by S J Williams
Faint curls of memory stirred at the back of Effie’s mind, but they disappeared before she could properly grasp them.
“I’m sure I did.” She said tartly. “But it doesn’t make much difference now when he can just control me whenever he feels like it.”
Henry winced. Then he shook his head.
“What I’m saying is this is how you always used to be. Yes, he can be a priggish bastard, but you’re falling back into your old patterns. You’re really coming back, Effie. Both of you are.”
Effie paused, wondering if it was obvious to everyone how much she wanted to be the woman she’d been. It didn’t make her feel much better to know they could all see her most vulnerable side. She glared at Henry. He sighed.
“Look, I know you don’t like hearing this, but you have to be careful. There’s probably a bounty on your head by now.”
She tugged at her arm again. “I don’t care.”
Henry tutted at her impatiently. “I know you don’t mean that. If you want to survive this, you have to be more careful.”
Those last words felt like a slap. Her shoulders slumped and she stopped fighting him.
“I’m being a brat.” She said, her eyes on her feet.
Slowly, Henry’s arms came around her and he drew her into a hug. She let him, leaning her head against his chest.
“I think you’re entitled to be a brat tonight. The world has done a number on you and you’re due a tantrum or two.”
She chuckled weakly against him, wishing all her problems could be so easily laughed away.
“Now.” Henry said. “Will you please come back to the house? I know Sebastian is going mad with worry right now.” He tapped the side of his head. “It’s getting a little distracting.”
She sighed, the breath long and shuddering.
“Fine. But if he starts shouting at me, I’m hiding behind you.”
Henry drew her to his side so they could walk with his arm around her shoulders.
“I will gladly be your knight in shining armour, my lady.”
She ran her eyes up and down his body. He was still wearing the suit he’d put on that morning because, apparently, first class travel deserved nothing less.
“That suit isn’t impressive enough to be shining armour. It would at least need to be Armani.”
He laughed. “What do you know about men’s tailoring?”
“Nothing whatsoever. But I’ve heard Armani is supposed to be good.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m not such a cliché.” He told her with dignity.
“For a knight in shining armour, that’s saying something.” She told him tartly.
16
Sebastian turned on his heel, eyes intent on the wall opposite.
“Would you stop pacing?” Catarina hissed. “They’ve only been gone a few minutes.”
He ignored her. He kept running his and Effie’s conversation through his mind. There were so many things he could have said, should have said. Of course controlling her had been unfortunate. But that didn’t mean he didn’t respect her. He wanted to protect her. And as for seeing her as a child, well. He’d have thought he had made it quite clear how much of an adult he thought her.
But still that icy look of disgust she had thrown at him before storming out of the house haunted him. Or maybe it was the tears. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d seen her cry before. But he could have counted those times on the fingers of one hand. She’d always met her problems head on, brushing off the emotional weight with a spark of humour. But, tonight, something he had done had brought her to tears.
The door opened just as he completed another lap of the room. He spun around. Effie’s laughter and Henry’s low rumble came through from the hall. He felt a sharp jab of jealousy. How was it that Henry had made her laugh when she’d felt nothing but anger and revulsion for him?
“Wait. You’re jealous of Henry now?” Catarina stared at him incredulously. He turned and glared at her in confusion. Her incredulous look turned pitying. “You’re broadcasting like a newbie. Get a grip, will you?” Raising her voice, she called out, “Hurry up and come in here. Sebastian is driving me insane with his pacing.”
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
Henry appeared at the door, followed after a little hesitation by Effie. She wasn’t laughing now.
Henry caught his eye and shook his head slightly. A warning to leave it. Sebastian should probably heed his friend’s advice. He ignored it.
“Effie,” he started, coming forward but stopping just short of gathering her up in his arms when he saw the expression in her eyes. Defiance warred with distrust. He wanted to howl. Just one mistake and they were back to square one.
“Effie,” he tried again. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have controlled you.”
Effie raised one suspicious eyebrow. “Promise you won’t try to control me again?”
Sebastian gave her a long, steady look. Would he be able to keep that promise? Would he be able to stop himself if he saw she was putting herself in danger? The look in Effie’s eyes told him he’d have to if he valued their relationship. Put that way, there was only one answer he could give her.
“Yes. I promise.”
She nodded, lowering her gaze. She still didn’t make any move to touch him.
“Oh, for goodness sake. Kiss and make up, will you?” Catarina grumbled. “Then we can get on with working out what we’re going to do about Sonya and her wretched party.”
Sebastian tuned her out. All of his attention was focused on Effie.
Finally, she met his eyes. Hers were still brimming with distrust. But there was also a resignation there.
“Look. I get why you controlled me. I know I would probably have said the wrong thing, anyway. Just… find a better way of passing on the message.”
Sebastian nodded hard once, still battling with the panicked feeling that he was losing her.
Effie dropped her gaze and glanced around the room again. She snorted softly, this time with amusement. “So much for not making a scene.” She murmured under her breath.
“So…?” Sebastian couldn’t get a reading on her emotions. They were just as confused as he felt.
She met his eyes again, but there was laughter in her expression now.
“We’re being a bit ridiculous.” She said ruefully. When his expression didn’t change, she rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s okay. Yes, I forgive you.”
At last she stepped within grabbing distance. He hauled her into his arms, wrapping her tightly against him.
“Please don’t do that to me again.” He whispered into her hair. If it had been possible for him, he was pretty sure his hair would have turned white after the events of this night.
“I can’t guarantee that.” She said with impish humour. “Especially if you try to control me again. What I would like to know,” she added, pushing away from him so she could see the others, “is what it will mean for us to be under Sonya’s protection.”
“I think we’ve found out who’s pulling Mansfeld’s strings.” Lucien came into the room from the hall. “I’ve just been talking to Nero. He’s gone to the council’s hôtel to find out what’s going on. She’s got nearly half the council already at least part way convinced that coming out to the humans will be a good thing.”
“And Effie?” Henry growled from where he’d sunk down on the sofa. “You heard Sonya. She refused to accept that Effie wasn’t responsible for publishing the book. Are the others just going to follow her lead and let Effie take all the hate for it? A bloody abuse of power, that is.”
“I think we’ve all noticed that the council has been deviating further and further from its founding principles.” Lucien said grimly. “There is a clique that has been forming and gaining power over the last five decades. Sonya is at the heart of it.”
Sebastian didn’t realise he was growling under his breath until Effie slipped her hand into his, distracting him.
“And we’re trustin
g her to protect us? Remind me why that’s such a good idea?”
Lucien gave her an unhappy look. “She has power and if she takes it into her head to protect someone, they will be protected. It is one of the pillars she’s built her reputation on.”
Sebastian snorted. “Her reputation conveniently doesn’t mention how quickly she can drop someone as soon as it becomes politically expedient to do so.”
Effie gave him an alarmed look. “Do you think that will happen to us?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “If we don’t dance to her tune, most likely.”
There was a pause as they all considered that.
“My God,” Henry said, shaking his head. “And you say she has half the council with her? That’s nearly half of our leaders in cahoots with a capricious harpy. That is not good.”
“Our best bet is to persuade as many councillors as we can that a vampire is behind all of this and not Effie.” Lucien said heavily. “Sonya is probably pushing Effie as the author because as soon as the councillors get wind of a vampire being involved, they’ll reject supporting the idea out of principle.”
“So? It shouldn’t be too hard to change their minds, should it?” Effie looked from one grim face to the next, the hope dying in her eyes.
Lucien sighed.
“You haven’t seen Sonya in action. Her entire being revolves around seduction. Our arguments are going to have to pack a punch if we’re going to compete against her.”
Sebastian allowed himself a brief moment to go through all the things he could do to make an impression. Not the right impression, perhaps, but not one the council would be likely to forget, either.
“Well, there is one thing we can do that will make an impression,” Catarina said, slapping her thighs and standing up. “Tomorrow,” she turned to Effie, “you and I are going shopping.”
When Effie finally got to sit down, she felt like her legs were ready to collapse beneath her. She sighed in relief.
“Who knew trying on clothes could be so much hard work?”
Catarina, pausing in her careful scan of the cafe, grinned at her. “That’s only because you’re fussy and insisted on trying on half the dresses in the shop.”
“I didn’t try on half of them. I didn’t need to.” Effie squawked. “Did you see some of those monstrosities? I would have looked like I’d run away from the circus.”
Catarina cocked her head to one side. “Okay, the red leotard thing might have been a bit risqué, but I bet you Sonya would have worn it.”
Effie felt her good humour drain out of her when she heard Sonya’s name.
“Who is Sonya, really?” She asked.
Catarina blew out a breath. “Sonya is… Well, first thing to know is that Sonya is a councillor with a lot of power. She started in Prague, as far as I know. She’s known as the lady of Bohemia in some circles but that’s only a part of the territory she controls. She’s got territory over most of what mortals think of as Eastern Europe and a good chunk of the Caucasus. On top of that, Sonya is old and she’s been in power a long time. I think she was a queen or something in her human life.”
“A queen?” Effie’s eyebrows skyrocketed. Then she thought about it. “Yes, I can see that. She’s got the whole looking down her nose at people down pat.”
Catarina chuckled as she went back to scanning the cafe, the threat of vengeful immortals ever present on their minds. “She’s also very possessive. I honestly don’t think she would have cared about you one way or the other if you hadn’t been attached to Sebastian.”
Effie frowned at those words. “What is there between her and Sebastian? Sebastian said they were lovers once, a long time ago. But he also swore he hadn’t been even friendly with her for centuries. Certainly not since I came onto the scene. And yet, I get a really strong impulse of jealousy and distrust when I see her. Of course,” she laughed, “jealousy is probably normal when a beautiful woman walks into the room and starts making eyes at your lover. But, it felt like more than that, like I was remembering being jealous before.”
Catarina nodded slowly. Before she could speak, a waiter appeared at their table offering a menu and asking about their drinks. Catarina quickly ordered a tea and an espresso, waving away the menus. Once the waiter had disappeared, she returned to watching the room as she considered what Effie had said.
“That doesn’t really surprise me, not if you’re starting to recover some of your memories. Sonya hated the very idea of you when Sebastian first found you. And she spared no effort to try to entice him away from you.”
“But why?” Effie was baffled. “Sebastian said they hadn’t been lovers since they first met, back in the ninth century. She couldn’t possibly think she still had a claim, could she?”
Catarina pursed her lips. “I couldn’t say if they’d never been intimate in all that time. I wasn’t alive after all.” She caught sight of Effie’s frustrated face and quickly held up her hands. “Not that I’d doubt Sebastian’s word next to hers. If Sebastian said he didn’t, then he probably didn’t. He wasn’t much of a ladies’ man at the best of times, even before he met you. Honestly, some people called him a warrior monk.” She grinned. “I’m not sure he appreciated that.”
“But?” Effie pressed. She could feel a but coming.
“But…” Catarina paused as their drinks appeared. Waiting until the waiter had disappeared again, she continued. “That’s Sonya. She probably thought he was hers to pick up whenever she wanted him. Especially since he wasn’t known for taking other lovers. That, and, as I said, she’s very possessive. She’d probably only tried to seduce him because he’d paired up with someone else. It isn’t because she loves him, more like she sees him as her property, a property she only cares about when it looks like someone else is going to take it from her.”
Effie leaned one elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. “I suppose she does this with all her former lovers?”
Catarina screwed up her face and shrugged expressively, rocking from side to side. “Mmm. More or less. It depends on… Actually, I don’t know what it depends on. She’s more possessive with some men than others. Sometimes, she graciously lets another woman take a man from her, so to speak. It’s like she enjoys the feeling of power, even if it is non-existent in reality.”
“So I don’t have to worry about her?”
“Oh no.” Catarina said, suddenly serious. “Absolutely worry about her. If she’s decided that you’re taking something of hers away from her, she will do anything and everything in her power to stop you and/or destroy you. And I can’t emphasise this enough,” Catarina raised her eyebrows, “she has a lot of power.”
Effie sighed. “At this rate, I won’t have to worry about being turned. I’ll be dead long before I get a chance.”
Catarina gave her a sharp look. “Don’t give up hope, Effie, the game’s not over yet. You will be immortal soon and that means time is on your side. At the very worst, we can wait this out in hiding.”
Effie nodded glumly. Having some time out in hiding would be good for her, she thought absently, aware that Catarina was eyeing her with concern as she called for a waiter to get the bill. Maybe then, she’d have time to break through the deadlock on her memories and finally stop feeling like a minnow swimming among sharks.
“I think we should be getting back.” Catarina said quietly.
Effie nodded and picked up her bag. The warm spring day had been too mild for a coat, but now she felt chilled. She followed Catarina back onto the street and into a taxi, trying to work out what she was feeling.
Like she needed a hug, she suspected. And not just any hug. She wanted Sebastian to put his arms around her, press her to his chest, and shut out the world. Just fantasising about it made her feel a little better.
Henry met them at the door with a huge smile, but his face fell when he saw their grim expressions.
“What’s the matter? Weren’t you successful?”
“Oh no,” Catarina told him. “We
found what we were looking for. But…” She glanced at Effie.
Effie grimaced, not stopping as she went straight to Sebastian. “Shopping’s not really my thing. I think I’m just tired.”
Sebastian stood up to receive her, his face creased with confusion and concern. Effie pressed her face into his broad, strong chest, breathing in his scent. Sebastian wrapped his arms around her and cradled her against him.
After so long alone, it felt good to have someone who she felt she belonged to unquestionably. There had never been anyone else in her life who had held her in this way. And there never would be, she vowed silently. If she couldn’t have Sebastian, she would have no one. She had no idea how he’d lived five hundred years having known this kind of love, and having lost it.
Lucien drifted into the room, the diary in his hands.
“Oh, good, you’re back. Any luck?” He paused when he caught on to the tension that was thrumming through the room. “What’s the matter?”
Effie just shook her head, wishing everyone would stop worrying about her. It made her feel more fragile than ever.
Sebastian’s arms tightened and the brittleness she’d been feeling disappeared in a rush of warmth. Letting it seep into her very core, she relaxed. She might not be fine now, but she would be soon. She could live with that.
Lucien cleared his throat. “Well, if you’re feeling up to it, I’ve found something that might help us pin the whole plot on Bartholomew.”
Effie felt interest stir at that. Pushing back gently against Sebastian’s arms in a mute request to let her go, she stepped forwards, her attention on the scrap of paper Lucien was using as a bookmark.
“What have you found?” She murmured, picking it up.
Her mouth twisted. It was the note that had come with Bartholomew’s book. She looked up at Lucien, a mute question in her eyes.
Lucien smile at her and walked past to put the diary on the table.
“It helps if you do this.” He said, gently taking the note from her and placing it on the open page. Effie leaned over his elbow to get a better look. If Lucien was expecting her to be amazed, he was in for some disappointment because it just looked like the note sitting on the diary to her.