The Lie (The Skyy Huntington Series) (15 page)

I kept glancing into my rearview mirror the whole way, but made it to the house in one piece thankfully. I rushed in the door in a panic and called out for Aiden as I slammed the door shut behind me locking every bolt on it. Cupcake came barreling down the staircase that led up to our guest room, happy as ever to see me.

Aiden came from the other staircase, probably from his computer room, with just as much speed. He had on relaxed khaki colored cargo pants, and a maroon colored three button polo shirt on. He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower, and I could smell the clean man scented body soap drifting on the air after him. He could instantly see something was wrong.

“What happened?” he asked. He looked every bit as concerned as Christian had when I told him my house was broken in to. It was kind of nice to have two men willing to be knights in shining armor for me.

I took my coat off and quickly hung it on the coat rack by the door, and threw my keys on the foyer table. “I went to have some tea with Christian on his lunch break, and when I was leaving there was this guy standing against the building staring at me, and then he just disappeared almost within seconds, I looked down, back up, and he was gone.”

“What did he look like?” Aiden asked. I described the man, and his weird Matrix style outfit to him. He nodded a little, and looked like he was thinking.

“I don’t know anyone that fits that description personally, well not anyone who lives in this area anyway. It could have been a random event, but I really doubt it. It sounds like he was tracking you, and also like he wasn’t human. We vampires can’t be out in the sun for long periods of time, though today is overcast and cloudy. We’re kind of like albinos or gingers…we burn
real
easy. After centuries of hunting in the dark and shadows our bodies and DNA have grown accustomed to the night, if we are put in the sun for prolonged periods of time it
can
kill us. That would probably explain his head to toe black ensemble. I don’t want you going out alone anymore, for
any
reason. Alright?” he was looking at me with utter seriousness.

I nodded back in agreement, “Christian asked me to have dinner with him tonight though. Do you think it’s ok if I am with him, or in a public place?” I inquired.

“Well, you’re not driving there alone, so he can either pick you up or I can drop you off. And I will stay around the perimeter and keep an eye out the whole time. A vampire wouldn’t attack you in a public place, but he would possibly do it if you were only in the presence of another human he could easily take care of, by either erasing the mind or…” he mimicked a knife across the throat. I got the picture. “I’d also like to get back over to your house after your dinner engagement tonight, to keep looking. I know it will be late but we really need to get to the bottom of this, and soon Skyy,” he added.

“Ok, no problem, I will try to keep dinner short, but I am good to go for an all-nighter after, don’t worry about me.” I tried to smile and look confident but I knew Aiden could see right through it. Unexpectedly he stepped over to me and gave me a hug. Somehow, I didn’t picture vampires hugging and comforting humans in my imagination, but it sure did feel good. I could smell the soap now even stronger, and the clean smell of freshly washed clothes. I hugged him back and we just stood there for a few moments in silence.

“I won’t let anything happen to you. Don’t worry Skyy,” he said, while pulling away from the hug. It was kind of cute, he looked shy about it almost. He touched the side of my face softly with his hand. He hadn’t seemed jealous at all when I mentioned I was going out with Christian, which was a total contrast from Christian’s reactions to me staying with Aiden, and Aiden in general. I wondered what he was thinking, if he was romantically interested in me, or was looking out for my well-being for his own interests.

I felt guilty for it, but standing there with him touching me, staring into his beautiful green eyes, I just felt safe and happy, and very attracted to him. In a way that I had never felt with Christian before. I knew when Aiden said he wouldn’t let anything happen to me, he meant it with certainty.

It was only about 2 p.m. and I had all afternoon to kill. I thanked Aiden gave him another quick hug that sent my heart racing, and then decided to take a nap. If I was going to be up all night, I would probably need one.

I flopped into the comfort of the huge bed with Cupcake beside me. I pushed the button to lower the metal shades, still so amazed by them, and closed my eyes. In what seemed like minutes, I woke up to my phone ringing. It was after six in the evening now, and it was Christian. Crap, I slept longer than I had wanted to!

I yawned and answered the phone, “Hey, Christian, you off work already?”

“Yeah, heading home now, just seeing if you still wanted to meet up for dinner?” he asked, with almost too much enthusiasm in his voice.

I didn’t have the heart to let him down. “Sure, I just woke up from a nap so I’ll need a few to get ready. Can we meet in say, an hour?” I asked.

“That’s fine, I still need to change anyway. How about that Italian place over by the wharf?”

Honestly, I wasn’t even hungry, which was odd because all I had eaten today was that bagel and banana in the morning. I didn’t care where we ate. “Sounds good,” I said.

“Did you need a ride, or are you going to meet me there?” he asked. I didn’t really want him coming by Aiden’s so I told him I would meet him there which meant Aiden would be dropping me off.

“I’ll meet you there, say quarter after seven or so?”

I could almost hear him smiling over the phone. So much for him being mad at me. “Ok great, see you there!” he replied and hung up.

My hair looked like a birds nest from the nap, so I decided to take a super quick shower before leaving. I pulled on a pair of dressy jeans, a light powder blue cashmere sweater, and some black dress boots. I dried my hair as quick as I could, threw on some mascara and lip gloss and then went over to Aiden’s side of the house to find him to let him know I was ready. He was in the computer room again, and I was beginning to think he lived in that room. He swiveled in his chair and looked me over from head to toe. “You look nice,” he said and smiled. I blushed.

“Thanks. I’m ready to go whenever you are. I told him I’d meet him at quarter after seven.” Aiden nodded and we walked downstairs to put our coats on. He’d changed his shirt since earlier, he was wearing a long sleeved navy blue polo shirt now with his khaki cargos.

I let Cupcake outside before we left, once she was done he put her back inside and locked the door. We walked over to the three car garage that was just to the side of the main house. He clicked a button on his key ring and one of the doors opened. I don’t know if I expected to see a Lamborghini in there or what, but I wasn’t expecting to see a SUV. It was a BMW, mind you, but still I didn’t picture vampires cruising around town in SUV’s. He walked into the garage, cranked it up, and backed it out for me. I was walking towards the passenger door, when he flew around to it and opened it for me. Once I was settled in, we took off for the restaurant.

Christian was already standing outside waiting for me as we pulled in. I told Aiden to drop me off on the side, so he wouldn’t see me getting dumped off by him.

“Embarrassed to be seen with me, is it?” he said in a joking tone.

“No, it isn’t that, he’s just pretty upset over all this, I don’t want to stoke the embers just yet,” I replied as I gathered my purse up and prepared to hop out of the SUV.

He nodded. “Ok, I will be outside the whole time, checking for anyone or anything odd while you’re in there. When you are done just let me know if he’s taking you back to my house or if you’re riding with me. If you need me just call or text, but I can hear everything that will be going on inside anyway so I should have you covered in case of an emergency,” he smiled at me, that beautiful perfect smile he had. My heart skipped a beat. I opened the door and climbed out, waving goodbye.

Christian had already made reservations for us before I got there, so we had a table for two ready. We were about halfway through dinner, when my phone buzzed in my purse. Aiden had sent me a text. I froze when I read it.

Suspicious fellow, as you described, coming in with female companion. Wrap it up. He’s not from “around here”

By “not from around here” I knew he meant he wasn’t human. Christian noticed I was shaken up. “Is everything ok?” he asked. I felt bad for having put him into any kind of potential danger. Now this guy following me would know his face and associate him with me. Just as he asked, I looked up and saw the waiter seating him and his female friend, who was definitely a human. He was glaring right at me again, with that burning, evil stare I had seen at the deli earlier today. This was most certainly
not
a coincidence.

I faked a smile, and put my phone back into my purse. I was visibly shaking, so I grabbed my wine glass and took a sip to try to look normal and also to calm myself down. He didn’t buy it.

“Skyy, what’s wrong? You’re shaking,” he asked again. I had to be honest. I could fake being sick and needing to leave, but he wouldn’t buy it.

“Christian, look we need to get the check and I need to leave. Like, as soon as possible. I can’t tell you why, please just trust me and please don’t ask why right now,” I begged him.

He was already reaching into his back pocket to get his wallet. I glanced at the man again, he was sitting so he was facing me at his table, still glaring at me. The human he was with was chatting away, oblivious to him not even paying attention to her. I wondered what she had in store for her, because unlike Aiden who seemed to be of a good nature, I was definitely getting an evil vibe off this guy.

Christian called the waiter over, who was questioning why we were leaving in such a hurry, afraid the food or his service was bad, Christian threw him a one hundred dollar bill, told him to keep the change that it was an emergency, and we had to go. The waiter stood there in shock as we walked out. We had to pass right by the table the evil looking guy was sitting at, he just kept glaring at me, but as I walked by he winked at me. I felt like I had been raped, disgusted to the core.

To my surprise Aiden was waiting for me inside the little exit to the restaurant, you know the space between the two sets of doors most restaurants have. Christian was clearly caught off guard by this. Aiden was already taking me by the arm and trying to rush me out the front door.

“Whoa, what are you doing here? What the hell is going on Skyy? Wh ---” he stopped talking mid-sentence.

Aiden spoke then, in that odd language looking directly into Christians eyes, I could see them glaze over a little bit, like he was suddenly confused. Then he said, “Go home Christian, lock your doors. Skyy will call you tomorrow, and she says thank you for a wonderful evening.”

Just like that, Christian walked right past us, out the front doors of the restaurant without a word or a glance back, and left. Aiden rushed me out right after him, and into the SUV.

“Did you just erase his mind?” I exclaimed, a little bit pissed. Aiden ripped out of the parking lot so fast I thought we were going to tip over.

“Yes, Skyy. We don’t have time right now for his petty emotions and we don’t need him knowing about or getting involved with this situation we have on our hands. I am trying to keep him safe,” he said in a very calm voice.

I looked down at my hands for a moment. I wondered if I should mention that I kind of already
had
told Christian about part of it. We were speeding down the road now, and I was feeling like I was about to cry. I guessed he could sense it.

“I’ll keep you safe, I told you. Don’t worry, don’t get upset. We’ll figure this out. Christian will be ok,” he said, trying his best to comfort me.

“You don’t know that! That guy…well is it even a guy? He saw him with me twice today, that can’t be a good thing!” I was almost shouting not realizing it.

Aiden kept his eyes on the road, breaking speed limits like crazy. “No, he isn’t a human, he is a vampire. He’s not after Christian, he is after you, and I don’t see any reason he’d bother him. But we won’t be putting him in any more danger now that we know about him. You won’t be seeing him again until this is over, to keep him safe and out of the picture.”

I was filled with so many emotions I couldn’t even see straight. I was mad, sad, scared, and enraged all at the same time. “Well, what the hell are these people after? What the fuck was Grandpa involved in, the mafia or something? We need to get to my house and keep looking for something, or just torch the damn thing and put me in a witness protection program!” I was overreacting and acting like a child, I knew it. But it made me feel better, so I didn’t care.

“It’s not that easy, sadly. They will be able to find you anywhere you go now that they know who you are. It’s best if we try to find this item they are after as fast as we can, or try to contact the vampire to see what his demands are. A vampire cannot enter another vampire’s home uninvited, but he can enter a human’s house any time he wishes. You’ll be safe if you’re with me or inside my house. I’m sure he’ll follow us tonight, maybe I can ask him what he is looking for.”

“So let's go to my house then. Use me as bait, I don’t care. Find out what this vampire wants. I want my life back! My normal, boring life, where I don’t have to worry about being murdered, or shot, or bitten by a vampire.” I huffed and slammed myself into the back of the seat with purpose. Aiden didn’t have a reply to that. I felt bad for lashing out about vampires, but I couldn’t help it. This was scary, whether he said he wouldn’t ever hurt me or drink my blood or not, the fact was he was something supernatural and I had
no
idea where I stood in his world.

We pulled up to my house, after driving in total silence after my outburst. Aiden turned the SUV off, and I saw him scanning the property with his vampire eyes, looking for any signs of harm. “You stay with me, at all times. No matter
what
, even if you have to use the restroom, I go with you. Got it?” he said.