by M. L. Ryan
I harrumphed in disappointment. Great, instead of being able to conjure up a cool name, like Tannis—whoever that was—I’d probably end up being Bertha Butz.
Once again, Alex spoke the same incomprehensible language, but instead of worry, this conversation brought about familiar ease. Even though I couldn’t understand one word, Alex’s demeanor, the lowered voice and rakish half smile, was unmistakable. This “Tannis” person was female, and Alex had morphed into… flirting mode? My stomach did a little flip-flop and I felt like all the blood had rushed out of my head.
I spun around, stomped into the kitchen where I gathered Vinnie’s food, a spare litter box, litter, and shoved it all into a large shopping bag. I then went into the hall and flung open the closet door to retrieve the cat carrier. The only time the carrier came out was when Vinnie was going to the vet, so I surreptitiously deposited it behind the now open door so he wouldn’t freak out if he saw it.
“Hailey, are you alright? You seem a bit agitated.”
“I’m fine,” I proclaimed tersely as I moved into the bedroom and sat down on the side of my bed.
Sebastian was silent for a moment and then uttered chidingly, “My dear, don’t try to fool me. I can sense your disquiet. Your blood pressure had increased and your adrenaline rush is making me jittery.”
“Well, let’s see. I have to sneak out of town because some whack job, oh wait, some supernatural whack job, may or may not want to kill me or something. Who wouldn’t be upset?”
“But why the abrupt burst of angst? One minute you are imperturbable and then suddenly you’re ready to explode. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“You were fine until Alexander placed his call to his assistant.”
“Oh, so Tannis is his assistant?”
I tried to sound nonchalant, but I must not have done a convincing job, because Sebastian howled with laughter. Eventually, he managed to bark out, “I knew it! You are jealous!”
My cheeks became flushed with embarrassment but I was determined to keep up the charade that I had no interest in what kind of assistance Tannis gave Alex. Unfortunately, all I could come up with to counter his assertion was the not particularly clever, and most assuredly infantile, “I am not!” in response.
“Please forgive my presumptuousness,” he chortled. “But if you did happen to feel some rivalry for Alexander’s affection, you really have little reason to worry.”
“Well, judging from his end of the conversation, they seemed pretty chummy.”
“True, they are well acquainted; known each other for years in fact. But I am fairly certain that his interest in Tannis is decidedly not libidinous.”
“Why, is she married or old and ugly?”
“On the contrary, she is single and quite beautiful indeed; looks a bit like your Rachel, but taller and more… ethereal.”
Great. Now I had a mental image of a hotter version of my way-hot best friend to further enrage the green-eyed monster that was already fighting to overwhelm me.
Finally, I managed to force out through clenched teeth, “Sebastian, this is so not helping. And what part of that description would lead you to believe that Alex wouldn’t be attracted to her?”
“Because Tannis is Alexander’s sister.”
“His sister,” I echoed back. “His sister? Why didn’t you mention that at the beginning? You just spent the last few minutes jerking me around, you bastard!”
Peals of laughter rang out in my head and it was a few moments before Sebastian’s cackling subsided enough for him to form a coherent sentence.
“And you claimed you weren’t jealous! The enmity was practically oozing from your pores.”
I lowered my voice so Alex would be less likely to hear. “Stop it, this is not funny.”
I was mortified that Sebastian had assessed my feelings so easily, angry that he found it amusing, and somewhat mystified that any of it would matter to me anyway. After all, I had successfully buried any thought of a relationship for years and I had only known Alex for a short time—to top it all off, now I could feel my eyes beginning to well with tears, and I’d be damned if I was going to let Sebastard see me cry.
As I tried to get control of myself, Sebastian’s voice filled my head once more, but this time his tone was softer.
“Look, it is obvious to me that you are attracted to Alexander and it is equally apparent that he is attracted to you. So why pretend that you were not concerned that you might have a rival?”
I didn’t respond; partly because I was still irritated, but mostly because I wasn’t certain I had completely contained the waterworks. Sebastian was, of course, unaffected by my silence and continued with his commentary.
“Life is short, my dear. You mustn’t let what happened in your past prevent you from finding happiness.”
I was pretty sure that the only reason he was pitching this was to fulfill his own erotic fantasies, but I was in no mood to discuss his possible motivations. So I just got up, picked up Vinnie—who had been sleeping on some freshly laundered towels that were stacked on my dresser—gave him a big hug, and jammed him into the carrier before he had a chance to shred the crap out of me with his claws.
~12~
Alex and Sebastian wanted to take no chances that whoever was asking questions at O’Reilly’s had us under surveillance. So, the plan was for me to drop Vinnie off at Rachel and Harrison’s and then drive back home where Alex and I would sneak out and circle around to an out-of-the-way spot where he had hidden his rental car and our luggage. We even put Vinnie’s carrier inside a large, canvas shopping bag so anyone watching wouldn’t suspect we were leaving town.
When Harrison saw the bagged cat carrier, he gave me a look that expressed his confusion over the odd presentation. Fast on my feet, I quickly came up with the story that Vinnie was calmer in the car if the carrier was covered, and Harrison seemed to buy the explanation.
“Thanks guys, for taking the beast-cat on such short notice. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t worry about Vinnie, he’ll be fine,” Rachel said, as she took the feline-filled carrier from me. She lifted it up so that her face was close to its door and cooed comforting nonsense at the obviously agitated cat.
I handed over another bag containing kitty accoutrements to Harrison before saying goodbye to Vinnie, who hissed in response. I did my best to pretend this was just his reaction to being confined and transported against his will, but the rejection still stung.
“I’ll let you know how long I’ll be gone as soon as I can, Rach.”
“Have fun with the nieces,” she replied, as I walked out the front door.
“Excellent improvisation in response to the query about the bagged cat,” Sebastian said approvingly as I started the car. “Your ability to deceive is exemplary, my dear.”
I supposed the comment was meant as a compliment, but I found it disconcerting how easily I crafted the lie. I just kept telling myself that this was all to make sure that no one else was in any danger, but I felt terrible keeping my friends in the dark.
I drove home and made certain that the timers my parents gave me for Christmas a couple years back were set properly to turn lights and the TV on and off. When I opened the present, I remember thinking it was a pretty lame gift I would never use. Maybe my parents’ subconsciously knew that one day I would have to flee my home and need gadgets to make it appear that I was still in residence. If I managed to make it out of this mess in one piece, I’d have to thank them more sincerely when next I saw them.
That task accomplished, Alex and I slipped out the back door. His car was parked only a half mile away, but because of the circuitous route he chose, it took us close to an hour before we hit the road.
He headed south, keeping mainly to lightly traveled roads where anyone following would be easier to notice. We left the city and drove in silence until after a half hour or so, I asked where we were going.
“There’s a small airstrip near Sonoita. I h
ave arranged for someone to pick us up and fly us to New Hampshire.”
I wasn’t thrilled about having to take some small plane. The thought of flying on a regular big jet, which I had assumed would be our mode of travel, had made me nervous enough, but now I was wishing that I had the foresight to pack some Dramamine. Well, Alex had already witnessed me clumsy, naked, and hysterical, so nauseous would just add to the ever-growing list of unflattering predicaments in which he had seen me.
“You don’t happen to have a magical solution for airsickness, do you? I’m not the greatest flyer.”
Alex glanced over at me, smiled and patted my hand. “You’re in luck; I’m quite adept at conjuring anti-emetic spells.” He lowered his voice to add, “It is not unusual for the novice Xyzok to need it after some of the more… graphic training videos.”
I didn’t know if I should be shocked or disgusted and I wasn’t sure that he was being completely serious. I guess fighting supernatural bad guys was not unlike standard police work in that, occasionally, something really gross happens. Still, I was happy that running a chinchilla milking operation was pretty much gore-free.
I looked over at Alex’s handsome face, illuminated only by the glow of the dashboard lights, and pondered what kinds of nasty things he had witnessed. Or perpetrated, for that matter. Those scars he had probably didn’t come from innocuous events, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to find out exactly how he got them either.
We continued a while longer on paved roads when Alex pulled off onto the shoulder and studied the GPS that was built into the dashboard. He then reached into the back seat and grabbed a backpack, from which he produced a small, handheld GPS receiver.
“I know we are close to where we have to leave the main road. Before we left, I marked the general area on the car’s GPS, but I also programmed the specific coordinates into the handheld.”
He turned it on and punched a few buttons before handing the GPS to me, explaining that it would beep when we reached the turn off. He pulled back onto the road, and about a mile or so ahead, it let us know this was the place.
Alex slowed the car and immediately to our right was what looked like a dirt driveway that hadn’t been used in years. You could sort of see the outline of a cleared path, but there were so many weeds and rocks it was unlikely anyone would randomly choose to drive down it.
“Are you sure this car can make it?” I questioned, wondering if a Ford Taurus had enough ground clearance to navigate the primitive thoroughfare.
“I have faith in American automotive engineering. Besides, it’s a rental, so it is no big deal if it bottoms out,” he added with a mischievous grin.
A few bumpy minutes later, we arrived at a small clearing. Waiting for us were two men in a tan-colored Jeep Wrangler; its mud-caked and dented exterior suggested it was frequently used for some heavy-duty off-roading. Alex greeted the men warmly, first in Courso, then shifting to English when he introduced me.
“Hailey, this is Aiden and Cortez. They are co-workers of mine. Aiden will take us the rest of the way to the airstrip and Cortez will take the Taurus and return it to the rental agency.”
I nodded and shook their hands. Both men were shorter than Alex was, but still fairly tall. The similarity ended there, however. Aiden looked like Opie from Mayberry with boyish good looks, coppery red hair, pale complexion, and freckles while Cortez seemed like he had walked out of a Telenovela—ruggedly handsome with dark hair, smoldering eyes, and skin the color of an expensive, cream-laden coffee drink.
Aiden looked at me as if he was staring into my soul. After a few moments, he finally turned to Alex and said, “When you told me about Sebastian deconverging into another, I thought you were making it up. He always claimed it could be done, and I always thought he was full of shit. Now that I am near her, I can feel his signature. It’s… remarkable.”
Sebastian snorted derisively. “Why should he be so surprised? Remarkable people do remarkable things.”
Alex wasn’t in physical contact with me so he didn’t hear Sebastian’s comment. He responded to Aiden, “Yes, it is remarkable, but keep this information to yourselves. This isn’t something that needs to be common knowledge.”
Aiden’s face suddenly became somber. “You know you can trust us, Alex. Both of us would give our lives for you or Sebastian, and if you ask us, we will take this to our graves.”
Alex nodded and placed his hand on Aiden’s shoulder and murmured something in Courso. He motioned to Cortez and repeated the gesture and words when Mr. Mochachino moved closer. Both men then took a step backward, lowered their heads, and placed their right hand across to the left side of their upper chest. Alex gestured in kind before their posture relaxed and everyone was smiling again. I wasn’t exactly sure what had just transpired, but the deference shown to Alex by both men reminded me of soldiers and their commanders or commoners to royalty. There was obviously more to it than just co-workers, and I made a mental note to ask Alex about it later.
We transferred our luggage to the Jeep and Alex tossed his keys to Cortez, who gave us a mock salute before climbing into the Taurus.
“Not much of a talker, is he?” I remarked as he drove away.
“He’s in a hurry; there’s a Three Stooges marathon on tonight and he forgot to record it,” Aiden answered as he opened the door of the Jeep and flipped up the passenger-side seat so I could get into the back. “Never get between Cortez and Moe, Larry, and Curly.”
“Wow. All this time, I pictured the Coursodon as superior beings. But it’s comforting to know that the inexplicable male fondness for the Three Stooges transcends dimensions.”
Alex seemed perplexed. “What’s not funny about them? We consider them to be comic geniuses and one of the few artistic highpoints of modern humanity.”
I started to laugh, but from both Alex and Aiden’s expressions, I quickly realized that what I initially thought was sarcasm was meant with complete candor.
“Oh my god! Do you think the same thing about Jerry Lewis?”
“Of course not,” Aiden huffed. “We’re not French.”
“If it’s any consolation, my dear, I find slapstick comedy to be sophomoric and tedious. Please don’t judge us all based on the atrocious predilections of these philistines.”
“Hey guys, Sebastian says you have lousy taste in humor.”
Alex snorted in disdain. “We have lousy taste? Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”
“No shit,” Aiden growled. “Sebastian thinks Pauly Shore is hysterical.”
“Who’s Pauly Shore?” I queried.
“My point exactly,” Aiden replied.
“Oh, my dear, your ignorance wounds me to the core. And I had such high hopes for you.”
I shrugged and raised my hands in surrender. “Apparently, you all have questionable preferences in humor. Remind me to never let any of you chose a comedy on movie night.”
I folded myself into the backseat and we continued through the dark, cold desert for another hour. On the far side of a small hill was the airstrip—a long stretch of pavement—at the end of which sat a Learjet. Basically, all aircraft look pretty much the same to me and the only reason I knew it was a Learjet was that it had “Learjet” written on the side. Apart from the headlights of the Jeep, however, there was no additional illumination, the absence of which bumped my pre-flight anxiety up a few notches.
“How does it take off in the dark?” I whispered nervously as we got out of the Jeep.
“Like this,” a feminine voice announced behind us. I turned around just as the owner of the voice snapped her fingers and the runway was suddenly outlined in small, bright, bluish lights.
“Angelica!” Alex exclaimed. “I had no idea you would be here tonight. How’s my favorite pilot?”
She walked past me and gave Alex a hug, which he followed with a kiss on each of her cheeks.
“When I heard you needed a ride, I made sure I got the assignment,” she purred while she slowly traced a finger
along Alex’s jaw.
Angelica’s silky, blue-black hair was long and styled with loose waves that were meant to seem carefree and casual, but probably took an hour to perfect. The darkness of her tresses was in stark contrast to her ice-blue eyes, the color of which was accentuated by the expertly applied smoky violet eyeliner that encircled them. Curvy in all the right places, even in the plain white blouse and utilitarian navy trousers that comprised her “uniform” she oozed sensuality. That, and the fact that she was currently directing her “fuck me” vibe at Alex, made me immediately hate her.
Alex smoothly removed Angelica’s hand and turned her around to face me.
“Ang, this is Hailey.”
I politely put out my hand for her to shake, but Angelica looked me over dismissively. Without any movement to accept my hand, she turned back to Alex. “We’d better get rolling, it’s a long flight.” Then she sashayed toward the plane, swinging her ample hips to their fullest potential.
I stood there for a moment, my mouth agape over her shameless bad manners. And really, Angelica? When choosing her human name, she was either deluding herself or heavily into irony. My hatred towards her was growing to astronomical proportions.
Alex followed her, and stopped her about twenty feet away with a tap on the shoulder. He began talking, but they were too far away for me to hear anything.
“It’s too bad I don’t have your heightened Courso aural senses,” I whispered petulantly to Sebastian.
“Fortunately, I can tell exactly what is being said.”
“But I thought you could only sense things as I do because you’re using my body, and I can’t make out one word.”
“Yes, your human ears are quite deficient. I, however, can read lips.”
“Really? Why would someone with preternatural hearing learn to lip read?”
He chuckled softly. “It’s a skill that comes in handy when in a crowded room filled with many voices. It has saved me a number of times in my career. It’s so useful, in fact, I taught Alexander how to do it as well.”