by Eden Crowne
Life had certainly become interesting. What little I might have left of it.
Chapter 30
Devilishly Handsome
Albert Pantera leaned with easy grace against the side of a shiny blue sports car the exact color of his eyes. He wore beautifully stitched jeans, a hip length suede jacket of deep moss green and suede boots to match. Arranged around in a half circle in front of him, a group of students five deep and growing stood whispering and pointing. After all, it isn't often you find a world-famous rock star lounging on your school's doorstep, even in Tokyo.
He raised one hand and gave a casual wave in my direction as I stepped through the wide, double doors of the main building after my first day back at school. “Alexandra, darling! Hello! Come and kiss me!”
The entire group of students silently turned as one to stare while I made my way to the car. 'Surprised' hardly described my feelings at seeing the devilishly handsome, or maybe I should say 'handsome devil' waiting for me. He moved forward and the students fell back as if on cue. Taking my backpack, he gripped my shoulders and pulled me close for a lingering kiss European-style on both cheeks, which I automatically returned. He smelled wonderful, like a summer afternoon, exactly as he had the other night when he swept me off my feet in the battle with Savan. Still holding me, he purred in his delicious voice, “Poor thing, had a rough time of it since last we met. Thought you could use some TLC. Julian a bit lacking in that department, plus, we have an appointment.”
“With?”
“Destiny!” He gave an exaggerated flourish to the word followed by a deep throaty laugh and kissed me again, this time on the lips.
The boys and girls near us strained forward and I could see camera phones aimed in our direction. Little Abigail of the blond afro, with Missy Simpson towering over her – how could anyone's legs be that long? – were in the front row. Missy waved, holding up a blank piece of paper, a desperate look in her eyes. To her credit, she did try to dissuade Amber Lynne from the St. Valentine's Day massacre of my character.
Albert expertly handed me into the sports car, the door shutting with a very expensive sort of whoosh. “Maybe you could sign a few autographs, if you do that sort of thing, that is?”
He gave me a smile that made his eyes twinkle.
A short time later we were roaring down the expressway to Tokyo. I wasn't sure if I was recovered enough to be in such close proximity to the singer/Daemon. Talk about supernatural charm. He certainly enchanted the student body, signing around a hundred autographs and posing for countless pictures before maneuvering the car out of the parking lot.
Missy came over to the car while I waited. Her long hair, as pale as her skin, was pushed back by a pair of black and white Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. She was wearing skinny jeans that made her mile-high legs look even longer and a cute white lace shirt. “What happened to the Italian?”
“History,” I said. And meant it.
She smiled, her eyes flicking to the rock star and back to mine. “I don't blame you. Albert Pantera's so hot. I'm a huge fan of the Einsteins. Thanks for getting him to pose for pictures and stuff.”
“That's okay. I love them as well.”
She shifted her books nervously. “No, really, thank you. Everyone was a bitch to you when you came in February. By 'everyone' I mean us. I'm sorry. I should have said that a few weeks ago.”
I looked up, meeting her eyes. “You mean before I became popular or after?”
She had the honesty to look embarrassed. “I didn't really have the courage until then. This place,” she gestured with one hand behind her to the two-story school, American flag flying high on the flagpole. “The Academy is extreme, you know. Like, you're too rich, or too social, or too rebellious. No half measures allowed. All or nothing. I came in the eighth grade already this size. Taller than most of the boys. Amber was nice to me. She used to be nicer. We laughed all the time. I don't know what happened. She changed and we sort of had to change with her or get left behind. I didn't want to get left behind...”
Albert returned and we roared off. Missy waved and I felt oddly touched. The rip tides of the social sea were never easy to navigate. Even for the popular girls.
I didn't question leaving with him, though we had only met on that crazy and dangerous night of the party. It was like when Julian asked me to come to Meiji Shrine that time. It just seemed the natural thing to do. My life certainly was taking on a new edge, even without the Club. Where was the girl who preferred anonymity? The buzz from being around the Club members had faded after that awful first week of separation. Julian said it was much like a drug addiction, their power worming its lethal way into all the pleasure centers of the brain just like cocaine. Finally the victim wanted only to be with the Club for ever and ever until death they do part. Which, unfortunately for the victim, was the forgone conclusion.
I had never taken drugs, still I imagined those days after they ripped out my soul were very much what withdrawal must be like. The feeling had not been replaced, as I expected, with the empty longing that had sat behind my eyes for so many years after Mom disappeared. Julian, and if I were honest, Albert, were partly the reason for that. Even Hiro and funny Taka. Thinking about them was much more preferable to thinking about what happened to me before I met them all.
The car was small and fast. “How can Blaze possibly fit in here? Is he here?” I narrowed my eyes, squinting behind me, calling, “Blaze?”
Albert gripped the polished ebony knob of the gear shift. Flicking it up, the little blue car shot past those around us like a bullet. It was warm today and the wind in my hair felt lovely. A 'good to be alive' day. However many of those were left.
“Blaze will meet us. He's keeping Uncle Julian company; they're shopping.”
I had the impression Julian did not particularly care for the Shadow Hound. Albert and Julian seemed to be the sort of guy friends who loved to annoy each other, just a little. I laughed and Albert said, “Exactly! He likes you though.”
My cheeks went hot.
“Blaze thinks you're a grand girl and says he will guard you anywhere, anytime.”
Oh, the dog. I gave myself a little mental shake. 'Get a grip, Lexie. You are just a means to an end for Julian. The tool of his revenge for lost love.'
Albert's tail worked its way out of the back of his jeans and reached over to curl around my waist. Though I tried to unwind it, he held fast. Giving me a wink, he drove on. Instead of struggling, I just left it. He was so obviously a flirt and there were worse things than being flirted with by the charismatic lead singer of a famous band. Watching Albert navigate the expressway, I couldn't help noting how relaxed he was and said so.
“Spent a lot of time in Asia growing up, especially Tokyo and Yokohama.” He shifted again as we wove in and out of the slower traffic. The way Albert drove, that meant everyone else on the highway. “My family has business dealings with the demon clans of Japan.”
“You mean Daemon.”
“No, I mean demon. Oni in Japanese.”
“Oh.”
“No, Oni.”
“No, 'oh'. Like, 'Oh-my-God'. And Julian told me Japanese demons didn't like Western supernaturals coming into their territory. How come you guys can, or could?”
“We offer goods and services. Buying and selling. No threat factor. There's a lot more going on beneath the skin of this world than you might have imagined. Better get to know who's who and what's what.”
“I don't want to know.” My voice sounded childish even to me.
“Alexandra, I've spent my entire life straddling both worlds. Believe me, I can see the allure of ignorance. It's a lot to process, that step from watching horror movies to living one.”
“I never watch scary movies. Anything ghostly terrifies me. I slept with a light on in my room until I was thirteen.”
“How ironic you are now a part of these dark enchantments.”
“So not laughing,” I moaned.
He gave me a very serio
us look, though much softer around the edges than Julian's razor-edged glare. “Of course not. You have accepted though, that your life hangs in the balance, haven't you? Because we can't win if you don't believe heart and absent soul. Julian needs your will to live as much as you need his powers and potions.”
I considered that, trying to analyze the rush of emotions churning beneath the surface since the night of my birthday. What was my analogy the other day? Like being only partially strapped into a roller coaster approaching the corkscrew. Yep, that was about right. What had changed, I realized, was my determination to grip onto that bit of safety harness and hold tight. Perhaps it was when Savan snarled at me, “Can't you just die like a good girl?” that I decided to fight for my life.
“Does he want to save me? Really?” Savan's declaration that Julian wanted me only as a vessel to reanimate his lost love still hung heavy on my heart.
Albert raised one eyebrow, obviously sensing there was a story behind that question. I gave him a quick version of what happened after his return to the party.
“You don't really believe it, do you? That Julian is planning to hijack your body for someone else? To become a vessel for poor Caroline's soul?”
“Are you saying that as his friend or mine?”
To do him credit, Albert did not reply with some flip answer, laughing off my fears. Driving silently for awhile, he finally spoke. “Fair question. If you are asking whether Julian has the ability to perform such a ceremony, I would say, I think it has become very likely. Massive power sits behind those green eyes. His mother's a terrifying woman, by the way. Even to a Daemon like me! You couldn't break her personal wards with a Bunker Buster bomb. Because of his father drinking himself to death, I always assumed Julian's power comes from her side of the family. However, I could be wrong. Magical power and mental stability do not always go skipping along hand in hand, tra la la la la. The Soul Eaters were always more than a little afraid of Julian, even as a child. They were extraordinarily determined to recruit him. For all I know, his mother encouraged it. After the death of his father there was no one to watch out for the boy.”
I nodded, remembering our talk after Keiko turned to dust. “He said something about the Club being afraid of him. Not long after we met. They wanted to punish him or something, you know, with Caroline's death. Put him in his place.”
“And didn't that work out well for them!” He made such a face, I had to smile. “Julian is the supernatural equivalent of a genius savant. Numbers or language, spells and energy. Good God. Uncanny. Really and truly. The way he draws energy to him. People, however, are another matter. Not so long ago, I would have been more than a little suspicious of his motives in this venture. He was on the way down a very slippery slope.”
“But you're friends with him. Are you bad too? Or, were you?”
He laughed long and hard before saying, “Define 'bad'! I am definitely naughty.” His tail snaked up to caress my cheek and tickle the lobe of one ear just like in my dream. “No, I don't think I am bad. Julian has the capacity to be much worse or much better than he is. For all our sakes, we must work to keep him moving towards the light. I saw the potential in him for more than darkness when we first met and held on to that through his blacker turns. He has changed in the two years since Caroline's death. Given that he is jealous of me coming near you, I would say his feelings have become somewhat entangled. That would be a good thing.”
“You're imagining the 'entangled' part. And how could that be good?”
Albert kept his eyes on the road as he maneuvered in and out of several lanes. “Good for him, for Julian, to think about someone else. Bit self-absorbed that lad. Very adept at spells, not so much with relationships. Borderline autism, perhaps? Circumstances and all, you know.”
Actually I didn't know, or knew very little.
“Besides,” he winked at me. “I'm in the game now. My job to watch your back. Especially the lower part when it is walking away from me with that lovely way you sway from side to side. Swish, swish. You must let me take you shopping and buy you more beaded dresses. Scrumptious! I hate skinny girls, all angles and bones with a stride like a man's.”
I pulled his tail. “Albert! Are you calling me fat?”
“No! You are curvy, then slim in all the right places. Why do women think it's fashionable to look like pre-pubescent boys? If I wanted to see a flat bottom, I need only turn around and look at my own!” He gave an exaggerated shiver that reached right down to the tip of his tail and easily turned the conversation to other topics. We chatted about his family. He obviously adored them.
“My Daemon line is through Dad,” he explained. “He's a big man, much broader than me, and you should see him manifest when he drops his glamour. Absolutely terrifying until you know it's all an act. Course Mum was never fooled! The man cries over greeting cards, especially anything that starts with 'To a Great Dad.' I have two older brothers by the way. Also Dad is not allowed to see any films with dogs in them as he just breaks down completely. We all love him to pieces. Mum is human, well, mostly with some Fae thrown in. She's an empath. Damn difficult going through puberty with an empath for a mother, I can tell you! Humiliating. He and Mum make a great team. Though she's as bad as him about my brothers and me. I swear, you can give her a nasty bit of old string tied in a bow and say, 'Mum, I made this for you,' and the tears just well up.”
I tried to get him to talk about how he met Julian. For once sounding perfectly serious, he said that was up to Julian to explain. I thanked him then, somewhat belatedly, for all the flowers and Blaze's company.
“I thought Julian would show up, not with flowers, of course. It's just he's so all about protecting me and danger.” I put imaginary quotation marks around the last word, as though I didn't really care. Somehow I did.
Albert glanced at me, an odd expression on his face. “What do you mean? He was there every night without fail. You must have seen him.”
I shook my head.
“Every night,” Albert said firmly. “Gave you his potions with an eye dropper to get your strength back. Like you were a baby bird. Blaze told me. He's quite an amazing alchemist, you know. Julian, not Blaze. Does a lot with synthesizing blood from supernaturals and processes like that. Quite the only reason you are out of that hospital and walking around. You were pretty doped up those first days, he told me. Or maybe he was in shadow mode. Night nurses and all. Stayed outside mostly to keep watch for the nasties and give good old Blaze a hunting break. Ah, here's our exit.” We roared off the highway, through the tollbooth, and into an area of Tokyo I didn't know.
Blood? He'd taken all those vials of Savan's blood that night. Said it was very powerful. The image of the red liquid in the crystal containers he always used popped into my head. The first time he made me his super-powered energy drink I thought the scarlet potion he added looked very much like blood. Should I be appalled or grateful? And just whose blood was I drinking? If it was his, that could explain the connection. The link to his emotions. I tried to figure out how I felt about both the potions and Julian sneaking into the hospital to sit by my bed. That was way too “Twilight” for my comfort zone.
We eventually pulled up outside an ancient looking little house. It was built in traditional, boxy Japanese-style, all squares and vertical lines with the triangular tiled roof perched on top. The property was closed in by a low, ragged hedge that once must have been leafy and green. A long, long time ago. It had a covered entry gate topped with the same slate gray tiles as the house. The sliding wooden doors of the gate stood open and somewhat askew.
Standing half-in and half-out, was Julian. I immediately looked at his eyes. They seemed the clearest gauge of his moods. They were cloudy today, difficult to read. I shied away from trying to tune in to his emotions. Bond or no bond, the searing wave of anger that washed over me the night of the party after he questioned Savan made me wary of contact.
Blaze momentarily flared into sight, jumping up to put his massive front p
aws on the door. Giving me a wet kiss, I hugged his neck.
“Hey, steady on mate! Mind the paint job with those claws.”
The hound gave his master a chuffle deep in his throat and licked me again.
Albert hopped out of his side in a very smooth, James Bond-ish sort of move and, pushing Blaze away, opened my door. “I have delivered my precious cargo safe and sound Julian,” he said over his shoulder. “And what a pleasure it was.” He leaned in to kiss my cheek and once more the wonderful scent of him washed over me. Human men did not smell like that, did they? With a start I realized I wouldn't know. Both the men I kissed were supernatural. Dad kisses didn't count. And Dad always smelled like Old Spice.
Julian stepped forward with the lithe agility that characterized all his movements. “I appreciate this, Albert. She would never have spoken to me without your family's intervention. I owe you.”
I guessed they weren't talking about picking me up at school. Something else was going on.
“Don't be stupid, Julian. We're friends, you don't owe me anything. Besides, what's the point of making loads of money if you can't spend some of it recklessly?” He gave me a broad wink, then reached into a leather messenger bag tucked in the narrow space behind the driver's seat to pull out a thick, white envelope. Julian took the envelope, tucking it into the inside pocket of his leather coat.
Jumping back in the car, Albert waited as Blaze climbed in, too. The hound somehow squeezed into the front seat with the singer as he faded to shadow mode. Albert gave us a wave as he gunned the motor and roared off. Nothing but a blue blur, the car zipped down the narrow street, forcing a bicyclist and several pedestrians to scramble for their lives.
It had been some days since I'd seen Julian. Not since the very bad night of the party. He had, however, spent a lot of time with me, according to Albert. We stood staring at each other for a few awkward moments. Julian seemed about to say something. I waited, hoping he was going to bring up the awkward subject of his dusty dead ex-girlfriend. Instead, he abruptly turned away, reaching down to pick up two shopping bags by his feet. He stepped through the gate.
