~ Thirty-One ~

“Lily, please let me in,” Christian pleaded from the other side of the door. I sat on the bed in a robe, having just stepped out of the shower. Letting the hot water run over my body only washed away the dirt and blood, not the horror of what I had just done. “I’m your husband. I just want to help.”

Swallowing my self-hatred for the moment, I unlocked the door and went back to the bed. He stood at the foot, his eyes scanning my body for signs of injury. “I’m fine,” I said.

“Do you want to talk?” he asked, sitting at my side and taking my hand.

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m sorry I ran out. I was angry. I just needed to calm down,” I explained though I knew he didn’t really buy it. He was too in tune with my mind and soul for that.

“I don’t think it worked. You came in soaking wet and locked yourself in here without a word to anyone. We were all worried about you. Please tell me what happened to you.” His eyes showed his pain. I had hurt him just by leaving. He had no idea of the rest.

“Now is not the time, really. I’m fine.” I leaned in and brushed his lips with mine. His body stiffened. “What?”

“Um, were you…drinking?” he asked leaning away from me.

I stood from the bed and opened the bedroom door. “Come on,” I said and headed for the living room with him following. “Sit please.” I motioned the sofa and Christian did as I asked. His brow furrowed with worry. Aloysius and Fiore stopped mid conversation and looked at me.

“I messed up,” I said as I paced in front of them, averting my eyes. “I did something really bad.”

“What? You drank beer?” Christian asked.

“Of course I didn’t. The alcohol was from someone else’s mouth.”

“What are you talking about? You kissed someone?” Christian jumped to his feet.

“No! It wasn’t like that!”

“Then what was it like?” He made no effort to hide his anger this time.

“Please calm down, Christian. Let her explain,” Aloysius said. Christian hesitated a moment but sat again. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I ran down to the beach and straight into the water. Being in the water was helping me calm down, clearing my mind, but when I came out, four guys were standing on the shore,” I explained, still not looking at them. “They were drinking and acting stupid. One of them grabbed me.”

“Are you hurt?” Fiore asked. I shook my head.

“They wanted to…have fun, as they put it,” I said.

“So you kissed one?” Christian asked.

“I had no choice. He had his arms around me and I couldn’t get loose. I had to distract him somehow. The point is I drained him. I killed him while his friends stood there and watched,” I stopped pacing and finally looked at Christian’s expressionless face. “I broke another one’s neck and threw the really drunk one into the ocean.”

“That only makes three,” Aloysius pointed out. “What happened to the other guy?”

“I don’t know where he went. I was too busy with the others and I let him get away.”

“That’s really not good,” Aloysius stood. “Did he get a good look at you?”

I nodded. “I don’t know if the one I threw got out of the water or not. I should have looked for him but I left instead. I didn’t even bother to read their minds. I just killed them. The one whose neck I broke told me he has a wife and children when he was pleading for his life.”

“So what, Lily? What did that matter? You did the right thing,” Fiore said.

“How can you say that? I killed three innocents. They were only acting stupid because they were drunk!” I argued.

“I’m sorry, Lily, but how can you say they were innocents?” Christian asked. “They were far from innocent!”

“They committed no crime that I know of. I didn’t read their minds at all. I didn’t bother.”

“Since when is rape not a crime?” Fiore asked.

“Who said anything about rape?” I looked at her angry face.

“They were going to rape my wife.” Christian stood and came to my side, wrapping his arms around me. I pushed him away.

“That was the alcohol talking. They wouldn’t have done that. I killed three men tonight!” I repeated. I couldn’t believe what they were saying.

“What do you think they meant by ‘fun’?” Aloysius asked, raising my face with his fingers on my chin. “They were going to rape you and only God knows what else. You defended yourself.”

I looked at Christian. His expression changed from anger to worry. “What about the one that got away? What if he goes to the police?” he asked.

“That could be a problem,” Aloysius said. “Regardless, he wouldn’t know where to look for you. They didn’t know your name, right?”

“No. They know nothing about me, except, one did say vampire,” I recalled.

Aloysius and Fiore laughed. “I doubt he would mention that to the police,” Fiore said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“You did nothing wrong,” Aloysius reassured me.

“I should not have been there in the first place,” I said looking at Christian. “I shouldn’t have walked out like I did. I’m really sorry.”

“Please remember, I’m your husband. Don’t shut me out. You are not alone in any of this,” he explained.

“And we’re here too,” Aloysius said. “We’re not siding with Maia. We’re just trying to look at all the possibilities before we act. It will be especially hard on my great-grandson if you’re right about her. It would devastate him if he lost Maia.”

“I do know how much they love her.”

“Yes. And until we know something for sure, I’d rather not break their hearts,” Aloysius said and then looked at Fiore, who smiled at me before turning back to him. “Shall we?”

Fiore shocked me by placing her hand delicately in his and rising from the sofa. “We’re going to go feed. We’ll be back soon to go to the airport. Oh, and they’re right. You did the right thing by defending yourself, Lily.”

Before I could say anything, they disappeared.

“What was that all about?” Christian asked as he put his arms around me and I felt his lips on the top of my head.

“I think Fiore may be more than a little interested in him, don’t you think?”

“Umm…is that a good thing?” He moved away to look me in the eyes. I hesitated a moment and he smiled. “Isn’t that better than her pining away after a married woman?”

“Of course it is, but if he feels the same, that probably means she’ll leave with him.” That was a thought I didn’t like. How I felt or didn’t feel about what she had confessed to Christian while I lay in that bed didn’t matter. She was the closest thing I had to a true friend and I didn’t want to lose that, as selfish as that was.

We left for the airport as soon as Aloysius and Fiore returned. Finding the correct gate on the arrivals board, we rushed to await Aaron and Kalia. As passengers started pouring out of the doors, I watched for my loved ones. To my surprise, Pierce was the first to exit, followed by Beth, Riley, Raul, Kalia, and Aaron.

“They all came?” I said looking at Christian whose mouth hung open.

“Over here,” Aloysius called waving his arms over the crowd.

Kalia wrapped me in her arms as soon as she reached us, my feet leaving the floor for a moment. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Mom,” I said as I squeezed her back. She hugged Christian next.

“Let’s get out of here, shall we? It’s way too crowded.” Aloysius took Kalia’s suitcase and began pushing his way to the exit. The rest of us followed without a word. “I guess we’ll need more drivers.”

“Wait here,” Fiore said as we exited the airport and set everything down on the sidewalk. “Pierce and I will go rent cars. That should make things a little easier.” She and Pierce walked back into the airport before anyone could argue.

“Why are you all here?” I asked as Aaron released me from his embrace and shook hands with Christian.

“We wanted to help, and besides, we could use some time away from the cold,” Riley looked at Raul and he nodded and smiled. “Alaska can get a little gloomy after a while.”

“You can bring us up to speed when we get to the apartment,” Aaron said and nodded toward the exit. “Here they come.”

“All set,” she said and tossed a set of keys to Aloysius. “We got us two minivans.”

“Umm.” Aloysius looked confused.

“What is it?” Fiore asked, looking at Aaron’s amused expression.

“I don’t know how to drive.” Aloysius handed the keys to Aaron.

“What?” several voices asked in unison.

“What do you mean you don’t know how to drive? Everybody drives,” Fiore said, looking at Aloysius with shock.

“I have the ability to disappear and materialize anywhere I want. Why would I need to drive?” Everyone laughed.

“I guess I just assumed,” Fiore shrugged and smiled at him, her eyes shining. “Okay, then. You’ll ride with me and Aaron can follow us.”

We loaded the luggage into the two vehicles and settled in for the scary ride. I grasped Christian’s hand in the third row and tried to focus my attention on the conversation, happy I wasn’t asked to drive.