“Are you going to tell me where we are headed?” I asked, trying to sound more put together than I felt.
“You’ll see soon enough. Did you enjoy your day?” He smiled as he helped me slip into an expensive, über-soft coat.
“I did….Once the stripping, plucking, and waxing was over, the soaking and massaging took place. It was something I never thought I’d get any pleasure from, but it was pretty great. Thank you.” A frown creased my brow. “I don’t have anything for you though….I didn’t even realize it was Valentine’s Day.” Soren’s hand gripped my chin softly as he tipped it back to look into my eyes.
“You being here with me is all I’ll ever need.” His lips made sure I knew he meant what he said and then some. He broke away from the kiss and chuckled softly under his breath. “Let’s get going, little warper, before I change my mind and keep you all to myself tonight. I’m not sure I want anyone seeing you looking so delectable anyway.”
I grinned and rolled my eyes dismissively, but I couldn’t help the giddiness his words evoked in me. He found me “delectable.” The stupid grin painted on my face stayed in place all the way to our destination.
When we pulled up to the building, I knew it seemed familiar somehow, and a sense of déjà vu washed over me, along with an immediate sense of dread. I gripped the hand that helped me out of the car as Soren came around to toss his keys to the valet. As I waited for Soren, it finally dawned on me why the place seemed so familiar—it used to be the home of one Mrs. Sebast, who had thrown some of the most luxurious parties back in 1904. Her invitations had been a coveted commodity. I stood there in front of the mansion-turned-five-star restaurant and gulped back a flood of emotions the sudden flash of memories surfaced.
“Sage?” I glanced over into Soren’s worried face and could tell he had probably said my name several times. “This was a bad idea. I’m sorry. I just thought of this as being the first place we met….” I reached out and softly cupped his cheek.
“It’s perfect. I just wasn’t expecting it; that’s all. I’ll be fine.” I smiled and wound my arm through his as the valet sped away in the Aston Martin.
“You’re sure?” he asked one more time.
“I’m positive,” I answered with a wide smile, even though the sense of dread hadn’t lessened in the slightest.
We were shown to a private table that overlooked a beautiful, small garden strung in twinkling white lights. It was the very same garden I had met Soren in over a hundred years in the past. A shiver raised gooseflesh on my arms. As our food was brought out and our conversation flowed flawlessly, I found myself relaxing and enjoying the evening with Soren. I wrote off my earlier apprehension as nothing more than shock and concentrated on enjoying every second of the magical date Soren had planned out to perfection. Soren stood after we’d shared a delicious lemon tart with a raspberry sauce drizzled on top and made a small gesture with his hand. My brow shot up…what was he up to now?
“Sage, will you honor me with a dance?” He bowed slightly at the waist and held a hand out as the sounds of live symphony music began to drift over from the veranda. My breath caught in my throat as I placed my hand in his and he twirled me expertly onto the dance floor and into a romantic, old-fashioned waltz. We had danced like this before—back when we were only pretending to be lovers in another time entirely. The surprised gasps and applause from the spectators who were still enjoying their fancy Valentine’s dinner all faded to a hazy backdrop as I got caught up in the beauty of Soren’s eyes and the hypnotic sway of the dance. My dress flowed sensuously around my legs as I was guided around the dance floor by Soren’s warm, reassuring hand splayed low on my back.
Another titter of surprised exclamation and applause ran through the tables surrounding the dance floor, and I was immediately aware that another couple had joined us in our waltz. I smiled up at Soren and caught a shocked look in his eyes and felt the muscles of his arm tense beneath my hand. What in the world? A flash of red skirts flitted in my peripheral vision as the other couple danced close by us before twirling away once again but not before the unmistakable scent of honey and spices drifted all around me, scattering any coherent thoughts I had to the four corners of the earth. My vision narrowed in on a single spot of Soren’s suit. I was afraid to lift my eyes to Soren’s—afraid of what I’d find there—but like an uncontrollable twitch, I found I couldn’t stop myself. So many emotions crossed his face before he slammed his cold vampire mask into place. Anger, pain, love, and regret all swirled in that single, swift moment. I was scared to death to find out what it all meant….I knew when the dance ended, everything would change.
We stopped in the center of the dance floor, unable to tear our eyes away from each other as applause echoed from all around the room. I grabbed Soren’s pristine lapels and begged him with my eyes to tell me whatever it was that needed to be said before it was too late.
“Sage…” Whatever he had been about to say was cut off by the sound of feminine laughter coming from directly behind me. Soren’s entire body stiffened and his grip on my arms tightened as if he wished he could keep me from turning around, keep me from whatever it was that was about to rock my already unstable world.
“It’s been far too long, Soren. What has it been now? Forty? Fifty years?” Her voice came out in a purr, and her scent surrounded me, surfacing long-buried memories and feelings.
“Not long enough, Milena,” Soren said through gritted teeth. Milena…Milena….Milena. Where had I heard that name before?
“And I see you’ve found our little warper. You didn’t waste any time.” I heard the sneer in her voice, and my back stiffened in response. I began to turn around, but Soren’s hand still held me tightly in place. I cleared my throat and raised a brow. He reluctantly let me go, but not before I saw a look of panic quickly flash in his eyes. I instantly recognized the elegant woman in front of me. She was still runway-model beautiful with straight espresso-colored hair, curves in all the right places, and striking blue eyes. I knew back in 1904 that she wasn’t human, but I still didn’t know exactly what she was.
“Milena. I hope you haven’t been sacrificing small children to hold the wrinkles at bay. You don’t look a day over thirty,” I said with a smirk. Honestly, she didn’t look a day over twenty, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Her smile only slipped a fraction before it split into a grin that did absolutely nothing to reassure my mind of the safety of little children everywhere.
“Well, it’s been delightful, I’m sure,” she said silkily. “But, we better be going. It is, after all, St. Valentine’s Day.” It was then that I noticed her hand resting on the arm of a man standing close by her side…his face was turned away from me, though, and all I could see was the left side. His jaw was clenched so hard I could see the muscle there twitch from the force of it. Milena noticed me studying her dance partner, and her smile took on an entirely new level of maliciousness. Her eyes lit up like she was about to receive the best present of her very long life. I swallowed, my throat suddenly parched. The gleam in her eye was unsettling.
“How rude of me,” she said. “Sage, you’ve met Aldwin before, right?” A hiss erupted from the vampire behind me as I stood there trying to understand what she had just said and to overcome the punch that had landed in my gut.
“Aldwin?” I barely whispered the name as Milena’s dance partner turned his glacial stare in my direction. The ringing in my ears nearly deafened me, but all I could do was stare at the man standing in front of me, sure he was a ghost or someone’s idea of a sick joke. I could feel a rumble from behind me and see that Milena’s mouth was moving as Milena and Soren exchanged words, but it all sounded like jibberish to my ears. I wasn’t able to take a breath of air. The mammoth-sized weight on my chest prevented it. Fuzziness wanted to take over. Grayness quickly moved in on my vision, but I shoved it away with nothing but sheer willpower. My powers rushed over me easily than I had ever felt them before. I didn’t move. I didn’t hold out a hand. I hadn�
��t even blinked, but the whole room succumbed to my warper entrancement with just a thought.
The only sound in the room was the loud, uneven thrumming of my heart and the jagged gasps of breath as they left my parted lips. I soaked in every single detail of the features of the man in front of me, the man I had loved and assumed I’d lost. He looked the same as I’d remembered, except there was no warmth in the way that he looked at me. His gaze held contempt and hostility. Milena’s arm was wrapped through his in a possessive manner that spoke familiarity and companionship—maybe even more. I studied Milena and Aldwin side-by-side, frozen in time as they were. They resembled each other, I noted. Not in a “brother-sister” sort of way, but in a “same species” sort of way. My eyelids fluttered closed as I remembered back to the few times I had wondered if there was something other about Aldwin, and the first time I met Milena and how her scent was so similar to Aldwin’s. I should have realized then what I was just coming to figure out. Aldwin was a preternatural—the same kind of creature as Milena. And if I had to guess, I’d have put money on them being fae.
I wondered if he had ever thought of me over the last hundred years—if he’d ever mourned my loss as I had mourned his. Evidently, time had allowed him to move on with his life. He’d know where I was and when I was. All he had to do was come find me. And yet, he hadn’t. Those actions meant more than any words would ever be able to convey. I traced the curve of his cheek with my trembling hand and stretched up to kiss his scarred face as a few rebellious tears slid down my cheeks. By the time I let my hold over the room go I was on the other side of the city, dressed in jeans and a hoodie, searching for thugs to take out my anger on.
I walked alone in the dark for hours, hoping to find some relief to the torment brewing inside of myself. When the rain started, I barely noticed. I just kept walking, unaware of my surroundings. When the events of the night finally hit me full force, it buckled my knees, bringing me to that dark place I had visited a couple times over the past several months. I allowed myself to fall apart. I needed it, and I needed to do it when no one else was around to see it. I gave in to the hurt, the betrayal, the uncertainty of it all. I allowed it all out—everything I’d been tucking away since seeing my past—and it wasn’t pretty. Kneeling on the asphalt under an abandoned bridge somewhere in Charleston with rain still dripping from my hair and my clothing soaked completely through, I shattered into a million painful, jagged pieces.
I slipped into my own bed some hours later, not even sure how I had made it home, but a weight had been lifted off my chest. I was on a mission to find one blond haired, copper eyed, chunk-missing-out-of-his-ear vampire, and by god, I was going to do just that. I fell asleep with a slight grin on my face, counting the different ways I planned to dismember said vampire.
I clutched my head as someone pounded on it without mercy. I swung my pillow, hoping to, I don’t know, kill the person with the feathers? I peeked out from under the arm I’d slung over my eyes and groaned. No one was trying to crack my skull open, but someone was pounding unmercifully on my door—which was pretty much the same thing.
“Hold on a minute, damn you!” I swung the door open and found Soren standing there poised like he was about to kick the door in. Good grief. I turned and huffed back into my apartment to get a pot of coffee started. I was going to need it to deal with the night ahead of me. “We’ll talk after I get a shower and a cup of coffee in me….just...not yet.” I made a beeline for my bathroom before he could get a single word in.
When I returned to the living room, Soren was sitting on my thrift-store couch, staring at the book I’d left out on my coffee table the night before. Next to it was a mason jar that held the rose that had been left with the book. It was still just as perfect as it was when I first got it. The look on Soren’s face told me he was not impressed with what he was looking at.
“Where did you get the book?” I jumped, startled by the clipped question.
“It was outside my front door when I got home the day after we saved Matt. I thought at first you had been the one to send it,” I said. I knew that wasn’t the case now. I’d seen Soren’s handwriting and it didn’t match the bold, slashing print on the outside of the package. “Why didn’t you tell me Aldwin was fae, Soren?” I sunk onto the couch next to him.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” he said quietly.
“Not your secret to tell? This isn’t about telling someone’s secret, Soren. When I thought he was dead, I felt hollow inside for months!” I shouted. “I deserved to be told. Why did he stay away? Was it because of Milena?” My heart clenched. Soren’s only answer was a shake of his head. He wouldn’t tell me, even if he knew. I sighed, feeling more weary than ever.
I gestured to the book on the coffee table. “The book is written in a different language...but I think it’s important that I know what it says. Can you read it?” If it were possible, his jaw clenched even tighter and his gaze could have frozen the Devil’s domain.
“There is only one person I know of who can read that book...who is old enough to remember or have studied the language.” I knew instantly who he was thinking of.
“Aldwin,” I whispered. He didn’t have to answer. I knew it in my heart. Aldwin had sent the book to me—and the rose—and we needed him to be able to find out what the book contained. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my heart rate before I had a panic attack.
“Soren?” His gaze softened, and he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear as he pulled me to his chest. “Don’t worry. I’ll set up a meeting with him, but be warned—where Aldwin goes, Milena goes.” I nodded into his shirt and began to breathe easier. I straightened up and met Soren’s eyes. “I need to find the vampire who killed my parents.”
“Absalom,” he said with a scowl.
“Absalom?” I frowned.
“Absalom is the vampire who killed your parents. I knew he was once we saw him in the park the night of your parents’ deaths. I had planned to tell you after...last night.” After what he planned to be the perfect Valentine’s date. I sighed. I hated all of this. I almost wished I was still blissfully unaware. Almost. But all secrets eventually come to light. It’s just a matter of when and how.
“Well, let’s plan a little visit to see ole Abe, shall we?”
I made plans to meet Soren at Club Strange later that night. He was going to make arrangements with Aldwin...and Milena. I was going to try my best to remain cool and business-like. I just wanted to know what the book said, and I wanted to find Absalom and the missing time warper, Colleen. Easier said than done, right? First things first. If I was going to be dealing with my ex and his perfect little fae girlfriend, I was going to look hot as hell while I did it.
You couldn’t go wrong with black, right? Add in that it was leather and fit my body like a glove...well, more than a few eyes swiveled in my direction when I walked through Club Strange later that night. Jorge did a double take and gave me a thumb’s up and a wink as I passed him. I flashed him a wide, appreciative grin.
“Sage?” Matt’s voice brought me to a complete halt. His eyes bugged out of his head as he took in my new look. I tugged nervously on my new shortened locks. Cutting my hair had been a spur of the moment thing, but my new jawline-length cut felt...good. I had on a new pair of black two-inch heeled boots, black leather pants, an emerald green stretchy tank top, and a black leather jacket that hid the dagger strapped to my back. All in all, I felt pretty bad ass. I lifted a brow when Matt still hadn’t said anything.
“You look amazing. How have you been?” I smiled at him. That’s one of the things I loved about Matt—he was always thinking about others.
“I’m doing well. How have you been? Trina around tonight?” His eyes darkened slightly and a scowl formed between his eyebrows. Uh-oh.
“She’s dancing with some jerk who can’t keep his hand off her ass,” he said with more venom than I’d ever heard from him before. I raised a brow and smirked.
“Maybe you should be
dancing with her instead of the jerk,” I said thoughtfully. He scowled even more. I shrugged. “Just a suggestion. Take it from me, Matt. Seize the moment. They go by quicker than you’d expect, and love doesn’t stand still for anyone.”
“Couldn’t have said it any better.” I whipped around. Aldwin’s eyes pierced mine, and I shivered at the intensity they bore. Matt’s hand brushed my arm as he came to stand beside me.
“Matt, this is Aldwin...an old friend.” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Aldwin’s. I don’t know what I expected to find there...answers maybe? Regret or affection? I found none of that though...just weariness and wariness. Luckily, I was able to snap out of it when a hand snaked through Aldwin’s arm and her mocking voice cut through the tension around the three of us.
“Sage, darling. So good to see you again so soon. We were all quite concerned with your little disappearing act last night.” I glanced back up into Aldwin’s eyes and wondered if he’d been concerned in the least. A muscle ticked underneath his blind eye, and I sucked in a sharp breath when memories tried to force themselves on me. I closed my eyes, willing them to that broken part of myself. When I opened my eyes again, I was calm and in control. Milena had a smirk on her face. I smiled at her and scooted forward just enough to enter her personal space.
“Don’t fret over me, Milena. I’ve found that spending time outdoors and taking time to smell the roses does wonders for my equilibrium. You should try it sometime. There is this breathtaking, rare, purple rose that is so beautiful it can put your views of life and love into perspective.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously and my hand whipped out to grab the hilt of my dagger just as Aldwin snatched my arm in mid-air. He stopped me just in time. What in the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t whip out my dagger in a club full of people and run her through—as much as I would’ve liked to. My arm relaxed, and I looked down at the hand still clutching my arm. Aldwin jerked his hand away from me like I’d been made of acid. I glance up and saw a frown creasing his forehead, and the briefest hint of pain and longing flashed through his eyes. I blinked and they were gone just that fast. I’d probably imagined them. Just then, Trina came bouncing up to our group, grinning at Matt and me. Her smile faded, however, when she spotted the two people who were standing with. Her hand rested on Matt’s arm, and she placed herself in front of him in a protective manner. I grinned. But the next thing I knew, the tension grew even thicker.
Relativity (A Sage Hannigan Time Warper Novel #2) Page 10
