Sucking in San Francisco (19 page)

We arrive, to the manse blazing with light and activity. I don’t want to go in. I am lingering in my “normal” moment. Just thinking of going in has me longing for hand sanitizer and handi-wipes. I’m still freaked about my encounter with the witches and I don’t want to have to relive it in detailed minutia.

“We can’t put it off for ever, Cherie.”

“I know. But it’s been so nice, Bast. Don’t you think? Just the two of us, a normal couple out for the night.”

“You have no idea how nice it’s been for me, ma petite.”

He takes my hand and kisses it and then he gets out of the car and opens my door.

I sigh and slowly get out. He laughs at me. He holds my hand and we walk through the front doors and into a whirlwind of activity.

“Hannah was summoned by the witches, and Aidan went with her,” Helena says.

“He just popped in a second ago to say that they are furious and are attempting to blame their failure on her.”

Julian is in a state.

“Calm down,” Sebastian says, “Aidan is with her. He won’t let them hurt her and the spell works, Helena. Hannah will be able to get away if she needs to, or she can do what is necessary.”

“What do you mean by that?” Helena asks.

“I mean that she can kill them if she has to. She and I had a conversation about it. I thought it might be important to give her options,” Sebastian says.

“I don’t like this,” I say.

“Nothing about this situation is good, Cherie. Hannah just has to remember to play her part. She should act pissed that they went with out her.”

“Hopefully she can remember. It won’t be easy when they are angry and in her face.” I start to pace and Sebastian catches up with me and takes me by the hand again.

Warm air rushes against my cheek.

“Aidan.”

Everyone watches in anticipation.

“I can’t stay long. Things are settling down. Hannah got indignant with them and accused them of leaving her out of the fun. They backed down a little. Iris is still raging and she is unhinged. I don’t want to leave Hannah for long.” And he is gone.

“That’s our girl,” Julian says, pride evident in his voice. Despite his earlier confidence, Julian looks relieved.

Aidan is in such a hurry he hadn’t even noticed I held Sebastian’s hand. I take my hand away. Aidan is working so hard to keep us informed and to save my friend and I am holding hands with the rival.

Andrew brings in some coffee and then sits down to have some with us. He is as worried about Hannah as we are.

“I hope Mr. Aidan is as good as he seems to be, because I will kill him if he lets Ms. Hannah come to any harm,” Andrew says with total conviction.

“As much as it hurts me to admit it, Andrew, Aidan is that good. It will be okay,” Sebastian reassures him.

Sebastian puts his hand on Andrew’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. The look in his eyes is serious and full of compassion.

We hear Hannah’s bug drive up, and everyone relaxes. Aidan and Hannah walk in as if they had only been to the nearest Starbucks for a latte.

“Thank goodness,” Helena rushes to Hannah and gives her a tight hug.

“We were so worried, Han, Aidan. I’m so pleased you’re both okay,” I say giving them both a hug.

Aidan tries to linger but I pull away. He gives me a rueful look but doesn’t say anything. Sebastian is very quiet, acting like a true gentleman and I appreciate it.

“Tell us what they’ve decided.” Julian wants to hear and moves us along.

“Well, they can’t come up with a plan, because they’ve now figured out that their secret weapon no longer works and they’re pissed about it. They guessed that Helena has figured out a spell to counteract theirs. They asked if Helena had put a spell on me and I said yes, she called it a protection spell. I told them she did it a while ago after the stakings started. Iris was screaming like a lunatic when I told her.”

“Hannah, do they think we suspect them?” I ask.

“No. Not yet. They still think they are fooling everyone, which is to our benefit.” She runs her fingers through her hair, shaking it out. “I hope they’ll keep me around so I can stay informed. I don’t know, though. Iris was not pleased with vampires in general tonight. She’s convinced Lily is too lucky for it to be coincidence. She is sure there is something behind it all that she hasn’t figured out yet. She’s sharper than we thought. But I doubt she will ever guess Aidan has been helping. She is not sure if she trusts me anymore so I just don’t know if she will call me. Iris was raging. She’s psychotic!

Now if you guys don’t mind, there’s still enough time for me to safely make it home and I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. I’ll check back with you tomorrow if they call, otherwise I’ll be back.”

“Of course, dear,” Helena says, putting her arm around Hannah’s shoulders. “You’ve done a brilliant job.”

Aidan summons Hannah’s bags and she’s clearly impressed.

“Aidan, dude, I still say, anytime, anyplace.”

“I got your back, Hannah,” he says.

“And for that we are all grateful.” Julian’s tone is fervent.

“Bye, Hannah,” I say as I give her another huge hug.

“Bye, ma petite.”

“See you, guys,” she says. “Wish I could just pop around like Aidan,” she says wistfully.

And she is out the door, heading her bug back to Berkeley.

“I need to replenish energy,” Aidan says. “And you all are too stressed for my appetite, so I am going to hit The Castro or somewhere else and then go back to my place to relax for a while. I will be back when Lilith wakes up.”

He walks over to me and puts his hands on my shoulders

“Try not to get kidnapped or staked or anything else while I am gone, please. I am too depleted to keep an eye on you tonight. I am going to have to trust the one over there. It pains me greatly to do this, so don’t kill me off completely by letting him be a hero on top of it all.”

Sebastian laughs and my mouth curls into a smile. Aidan gives me a kiss on the nose and is gone.

“I do not envy the situation that you are in, Cherie.”

“I put myself in it.”

“Not completely. Aidan pushed wholeheartedly.”

“I should really head back to my place.”

“No.” Julian is firm. “This is no time for us to be isolated.”

“Please stay here until we have this resolved, ma petite. Either that or let me stay with you.”

Sebastian staying with me would move our relationship too quickly. I have to admit I am a little afraid to stay by myself right now.

“If you will have me, I’ll stay here for a little while longer. Sebastian, will you go with me to get more clothes tomorrow?”

“Of course, Cherie.”

“I think I’ll go to bed early tonight.”

“I will be up shortly,” Sebastian says.

I look at him with renewed firm intention and he puts his hands up.

“I’m just going to tuck you in, Cherie.”

“I mean it, Sebastian,” I say.

Bast grins at me. I wave goodnight to Julian and Helena’s knowing looks and climb the stairs to my room. I take a nice long shower and slip into a short pink silk nightgown I’d brought with me the day before. Sebastian shows up in another pair of silk pajama pants. I don’t know why or where he has them, he doesn’t sleep.

“Come Lily, you look tired. Come to bed.”

“I mean it, no funny business.”

I get into bed and Bast follows. The feel of his skin next to mine makes me shiver, then sleep takes me away.

When I wake up, I’m surprised to find an empty bed, no Sebastian, no Aidan. I hear noises downstairs. It’s probably Aidan. I slip into a cute Primp cream colored, bow tie dress. It’s light weight and very flirty. Some sling back heels and I’m ready to strut. It’s good that I over packed as usual or I would have nothing to wear by now.

Downstairs I’m shocked to hear Indio and Iris. Their voices are coming from the parlor. I can see that Andrew is serving coffee. I help myself to some coffee and notice the way Sebastian appreciates my dress. I turn my head to the side and give him a sly smile before I sit down. He returns the smile with a sparkle in his eyes. The tension level notches up one hundred and eighty degrees with me in the room. All the conversation seems to die. Helena tries to keep things going.

“Iris, that’s a lovely dress you are wearing, today.”

“Thank you, Helena. It’s new.” Silence.

“Indio, what were you saying about the weather?” Helena tries gamely.

“Just that it is nice to have a sunny day for a change.” She smiles at Helena.

It is clear to me that she is totally insincere. We all know that this is a charade.

“Well, I think it is time for us to go now,” Iris says after the silence echoes once again through the room.

“It’s been a pleasure having you,” Julian says, ever the gentlemen.

“Let me walk you to the door.” Sebastian gets up.

He puts his hand on Indio’s back and guides her to the front door. Indio glances at me with a wicked sneer on her face. I just hold it in. I have been a good girl and not said a word to them the whole time they were there. I just smile and nod like a bobble head doll.

Sebastian comes back after seeing them to the door.

“I wonder what that was about?” he says.

“I think they are trying to keep up appearances. To keep us from suspecting them,” Helena says.

“I agree. Lily sure put a damper on them, though.” Julian grins.

“Quite. At least you didn’t provoke them, Cherie.”

“No, I could feel the hostility in the air. Did you have to put your hand on her back?”

“I was simply being polite,” Sebastian says. I see his expression before he turns away. He’s playing with me.

“Be a little
less
polite next time,” I snap.

He grins at me, which does oodles to help my mood.

There is a knock at the door and Andrew answers it. He seems to be having a heated conversation with someone. A moment later he appears in the parlor.

“The police are here to see Miss Lily,” Andrew says attempting to appear calm.

What on earth could the police want? I’ve never even had a parking ticket.

“Did they say what they wanted, Andrew?” Sebastian asks in a low voice.

“No, they won’t say.”

Andrew begins to fidget and shuffle his feet.

“It’s okay Andrew. You can show them in,” I say.

Andrew fetches two men in suits. They look around at the surroundings as if they are cataloguing every old master and Faberge Egg. I’m already nervous, now I’m suspicious too. I have never had to talk to the police before. Sebastian sits down next to me. He takes my hand, and I gratefully squeeze back. He’s not leaving and makes it clear without saying a word. I look around for hand sanitizer. Helena sees the warning signs and brings some for me. I keep some in every room, here and at home. I put some on and grasp Bast’s hand again. The gentlemen take seats across from me.

“Miss Goodwill, I’m Detective Bose and this is Detective Dobeck. We’re with the San Francisco Police Department. We want to ask you a few questions.” Detective Bose straightens his pants leg and gets a pen out to take notes.

“Does Lily need an attorney?” Sebastian asks.

“Who are you, sir?” Detective Dobeck pins Sebastian with a considering look.

If he expects Sebastian to back down he will wait till hell puts in a.c.

“Sebastian St. John, Lily’s fiancé,” Sebastian says as he casually gets up to shake the detectives’ hands. I choke and Sebastian gently pats me on the back.

“Mr. St. John, Miss Goodwill, we just have a few questions to ask you about the black out a few days ago. We had an anonymous tip that Miss Goodwill had something to do with it.”

You could have knocked me over with a feather. Where on earth had this come from? Who on earth… wait a second. I know exactly who would try and pin this on me. Two extremely bitchy witches, that’s who. Damn! I reach for my hand sanitizer again. Sebastian holds my hand tight and squeezes.

I decided to play this the way I felt it. My feelings have traveled from curiosity to anger. Believable – just have to not over do it. I relax and look at them with puzzlement.

“I had nothing to do with that. I wouldn’t know how to cause a power outage unless I accidentally dropped my hairdryer into the tub. But I haven’t.”

“What were you doing the night of November eighteenth?” Detective Bose asks me – obviously not amused.

“I believe I was working that night. I work from ten p.m. to two a.m. at the San Francisco Suicide Prevention Hotline.”

I remembered the night clearly. It was the night before I talked Aidan off the Golden Gate Bridge.

They exchange glances.

“Do you live here, Miss Goodwill?” Detective Dobeck asks.

“At the moment.”

“Why do you need to work then, if I may ask? I know they can’t be paying you enough at the hotline to support this lifestyle.”

“For one reason, it keeps me busy. For another reason, I feel good helping people.” I didn’t want them knowing my real address or my financial situation. They must not have looked it up before they came over. The anonymous tipster must have given them this address. Let them assume.

“Lily is very good at what she does, detectives,” Sebastian says. Without altering a thing about his voice or demeanor he continues to dominate the exchange.

I give him a small smile. He’s got my back. No matter how confusing things are between us.

“You can check my work schedule with my supervisor if you want. We have to keep detailed logs.”

“We will,” Detective Dobeck says. Great, that should cause quite a lot of gossip at work.

“What can you tell us about the power outage?” Detective Bose asks.

“Same thing everyone else can. It caused problems throughout the city.” I paused as I remembered something. “I know we had all our calls rerouted at the hotline. When I got home the lights were still out and I had to use candles. Other than that, I don’t know anything else.”