“We haven’t seen you around lately,” Josh said as we walked up the first flight of stairs, breaking into my thoughts.
“Been busy,” I lied.
Though I had kept myself busy, it had been a matter of force. I had written several books in record time since our discovery about Sedgrave, mostly to keep my mind from wandering to the dark corners of my reality.
“Writing?”
I glanced over at Josh. He looked as though he was having trouble not squirming as he walked. I knew he, like Nik, wanted to date me or court me or whatever really old men did. The thing was, I liked Josh. I think I even liked Nik. I just didn’t want to jump in the sack with them. Don’t get me wrong, they were both attractive in their separate ways. I guess I couldn’t really imagine myself with someone while my life was such a disaster. Or maybe the fact they appeared to be competing for my affection was ruining the effect.
As we reached the main level of the underground seethe, a transparent dog burst through a random wall, slid across the cement floor, and collided with my leg. Unlike the “usual ghost dog” (whatever that means), Josh’s little dog was corporeal at random. Sometimes he could walk through walls, other times the little beast would crash into them. The dog gave his little head a shake as it righted itself.
We arrived at the main room without Josh trying to ask me out again. He opened the door, like the gentleman he was, and stepped aside. I smiled at him, trying to balance nice but not encouraging in one quick look. He smiled back and I had a feeling I hadn’t quite found the balance.
The main room of the seethe reminded me of a modern day version of a great hall one would find in a castle. It served a similar purpose, though it looked nothing like its medieval counterpart. In truth, the room looked more like a furniture show room. It was made up of multiple sitting areas, matching living room sets clumped around gas fireplaces or large entertainment centers. In the two corners closest to the double doors sat a matching pair of pools tables that looked as though they belonged in a mansion’s billiard room. In the two opposite corners rested two grand pianos, while the windowless walls were enlivened with large paintings.
The normally lively room was mostly empty. Mikhail stood in one of the gaps between two living-rooms sets, brown liquor in hand. Mikhail looked all of seventeen years old, and a young seventeen at that. I doubt he had ever actually shaved his face when he was a human. When long, his hair curled gently, making him look even younger. With all the stress of the peace talks between us, the wolves, the fae, and the wizards, he hadn’t had time to cut it in a while.
A small group of men stood at a distance, huddled together and trying not to stare. Nik, the seethe’s second in command, stood behind the group, sipping his own drink. The group itself consisted of Jim, Mikhail’s executive assistant; Travis, the werewolf pack’s alpha; Samuel, the seethe’s third in command; and Helen, a wizard and a close friend. There were two other wizards supporting our efforts to end Sedgrave, but the master of the duo didn’t get along well with Helen—sibling rivalry and all that.
I went to Helen and gave her an awkward, sideways hug. She rubbed my shoulder affectionately and kept me tucked under her arm when I would have pulled away. Josh joined us, standing close to my side. As he approached me, Nik also wedged himself into the group, standing on Helen’s other side and glowering down at Josh.
I rolled my eyes and uselessly whispered, “What’s going on?”
Mikhail turned to me. I could see the wheels still turning in his head.
“Ashley, it’s good to see you,” he said with a little smile. “We’ve just returned from another meeting with the leaders, and I think it’s time to fill you on the developments.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to do, and Mikhail crossed to our little sitting area. Once he sat down, the rest followed, finding their own seat. Helen and I took a loveseat, leaving the men to fend for themselves.
“As you know, I’ve met numerous times with the fae queens, along with Travis and Helen. It seems that we are finally in a place of agreement that Sedgrave should be destroyed permanently, but not until we can disconnect you from him.” Mikhail grimaced at his wording. “You know what I mean. Tonight, Orythyia suggested that we find the artifacts used in the original ritual. The idea is that if we have them all together, Helen, Edith, and Lauren might be able to find a way to disconnect you.”
I nodded once. “Okay.”
“That’s it? ‘Okay’?” asked Nik after a long pause.
“What else should I say?” I asked, forcing the fear and anxiety down into the pit of my stomach; they couldn’t know how terrified I was.
“We have a really promising lead and all you say is ‘okay’?”
“A promising lead with a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts.’ I don’t know if this is gonna work, and until I do, I have nothing more to say.” I let out a gusty sigh; if I was going to die soon, now was not the time to make enemies. “I appreciate all you guys are trying to do. I really do. I just can’t get my hopes up right now.”
There was more silence, only interrupted by a little yip from Josh’s dog.
“Are we going to Richard’s tonight?” Josh asked, turning to Mikhail.
I silently thanked Josh for moving the conversation along.
“Richard’s?” asked the primus.
“He’s the one who initiated the ritual. He knows which items he gathered up, which artifacts we need. The only one we know about is Veneno, the dagger we stole for Emma.”
“Wait, Emma would know,” I said suddenly.
“No I wouldn’t,” sighed Emma from the doorway of the large room.
We all turned and watched her saunter into the room. I pushed a smile to my lips, determined to be nice to her. Emma had been a major player in the kill-Ashley-to-raise-Sedgrave party. The only reason she was on our side now was because her seethe had rebelled against her. She had come to Mikhail for safety and, for some reason, he had accepted her. Emma was now a regular guest of the seethe, and I was doing my best not to hold our history against her. It wasn’t easy.
“Richard kept his cards close to his chest. In an effort to keep people from branching off and trying the ritual on their own, Richard was the only one who knew all the steps. The part I was charged with was getting the dagger. Other members were in charge of other items. We have to talk to Richard,” she said as she slid into a seat next to Nik.
Nikolai still hadn’t forgiven her for her involvement in my ritualistic sacrifice, despite her best efforts to win him back. They had been lovers ages ago, until the French Revolution split them up, or at least that’s how the story goes.
“Fine,” said Mikhail. “We’ll go to Richard’s tomorrow at sunset. I want plenty of time to win him over to our cause. Right now he’s not standing in the way of us killing Sedgrave, but I’d much rather he be completely onboard.”
“His willingness to abandon Sedgrave to our vendetta concerns me,” said Nik.
Emma shrugged. “Sedgrave didn’t give him what he wanted, so he no longer cares. By now, Richard is probably already onto his next scheme.”
“Hope it doesn’t involve me,” I grumbled more to myself.
The others chuckled, but even to my ears it sounded forced.
Before anything else could be said, my new cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I unlocked it and held it to my ear, feeling very modern.
“Hey Jordan,” I said, having seen his glowering image on my screen.
Jordan was my one human friend left in this world, and only in on my little vampire secret because he had stumbled upon Nik bandaging my horrendous wounds. Jordan had become one of Nik’s blood donors until Nik thoroughly pissed him off. Now Jordan belonged to me, though I hated thinking about him in those terms.
“Hey. Want to see a movie?” Jordan asked, skipping all the preamble.
My eyes skated around the room, seeing a variety of expressions. Some looked encouraging, as though they wanted me to finally get out. Others looked disgusted at the i
dea of me spending time with a human.
“Sounds great,” I said, suddenly resolving on living what little of my life I had remaining to me.
I stood up to make my way out of the room, phone still pressed to my ear when Nik stood up too.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
“Going to the movies with Jordan,” I said, though it seemed pretty obvious to me.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“No. Hey, Jordan, meet me outside the seethe in a few minutes,” I added into the phone before ending the call and returning the phone to my pocket. “Is this a problem?”
“Well… we just…” he motioned back toward the rest of the group.
“I’m sorry, Mikhail,” I said, turning to my primus. “Do you need anything else from me tonight?”
Mikhail smiled, his eyes flickering to Nik’s disgruntled face. “No, thank you, Ashley. You will, though, be joining us in our visit to Richard. No more of this sneaking about.”
I smiled in return. “Excellent. See you all later.”
“But it’s not safe,” sputtered Nik.
“Why’s that?” I asked, turning at the door of the main room. “Sedgrave knows I’m his battery. He’s not going to kill me. The other mystical factions are in peace talks. They’re not about to ruin it by killing one of Mikhail’s vamps, however new to the seethe I might be.”
“B-but…”
“Nik,” I said, frustrated with his mother-hen ways. “I have decided that I am going to enjoy whatever life I have left to live, so if you will excuse me, I am going to go to a movie with my best friend while I still can.”
With that, I turned and barged out of the room.
Chapter Two
Three and a half hours later—thank you extensive previews—Jordan dropped me off at the front doors of the Viewer’s Lounge, the restaurant we used as a front for our home. I gave Jordan a quick hug, holding my breath the whole time, and dragged myself out of the car. I was worried about Jordan. He had dark circles under his eyes and, if I wasn’t mistaken, had lost weight since Chloe’s death a month and a half ago. I’m not saying I was dancing on sunshine, but her death clearly hadn’t affected me like it had him.
This realization brought a fresh wave of guilt that washed over me like a tsunami. All three of us had been friends for years, but a couple months before my life fell apart, they began dating. I hadn’t realized how close they had grown in the few short months they hid their relationship from me.
I let out a gusty sigh as I nodded to the man working the front door. It was late enough that the unusual restaurant was closed, but there was a man at the door twenty-four seven.
Feeling guilty was becoming a habit for me. What would happen to Jordan when I died, which could be very soon? He would be all alone. He wasn’t exactly on good terms with his family, and I didn’t see that being remedied even if I did die and left him alone.
Once again I pushed my pain and fear down to where it wouldn’t show on my face and trudged through the Viewer’s Lounge.
The restaurant was more like a high-end sports bar. One two-story wall was completely covered in high-tech T.V. screens that could either portray separate images or one giant one. During special events, say the Super Bowl, they would hold exclusive showings. People could sit in booths, bar tables, or theater style seating. Each little seating area could be tuned into whichever screen interested them, getting the sound for just that show. Rumor had it that reservations for the next Olympics were completely booked, that’s for every day and night, and for every event. I could only imagine what the cable bill must be like for this place.
Tucked behind a decorative screen was a plain, metal door opening into a narrow stairwell which led down into the seethe itself. Though the Viewer’s Lounge made the seethe a large amount of money, it also provided the perfect front. No one seemed concerned if people were coming and going from the restaurant at all hours of the night.
Before I could reach the hidden door, the guard at the front door called to me: “Ma’am!”
I cringed. Ma’am was what people called old ladies. Once I’d schooled my features, I turned to look at him. He was human, and I found myself to be suddenly very thirsty.
“Ma’am, there’s a woman out here insisting on seeing Mr. Nikolai. I told her to go away, but she won’t. She don’t look…uh…”
“I’ll talk to her,” I said, re-crossing the restaurant. Evidently, being officially part of the seethe meant I had to do work and stuff, I grumbled to myself.
Outside I found an elderly woman garbed in layers of clothing. She looked as though she had been living in alleyways for the last decade. I pushed my lips up into a smile.
“Hello, Faunus. Have you been pestering our human?” I asked, winking at the guard.
“I need to talk to Nikolai, but this fool won’t let me in.”
“Sorry. We’re on a bit of a lock down lately. Come with me. It’s okay, I know her,” I added when the guard was ready to protest.
I led the fae through the restaurant and down into the main room. It was littered with vampires drinking blood and scotch as they mingled around the room. Those nearest the doors turned to stare at my guest. They might have been staring at me too; I was still a bit of an outsider among the other members of the seethe. Despite being the newest member, I often moved in the higher circles. Mikhail knew me by my first name, and that was an offense not easily forgiven.
Jim, Mikhail’s personal assistant, scurried to my side.
“Who is this?” he asked, his eyes flickering to the homeless woman.
I smiled at him, trying to calm his nerves. “She’s a friend of Nikolai’s. Will you get him please?”
Jim gave Faunus one last glance before skirting past her and out the door.
We waited for a few minutes, both of us ignoring the glares we were receiving, before the doors opened and Nikolai and Mikhail entered, shortly followed by Josh and Emma.
“Faunus,” said Nik as he stared at the homeless woman.
The old woman smiled as she let her glamor fade away. Before I could tell that anything was happening, she had transformed into her true faun form. Without her disguise, Faunus was a beautiful woman on top and a goat on the bottom. Her reddish-brown hair draped down her back and matched the fur on her goat legs. Her shapely chest was covered with a soft doe-hide vest and her ears were adorned with silver trinkets.
“What can we do for you?” continued Nik.
“As you may recall, a few months ago you offered me a favor. I have come to collect.”
I felt my stomach drop into my knees. From my limited experience, favors usually just got us into trouble, and yet they were the major currency between mystical creatures. I couldn’t escape them, no matter how hard I tried. Luckily, thus far I had managed to keep from owing any myself. Granted, that might be simply because no one thought me to be powerful enough to do anything worthwhile for them.
“You’re timing is horrendous,” sighed Nik as he scratched the back of his head.
“Be that as it may, I have come to collect.”
“What is it you want from me?” asked Nik.
“There is a man in Paris who owes me a little something. I want you to bring him to me.”
“Why can’t you get him yourself?”
“I don’t enjoy travel.”
“But…?”
“Your job is not to ask questions, but to pay your debt. Here is his address,” she added in a calm tone as she passed him a pink sticky note.
“His name?”
“You don’t need to know that. You’ll know him when you see him.”
“What if he’s not home?”
“He will be.”
Nik glanced at Mikhail, conveying his concern in a careful look.
“Faunus, while I know my second has a debt to be paid to you, this is a rather difficult time. Can we look into our current situation for another couple of days before we give you an answer?” asked Mikhail in a defe
rential voice.
The summer fae thought about it for a second, the wheels in her head almost visible in her green eyes, before she nodded once. “Three days,” she said before clip-clopping her way out of the room; just as the doors swung shut, I saw her glamor spread over her like a second skin.
Those not directly involved in the conversation continued their discussions, blanketing the room in a soft murmur. The rest of use stood in silence, staring at each other. I didn’t know what the others were thinking, but I was starting to contemplate my pillow.
Finally I shrugged and said, “Well, goodnight.”
Most of our little group dispersed at that moment, some joining the small clusters in the main hall while some followed me into the corridor. I was relieved to see most of them break off, either going up the stairs and out into the world, or off to their own room. I was just about to reach the last staircase down to my level when I realized it was only Jim and I left.
I smiled at him, expecting him to turn toward his own room. Instead, he followed me. I couldn’t imagine why he would want to come to my lesser level.
“Umm… Ashley,” he said as we turned the corner and started down the steps. “I was wondering if maybe sometime… I-I could, you know, take you to dinner, or something.”
I turned to stare at him, too shocked to remember my manners.
HIM TOO? my mind screamed at me.
I scrambled to think of a response, my brain working slowly in my surprise.
“I…uh. Jim, I’m flattered, but I gotta admit, I’m kinda wondering where this is coming from.”
“Well, I guess I’ve just recently realized how wonderful you are, and I’d really like to get to know you better.”
The Series that Just Plain Sucks: The Complete Trilogy Page 50