Flicker (24 page)

              Her heart still pounding and her palms slick with sweat, Elise rose from her seat. Leaving the book and her breakfast on the table, she stepped over the coffee spill and walked toward the door. It took all her courage just to turn her back on him and keep her pace measured. She felt his eyes boring into her, and refused to give him the satisfaction of letting him see her hurry-- but once she was outside and had walked past the windows, she lifted her skirts, broke into a run, and didn't stop until she was almost a mile away, and had reached Alex's front door.

              Alex answered her frantic knocking within seconds. It was clear she had woken him-- he was wearing nothing but a loose pair of dark blue plaid flannel pajama pants. Still, his eyes were alert and clear. Any other time, Elise might have paused to appreciate the sight of his bare torso; just now, it was all she could do to keep her shaking under control.

              “Elise? What's wrong?” He demanded, looking up and down the street as if he were checking whether she was being chased. She was gasping too hard to speak, trembling from head to toe. He took her hand, and his skin was on fire-- she realized abruptly that she was freezing cold, and that her eyes were streaming tears. “Here, come inside,” he drew her up the stairs and ushered her in, shutting the door firmly behind them.

              “Now, what happened?” He asked, his concern palpable in the air.

              Elise crossed his living room and sank into a leather, antique-looking armchair in the corner, regaining her breath enough to whisper, “Rashid.”

              Alex was a blur-- Elise blinked, and he was on one knee in front of her, one of her hands held tightly in both of his. “What did he do?” Alex pressed, murder in his eyes. “If he hurt you--”

              Elise cut him off with a shake of her head. “No, he just-- he just wanted to talk,” she panted, but she could feel her heart slowing and her composure returning. Now that she was with Alex, she felt safer. “I was at the coffee shop in town, and he came and sat down--” She went on to describe, briefly, their interaction, focusing more on things like his display of power than on what they'd actually said or how it had made her feel. Away from Rashid, with distance between her and his terrifying manner and strangely seductive voice, she was overwhelmingly ashamed of having doubted Alex for those few moments-- even if he hadn't told her about a queen and a throne and other practicing omnivores.

              When she finished, Alex was quiet for a moment. Then, slowly, he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead with such exquisite tenderness that her throat tightened and her heart skipped. “I will keep you safe,” he whispered.

              And then he was on his feet in another blur. “Would you like to take a field trip with me today?” He asked briskly. Once again, the abrupt change left Elise reeling.

              “Um, where?” She blinked up at him.

              “Do you think your parents would mind you coming up to New York? I'd like you to meet Gregory,” he said, his voice deceptively cheerful. Elise would almost have believed his tone, if not for the tightness she could sense in him, a coiled sense of preparation.

              “Let me call them,” she said, digging in the pocket of her outermost skirt for her cell phone. “I would like to meet him,” she added as she turned on the seldom-used device and hit the speed dial.

              Her mother picked up after a few rings. “Hello?” Marie sounded worried, and Elise didn't blame her-- Elise carried her phone out of habit, but used it so infrequently that a call first thing in the morning was most likely bad news.

              “Hey, mom,” Elise said cheerfully, turning away from Alex. She could always lie better when she didn't have to look anyone in the eye. Behind her, she heard Alex moving around, and had the impression he was making preparations for their trip. “Question for you. I met Alex at the coffee shop this morning-- did you see my note?-- and he wanted me to ask you if I could go up to New York City with him for the day. His cousin goes to school there, remember, and he wants to meet me.”

              “Oh!” Her mother sounded simultaneously relieved and more worried. “Do you have any homework this weekend?”

              “Nope,” Elise chirped. “And it would just be for the day-- I have absolutely no intention of trying to stay out super late or anything.”

              The line was silent for a moment, and Elise had to resist the urge to say something. She had learned that when she wanted anything from her mother, the best course of action was usually to present her argument and then just wait. After a few seconds, her patience paid off.

              “If you promise to be up for church tomorrow morning, I don't see why not,” Marie said finally. “But be careful!”

              “I will, thanks mom!” Elise forced a smile into her voice. “See you later! Love you, bye!” She hung up forcefully and paused for a moment, staring blankly out the window at nothing, before she turned back to face Alex. She didn't know what she expected, but he was leaning against the doorway to the dining room, watching her sadly. She still sensed that coiled tension in him, but for the moment, he was just looking at her tenderly.

              “I'm sorry,” he said softly.

              Without pausing to think, she went to him, slipping into his arms and resting her cheek against his warm, bare chest. He still smelled like sleep, a detail that made the embrace even more intimate, but she realized that didn't bother her right now. Whatever else she felt with or about him, he made her feel safe.

              Several minutes later, Elise found herself sitting on his bed while he showered. She couldn't resist looking around curiously, but his bedroom sported none of the mess she would have expected from a teenage boy. But of course, she reminded herself, he wasn't a teenager, and hadn't been in more time than she could fathom. In any event, his room was neat and clean, the only messy portion being the unmade bed he'd clearly rolled out of to answer her knock at the door. The sheets were white, the comforter was done in stripes of gray. The shelf was full of books, only some of which were written in English, but there was no organization or pattern to them that she could see. There was a mirror, warped and spotted with age, in a black wood frame hanging on the wall. A dark wooden dresser for his clothes stood beneath it; the matching bedside table held nothing but a lamp, an alarm clock, and a half-full glass of water. A black laptop computer rested on the floor, tucked between the bed and the nightstand. There were no photos anywhere, no personal touches, nothing. In a bleak way, it reminded her of her own bedroom-- and for a moment, she recalled her old room in Allison Springs, where she'd had pictures of herself and her friends wedged into the frame of her mirror and taped in an arc around the headboard of her bed. Those were all gone now, part of a different life. She wondered if, when Alex moved from one place to another, he felt like he was starting a new life, too.

              Elise heard the water shut off in the bedroom and realized after a second what that would mean. Seeing his bare chest while she was panicked and upset, and even embracing him in an attempt to comfort them both, was one thing. Rather than be confronted by Alex wearing nothing but a towel, Elise fled down to the kitchen and busied herself making a few sandwiches for their trip.

              Elise had never been to New York City, but based on what she'd seen about traffic and parking there on TV, once Alex came downstairs a few minutes later, safely dried and dressed, she suggested casually that they take the train. Alex vetoed the idea immediately, pointing out that he felt too exposed on public transit, and wanted to get to Gregory as quickly as possible. Elise didn't comment on his unease, because she had a sneaking suspicion that it was her presence making him so wary: she got the impression he would have happily confronted Rashid head-on if she hadn't been there, vulnerable and in need of protection. It was a hard reality for her to swallow, but seeing Rashid this morning had confirmed beyond all doubt that as innately powerful as she apparently was, her few weeks of dedicated training didn't give her a prayer of standing up to someone who'd been honing these skills for a few centuries.

              It was over a two hour drive to the city, and neither Elise nor Alex felt inclined toward small talk. Sitting in the car, however, with no noise but the radio, Rashid's words began to eat at Elise. She wanted to forget everything he'd said to her-- about Alex's lies, what he really wanted from her, what he might demand in exchange for her training-- but as usual, her mind wouldn't let her. As safe as she felt in Alex's presence, doubts about his intentions still chased themselves around her mind. Frankly, he could have been a monk helping her solely because of a spiritual mandate, and she still would have doubted him-- she just didn't believe anyone anymore. With a sigh, she decided characteristically that the problem wouldn't be solved until she asked him directly.

              “So,” she broke their silence softly, her voice only barely louder than the radio-- she knew he would hear her. “Why did you start talking to me? The truth, Alex, really. You swear you didn't know what I was at first, so why me?” She very carefully didn't look at him, guilty that she had let Rashid's words get under her skin but knowing now that if she didn't find out what he had to say, they would continue to eat at her.

              She heard Alex sigh, but had the impression he was watching the road intently, careful not to look at her, either. After a moment, he replied. “Because even if I couldn't really sense your emotions at first, after a while you figure out how to see people-- actually see them. As long as I've been around? Elise, it was clear as day to me that something had hurt you-- badly.” He shrugged. “Every once in a while, I try to do something good. It balances out all the things I've had to do over the years. You were supposed to be my good deed; I wanted to help you.”

              Elise choked out a bitter laugh. “Thanks,” she said quietly. Alex laid his hand over hers and didn't say a word. After a moment, however, she got her reaction to the irony of their situation under control and continued. “Really, though, thank you. I know you've noticed how much you have helped me recover, and I want you to know that I really do see it, too.” She looked down at their hands, opened hers to twine her fingers with his, and wondered when she would get the courage to ask him what he wanted in return for her training.

              Gregory's apartment was very modern, with glass-topped tables and steel-framed couches upholstered in black suede. It was also nine stories above the ground-- something that Elise realized, as she stood beside the floor-to-ceiling windows that passed for the living room wall, made her very nervous. Turning away from the spectacular, if nauseating, view of the Upper East Side, she looked back to Alex and Gregory.

              Gregory hadn't been what she had anticipated at all. She wasn't sure what she'd expected, exactly-- a small, pale, nervous sort of boy with thick glasses, she'd supposed, though she wasn't sure why-- but Gregory was exactly the opposite. He was slender and very tall-- a few inches taller than Alex, actually-- and wore his light brown hair long. He was pale, but in a fashionable way that brought color to his ice-blue eyes. He had a thin, wispy hint of a mustache and beard that lent a babyish air to his face, but he actually looked a few years older than Alex.

              When they'd arrived at his door, Alex hadn't even had to knock-- the door had been thrown wide open, and there stood Gregory in jeans and a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled back, his arms wide in greeting.

              “Alexander!” He'd cried flamboyantly, drawing them inside, and hugged the other man, who Elise was startled to see returned the greeting with matching enthusiasm. Gregory had sobered when he looked at Elise, however, though he met her eyes and took her hand warmly. “Elise,” he'd said softly, giving a slight bow over her hand. “Welcome to my home.”

              She didn't know quite what to do in response to the bow, and simply murmured a quiet, “Thank you.” She felt rather shy, and humbled by the knowledge that the man standing before her was more than five hundred years old. Perhaps because she'd known Alex as a classmate first, the fact that Alex was actually the elder of the two didn't really make her uncomfortable; however, meeting someone while already possessing the knowledge that he'd been born shortly after Christopher Columbus was something else entirely.

              Gregory had made coffee, but Elise, still shy, had drifted over to the glass wall when he and Alex had sat down on a pair of love seats with their ergonomic ceramic cups. She'd heard them talking quietly behind her but, still trying to get her brain to catch up with the day's events, she hadn't made an effort to listen. Now, though, she turned away from the dizzying view just in time to witness Alex setting his coffee down rather harder than necessary to snap, “I don't care what his intentions are, I don't want him anywhere near her!”

              Elise froze, her eyes widening at his vehemence, and she started to rethink her plan to come join him on the couch. Even now, after her weeks of training had built her confidence, after the rage that had sent her to assault Bill in Allison Springs, and after she'd truly begun to trust Alex, she still reacted skittishly to raised voices and violence-- particularly with her nerves ground raw by the last two days. But it was too late to retreat to the window-- Alex and Gregory had both looked up and noticed her sudden attention. Alex's eyes softened as he met her gaze, and she felt her lip stop quivering as he reached out his hand for her.