Virgil Hicks will have to put on testimony from Mark about why he deserves to have the apartment over Sarah during the divorce. There is no way to win otherwise. I have my doubts that Mark wants the apartment for himself; he hadn’t looked like he wanted much when I saw him. Well, except maybe a fresh brain to gnaw on. I don’t need mind reading capabilities to know Lucan is planning to come to court with me. He hasn’t said anything yet, probably because he knows I’m not a fan of the idea. His mind reading capabilities have more than informed him of that.
Even though it’s Friday, I still have a ton of work to do to get ready for the hearing. I should be working late but Lucan has a meeting with the Council in the morning so I will have a few hours to while he’s gone.
“Max?” I call over the intercom. “Can you bring me the Ainsworth file?”
“Sure. Are you going to take it home over the weekend?” he asks.
“Nah. I will probably come in tomorrow and work on it. I hate going in the file room alone on weekends. It’s creepy in there.” Actually, I plan on coming down to get it tomorrow morning and working at Lucan’s.
“Okay. I'll be in there in a second. Lemme go find it.”
Max delivers the file a few minutes later while I’m in the process of shutting down my computer. He has that look on his face that can only mean one thing—he has something on his mind that can’t wait. “Can I ask you something, Abri?” Bingo!
“Sure. What?” I reply, trying not to sound expectant.
“Has Lucan told you what he does yet?” Now Max and I have known each other since I was a law clerk, I can tell when he is beating around the bush.
“Sure, he runs a charitable foundation.” I’m going to make him work for this.
“Um, yeah, right, I knew that.” Max is hoping for a different answer. “Hey, did you ever ask him about that calling card?” Max is fishing now.
“No, I haven't.” It was the truth. I figured it out myself on our first date.
“Okay. Well, here's your file. I'm going to be up here tomorrow doing some drafting if you need anything when you come in.”
Shit, now I am stuck working on the file in my office. I’d already told him I wasn’t taking the file home with me tonight. If I changed my mind now he will think I am avoiding him. And if it is gone in the morning, he will be worried something happened to me since I certainly wouldn’t cab it all the way over here to get it and leave again. “Great! I'm going to come in around ten, I think. What about you?”
“Same. See you then, Abri. Have a good night.” Max gives me a worried smile and walks out. I hate to keep secrets from him, or at least withholding confirmation of what I am sure he already knows.
“'Night, Max.”
I manage to call the up elevator before anyone else leaves the office so I don't have to fake going downstairs first. I jump in and hit the button for sixty-six. I am becoming an old pro at this elevator thing even when Lucan isn’t with me. There is more to this than just overcoming a fear of a broken cable. I know Lucan will never let me fall.
“Lucan, are you home?” I call as I chug the last few yards up to the apartment. It is a nice bonus that he can hear me anywhere in the apartment without yelling. But once the elevator clears the floor above, he can hear my thoughts as well— not always as nice a bonus.
“Yup, just waiting for you, love.” I can hear the anticipation in his voice, as if the last eight hours have been a lifetime apart.
Lucan comes into view and my heart flutters a little. I realize the last eight hours have been a lifetime. Damn vampire sex bond, you do crazy things to me and I like it. “Good! Wow, you look amazing. What's the occasion?” I ask as he pulls open the grate and gives me a kiss.
“We're having company this evening. I’m sorry I didn't call you earlier, but it was rather last minute.” Lucan is dressed in a charcoal gray suit and pale lavender shirt with the collar open. The last time I saw him he wasn't wearing anything all. I’m not sure which look I like more. I feel under dressed if we are having company and Lucan is still in his suit. I am in jeans, a white button down, and black riding boots. “No worries. You look stunning as always.”
“You lie, but I love you anyways,” I retort before kissing Lucan again. The amps make my lips numb and I rub them while Lucan takes my purse and coat. The coat is a mere prop at this point since I haven’t been outside since we left my apartment this morning. “Who's coming over?”
“The best friend in Italy I was telling you about. He and his wife are in town. I told them we'd have dinner, if that's okay with you. We talk all the time, but I haven’t seen them since the last time I was in Rome about ten years ago.”
“Of course it’s okay with me. I’d love to meet your best friend. Are we going out or staying in?”
“To the Enclave, if that's okay?” Lucan looks a little uncertain. “They've never been and want to see it while they're in town.”
“Oh, so they are vampire friends?” I ask, trying not to seem too surprised. “I guess I should have figured that out given the way you described how long you’ve known each other.” Other than the Council, I haven’t really met any other vampires yet. This is exciting. It is exciting to get to meet Lucan’s friends, too. Sarah is my oldest friend and our relationship, at just a hair over two and a half decades, pales in comparison to this. I can’t even imagine knowing someone as long as Lucan has known people. Even if they’d only know each other a hundred years, that is longer than I can comprehend. I stop my inner monologue realizing Lucan’s listening.
His face is arranged in an are-you-done-yet expression. “Aye,” he pauses to make sure I’m focused again. “Well, Zaid is vampire. Amelia is human like you. They've been together for a while and I thought you might like to meet another mixed couple.”
I laugh. I guess that's what we are, a mixed couple. “Wow! Yeah, I guess I hadn't really thought about that part, how different we are.” I really am excited to meet people like us, especially another human. I have so many questions. “Yeah, I'm stoked to meet them. Are they meeting us there?”
“No, we're going to pick them up at their hotel. I had your dress from Saturday night dry-cleaned, I thought you might like the wear it. It's hanging in the closet.” I didn’t need to read minds to know he is thinking of the last time that dress and I were in a closet together.
“Thank you, sweetheart, you think of everything. I'll go get changed.” I head for the walk-in closet that runs the length of the bathroom on the inside wall. Inside, I find my dress hanging in a dry cleaning bag and a more functional pair of black heels that I brought over from my apartment.
***
When we pull up to the Algonquin Hotel, the valet is itching to get his hands on the black Fisker Karma Lucan has selected to be our transportation this evening, but Lucan tells him we aren't staying. The poor guy is crestfallen he walks back to stand under the valet stand's heater. I can’t blame him, it is sleek and sexy and it has 400 horses in its electric engine. I like it almost as much as the Evora.
I know Zaid as soon as he walks through the hotel's font doors. He is tall, taller than Lucan, with bronze skin that belies his Middle Eastern heritage. He is wearing a cream colored, calf-length cashmere coat over cream-colored slacks and a black turtleneck. His coal black hair falls in waves across his broad shoulders contrasting with the coat. His dark eyes and thick lashes make him look like he’s wearing black eyeliner, but not in a guyliner-Goth-band way. Amelia follows immediately behind Zaid and he holds the door for her.
“Brother, it's been too long!” Zaid exclaims in a rather booming voice, as Lucan jumps out of the car to greet him. “You look well.”
“So do you, brother. How's Italia?” The two men embraced in a hearty hug before he turns to embrace Amelia. “Amelia, you look lovely as always. Please, get in, it's cold.”
Zaid opens the rear passenger door for Amelia and she glides in. Once everyone is in the car Lucan begins with the introductions. “Zaid, Amelia, this is Abri. Lei é la
mia Sodalis.”
“Well, Abri, my brother is a lucky man indeed. It's a pleasure to meet you.” Zaid reaches a large hand between the Karma’s seats and we proceed to shake hands, curiously without any amps passing between us. “This is my Amelia.”
“It's so great to meet you, Abri. Lucan has told us so much about you.” Amelia and I shake hands as well. She is probably in her mid thirties with long honey blond hair and hazel eyes. Her accent is clearly American, faintly New Yorker even.
“It's wonderful to meet both of you,” I say. “How long will you be in town?”
“A week or so maybe. Zaid has some business here and it’s been so long since I’ve been back to America.” Amelia playfully squeezes Zaid's arm. “Zaid here is not a fan of the city.”
We all chat easily while Lucan navigates across town to the Enclave. I wonder if Serge will be there this evening, or worse, Mark. As we pull up, I strain to see who is manning the valet stand. A short Hispanic man is at the post and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Lucan and Zaid are out of the car and opening the doors for Amelia and me in the blink of an eye. “You look so beautiful,” Lucan thinks at me as he takes my hand to help me from the car.
“Thank you,” I whisper in return.
Lucan scans his card as the valet drives the Karma off. The camera overhead pans around to look us over. A green light and the sound of the locks clicking on the heavy door signal our admittance. Zaid holds the door open for us as Lucan leads the way into the lobby.
“Abri, you and Amelia make yourselves comfortable. Zaid must check in with the Council before we can go any further.” Lucan motions towards the plush chairs that line the far wall of the lobby. “It won't take long, ten minutes tops.” Lucan and Zaid whisper something to the receptionist before she nods and motions for them to continue past her.
“No worries,” Amelia says, settling into the first chair. “He has to check in with the local authorities any time we travel to a new jurisdiction. It's a formality really, like going through customs.”
I nod in reply even though I have no idea what she’s talking about. Vampire customs? “So how long have you and Zaid been together?” I ask, hoping Amelia won't take offense to my being so forward.
“Well, that's a long story. What do you know about Sodali?”
“A little. I mean, I know Lucan and I are, we are each other's—yeah, I know a little.” Amelia's question takes me by surprise. Lucan had explained that finding your Sodalis is extremely rare. Could it be that Amelia and Zaid are not just a mixed couple—as Lucan called it, but also Sodali? “Are you and Zaid?”
“Yeah, we are. How long have you and Lucan been together?” she asks, skirting my original question. I expected our common bond would get the conversation started but Amelia is having none of it.
“Ah, just over a week.” I manage a small smile. It feels strange to admit that out loud, even to someone that knows what I’m talking about. “It seems like longer though. We have just really clicked.” It strikes me as odd that she won’t answer a simple question like how long she's been with her boyfriend, husband, whatever. She’s not wearing a wedding band, but maybe vampires don't believe in wedding bands.
“I know what you mean,” Amelia replies, with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“So how did you two meet?” I try to turn the conversation back to Amelia and Zaid.
“Here in New York. We were both visiting and happened to be suck on the same subway car.” She pauses and glances towards the elevator bank. “Oh, the boys are on their way back up. I'm starving!”
I start to ask how she knows that, if she can read Zaid's thoughts when they aren't touching, but I stop myself. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to talk. “Me too. The food here is really great.”
Lucan and Zaid appear at the far end of the lobby, sparing me any further awkward conversation. I can’t help but feel that Amelia and I were left together to chat about our mutual situation. If so, the least she could do was answer a few preliminary questions.
“Ladies, this way,” Lucan says as he holds out his hand for me. “Did you two get to know each other?”
Not one to miss an opportunity, I answer before Amelia can change tack on me again. “We did. Zaid, how wonderful for you to find your Sodalis as well. Lucan tells me it's very rare.”
“That it is, my dear. That it is. Lucan and I are two very lucky men. I don't know how much Amelia told you about our meeting, but it is quite a story. Maybe we can bore you with it over dinner,” Zaid adds with a wink. No doubt knowing I am practically on fire to know as much as I can about them.
Lucan leads us back to the Enclave's dining room. I recognize the hostess as she greets us. “Welcome. Your table is this way. Ms. Cole it is pleasure to see you again,” she coos as we walk back to a semi-private alcove off the main dining room.
Once we are seated and drinks ordered Zaid begins the conversation in earnest. “So, dear Abri, what do you want to know?”
I decide to start at the beginning. I figure Amelia won't take offense to the repeat, owing to the fact that it is obvious she isn’t going to be the one to tell the tale. “How long have you two been together? Amelia said you met in here in New York.”
“Ah, well, you are direct, aren't you? Lucan warned me about that,” he chuckles. “Amelia and I have been together almost a hundred years.” His expression turns to one of apology, as if he knew my reaction wasn’t going to be a polite smile and nod of the head. “Well, hell, I guess I’m being a little too direct myself. Sorry about that Abri.”
My head spins and I feel a little flutter of nausea as my brain processes his words. It is totally conceivable for Zaid and Lucan to be that old, but Amelia is human. I am aware that Lucan can hear me but I don’t care. This is fucking ludicrous. For the first time I feel like I’ve been duped into believing something that’s not real, like everyone gets the joke but me.
“This is why I didn’t want to be the one to tell her,” Amelia says accusingly, looking back and forth between Lucan and Zaid. “Zaid, explain it to her quick before she passes out.”
“Right. Well, when one Sodali is human and the other vampire their joining confers certain benefits on each party. For instance, I can spend more time in the sunlight now because of Amelia's human nature and she, well, she has the benefit of not aging, because of my vampire nature.”
My stomach drops. My mouth is dry; my head is rotating on its axis like fucking globe. I feel the overwhelming urge to run or vomit, or both.
“Would you excuse me for a second?” I manage between clinched teeth. “I can’t do this— I mean, I just need some space—er, air. I’ll be right back. You all stay here and enjoy. I just... I just need to put a very large amount of wall space between us.” I manage to finish the last part in my head for Lucan.
I give him a look that says sit-down-and-don’t-move while I slam my mind shut from his prying brain waves. I grab my purse and take off in the direction of the lobby door without looking back. My shoes make a thunderous clacking noise on the marble as I try not to run to the front door. I pause just long enough for the electronic lock to release and then burst out into the night. I’d been wondering when this vampire business was going throw me for a loop. I guess it’s now.
The valet guy, a different one than had greeted us earlier, is lounging against the valet stand. He jumps up as I sprint towards the sidewalk.
“Are you and Mr. O’Reilly leaving so soon, ma’am? I can bring the car around if you would like,” he stammers through a heavy Caribbean accent.
“That won’t be necessary,” I reply as calmly as possible. He is more than likely a vampire and I don’t want to risk him sensing my distress. “I need cab though.”
“I can call you one. It will be a minute or two, aren’t too many that drive by here.” He picks up a phone on the stand. He looks puzzled as he puts the receiver to his ear, no dial tone. Perfect. “Hello?” he says tentatively. “Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”
<
br /> There had apparently been someone on the other line already. “Mr. O’Reilly has instructed me to bring the car for you. He said he will take a cab home and you can meet him there if you wish.”
“Oh, well, okay.” I want to decline the offer but I realize I don’t have any cash on me for cab fare. How stupid of me, I know better.
The valet disappears around the corner and is back with the Karma in less than thirty seconds. Yup, he is definitely a vampire. For some reason that makes my skin crawl.
“Thank you,” I say as he holds the driver’s side door open for me. “I'm sorry I don’t have any cash to tip you. Just let Mr. O’Reilly know.”
“He already told me ma’am. It’s okay. You be safe now.” The valet shuts the door and walks around to the back of the car. I hit the lock button the door and let out a huge sigh of relief. What in the hell just happened? I catch movement out of the corner of my eye coming from the Enclave’s front door and without looking to see if it is Lucan, I hit the gas.
The Fisker’s tires squeal as I tear off down the block. The street is wet but the traction holds. I hook a left at the corner and make my way back out to the main road. I’d never been to this section of the city before meeting Lucan, but I am damn certain I can find Chinatown from here. Eventually. I am so not going back to the Chrysler tonight.
Zaid’s words are on a loop in my head and they make my stomach churn. I am one deep breath away from hurling all over the car’s sleek interior. One hundred years and no aging. There is no way that is possible. What the hell am I talking about; I’d seen more than a few things that were supposed to be impossible proved possible in the last week. The thought that I might have overreacted springs up in my brain and waits to be acknowledged.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Serge wanted to throw his phone across the room. He had taken the night off to deal with Mark and instructed his replacement to call him if Abri Cole showed up. He’d called all right. Right after she’d left. Alone.
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