Not What She Seems (31 page)

She focused again, this time more confident in her ability to stop herself from feeding. Within seconds of
her attempt, the energy flow was cut off again. She laughed out loud with delight, but her partner didn’t seem to notice as he came with clenched teeth.

“Nice,” he commented as he leaned against the stall wal
l to catch his breath.

“Y
eah. Um, I gotta go.” She pushed past him and practically ran back to the ICU to tell Keith, the nurse already forgotten. She had done it!

Keith opened his eyes as she flew into the room.

“It worked!” she announced proudly.

“Seriously?
You did it? You kept from feeding?”

She
nodded happily. “Do you know what this means?” He shrugged. “You were right. I don’t
have
to be what I thought I am. I can choose! I can be human if I want to, I think.”

“Good for you. See? I told you Lilith was hiding all
of it from you.”

She leaned over and
kissed him gently on his forehead. “Speaking of Lilith, I need to go. She and I need to have a little chat.”

“So will you try to make it work with
Mason, give being human a go?”

Sylvia hesitated a moment before answering him. “Yes, I plan to, but first I have to talk to Lilith. Thank you, Keith
… I think you’ve just given me my life back.”

Chapter 29

Walter brought her back to the office. As he made to get out of his car
, Sylvia stopped him.

“I’d probably go somewhere else, if I were you. I’ve got things to discuss with Lilith and it’s probably going to get ugly in there.” Walter didn’t need to be told twice and he waved to her as he pulled away fr
om the curb.

Lilith was pacing around the waiting area
when she arrived.

“Where have you been
? Your flight leaves in three hours, we need to get going.”

Sylvia’s expression was hard. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me the truth about what I am.”

Lilith froze in place as the meaning of her words became clear to her. “Keith told you. Damn him and his big mouth!”

“So it’s true, then. Adam
really was my father and I’m half-human. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because,” she
explained as she slowly sat down in the chair behind the front desk, “I always feared this day would come. I assume now that you know you’ll want to give up your dark half, become human, live Happily Ever After with your precious Innocent?” She made an ugly, angry sound. “It doesn’t work that way, Sylvia. By keeping you a succubus I’ve protected you from an ultra-short life span and a world of hurt.”

“Y
ou’ve kept me from love,” she countered.

“Love?”
Lilith snorted. “Love is for children’s books and bad romance novels. It hasn’t any place in reality. You were in love with Keith, and look at all the pain that’s brought you,” she rushed to point out.

“Yes, it did bring me a lot of pain, that’s for sure. But when times between us were good, it brought me a lot of joy, too. That’
s the thing, Mother, you chose for me, you didn’t allow me to choose for myself. Now that I know I have a choice, I’m choosing to walk away from this mess, this life of random sex and loneliness.”

“
For what? Some rich guy who lusts after you? What do you think it will be like with Mason, a year from now, five years from now, when he’s had you in his bed for a while and he grows tired of you? Will it be worth throwing your life away for him then?”

“I don’t know,”
she replied honestly, “but it’s worth a shot.”

“You don’t even know how to choose to turn it off,” Lilith sneered.

“You’re wrong. I’ve already tried, and succeeded.” The look of shock on Lilith’s face was priceless.

She changed her tactic. “You can’t take it back, you know. Once you’ve refused to allow yourself to be who you truly are
enough times, your choice disappears, and there’s no turning back. You’ll be stuck as a human.”

“I hope so,” Sylvia smiled. Nothing made her happier than knowing there was a point of no return. She wouldn’t have to spend the rest of her life fighting her instincts to feed, if she could just fight them long enough to get to that point.

“You don’t know what you’re about to do. Think about it! If you choose your human side, a human is what you’ll become, and you’ll get all the bad parts too. You’ll become ill, you’ll age like the rest of them. Those good looks you’re used to? They won’t last, they’ll be gone in a decade or two and then you’ll look old and worn out like the rest of them.”

“So be it.” She
was prepared to take the good with the bad, if it meant she could love and be loved.

“You’re making a terrible mistake,” Lilith warned ominously.

“Maybe I am, but maybe not,” she shrugged.

“
Sylvia, you’re my first born and I love you more than I can say, even if I’m not good at showing it. If you do this, you can never come back here again. Never.” Lilith’s desperation was evident in her tone.

“I know,” Sylvia said softly, “and I’ll miss you. Goodbye, Mother.” With that she
stepped back onto the elevator and pushed the button to close the doors. The last thing she saw of Enchanted Escorts was Lilith, sitting at the receptionist’s desk, cradling her head in her hands in despair.

~~~

Out on the street again she decided to head back to her apartment to get cleaned up and changed. It was almost exciting to take the T again, now that the Hunter was no longer a concern. Lots of people stared at her as she was still stunningly beautiful, even with the changes to her hair and her slightly disheveled state, but no one connected her to the missing blonde woman the police sought in connection to the serial killer’s capture.

It
was emotionally painful to see her building again. It looked just as it always had, but it didn’t feel the same to her anymore. It was no longer home, it was a place to just store her stuff. When she unlocked her door she was relieved to see the crime scene cleanup crew had removed all evidence of Tucker’s murder. The carpeting in the living room had been ripped up, presumably taken to the crime lab to examine it for evidence, but otherwise everything looked as she had left it.

She hurriedly
showered, eager to get out of there as fast as she could, and put on a pair of soft faded jeans and a long sleeved cotton shirt. Once dressed, she sat on her bed and stared at her cell phone. She hadn’t turned it back on since Mason had tried calling her after she went missing. Finally she switched it back on. It was time.

There were countless texts and messages from Mason overnight, and she erased them all without examining them. Finally she dialed his number.

He picked up almost immediately. “Sylvia, where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she answered nervously. She had no plan here, and no ex
pectations of how this might go between them.

“I’ve been worried to death about you! Why haven’t you answered any of my calls or texts?”

“I just… I just couldn’t.” It was good to hear his voice again, and she closed her eyes so she could concentrate on it and it alone.

“Where
are you? I’ll come get you. Or you can come here. I mean, the police are almost done with their investigation, but we don’t have to be here if you don’t want to.”

She
was silent as she considered the options, and he took it as hesitation. “I’m so sorry, Sylvia, I had no idea about Jeffrey. He and I weren’t exactly close, and he just moved back from Europe and I never-”

“It’s okay,” she reassured him softly, “I know you didn’t know.”

“I hope this doesn’t ruin us.” Sylvia could hear he was choking up, trying not to cry. “I wasn’t kidding when I told you I’m falling in love with you. I’ll understand if you never want to see me again, and I’m glad you called so I know you’re okay, but… I just want to see you again, even if it’s the last time.”

“It won’t be the las
t time,” she blurted out quickly. “I just needed some space, after what happened last night, but I’m okay.” For a moment she hesitated, then she took a deep breath to continue. “I’m falling in love with you too, Mason, and I want to be with you, even after all of this.”

Stunned silence was the
only response for a moment while he processed what she had just said.

“Me, too
, I want to be with you. So where are you? Can I come pick you up already, or what?” His voice was light with joy.

“My apartment.
Yes, please come get me. But- I can’t go back to Beacon Hill, I’m sorry.”

“I understand completely, no problem. I’ll put it on the market tomorrow.”

She dropped her phone and scrambled to retrieve it. “What?”

“I’ll sell it. If you’re not comfortable in the brownstone anymore it’s totally under
standable so we’ll move. Wherever you like.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry about it right now, okay? I’m leaving right now to come get you, let me make a quick phone call and I’ll be there in a bit. I’ll book us a room at the Copley, how does that sound?”

“Terrific,” Sylvia replied with a smile. She was making the right decision, she could feel it.

~~~

The SUV had barely
come to a stop at the curb before Mason threw open the back door and rushed out of the vehicle.

“Sylvia!” He grabbed her in his strong em
brace and held her tight. She returned the hug and sighed with contentment against his flannel shirt. “Why’d you disappear on me like that?” He pulled away and stroked her shorter, darker hair. “I like this, by the way. But I know you didn’t take off to go to the hairdresser, so what’s going on? Wait… this isn’t the place for it. Come on, let’s go, I called my driver to drive us so we could just talk.”

He helped Sylvia into the SUV and slid in beside her.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked, his voice low, being mindful of his driver.

“No, I’m okay.” She unconsciously rubbed one of her sore wrists and Mason grasped it to examine it.

“That bastard,” he hissed through clenched teeth when he saw the bruising and rub marks there.

“I’m fine
,” she insisted, pulling her wrist back. “It’ll heal.”

“The police want to speak with you,
to find out exactly what happened. Are you up for speaking with them? We can call them from the hotel, if you like. I assume they’ll want you to go into the precinct, but we can do that in a day or two.”

“I really don’t have anything to say to them. I don’t want to rehash and relive it, and I’m sure they have enough evidence against him to prosecute him without me.” The police were the last people she wanted to talk to, bu
t she doubted she could avoid them forever.

Mason didn’t answer her but instead made a quick call on his cell phone. “John, it’s me. She’s with me, she’s okay, a little banged up, but fine
… No, she doesn’t want to, can you handle it?... Okay, you know where to reach me… No, we’ll be at the Copley.” He ended his call. “All right, it’s all set. My lawyer will handle the police for you.”

“What?
Just like that?” It hadn’t even occurred to her to get a lawyer.

“J
ust like that.” Mason smiled as he pulled her close. “He’s the best in the city, a real shark. If you don’t want to speak to the police about last night, he’ll make sure they don’t bother you.”

The driver let them off in front of the Copley Square Hotel and Mason held her hand as they check
ed in. A few moments later the concierge escorted them up to their suite.

“It’s beautiful!” Sylvia squealed
excitedly as she enjoyed the view of Huntington Avenue from their luxury suite.

Mason came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“What do you say we stay here tonight, start house shopping in the morning? I mean, if you’re up to it.”

“Are you serious about selling the brownstone?”

“Yes, absolutely. It’s just a house, Sylvia, and I can’t live anywhere you’re not comfortable. I know when you moved in it was supposed to be just temporary, but when I found out my own brother is a serial killer and you were gone without a trace, I realized how precious you are to me. I’m beginning to think there was a reason I didn’t have a relationship for so long after Kate’s death. I was meant to be with you.”

His words fille
d Sylvia with joy. This, this was the reason she was denouncing what she had always been. She turned to face him and they kissed, the bustle of the city sprawled out before them in the giant picture window of the suite.

Out of habit she greedily received the sweet energy that flowed
into her, until she realized what she was doing. It took all of her concentration, but after a few false starts, she was able to block it. The sweetness of their kiss deepened as she realized she could indeed chose to be human, despite the siren call of Mason’s Innocent energy.