by S. E. Akers
It wasn’t until I’d turned onto the private road that wound up the mountain to Tanner’s house that I became concerned about the other vehicle, particularly when I looked back to see the two beaming headlights mirroring my path. I supposed it was possible that the Amethyst Talisman might have some company coming or even the rare chance that someone was lost. Of course there was one sure-fire way to find out. I sped up to 45 mph, only to have my tail follow suit. Curvy roads considered, I knocked on the gas a little more, now up to 55 mph. Again the vehicle kept up with my pace, not skipping a beat. No two ways about it. This ole gal was being followed.
Crap.
I punched the engine up to a hard 70 mph as soon as I passed through the gate. The outdoor floods illuminating the grounds cast enough light on the situation to make out a green sedan in the rearview mirror. Tires squealing, I whipped my Charger into park in front of the manor and snatched the hilt out of my purse. Imagine my shock when I sprang out of my car, diamond blade blazing, only to see its glow illuminating Tyler Smith’s equally stunned face as he hopped out of what I now realized was a cab.
Ty threw up his hands. “WHOA!” he exclaimed with a heavy gasp. “Nice to see you too!”
No… Freaking… Way…
“Wh—What are you doing here?” I asked, completely flabbergasted.
“I’m in town for an early orientation at Harvard,” he revealed.
“Oh,” I muttered, still a little breathless.
“Is that your sword?” Ty asked.
I retracted it straightaway. “Yeah.” Then I mentally scrubbed the bug-eyed look off the cabbie’s face — though I couldn’t do a thing about the mess I sensed he’d made in his pants. A scoop of Tide could handle that.
“But how did you find me?” I asked.
“Charlie gave me your address,” he said.
And low and behold, there was my other surprise.
“My cab was almost to your building when I spotted you getting into your car. I told the driver to follow you.” Ty smiled uneasily. “But I didn’t know you were heading out of town.”
“That was a friend’s address,” I explained. “This is actually where I’m staying this summer,” I admitted. “This is my mentor’s house.”
Ty’s eyes swept the sprawling manor from end to end. “Oh,” he mumbled.
An abrupt “creak” alerted my ears like the sound of a lone gunshot in the woods, and the silence that followed was equally as uncertain. But I didn’t turn around, not even an inch.
“And what pray tell do we have out here?” the house steward asked.
Silas. Though truthfully, he was the lesser of the two evils right now. “This is a friend of mine from home. He stopped by for a visit.”
Ty couldn’t help but sense the tension booming in the air. “Yes, Sir,” he said. “She didn’t know I was in Boston. I followed her here.”
I heard the soles of Silas’ loafers striking every step as he made his calculating descent.
“And what brings you up this way, Mr.…?”
“Smith, Tyler Smith,” he replied. “I’m attending an orientation at Harvard for the next few days.”
“Ah! A Harvard man,” Silas exclaimed. “Handsome and intelligent,” he whispered to me telepathically and snuck in a sly wink. The house steward turned his full attention back to Ty. “Impressive,” he commended.
Ty shifted nervously for a moment. “Umm, I just wanted to stop by and say ‘hi’, since I was in town,” he insisted and glanced at his watch. “I should probably be going.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” Silas asked. “You’ve come all this way. The least you could do is stay for dinner.”
“You haven’t served dinner?” I interrupted, knowing it was well past 8 o’clock.
“No,” Silas grinned. “I was instructed to wait on you.”
“How thoughtful,” I muttered.
Silas turned to Ty and continued, “And if that doesn’t give you the proper amount of time you desire to catch up with the fair Ms. Wallace, I see no reason why you can’t stay the night.” He motioned towards the manor with a grand sweep. “We have plenty of room.”
And here was my punishment for the sneaky sucker-punch I gave Donnie coming right back around. Proof that karma didn’t take kindly to anyone acting as her wing-woman. Son-of-a-bitch…
“That’s very gracious,” Ty said. “But my orientation starts at nine in the morning.”
“You can put all of your worries to rest, Mr. Smith,” Silas assured. “I will personally make sure you arrive at your campus orientation in plenty of time.”
“All right,” Ty smiled and turned to me. “If that’s okay with you, Shi?”
“Of course,” I said, practically squeaking my words past what space was left between my teeth.
Ty whipped out his wallet and leaned inside the cab to settle his fare. I turned to Silas. “You know he’s not going to like this,” I whispered.
“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Silas smirked like a devil minus his red horns. He took the keys out of my limp grasp. “See to your guest, Ms. Wallace. I’ll bring your car around to the garage.”
With the cabbie paid and on his way, Ty joined me at the bottom of the steps.
Silas opened the door of my Charger. “I shan’t be long,” he beamed and then slipped into the driver’s seat.
Oh, I’ll bet. He wasn’t missin’ any of this.
“Come on, Ty,” I instructed and then headed up the stone steps.
“He seems nice,” Ty remarked.
“Silas?” I choked. “He’s about as cuddly as a cactus. You can check my back for spines if you’d like.” Once inside, I scanned the house for Tanner’s presence and then quickly ushered Ty to the parlor like we were being chased by the scope of a crackerjack sniper.
“Shi, are you sure it’s okay that I’m here?” he asked.
“If Silas says it’s okay, then I’m sure Tanner will be fine.”
“The guy from Xcavare that took me to the hospital in Mexico?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Well at least I’ll get the chance to thank him,” Ty said. “I still can’t believe he paid my bill.” His eyes panned the parlor, drinking in the richness lying all around. “Of course it was probably a drop in the bucket for him.”
“He was glad to do it,” I assured him and then started debating which of the seats would feel the least like an electric chair.
“Why are you acting so edgy?” Ty remarked.
I turned to him, trying to appear more relaxed. “I’m just getting back from taking some time off — from my training,” I clarified. “I’m just nervous. Things haven’t exactly gone as smoothly as I thought they would. That’s all.”
“That explains why you seem out of sorts,” he remarked. “I’ve never seen you looking so anxious before . . . not even in school.” Ty casually worked his way over to the piano. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I started to reply when I sensed Tanner’s essence closing in at a hasty rate. I’d no sooner turned to the doorway when our eyes locked magnetically. I blanked for a moment, thrown off guard by the undeniable warmth they were hurtling. His avid approach came to a jerky stop when the sound of piano keys hammering notes struck the air. Tanner’s gaze derailed from mine immediately. And quite frankly, I’d seen freak thunderstorms crop up during the Dog Days of summer that looked more lamb-like.
Ty turned around, seeming startled by Tanner’s steely look. “I’m sorry,” he apologized and stepped away from the piano.
Tanner relaxed his expression straightaway. “No, that’s quite all right,” he insisted, attempting to put Ty at ease. “I simply didn’t realize we had company. By all means — Please continue.”
“Oh no, Sir . . . I don’t play,” he admitted humbly. “Some things just have a certain draw that your fingers can’t seem to pull away from.”
“I can see that,” Tanner remarked, his eyes looking as flat as his grin.
“Silas invited
him to stay,” I interjected.
“That’s perfectly fine,” Tanner replied, still focusing only on Ty. “Silas loves entertaining.”
More like he loves being entertained, I grumbled quietly. And tonight, he’d managed to whip up an impromptu dinner-theater show for his own personal enjoyment. The bastard…
The little devil’s ears must have been burning because he was sauntering into the room within seconds. “Mr. Smith,” Silas announced. “Why don’t I go ahead and show you to your room? Dinner is about to be served, and that will give you a chance to freshen up.”
“Thank you,” Ty nodded and followed him out of the parlor.
A tiny part of me wanted to slink out of the room behind him, but that would only put off the inevitable. I still didn’t know what had been running through Tanner’s mind when he stepped in here. It seemed like he was glad to see me, at least at first. Of course I didn’t need any guesses as to what he was thinking right now. He’d barely passed a glance my way since laying eyes on Ty, and wasn’t making any present attempts either — neither verbal nor mental. He was simply standing by the windows, looking at anything but me.
It seemed like a small forever had passed before Tanner finally parked himself in a chair sitting cater-corner from me, his cocoon of silence still holding strong. Not knowing what to say, I respectfully kept my mouth shut and waited for him to speak first. Unfortunately the faint “ticks” trickling into the room from the grandfather clock in the foyer was making the wait a thousand times harder.
“Did you have a nice time with your friend?” Tanner finally asked.
Of all the things he could have said, that was what he’d chosen to go with — chit-chat. Not a good sign…
“Yes,” I replied, praying he didn’t want any details to go with it. There were too many things I couldn’t reveal, and considering my present anxiety level, I would come off as transparent as a daggone plastic Zip-lock bag.
It wasn’t long before Silas strutted into the parlor and this time, the old devil had brought along a red pitchfork — twelve of them to be exact.
“I hope you don’t mind, Ms. Wallace. I found these in your car when I was clearing out your bags.” He placed the crystal bowl stocked with freshly clipped red roses down on the table, centering them perfectly on the small cocktail table sitting between us. “I know how fond you are about things getting their daily drink of water.”
I averted my stare, feeling the heavy drain of my paling face. Shhhit…
“They’re quite lovely. Don’t you agree, Professor Grey?”
“Yes,” Tanner replied. “They’re very red.”
That was the extent of his remarks.
“Though I’m afraid he’s not much of a poet,” Silas remarked as he pulled the enclosed card out of his pocket. “Until I see you,” he read aloud, forcing my eyes to pop. Silas propped it down against the base of the rose bowl. “In my day, ladies preferred more velvety tongues. Though judging from his appearance and manners, I have no doubts that he makes up for it in other ways.”
I angled my eyes to Silas, daggers fully engaged. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…
The tiniest flash of a peculiar smile emerged on Tanner’s face, just before he rocked out of his chair and shot to his feet. “Silas,” he sang.
The house steward turned in the doorway with a showy sweep. “Yes, Professor?”
“You can send dinner down to my room. Mr. Smith has come all this way, and it certainly wasn’t to spend any time with me.”
“Consider yourself already served,” Silas assured with a gleam and then headed off to the kitchen.
Tanner was only a few steps behind him. I sprang to my feet. “Wait a second!” I rushed to meet him in the doorway. “Aren’t you at least going to ask about your phantom crystal?”
“I know it’s safe,” he insisted. “You’d be sweating more bullets if it weren’t.”
Okay, that was true. I followed him down the hall. “Don’t you want it back?”
Tanner stopped in his tracks and turned around. “I’ll let you know when I want it returned.” He stepped closer, now merely inches away. “Unless my soul has become too much of a strain for you?”
“No,” I said, voice raspy.
His stare lingered on my chest, eyeing the exact spot where you could see a hint of its outline underneath my shirt. “Then let it remain right where it rests.” His eyes slowly lifted to mine. “Don’t forget, you’re still earning my trust.”
My lips parted mindlessly no sooner than he turned to head off.
“I’ll make sure Silas gives you all the privacy you desire,” he called back and then disappeared into the cave.
Well now this officially feels like a punishment.
A surprise was awaiting me in the dining room. The table was standing exactly as it had when I’d played interior decorator before; all the leaves had been removed and not one extra side chair was lining its shortened sides. An array of elegant white candles were burning on the table and scattered throughout the room, and you could tell the light fixtures had been dimmed to highlight their glow.
Silas was standing by the buffet, front and center. And despite his silence, the crook of his grin let me know how truly proud he was of his crimes.
“Nice touch,” I groused, giving the magical manipulator’s hands its props. I was honestly surprised there wasn’t a violinist off in the corner. Who knows? Maybe his “poofer” needed to be recharged? After all, those hands of his had been quite busy this evening.
“I’m sorry to disappoint that guilty finger of yours Ms. Wallace, but I’m not that quick,” he assured and then strutted towards me sporting a particularly tickled smirk. He paused at my side. “And it seems neither are you.”
My eyes trailed Silas to the doorway. He’d no sooner rounded the corner when Ty entered the room. “Um, this is intimate,” Ty remarked, weighing the voluminous space blatantly present in the room versus the cozy table setting.
I absorbed the picturesque scene with a fresh set of eyes. “Yes . . . It is,” I replied, unable to break from my thoughts. I gave the sleek tabletop a lengthy stroke. Tanner had done this. The expanding sensation in my chest worked its way up to my lips, gliding them into a smile. He did miss me.
“Is something wrong, Shi?”
“No,” I replied swiftly and then extended my hand towards the end chair I normally assumed. I took Tanner’s. Seeing Ty sitting in that spot would be far too awkward what with him right downstairs —in his own house no less.
Ty nodded to the two place settings. “Is Professor Grey not eating?”
“In his room,” I clarified as I lowered myself into his end chair. My eyes fell to a close as soon as I detected his unmistakable musk scent. The woodsy notes hit me as hard as they did standing inches from his chest. I knew right then that this was going to be my roughest dinner in this room to date — party of seven topaz sisters included.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” Ty asked.
I stretched my eyes open extra-wide after sensing his uncertainty. “Positive,” I lied and shored it up with a perky smile.
Silas started serving us immediately. My thoughts kept drifting off, thinking about what Tanner was doing downstairs, as well as what was going through his mind — mainly in regards to the true meaning behind all the fuss he’d gone to this evening, from the rearranging of the furniture, right down to the menu. Every dish Silas placed on my charger turned out to be one of my favorites, a medley of Italian classics. Bruschetta… Chicken parmigiana and fettuccine alfredo… It seemed Tanner wanted my first meal back to be special, but I wasn’t sure why or to what degree. Karma may be a bitch and paranoia its nag of a cousin, but time was a ruthless torturer. The more minutes that passed, the more doubts crept their way into my mind. Now I was the one in need of a daggone blue aventurine. But I wanted an answer more than anything. I wanted an explanation behind all this — concrete verbal clarity. I would even settle for something scripted on a Post-it
stuck to my door. Anything to abate the restlessness tossing my heart.
I did my best to stay engaged in our dinner chitchat. After enough of Ty asking, “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”, I steered the conversation onto Welch and what he’d been up to this summer. Gossip proved a good distraction. The biggest shocker had to be hearing that Tammy Bache was having a baby. Heath had told Ty that she was due in late December. I immediately started counting off the calendar days, which pointed to the conception being somewhere within the range of New Orleans and Veracruz. My money was on the Jewleeana, specifically the lifeboat they’d sprang out of when Ty and I were up on the deck. So it seems they may not be as “safe” as one would think.
Ty’s deep tan led me straight into asking about his lifeguarding adventures this summer. Surely he had some. I remembered all the crazy things that went down around the Linkous Park Pool from my younger years. He seemed a little awkward about my inquiry at first, oddly, but he eventually eased into a few funny stories. One was particularly cute and colorful. Apparently he’d picked up a sidekick, a twelve-year-old named, Hannah. A trio of boys were teasing her one day, thinking she’d gotten a little “too comfortable” when the water wafting around her in the pool had turned an incriminating deep royal blue. It was actually from the cheap drugstore hair-dye she’d colored her tresses with the night before, which she hadn’t rinsed out good enough. Ty said he’d tried to step in by assuring them there was no such thing as urine-detecting dye. However the three boys didn’t believe him and ragged her even harder. Hannah left the pool early, crying her eyes out. So the next day Ty said he brought his paintball gun to work, waited until Hannah had arrived and the boys were under the water, and then blasted the surrounding area with a round of pellets. By the time they had all surfaced, half of the swimmers had cleared out of the pool and the three boys were left wading in their bright-blue puddle of shame. From then on, little Hannah parked her towel underneath his lifeguard chair to keep her googly-eyes on him and any flirty girls far away. Who needed a dragon to guard the tower when a love-struck tween would do? And apparently she was mighty precocious as well. She sent Ty links to mini-videos on Vine and YouTube, all of them professing her love, and even announced over the PA system that their children would be beautiful and awesome at Minecraft. She informed any girl who came up to him that he already had a “girlfriend” and then give them a puckery once-over along with a “You’re not his type” — all right in front of him too. And when verbal ploys failed to keep her rivals at bay, Hannah shamelessly resorted to snagging ketchup packets from the concession stand and made sure hefty dollops landed on the rears of their bikini bottoms, sending them packing for the day. Oh, the things a little girl will do for her first crush. Ty had caught her slinging them under their towels when they weren’t looking and didn’t have the heart to bust her. He kind of liked her running interference and found her determination highly amusing.