vampires of san francisco 07 - suckers lost and found

by mcbrayer, jessica

  We are going by yacht because firstly, the King won’t meet with us until later. Secondly, Julian and Aidan can continue looking for Manda daily and thirdly, it’s hard to arrange trans-Atlantic flights. Hannah, Liam, Andrew and I fall asleep and look like dead people. It can’t be helped, since basically, we kinda are dead. Sebastian and Diel might get into some trouble for carrying women who look like they’ve been drugged out of the airport. Mostly we are using the honeymoon cruise as a diversion to throw the hounds off of Aidan’s searches. It will look like we are planning a long vacation traveling this way. We plan to stop in many ports. We want the extra time to look for Manda without anyone knowing. The boat will also be a safe place for Hades, Hannah’s Hell Hound to be while we are looking. He won’t be able to match-make but it will be safer for when he barks fire to be around all that water. Makes it all easier that the owner and captain of the ship is a vampire Sebastian knows.

  So much to prepare for. Once again my mind makes lists. We set sail from Florida in two days. We have to get outfits for the babies to wear to court. We need respectable clothes as well, since the King is very old-fashioned. I stop. I know where this cycle leads and soon I’ll reach for my hand sanitizer. Take control, Lily. Fuck. I’m slathering on the hand sanitizer before I even register that I reached for it. Baby steps. At least I realized I was heading in that direction. It’s a big deal for me. Awareness is the first step.

  Helena and I are responsible for all the details and have been shopping for weeks trying to find something suitable for everyone to wear.

  “Ouch! That was my skin,” Julian growls.

  “Oh excuse me, Sir,” the tailor in the parlor says through a mouth full of pins. I stifle a giggle. Julian has complained the most about the new clothes.

  “Helena…” Julian yells. Obviously reaching the end of his patience. Helena blurs past me before she slows down right outside the parlor to make it look like she is human. I hear her consoling Julian and can sense the impatience in the tailor. He is pacing and sighing a lot.

  “He needs a touch of flair. I don’t know, Liam, what do you think, a hot pink tie?” Andrew says giving his two cents. The tailor takes an even bigger breath and blows it out hard. I rush in to calm the poor man. Julian is too broad in the shoulders for anything off the rack. For the trip we had suits made for each of the men. Diel had his fitting earlier today before they left. Liam and Andrew are ‘helping’ the tailor, even though he is the best in the business. They say their sense of style is better. The tailor is merely a tool to them. Signor Rossi, the tailor, assures me everything will be ready in time to go. He said he hired extra help.

  “Signor Rossi, may I talk to you in the kitchen?” I ask. I want to be out of the boys’ hearing. Rossi nods and follows me.

  “Signor Rossi, I know the boys are a bit over-enthusiastic.” He raises his eyebrows at me. “Okay, they are being pains in the ass.”

  “Si!”

  “I would like to make you an offer. I’ll pay you double if you continue to work for us.”

  “That is very generous, Signora. I’m not sure what to do. I would like to strangle them,” he says. His earlier pique rising with the red color in his cheeks.

  “I would consider it a favor, Signor. I must simply have your work. It is the best and I will not let them run you off. Please, Signor Rossi.”

  “Rest easy sweet girl, I’ll stay. You deserve the best even if those animals can’t recognize it.” I clap my hands and give him my biggest smile.

  “You have no idea what this means to me. We need to be dressed in our finest clothes and you create them as easy as breathing.” He chuckles and blushes slightly.

  “Signora, you flatter me. But rest assured. Even if it kills them and me, they will be dressed in my best before you go.”

  “Grazie, Signor Rossi,” I say as I hug him and kiss his cheek. This time he really does blush. I escort him back to the parlor, hoping I have averted a royal meltdown.

  Julian talks to him in fluent Italian once we enter the room. It sounds like an apology and Rossi acts like he has been praised and is back on the job. I wish I knew more Italian.

  Julian dislikes putting on a show for someone he hates and he hates the King of Italy. They had a falling-out about four hundred years ago and Julian has not forgotten.

  The women are easier. Helena will be wearing Dolce and Gabbana, Hannah, Chanel, and me a new Italian designer that has some bold but stunning designs. I’m hoping the King knows his Italian designers. We have to make an especially charming impression as he has a particular distaste for werewolves. Most vampires consider Liam and me to be abominations. We may be, but we’re abominations that can kick their asses. We can smell other vampires’ distrust and it isn’t pleasant.

  I guess we will see their reactions when we get there. But dammit I am going to make sure we all look smart. We’ve also got everyone being fitted for tuxedos and dresses and of course my wedding dress. My final fitting is this evening.

  I went back and forth between my favorite bridal designers, Angela Sanchez from Venezuela and Jenny Packham from the UK. I finally settled on a dress made by Packham. It’s a white satin dress that looks like a throwback to the thirties. It has gorgeous crystal work on it. The waist-line is simple with a slender silhouette to the dress. It is slated for this year’s Cat Walk. It’s called Leila and is simple and elegant. I hope Sebastian likes it. He has impeccable taste – and if he doesn’t like it … well his wedding night will be very long indeed. All this wedding planning is getting on my last nerve. I now understand bridezillas a bit more. I will not be one! We will have an extremely small, intimate wedding so no need to stress. Riiight. You’d think that this wedding stuff should be making me, Lily Goodwill, fashionista extraordinaire, sublimely happy and it would, if I weren’t worried about Manda and Aidan. But the pieces finally come together.

  Now we all need to do is feed and pack. Easy. You would think.

  TWO / LILITH

  “Lily, I can’t find my cufflinks,” Sebastian whines. Well, maybe he’s not exactly whining but everything sounds whiny to me at this point.

  “That’s because I already packed them, dearest. In fact your packing is almost done. You just need some casual clothes for the boat and sight-seeing.”

  “Thank you, ma cherie, I’ll work on that now.” He bends down and kisses me chastely. I sigh. He’s worth all this. So worth it.

  “I love you, Bast.”

  “As I love you.” He kisses me again, longer this time. When he pulls back his eyes are hooded and full of lust.

  “Oh no, mister, I have too much to do,” I say. But I grin, swatting him on the behind as I sashay past him.

  “You wound me, ma petite.”

  “Pulease…” He doesn’t argue with me. He laughs his deep, sexy laugh sending tingles through me.

  I return to packing, almost done. We’ve got Sebastian’s mother’s diamond and sapphire necklace out of the vault and some of my mother’s prize possessions, a stunning set of diamond combs to hold my hair back. We had to reset it in platinum like the necklace since as a werevamp I no longer have a tolerance for silver.

  Aidan is going to deliver all our luggage as well as us to the dock in Florida tomorrow evening. Thank goodness the boat departs at six pm for Hannah, Liam, Andrew and me since we sleep all morning.

  We feed before we set sail from Florida. Our entire family is present.

  Sebastian, who speaks with a slight French accent, created a forties-themed dance club for my birthday and it is one of the foremost dance clubs in the city. Julian and Helena spend most of their time doing research on everything from botany to vampire genetics and loving one another. I worked for a Suicide Prevention Hotline in San Francisco, until I had a melt down and I got fired. Now I am on a journey to discover who I am except a big part of who I am is on hold until we find Manda.

  There is a lot of mischief for a jinni to get into on a cruise of twenty-eight days and eighteen ports of call, not that A
idan will feel up to it. We end up in Venice and then will wind our way to Florence for the wedding by land. We did most of our research on Italy and the church options on the internet and aided by what Helena and Julian remembered. Helena’s suggestion was to get married at the Basilica di San Lorenzo, the parish church of the Medici family. The church, consecrated in 393, was the burial place of many of the Medicis. Art work by Michelangelo and Donatello are pieces of pride for the church.

  The ceremony will take place at sunset lit by hundreds of candles. It was a challenge to secure the church, requiring a lot of persuasion. They don’t schedule weddings there because of its historical importance. The priest also hesitated over Sebastian and me living in sin. Oops. Thank goodness Julian speaks Italian so well.

  I stretch out in the luxurious four-poster bed in the master cabin. The room is decorated in greys and blues, very soothing. I am awake for the day, with so many thoughts running through my head. I can hear Sebastian calling room service for some coffee and I jump in the shower. I am brushing the fangsters when he comes up behind me. There is barely enough room in our small bathroom for me, so it makes for a tight squeeze. He kisses my neck and bare shoulders, and he is about to undo my towel when room service knocks on the door. Sebastian groans making me smile. I love having so much space between us and our family. It is like we live on our own. I have been thinking about that a lot lately. The manse is getting very crowded now that Liam has moved in too.

  After I dress in a bikini and cover up, we are going to go and lay in the sun. I meet Sebastian who has already made my coffee for me. After we discuss Aidan’s new plans for searching today we take a moment.

  “Hasn’t this been nice? The privacy, I mean,” I say hesitantly.

  “Yes, cherie. I have been thinking about it, a lot.”

  “Me too! It’s getting so crowded at home.”

  “I know. I don’t know what the others would say. I would miss them terribly. I have lived with Helena and Julian for almost 300 years.”

  “What about something next door or across the street?”

  “Everything is unavailable. But perhaps for the right price. We can look into it. I have decided I don’t like sharing you. I like to be able to do what I like to you and not worry about how much noise we make,” he says with a wicked look in his eyes.

  “Thank God the noise from the engines covers up most of the noise we have been making on this trip.” Sebastian arches his eyebrows. “We haven’t had any complaints have we?”

  “Not so far. This is the honeymoon suite. They keep it away from the others for a reason.” He winks. “Did I tell you that you look gorgeous in this swimming suit? Much too sexy for the public eye. We might have to stay in and explore other options.”

  “Bast, the last suit you said that about ended up in tatters. I had to get another one. Don’t look at me that way. Drink your tea.”

  There is a knock on our door. Andrew, Liam, Hannah and Diel arrive. Bast meets my eyes from behind them. I smile – delayed gratification, again.

  “These two are as bad as you guys. I heard them all night, thrashing around in their room! Oh Liam, Oh Andrew! Oh my God!” Hannah says.

  Sebastian roars with laughter.

  “I told you it would be payback time when I was a vampire, so deal with it,” Andrew says. He gives Hannah a hug taking the sting out of his comment. He’s always adored her.

  “Well, I’m embarrassed,” Liam says.

  “Don’t be, Liam, I gave up on it. As Helena says, there’s nothing wrong with a healthy sex life,” I say.

  “I heard my name,” Helena says from the inside of the door. She is holding Fiona.

  “Come in, please,” I raise my voice so she can hear me over the noise in our room.

  Julian, holding Finn, and Helena and her bundle of baby make it a tight squeeze.

  “I was just telling Hannah that it’s good that Liam and Andrew have a healthy sex life.”

  “Well that’s something I wouldn’t know anything about,” Hannah mumbles.

  “You have twins. Your sex life is over,” Aidan says when he pops in.

  Now the room is positively stifling.

  “Let’s go out on deck,” Sebastian suggests. Considerable shifting occurs as people pass each other.

  We extricate ourselves and claim our chairs from the many arranged around the deck. More shifting as everyone finds a comfortable position to recline. Vampires don’t have to worry about the sun. It’s a myth, more of the misinformation out there. But no amount of sun will tan our alabaster skin. The babies have their own furniture shaded by huge umbrellas and guarded by Hades the incarnation of Peter Pan’s Nanna. The yacht doesn’t have a pool on board but when we dock in warmer waters we will take advantage of the swimming.

  “Everyone in our room just now, proves our earlier conversation, ma petite,” Sebastian whispers.

  “I know, I was thinking the same thing. Let’s talk about it later,” I say glancing at Helena who is staring at us intently.

  It will break her heart if we move out. Raising Liam and Andrew will help. They are so newly bitten that they take a lot of care and time. If Bast and I could find a place across the street or next door, it would truly be perfect. The Blvediks’ home would be my choice. It has an indoor pool and is authentically Art Deco Style, my favorite. The mansion we share with our family is Italian Baroque and beautiful but Art Deco is more me. It is also smaller, which is perfect for Sebastian and me. The Blvediks are an old couple and don’t have any children. We might be able to talk them into selling for the right price. I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

  I look over and smile at Sebastian and he takes my hand. He looks like he has been doing some calculating in his own head.

  I whisper, “The Blvediks’?”

  His chiseled face softens into a grin and he nods. He must be thinking the same thing I am. Excellent.

  “I am going to call my lawyer at the next port, cherie,” he whispers back.

  I smile and then sigh, laying back against my chair to relax in the sunlight. I feel like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders. I didn’t realize how much this has been bothering me.

  So many of our plans, and our life, have been in limbo as we follow Manda’s trail. Other than the wedding plans – which have been mostly subterfuge – thoughts of moving are the first time I’ve really considered our future life together. Someday. I feel the fury at Zoe’s cruelty flare to full flame. I know Hannah and I have to tell Aidan about the vamp fights soon. I’m not sure how to approach it. Maybe at the wedding. It will give me a chance to question King Basilio. I’m not sure he’ll talk to me but I have nothing to lose by trying.

  Helena gives us that look again. With our heightened senses, she can probably hear everything Sebastian and I just said. She is definitely sharp enough to put it all together. I feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. She stares. Finally, she comes over to us.

  “Both of you come with me. Now, please,” she says.

  Sebastian and I look at each other. Helena never talks like this unless she is upset. She leads us along the deck, the farthest we can go without alerting everyone else. This way we can talk and they can’t hear us.

  “I’ll have a martini, a strawberry daiquiri for her and a cognac for the gentleman, please,” Helena tells the bartender.

  We sit down at the bar and Sebastian takes my hand. Helena waits until we get our drinks. The suspense is killing me.

  “Well, I knew it would happen one day. I have to admit, it is getting to be a tight squeeze at home,” she says, with a sigh.

  “You’re not sad?” I ask.

  “Of course I am. But not as broken hearted as you might think. You are thinking of the Blvediks’ house?”

  “Yes,” we both answer.

  “You won’t be able to buy it. They don’t own it and the owner won’t sell it to you.”

  “Why not? Who owns it? I am sure with enough money we can negotiate something?” Sebastian says.


  “Nope.”

  Helena takes a drink of her martini and grins mischievously at us.

  “I bought the house sixty-five years ago just in case something like this happened. I knew I couldn’t stand to be parted from either of you and had hoped that being next door would give you enough privacy.” She is having a good laugh.

  Bast and I sit with our mouths open. What do you say to that? I swear the woman is omniscient. How could she have known Sebastian and I would end up together?

  “Helena, you said you wouldn’t sell it to us?”

  “That’s right, it’s a wedding present. One I was hoping I wouldn’t have to give you, but all the same, one that I am happy to give.”

  “It’s too much, ‘Lena,” Sebastian sputters.

  He is not used to receiving large gifts. This will be good for him. I can tell Helena is not in the mood to negotiate with Bast.

  “I bought it for almost nothing, dear heart. You can think of it like a godparent buying a savings bond for their godchild. It’s become a good investment for you. I always intended it for you and Lily. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. I had hoped that you would become a couple and I am so happy that is how it has worked.”

  “What happens to the Blvediks?” I ask.

  “They told me a few months ago that they planned on moving out this spring to a retirement village in Florida. I will just offer to pay them a little bonus to move earlier. I’ll call them at the next port and explain the situation. I am sure if I pay their moving and whatever they need they will be amenable.”

  “I don’t know what to say except thank you, Helena.” I reach over and give her a tight hug.

  Sebastian hugs her and kisses her on the cheek.

  “Does Julian know about this?” Sebastian asks.

  “Yes and no. He knows I bought the house next door for an investment, but doesn’t have a clue why. It is going to be hard on him. He might have to leave his library once in a while,” Helena says laughing.