“I like to live on the edge, Hannah, you know that,” I say dryly.
“Well you certainly do that. What happens now? Can we braid your back and will you breathe heavy?” Diel lets out a deep rumble of a laugh. Too close to my worries to be funny to me.
“Very funny! Julian doesn’t think I’ll get hairy. Other than that we don’t know.” I grab hand sanitizer and slather some on.
“I gotta be here for the next full moon. You guys have way too much fun.”
“This is serious, Hannah,” Sebastian says grimly, not caring for Hannah’s and my teasing.
“Oh, I know. But it’s still more exciting than anything I do,” she says, ignoring Sebastian’s grumpiness. Bad moods don’t scare Hannah.
Aidan and Helena laugh, even Sebastian smiles at her. It’s hard not to smile around Hannah. I’m not going to dwell on what’s going to happen to me until it gets closer to the next moon cycle. There is nothing I can do. Of course, being determined to do one thing means my OCD will drive me to focus on the opposite.
Hades walks over to me and sniffs my hand and then his eyes glow red. To say I’m creeped out is to put it mildly.
“Diel, what did your dog just do?” I ask nervously.
“He seems to have sensed the werewolf in you, Lily. I think he approves.”
Aidan steps up next to me just in case he needs to pop me out of here. He adores the dog but he loves me. I put a gentling hand on Aidan’s. I reach down and pat Hades on his coal black head. He opens his mouth in his typical hell hound grin and drools all over my hand. Aidan lets out a breath and I can feel his body relax next to me. Relieved, I look at the rest of the room.
“I have to work tonight and I want to get all those things I bought yesterday from your flat, Aidan.”
“Do you really think it is wise for you go into work, Cherie?” Sebastian asks casually, but his tone doesn’t fool me.
“I intend to continue to live my life as normally as possible, Bast.” Unconsciously my hand sneaks toward my bite marks, until I realize what I’m doing and jerk it back. “I feel much better. I don’t see why I shouldn’t go to work.”
“I can’t take you to work tonight. I don’t think you should go alone. I’m still training Seth.”
“I can take her to work. I can even sit there with her to make sure nothing happens, if you like, Sebastian,” Aidan offers, staring at Sebastian, enjoying his look of tortured indecision.
Sebastian looks like he is having a difficult time swallowing.
“I would appreciate that, Aidan,” he finally grinds out. “Before you object, Lily, I think it is for your own good. Please don’t argue. Just for tonight. If everything goes well, I won’t push it any further, I promise.”
I count to ten and exhale.
“Okay, just for tonight. No interrupting me at work, Aidan. I mean it.”
“I won’t, Scout’s honor,” he says with a wicked grin.
“You’ve never been a Boy Scout,” I remind him.
He winks.
I know I should be taking some time to adjust and all that but I’m living in denial and loving the view. Besides, my job is precious to me. I can’t just not show up. It would leave them shorthanded and be a giant faux pas.
Aidan and I transmanifest to my work place, in the Haight among all the painted Ladies, right on time. It sure beats taking the bus and the carbon footprint is a zero, making it a win-win all around. When we get to the front door of the Victorian, Aidan changes into a lady bug to match my red and black printed tee shirt. I key code us into our sadly faded Victorian. The owners once upon a time chose sedate greys to paint the building inside and out while the other ‘Ladies’ in the neighborhood are decked out in bright traditional colors. Once inside, I get myself a cup of coffee, with my requisite twelve sugars. I wander down the maze of cubicles. When I settle at my desk, I pull out my arsenal of cleaning supplies.
First my handi-wipes, to clean off the desk and armrests and buttons on the phone. Next comes the Lysol, to spray on my mission control headset. After that I have to use my hand sanitizer because I have touched everything when it was dirty. Ahhh, I feel much better in my new sterile environment. My little ‘pet’ beetle buzzes its wings. I put my headset on and am ready to rock and roll.
First caller is blinking on the buttons and I push it.
“Suicide Prevention, this is Lilith, how can I help you?”
“I’m at my wits end. I’ve got this unusual problem and I don’t think anyone can help me.”
“Why don’t you tell me your name?”
“It’s Bonnie, I don’t have to give my last name do I? This is anonymous, right?”
“Right, your first name is fine, Bonnie. What’s your unusual problem?”
“You’ll just laugh at me, or think I’m a freak.”
“No I won’t. I’m here to listen to you, not judge you.”
Aidan is now nestled up to my ear so he can listen in to the conversation. I shake him off. And mouth the word ‘Private.’ I know he can read my lips. His antennae grow freakishly long—eavesdropper.
“My husband won’t even sleep in the same bed with me anymore. He thinks I’m a freak but he won’t say it.”
“Sometimes people have a hard time adjusting to things. What’s going on Bonnie that has you so upset?”
“I like cat food.”
“Cat food?” I feel Aidan’s little bug body shaking with what I assume to be laughter.
“I knew you’d think I was crazy!”
“No! I don’t think you’re crazy at all. I was just unsure of what you mean by liking it.”
“I like to eat it. Not the soft kind, only the hard, crunchy kind and only one particular brand.”
“That is an unusual problem, but not one that makes you crazy. How long have you been eating cat food?”
“For about a year now. I figured Shaggy has Scooby snacks why can’t a perfectly normal housewife eat cat food? Oohh I know it’s nuts!”
“No, it’s not nuts. It’s unique. What made you start eating it?”
“My cat loves it and I was bored one day and was watching her gobble it up and thought I would try a piece and you know, I liked it. Soon I was grabbing a couple of pieces every time I went by the bag. Before I knew it I was getting handfuls.”
“Let’s talk about your husband.”
“He caught me eating a bowl of it two weeks ago. I had to tell him the whole story. He complained that my breath had changed, fishy, but he hadn’t wanted to offend me. He stopped sleeping in our bed because he said I had cat breath and it freaked him out. He won’t kiss me or make love to me.”
Aidan shakes so hard he falls off my shoulder. He has to fly back up.
“Have you thought about giving up the cat food?”
“That’s just it. I think I am addicted to it. I tried when my husband found out and I haven’t been able to. I’m a mess. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“I think talking to one of our counselors would help. Could you do that?”
“Yes! I would do anything that would help me and save my marriage.”
I look through the computer for available openings with an appropriate volunteer counselor. I find one that is an ex-addict and can get my caller set up with a twelve-step program.
“I have an opening tomorrow at eleven a.m.—will that work for you?”
“Yes.”
I give her directions to the office and wish her the best of luck.
“Aidan, behave,” I whisper. Another red button and another caller on the line.
“Suicide Prevention, this is Lilith, how can I help you?”
“I think I may have done something bad last night.”
“What’s your name, sir?
“Liam.”
“Liam, what do you think you may have done?”
“I don’t want to say, I’ll sound crazy, but I’ve had these days where I black out. I lose track of time completely. I lost my job.” I quickly type as he speaks.
“I was a lawyer, but they thought I was going on a bender when I tried to explain what was happening.”
“Do you drink, Liam?”
“An occasional glass of wine or a beer while I watch a ball game, but never in excess, nothing to cause a blackout. I went to the doctor and they ran all kinds of tests when this first started happening and they couldn’t find anything wrong with my brain though they think there is an anomaly with my blood—which they said shouldn’t affect my behavior. So now I think it must be psychological.”
“Do you want to make an appointment with one of our counselors?”
“No! Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I would rather just talk to you on the phone. I’m scared and I don’t want anyone to know who I am. I’m afraid I may have hurt someone while I blacked out this time. Something happened and I found myself naked in the middle of Chinatown last night, not knowing how I got there and a woman was screaming. I just ran and ran.”
Aidan manifests in my cube.
“You have to get him to tell you where he is. We have to find him. He doesn’t know what’s happened to him. He needs help,” Aidan says. “And we need him. His blood may hold a clue to a cure.”
“Liam, where are you now?”
“My condo. Thank God I had it paid for and I had some money stashed away. I haven’t been able to find another job this last month since I was fired.”
“Liam, I know someone that can help you. No questions asked and they won’t get hurt, but you are going to have to trust me.”
“I don’t think I can do that.”
“What have you got to lose? You are at your wits end it sounds like. This friend of mine is very trustworthy and could come to you tonight.”
I need to convince Liam to come along peacefully as they say. I don’t want to make this traumatic for him.
“You’re right. I have nowhere else to go.” There’s silence. “Fine.”
He gives me his address and I write it down for Aidan. It is in The Castro. Aidan gets it and pops out.
“He will be there in a few seconds. Do you want to stay on the phone until he gets there?”
“Yes, how will he get here so fast?”
“It’s something we’ll have to explain to you tonight. His name is Aidan.”
I could hear a knock in the background.
“That must be him. He’s already at the door. How did you do that?”
“Aidan will explain it all.” Or at least I hope he will.
“Could I talk to Aidan, please, Liam?”
“S-Sure.”
I hear him open the door and exchange greetings with Aidan and then tell him I want to talk to him.
“Lilith?”
“Take him back to the manse and don’t forget that I need a ride home, please.”
“My thoughts exactly and I will be there to pick you up at the front door at the end of your shift, love.”
“Thanks. Ciao.”
The rest of the night I can’t keep my mind on my calls. I keep thinking about Liam and what is happening. Not only is he being told that he’s a werewolf, he’s being introduced to a djinn and vampires too. It’s bound to be overwhelming. If it gets to be too much, I know Helena or Aidan will mesmerize him and calm him down.
After my shift ends, true to his word, Aidan is waiting for me just outside the door as I leave the building. He gives me a kiss on the cheek and then another quick one on the lips. I give a repressive look. He has a wicked grin like he knows the second one is over the line and he doesn’t care. Aidan puts his arms around me to shield me from the cold night air.
“How is it going with Liam? I have been dying with curiosity.”
“He is holding up amazingly well. I keep waiting for him to try and run for it, but he hasn’t yet. It seems he knows Andrew through a friend and that helped smooth things over somewhat,” Aidan says while he rubs my back to keep me warm. His chest is hard and beautiful and radiates heat all by itself. It is sure sending heat waves through me.
“We shouldn’t be standing like this, Aidan.”
“Sebastian is at the manse helping with Liam,” he says nuzzling my neck.
He breathes warm air on my ear and then my neck and follows with tiny nibble-kisses.
“Aidan! What has gotten into you tonight?”
“You. You have gotten into me. Listening to you help people. I love that about you. You have worked your way into my soul, Lilith, and I can’t help myself. Do you know how hard it is for me to be around you and Sebastian and not be the one holding you? Do you know how much I wanted to be the one taking care of you last night? It kills part of me every time he touches you. It’s almost enough to abandon this human form but you’ve enthralled me as much as any binding ever has. But this binding is a sweet madness that I choose.”
He pulls me closer and kisses me. His tongue runs across my lips and I pull away from him. He releases me and runs his hands through his hair. Leaning down, hands resting on his knees, he takes some deeps breaths. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold my resolve in. Aidan is so very tempting, but Sebastian is my love and life now. Isn’t he?
“Fuck, I want to make love to you right now. We could run away…”
“No, Aidan.”
“I know. But that was a damn good kiss wasn’t it?”
I laugh melting the tension and we transmanifest to the manse.
All the lights in the house are blazing at two in the morning, reasonable since that is the time vampires live large. We land outside, which is good because I am still wrapped in Aidan’s arms. It gives us a chance to become more presentable. I straighten my tee shirt and my hair and we walk in the door. Sebastian hears us and comes out the door of the library to greet us.
“What took you so long? I’ve been worried,” Sebastian asks ever observant, bordering on hovering.
“I just asked Aidan to fill me in on what had happened while I was at work and I was filling out some paper work, nothing major.”
Sebastian gives me the once over, as if he could spot jinni fingerprints. His eyes focus on my lips but he doesn’t comment. He glares at Aidan but that could be on general principle. “Come introduce yourself, Lily. He is anxious to meet you.”
We find everyone in the library. Liam rises to meet us. He pushes back dark hair, un-parted and a little long, and it immediately slips down on his forehead—a losing battle. The firelight accents his high cheek bones. His slight frame is well muscled and he is average height, about five foot ten. He smiles tentatively. The expression in his almond shaped eyes is haunted. His grooming is as far from bestial as he could get. He smells wonderful.
“I can understand now, why you couldn’t tell me anything over the phone.” He wipes at an invisible spot on his silk tie.
I smile back at him and shake his hand. This is not the slavering beast I was picturing but a young man as confused about his condition as I am—maybe more so, because I have Julian and my friends to support me.
“I’m sorry. This must be overwhelming. It’s not every night you meet a djinn, a vampire, and find out you’re a werewolf.” I take his hands with both of mine. Warm hands, warmer than average I judge. I wonder if my body temp will rise, something I wouldn’t regret.
“I’m the one that is sorry. They told me that I attacked you last night. I remember your hair, but that’s all I remember. I was running pretty fast. I was scared to death. I don’t remember anything about the attack. God help me, I never wanted to hurt anyone,” he says. Eyes so brown they are almost black glisten in the low light of the room.
“I know, Liam. From what I understand, you had no control at all. There is nothing to feel guilty about. What you and I have to do now is figure out what we will do the next full moon.”
“Yes, I refuse to hurt anyone else, or force this madness on anyone.”
“Do you remember how this happened to you? Do you remember getting bit?” Julian asks.
“About three months ago I was attacked while on vacation in New Orleans. It
was very different than what happened between Lily and me though. I was mugged and when he had taken my wallet he looked at my driver’s license. He spoke in French but I heard him say San Francisco. Then he held the gun at me and took my wrist and bit it. It was a nasty bite. It was infected for days. I went to the doctor. It was incredibly painful. It finally healed, about the time of my first blackout.”
“This poses a unique problem for us. A werewolf intentionally bit you and deliberately infected you. Another puzzling thing is he was not in his wolf phase, which poses another dilemma. There is another issue. Lily needs to feed but she can’t go around infecting innocent people. You see?” Julian asks everyone.
“There has to be a cure!” Sebastian says. “I don’t care how much money it takes to find out. Everything I have is at your disposal, Julian, you know that already. Please, find something. She has to eat.”
I sit down, dumbfounded. “I’ve already bit someone.”
“Yes, you fed right after you were attacked,” Aidan says. “But it would have been too soon after the bite you received to have passed the virus along.”
“We have to try to contain this. Keep it from spreading. So far, for sure we know of Liam and Lily. Let’s not worry about what might have happened. I agree with Aidan. The virus hadn’t gotten into her system yet,” Helena says.
“Yes, but Helena, I have to feed. I only have a week before I need to feed again. We have to figure something out,” I say.
“Easy honey, we don’t know if you and Liam are contagious like this other werewolf was. Liam may be but we don’t know if you are since you have extenuating circumstances,” she says meaningfully.
“Liam, would you consent to some tests? I would do them here in the house. I assure you that they would be very discrete. I just want to compare yours and Lily’s blood,” Julian asks.
“I would do anything that would help sort out this mess,” Liam says instantly. “I need to get some rest though. I must have been running for all three days. I’m exhausted. I should probably go home.” Liam yawns.
“We have a guest room here, you can be safe and we’d love to have you. Then we could do the tests in the morning,” Helena says. “That is if you feel comfortable staying here. I would understand if you don’t. Aidan or Sebastian could take you home.”
Sucking Bites (San Francisco Vampires Series #3) Page 6
