Woman King (24 page)

Lily stood up from her desk and walked to my
side. “I don’t want to say ‘we told you so,’ but that is what Elsa
and I were trying to tell you,” she said.

I didn’t reply. I was too busy sulking, my
head still buried in the crook of my elbow. “What did you find out
last night?” Lily continued, the alarm audible in her voice.

Her concern caused me to laugh. “It’s not
what you’re imagining,” I said. “In fact, you’ll be quite surprised
to learn it’s the opposite. I’m the one with the dark secret
he
didn’t approve of.”

“What?” Lily said. “Listen, let’s get out of
here and have a cup of coffee. When we’re done, I will help you
find whatever books you’re interested in, or drop them off at your
house while you’re on your way to Palo Alto.” I followed Lily out
and we walked up Van Ness to a nearby coffee shop to order
cappuccinos.

“OK, now tell me everything,” she said, “and
start at the beginning.”

I sighed. “William’s life is much richer and
more complicated than I gave him credit for,” I said, sipping my
espresso drink. “I saw a handsome man in faded jeans who played in
a band and gave him a one-dimensional biography. But he’s not
human. Maybe I could have taken a human man at face value, but
William was born in 1830. It turns out those 181 years make quite a
difference.”

“That makes sense,” Lily said. “What did you
learn?”

I tilted my head back and closed my eyes for
a moment. I was trying to think about where to begin. “He is a
former confederate soldier reborn in Baton Rouge as a vampire, a
citizen of Paris at the time of the World’s Fair, and a volunteer
ambulance driver during World War I …and that gets us to only about
1917.”

Lily was obviously delighted at my
predicament. “Yes, I can see what you mean.”

“Wait,” I said, holding up my hand. “I
haven’t told you the best part yet.”

She raised an eyebrow, but did not speak.

“He was a member of the Council. He ended his
involvement at some point, but we didn’t get that far in our
conversation.” Lily’s eyes were wide with surprise. “Yes, I think
you may be starting to appreciate the situation,” I said. “But here
is the real kicker: I found out about his work for the Council when
I told him what I was doing. And you know what? He didn’t like it
at all.”

“I’m confused,” Lily said. “Why not?”

“He said that humans deserve to live out
their fates and that intervention is wasted on them,” I said, again
growing anxious about my situation with William.

“And then what?” she asked. “Did he ask you
to stop working?”

I shook my head. “He didn’t ask me to do
anything,” I said. “I’m not sure he had to, though. I mean, it’s
clear that he disapproves.”

Lily shifted around in her armchair. “I
wouldn’t jump to any conclusions,” she said, patting my hand. “As
you said, this isn’t some regular guy from the Mission who plays in
a band. He is much more complicated than that. I think you need to
discuss this with him further before you can understand what he
wants. It’s possible he will ask you to do nothing.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked, wondering how
Lily could be so sure.

“For a number of reasons,” she said. “First,
he is not the first Other to feel strongly against intervening in
human events. This is a frequent topic of discussion in my own
family. It is a common theme, and one that
you
will
encounter more often as you wade deeper into the Council’s affairs.
Second, William has lived a long life and may have seen what
ultimatums do to relationships. It’s possible he will never ask you
to change your life, but he is certainly entitled to question what
you’re doing.”

“Why is there opposition to the Council’s
work?” I asked, realizing I probably should have known these things
before I allowed myself to be tattooed by a witch.

Lily walked over to a window and regarded the
passersby on the sidewalk, before she spoke. “They are the
watchers, the invisible hand. The work of the Council is hidden
from view,” she said. “It goes unnoticed by humans and, in the
opinion of some, doesn’t always make much of a difference in the
long-term.”

“But, if you know you are going to live
forever, why wouldn’t you try to ensure the world is a pleasant
place to live?” I asked, some of the bewilderment of my situation
showing.

“I’m not William, Olivia,” she said. “I think
you need to ask him why he left the Council. That is an important
part of his story that may tell you a lot about why he feels the
way he does. But one theory may be that after many years he came to
realize his actions were only a drop in the bucket.”

“Yes, but if you get enough drops, the bucket
will slowly fill up,” I said, feeling slightly defeated.

Lily took my hand in hers. “Olivia, are you
falling in love with William?”

I nodded.

“I think I have been in love since the moment
I first encountered him in the tunnel, even before I knew who he
was. I know it’s silly.”

Lily smiled. “No, it’s not,” she said. “But I
do think it’s time you introduced him to your friends. If you love
him, then he needs to know the people in your life.”

“He is playing at a club tonight. I was
planning on going after I get back from Palo Alto. Do you want to
come?”

Lily nodded. “I’ll text Elsa and ask her to
come too,” she said, smiling. “You might as well expose him to
everything at once.”

“OK,” I said with a laugh. “You’re
right.”

Lily grabbed my hand once again. “If you love
William, you must try to accept his perspective of the world. It
may always be less optimistic than yours; he’s been around longer
and has had more time to be disappointed by humans.”

I knew that this was good advice, but the
human in me was itching for a rebuttal. “You know, Lily,” I said as
we were gathering our things to leave, “It’s possible that one day
an Other will do something to disappoint a human.”

Out on the street, we went our separate ways,
Lily promising to choose a few books for me about the Civil War and
European history. I walked to my office and picked up a few files
and then got in my car to drive to Palo Alto.

It was an easy day of reviewing website text,
editing fundraising appeal letters and creating a schedule for
house parties through a network of volunteers. I left feeling that
I had put in a good days’ work in Levi’s absence. During the
afternoon I texted with Lily who confirmed she had found several
books I would enjoy reading, and that she and Elsa would be joining
me at the Treasure Chest for William’s performance. My stomach
tightened at the prospect of assembling the whole group, but Lily
was right. I couldn’t separate him from the rest of my life. It was
time I brought everyone together.

Once again, I got home in enough time to
shower and change. Elsa and Lily were in the kitchen having a drink
when I arrived. Lily was educating Elsa in the ways of mixing a dry
martini, and she had assembled the shaker and other tools of the
craft. Just as I was finishing upstairs, I heard the doorbell ring.
Elsa answered the door and I was surprised to hear not one, but two
men’s voices coming from downstairs. As I descended, I found both
William and Aidan in the entryway.

“Hello there,” I said, amused at the picture
before me. “I assume you two met on the sidewalk?”

“Something like that,” Aidan said quickly,
turning his attention toward Elsa. “Is that a martini you’re
holding?”

She smiled and nodded. “Lily has been trying
to convince me that this is a good drink, but I don’t care for the
gin. Would you like it?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said, his Irish lilt
more on display than usual.

I looked over at William. “Follow me and I
will get you a drink,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows. William came
along, and as soon as we were alone in the dark of my dining room
where I kept a small bar, he grabbed me and pulled me toward
him.

“You smell good,” he said, burying his face
in my hair and then he kissed me. “And you taste good.”

“Thanks for being such a good sport,” I
whispered. “I hope you don’t mind being with all of these
people.”

“I have been waiting to see if you would
introduce me,” he said. “I wasn’t sure you wanted them to know
about us.”

“I wasn’t sure either,” I admitted. “It’s
less complicated when we’re alone.”

William kissed me again. “Darlin, complicated
is my middle name. Now come on, or your friends will think we’ve
run off.”

We walked back into the kitchen, everyone
suitably outfitted with cocktails. After a round of drinks, Aidan
said he would take Elsa and Lily with him in his car. I tried to
look over at Elsa and gauge her response, but she wouldn’t let me
catch her gaze. Even hard-as-nails time-walkers need a boyfriend, I
mused, and I was happy she had found someone who suited her so
well. As we walked to our cars, I gave Aidan directions to the
club.

William opened the door to his car and helped
me in. “Aidan and I know each other,” he said, moments after
pulling away from the curb. “I don’t think he wanted to be the one
to tell you, to surprise you, so he sort of changed the subject
back at your house. I didn’t realize that he was Gabriel’s deputy,
otherwise I would have said something last night.”

I wasn’t surprised. After everything I’d been
through in the last few weeks, I was prepared to hear anything.

“How do you know each other?”

“Occasionally I have worked for the Council
unofficially to help them locate things,” he said. “Aidan has been
my contact for some of the assignments in Europe.”

His connection to Aidan struck me as too
close for comfort. “Did you know about me from Aidan before we
met?”

“I knew you would ask me that,” he said.
“Honestly, I didn’t. It’s a coincidence, call it fate, but I swear
I had no idea of your involvement with the Council. I’ve never even
met Gabriel.”

It was obvious he was being honest from the
moment he began to speak. I also knew he was aware I would pick up
on any deceit in a minute.

“You’re right,” he said. “I know you can read
me and I can often hear your thoughts, too. Makes for an
interesting relationship, don’t you think?”

“How easy is it for you to hear my thoughts?”
I asked, as we pulled up in front of the club.

“It varies. Sometimes it’s so clear, it’s as
if you’re in my head. Other times, it’s more of a vague whispering.
Why?”

“I’m taking a survey,” I said, climbing out
of the car. “You’ll find out later.”

We walked into the club together, but split
up inside. He went backstage to find Cat and John, while I scanned
the room for my friends.

I spotted Aidan standing near a booth in the
corner of the club with a clear view the stage. As I walked over,
he slid in, inserting himself between Elsa and Lily. I slid in next
to Lily, arriving at the same time as our waitress, who came to
take our drink orders.

“I recommend we start with Champagne, or in
this case, sparkling wine,” Aidan said, frowning at the wine list.
His dismay made me laugh. The Treasure Chest was definitely a beer
kind of nightclub; any wine on their list would need to be drunk
with caution.

“OK,” I said enthusiastically. “I’ll let you
lead tonight.”

This caused Elsa to snort into her drink.
“Won’t that be nice for a change?” she said, drawing laughter from
all of us. I did have a tendency to take the lead. Maybe tonight
was a sign that I was ready to let go a bit.

A bottle of sparkling wine was delivered to
the table, just as William’s band came out to play the opening set.
He took his place on stage, picked up a guitar and gave me a wink
as he began to play. Not surprisingly, given the group I was with,
everyone noticed our interaction.

“Are you and William quite serious?” Aidan
asked.

“You know William,” I said. “He told me the
two of you have worked together before. What do you think? Is he
serious?”

Aidan glanced at Elsa, and then back at me.
“I think anytime a man with William’s background decides to share
his life with a human, it’s serious.”

“What about his background?” I asked. “Do you
mean because he’s a vampire?”

Aidan looked over at William playing and
stared at him for a few moments before he said, “It’s really not
for me to say, but William is a tracker, Olivia. He has a long
history of finding objects and people that have gone missing. When
the Council needs help locating something, he is one of a handful
of individuals we’ve called over the years. Has he told you
anything about his life?”

“A little,” I said, “We’ve barely made it
past the 1800’s.”

Aidan nodded. “I’m sure he will tell you the
rest by and by. Now in the meantime, let’s drink to our friend
William,” he said, raising his glass. After our toast, we sat
together watching the band, our conversation kept to a minimum
because of the music.

When William’s set ended, he walked directly
from the stage to sit with us. I made room at my end of the booth
and he slid in, pressing snugly against me. He glanced over at the
glass of sparkling wine in front of me.

“I’ll remember that,” he said. “You see, I
was right about you and castles.”

I called the waitress over and ordered
William a Jack Daniel’s, neat. William gave me a tip of his cowboy
hat, a gesture that reminded me of the day I first saw him in the
battery tunnel above the Golden Gate Bridge.

“You’re sure that day in the tunnel was a
coincidence?” I asked, hating myself for still doubting him.
William crossed his fingers over his chest where his heart had once
beaten.

“Scout’s honor,” he said. “I go up there
sometimes to play my music and get away from the city. I never
expected to run into someone like you, much less see you again at
the Bluegrass Festival.”