We pulled up in front of an upper scale looking restaurant. When we stepped inside all I could see were white linens and glittering crystal. The sounds of crystal glasses clinking adding an accent to the pianist, who sat at a baby grand playing Pachelbel’s Canon in D. The smells made my mouth water.
The stout little man in a black tuxedo left customers in mid sentence to come over an greet us.
“Sir, nice to see you.”
“Howard, we need a table in the balcony.”
“Of course, come this way.” He led us over to the side where a staircase led to a second level. Caden and I followed Howard up to a table set all by its self. It looked over the entire dining room.
Caden held out my chair and told Howard to bring a bottle of Perrier-Jouet champagne. The waiter was there before our host Howard had even left. Caden ordered a slew of appetizers that I’d never heard of before. This was already the nicest non-date I’d ever had. Actually, it was the nicest place any man had ever taken me.
I already felt indebted to him. I didn’t want to rack up a high meal bill. I knew it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the other costs, but I felt deeply uncomfortable with the entire situation of being indebted to anyone. As I scanned the menu for the cheapest priced entrée, I couldn’t find a single price listed.
“Why aren’t there any prices on the menu? Isn’t that a bit odd?” I asked hoping I wasn’t showing my hand.
“No one that comes here cares.”
“Are you ready to order sir?”
“Yes, Lex, what would you like?”
“I’m fine, I’m really not that hungry. I’m just going to pick on appetizers.”
“You need to eat something. She’ll have the Wagyu steak with truffles, medium rare. I’ll have the same.”
“Thank you Sir.”
“Caden, I really didn’t need a steak.”
“Yes, you do.”
I had only lost a couple of pounds, so I was surprised that he had noticed.
“Caden,” a voice boomed.
In front of us stood the largest red headed man I had ever seen. He was an absolute giant. His hair wasn’t just red, it was blazing.
“Macky. Nice to see you. Join us for a glass?”
The huge ox of a man sat down across from us and I was waiting for the chair to collapse underneath him, as I heard it creak from the strain.
“This is Alexandria.”
“It’s nice to meet you Alexandria. What can I do for you today Caden?”
“I need some of the R2’s and a few R5’s.”
“What’s the set up?”
“I’ll need a direct input.”
“I’ll have them over to you by tonight.”
“Thanks Macky.”
“Enjoy your dinner.”
He reached down to kiss my hand like an old school gentleman, and froze. I could feel his hand tremble for a moment before he quickly dropped mine. He stared at me, then Caden, looking a bit affronted.
“Why would you bring her here?” he said accusatorily to Caden.
“What are you talking about?”
Macky looked like he was going to bolt, and Caden quickly stood in front of him, blocking his path. I looked and saw that they had already caught the attention of the host and the waiter.
“What do you know?” Caden demanded.
“I don’t know anything.” He clearly didn’t want to speak.
“You know something. Tell me,” Caden insisted taking a step further into the large man’s space and I couldn’t help but be impressed.
Macky looked around at the attention they were drawing from even the diners below and ushered Caden back to the table. He pulled his chair as far from me as he could get it. Really? I’m now the top pariah? All these monsters floating around and he didn’t want to get close to me? I threw back the my entire glass of champagne. The waiter was heading toward the table to refill my glass, but I waved him off and did it myself.
“Okay, let’s hear it. What kind of horrible thing am I now?” I asked before Caden could.
“I don’t know exactly,” he replied but wasn’t meeting my stare.
I threw my hands up in the air. “Of course you don’t,” I said. I swigged down some more champagne.
Caden eyed me as I practically chugged the whole glass. “Slow down.”
I gave him a look that clearly told him I’d had enough of his instructions and downed the glass anyway.
The big Macky actually tried to shush Caden now. “Let her do what she wants.”
“Are you scared of her?” Caden asked making a face at Macky.
“Sort of.” His face was red with embarrassment. “When I was a very small boy, a long, long time ago, there was one such as she that wandered the forests. My mother told me to keep my distance at all times. That she had the power to destroy us if she wanted. That’s all I know. I swear it.”
“How do you know she’s the same as this woman?”
“I could smell it on her skin. She’s not human. I’ve never smelled that scent except for that woman. And now her,” he looked at me when he said that, like I might strike him down for even repeating it.
“Okay Macky, you can leave. Thanks.”
Macky got up and nodded his head to the side, clearly trying to get a private word with Caden.
“Hang on,” Caden said to me. He got up to see what Macky wanted, and I helped myself to more champagne. I was aiming for total numbness or at bare minimum, maybe I could forget that I was the biggest freak in the room for a while.
I watched Macky. I knew he was asking Caden to never bring me back here. His body language was so obvious that he might have well have been screaming it. I threw back the last of my glass while Caden finally calmed the big baby down and came back to the table.
“He’s a little upset.”
I watched Macky scramble away as quick as possible and knew he was feeling slightly more intense than Caden explained. Our meal came out suspiciously quick, and I had to struggle to get the few bites down I did. I knew Macky was watching from below, counting the minutes until we left. Caden seemed completely unperturbed by it all and finished his meal and then mine at a casual pace. I was more than ready to leave when he finally finished.
Getting to my feet I wobbled slightly.
“You’re drunk.”
“No I’m not, I’m tipsy. There’s a difference.” It took me a moment longer than normal to locate what I had done with my purse. Holding onto the chair for balance when I felt a little wobbly, I realized I’d kicked my purse underneath the table by accident.
“Uh huh.”
“Stop uh huh’in me!”
“Let’s go.” He wrapped an arm around my waist as we approached the stairs and helped me into our car that was waiting in front for us.
We were sitting in the dark leather cocoon of the limo about halfway home when I felt tears falling down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them away quickly, but I knew he saw. He started fidgeting next to me.
“What’s wrong?” he barked out less than a minute later.
“No one wants to be near me.” My voice cracked slightly over the words.
“That’s not true,” he said firmly.
“Thanks for lying, but you know it is.”
“Some people are just a little freaked out by different. It takes them time to adjust.”
I looked up at his face. “I’m a monster,” and I started to cry in earnest then.
He turned toward me and with a hand under my chin lifted my face to his.
“You’re not a monster. You’re beautiful, just a little overwhelmed at the moment and a lot drunk.” His fingers pushed a lose tendril behind my ear and lingered there for a moment. He was staring down at my face, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to start yelling at me and telling me to toughen up, or kiss me.
The car stopped and he pulled back from me suddenly so I never found out. When we got inside, he disappeared quickly and I went downstairs alone.
Chapter Sixteen
I was sitting in the booth, staring out the window, waiting to see some sign of Caden coming back from the council meeting. I didn’t have Mike as company today because he was tagging along with Caden to the meeting. I knew I was being petty, but Mike was my buddy during the day. The other guys were all fine and dandy, but not as relaxing, and definitely not as much fun as Mike.
My phone started chirping. Looking down I saw it was Amanda. I hadn’t answered the phone the last few times she had called, and I had felt completely horrible about it. Even though I knew I wasn’t prepared to tell her what was going on I answered it anyway.
“Hello?”
“Oh my god! Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get you.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ve got some stuff going on. I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” Hearing her voice made me want to tell her everything, but Mark’s face kept popping into my mind. It was hard. I wasn’t use to keeping secrets from Amanda.
“Let’s meet then. I haven’t seen you in what feels like forever. You blew off two of our out nights. You’re making me get really worried!”
“Amanda, I swear I’m okay. Just some crazy stuff has been going on.”
“When can we get together?”
“It’s not really a great time.”
“You’re freaking me out. Either tell me what’s going on, or I’m coming to you.” The thought of her showing up at my apartment scared me into agreeing. Amanda had a key to my place because she often ran over and watered my plants for me when I was out of town. I couldn’t have her go there. I didn’t want her to see what they had done to my place. She would never leave it alone and would end up as knee deep in this mess as me. The reporter in her would never, ever, be able to walk away without knowing the full story.
“Okay, I’ll meet you for lunch next Monday. We can go to that little luncheonette place with the great chopped salads. Tony’s or Tommy’s?”
“Oh yeah, Tony’s, their salads are fantastic. I think it’s the dressing. They use Ken’s Balsamic and the romaine is always nice and crisp. I hate when you go to a place and they give you wilted lettuce. That’s just the worst.”
Amanda was the biggest salad snob, so I’d luckily stumbled upon something to distract her. Hopefully, things would be calmer in a week. Tony’s was only a block away from here, which is why I picked it. Even if things were still crazy, I wouldn’t be too far removed from my comfort zone. It was weird realizing that this place was now instinctively my comfort zone.
She went into a long tirade about the salads from various restaurants that lasted about another ten minutes. Most of it I had already heard before, but I let her ramble on anyway. The longer she talked, the more she forgot about the reason she called.
Caden and Mike were just coming in the back as she was winding down, saying she was getting back to work.
The other guys, having heard them, filed into the bar. Even Dave showed, minus Diane.
“Well? What’s the deal?” Joey asked.
“They won’t stop them, but they won’t support them either. At least that’s the party line. I have my doubts about a couple of them, but for the most, I think they will stay out of it.”
This broke into the guys grumbling aloud about who they thought would go this way or that. I just sat and listened. I had no idea who these council people were, or who they had with them. What I did know is that the odds sounded horrible when I finally heard them speaking in specifics about the men behind Carl. And when I say horrible, what I actually mean is there was no freaking way in hell we had a shot. They were outnumbered ten to one.
“If we get them to come here and we force them through the alley way somehow…”
“Yeah, exactly, then we can…”
We’re they delusional? How did they possibly think that this would work? Maybe I should leave. This place was going to be no safer than anywhere else was soon. Why even bother to fight. I was going to get all of these men killed. Even if they weren’t actually completely human, I’d come to care for them, and considering that I myself wasn’t fully human either, I really needed to stop throwing stones.
I got up while they continued to plot and plan and quietly headed toward the apartment I was sharing with Caden. I couldn’t hear anymore. They were talking tactics, while all I could think of was blood. And not just regular old blood, but their blood and it was going to be dripping from my fingertips.
I was almost to the door when I looked over at the group one last time before leaving and Caden caught my gaze. He knew what I was thinking, and I could see in his face he was hurt by it. It bothered me. I didn’t understand why he would be, but it was there in his face, a look of betrayal. I lowered my gaze and turned to leave. It wasn’t meant as a slight, no one could beat odds like that. I had a cousin in California that had been bugging me to visit. Maybe that would be just far enough away.
Chapter Seventeen
I had settled downstairs reading another one of Caden’s antique collector books when he walked in. “Why are you so sure we can’t win?” He stood in the middle of the room, his barely contained energy taking up every inch of space and making me feel crowded in the large room.
Looking up at him, I knew I wouldn’t be able to blow this off. He wasn’t going to budge. It was clear in his stance, he wouldn’t let this drop until he got my answer. “Does it matter? Since when has my opinion carried so much weight?” It was a lame attempt at avoiding the discussion and I knew it wouldn’t work even as I heard myself say it.
“You don’t even know them, but you are so sure that they’ll defeat us?”
“The odds don’t sound good. That’s all I was thinking. I’m just trying to be realistic.” I looked back down to continue reading “The Three Musketeers” hopefully blowing off what he seemed determined to develop into a full out brawl.
He ripped the antique leather bound copy from my hands and I watched as a flurry of papers landed around us.
“Are you nuts? That was an 1846 edition? I felt guilty even reading it!” I reached down and grabbed the cover now lying by his feet trying to assess how much damage he’d done and if it were repairable.
“I know what is was, I bought it. You may not have any faith in us, but don’t do anything stupid. I’m warning you.”
“Like what?”
“You leave here, you are on your own. I won’t bail you out again.”
A guilty blush betrayed my thoughts, and I didn’t deny it. “Only to calm the situation down. I don’t want to be the reason anyone gets hurt.”
“Where would you even go? You wouldn’t last a day.”
“If I want to go I will. I’ve got options besides you. More importantly, why do you even care? I’d be doing you a favor.”
And in perfect form, Caden didn’t answer. Just gave me such an intense stare that it made the hair on my body tingle. It wasn’t fear though. When he was raw like this, it called to a deep dark place inside of me. Made me feel alive like I’d never felt. It was better when he was cold and casual. I didn’t want to be attracted to him. This kind of intensity was always alluring but it was dangerous.
We stood there, playing some sort of ridiculous game of chicken with our stares.
“Make sure you are here when I get back. I don’t like deserters. If you’re gone, Carl will be the least of your worries,” Caden said and looked away
Mike was standing in the elevator when the doors opened. Caden was throwing off such a strong angry vibe that Mike gave Caden a wide berth.
“Wow, he’s in a snit! What the hell happened?” Mike said as soon as the soundproof elevator doors closed on Caden.
“I’m not sure myself,” I evaded, not wanting to admit to Mike that I thought they’d lose.
“Wanna get a work out in?”
“Mike, anyone ever tell you your timing is dead on?”
“All the time,” he laughed.
I ran back to my room to change into something to workout in. Luckily,
I’d been going crazy with mail order and had all sorts of items now. Not that I had too many places to wear them, but it was nice to not look like I was waiting for fifty dollar bills on the corner anymore.
We got upstairs and started to fall into our usual rhythm. Mike and Caden had started to teach me some kicking moves with the thought that my legs had a lot more strength than my upper body.
“Hey Lex, come here. Let’s have a go and see how you’re doing.”
I stopped kicking the bag knowing what was coming next. This was always a lesson in humility, even with Mike. I felt so utterly inadequate sparring with any of them.
I smiled and walked over. I was trying to be a good sport, but it was hard to muster any enthusiasm. In my head, I was calling him all sorts of bad words. He was lucky he was so nice or I’d be saying them out loud.
Mike, who was trying to get me to engage, was bouncing from foot to foot, dodging in closer and closer trying to egg me on. “Come on! Try to hit me!” He sounded like a child asking another kid to play.
“This isn’t any fun. I stink.”
“You won’t always. Your demon blood will kick in eventually.” He now started poking me with his finger trying to get me going. These guys really didn’t understand that nothing is more irritating than being poked. It’s why I always used to do it to my brother. God Mike was being annoying today.
I took a swing. It missed him by a mile. “We aren’t even sure what I am. Maybe whatever I am won’t be the same.” I tried a kick this time. He dodged it easily. I felt like I was moving in slow motion compared to him.
“Nah, Charlie and Caden are sure you’re gonna turn. They’re always right.” He punctuated this with some more poking.
“Mike!” a female voice yelled from the behind me, somewhere near the door.
Mike’s face lit up like it was his fifth birthday party and someone had just given him a puppy.
“Tamara!”
He abandoned our work out and went and hugged one of the most stunning blondes I’d ever seen in person. I didn’t think women like her existed. I thought they were just a concoction of professional makeup artists and extensive air brushing. She had full blond hair, perfect body and the face of an angel.
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