Six-thirty had never taken so long to roll around. Despite my flimsy excuse of being at Jackson’s house, Candace called me before ten o’clock, demanding to know exactly what the hell was going on. As I’d feared, my story of a mountain tryst with Lucius wasn’t sitting very well with her.
“You don’t do things like that,” she said in answer to my feeble explanation that he’d basically swept me off my feet. “You are not the type to get ‘swept,’ whatever that’s supposed to mean. I don’t care how much of a blowout you had with your sister.” My friend stopped there, as though realizing that Vanessa and her terrible death must be a very delicate topic of conversation for me, especially since it was easy enough to read between the lines and realize that the two of us had probably parted on bad terms. A sigh, and Candace continued, “Doesn’t a guy with that kind of money have a satellite phone or something?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe he does, for emergencies. The thing is, I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to call anyone.”
“Not even me,” Candace put in, sounded wounded.
Oh, hell. “I knew you were buried at work,” I told her. “I didn’t want to bug you. And honestly, I’d only planned to go away for a day or so. But we were having such a nice time — and it felt so good to be away from everything — that I just sort of let the week pass a lot faster than I’d intended.”
A long pause, and then Candace said, “I’m sorry, Serena — that still doesn’t sound like you at all.”
Of course it didn’t, because, as I’d tried to explain to Lucius, I had never been the sort of person to run off with someone I barely knew, or to basically drop off the face of the planet so I could avoid my problems. I shrugged, even though I knew my friend couldn’t see me. “I guess it all just got to me. Haven’t you ever done anything crazy?”
“Yeah, I stayed with Tyler about three months longer than I should have.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
She huffed out a breath. “Okay, there was that one-night stand in Cabo. About which you are still sworn to secrecy.”
“Of course,” I said. She’d gone on the trip to Cabo San Lucas with several mutual friends from college, but I’d stayed home. Not because I couldn’t afford it, but because at the time I was just twenty and didn’t have full control of my money yet…and my parents absolutely put their collective feet down about me going to Mexico with a group of unchaperoned college sophomores. After I’d heard about what went down on that trip, I was glad that my parents had been so strict. One of the girls had her money and jewelry stolen out of the hotel room, and two of the others almost ended up with alcohol poisoning. Candace had gotten off lucky — all she’d had to do was the walk of shame back to her hotel after spending the night with a guy whose name she couldn’t even remember.
So anyway, my friend wasn’t exactly in a position to give me a lot of grief about losing my head and shacking up with Lucius Montfort for a few days.
“I’m surprised your mother didn’t disown you,” she remarked.
“Oh, she’s still angry with me. But I introduced her to Lucius yesterday at the reception, and I think she likes him.” All right, “like” was probably a strong word. However, since he was handsome, wealthy, and successful, he ticked off all the line items for the type of person my mother considered a good match for her daughter, and that meant she most likely wouldn’t give me too much grief over the disappearing act I’d pulled.
Once again Candace went quiet. Then she asked, “What about Silas?”
Oh, shit. I’d been so preoccupied with making sure everyone believed my relationship with Lucius, I’d completely forgotten that my best friend knew all about Silas. Or rather, she knew I liked him a lot, had kissed him. Things had moved so quickly after the one night he and I spent together, I’d never had the opportunity to tell her that we’d become intimate, but she still knew I had strong feelings for him. And since she knew me, she also knew I wasn’t the fickle type.
“Um, well…that didn’t really work out.”
“Excuse me?” Her voice fairly vibrated with disbelief. “One day you’re telling me he’s the best thing since sliced bread, and the next you’re dropping him for this Lucius guy? That’s also not like you. I mean, it took you months to get over Travis walking out on you.”
“That was different,” I protested. “I’d been seeing Travis for years. We were engaged. I’d only gone out with Silas for dinner and lunch, kissed him a couple of times. We both realized our relationship was…inappropriate…and so he backed off.”
“Was that before or after Lucius Montfort came on the scene?”
“After, of course. I mean….” I broke off there, because she truly had caught me off guard. My family hadn’t known about Silas, and so I hadn’t been forced to explain myself on that issue with them. But Candace? She’d obviously flipped over into full-on lawyer mode. Desperately, I said, “You don’t know what it was like. I realized that Silas wasn’t right for me, and then Lucius came along and….”
“And you got swept off your feet. Yes, you told me that already.” She stopped, and I heard her let out another breath. “There’s something very strange about this, Serena.”
Talk about the understatement of the century. It was almost physically painful not to tell her the truth, but I didn’t dare. Not yet. Knowing Candace, she’d go charging off on a crusade to bring every law enforcement official she knew right down on Lucius Montfort’s head, and I couldn’t let that happen. Not while Silas was his prisoner. Not before I had a concrete plan for getting him safely away.
“I know it sounds crazy. Believe me. But, last time I checked, starting to get involved with someone and then realizing they’re not the person for you isn’t a federal crime. Weren’t you warning me about Silas anyway? Weren’t you worried he was after me for my family’s money or something?”
“Yes, I was,” she replied, sounding defensive. “And I don’t think I was out of line for having those worries. This thing with Lucius, though…something about it doesn’t pass the sniff test.”
Sometimes Candace was just too damn perceptive. I couldn’t tell her she was right, though. I had to pretend I was besotted with the master vampire, although of course she didn’t know anything about his true nature. And she needed to stay blissfully ignorant on that subject.
“Well, I’m sorry that I’m not following some predetermined timeline for how these things are supposed to work,” I said. “Jesus, Candace, I’ve had enough to deal with this week without you taking a dump on me for trying to find a little happiness.”
This time she took so long to reply, I almost thought she’d hung up on me. I even pulled the phone away from my ear to make sure the call was still active. But there was the little green phone icon, though, so I knew she was still there.
Then she said, “I’m sorry, Serena. I know…I know you’re going through a lot. Just…be careful, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
She sounded so contrite that I wanted to burst into tears. I hated myself for having to carry on this charade with her, but I had no choice. Maybe someday I’d come out on the other side of this mess and would be able to tell her the truth. Until then, though, I could only keep up the act.
“It’s all right,” I told her. “I know you’re just trying to look out for me, and I appreciate it. But I do need to get going. I have to leave for my brother’s place in a little bit, and I still haven’t even put my face on.”
A total lie, of course — Lucius wouldn’t be picking me up for hours and hours. I knew I needed to end the phone call, though. If I kept talking to Candace, I worried that I’d really slip up, would make some kind of unrecoverable mistake. I couldn’t take that risk right now, not with Silas’ life on the line.
“Okay,” she said. “Take care. I’ll call you in a few days.”
“Talk to you soon.”
I ended the call then, and set my phone down on the dining room table. For some reason, my heart was beating fast, and my hands shook. Lies upon lies upon lies.
Where would it all end?
As he’d promised, Lucius arrived promptly at six-thirty. He wouldn’t be able to be out and about this early in the very near future — the switch over to Daylight Savings Time was less than a week away. We’d have to adjust our schedule. Then I told myself that I couldn’t let this drag out for longer than a week. One way or another, I’d have to get Silas free of him.
For now, though, I smiled at the vampire master, let him kiss me on the cheek before I locked up the house and followed him out to where the Mercedes with its semivive driver waited in one of the guest parking spaces at my complex. I’d noticed an odd blurry movement behind the blinds in the condo next door as we passed by. Not-Brian, watching his master take me away? Maybe. I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of my neighbor all day, but that wasn’t too surprising. I’d spent the time cleaning my place, getting rid of the dust that had accumulated in my absence. Good thing Lucius had stolen me away on my housekeeper’s off week, or I would have had to explain to Teresa why I hadn’t been there to let her in. Since I was always home, I’d never given her a key.
Lucius asked for my brother’s address, so he might let the driver know where we were going. I provided it, knowing that by doing so I was giving the vampire access to my brother and his home, but I rationalized that particular worry by trying to convince myself Lucius probably could have dug up that information himself if he really wanted to. And yes, Lucius would now be able to freely come and go in my brother’s home because he would have been invited in, but I told myself Lucius had no reason to harm Jackson or his family. Quite the opposite, in fact. The vampire needed my brother’s resources to get the cure for vampirism he so desperately desired.
We headed up to the 210 Freeway and drove east. Lucius laid his hand on mine where it rested on the leather-upholstered seat. His fingers were cold, but by now I was used to that; I didn’t flinch.
“How was your day?” he asked, his tone pleasant.
Was he hoping I would say that I’d spent the entire time pining for him? I wouldn’t go that far, because I knew he probably wouldn’t believe it. “Fine,” I replied. “I did some housework.”
He frowned. “Don’t you have someone who takes care of that for you?”
“Yes, but this wasn’t her week to come in. Things were dusty. It was fine.”
After lifting my hand to his mouth, he kissed my fingers. I made myself smile, even though I wished with all my being that I could pull away. “I don’t want you to work too hard. I would hate to see these lovely fingers roughened with menial tasks.”
“Housework never killed anyone,” I told him. “I didn’t mind doing it. Really, I just dusted and vacuumed and wiped down the countertops. It’s not as if I was on my hands and knees, scrubbing floors or something.” I tilted my head at him and asked, “Who keeps that enormous mansion of yours clean?”
“The semivives, of course,” he replied as he released my hand. “I would not trust any outsiders to do the work. Those who are not on duty guarding the grounds take care of the house. It is an arrangement that works well enough.”
Apparently, because even though the mansion was gloomy and gothic enough for a Hammer horror film, it did seem to be spotlessly clean. “That makes sense.”
He nodded, but I could tell other matters occupied his thoughts, because his gaze moved from me to the lights of the cars we passed on the freeway, and his brows drew together in an abstracted little pucker. “Tell me of your brother, Serena. How best should I present my case to him?”
Was Lucius Montfort actually asking me for advice? From the serious expression he wore, it would seem so. I paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to answer him. While the last thing I wanted was to give him any information that would help his cause, I also needed this interview to go well. Lucius had to think that he had me and my brother on his side. Anything less, and Silas’ life could be in danger.
“Well, he’s a politician, obviously,” I said. “He’s used to reading people. He has good instincts. But, unlike a lot of politicians, he’s a fairly straight shooter. He doesn’t like lies.”
“I should tell him exactly what I am?”
From the skeptical expression Lucius wore, I could tell he wasn’t thrilled by that angle of approach. I actually did understand why he might feel that way, but I didn’t see how we could get around it. “What else can you do? Your whole ‘pitch’ is about using the special antibodies in your blood, isn’t it?”
“True.” He was quiet for a moment, rubbing abstractedly at his chin. Right then, with the dimness inside the car helping to conceal the pallor of his skin, he looked far more human than usual. Or maybe it was something about his aspect, about how he suddenly didn’t seem nearly as sure of himself as he usually was.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” I asked. “To have to reveal what you are, I mean.”
“You are very perceptive.” Once again his hand sought my hand, but this time he only laid his fingers on top of mine, let them rest there gently. “Yes, it is one thing to speak openly of my condition with someone who’s already aware of it, as you were. I have lived this long because I’ve been careful. A reckless vampire is one who won’t see his first century, and I have been on this earth much longer than that. I know I must speak to your brother, because you have seen it is his resources that will end this curse and allow me to once more walk in the light, but….”
“You’ll be fine,” I said, my tone perhaps a little too hearty. “Jackson is an open-minded person.”
“Open-minded enough to believe that I’m a vampire?”
This question was delivered with a curl of the lip, and I couldn’t help smiling slightly. “Well, it is rather a leap of faith. But I’ll be there to back you up.”
“Ah, Serena.” His fingers curled around mine, cool, strong. For some reason, though, I didn’t feel like pulling my hand away. Was it only because he’d just shown me a rare moment of vulnerability? “I do consider you to be a great gift. I am so glad that you were wise enough to abandon your foolish infatuation with Silas Drake.”
What could I do except smile? Of course I hadn’t abandoned Silas — I loved him now more than ever. He had tried to save me. Now I would have to do my best to save him. Lucius didn’t seem to notice my diffidence, thank God.
“We — wouldn’t have worked out in the long run,” I said. “You were right about that. I don’t think I could have handled that kind of life. We didn’t have much in common.”
“But you and I…?”
I leaned my head against his shoulder. The gesture served a dual purpose — it would help to make Lucius think I wanted to be close to him, while at the same time it allowed me to look forward, so he couldn’t see my face.
“All right, on the surface most people would say that a woman in her late twenties from Southern California doesn’t have a lot in common with a centuries-old vampire from…?” I paused there. “Where are you from, anyway?”
I could feel his body shift beneath my cheek, but he answered quickly enough. “I have lived so many places that it doesn’t seem as if I’m from anywhere in particular anymore.”
It figured that he wouldn’t give me a straight answer. He could call me his precious gift and offer me the world…but clearly the world he was offering didn’t include the truth. I knew better than to press him, though. He still wouldn’t give me the answers I wanted, and my insistence would only anger him and probably arouse suspicions I’d done my best to quell.
Letting it alone, I said, “Well, I’m sure that most people would think you and I didn’t have anything in common, either, but we seem to appreciate a lot of the same things. Art, and beautiful antiques, and books. Your library is amazing.”
He passed a hand over my hair. “I am glad you see it that way. I had hoped….” The words trailed off, and he didn’t complete the thought. “At any rate, if we can convince your brother to lend his assistance, then you and I will have a great deal to look forward to.”
“Walks in the sun.”
“And so many other things.” His arm tightened around me, and we rode the rest of the way to my brother’s house in silence, all our thoughts focused on the future.
I had a feeling the future I imagined looked very different from his.