Honeymoon of the Dead (14 page)

“Surprised to see me?”

“I should never have come here,” I admitted. “I’m really sorry.”

Liza’s grumpy expression crumbled deeper. “What? No ‘It was a long time ago,’ or ‘He was never right for you anyway, ’ or ‘Fuck you’?”

Was that what I used to say in situations like this? I didn’t remember ever being quite such a bitch.

Lilith stirred warmly in my belly, almost like a deep, happy sigh.

Was
that
why Lilith chose me?

“No,” I said, shaking my head violently, as if to reject the mere idea of myself as so hateful, so spiteful. “No, I’m not like that.” And then to Liza’s quizzical eyebrow arch, I added, “Anymore? Anyway, it was a long time ago, but I am still sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to hurt anyone.”

She put her fists on her hips. “Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you screwed up my life.”

Maybe I should think a lot more generally before I act. Perhaps I needed a shirt that read: What Would Athena Do?

“You’re right,” I said, stifling the urge to cower. What else could I say? Liza seemed baffled by my response and stood there staring at me like she’d just discovered me under a rock.

“Damn straight,” she muttered, her anger seeming to dissipate.

Twiddling my thumbs in my lap, I found myself wanting to ask after old friends or find out what was new in her life. Knowing that the happy-chatter avenue was permanently closed made me feel even more awkward about the whole situation. Staring at her was no fun.

Though Liza blocked the most direct exit, I opted to scramble clumsily off the side of the couch in order to make my escape. “I’ve got to check in with Sebastian, make sure he’s okay. Maybe we can talk more later. Bye!”

And then, despite the queasiness of all the human contact, I pushed my way deeper into the crowd, making my way toward the kitchen. I left Liza in my wake, her mouth moving in some response I couldn’t hear. I didn’t really want to know what more she might have to say; I just wanted to hide.

I knew, however, I couldn’t escape for long. Now that Liza had recognized me, the word would spread through the crowd. I found the bathroom, which was surprisingly unoccupied. Stepping inside, I closed and locked the door behind me.

Oh, this sucked.

Most people did seem to have forgotten all the drama, but the two injured parties hadn’t, and somehow that was worse.

Courtney’s bathroom was a riot of color. Though it was a small room, the walls were painted a soft blue and she’d stenciled happy little cartoon fish everywhere. There were fish on the shower curtain, fish-shaped toothbrush holders, and a night-light in the shape of an angler fish whose bulb glowed when you turned the light off.

I sat down on the fuzzy, yellow toilet-seat cover, and stared blankly at the pink yarn rug with . . . yes, more fish. I couldn’t help but smile a little at it all, even as I continued to fret. When I saw Larkin again, I was really going to give him a piece of my mind for setting me up like this, especially since, as far as I could tell, he hadn’t bothered to show. It had been kind of shocking, though, to hear what Liza thought I’d say when I saw her. Had I really been that mean and unthinking when I lived here?

My own image of my past self had more to do with natural fibers and living simply, than with all these scandals and dramas. But when I really considered who I used to be, there was always Parrish . . . and Larkin . . . and I could easily think of a dozen or more other dubious choices that had brought chaos swirling into my life.

Maybe Sebastian was right. Perhaps there was something about me that engendered this particular kind of crisis. I mean, there was that time I accidentally conjured a djinn and it took the coven two months to track it down and send it back to the other side. Oh yeah, and those faeries I thought would be so cute? Turns out Irish Tuatha de Dannan are actually Gods and not something to be trifled with. Who knew?

Is it really any wonder that when I called for help, it was answered by a Goddess known for death and destruction?

Lilith warmed my skin with a soft tingle, as though She were saying, “There, there.”

I ignored Her. How could I be so wrong about who I thought I was? I always thought I was more of a do-no-harm sort, and it turns out I’d been blithely causing damage at every turn!

With my hands clasped between my knees, I hung my head. Lilith didn’t help. She was always making things worse, drawing bigger, nastier consequences to my innate stupidity.

I frowned thoughtfully at the
Finding Nemo
toothbrush holder. In my mind’s eye, I saw an image of Athena: upright, steady, and calm. I felt myself standing up, as though ready to rise to any challenge.

Yeah, this is more like it, I thought, stopping for a moment to encourage the pathetic-looking woman in the mirror. You can be who you want to be, I told myself that classic affirmation. The past is gone. The future is ahead.

With those brave words and the sense of Athena striding boldly alongside me, I went back into the party in search of Sebastian.

Though I was ready for a battle, everyone seemed to be heading outside for the ritual. I grabbed my coat from the quickly dwindling pile in the front hall and I made my way through the kitchen and followed the flow of the crowd into the backyard. Even in the dead of winter, you could tell that Courtney had an enviable garden. The back door led to a cedar-plank patio. A path to the stairs had been shoveled. On either side of the steps, dozens of solar lamps in the shape of dragonflies cast a soft, purple glow on snow-covered strands of ornamental grasses. Along the edges of her property were artistic, nonlinear mounds of what were probably bushes or hedgerows. Here and there seed heads of some kind or other poked through the deep snow. Snow clung to the curves of a concrete statue of the Nile goddess, her crescent-shaped arms raised in a circle over her slender, serpentine head.

We followed a paving stone path someone had brushed clean. A fire had been started in a simple stone pit on the far end of the lot under the wide branches of a huge, gnarled red oak. Sebastian waved frantically at the spot next to him. I scurried to join him.

“I thought I’d lost you for sure,” he said, tucking an arm around me.

“No chance of that,” I said, standing on my tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek. Courtney, who was standing on Sebastian’s other side, gave me a jealous, yet mischievous smile.

“You two look nice together,” Courtney said with a broad smile. “I sense a long, happy relationship.”

Sebastian and I shared a goofy grin. Courtney’s pronouncement seemed like a good omen. “Thanks,” I told her.

“Hey, honey, I just call ’em like I see ’em,” she said.

The thick oak logs on the fire snapped and popped. Someone tossed on a dry pine branch, and the flames leaped dramatically. Briefly, a welcome wave of heat warmed the front of my body. The firelight threw an amber flickering light on the faces gathered around the circle. Voices stilled. The dance of flames mesmerized us into a natural hush.

We all watched the bonfire quietly. Despite the chill, my shoulders relaxed. Something drew my eyes upward, maybe it was the sound of a passing jet. In a clear, dark sky hung the moon, full and yellow, shining through the twisted, gnarled branches of the neighbor’s catalpa tree. My breath caught.

Following my gaze, Sebastian looked up as well. After we shared a moment of awe, he gave my hand a quick squeeze as if to say he could feel the magic too.

“I’m glad we came,” he whispered into my ear.

I was, too, until, of course, Fonn dropped out of the tree and smothered the fire with a
whomp
of snow.

 

 

 

 

 

With the fire gone, the backyard plunged into a sud
den darkness. Someone gasped. The ambient light from the alley streetlamp illuminated the form of the Frost Giant. Fonn stood in the middle of the circle. Her eyes slowly swept the group, glittering menacingly. Icicles dripped from every part of her body, almost like the fringe on a leather jacket. Her short hair was white as the snow, and a tiny ice droplet hung from her hawkish nose. Wind swirled at her feet and billowed her brown fur cape around her.

There was no mistaking her otherworldliness, especially when, with a whistle of wind, her hound materialized out of thin air at her heel and let loose a soul-piercing howl.

Most people had been too stunned to react at first. But with the appearance of the dog and his hellish wail, everyone burst into activity—most of which could be summed up with, “Run, run away fast!”

Some people leaped toward the house. Others jumped to hide in the bushes. With shouts and screams, bodies scattered in every conceivable direction.

Sebastian grabbed my hand and started hauling ass to our car.

“I knew she’d be back,” he snarled. I could see his fangs dropping with frustration.

He, of course, could run at inhuman speed. Meanwhile, I was stuck at mortal pace. The ground seemed uneven, and, though he was trying to help, Sebastian’s grip jerked me forward clumsily. I concentrated on not tripping us up like some bad horror-movie heroine. It was difficult because I swore I could feel the breath of Fonn’s hound at my back.

Somehow we made it to the car. I started to let go of Sebastian’s hand to dash over to the passenger side, but Sebastian took me by the waist. He tore open his door and heaved me ungraciously over the driver’s seat. My leg knocked into the stick shift, and my face slammed the upholstery. At the same time, I heard a dog whine. I’d just gotten myself into a more traditional arrangement on the seat when the car door slammed shut. An ice-covered Sebastian jammed the key into the ignition and fired up the engine. I hardly got the belt buckled as he peeled out of the parking space.

“Well,” Sebastian said a few minutes later as we turned onto the highway at full speed, “that went pretty much the way I expected.”

“What do you mean? Five minutes ago you said you were happy we’d gone.”

“I was. I should remember it never lasts,” he said. A shake of his head sent a shower of ice crystals everywhere.

I swiped white, melty flakes off my sleeves. Was that fair? Probably, but that didn’t make me feel any better about it. “Not
every
time,” I mumbled.

“Pretty much.” Running fingers through his long hair, Sebastian combed out more snowy bits. He glanced in the rearview mirror and took a little pressure off the gas. “At least I think we lost her this time.”

I double-checked. No rampaging ice hellhounds or demons. “That’s weird,” I said, turning back to face the front. “Seems kind of easy, doesn’t it? We just drove away.”

“Actually, I wrestled a giant dog first, but yes. And frankly, I think we should roll with this. I just want to go back to the hotel and shower.”

Ooooh, he was cranky.

So I sat quietly and stared out the window at the moon we didn’t get to worship as it seemed to skip like a stone over the rooftops of the buildings near the highway.

“Were you serious before?” I asked, coming back to something that had been niggling at the back of my mind since Sebastian had said it at the bookstore last night. “Was your life really more normal before I came into it?”

“Oh, definitely,” he said without a moment’s hesitation.

“Really? But you’re a vampire,” I pointed out.

“Thank you for noticing, but, really, outside of the being dead and drinking blood bits, I’m really pretty average when you think about it.”

“Not to me, darling,” I reminded him with a fond smile.

Without taking his eyes off the road, he returned my smile softly. “You know what I mean, though. I mostly fix cars and teach the occasional class.”

“Nothing blog-worthy,” I said.

“Exactly.”

And not at all like me. The moon’s face looked like a woman with her mouth open in a scream. “Is there something about me that attracts darkness, do you think?”

Truthfully, and despite his mood, I’d been hoping for a quick denial from Sebastian. Something along the lines of “Don’t be foolish, of course not,” but instead he gave an unconcerned lift of his shoulder and said, “Maybe it’s karma from a past life. Some people just have more drama in their life.”

What kind of person must I have been in the past to end up with the Queen of Hell as a body- mate? I shook my head. “Drama?” I repeated. “That seems more like the stuff I used to do. Stealing people’s boyfriends and causing mischief.”

Sebastian’s lip twitched into a faint smile as if to say, “And this is different, how?”

“I don’t cause all this stuff, do I?”

“Well, maybe if you stopped casting love spells your life would become a lot less complicated.”