Blood and Chocolate (15 page)

She took the necklace he had given her from around her neck and hurled it at him. “Maybe you made me
your
victim.”

His hand slapped to his chest and trapped the pendant as it slithered down his shirt.

“Go,” she said fiercely.

He looked at her in surprise.

“Go now,” she repeated. She didn't trust her rage.

“I'm sorry it had to end this way,” he said as he backed slowly away. “I really am.”

“You think it's ended?” she whispered as his car door closed. “Oh, no. You'll be seeing me.”

22

Vivian clung to a log in the clearing at the back of her house, as if she were an alligator motionless in a swamp. The sodden evening air of August enhanced the illusion, and the pattern of the bark became her pattern, as her flesh pressed into the wood. She curled her toes and savored the crunch as her nails bit gouges in the log. The odor of mold and damp moss intensified as she crushed the bark, until the air smelled like a cemetery. Motionless and silent once more, she allowed the creaking evening chorus to monopolize the woods with their see-saw, chirp-chirp, grind-grind, eternal white noise. She envied their cacophonous serenity.

A nearby rustle announced a predator's careful tread, and her eyes opened slightly. He walked discreetly but wasn't trying to conceal his approach.
How polite,
she thought. She sniffed the salty tang of a young male, often aroused. Overlaid was a comfortable intimate smell like a warm bed slept in, and the faint hint of baby powder and spearmint chewing gum. Willem.

He paused beside the log as if trying to decide whether to wake her.

She rolled and grabbed his legs. The momentum sent him tumbling. She bit his calf as he fell. He yelped. She threw herself on top of him, pinning his arms and leaning a knee with gentle menace into his groin.

“Vivie!” he pleaded. “I didn't mean nothin'. Vivie, let me up.”

Maybe it was his use of her baby name, or maybe it was his soft bewildered eyes, but the heat of her anger dissolved, and she slid to one side, releasing him.

“Damn, Vivie, I thought you were gonna hurt me.” He scrambled to his knees, one hand covering his crotch.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Willem wiped his nose with his fist and glanced at her sideways. His smile was the old, gentle smile. “I went into Tooley's, you know, so they could enjoy throwing me out, and your Mom cornered me. She said since I didn't have anything better to do I could get my ass over here and keep you company. Said you hadn't gone out in weeks.” He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head in a way that would have made her laugh three million years ago. “Want me to beat him up for you?”

How dare she?
Vivian thought.
Who gave her the right to broadcast my private business?
“I can do my own beating up, thanks,” she told Willem coldly.

Willem grimaced. “Yeah. Silly me.”

“Why aren't you with those other gangsters?” she asked.

Willem shrugged, a frown touching his face. He kicked at the log with one of his engineer boots. “Oh, Finn thinks he's hot shit—pushing us around 'cus Rafe's not there to slap him down. I mean, Rafe's bad enough, but at least he doesn't make us do dumb-ass stuff to prove he can make us do it. Greg doesn't like that either so they're always arguing, and you know Ulf—dumb little turd'll go along with anything. At least Finn isn't screwing his mother.”

“Rafe's always off with Astrid?” Vivian asked.

“Yeah. At her place. Helping her ‘recuperate.' He thinks the sun shines out of her ass. I don't get it.” Willem shook his head. “I don't blame him for staying there, though. His dad's being weirder than ever.”

They sat in silence for a while as the night darkened around them.

“We used to have fun, Viv, didn't we?” Willem said finally. “Now I wonder who's looking out for me besides me. Those older ones, all they do is talk. And Gabriel, who's he? Is he gonna make us do stupid shit like Finn does, just to show he's boss? You know what? I think you're the only person I trust. You're cool. You never let us talk you into doing stupid shit.” Willem fell silent again.

Oh, yeah. I'm so cool,
Vivian thought.

“You know who did that killing, Viv?” Willem said suddenly.

Vivian's stomach turned over.

“Nobody knows,” he continued. “That weirds me out. One of us killing, and nobody knowing who. Killing used to be something we did together.”

A faint breeze picked up and heat lightning patch-worked the sky. Willem sighed.

Vivian gently punched him in the ribs. “Get out of here. Tell Finn where to stick it. Stand up for yourself, asshole.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Maybe I will.”

“Well, go do it now,” she said. “I need to be alone.”

“Okay, okay.” Willem got to his feet. He hesitated. “But you stand up for yourself, too, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

 

Vivian walked down Lincoln Avenue toward the park. She was going to stop moping and stand up for herself, like Willem had said. There was a free concert this evening: six local bands hoping to draw new fans into the college bars up the road. The Amoeba would certainly be there, and Aiden with them. She'd been making life too easy for him; it was time to make him look at her and remember how beautiful she was; then maybe he'd realize what a fool he'd been for rejecting her.

She had brushed her tawny hair until it shone, and summer highlights made it shimmer with silver fire. Her cropped shirt revealed her flat, taut belly above her low-slung skirt. Her flesh was smooth, soft, and golden.

A sign on a telephone pole caught her eye; it was the third one she'd passed. This time she stopped to read and discovered a message from the police, warning the public to avoid any large dogs they saw running loose. She snorted with amusement. She suddenly felt better than she had for days.

Vivian was walking under the raspberry sherbet froth of a crepe myrtle when she heard the growl of a motorcycle approaching. She expected it to scream past and was surprised when it slowed to a grumbling presence beside her. She glanced over to see Gabriel's black Harley pacing her. Gabriel's expression was dark and brooding and a streak of fear ripped through her. Then he grinned and cut the engine.

She stopped when his bike stopped, as if unable to control her movements.

He looked her up and down, the admiration clear on his face. “All alone, baby? I find that hard to believe.”

“Then don't,” she said. Why had he come to ruin her good mood?

He ignored her terse rudeness. “Rumor has it your boyfriend broke up with you.”

“Does everyone know my business?” she snapped.

“What puzzles me,” he continued, “is why?”

“That's nothing to do with you,” she said, and began to walk again. Inside she quivered.
What was he getting at?

Gabriel pushed his bike along beside her. “I mean, look at you. He must be out of his mind. Where would someone like him find another like you?”

Vivian walked faster.

Gabriel matched her pace.

“You'd have to work hard to put off a horny young guy like that.”

Vivian turned on him, furious. “Go to hell!”

His eyes mocked her. “Was it something you said, perhaps?”

Vivian didn't know whether to scream or hit him. She was damned if he would see her cry. Even if he deserved an explanation, which he didn't, she could never tell him the truth. If he knew she was capable of betraying what she was to an outsider, then he might believe she was capable of other betrayals.

“Vivian.” His eyes lost the mockery they had held a moment before. “If you ever want to talk, you may be surprised at what a good listener I can be.” The dark purr of his voice was almost soothing. “If you're in a muddle, I'm good at untying knots,” he said. “And if something comes up that…” He thought for a moment as if choosing his words. “That even you can't handle, I've got muscle to spare. No questions asked. Okay?”

She had never thought of him as kind, but for a moment she wanted to fling herself into his arms and tell him everything. The moment passed. That would be stupid. Right now he thought her a lovesick girl, that was all, and perhaps he was only taking advantage of her grief.

“Thanks for your concern,” she said, and wished she could sound gentler.

“Want a ride?” he asked. “Going to the concert, right?”

She thought a second. “Yeah,” she said as a sort of apology. Anyhow, it would do Aiden good if he saw her arrive with a suitor the other girls obviously found desirable.

As she threw a leg over the bike, she noticed the duffel strapped on the back. “Going somewhere?”

“Coming back,” he answered. “I went to Pennsylvania. There's a pack up there. I wanted to find out if they'd had any rogue wolves there recently—a renegade out for human blood who might have run this way.”

“Any luck?” She didn't expect him to say yes.

“Nah. I'm going down to Charleston tomorrow, to see what they have to say.” He kicked the bike's engine into life. “If they hadn't scrubbed down that parking lot I might not have had to go through this,” he yelled over the engine. “Maybe I could have picked up a scent.”

Vivian silently thanked Tooley for his cleanliness. But what if that hadn't been her spoor in Tooley's parking lot? Life would have been miserable, but less complicated. Ah, but what if it had been? Vivian looked at Gabriel's powerful shoulders and shivered.

Gabriel pulled away from the curb, and Vivian steadied herself by lightly holding his waist above the dusty leather jacket he'd knotted around his hips. There was no softness to his midsection. If he had been any other male, she would have run her hands up his muscled back and explored the hardness of him; she would have pressed herself close and teased him. But this was Gabriel. He didn't behave like other males. She didn't know how to act with him. A nervous thought skittered through her mind: If she made him her lover would he protect her? Or would he kill her just the same if she was the rogue?
I'm crazy,
she thought, warding off the idea.

At the park he jumped the curb, and she clutched him despite herself and heard him laugh over the roar of the engine. He cruised down a tarmac path, ignoring the shouts of an elderly man in green work pants, and brought her right into the audience. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. Some people laughed and cheered, others feigned disinterest. If she wanted attention, she had it, but she didn't care. There was only one person she was interested in.

She scanned the crowd. There, close to the makeshift stage, she spotted Quince and Bingo. They had turned like the others to find the source of the noise. Quince raised his arm to wave to her, then lowered it quickly when Bingo elbowed him. Around them were others she knew. Her breath caught in her throat when she spotted Aiden. He was staring right at her, his mouth slightly parted.

She ripped her gaze away and climbed off the bike.
What do I do? What do I do?
Against all common sense, she stepped up on the footrest and pressed her lips to Gabriel's.
Oh, Bloody Moon, I'm an idiot,
she thought. It was meant to be a brief kiss to make Aiden jealous, over before Gabriel realized what was happening. She didn't expect the swiftness with which he encircled her waist with his arm. Suddenly she found herself half across the gas tank and crushed against his chest, her feet off the ground, metal digging into her right knee. His practiced tongue parted her lips while she clung to him to stop herself from falling. She felt the heat of him searing her through his shirt and smelled his musky scent growing rich and suggestive. Then he let her go, and she slid to the ground and staggered backward.

His eyes smoldered beneath half-closed lids. “Don't use me,” he growled. Then he revved his engine, echoing the threat. She watched him leave, her face blazing, her breath harsh in her throat.
Damn him,
she cursed silently. He couldn't be controlled. She resisted the urge to swipe at anyone she found looking at her.

I knew Gabriel wouldn't be fooled,
she complained to herself as she made her way through the crowd.
So why did I go right ahead and kiss him anyway?
Seeing Aiden must have made her brain soft.

It wasn't hard to charm a young man into making space for her a few yards away from the Amoeba. She saw Aiden glance nervously over. Good, he knew where she was. She smiled to think of how his eyes would keep on creeping back to her no matter how he tried to look away.
I'll have him,
she thought.

Aiden stood. Vivian's heart leaped. He was coming to her. She wouldn't have to patiently seduce.

But he didn't turn her way. Kelly ran through the crowd. She flung herself into his arms, and he hugged her and laughed while she kissed his neck.

A hot sun of rage rose in Vivian's breast.