Scarlet Masquerade

by Jett Abbott

  A quick call to Gail with instructions to find a costume for the masquerade ball and A.J. was set. She needed to talk to Selene and then make sure Kevin was handled and she would be ready to plan how she would approach Clarissa at the ball. It had to be subtle or it would scare Clarissa off. So much had happened to Clarissa in the last few days, A.J. was surprised she hadn’t run already. How much Clarissa could take was beyond her. While she wasn’t easily dissuaded, she had no history on Clarissa and could only guess what kind of torture she had to endure with De Marcus. A phone call later and Selene and A.J. would meet at a coffee shop close to campus. A.J. didn’t want Selene too far from Clarissa, just in case something happened.

  As A.J. walked in, she spotted Selene. Selene’s appearance hadn’t changed in decades. Her long frame barely fit into the small chair. Selene stretched her long legs casually into the aisle of the coffee shop, causing anyone walking by to step over them. Clearly, she didn’t care if she was impeding traffic. Selene was Selene and she didn’t make apologies for being bold, aggressive or threatening. One look at her and it was clear by her body language, she wasn’t someone to mess with. A.J. watched Selene flirt with a young, obviously college-aged girl, but never the less too young for Selene. Smiling at the girl, Selene slipped a piece of paper to the young woman before she walked away. A.J. didn’t blame the young girl for flirting with the gorgeous woman. A.J. herself had fallen for Selene’s dark looks and charming demeanor, but that was a century ago and A.J. didn’t have time to stroll down memory lane today.

  “Aren’t you a little old for her?” A.J. said, pulling a chair out, turning it backwards and straddling it.

  “Not really. I was turned when I was thirty, so that makes me, what, eight or ten years older than her.” Selene’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, letting A.J. know she wasn’t in a kidding mood.

  “Yeah, if you don’t add those two hundred years, or fangs, you could be great dating material around here.” A.J. looked back at the young woman and hoped her thoughts of persuasion were working on the woman.

  “Don’t do that.” Selene crouched forward at A.J.

  “Don’t do what?”

  “Quit fucking with her mind. I felt it and I don’t appreciate you mucking in my business.”

  “Look, you need to stay focused on the task at hand. After that, you can do whatever you want. Besides, don’t you have women at that club of yours?” A.J. had heard Selene owned a local bondage club, but wasn’t surprised. Selene had owned one ever since A.J. had known her. Somehow it seemed appropriate, given Selene’s propensity for violence and torture.

  “Yeah, but not young beautiful women like that. Most women don’t dabble with that stuff until they’re much older. I like ’em fresh and untarnished.” Selene winked at the girl as she returned and slid a hot cup of coffee towards Selene.

  “You drink that stuff?” A.J. had never adapted to the taste of coffee. In fact, she had just adapted to an occasional meal and glass of wine. Scotch, now that made her blood warm. The earthy peat smell and taste made A.J. yearn for home and her farm. Shaking the memories off, A.J. got back to the business at hand. “Let’s get back to business. So—”

  “Where’s Kevin?” Selene wasn’t known for her patience decades ago and clearly she hadn’t learned any yet, either.

  “He’s handled. He won’t be an issue for us, but I don’t know if he had a chance to relay any information to whoever he’s working for.”

  “Are you sure Kevin was the leak? Maybe it was Brax?”

  “Brax couldn’t pour piss out of a boot, let alone know who he was going to be guarding. No, it was Kevin. He gave Brax his orders and he was the only one who had any idea Clarissa was around.” A.J. cursed her trust in Kevin once more. If anything happened to Clarissa she would never be able to forgive herself, not now that she knew Clarissa was alive.

  “Well, you know him best. But I’m curious. You’re not usually this careless. Getting lazy in your old age?”

  A.J. stared into black onyx eyes as she thought about Selene’s statement. Had she lost her edge? She had been careful for decades, no centuries, protecting herself. It only took one well placed individual to split the seams of the well sown fabric that was her life. A.J. roughly caressed her chin as she thought about everything that had happened since finding Clarissa. She had almost lost her before she had even had a chance to talk to her. No, she had placed too much trust in the wrong person, but that would never happen again, not if she wanted to continue living.

  “Not if I’m sitting here with you and he’s…” A.J. looked down at her watch, “sitting in a freezer right now.”

  “Dead?”

  “No, but he’s on ice, so to speak. When the masquerade ball is over this weekend, I’ll handle him. So no, I haven’t lost my edge.” A.J. wanted to make sure Selene didn’t overestimate her worth and wanted to send a strong message, just in case anyone else was listening. Smiling back into the black onyx eyes, A.J. watched Selene nod her head in understanding.

  “I put out feelers and if he talked to someone, I can’t find ’em. So I have to assume he didn’t have time to report back to his handler. Doing so would have put another assassin on Clarissa quick, and I haven’t seen a soul, living or dead, anywhere around her.” Selene leaned towards A.J. again. “Look, people like this don’t wait for an opportunity, they create them. That’s what happened last night. Brax wasn’t on the case but two days before he reported that there was someone else following Clarissa.”

  A.J. looked up from her folded hands, her brow furrowed.

  “You look surprised, A.J. What did you think I’d do last night after the first asshole attacked me? Sit back and wait for orders from a mysterious employer? I’ve known who you were and who the caged bird was. It’s what I do and how I’ve stayed alive this long.”

  “I knew it wouldn’t take you long to figure it out. I should have put you on the case in the first place.” It hurt A.J. to admit she had made a mistake based on her past with Selene, but it was hers and hers alone to shoulder. “Let’s get back to business. The masquerade ball is this weekend and I’m attending. I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but I’m willing to risk rejection to protect Clarissa.”

  “I don’t think that’s such a great idea, A.J. I think you need to play this right or you could risk losing what you value again, but this time forever. If you’re not careful, she’s gonna run and this time you won’t find her.”

  “Look, I don’t plan on a big confrontation at the masquerade ball. It wouldn’t be prudent for either of us. Besides, we have a history and I’m hoping that she’ll remember what we had.”

  “What kind of history?” A.J. could see the suspicion in Selene’s narrowed eyes. What would she tell Selene? How would she explain their history and did she even need to? Selene worked for her, not the other way around.

  “It’s not important.”

  “It is to me. I need to know what I’m walking into now that I’m on the hook for two dead vampires. I’ve now made myself a target for whoever hired them and I’d like to know why.”

  A.J. tapped her lips with her index finger as she tried to control her agitation. She wasn’t in the mood for questions she didn’t want to answer. But more importantly, she wasn’t sure she was ready to admit that Clarissa had been her one and only true love. She also wasn’t sure she was ready for the questions that would come when Selene found out she hadn’t been the one to turn Clarissa, especially when she didn’t have all the answers.

  Standing, Selene tossed a few bills on the table and grabbed her jacket. “Look, I don’t have time to try and squeeze a few answers out of you. I’m done.”

  A.J. stood and grabbed Selene’s arm. “It isn’t that I don’t want to tell you. Well, it is that I don’t want to tell you, but I don’t know all the details. What I know, I’m guessing at,” A.J. said measuring up Selene as they stared across at each other. “If you’re done trying to play alpha dog to my alpha dog, I’ll try and fill you in
on what I know.” A.J. guided Selene back to her seat and looked at her again.

  “I’m listening.”

  A.J. let out a deep breath and looked around for a diversion. This wasn’t going to be easy, but she needed to let Selene know what she had gotten her into. Pinning Selene with a stare, A.J. studied her face.

  “I’m waiting.”

  “Clarissa and I were lovers in Paris centuries ago.” A.J. rubbed her hands, as if doing so would warm them up.

  “And?”

  “She was human the last time I saw her.”

  “How is that possible? If you didn’t turn her, then who did? Where is her master?” Selene’s questioning glare made A.J. squirm uncomfortably. She knew those would be the first questions Selene asked. Heck, they were the first questions she had asked Kevin when he told her who the owner of the license plates was.

  “Short version. She was sick and dying the last time I saw her. Her parents thought I had made her sick, cholera, the plague, take your pick. Whatever was going around back then was lethal to humans and I wasn’t sick. So obviously I made her sick in their minds. A Dr. De Marcus was hanging around her at the time, and he’s the only one I can think of who would have had opportunity and motive. He hated that she loved me and not him. It bruised his ego, and I think at the last minute he turned her.”

  “So why is she single then? She belongs to him and he wouldn’t just let her go out of the kindness of his heart. Not that I know him, but that first vampire’s blood tasted old, so his master must be really old and most masters still subscribe to the old way. Domination, subjugation and control are still big with those old masters.”

  “I can’t answer that. I have been busy trying to protect her and haven’t had a lot of time to figure it out yet. Kevin looked into it and said De Marcus was dead, killed in an accident in England. But the only records are in the Coven and I don’t have time to travel to Europe to go through them. I had to trust Kevin. He did tell me where and what Clarissa was doing, so he had some integrity,” A.J. said, hoping she sounded convincing. But even as she said the words, she wasn’t sure she could even convince herself. Kevin had thrown a grenade right in the middle of her well laid out plan. Now, she had to figure out what was left of it and if it could be salvaged.

  “I need you at the masquerade ball with me on Saturday night. I have two VIP tickets so you won’t stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, if you’re outside and I’m inside, we should be able to keep her safe without her knowing it.” A.J. waited for a reaction from Selene, but only got a frown. “What?”

  “I don’t like playing dress-up. It makes it too hard to tell who the players are.”

  “And?”

  “I’m not wearing a dress.”

  A.J. started to laugh at Selene’s implications. She had never even thought of asking the very butch assassin to dress in women’s clothes. The thought of Selene in women’s attire made her think of a drag queen, which only caused her to laugh harder. The laughter echoed through the coffee shop causing people to turn and look in their direction.

  “Knock it off, A.J. I’m not kidding. I am not dressing up in a dress so come up with another idea. I can sit in the car and watch the dance from there, but I am not wearing a dress.”

  “Selene, you would look like a woman playing a guy dressed in drag. No offense, but the thought never crossed my mind. Besides, you can call Gail, my secretary, and tell her I want her to set you up with a costume. Okay?”

  “Fine,” huffed Selene. She wasn’t accustomed to being laughed at, and when people did, it usually cost them their life.

  Wiping a tear from her eye, A.J. felt sorry for the beautiful woman. It must be hard to be a trained killer one minute and then think you might have to wear a dress the next. Oh well, the job would be over soon, hopefully, and Selene could go back to her indulgences at her club. Until the next time she was needed. A.J. discussed her plan with Selene, going over every detail of the night. There could be no missteps this time. They both needed to be sharp, or it could cost Clarissa her life.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  “Wow, you look gorgeous, Honey.” Carol whistled her approval as Clarissa turned in her new ball gown. She had worn the same one for the past three years and had decided that this year she would splurge and have a new one made.

  “You like it?”

  “Well, let’s just say if this was a different time and I was a different gal, I would do you.” Carol had a way about her that if someone didn’t know her, they would make different assumptions about her occupation.

  “Oh, swarthy language. Careful, you just might turn my head.” Clarissa slapped Carol’s hand away as she tried fingering the gown. “Besides, I can’t wait to see what you dress Mr. Sex Ed. in. I’m sure he’ll be the one on the short leash.”

  “Well,” Carol hesitated, looking anywhere but at Clarissa, “he isn’t going.”

  “What? What do you mean he isn’t going? You didn’t invite him or you broke up with him already, as in isn’t going?” Clarissa watched as the question lingered in the air while Carol fidgeted with her purse. “Carol, what’s going on?”

  “Oh, we broke up. I don’t even know why we broke up, but we just did.” Carol wiped an errant tear before it trailed down her cheek.

  “Oh, Carol. I’m sorry. What happened?” Clarissa pulled her long gown behind her as she wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. Don’t you think?”

  “Look, Honey. I know the difference between a misunderstanding and being dumped and he dumped me.” Snapping her finger she finished, “just like that. One minute we’re talking in bed, the next thing I know he’s telling me he’s not good enough for me. You know that ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ bullshit.”

  Clarissa wished she could feel bad for Carol, but she had thought the guy had moved too fast on Carol anyway. “Well, look on the bright side. There’ll be lots of available men at the ball so you can dance your way through them to find Mister Right.” Clarissa hoped Carol wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

  “Well, I’ll just settle for Mr. Right Now. I’m beginning to think Mr. Right just doesn’t exist. Besides, he was cold all the time.” Clarissa frowned at Carol’s comment.

  “Huh?”

  “Yeah, he was always cold. Said the doctor told him it was poor circulation and it would get worse as he got older. I always had my thermostat set at seventy five degrees when he was over. At least now my heating bill will be lower.” Carol shrugged off the comment and went back to fingering Clarissa’s dress. “Maybe I need to get a new dress, too.”

  Clarissa thought about what Carol had said. The bite marks earlier in the week, the cold body and now that she thought about it, Clarissa had never seen Carol’s boyfriend. Strange, Carol had always paraded her new boyfriends through the university, thought Clarissa. Something wasn’t adding up. She wanted to ask Carol more questions, but thought better of it when she saw Carol wipe her eyes again. Clearly, Carol was taking it harder than she let on. A tug on Clarissa’s arm brought her back to the present.

  “Hey, did you hear what I said?”

  “Oh, sorry. No, what did you say?”

  “I said maybe you can introduce me to Ms. Lockwood at the ball.” Carol smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.

  Maybe Carol wasn’t having as hard a time as Clarissa thought. Looking at Carol suspiciously, Clarissa shook her head, “I don’t think so. Besides, your gate doesn’t swing that way. Remember?”

  “Well, maybe my sexuality is fluid and my fluid needs to be changed,” Carol said, as she looked through the rack of dresses. “Besides, remember when I said it is just as easy to love a rich man as a poor man? Well, maybe it’s just as easy to love a rich woman as a poor man. Hmm?”

  Clarissa slid the dress off her shoulders and handed it to the seamstress with a nod. “Thank you. I’ll pick it up Friday.” Grabbing Carol’s elbow, she pulled her out of the shop. “Come on, Ms. Fluid, we are not having this conversat
ion. Besides, you need time to settle, not settle for something that isn’t you.”

  “Oh,” a dramatic sigh escaped Carol as she followed Clarissa towards her car. “I know. I’m being silly. It wasn’t that I really liked him. Besides, I just met him a few weeks ago. He was just passing time. If truth be told, he was starting to get weird.”

  “Weird? Weird, how?” Clarissa was now interested in finding out more about Carol’s phantom boyfriend.

  “You know how men can be. Weird.” Carol turned and faced Clarissa as Clarissa unlocked the car. “One time he sucked on my neck so hard I thought he would break the skin. When I screamed, he jumped off the bed and apologized like crazy telling me it would never happen again. Then, other times, he would just sit and watch me do things, while he stroked his belt. You know, weird stuff.”

  Clarissa frowned at Carol, “What do you mean ‘stuff’? What kinda stuff?”

  “Oh come on. Stuff. You know…” Carol wiggled her eyebrows at Clarissa, “stuff.”

  “Oh.” Carol’s meaning suddenly dawned on Clarissa, “you mean masturbation stuff?”

  “Oh, Christ, we’re in public, Clarissa. Someone might hear you.” Carol looked around causing Clarissa to mimic her actions.

  “Oh, right.” Clarissa blushed realizing what she had just said. Clarissa slammed the car door and turned towards Carol. “Okay, so what other weird stuff did he do?”

  “I don’t know,” Carol said, shrugging her shoulders. “Now that I think about it, maybe I’m just being silly. Besides, it’s over now so who cares. Right?”

  Clarissa had a bad feeling about Carol’s boyfriend, but she wasn’t sure how she would get more information out of her without it being obvious. At least he was out of the picture now. She needed to come up with a plan to find out more information about him. Something just wasn’t right. She had learned a long time ago to trust her gut, and right now her gut was telling her something was very wrong. Especially after what had happened two nights ago in her own backyard. She couldn’t be too careful now.