Empath (Book 1 of The Empath Trilogy)
Page 43
Ch. 35
Bags packed and in the trunk, James and I were speeding up 35W by eleven. Normally Duluth was a two hour drive, but my chauffeur exceeded the speed limit routinely. I was fairly confident we would be there before noon.
On the way, we talked about nothing important at all. No covens, no psychopaths, not even our pending trip to Scotland tomorrow. Instead we talked about music. I confessed my guilty pleasure of 80’s music, and he introduced me to blue grass. We agreed on some of the newer music getting radio play like Snow Patrol. We took turns listening to one another’s choices made possible by satellite radio and iPod. Before long, we were debating electric versus acoustic guitars and how music has changed in the last century. He obviously had more experience with the earlier half of the century than I did, but he proved himself a patient teacher and willing listener.
Sure enough, it was just after noon when we pulled into Duluth. That was a record for me and I told him so. He was getting used to my teasing him about his driving and gave his now typical response, “my kind enjoys speed” and I was no more impressed with it this time than each time before. There was no point in commenting further. He could no sooner change the color of his freckles.
The music faded for no reason and I turned up the volume twice, unable to get the sound back as we pulled into the lot at a nicer hotel in Canal Park overlooking Lake Superior. After putting the car in park and turning it off, I felt his stare. “Isn’t that a little loud?” He whispered.
“My hearing isn’t as good as yours, you can’t keep turning it down on me.” I assumed he’d adjusted it when I wasn’t looking.
“Claire I never touched it.” He eyed me warily, guessing accurately that the change was with me and not the controls.
“Maybe I should get my ears checked.” I snapped, frustrated with my weakness more than with him. My door slamming was mostly accidental but I was too close to tears to turn around and explain that.
He couldn’t be vampire fast out here in public, so I used the time it took for him to grab the bags to pull myself together. He caught up to me as I was ogling the Victorian lobby décor. It was so beautiful and elegant. It struck me as very him, and I wondered briefly if all vampires got stuck in their time or if it was just this one. As “with the times” as James could be, he was certainly set in his ways from his formative human years. And as quickly as I had gotten pissy with him, I was on the other side of it. He walked up beside me and I turned my face up to him. Features guarded, he looked down at me, a bag in each hand and leaned down to kiss me chastely on the lips. Afterward, he nodded his head to the side and indicated that we should go to the front desk.
Riding the elevator to the top floor, I made a game of catching his eye and coyly glancing away; my goal was to make him smile and between floors two and three it worked. Leading the way, he carried the bags down the long hallway until we reached our room. James must have gotten the best room in the place. Ours was off the main hall, on a quiet wing overlooking the lake and our view was spectacular. We walked in, he tossed the bags down on the chair in the corner and I continued through to the balcony. Opening the door, I walked out into the shock of only mildly brisk air and took in the scenery. It was an unusually bright, sunny day in Duluth and the lake reflected the clear blue of the sky next to the fall colors lining the visible shoreline.
My hands were on the balcony railing, the light breeze ruffling my hair and just like that, my legs were swept up from underneath me as a low chuckle rang in my ear. James whisked me back inside and tossed me, giggling on the bed. I couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment, his joy was infectious. Here we were, none of the bad guys following us for now, no constant checking in with anybody about safety or patrols. We were just two normal people in love. Sappy, but true.
“Well,” his demeanor changed, making me catch my breath as he made his way up the bed, hovering over me. “We have almost five hours before anyone will be expecting us. Is there anything you need to do?”
Reaching up, I slid a hand into his hair and coaxed him closer so that I could wrap a leg around his thigh and pull him down to show him my first idea. It met with his approval, my health no longer a concern for him. Sometime later, we threw on our clothes and grabbed our jackets, heading out into the afternoon sunshine.