the restaurant, Freya slipped the hostess a tip for a private table for the three of us. It was busier than when Lily and I had last been here almost eight months ago, but it was still in the middle of the week so they had plenty of empty spots. We ended up with the same table as our first date, causing Lily to grin widely.
“Maybe we’ll even get the same waitress,” Lily teased.
“Unlikely,” I said seriously.
“Oh Sam, I’m just kidding.” She sat down across the table from me and pulled the other chair right up next to her.
Freya smiled as she plopped down and leaned into Lily’s shoulder. After a second, she sighed heavily. “You know what?” She said abruptly. “We need a vacation.”
“Yeah,” Lily chimed in. “Someplace with a beach. I’ve always wanted to go to one of those places where the ocean is bright blue and the water is so clear you can see the bottom.”
I thought about that for a moment. I hadn’t taken a vacation in forever. “Let’s do it then,” I said seriously.
“Really?” Lily asked in surprise.
I glanced at Freya, who seemed eager too. “Yeah, why not? I mean, I won’t have a problem getting off work a
t least.” I was still looking at Freya expectantly.
“I can manage it.” She chimed in. “I might have to do some work online while we’re away, but that shouldn’t be a problem. It’ll give you and Lily some alone time.” She paused. “There’s an island off Cancún, Mexico that I visited once like two and half centuries ago. No idea what it’s like now, but I’m sure it’s still a nice place to visit. We can rent a beach house for a week or something.”
“Two weeks?” Lily pleaded. She sounded like a little kid.
Freya and I both laughed. Money really wasn’t an issue for me, so I didn’t care either way. “As long as Freya can stay away from work that long, then I’m okay with it. I can cover the cost either way.”
Freya abruptly shook her head. “No, it’s my treat. I want to do be able to do something nice for the both of you.”
Lily scoffed. “As if you don’t already do plenty.” Lily then tugged on her jacket for emphasis.
She shrugged. “I’d still like it to be my treat.”
“That’s fine with me,” I offered. “But I’m definitely paying for tonight.”
Freya’s gave me a cheerful smile. She was about to reply, but then stopped when our waitress showed up.
I gawked in disbelief. It was the same girl. She had dark blue hair now, instead of purple, but she was wearing the same color gold contacts. She took one look at Freya shoved up next to Lily, and unexpectedly looked offended by the sight. I was shocked by the expression. And then I recalled her offer to ‘hang out’ last time, realizing the look on her face was one of jealously.
Shit. She was jealous that Freya was taking what she probably thought could have been her spot, and maybe even a little disappointed that we had rejected her by never calling her up.
I glanced at Lily to see the surprise in her eyes too. This date was either going to be super nice, with very little interruptions, or else super awkward.
After we gave the order for our drinks, Freya laughed. “Damn, if looks could kill!” She said cheerfully, looking at Lily. “That chick wants you bad.”
The Daily Struggles of an Immortal Page 23
