Wanderlust (19 page)

“So, what will we do?” I asked innocently.

“We’re not entirely certain Alexei is here yet. We have reason to believe he is in the south of France, and if he is here, we don’t think it’s because of you. Although, he would be delighted to learn you are here,” Balthazar explained. “It’s purely coincidental, and we need to take special care to make sure that we keep your location unknown.”

“Tell me what we need to do. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“You’ll stay with us for the night,” Balthazar said. Chip’s eyes lit up at the prospect, making my stomach turn just a little bit. Even for the undead, their extreme difference in age and stature just seemed so wrong a pairing.

“But, what about my friends?”

“You will call them in a few hours,” Sylvie said. “You will tell them that you have had too much to drink, and you will be staying the night in our suite.”

“They’ll never believe it,” I said. “They know I would never do that.”

And, that’s when I realized the room was spinning slightly.

“What have you done?“ I cried, realizing they must have slipped a little something in the water I had been sipping since we sat down. It had been sitting on the table when we arrived, and my mouth was so dry that I was thankful for any form of relief for my parched throat. They had known that I wouldn’t go with them willingly, so they had taken matters into their own hands. “What did they do, Chip?”

Before she could respond, I began giggling. In fact, I was giggling so raucously that Balthazar stood up, pulled a battered leather wallet from his back pocket, and slapped a handful of bills down on the table. “Let’s go.”

I was still giggling, but I wasn’t sure why. The more I tried to focus on the matter at hand, though, the more uncontrollably I laughed. I knew I shouldn’t be, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.

“For crying out loud, someone get control of that girl,” said an uppity old woman sitting at a nearby table to the server.

Balthazar and Sylvie glared at her angrily, and she instantly lowered her eyes. Even in my foggy-minded state, I could see her shudder as though a sudden chill had run through the room. If only she had known why. From what I had heard from Mina, the powers of some of the more powerful and ancient undead ran deep. They could send an unmistakable message with just a single blink of their eyes--one that was never uttered but clearly understood by the recipient. I wasn’t sure if it was Balthazar or Sylvie who had sent the woman the message--perhaps, it was both.

The thought tickled at the edges of my mind, and soon enough, the fits of laughter had started again. What was happening to me? I had never been
that
girl before, and I didn’t want to be now.

I covered my mouth in an effort to quiet the shrill sound escaping my lips, but it was no use. Chip grabbed my arm and began walking quickly toward the ladies room, roughly dragging a rather wobbly me behind her. Once behind closed doors, I sat on the closed lid of one of the porcelain thrones and tried to keep myself upright.

“Get yourself together,” Chip whispered, but her tone was so sharp it cut like a knife. A second later, I felt the cold sting of sink water splashing against my skin. “There’s more where that came from, too, so I suggest you keep your trap shut and do as I say.”

Despite the inappropriately high cut of her short shorts and the fact that the top edges of her bra were visible above the low cut of her cotton t-shirt, the girl was no pushover. She meant business, and I meant to submit, but I just couldn’t do it. If she could be tough, then surely, so could I.

“Now, just you wait a minute there missy,” I said, pushing myself upright. “I will not tolerate this type of indecency any longer. In fact, I demand that you take me back to my friends. I want you to leave us alone--we can fend for ourselves out here. I’m not afraid of some mean old vampires.”

Chip responded by whirling on me quickly, baring her fangs as she did. I grabbed the sides of the stall and braced myself. But, when she lunged a step forward, I cowered away, suddenly sobering slightly.

“Not afraid,” she chuckled. With a slight lisp due to the overgrown incisors that were now impeding her normal speech. She demanded that I stop behaving like a petulant child and do as she say.

The effects of whatever they had slipped in my drink were still much stronger than I had thought as I stumbled through the main room of the restaurant. The woman who had earlier commented on my drug-induced giggle fit scrunched up her face as I passed her by.

“No wonder,” she snickered. “She’s just a drunk who can’t say no.”

I took an unsteady step toward her and lashed out, but Balthazar scooped me into his arms and apologized profusely for my “inexcusable” behavior before exiting the premises. Once outdoors, I remained safely tucked in Balthazar’s embrace as we moved at impossible speed through the busy streets. Our movements seemed so conspicuous in my mind, and I wondered why they would risk revealing their true nature. That’s when I realized that they could make people see whatever they wanted them to see…or not. In essence, if they didn’t want to be seen, no one would see them. It was like we were wearing a cloak of invisibility, only we were in plain sight. Amazing. Again, I wondered, was it Balthazar, Sylvie, or both who obtained this outrageous ability.

At some point on our trek, I saw--rather, I heard--Chip make a phone call. Her movements were too quick for me to make out, but I knew she was talking to someone. Specifically, she was talking to Addie about our whereabouts and our plans for the night. I cringed when I heard her mention my inebriated state, though, it wasn’t entirely a lie.

***

When I awoke the next morning, I didn’t remember much of what happened following the scene at the restaurant--just snippets of surreal images, like an old-fashioned movie reel.

“Where are we?”

“These are my personal quarters,” Sylvie said, a puff of smoke billowing from her lips, a long slim cigarette dangling loosely from her fingers. “Exquisite aren’t they.”

I choked on the polluted air as I pushed myself up on my elbows to examine the room more closely. There was no denying how correct she was in her observation. It was exquisite. Though, I was neither going to confirm nor deny the claim in her presence.

“Yes. Well, now that we’re both in agreement that you are of an inferior intellect, you should get up and prepare,” she explained.

“Prepare for what?” Why was I always in the dark?

“It seems the Soldiers caught wind of your little outburst at the bistro yesterday--they have eyes everywhere--and now, you must leave.”

“We have tickets for the 10:15 to Frankfurt, so I’ll just go back to the hotel and get my things,” I said, pushing aside the layers of fluffy duvet that had been wrapped up to my chin and taking note of the barely there, satin chemise now draping my body. Sylvie and I were a similar build, so I made the natural assumption that this was one of her sleep things, and I made a mental note. If…no, when, Chaseyn and I ever spent the night together in a less-than-innocent way, my flannel pajama bottoms and tank top were not going to suffice. For the moment, though, I just felt naked, and I quickly grabbed a nearby throw to drape across my body.

“Oh, how you make me laugh, little girl,” Sylvie was, literally, holding her side to pinch away the cramp from laughing so hard as she sputtered the words. “You don’t actually think you can go back there, do you?”

I shook my head slowly. My head was pounding too hard to do much more than that. “How can I when you won’t tell me anything? All of you--you’re so cryptic. You drug me, keep me prisoner in some unknown location, and then, you have the gull to question my knowledge of the situation. Of course I don’t have a freaking clue,” I screamed. “So, your highness, why don’t you take a few minutes out of your precious life--or shall I say death--to clear up some of the facts?”

“Ugh,” she said, turning on her heel and storming from the room. When she got to the door, she shouted to an unseen entity in another part of the residence. Presumably Balthazar. “You deal with her. She’s utterly insufferable.”

I found myself alone for a brief moment while Balthazar attempted to calm Sylvie. During that time, I contemplated the differences between Sylvie and myself, and I wondered what Chaseyn could possibly see in me. Aside from some of our physical traits, Sylvie and I couldn’t be more opposite. Realizing I was still less-than-adequately attired, I scanned the room for the clothes I had worn the day before. As much as I longed for a hot shower and a clean pair of underwear, I decided yesterday’s dirty laundry was better than spending the day in another woman’s lingerie. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even find my dirty clothes.

Finally, Balthazar entered the room--a stack of something indiscernible in his arms.

“Don’t mind her,” he said, laying the pile of what I could now see consisted of towels and clean clothes at the foot of the bed. “She’s just jealous.”

It made sense. However unbelievable.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at the stack.

“You won’t be returning to your hotel,” Balthazar explained. “We have reason to believe the Soldiers are watching it closely, and we can’t take the risk.”

“What do you mean they’re watching it? Why would they want to do that?”

“Lia, you might want to sit down for a minute,” Balthazar said, his hand extended to me. I took it in my own and let him guide me to the edge of the bed. For a moment, I thought he might be using his charms on me. And then I realized it really didn’t matter. There wasn’t much I could do about it if he was.

“Are Addie and Eli okay?”

“They’re just fine. There is no reason for the Soldiers to connect them to you,” he assured. “But, they know Chip has been guarding you, and one of them saw her leave the hotel yesterday morning. Since then, they’ve had the place staked out.”

“But, why? I’m nothing to them. It’s Alexei they’re after.”

And, that’s when all of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. It was like a light bulb went on inside my head, and an alarm went off.

“Oh,” I gasped, raising a hand to my lips. “I’m the key.”

“Exactly,” Balthazar conceded. “If they can get to you first, they can use you to lure Alexei to them.”

“We have to get out of here as quickly as possible,” I said, frantically tearing through the clothes he had brought to me in search of something I would actually wear. I paused for a moment to consider the options. “Seriously? You couldn’t have brought me something that reaches past my knees and covers my cleavage? Who do you think I am?”

“Chip picked it out.”

“I should’ve known,” I quickly clasped my hand tight across my mouth. As soon as the words escaped my lips, I knew my mistake. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“She tends to shop at places that make clothes like fabric is being rationed,” he laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been trying to get her to cover up for years.”

Thank goodness he had a sense of humor. The last thing I wanted was an angry vampire as my bodyguard. I swirled my hand to gesture that Balthazar should turn his back while I slipped into the sheer rag Chip called a sundress, and like a true gentlemen, he shielded his eyes and left the room. I pulled my hair up in a messy loop at the nape of my neck and slipped on the flip flops Balthazar had brought in with the stack of clothes. Flip flops with kitten heels. Didn’t that kind of defeat the purpose? Not like I had a choice.

When I was ready, I contemplated taking the other clothes from the stack with me, but ultimately, I decided I would rather wear nothing at all than wear any of those other items. Even the outfit I had chosen was beyond anything I would normally wear, but it was the best of the bunch. I was fairly certain Eli and Addie would have my things when we met up with them again, and if not, I would let Addie buy me what I needed. Normally, I was morally opposed to accepting her handouts, but I figured I could make an exception this one time.

When I emerged from the room, Balthazar was waiting just beyond the door with his hands in his pockets. I made a mental note to sing his praises to Mina when I returned to Colorado. He had come off a bit rough around the edges at first, but he had done nothing but try to protect my life since then, and she should know the kind of…
man
…he was. Just because things hadn’t worked out for them all those years ago didn’t mean he shouldn’t have a second chance. After all, their babies would be stunning. If they could have babies. I realized I really was sure how that worked for their kind, and I made a second mental note to ask Chaseyn. Then again, after the way our last conversation ended, I couldn’t be sure he would want to speak to me again.

“Ready?” Balthazar asked.

“I think so,” I replied quietly. “But, where are we going exactly?”

“You’ll see,” he said, whisking me into his arms, through the front door, and down a series of stairs so quickly it all passed in a blur.

Chapter 22 - Underground

The temperature dropped about 10 degrees in a matter of minutes, and goose bumps covered my bare skin, which was most of my body considering the miniscule amount of fabric I was wearing. Of course, Balthazar didn’t notice fluctuations in heat or warmth--his body temperature remained a constant 72 degrees regardless of the atmosphere.