Seduced by Crimson (36 page)

"Onto the dining room floor."

"What?" Patrick repeated.

"So, sis," Sandy demanded, "no drama this time: Are you about to die?"

"Yes," Xiao Fei said.

Patrick exploded. "No!"

"You're being stupidly optimistic again, Mr. America."

"You're being stupidly pessimistic again, Miss Cambodia."

"Okeydokey," Sandy said, ignoring them both. She calmly picked up the persimmon with her left hand. Her right hand shoved aside another pile of clothes—clean and neatly folded, this batch—before coming up with a long and sharp pair of scissors. "You're going to tell me everything right now, Xiao Fei, or your plant gets it." Her eyes narrowed. "And don't think I won't!"

"Don't!" Xiao Fei cried.

Patrick, the bastard, actually laughed. But Sandy just stood there, scissors extended around the base of the plant. One snip and it would be dead.

Patrick sobered. "You're not actually going to do it, are you? That's a really valuable plant."

"So, start talking," Sandy shot back.

Patrick sighed and looked at Xiao Fei, who sighed and looked at the plant. "There isn't time to tell you everything,
mei mei
," she said.

"Liar!" Sandy snapped.

"No, actually," Patrick interjected, "we
do
have to go."

Xiao Fei's gaze flew back to Patrick. "What? Why? It's not even three yet."

His thumb caressed her cheek. The gesture was loving, and Xiao Fei found herself pushing more fully into his hand. "There's lots of preparation to do. We've got to meditate, get to the park and set up—I've got an idea how to make a persimmon more powerful. If we mix it with—"

"Helllooo!" Sandy called, her patience obviously worn thin. "Imminent plant death here."

Xiao Fei had had enough. She disentangled from Patrick—not nearly as easily as she should have—and crossed to her sister. She gently took the persimmon plant away from the scissors, then turned to speak calmly and rationally to Sandy.

She burst into tears, instead.

Sandy wrapped her arms around Xiao Fei and held on. "My god, what's going on?" she said against Xiao Fei's cheek. "You never cry. Except for that time when…" Sandy's head lifted as she peered at Patrick. "Oh, dear. You've fallen in love, haven't you?"

Xiao Fei nodded. Somewhere in the background, Patrick exclaimed, "What?" again, but she wasn't listening. Had she really fallen in love? Or was this just pre-death anxiety? Patrick was everything she'd ever fantasized about in a man: smart, powerful, and with a protective streak a mile wide. She felt safe around him. More important, she felt stronger when she was with him, as if his abilities gave her faith that they would survive. That was wrong, of course, but he made her believe despite the odds. But was that love? Did she love him?

Oh God, she did. She was in love. She whimpered.

"And you think the world's going to end because of it," Sandy continued in a soothing tone.

Xiao Fei nodded once more. The gesture was hidden against her sister's collarbone.

"Well… it had to happen sometime, you know."

Patrick repeated himself little more forcefully. "What?"

"It's okay," Sandy continued. Then she twisted to pin Patrick with a steely gaze. "You are going to do right by her, aren't you?"

"What?" he answered. "I mean, yes, of course. But… what?"

"Oh, wow. The both of you are bumbling idiots, aren't you?" Sandy pulled back from Xiao Fei, her gaze remaining on Patrick. "Look, she's new to this love stuff." Then she frowned. "Exactly who are you?"

"Er, Patrick Lewis."

"He's a botany professor in San Bernardino," Xiao Fei managed.

"And he seems very nice," Sandy soothed. "Just how far have you gone together?"

"W-what?" Patrick stammered.

"Sandy!"

The girl shrugged. "Well, a sister's gotta know these things." She narrowed her eyes at the two of them, one after the other. "It's tonight, isn't it?"

"Uhh…" Patrick said.

"Hence the hysterics," Sandy explained. "With the demon attack and everything. Only you, Xiao Fei, would do this now." She shook her head. "My rational, paranoid sister is having sex for the first time in the middle of a war. Who'd've thunk it?"

"What?" Xiao Fei couldn't manage anything more coherent. Her sister had always been able to figure out way more than she was supposed to, which was highly disconcerting. But then again, perhaps that was why she'd come—for the plant, yes, but also in the hope that she'd see Sandy one last time, long enough to get some perspective.

"Look," the girl said to Xiao Fei. She took on a motherly tone. "Don't do it tonight. Wait a bit. You're obviously a little anxious about this love stuff. Take your time. Wait until the demons are gone and things settle down, then go out to dinner and a movie. Afterward set out some candles and stuff. Do it right."

"You don't understand," Xiao Fei murmured.

"Of course I don't," the girl drawled. "
I've
never been in love before." They both knew that Sandy fell in and out of love with alarming frequency.

"No—," Xiao Fei began.

"You're absolutely right," Patrick interrupted, his voice rushed but no less clear. "We'll wait. Once the demons are taken care of, we'll go out to dinner—someplace nice with linen napkins and twenty different pieces of silverware."

"Exactly," Sandy answered.

"Yeah," Patrick said. Then he grabbed Xiao Fei's arm. "Now that that's settled, we've got to go." He snatched the persimmon off the end table. "I take it you came here for this?"

"Yeah," Xiao Fei answered. "Plus the dried fruit."

"I've only got a couple." Sandy quickly crossed to the kitchen and began banging her way through the cupboards. Patrick took the time to step behind Xiao Fei and wrap her in his arms. Surprised, she leaned gratefully back into his warmth. "Got it!" her sister cried, brandishing a plastic bag of dried fruit.

Xiao Fei held out her hand. "Thanks." She wiggled out of Patrick's hold to wrap her sister in another long hug.

When they separated, her sister's eyes were troubled. "It's not just about love, is it? These demons really are hunting you. Because of your blood?"

Xiao Fei nodded. "But we'll be okay. We're going to disappear tonight." How easily she lied, even with tears blurring her vision. "I'm in danger as long as there are demons."

"Then don't—"

"I'll protect her," Patrick interrupted, stepping forward. "I've got skills and friends." He placed a warm hand on Xiao Fei's shoulder. "Trust me; I'll take care of her."

Sandy looked hard at him; then her gaze dropped back to her sister. "You trust him?" she asked.

Xiao Fei nodded. "With my life."

Sandy abruptly contorted over her couch, presenting her backside while leaning down. A moment later she came back up with her purse. "Right. So where are we going?"

Xiao Fei shook her head. "I trust him with
my
life, not yours."

"But—"

"You're safer away from me. Far, far away."

Her sister huffed, making her ponytail bounce. "I don't care."

"I do."

"But—"

"I can't take you," Patrick interrupted gently. "There isn't room."

Sandy folded her arms. "So, what, I'm supposed to just sit here and worry?"

"You were supposed to get out of LA." Xiao Fei snapped.

"Yeah, well, that plan's blown."

"She'll be all right," Patrick whispered in Xiao Fei's ear. "The worst will be over tonight."

Sandy's eyes narrowed. "Why? What happens tonight?"

Patrick straightened. The change in his body was so significant that even Xiao Fei twisted to see him more clearly. Gone was the tender and somewhat goofy man of a moment before. In his place stood the Draig-Uisge—confident, military, and obviously deadly. "Trust me," he said.

"Oh…" Sandy's voice was a hushed whisper.

"The worst will be over tonight. But you ought to lie low. Just in case."

"And Xiao Fei?" her sister said, obviously awed by the change in him, but still not cowed.

"She'll be with me."

"In danger?"

He shrugged. "No more than she is now." He glanced over at Xiao Fei. "Speaking of which, you put Sandy at risk every moment that we stand here."

Xiao Fei nodded. She knew it was true. "We can go now." She started moving for the door, the persimmon plant clutched to her chest.

"I want a full explanation," Sandy called, her voice trembling slightly. "After this is all over, I want details and answers."

"Of course," Patrick said.

"Love you," Xiao Fei called. Then she ducked out the door before she could change her mind.

Patrick took hold of Xiao Fei's hand as she rushed out of the apartment building. He didn't blame her; it couldn't be easy saying good-bye to a sister face-to-face. And that made him feel really guilty about not saying anything to his own siblings. But right now, he had something more important on his mind.

Heedless of how exposed they were on the street, he tugged Xiao Fei into the doorway of a closed store and turned her face to his.

"Patrick," she said.

"Did you mean it? Did you mean what she said?"

"What are you talking about?" Her gaze slid away. She knew exactly what he was referring to, but she still tried to evade the question.

"Do you love me?" His throat was tight, but he pushed the words through anyway.

"Do
you
love me?" she shot back.

"I asked first."

"I don't care."

"Xiao Fei!"

"Yes!" She shoved him away so that his back hit the glass door behind him. "Okay? Yes, I think I'm falling in love with you. How's that for bad timing?"

Something inside him went all soft and warm.

"Well?" she shot back.

He frowned. "Well, what?"

"Well, do you love me back, stupid?"

"I…" So many things crowded into his mind: the demons, the druids, tonight's task. "I…"

"Never mind," she grumbled. "I can see that you don't."

"That's not true!" he lied. "I… I…" Xiao Fei turned away from him, but he grabbed her arm to keep her beside him. "I… I…"

"I heard that part," she snapped. Then her expression softened. "It's okay, Patrick. You don't have to love me, too."

He wanted to say the words. God only knew how much he wanted to say them. He'd already told her he thought she was the love of his life. He'd already said it, so why wouldn't the words come now? "I… I can't think," he stammered.

"It's not about thinking, you idiot. It's about feeling." Then she let herself fall back against the brick wall behind her, let her head drop to lean so she could stare up into the sky. "You are so damn American," she said. Then she abruptly extended the heel of her hand, and thunked him on the forehead.

"Ow!"

"Stop thinking, Patrick; what do you
feel
?" she asked.

"Afraid," he said, though that wasn't the word he'd meant to escape his lips. What if he really did have to kill her? What if she really was the love of his life, and he had to choose between her and Earth? "I'm terrified."

She thunked him on the forehead again. "Well, duh—there are demons after us."

"You don't understand, Xiao Fei. I can't say it aloud. Not until tomorrow."

She stared at him. "Okay, I take it back—you're not a damn American; you're a damn guy." She turned and started stomping away, mocking him with every step." 'I can't say it aloud?' Bullshit!" she shot over her shoulder. "You do love me, you prick. You… Oh, shit."

Patrick had been watching the sway of her hips as she stomped away from him, but her abrupt halt jolted him back to awareness. He looked up, then looked around.

There were demons everywhere.