Love Potion #9 (40 page)

“What crowd?” Lilith shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

Sebastian blinked as he sought the element of his story that had caught Lilith's interest – it took him a moment because it wasn't the element that interested him. “The crowd? Oh, yeah, this whole party bust into my room.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like they came out of nowhere. It was weird, truly weird. I never did figure out how they got in, and that is my area of specialty.”

Lilith's mouth went dry. Her Gift sparkled like starlight and gave her a definite nudge in the direction of a conclusion. “Who were they?” she asked, suspecting that she already knew the answer.

“Some council, they said. Pretty hoity-toity name, I don't remember, but they had some really fancy tricks.”

“The Grand Consulting Council of Immortals,” Lilith whispered reverently, awed that they had taken an interest in her plight.

“Could have been.” Sebastian shook a finger at her, more than ready to get back to his story. “Now, this blonde was wearing a bikini, or actually not wearing it…”

But Lilith wasn't interested in the blonde. “What did they say to you?”

“Huh? Oh, that I had some obligation from a past life or something equally weird. Freaked out the blonde, which didn't thrill me particularly, I have to say. After she took off, they laid a lot of goofy doom and gloom on the table. I didn't know what they went going on about until one of them touched my forehead. I suddenly remembered all these past lives. It was pretty bizarre.”

“So you didn't remember anything before that?” Lilith asked, wondering why she didn't find that very reassuring.

“No, but then, it was all right there. Just to make matters more strange, they insisted that I had to come here, that you were waiting.” Sebastian leaned closer, no doubt turning what was his best smile on Lilith. “If I'd known you were such a looker, baby, I wouldn't have argued as much as I did.”

A sick feeling coiled in Lilith's stomach. “You mean you didn't want to come?”

“Naw! I mean I remembered the other time, but it was hardly anything to chase after, no offense. You were just a skinny kid, not bad looking, but that blonde had you beat hands down. And you couldn't touch her in terms of experience.” His lips quirked in a smile. “Nothing personal, baby, but I've got to look out for number one.”

Lilith forced her words past the lump in her throat, knowing she had to have everything absolutely clear. “So, you do remember being Sebastian before?”

“Well, now, yeah.” He shrugged. “Kind of a gruesome way to go, but that's life. At least I got to come back a few dozen times. And since those council types visited me, I can remember all those babes!” He winked confidently. “Pretty neat that my name is the same this time, don't you think? Just like
destiny
or something.”

He grinned.

He'd reincarnated dozens of times, yet he hadn't come looking for her. He'd been too busy “spreading the wealth”, as it was.

Lilith didn't like this at all.

She folded her hands together carefully and held Sebastian's gaze. “Tell me – if you hadn't been arrested all those years ago, would you really have come back to me?”

He smiled coolly and Lilith knew the truth.

No. He'd never cared for her. He'd only wanted to seduce her. Her uncle had been right – and Lilith had been foolish enough to believe otherwise for much longer than she should have.

Her blood ran cold at the realization that this man was still her destined companion for the rest of her days.

“But see, baby, there's wasn't a lot of chance of my coming back, anyway.”

Lilith blinked, almost having forgotten where they were. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I was caught red-handed, as they say.” Sebastian tapped his temple. “I remember it all now.”

Red-handed? Horror rose in Lilith as she saw the truth in his eyes. “You did kill that widow!”

Sebastian shrugged. “Hey, it was an accident. I didn't mean to kill her, but you know, she liked it a bit rough.” He winked. “If you know what I mean. Things got a little out of control that night.” He shrugged again, supremely unconcerned. “Happens.”

Lilith could barely choke back her anger. It was bad enough that Sebastian had taken her virginity, made her all sorts of promises, then gone to another woman's bed. But he had killed that widow and still didn't feel a pang of remorse.

He was worse than pond scum.

She had been an idiot to believe his lies.

The worst part was that she had pined for this pathetic excuse for a man for almost six centuries. Mitch, now there was a man worth pining for.

But he wasn't the man destined for her.

Lilith decided right then and there that destiny sucked.

“Hey, Lilith, baby, you look like you could use some cheering up.” Sebastian leaned closer, his eyes gleaming. “And I've got just the medicine you need. What do you say to a healthy doze of Sebastian for breakfast?”

“No!” Lilith bounded to her feet.

Sebastian's eyes flashed before he smiled with smooth charm. “Hey, you called me. I sure wouldn't have come to this city all on my own. There's nothing going here.” His eyes narrowed. “Besides, I heard that you said you were going to make it worth my while.”

It didn't help that he was exactly right.

But Lilith still didn't want to keep her word. She eased toward the door, intending to slide out the door. But Sebastian lunged to his feet to stop her.

Lilith fled, ripping down the hall and to lock herself in the kitchen. Sebastian's footsteps echoed behind. Lilith closed her eyes tightly and chanted a spell to make the lock hold, her heart nearly stopping when Sebastian jiggled the knob forcefully.

The knob stopped moving and Lilith took a wary step back.

“You can't resist my charm forever, Lilith baby,” Sebastian whispered through the keyhole. “After all, it's destiny.”

But Lilith was already hauling her cauldron toward the stove, determined to conjure up an eviction spell. She had been such a fool. Somehow there had to be a way to make things come right.

Lilith flicked on the radio so she wouldn't have to hear Sebastian breathing on the other side of the door. She was encouraged to hear Gladys Knight singing about her lover taking the midnight train to Georgia. With every “he's leaving” that the Pips echoed, Lilith tossed another pinch into the pot.

She couldn't conjure quickly enough.

 

* * *

 

Sebastian could have broken the lock. He was sure he could have picked it, but clearly Lilith needed a moment to think. Women were like that. But they always came around.

Besides, a little pause in the action wasn't such a bad idea.

Because this wasn't the way Sebastian had envisioned this deal. Not at all. Nobody had said anything about fighting off competition. Of course, that council hadn't been prepared to listen much to Sebastian's point of view, but he'd been sure that there was a little bit of something curvy in this deal for him.

And that it – she - would be easy pickings.

Clearly, though, Lilith was holding out on him. And she was going to keep doing so. Since that was completely contrary to her passionate response of several centuries ago, Sebastian guessed that the fault lay outside of her nature.

It was that guy net door. He'd been playing in Sebastian's pond while Sebastian was otherwise occupied. It wasn't pertinent that Sebastian had had no intention of seeking out Lilith before the council intervened.

He was here now- an entire ocean away from civilization as he knew it – and if nothing else, Sebastian wanted what he had come all this way to get.

He was owed.

He'd give Lilith time to calm down, then come back and win her over with a healthy measure of his undeniable charm. Sebastian grinned to himself.

She'd forget that jerk next door in nothing flat.

Sebastian slipped out of the house with a whistle on his lips, confident that no matter how Lilith tried to barricade against his return, he could get back into that house.

Guaranteed.

 

* * *

 

17

The Star

 

Andrea couldn't hide from the fact that she was disappointed. Eight days into her cruise and she still hadn't met anyone even remotely interesting.

Could Lilith have been wrong?

The worst thing about that would be that it would prove Mitch's skepticism right.

She hated proving Mitch right - mostly because it happened too often.

Andrea sighed and took her new swirly blue dress from the tiny closet. She held it up to herself and smiled for her reflection. Tonight was the night Andrea was to sit at the captain's table, although she really wasn't excited about the prospect.

She was tired of old women and men who couldn't dance, honeymooners staring into each other's eyes and children bored to death after days at sea. She was tired of bingo and skeet-shooting and buffets that only seemed to be cleared to make way for another lavish meal. She didn't want to sunbathe anymore, or learn to play shuffleboard, or be marched through an island village in a convoy of tourists. She didn't even want to languish on an endless beach.

Andrea wanted to dance. She flicked the hem of the skirt and considered the prospect of having her toes trodden upon yet again. She hadn't seen a single man on this ship who seemed to have a talent for dancing, much less one as interesting as Lilith had promised.

And Andrea had had a good look. She pouted at the possibility that Lilith was mistaken, the reflected gesture reminding her so much of Jen that she laughed aloud.

That made Andrea feel better. She'd do some shopping for the kids tomorrow - as though they needed more souvenirs of her trip than she had already acquired. Watching Mitch growl about them getting spoiled would mitigate the disappointment of seeing him proven right again.

Andrea chuckled to herself at the prospect. “If you don't play, you can't win,” she informed her mirror image sternly and hung the dress on the bathroom door with purpose. Andrea hadn't gotten this far in life by sitting in a corner and feeling sorry for herself, and she wasn't going to start now.

And she was going to go out with a bang. Partner or no partner, tonight, Andrea was going to dance - and dammit, she was going to
sparkle
.

 

* * *

 

Andrea swept into the dining room with every bit of her usual style and grace. She smiled at the maitre d' and accepted his arm, her chin held high as she was led to her seat. It was a perfect evening for romance: the chandeliers glittered like starlight and the band was playing marvelous music. The crystal tinkled, there was a low murmur of conversation.

Despite herself, Andrea felt her anticipation rise. She was reminded of nights spent dancing to big band music at Casa Loma with her second husband - well, not actually with him. Walter had always escorted her, then sat with a drink and watched others twirl Andrea around the floor. Walter knew she loved to dance and had been quite philosophical about his own inabilities.

The memory made Andrea smile.

She thought then of her first husband, Bernard, and the way he compelled the younger partners in his law firm to waltz with her at least once at every Christmas party. Those were
parties
! Glittering fêtes at the Park Plaza or the Royal York, either hotel more than competent at elegant little canapés and conjuring the perfect festive mood.

Like the one tonight.

Andrea took her seat and thought of Nate. Now, there was a man who had stolen the key to her heart and never surrendered it again. He had been the only one who wouldn't encourage others to dance with her, a regular old bear when it came to keeping Andrea by his side. She had loved him so much, she just didn't mind. On a night like this, he would have ordered champagne, commandeered a table in the corner, and bent his attention on making her laugh.

Yes, Nate had been a wonderful man.

Andrea blinked back her tears and smiled at her dinner companions as they exchanged introductions. Directly opposite her was a very handsome man of about her age, one who Andrea had not seen about the ship as yet. His green eyes twinkled, seeming to hint at a joke only he could discern. An equally handsome wife sat at his side, turning her wedding band around and around her finger as she leaned against her husband and whispered anxiously in his ear.

A pair of elderly sisters from Paducah sat beside them, a besotted young couple beside the sisters stirred themselves long enough to confess that they had just been married on the last island. A retired librarian named Ethel, whom Andrea had already met and whose wry jokes she quite enjoyed, slid into the seat beside Andrea with a smile.

“Lovely, isn't it?” Ethel asked.

“Wonderful,” Andrea agreed, consciously masking her disappointment.

Because the Captain himself greeted them all from behind his chair, his presence finishing the seating. Ethel had already confided that the Captain was happily married, that his wife would be joining him for the next circuit of the cruise.

Andrea stared at her salad plate and recalled Lilith's assertion that she would not immediately recognize her soul mate, that he would seem unavailable. Well, barring the possibility that Ethel was hiding her true sexual identity, or that the Captain had a liking for women twice his age and was prepared to risk his wife's opinions on the matter, or that the handsome wife would suddenly drown in her lobster bisque, it didn't appear that Andrea's destined lover had troubled to show.

Well, Ethel was good company.

Andrea turned to the friend she had already made on this trip and - quite deliberately, very defiantly - sparkled.

Andrea was in the act of declining another waltz with a man who seemed to have a rare gift for stepping hard on her toes, when a smooth British accent interjected.