Sucking in San Francisco (11 page)

We are just cleaning up the breakfast tray when Aidan pops back in and makes Helena scream and grab her chest. He gives her a small smile. Aidan has a no-nonsense air about him that’s intriguing.

“I have some rather disturbing news,” Aidan says.

“Sit down, Aidan, what’s wrong?” I ask.

He sits in the chair across from me.

“I just spent some time with Indio and Iris. They are the ones that staked Demetri, Liesl, Jennifer and Rachael. Their cousin, Alexander, sent them on a mission to kill a vampire named Bertrand for not paying him for a spell he had done.”

Aidan seems upset about this which is a surprise and my hands start to shake. Sebastian takes my hands in his and Aidan’s eyes narrow as he watches us.

“They tortured him and drank his blood before staking him,” he says as he grimaces. “They know I am in the city and they have plans to kill Lilith as soon as they gain my power,” Aidan goes on.

“Alexander is definitely in the mix then,” Julian says.

“We must do something. We can’t let these two-bit conjurers wreak havoc on our city and destroy our family,” Helena says.

Aidan looks worried. Sebastian does too, for that matter. I’m getting angry.

“Aidan, Sebastian, we’re going to be fine. We are steps ahead of these bimbos and we’re stronger and smarter,” I say. “We just have to figure out what we’re going to do. How did they manage to kill the vampires, Aidan? They should have been faster and stronger.”

“They can conjure an immobilization spell. Something similar to my binding spell. It turns their victim into a marionette. Iris laughed when she staked him.”

“Helena, can you see if anything can counteract it? Any protection we have against that would be good,” Julian says.

“Of course, I will start right now,” Helena says as she takes down some big grimoires, her old spell books, and begins to search.

“Aidan, I can offer to translate the texts and mistranslate the summoning. Is that the best place to make a mistake?” Julian asks.

Aidan eyes widen at Julian’s offer of help and protection.

“That will be very dangerous,” I say. “If Iris or Indio survive and find out that you intentionally mistranslated they’ll try to kill you. They’ll assume that it was on purpose. You’re not known to make mistakes.”

“I’m willing to take that chance,” Julian says. Aidan’s eyebrow rises again.

“I’m meeting Indio tonight at the club after I drop Lily off at work. I can hint at the fact that Julian might be interested in translating for them,” Sebastian says.

“I think that would be a good idea,” Aidan says.

“I’m glad you approve,” Sebastian says through clenched teeth.

“You need to keep them attentive and thinking that we’re willing to work with them so they don’t get too frustrated. They’re getting restless,” Aidan tells Sebastian.

“Oh, now it’s ‘we’. So you’re in this with us or are you just making promises that you don’t intend to keep? Why are we supposed to trust a djinn?” Sebastian bites out, fangs showing.

“I could save the witches the trouble of staking you if you want blood sucker,” Aidan growls.

“Stop it! Just stop it both of you!” I shout, jumping in between them.

“I’ll be back another time. Lilith, it’s always a pleasure,” Aidan says with a wicked smile at me before he pierces Sebastian with a deathly look and vaporizes.

“Damn him, damn him to Hell. He just pops in and out and expects us to believe everything he fucking says and does and he’s the most dangerous thing in the room! He could annihilate any one of us in an instant,” Sebastian shouts as he jumps off the couch.

“I don’t think he means us any harm, Bast,” I say calmly. I take his hand in mine, trying to soothe him.

“Oh, I don’t think he means you any harm, Cherie, he is making that all too clear. So help me…” he mutters. He rubs my hand absently sending a shiver through me.

I think I know what he means but I wisely don’t say anything. Hmmm… I wonder what it would be like to shag a fire spirit… Stop, just stop right now, missy.

“Well, what do you propose we do with the information our fiery friend has given us?” Helena asks.

I think she is rather taken aback by the attention Aidan is giving me. Normally she would have been all for it and been my loudest cheerleader but she is deeply committed to a Sebastian liaison. She loves us both. Nothing would make her happier than to have us as a couple and make her family stronger. Why am I even worried about this? Maybe because I am more than a little attracted to Aidan. Every time he drops in, I get a flash of electricity from the base of my neck down to my toes. Aidan is that dangerous bad boy every girl dreams about. You know he has a good side if you can just tame him.

“I think we need to move with extreme caution from now on. Everything we do is being watched and weighed by Iris and Indio. If they get their cousin involved we are in a much more complicated situation. Alexander is a warlock with tremendous power,” Julian says.

“Starbright warned us about him. He has been pulling their strings from behind the scenes for awhile now. This just proves it,” Helena says.

“I think Sebastian should not be alone with Indio,” I say.

“Lily,” he sighs “I will be all right, Cherie.”

“We don’t know that and I can’t. . . I mean we can’t lose you,” I say.

Sebastian takes my face in his hands and looks me in the eyes. “I promise you that I will be careful. Do you feel better now?”

“No, well a little bit.”

Sebastian laughs and kisses me on the forehead. Helena smiles slightly but Julian looks as worried as I feel.

“What are we going to do about the translations?” Julian asks.

“I don’t know. I think we need to work that out with Aidan. He can tell us the best place to put the mistakes and what needs to be written. You know, talking about trust, it takes a lot for him to trust us. If Julian translates those texts, we would have the incantations and his real name to bind him. He is risking a lot becoming so vulnerable to us,” I argue.

“I know, ma petite, it’s just the way he looks at you and the way he is becoming attached to you. It makes me crazy. You can’t ask a man to watch such things and not be jealous,” Sebastian says.

“Sebastian, as far as I know I am not in a relationship with anyone and I’m not looking for one,” I say as I walk out of the library door leaving Sebastian in my wake.

I’m tired of talking about all of this. I go into the kitchen to find Andrew. The house boasts a beautiful old kitchen, updated with stainless steel appliances and tile floors. Sage green with blue accents helps the kitchen feel cool, even when the sun shines through all the beveled windows. Unfortunately, the full gourmet outfitting goes unused. Andrew prepares his meals in here, but they are simple affairs. He glances up from his tidying after the tea and coffee service, a knowing look on his face.

“Come on, climb up on the stool and tell Auntie Andrew all about it,” he says.

“Sebastian is so possessive,” I rant.

“Sebastian loves you.”

“Of course he does and I love him and Helena and Julian and you.”

“That’s not the way I mean. Watch the way Sebastian looks at you. He’s fallen in love with you. He can’t stand that the jinni might be interested in you too. Trust me on this, Miss Lily.”

“That’s just more of your gossip, Andrew. But let’s just say I was interested in both of them. What would you advise?”

Andrew and I talk like school girls for quite a while. I’m getting nowhere but frustrated over maybes and ifs.

“I’m going home. I want to be alone,” I mutter.

“Take care,” he commiserates. He raises his eyebrows at me as he starts drying a cup when I drag myself towards the back door instead of the front.

A few minutes later I let myself into my quiet, empty condo. Throwing myself onto my bed, I grab my fluffy blanket to curl up. From my bed I can look out my windows to the city. It feels good to be wrapped in my blanket, like being in a cocoon. It’s at times like this that I wish I were still human and that I could take a little nap. Just some down time to get away from my mind. Letting it process things in its own way. It starts to drizzle. The soft rain hits the windows and slides gently down. I watch it as I lie in bed.

I must have zoned out because I’m shocked out of my revelry by the door buzzer. When I stumble out of bed to answer it, I drag my blanket with me. It’s Sebastian.

“Come in.”

“Sorry”

“It’s okay, Bast. You know I can’t stay mad at you,” I say as I shuffle back to my room trailing my blanket behind me.

“What’s wrong, dearest?”

“I’m just in a funk. I don’t feel very social. I want to get drunk, but of course I can’t. I thought about asking Andrew over and getting him drunk so I could live vicariously through him but he only knows two jokes.”

“Do you think you should go into work tonight?”

“No, probably not. I’m feeling pretty blue. It’s hard to talk people out of suicide when you feel so down yourself.”

“I will call your supervisor and tell her that you are not well tonight and can’t come in. I don’t like leaving you like this, but I have to meet Indio at the club.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t, Bast.”

“How about if I text you while I’m out? If I check in a few times and let you know how I’m doing, would that make you feel better?”

“Yes, it would. You aren’t going to be out long are you?”

“Not with Indio, just long enough to keep her attentions and see if I can get more information out of her. I have business at the club, so I will be out late working. Why don’t you rest now? Maybe read?”

“I need some down time, thanks, Bast.”

He bends down and kisses my cheek. My body warms up immediately, traitor. Not much gets past a three hundred and sixty-five year old Casanova. He smiles down at me before sauntering out of the room. I lock up after him, then plug my iPod into the stereo. I need some chill time. Glasvegas drifts out of the speakers.
So much is happening right now it’s overwhelming. The witch bitches are plotting against us. I have a jinni interested in me, who is most likely in danger from the witches as well and who a week ago would have killed us all on sight.

I am fantasizing about that same djinn. Sebastian, it seems, is interested but hasn’t declared his intentions. I am about to kick him in the ass. I don’t know if I can trust either of them. Relationships and I just don’t seem to work. Not that I have a lot of experience. The little I do have has been disastrous. They have either left me high and dry, died on me or I just couldn’t stand them after a month or so. On top of all that my birthday is tomorrow and I still don’t have anything to wear.

I lie in bed and hold my complaints close. Why did Iris and Indio stake Dimetri and Liesl in the first place? I wonder if they were in some sort of scheme together. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had been helping Iris and Indio obtain the Aramaic texts to begin with and once they got them, they took care of the two vampires to eliminate the competition. The same thing they have planned for us. They’ll get Julian to help them and try and get Sebastian for Indio and stake the rest of us. With a jinni on their side they would be unstoppable. But I can’t think of any reason to stake Jennifer and Rachael. They were not exactly sweet vampires, most aren’t by nature, but they stayed to themselves and as Sebastian said, they were rather enlightened for vampires. Why hasn’t Aidan taken Indio and Iris out? I know they have protective spells around them but so do we. They must have more then the usual protections surrounding them. I’m sure Alexander has had something to do with that. Before I know it, Sebastian texts me with his first check in.

hi beautiful just wanted to let you know that everything is going fine here :) well same old games but all is well

do you think she suspects anything

no and she won’t i did mention that julian might be interested in the texts she bought it they are desperate i can smell bertrand’s blood on her it’s making my stomach roil

better not keep you long. Please be careful. Thank

you for txting me

I’ll txt u later chou chou

bye

I decide to read for a while. I find a Christopher Moore book I haven’t read yet and settle in. About two a.m. Sebastian texts again to tell me that Indio went home but he still has work to do for about an hour. It has been a long day. A nice long bath sounds good. It’s raining softly outside and I light a fire and some candles. I love the rain when I’m inside. I pick out an ivory silk nightgown and pour some wine. I’m looking out my window when I hear the front door open. I hear Bast in the living room, he must be checking on me. I turn. Bast stands in the firelight of my room. He has on black silk pajama pants and is bare-chested. Damn, I knew I should have never given him that key.

My heart would be pounding if it still beat that fast. As it is, I feel a heat I haven’t felt in years. My mouth is dry. I quickly take a sip of wine just in case he might happen to, you know, want to kiss me or something.

His chest is just barely covered with hair. The muscles underneath that chest ripple as he walks over to me. I stand very still. He takes my glass and sets it on the table before taking both my hands. He begins kissing my fingers, threatening a mini orgasm which each brush of his lips.

“Sebastian.”

“Shhh”

“But… so many women, I don’t want to be one of them.”

“You could never be one of those women, Lily. You are much too precious to me. I’m not here to make love to you, Lily. I’m here to hold you all night. Just let me hold you while you sleep. Let me watch over you and be the first thing you see when you wake up.”

Ohmygod!

He eyes plead with me. I have never seen this vulnerable side of Sebastian.

He bends down and gently kisses my cheek and then moves to the corner of my mouth and then even more gently still, kisses my lips. By now I want him so bad I could ravage him in public in the middle of the street, during rush hour. I wouldn’t care, it’s been so long and Sebastian is so ‘that guy’. He draws this out. Painfully. Bastard. What’s wrong with me? I just said I wouldn’t sleep with him.