Deadly Sin (Cassandra Farbanks) (23 page)

The door opening snapped me out of my own thoughts. Sophie and Brie came running in. Brie threw her arms around her husband of only a week and almost made him spill his tea. He put his mug down carefully so he could hug her back. She checked every inch of his exposed flesh for injury.

“Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you.”

“No baby, I’m fine. Cassandra got my back.”

Brie looked over her shoulder at me, and I thought she pressed herself possessively closer to LeBron. Her eyes shot daggers at me.

“I should have known you’d be involved.”

LeBron took hold of his wife’s arms and held her away from him so that he could see her face.

“None of what happened was her fault,” he chastised her. “You know how new I am. I lost my temper. She stopped me from getting shot.” Brie seemed pacified by his words but cuddled close into his side. One leg slung over his, the gray cat suit showing off her toned little body.

“However, we might have to slash our decorating budget as I’m on suspension.”

“Oh no,” she said teary eyed. At first I thought she was upset about the decorating till she added very quietly, “Are you going to lose your job?” LeBron stroked her hair.

“I don’t know honey. I don’t know. I’m sorry.” He rested his forehead against hers.

“We can talk to DJ. Ex-cop should be good enough to get you a security job here.” Brie was looking at his chest so she missed the wince. Security was what cops considered a retirement gig.

“Or you could come work for me,” I said offering up an alternative. Brie turned her head to glare at me. “Look, Trinket goes off after Christmas and I’m going to have a hard time running the business on my own.”

“You want to hire my husband as a secretary?” Brie howled, outraged. I put my mug down on the floor waving my hands back and forth. She misunderstood me.

“No, no. If push comes to shove and Rourke kicks you, you could apply to become a private investigator. Work as my partner. Cover the office during the day. Having a daytime investigator, foot traffic might increase.” Brie looked a little mollified, but it wasn’t hard to tell which idea she preferred. LeBron, however, looked interested.

“It’s an alternative.” I continued, “I know DJ has been having morale problems since the coup and hiring another bitten Were might cause dissention.”

“Cassandra has a point,” said Simian backing me up. He knew, too well, the problems. “I’m not saying don’t ask him. Just that it’s good to have options.”

“When we go back for my things, I’ll pick up the forms if you’ll write me a reference.”

“I’d be glad to,” I said smiling. “But you might need one from a peer. I recommend Hamilton. He wrote mine.” Brie ran her hands up and down her husband’s arm.

“Honey, I think it’s time we go home. We’ve taken up enough of Simian and Sophie’s time.” Sophie turned her head back towards us, having been staring up the stairs.

“Don’t be silly. You and Michael are welcome here for as long as you like. But if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on the children.” Sophie patted them both on the head and went upstairs. Brie stood pulling LeBron up with her. They still planned on leaving, despite the kind words. Simian walked them to the door while I picked up mugs and took them to the kitchen to wash up.

My hands were immersed in hot, soapy water when Simian came into the kitchen behind me. I knew it was him because of the sound of his footsteps. They were much heavier than Sophie’s and the bare soles slapped along the linoleum.

“Cassandra, can we talk?”

“I hate to point out the obvious,” I said looking over my shoulder. Simian’s brow pinched.

“No sarcasm. It’s too late for sarcasm.”

“Sarcasm does not have a curfew,” I informed him, putting the last mug on the drainer and reaching for the towel to dry my hands. I turned to face him. Simian had taken one of the stools and was sitting with his fingers pursed. He looked very serious. I slapped the towel down on the marble counter top.

“What is it?”

“I want to ask you something and I want a serious answer.” I nodded. “What’s wrong with DJ?” I blinked.

“I’ll make you a list. It might take me a minute.”

“Cassandra,” he said exasperated. “Why can’t you give me a serious answer?”

“I will when you ask me a serious question. We’ve had words about you trying to mess with my love life.” Simian winced slightly.

“I’m still haunted by the seven voicemails discussing why I should not meddle in your love life, but I still don’t understand why you don’t like him.”

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” I said with a sigh. “He’s a nice guy, most of the time, and I’m sure he will make some very insecure girl very happy someday.” Simian arched a brow at me. “I’ve done my time in a macho man relationship. I don’t need to be coddled, protected or dominated.”

“And you think that’s what he will do?”

“The signs are all there. DJ is a very alpha male personality. On top of that, he’s naturally very territorial. Also, I am not so far gone that I don’t appreciate being treated like a lady. I do not just need to be mounted.”

“I never suggested,” said Simian getting offended.

“No but DJ did. ‘We just need to have sex’, his words. Like that’s all it would take. One good hump and I’m his.”

“Besides she’s in love with another man,” said Sophie, joining us and putting her sons PlayStation Portable on the counter. They exchanged a look.

“She always knows when he’s playing it. It’s like maternal extrasensory perception, spooky,” he said with a mock shudder. Sophie gave her own little sigh.

“I remember a time when you could just take the batteries out of things. Now you have to pry the whole thing out of his hands, which is getting harder and harder as he gets older.” She shook her head and then focused her soft but intelligent eyes on me.

“Have you made your feelings clear to DJ?”

“I’ve tried!” I said exasperated. “He doesn’t want to listen.”

“Mmm, men can be stubborn when they’re just regular guys. I remember Simian’s courting.” Simian crossed his arms over his chest, doing his best to look indignant.

“You still said yes,” he pointed out, huffing. Sophie raised her hand to hide her mouth and whispered, “I got tired of saying no.”

I snorted a laugh and Simian glared at both of us. Sophie smiled and wrapped her arms around him, cooing in his ear till he melted. I watched them together and felt an ache in my heart.

“Cassandra, why don’t you just make up with your vampire?” Sophie asked, now sitting in her husband’s lap. Simian grumped. “I know that some people won’t approve, but if he makes you happy. What’s the sense in being apart, whatever your reasons?”

“Hey,” I said, forcing a smile to my lips. “I have you guys. It’s not like I’m alone.”

“Then why do you always seem so sad these days. Like something or someone is missing. It obvious how you feel about him.”

I had to look away from her eyes. Sophie had always been a tad perceptive and it could cut deep.

“I should be heading home. It’s been a long day.”

Chapter Eighteen

For the second time that night I left the Were community and began the short walk home. I was pleased when I reached my building with no interruptions. My phone didn’t ring; I wasn’t accosted by a horny werewolf; no vampires called my name from the dark; and yet, I was still uneasy. When I took the front steps into my building, my head rang with alarm bells and my skin crawled with that feeling of walking into trouble. Everything looked normal.

I saw Trinket’s silhouette through the office window. She was in her chair with a book in hand as usual when things were quiet. The rest of the building was dark like it ought to be. If there had been something truly dangerous, life threatening or lurking, my other sight would have snapped on automatically. I could make it snap on manually now, but I really had to concentrate to do it and it took a lot of energy. There was nothing in my apartment building and I chided myself for my paranoia.

I took the elevator up and mashed my foot against the keypad, when it juddered and the gears groaned at the fourth floor. I pushed all my creepy feelings to the back of my mind. I wanted nothing more than to sleep. I had, what amounted to, an emotional headache that was unfortunately something two Tylenol and a nap couldn’t fix.

On my walk, I reasoned that the only way to fix my problem with DJ was to fix the one with Aram. I knew that I loved Aram. Aram knew that I loved him. The fact that Sophie knew I loved him pointed out conclusively how stupid staying away from him was. I still thought it was for his own good as I didn’t know what troubles might head my way, but hadn’t he proven I could rely on him? That he was willing to take the risk.

I pulled the cage open, stepped out and rummaged around my basket for my keys. We could start small. I would call him tomorrow night and arrange a date. We could go to the theater now that my ex wasn’t running it. I would get my laptop out and see what was showing. I hoped it would at least be decent. I didn’t want to start our relationship fresh with a bedroom in close proximity. That would be tempting fate as my libido was a traitorous bitch.

I pushed open the door, slid my key from the lock and stepped inside. My apartment was dark except for the bluish glow from the videocassette recorder display light. I put the basket down in the armchair, threw the cloak over it and stretched. The entire apartment was eerily silent as I looked around. That same feeling nagged at me that something wasn’t right. I palmed my keys prepared to use them as a weapon. I turned on lights, chasing away the darkness so I could see every corner and hiding place. The last room was my bedroom. I forcefully shoved both doors open so anything behind them would get smacked. I flicked on the light.

Rin sat on my chaise lounge still impeccably dressed in his tux and opera cape. The phantom mask rested on the curve of his crossed knee. He looked like he had been pleasantly awaiting my company. I glared at him, amazed by the sheer gall of such a move. I gripped my keys tighter feeling them dig into my flesh.

“You’ve got some nerve. I put up new wards! How the hell did you get in?” Rin reached down to his side and slowly brought a key into view.

“I found this under the fire extinguisher in the hall.” My mouth dropped open. How could I have forgotten about the spare key? Maybe because the guy whose idea it was is no longer my boyfriend and Aram rarely used the front door. I stomped over to him and snatched the key from his fingers, careful not to touch his skin. I tossed it and my own onto the bed.

“Get out! You’re not welcome here.” I headed for the phone by the bedside table. I snatched up the receiver and found the line dead. He’d taken precautions. I was going to call the police, but he’d seen to that. I looked to the door. In the living room, my mobile sat in the basket. I glanced in his direction and ran for it. I didn’t make it. Rin tackled me from behind, bringing me down to the floor with a loud thud. I smacked my chin on the door jamb, which hurt like hell but wasn’t enough to stun me. I struggled. I couldn’t turn on my stomach as I pushed his weight off my back. He pinned my wrists under his large hands, forcing me into submission. I panted like I’d been running.

“Get off me,” I growled angrily. His mouth was perilously close to my ear. I could feel his hot breath against my lobe.

“Don’t struggle. Don’t make me hurt you.” I ground my teeth trying to use all my strength, but he could feel it and countered it. His strength could not only match mine, but exceed it. I felt fear bubble up inside my throat.

“Who are you?” I asked him, sure that there was more to him then I knew.

“I told you Cassandra, my name is Rin!”

“You keep saying that like I should know who you are. You’re nothing but a murderer.” I felt his chest rise off my back. I shoved with all the force I could muster, which only managed to land me on my back looking up at him. I grappled with him, but he easily pinned both my wrists with one of his massive hands.

“You seem to think very poorly of me. It wasn’t personal. It was business.”

“That doesn’t make it any better. And I might have believed that, but we found Solomon.” He blinked at me tracing his free hand down the side of my face.

“So beautiful,” he said almost mesmerized. “I’m going to let you up. If you go for your cell phone again we’ll end up right back here.”

He released me and pulled himself up onto his feet, leaving me sitting on the floor desperately trying to think of what to do. Rin watched me as I carefully examined the possibilities.

“Solomon had to die. He pleaded then demanded that I enchant you. He wanted to make you his pet. He was so sure I’d do it he got his little room ready. The things he wanted to do to you.” I stared at him.

“You killed him to protect me?”

“He was not worthy of you,” spat Rin, “that vile, ugly man with his grasping hands. He understood even less about who you are and how far below you he was, than you do. He was so foolish to think that he could threaten me. Threatened to hand me over to the police and get someone else to do the spell.” A sinister and cruel smile broke onto his face.

“His own greed was his downfall, crushed by its weight! He got no less than he deserved.”

“I’m not saying Solomon wasn’t an awful human being, he was scum, but what gives you the right to act as his executioner?”