She picked up her cane and grabbed a bottle of 150 year old scotch off the table. “Thanks boys, have a good evening.”
“Did she just take that scotch with her?” Mike asked as we all watched the doors close on her.
“It was her payment. She was rich before she became a vampire. She’s even richer now, she doesn’t need the money.”
“What did she mean when she told you that you knew better?”
“Only that there’s obviously going to be interest in you. The vampires might be interested too if they knew. You’re a novelty and an unknown. That tends to cause nerves. We’ve got a tentative balance going. Nobody likes when the balance of power shifts. Asking her to come here puts her in the uncomfortable position of withholding information from her kind.”
“Oh my god! Why would you even have her come then? I don’t want vampires after me too!” That was the last thing I needed. I don’t even know which was worse, crazy Drauths, or curious vampires who didn’t like the unknown. At least the Drauths wanted me alive, the vampires might just kill me with no chance to fight another day.
“Relax, she won’t say a word. She’d never cross me.”
I believed him, not that I had a choice now. I guess I’d just hope everything worked out okay. That’s all I seemed to be doing anymore. Sitting in this bar, day after day, just hoping everything would work out okay. It was getting old quickly.
Chapter Twenty
“Come on Lex! Concentrate!”
“Mike, I’m sorry, but it’s not happening.” I collapsed a sweaty mess onto the exercise mat. We’d been sparring for hours, and not even a flicker of super strength, or any kind of super anything had shown itself. “I’m not sure about this changing Mike, I know Magda said it was starting and the other night with Caden, but I feel nothing, less than nothing. I feel like a limp, weak jelly fish right now. Maybe it was a fluke.”
He collapsed next to me on the mat. “Nah, it’s happening, you heard Magda. This is how it happened for me too. I was just trying to rush you. I was hoping if you changed and got stronger it would be easier. I wouldn’t have to worry so much.”
“Worry about me?”
“Yeah, getting hurt. You know, if there’s an incident. You’ll be tougher once you change. Plus then we can start having fun.”
I was touched that he worried for me.
“How exactly did it happen for you?” I asked. I was always hesitating to ask the question before now. I wasn’t sure how personal of a subject it was, but it seemed the perfect opportunity and the curiosity was killing me.
“I was twenty-eight and working on a tobacco farm in Virginia as an indentured servant when it happened. It started slow. It took about four months before I totally changed. It was scary as shit, I had no idea what was happening. I was afraid to tell anyone. Back then, if something weird happened, you kept it to yourself unless you wanted to be swinging from an oak. People got real weird back then. About five months after it started Caden found me. He said he had sensed my energy. My life had been a hard one, so when he offered to take me with him I jumped at the chance.”
“Do you know who your parents are?”
“My mother died in child birth. My human father died young as well. It was a tough life back then. Not many of us lived that long.”
“Do you know the demon that changed you?”
“My demon father? No.”
“But Tamara is your niece so you have some family.”
“She’s not my blood niece. I found her in a crack den, with her mother dead from an overdose, when she was five. It was either us or the foster system. I just didn’t have the heart to put her into the system after what she had already gone through.”
Tamara was an orphan; didn’t I feel like the biggest heel?
“So, what’s the deal with her and Caden?”
“You mean?” He wiggled his eyebrows and I knew he understood what I was asking.
“Yes.”
“She’s had a puppy crush on him forever. Even when she was a young girl, she’d follow him around everywhere. He’s always doted on her but he wouldn’t go there. Once she moved out on her own, I’m not so sure if something hasn’t happened. I try to stay out of it. They are both adults.”
“She’s gorgeous and he’s obviously attracted to her,” I asked before I realized I might be prying too much for it to be strictly curiosity.
“Really?”
He had a knowing look on his face, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to convince him differently now that he decided I was interested. “Really, I was just curious.”
“Sure you are.” He leaned his head back down on his crossed arms as we both stared up at the ceiling. “Okay, I’ll just appease your curiosity then, for conversations sake. He seems to gravitate towards older, more experienced women. He never goes for the innocents and definitely not mortal innocents, which is why I can’t quite peg what’s going on with him and Tamara for sure. He’ll date younger women once in a while as long as they are utterly jaded and far past the goo goo eye stage. Sometimes they get the goo goo eyes anyway, but I guess that can’t be helped. Forget about any type of commitment. Wants nothing to do with it.”
“Do you know why?”
“Not sure. I do know personally, it’s very hard to become attached when sooner or later you just watch them get sick and die.”
“What about Dave and Diane?”
“Dave never dated a human before her. It wasn’t planned, I know that for sure. Sometimes it just happens. I think there are other reasons for Caden though. There are options other than mortals, why he doesn’t date them? I don’t know. It’s not something he talks about.”
I stood up to leave, even though I wasn’t looking for a relationship with Caden, what I was hearing bothered me. “Thanks Mike. I’ll catch you later.”
“Okay Lex, see ya later.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I had to go meet Amanda at Tony’s today, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out without anyone seeing me leave. I couldn’t explain having a two hundred pound plus shadow without causing a total panic with my friends. It would really blow my “everything is ok,” line.
I hopped in the shower. I was excited to just leave the building on my own. Amanda had called yesterday to tell me Gilly was going to meet us there too. I knew she must be worried as well. The three of us usually talked a few times a week before I’d completely fallen off the grid.
Throwing on a really cute charcoal grey sweater dress that ended about mid thigh and black wedge heeled boots that came up right below my knees. I blew out my hair, and put on some make up, and actually felt attractive again. Now, to leave the building without anyone seeing me, that was going to be the biggie.
I opened my bedroom door and instantly heard Tamara’s voice.
“Why is she staying here?” Her tone was that of a possessive female. Whatever had went down between her and Caden, she felt ownership.
“Why she’s here is none of your business,” Caden said. He was speaking in a distinctly different manner than last night. It was clear they were discussing me. I wonder if you get bad kharma for being happy when two people had a fight?
“She could have stayed in the empty apartment upstairs.”
Hmmmm, that was a good point she just made. I didn’t even know there was an empty apartment. Why aren’t I staying there?
“Because I want her down here. I’m done with this discussion Tamara.”
“You want her don’t you!”
“My relationship with Lex isn’t romantic. It’s business.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said slightly more heated. Tamara sounded like she was about to crack.
“Tamara, we are not together.”
“What about that night?”
“It was a mistake. We talked about this, and I thought you accepted that.”
“You liked being with me! Admit it!”
Uh oh, she was going to blow any minute now.
; “It was an unusual circumstance that you took advantage of. You know it never would have happened normally.”
Wow, so he did sleep with her. I wonder how it had gone down. As much as I wanted to hear the rest of this, I knew I had to leave. It was pure torture walking away. As guilty as I probably should feel, listening to them fight was almost like being a kid again on Christmas morning.
I headed upstairs and luckily, I heard no one. I knew where they kept spare keys and grabbed one so I could let myself back in. Getting out was easy, as the doors always opened out, but you couldn’t get back in. It was so quiet it made me suspicious, and I took the extra minute to scope things out in the big front windows, but I saw nothing. I hadn’t spotted one of Carl’s guys lurking around for about the last week. Maybe they were taking a break. Maybe they had something bigger and badder to deal with than little old me right now.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I head Mike whispering an inch away from my ear. Goddamn they were quiet!
“Where are you going?”
“I have to go meet my friends. Please don’t tell Caden.” I looked up at him with the most sad and pathetic stare I could muster up.
He stood there for a moment stewing over his decision. “Okay, I won’t tell Caden, but I’m going with you.”
“Mike, it’s not that I don’t love hanging out with you, but it will look funny. I’m meeting them because they are worried about me. I don’t want to freak them out.”
“I can’t let you go by yourself. Caden will. Kick. My. Ass.” He threw his hands up in the air, accentuating that in his opinion, he had no choice.
Looking at his face, I could see the determination. I looked to the door and then back to him and he just shook his head. With him or not at all, those were my options. I’d have to take him, I would just have to do damage control.
“Fine, but could you sit at the counter or something? Just act like you don’t know me. I don’t want to deal with the questions. They’d be completely freaked out.”
“No prob. I agree with not telling your friends. I’ve tried it a couple of times. It really doesn’t go over so hot,” he said this last part with a bit of a grimace.
“Yeah, I was kind of afraid of that. Do you want to go grab a jacket? I gotta go.”
“Nope, all good. Cold doesn’t bother us. You’ll see soon. I just wear them for show or because I like how one looks.”
We left the bar, and I walked a couple steps in front of him. When we approached the luncheonette, I smiled and mouthed a thank you back to him as I went in alone. He strolled in a few minutes after me allowing me plenty of space. Gilly and Amanda were sitting at a booth in the corner waiting for me.
“I love this! Where did you get it?” Gilly asked looking at my dress.
“Thanks! I ordered it online from BeBe.”
“So, now, what’s the deal?” Amanda, not caring a smidge about the dress, cut right to the chase.
I sat down next to Gilly, facing Amanda, knowing she was the one I’d have to convince that everything was fine. If I sold her, Gilly would believe it as well.
“I don’t want the two of you to freak out okay?” I looked at both of them and made them agree before I spoke. I just had to decide how much of the truth to give. I didn’t want to lie. These were my friends. I loved and trusted them. I just didn’t want to get them involved in something that was much bigger and uglier than either of them could handle. I couldn’t handle it and I wish someone had been able to spare me this living nightmare.
“I seem to have gotten myself a stalker.”
“Oh my god!” Gilly exclaimed.
“I’ll kill him!” Amanda threatened. “Who is he?”
“I’m not sure.” Into the grey zone I went. I did know who, but did I really? I didn’t know his last name, or a lot of other details, so it wasn’t quite lying, was it? I realized I was going to have to do quite a bit of rationalizing today.
“Well, what happened?” Amanda asked.
“He attacked me outside my apartment after the Saturday we went out. Luckily, a neighbor saw everything and called the cops. I went and stayed with Julie from the florist shop that night. When I went back to my place the next day, there was evidence of a break in. So they told me that maybe I should go stay with family while they look into it.” While I waited to see their reaction, I mentally calculated what percentage of what I had just said really qualified as a lie.
“That’s horrible! Why didn’t you call us? You should have came and stayed with me.” Gilly sat there shaking her head.
“Yes, I can’t believe you didn’t come and stay with me or call me?” Amanda chimed in.
They were both looking at me with obviously hurt feelings. Being quick on my feet with responses had never been a strong suit of mine. I’ve always been better at brewing it over for a day or so and then thinking of the perfect comeback just a bit too late. I should have been prepared for these questions.
“I’m sorry, it wasn’t thought out. I just went back to Julie’s afterward since I had already stayed there. I didn’t want to alarm anyone. Everything is fine though. I got a suite at the Wiltshire now and I’m taking a leave from work for a while. I’m going to go visit my parents for a couple weeks, take a mini vacation and it should be over with by time I get back.” It fell flat, I knew it, and Amanda was eye balling me as if she knew it as well. Gilly, seemed to decide to believe it but that wasn’t that surprising. She was the optimist of the group. If she could find a reason to see a rosy outcome, she’d grab it and run, no questions asked.
Plus, Gilly was now becoming too distracted eyeing up Mike at the counter.
“Look at that guy at the counter. He’s hot.”
I already knew it was Mike. I turned to look just so she would leave it be, and of course I caught him in the act of egging her on, giving her a flirty smile. As much as I wanted to smack him, I couldn’t help laughing. It was obvious he thought it was funny to mess with me through her.
“Why are you laughing? He’s hot, don’t you think?” Gilly asked.
“Oh yeah, he definitely is.”
“Talking about men, Mark said his client Carl was asking about you. Any interest?” Amanda asked.
“Nah, I don’t have the time right now for anyone. Maybe when I get back from my parents, but he really wasn’t my type,” I said playing the game. I knew Carl wanted that to get back to me. He wanted me to know that he had access to my closest friends and that nowhere was safe.
“He’s a little too bull dog looking for you, right?” I just nodded my head in agreement.
“Do you need me to come by and water your plants while you’re gone?” Amanda offered.
“I brought them over to Julie’s.” Lie, lie, lie. What a liar this was turning me into I thought sadly. What else could I do? Tell her the pots were smashed into a million pieces? That my beautiful African Violets had been ground into a mangled mess? That there hadn’t been a single leaf that was salvageable.
We spent another hour chatting, and they both seemed relaxed by time we finished. Even Amanda’s antenna seemed to be down, which was definitely a good thing. She was too close to the situation. After I figured out how to get out of this, I would have to fill her in. No good could come from a close association to Carl. However, for right now, she was safer in ignorance. I just prayed that Mark was as ignorant. If Mark was involved with these people, it would crush her.
We signaled for a check, and I was just laying the tip on the table thinking I had at least calmed down of one situation in my life, when Carl and two of his men walked in. I quickly glanced to the counter. Mike was on his feet at full attention, waiting. They wouldn’t do anything in here, not with so many witnesses. It didn’t matter how many cops they could pay off, there was a limit in this day and age with the technology around. Actions could be recorded and uploaded to YouTube in a matter of minutes. No. They wouldn’t chance it here, I told myself.
“Hi Carl! You guys come here too?” Amanda greeted the
m in cheerful ignorance.
“Love the coffee.” He smiled at Amanda and Gilly and then looked at me with that same smile, like nothing was out of place. His friend stepped ahead and walked over toward the counter, I guess in the pretense of ordering something. I watched him as he walked right next to Mike, clearly crowded him. Mike didn’t give an inch. He didn’t look like Mike anymore, either. He looked like a hard ass now. I saw Mike punch something into his phone. I could only guess it was to get back up. Yes, the other guys would come, and I just needed to stall for time.
“You remember my friends?” Amanda asked Carl.
“Of course I do! It’s great to see you girls again.” Carl turned to the other thug standing next to him. “Hey Ted, go help George carry the coffee, will yah?” George smiled at Carl and walked to the counter.
I knew they were cornering Mike. I turned to watch the other guy close in on Mike from the other side now, sandwiching him. Having a hard time turning my gaze from my friend in need, I saw George pull out a syringe and press it into Mike’s back. It was a quick motion. Barely seen before it was hidden in the folds of where the guy’s trench ended and Mike’s clothes began. I knew the needle’s point was sticking him by the further tensing in his body. My brain barely registered Amanda saying goodbye and grabbing my arm to leave. I turned to look at Carl. I was praying for a burst of that super strength so I could punch him right in his ugly smug face.
“Lex, let me give you a ride back to your place.” He looked over to Mike and his thugs with his eyes and back at me. I knew what it meant. I go with him quietly, or Mike got a syringe full of who knew what. Would they kill Mike right here in the diner? I couldn’t take the chance.
Obsidian Souls (Soul Series) Page 12
