I opened the door. Vicki stood there with a number of bags at her feet that looked like they had been packed in a terrible hurry, with shirt sleeves and more sticking out at odd angles. Her makeup had run from crying. She looked like a wreck.
“You okay?” I had to ask.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve come here. I’ll go.”
She started to grab her bags.
“Wait, what’s up? Is something wrong?”
“Erin . . . my EX-roommate and I got into a fight. Her new boyfriend hates shifters. We got into an argument about lycanthropes, and then I let it slip that I was a shifter. Erin was mad that I’d never told her. She knew that I supported the shifter community, she just never knew I was one. . . . Th-th-they threw me out.”
“Well come in. We have room here and you’re always welcome, you know that.”
“I KNOW THAT!!!” she spat back at me. “It’s not like I don’t have anywhere else I can go you know! Ash always has a spare room or two open for her cats! I don’t need your charity!” Vicki screamed a wordless, defiant, feline roar at no one in particular, slamming her fists against her thighs. Then her eyes welled up and threatened to leak more tears. She looked around her, lost and unfocused.
“Do you want to go to Ash’s?” I really did not like seeing Vicki like that.
“No, well – I . . . I-I don’t know what I want.”
I reached around her to give her a hug. She cringed back from my touch as if I was covered in something vile.
Okaaay?!? Didn’t see that one coming. I let my hands drop to her bags. Picking them up I moved away from the door.
“Please come in Vicki. Talk to me for a bit. Then you can decide what you want to do. Okay? Please?” I pleaded with her.
She grabbed her other bags and shuffled into the living room. She collapsed on the closest couch and just stared off out the windows at the snow. Mary came around the corner of the dining room, her smile fell and eyes went wide with questions when she saw Vicki and her luggage in the shape they were in. Never saying a word, she just grabbed the bags and took them to the empty spare room next to the spa.
I sat down next to Vicki. We sat there in silence for a while. I wanted her to speak first.
Mary came back. She had tea for us in the kitchen. Vicki just stood and shuffled into the kitchen without a word. I shrugged my shoulders to Mary and followed Vicki.
What all happened to make her like this?
“I’m going to bed. Wake me if you need anything, and leave the dishes. I’ll clean up in the morning.” Mary left us in the kitchen with one last questioning glance.
Vicki sat there staring into the cup of tea in her hands. She stayed like that while I carefully sipped down two cups of tea. Alright, this is really getting annoying. I opened my mouth to say something and closed it right back again. Vicki was silently crying, tears falling on the table and in her tea.
“Three years. . . . We lived together for three years,” she was whispering. “Next to Serenity, Erin was my best friend. I got her the job she loves. I even found her the guy she always wanted. She never cared about who or what I was, who I did or didn’t sleep with. Never said anything about me being gone each full moon. Didn’t complain when I had others over that she knew were shifters. Then. . . .”
Her hands started to shake. I reached up slowly taking the cup away from her before she dropped it, or crushed it in her trembling hands. Then I got up and fetched her a tissue. She just sat there like she was in shock.
Great, what do I do now?
“Vicki,” I kept my voice soft as I knelt next to her. “Why don’t you stay here tonight. My bed is open, or if you want you can have the spare room. You’ll feel better after some rest. Tomorrow you can decide what you want to do. Just please stay here tonight so I know you’re safe. Please, stay for me?”
I started to touch her a number of times, but after the way she’d cringed away from me at the door I kept my hands to myself. She sat there and cried for a few minutes. Then reluctantly nodded a couple times. Good. I think. I helped her stand, then walk out to the living room. She let go of my hand unceremoniously and meandered for the spare room in a shuffle that almost looked like she was drunk. Not a word was said as she disappeared into the room, closing the door tight behind her.
Well, I guess that’s settled.
I called Charles from my room. After giving him an edited version, he promised not to let Vicki sneak off until she was thinking a little more clearly. Couldn’t have her killing herself driving distraught in the middle of the night in a snowstorm.
After cleaning up for bed I went back to the closet for a pair of shorts and a tank top. I just didn’t feel like going to bed naked for some reason. I was asleep as soon as my hair brushed the pillowcase.
* * *
Noise of the doors opening to my room woke me. I bolted up reaching for the Walther under my pillow before I saw who it was. I blinked at her groggy and confused at the shortness of my sleep. Vicki stood in the doorway hugging a pillow. She was wearing a long-sleeved button-up nightshirt that came to her thighs, and tube socks. The look reminded me of an old Slasher flick about a massacre at a girl’s slumber party. Thankfully, I kept my observation to myself.
“What time is it?” I asked blinking away the sleep.
“After three. Could I . . . could you . . . . W-would you hold me?”
I smiled and tossed back the covers while I scooted to one side of the bed. She hesitated at the door then crossed the room to the bed. Stopping before she climbed in.
“You’re wearing clothes to bed?” she asked like it was the most alien thing in the world to do.
“So are you it appears. Don’t worry about it. Just climb in.”
She got in the bed still hugging her pillow. It took a few seconds to get settled with her in my arms. Her and that sweet smell of raspberries on her skin and in her hair.
I’ve got to ask her about that someday. Is it her shampoo? Or does she always smell this good just because?
After about five minutes she started to cry again. I just hugged her tighter and let her sob herself to sleep.
* * *
The smoke detector roused me with its blaring alarm. By reflex of my new body, I grabbed the gun from under the pillow and rushed out of the bedroom ready for war. White smoke filled the living room like a living curtain. What’s on fire? Using my shields, I filtered out the smoke so I was breathing good air.
These shield powers are very helpful at times. How’d I ever live without them before?
Noises drew me to the kitchen. Inside, against the far wall, Mary and Cassie
stood in the smoke coughing.
“What’s burning?” I shouted over the beeping smoke detector.
“I– I–In. The. Oven!” Mary yelled back between coughs.
I crossed to the oven. Even through my shields I could feel the heat as I grabbed the handle. What’s going on? I opened the oven. Flames jumped alive at me. The cookie sheet had fire covering it. I reached in, grabbing it out of the oven using my shields as an oven mitt. The flames jumped higher with the fresher air.
Charles abruptly burst through the kitchen door like a knight-in-shining-armor coming to the rescue. Well, a knight in a fire-engine-red and brass buttoned long-coat, but close enough. A single sweep of his eyes took in the entire situation. Without a word he reached under the sink, yanking out the fire extinguisher. I held the cookie sheet out for him as he doused the flames. Once the fire was out I put the cookie sheet down on top of the stove. Charles opened the smoke detector with a yank on the cover. He unplugged it and the noise instantly stopped.
“Everyone okay?” he asked as soon as the blaring had ceased.
“F–fine. We’re–Fine,” Mary coughed while trying to wave the smoke out of her face.
“I’m. Sorry, Big–Big Sister. I. Just wanted to surprise–Y–You.” Cassie coughed as she stared at her feet like a child that had just been caught being very naughty.
“What on earth were you doing?” I demanded, absentmindedly trying to fan the smoke out of my vision like the others.
Mary was still coughing in the smoke, “Cassie. Asked me about Christmas traditions. I told her about. Making Christmas cookies and she–she. Wanted. To–to make some. However, I forgot to tell her to set the timer on the oven. It was already burning before we realized it. S–sorry, I never thought about the fire extinguisher.”
“When more than just the smoke detector in the kitchen picked up the smoke, the fire alarm went off downstairs. I rushed up to see that you were all alright.” Charles clarified his presence, even though no one had asked, while he was looking around to make sure nothing else was wrong.
“Thank you Charles. Nothing like starting the day with a little excitement.”
“I opened the patio doors a–and turned on the fans to air out the smoke. So, what got torched?” Vicki came in to the kitchen rubbing her eyes and coughing lightly. She stepped up to the stove and looked at the burnt cookies. It only took a second for the chuckle to turn into roaring laughter from her.
What’s her deal?
She pointed at the cookies. “Look!”
We all looked at the cookie sheet. The little, charred-black snowmen were decorated in white from the fire extinguisher. They looked like little black-and-white snowmen out in the snow. It was cute. Charles was the second to start laughing. The rest of us joined in shortly after.
* * *
Charles left to fetch us another fire extinguisher to replace the one he’d used. I had a feeling that he thought we’d need a new one at any moment because of whatever reckless idea we came up with next. The rest of us changed clothes and got around as we aired out the apartment. We all pitched in to clean up the mess. Then Mary and Cassie started over. They baked more sugar cookies – with the timer turned on for the oven this time – then we all sat down and decorated them.
“You can’t do that,” Cassie was kneeling on the chair at the kitchen table pointing at Vicki’s pile of decorated cookies.
“Why not?” she asked defensively.
“Snow isn’t pink, it’s white,” Cassie declared it as a matter-of-fact.
“These are mine to decorate how I see fit. I think they look better pink.”
I laughed at both of them. They argued back and forth on how to decorate. Vicki started to make bad combinations just to annoy Cassie. Charles soon showed back up with a new fire extinguisher to replace the one from under the sink. Cassie jumped off her chair and ran up to him holding a cookie to him in her hands.
“This is a Thank-You-Cookie. I made it special,” she announced all proud of herself.
“Why thank you Little Miss Grey. It truly is a special cookie coming from you.” He laughed.
That’s so adorably cute, but Charles is a cyborg, do cyborgs eat Christmas cookies? Does he even eat at all?
“Thanks for last night Kieran, and for making me stay. I needed this,” Vicki said to me as she still decorated in weird ways, like giving the snowman six eyes. At least she was smiling again.
“This is refreshing. To be able to sit here with friends and laugh after all that has happened recently, for all of us. Vicki, you know you’re welcome to stay. But, don’t feel pressured. Feel free to crash here for a while and decide what you want to do. I’ll support you no matter what you decide.”
“Why do you have to be so nice to me? Everyone usually turns on me when they find out what I am, but you never seemed bothered by it.”
“Vicki, I am a thirty-four-year-old man in the body of your twenty-four-year-old female ex-lover,” I whispered to her, being careful not to let the others hear me. “After that, nothing really seems weird to me anymore.”
“That’s true. You are weird indeed. Do you still want to go with me to the party tonight?”
“Yes. But I still have to leave early to meet with Ren and Yuric.”
“I understand.”
Cassie laughed as Charles made happy noises as he ate his Thank-You-Cookie. He made it seem like that one cookie was the best and last food on the planet.
I guess cyborgs do eat Christmas cookies after all.
Chapter 15
We spent all day and made enough cookies to share with the building staff and our co-workers and friends. I think we got a little carried away, but hey, it was fun. Mary and Cassie went to deliver cookies as Vicki and I changed for the party.
I was leaving the party to go meet Yuric. So, I didn’t want to be too dressy. But, I needed something better than my regular outfit of jeans and leather jacket. Mary had helped Emmy and I go through my closet earlier. Well, actually they went through my closet and I just watched. They put a number of outfits together and stored them together as one instead of separates. It made it easier for me to pick out outfits that they approved of since I was still not to be trusted with my own wardrobe.
I chose a bronze outfit. The miniskirt was just barely long enough to hide the thigh sheath. The matching jacket covered my guns and sword rig, as long as I didn’t lift my arms above my head. The top under the jacket was a black leather-like bustier. It was tight but didn’t keep me from breathing, and, since it was a formed top I didn’t have to worry about falling out, even though it was strapless. Black calf-high boots with a sensible stacked heel finished off the outfit. With the jacket pockets and the rig on, I didn’t need a purse. Not that I ever carried a purse anyway except to carry my guns when I wasn’t wearing a rig. That was just one of those lines my male mind wouldn’t allow me to cross. Everything I needed fit into pockets and my wallet. A purse just seemed silly to me.
Armed, dressed, and dolled up, I was ready to go. As I opened the door of the bathroom I almost ran over Vicki coming to get me. She had on another backless red dress that obviously didn’t allow her to wear a bra underneath, just as her high-beams were indiscreetly advertising. Her natural stature with the added height of the stiletto heels made her taller than me again. A string of silver garland was wrapped around her neck like a muffler. The Santa hat finished off the look for her.
“I know you have to go to work after, but I thought you would dress a little more festive. We are going to a Christmas party after all.”
“Should I go change?” I asked, suddenly feeling very underdressed.
“No. Here.” She pinned a small cartoon Santa on the lapel of my jacket. “Now, that’s better. Shall we go?”
I nodded to her. If she was willing to accept it I wouldn’t change. She stopped at the couch to pick up her coat. Bending at the waist the way she did flashed a bit of her panties at me. They were red with white markings. It looked like letters.
“Uh, what type of panties are you wearing?”
She shot me a wicked grin. “Dirty boy! Are you trying to look up my skirt? Well here take a good look.”
She reached behind her flipping up the back of her skirt. Her butt was covered in thin red satin with a festive print. Little cartoon reindeer pulled a sleigh filled with gifts up a snow covered hill that spelled out, HO! HO! HO!
“Cute.”
“I thought so.”
I knew she was talking about the panties, but I was actually talking about her ass. But, I kept it to myself, not wanting to ruin the mood, or create another. I didn’t want to make us late, even though deep down all I wanted to do was rip that dress off her and spend the rest of the evening playing with what she was hiding underneath the flimsy satin. We ran into Mary and Cassie at the elevators on our way out.
“More grown up time?” Cassie asked looking between the two of us. Vicki blushed under her gaze. “Why don’t you just move into Big Sister’s room. She likes having you in her bed.”
With that my entire body went red with embarrassment clear to my toes.
“CASSIE!!!” Mary’s voice held the shock we all felt.
“What? Am I wrong? I thought she was Big Sister’s girlfriend-girlfriend.”
Oh man, this is beyond embarrassing!
I knelt in front of her. “Hon
ey, do you know what you mean when you say she is my girlfriend like that?”
“Of course. She is your lover isn’t she? You are having sex aren’t you? Why else would you share a bed without any clothes on and be moaning in each other’s arms? And you’re always kissing and touching each other just like newlyweds. Aren’t you lovers?” This from a seven year old. Embarrassment flushed my cheeks so hard it burned. “I was taught about sexuality before. Big Sister Emmy said that you like girls, and that you used to date Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Marsala. You’re bi-sexual right? Or are you just a lesbian?”
I had to have turned ten more shades red, if it was even possible. So sweet, so innocent, so embarrassing. The kid sure covered ground quickly.
Mary knelt next to Cassie whispering in her ear. “Cassie, those are topics to be discussed in private only.”
“She’s right Cassie. It’s not polite to talk about that openly. Vicki is my girlfriend-girlfriend, but she has her own life too. She should feel free to live where she wants. We can talk about it more when I get back, okay?” I added.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything bad. When will you get back?”
“I have some work to do after the party, so I’ll be late. Most likely past your bedtime . . . which, by the way is at . . . uh . . . nine PM. Don’t wait up for me, and be good for Mary while I’m gone.” Emmy hadn’t mentioned anything about a bedtime, but I thought it was a parental thing to have one for the kid. I’d always had one. I stood up and stepped towards the elevators.
“Wait! You can’t go to work without me! I’m your partner!” She threw her arms around my waist in a deathgrip that threatened to shatter bones.
I scooped her up into my arms. “I know Sweety. I promise you that I’ll come get you if I have to go out anywhere, for backup. I’m just going to go help Ren with some files and stuff,” I fibbed, praying that she couldn’t tell.
“Liar!” she declared looking me straight in the eye. “You’re taking that vampire to Master Yuric for questioning tonight, aren’t you? Please take me with you!” She was begging with those chocolate brown eyes.
Revenge's Web (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter) Page 13
