I tried to give her the best smile I could, still having Lily on my mind. I couldn’t let it slip. I couldn’t let her know Lily’s reaction had been bad. I quickly changed the subject. “He was about to give me advice on how to approach the subject of getting two girls in a threesome, so I’ll need you to give me the scoop on what he was going to say.” I tried smiling again. “That way I can make it seem like he told me, but just doesn’t remember because of the alcohol.”
She nodded eagerly, turning to grab a chair and setting it down next to Nick’s body. “Sit,” she ordered. “Let’s hurry up and do this – if we’re fast then we should have plenty of time to make a trip to your bedroom before he wakes up.”
I shook my head at her, a genuine smirk touching my lips. I had never met a woman in my entire life who could get off as frequently as her. I supposed she really was making up for the three-hundred plus years she went without.
But whatever. While I didn’t know for sure how it would actually feel to be drunk, I did know that playing around with her was probably similar in its ability to take my mind off my problems.
“Sure,” I said, giving her another genuine smile. I sat down in the chair as she climbed onto my lap. “I’m going to make you moan so loud the neighbors will hear it,” I teased.
Her eyes widened in shock. “Please do,” she said seriously. She then paused. “Ready?”
I nodded once, tilting my head back for her. She bent down and gently kissed me on the neck, just before her mouth widened and her teeth sank in.
22: Shit Hits the Fan
“Shit!” Freya exclaimed, pulling away from me. Her third crimson eye in the middle of her forehead was still focused on Nick’s body lying next to us on the floor. The slit was constricted, focused.
“What’s wrong?” I asked urgently, as her mouth reshaped to look normal again.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Her eyes locked with mine, her expression frantic. “I know who his contact is. Sam…” She bit her lip. “It’s your boss.”
“What?!” I couldn’t believe it. “Seriously?”
She nodded hesitantly. “Which means we might have a serious problem.” She paused. “You know how your coworker Dave overheard Lily taking to me? Well, the first thing Nick did, even before talking to you, was go tell your boss – John.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Nick told him flat-out that we were in a threesome together. Sam…” She looked at me pleadingly, like she was afraid I was going to be angry with her. “He probably knows you aren’t currently my business partner, which means he might be suspicious that I would be so urgent to get you out of work.” She bit her lip again. “I might have accidentally tipped them off that I know something.”
I shook my head, wrapping my arms around her. “No, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know. And I really will be your business partner soon, so we can still smooth this over somehow.” I sighed, looking at her defeated posture. “What else did you find?” I finally asked.
She stared at me for a moment as she thought about it. “Not much,” she admitted. “We were right to think that Nick has no idea what this is all about. He knows what he is doing is shady, and he even feels a little bad about it now that he has gotten to know you, but he has no idea that someone is out to kill you or the people you love. In fact, you being immortal is the reason why he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong.”
I scoffed. “He may have super-strength, but he really does have the mentality of a wimp. No spine, no sense of responsibility for his actions.” I scoffed again, glancing over at him passed out on the floor. I then thought of my boss. “So I assume John is our next target then? But how do we get to him? This worked great with Nick, but my boss and I aren’t exactly on ‘hanging out’ terms.”
She bit her lip again, hard. “We can consider our options of course…” She paused, biting her lip so hard I was sure it was going to bleed. I knew she had a high pain tolerance, but damn. Just how durable was she? Freya continued. “But I do have one idea…You could pretend to set us up…on a date.”
I gawked at her. “Absolutely not!”
She shook her head. “I don’t like the idea either, but you’ll be there too – hidden somewhere, of course. It might be our only chance to get to him. He seemed pretty flirtatious with me over the phone.”
I sneered. “Yeah, I don’t doubt that for one second.”
“And obviously nothing is going to happen between us,” she added. Her expression darkened. “He’d find himself with his worst nightmare if he even tried.”
A chill ran down my spine in response to the sound of her words dripping with such disdain. “I’m glad I’m on your good side,” I teased.
She smirked at me, changing the subject. “Well, we have a little while before he wakes back up. So tell me, how did it go with Lily?”
I made a face. I didn’t want to give anything away, but I couldn’t help it. My worry and grief leaked out even before I could try to contain it. I did my best to change the subject. “I thought you wanted to head to my bedroom first thing.”
She leaned away abruptly in surprise. “Oh.” She paused. “Not well? What did she say?”
I sighed. I had definitely ruined the mood now. “Just that she needed to think about it.” I tightened my embrace on her waist. “Freya…she actually asked me to leave. And she doesn’t want me over tonight.”
Her eyes widened even more. “Sam, I’ve known Lily for a long time. I honestly don’t think that anything you had to tell her would scare her away.” She paused. “Something else must be bothering her. Maybe she’s thinking beyond what you said.”
“Wait. What?”
She reached up and ran her fingertips along the side of my face as she thought about it. “Well, like maybe she’s thinking about what it will do to you if she ends up getting killed.” Her expression abruptly became intense. “I’ll talk to her,” she reassured me. “Now that I think about it, that’s exactly the kind of thing she’d do. She loves you Sam, and she doesn’t want to see you get hurt. She might even be considering ending the relationship in order to protect you, not to protect herself.”
“O-Oh.” My head dropped. “Shit, I hope not.”
Freya continued to run her fingertips up and down the side of my face. “I’ll talk to her,” she reassured me again. “I’ll convince her not to do something stupid.”
“What makes you so sure?” I wondered absentmindedly. Her light touch along my skin was exceptionally comforting, sending shivers down my neck and spine.
Freya blinked at me in surprise. “That she’d do something like that?” She clarified.
I nodded.
She thought about it for a moment. “Sam, remember when I used my third eye on you a few days ago? Didn’t you think it was strange that Lily already knew about it?”
I paused as I considered that, my eyes widening. “You’ve used it on her?” I asked in disbelief. “But how?”
She shrugged. “I used to get my meals from blood bags, and there was a time when she needed my help dealing with a stalker. Sometimes an extra set of eyes examining a memory can reveal things.”
“Oh,” I said simply. What more was there to say to something like that?
“So I understand Lily really well. It’s easier to grasp someone’s true personality when I’m dealing with so few memories.” Her tone softened then. She brought both her hands up to my face, resting them gently against my cheeks. Her eyes were passionate again. “With you, there were so many memories that it was hard to see the whole picture. But still, I understand you really well now too. And I really like who you are. A lot.”
I gently squeezed my arms more tightly around her. “Thanks,” I whispered. I suspected Lily felt the same way, so I just hoped she didn’t take those feelings and push herself away because of them. After a moment, I looked up at her, my heart aching again. “Actually…Freya…”
“Yes?” She asked curiously.
“Can you try talking to her now?” I glanced away,
my pain slipping into my expression.
She nodded immediately, already sliding off my lap. “I will.”
I quickly clarified. “I don’t want to make her feel bad about it, but if what you said is true…”
She held up her hand to stop me. “I’ll do it Sam. She’s important to me too. I’ll go there right now.”
I nodded silently while she headed for the door.
Once she was gone, I sighed heavily, considering what to do next. After another moment, I rose from my seat to pick up Nick and toss him on the couch. I didn’t want him becoming suspicious by waking up on the floor. I was a little surprised he was so light. I doubted the guy weighed much more than a hundred pounds. Lifting him was easy.
I forgot to have Freya tell me the finer details of Nick’s relationship, so I called her while she was still driving to Lily’s place. She begrudgingly shared, gagging the entire time.
Once I hung up, I formulated my plan. I intended to tell Nick that he had been sharing with me his problems, and then explain that he chugged half the vodka in the process, only to pass out on the couch shortly after.
I went ahead and dumped half the bottle down the drain to match the story, finding no point in drinking it myself since it wouldn’t do anything. It was basically just water to me, so why bother drinking it?
Unfortunately, Nick still woke up sooner than I was hoping, even though it had been almost twenty minutes. I knew Freya would be knocking on Lily’s door any moment now, which was giving me anxiety. Technically, he was waking up at the right time, since the drug wasn’t meant to last long, but I wasn’t ready to deal with him yet.
The first thing I did was comment on what he had supposedly told me, only to hand him another spiked beer. The fact that I reminded him of his distress ensured that he accepted it and chugged it for real this time, on his own accord. He was out again within a minute, his eyes abruptly rolling into the back of his head as he fell back onto the couch.
My phone rang barely a few seconds later. It was Freya.
“Sam!” She exclaimed. “Lily’s been kidnapped!”
My heart froze, stopping for half a second. And the world before my eyes began to spin wildly, before snapping back into place abruptly. Freya was still talking.
“Her house has been broken into, and she’s not here!” She said urgently.
I was already at the door, yanking it open and running outside to my car. “I’m on my way,” I said breathlessly. I jumped into my Lambo, since it was a lot faster than my work car, and floored it.
“Oh Sam! I don’t know what to do! I could track them if they were on foot, but my nose can’t handle tracking a vehicle!”
As I sped down the road, I tried to reassure her…to reassure myself. “We’ll figure something out Freya. I just saw her barely an hour ago. Depending on when it happened…” I trailed off, because part of me knew that even if it happened moments ago, neither of us had an ability to follow after them.
“Hurry,” she urged. “I might be able to use my third eye to find her, but that’s only if she’s within a few miles.”
I slammed my foot on the gas harder, not even caring if the police started chasing me. In the end, we may have to rely on their help. Assuming her kidnappers hadn’t already killed her. “Look for clues,” I urged. “Anything that might help us find her.”
“I am,” she confirmed. “But there really isn’t much to go on. Their scents are still here, but the smell ends in front of her house where they likely drove away.” She paused. “Should I call the police?”
I thought about that for a moment. Most police officers had weak or useless superpowers, or else they might be superheroes instead. Alternatively, the superheroes primarily dealt with the big stuff, like massive villain attacks or natural disasters. This was the worst kind of situation because the police were too incapable to do much and the superheroes who could help didn’t usually worry about smaller crimes, like people getting kidnapped. They had a much larger scope to focus on.
Whether we notified the police now or later, it wouldn’t make much difference in the end.
“Sam?” Freya asked hesitantly.
“I’m almost there.” And I was, driving almost three times the speed limit. “Let’s try your third eye first, and then go from there.” I paused, realizing I needed to keep the conversation going. I needed something to anchor me before I lost it. “How’s that even work?” I asked.
“My third eye?” She wondered. “It basically allows me to see things as they are, which includes anything from seeing memories to seeing through illusions, to even seeing through objects in the distance. If I’m actually looking for her, then I should be able to spot her. But only if she’s close enough.”
I nodded, taking a turn too fast and almost flipping the car, which was saying something considering how low my Lambo was to the ground. My phone flew out of my hand, but I grabbed it with an invisible limb as I regained control of the vehicle. “Meet me outside,” I said, knowing I’d be there in just a moment.
As soon as I pulled in, I jumped out and Freya ran to meet me. I pulled her in my arms without hesitation, tilting my head back as she went for my throat. I watched her third eye search frantically in every direction, the slit rapidly dilating and constricting repeatedly. But after a few minutes, it was clear Lily wasn’t anywhere within range.
My heart felt like it was twisting in grief as it settled in that there wasn’t anything we could do.
Freya finally pulled away, her expression just as distraught, as she pulled out her phone. “I’ll call the police,” she whispered, all the volume gone in her voice.
Unexpectedly, I saw movement by the front door with my second-sight. I looked up, but there was nothing there. Yet I knew I hadn’t imagined it. “Wait,” I whispered, stepping around her.
I ran up to the house to see that the front door had been blasted to pieces. The fireproof composite wood was strewn around inside like a hurricane of woodchips had blown through. Freya was close behind me, her phone in hand.
Just off to the side, everything in Lily’s kitchen was the same as when I had left. Lily’s chair was still even pushed out, as if she were still sitting there.
I walked up to the table, walking around to where I had been sitting before, and plopped down. I felt strange. All I could do is just stare at her spot, feeling like there was something significant about it. Like there was something there I just couldn’t see. Something invisible to the human eye.
Freya stood between me and the doorway, watching me with a confused expression.
I stared at Lily’s spot intently, trying to see what wasn’t there…yet somehow was.
Unexpectedly, Lily was sitting in front of me at the kitchen table, her body curled over, with her arms wrapped around herself.
She was crying. Violently crying.
23: If You Play with Fire
I bolted straight up, shocked to have Lily appear out of thin air. She was shaking violently, her back heaving with sobs, her face distorted in pain.
Yet there was no sound.
I looked up in shock to see the front door silently explode – the same door that had already been blown to bits – pieces of fireproof wood blasting everywhere. Freya had vanished.
Lily sat straight up, her body already lighting on fire from the startle. However, just as she turned in response to the unheard noise, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slid right out of the chair. Her fire died out with her consciousness.
Three people silently entered the room then, two men and a woman.
I barely heard Freya’s voice off in the distance, like she was a world away. “Sam?”
I ignored her, focusing on what I was seeing. The first guy to walk in had orange hair, and he looked like he was concentrating intently on Lily’s body. Was he forcing her to be unconscious? The next guy who came in had dark skin and curly black hair. He walked right up to Lily’s limp form and hoisted her up by her armpits. I wanted to defend her, t
o reach out and stop him, but for some reason I felt like I couldn’t. I was completely helpless, like usual.
Just behind him was a girl with fair skin, brown hair, and black eyes. It looked like she just had large pupils with no color other than the whites of her eye. She immediately grabbed Lily’s face and kissed her fully on the lips. The moment she did, the guy with orange hair relaxed.
Lily’s eyes flew open, looking distant and glazed over, as she stood up on her own feet.
“Sam?”
The guy with dark skin immediately grabbed a handful of Lily’s chest, prompting the girl to smack his hand. She looked like she was scolding him, but there was no sound coming out of her mouth. He didn’t look sorry, although he did let go. Lily didn’t even flinch, as if it hadn’t even happened. As if she were a doll and nothing more.
“Sam?!”
Lily abruptly turned on her heels, looking dead in the eyes, and walked out of the kitchen with the girl close behind her. The two guys looked around the room briefly before following. I quickly went after them.
Something unexpectedly grabbed me by the arm, but I shook it free and hurried out the door.
“Sam!”
Unexpectedly, Freya was right in front of me, pushing on my chest. I glanced down at her, before looking back up at trio trying to kidnap Lily. They were blurry now, like I was looking at them through a layer of water. I had to stop them. I wasn’t useless anymore.
They jumped into a black car, the girl sliding into the backseat with a very compliant Lily, and they took off. I saw Freya’s orange convertible suddenly in the same spot.
“We have to go after them!” I said urgently to Freya.
“Sam, what’s going on?!” She demanded.
“There’s no time!” I exclaimed. “We have to go now!” I was already running up to her car and jumping in. She slid in the driver’s seat and looked at me expectantly.
The Daily Struggles of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 1) Page 15