Flicker (27 page)

              Elise stood again, much more calmly. “So, is there any chance that you won't mind if I ask Gregory about the Court?” She hesitated, remembering to add, “Will he mind?

              Alex reached out for Elise's hand, leading her back into the hallway and out to the living room. “You'll have to ask him, but I doubt it,” he chuckled. “He's too in love with the sound of his own voice.”

              Gregory glared up from a large, ancient-looking book he was holding gingerly in white-gloved hands. “I am not,” he sniffed.

              Elise was surprised and worried to hear her phone ringing as she walked home alone from school the following Tuesday. Aside from the predictable holiday calls from her grandparents, the only people who really contacted her this way were her parents, and that was infrequent at best.

              She dug into her pocket, managing to get the little device out before it went to voicemail. She didn't recognize the number, but before she could think better of it, she hit the answer button.

              “Hello?” She answered, slightly out of breath and preparing to let the poor person on the other end know that they had the wrong number.

              “Good afternoon, Elise,” Rashid's voice whispered in her ear.

              She very nearly dropped the phone in shock. Her first impulse was to hang up on him, and yet-- “How did you get this number?” She demanded.

              “No manners at all today?” He sighed, and the breath was a caress through the little speaker, sending shivers down her spine. “It was quite simple, really-- you see, once I convinced her that I had nothing to do with those nasty little rumors going around at your old school, your grandmother-- that is to say, your Grandma Whitfield, was it? How quaint. Well, she was very happy to help one of your old friends get back in touch.”

              Hot rage and freezing terror swept through Elise in waves. “You stay away from my family!” She hissed the order through clenched teeth to keep her voice from shaking.

              “Now now, kitten,” he all but drawled, and she could tell he was pleased to have gotten such a reaction out of her. That more than anything fueled her anger until it burned out any trace of fear. Maybe Rashid hadn't heard about what she'd done to Bill a few weeks ago, but she'd be happy to tell him in person.

              “What do you want, Rashid?” She almost snarled.

              “My goodness, such ferocity. I simply wanted to invite you to have dinner with me in town this evening. It would be like a little business meeting. I so enjoyed our last one.” Elise could almost hear the sadistic smile in his voice.

              Taking a deep breath, she forced her fury down enough that she could match his poisoned-honey tone. “Luna, the little Italian bistro on the corner of Main and Sixth Street, in fifteen minutes.” She hung up sharply, the phone slipping a little in her slick palm. Should she really have done that? She'd let her temper get the better of her, and it felt like letting a shark bait her into jumping into its tank. But the threat to her family had been pretty clear-- what would Rashid have done to them if she'd outright refused him? For now, until she and Alex could figure out what he wanted here and how to get rid of him, she'd have to comply with his intimidation tactics, but doing so left a sour taste in her mouth and fed her anger steadily.

              Through her pulsing rage, Elise heard a sharp sound. Confused, she looked down, and saw a small crack that had appeared in the plastic case of her cell phone.

              He was waiting for her, of course. Elise saw him watching her as she crossed the street, and barely contained the urge to slap him the moment she reached him. She told herself it wouldn't do any good to strike out at him, but she couldn't lie to herself-- she stayed her hand because without Alex beside her, Rashid terrified her.

              “Miss Whitfield, lovely as ever.” His smile reminded her of a shark, and his overly intimate tone was somehow a threat. He offered her his arm in a mockery of an old-fashioned gentleman. “Won't you join me for dinner?”

              “It's a little early for that,” she snapped, raising her chin and purposely avoiding his touch as she swept past him through the door into the tiny restaurant.

              It was barely four in the afternoon; they shared the dining room with only two other couples. The lack of competing diners placed their waiter at their table in a heartbeat, ready to take their drink orders, but Elise wasn't fooled. Rashid's display in the coffee shop last week had achieved the desired effect: Elise was well aware that the young man's attention would do nothing to protect her.

              Elise hadn't even picked up her menu when Rashid began speaking to the hovering waiter. He ordered fish for both of them, and a bottle of wine in a variety Elise had never even heard of. She sat through the exchange pale and silent, trying to control the periodic shakes that ran through her, unsure whether his domineering demeanor was contrived to intimidate her, or whether it was just natural for him. She was betting on the latter, and that frightened her more.

              When the waiter left, Rashid leaned back in his chair, surveying her calmly. “You know, kitten, there's really no need for you to be so afraid. I would have thought you'd learned that during our last talk.”

              Elise crossed her arms over her chest. “Like terrifying me isn't at least half your intention with these little get-togethers?” She scoffed.

              “Not in the least,” he said mildly. “I'm far more interested in securing your willing partnership than I am in terrorizing you any further than you already have been.”

              “So, those blatant references to my past are supposed to cheer me up?” She raised her eyebrows at him, her disdain warring with her fear. No one had ever accused her of lacking a temper.

              Rashid heaved a sigh, and Elise suddenly realized that he wasn't as tall as she'd thought he was, and certainly didn't tower over her at all. Or, wait, that wasn't right-- he was a hair taller than Alex, which put him at more than big enough to tower all he wanted. She blinked at him, frowning. “Stop that,” she snapped, her anger overriding her fear for the moment.

              Now it was Rashid's turn to raise his eyebrows; he looked almost impressed. “You're young, to have picked up on that little trick so immediately.”

              “Yes, it's a gift,” she said sarcastically. “Knock off the manipulation, why don't you? You say you want me on your side, and from what I hear, we're all going to live quite a long time-- that's too long for lies and games.” Suddenly, she felt drained by all the emotions running through her. “Just say what you came to say.”

              Rashid leaned forward, his hands folded beneath his chin as he surveyed her, his eyes piercing. After a few long moments, he seemed to come to a decision about her, and he sat back, for all she could see just a regular man. When he spoke, his accented voice was devoid of any innuendo or threat. “How do you think we came to be what we are?”

              She hesitated a moment before answering, but after demanding blatant honesty from him, she couldn't very well do otherwise herself. “I suppose we've evolved this way over the centuries, to be a different kind of human.” She smiled a bit to herself. “The pinnacle of human evolution.”

              Rashid gave a tight little laugh. “I see you've met Alexander's pet, Gregory.”

              Elise frowned at him. “He didn't seem like much of a pet to me.” She would have said more, but had to pause as the waiter returned. She wasn't sure just how completely Rashid had decided to control him, so she leaned back, allowing him to set her dish in front of her. The food smelled delicious, but she wasn't particularly focused on eating. The waiter also poured her a glass of white wine, in which she had even less interest. She thanked him absently, and regretted doing so when she saw Rashid smirk in response to the conditioned social gesture. As soon as the waiter walked away, she continued a little more waspishly. “Didn't we just establish that, say, five centuries is a long time to coerce someone into doing your bidding?”

              Rashid laughed at her again, which fed her temper steadily. “You underestimate dear Alexander's charm, kitten,” he said, mockery back in his voice. “Gregory needs nothing so base. He believes, quite firmly, that the sun revolves around Alexander; he will do and believe anything that Alexander tells him.”

              Elise didn't want to believe that, but she had to admit that it was a possibility. She'd seen people do stupid things out of loyalty before. To cover the sudden drop in her stomach as she wavered in her surety, she snapped, “You say that like it's such a bad thing, but from what I hear, you have your own little cult back at home.”

              “Looking into me now, are you, kitten?” His voice was quiet-- dangerously so. “You're welcome to-- but don't come crying to me if you don't like what you find.”

              Elise swallowed hard. Reigning in her temper rather than risk baiting him into a potentially deadly confrontation, she responded softly. “It seems as if you have a different idea of how we came to be.”

              “Certainly.” With the change of subject, his demeanor altered once more; he became cheerfully casual, drawing out the moment as he slowly took a bite of the aromatic flounder arranged on his plate. Without really thinking about it, Elise did the same. “Young people these days really have no idea about religion, but when I was born, we understood the power of God. Our abilities are simply a manifestation of His will.”

              Elise froze, stunned. She'd been raised religious; her parents were decently devout, and she frequently accompanied them to church. She'd never really been sure what she believed as a child, and after her freshman year she was quite sure there was no higher power. But even still, she often attended the service because she enjoyed the quiet time for reflection. Never, in her entire life, had she heard someone speak about the Divine with such absolute conviction as she'd heard in Rashid's last statement. She blinked at him, suddenly fighting an urge to edge away; fanatics made her nervous. Still, she couldn't resist challenging him.

              “If it is your god who's gifted our race with these powers, how do you explain what happened to me?” She demanded. “You so casually reference my past, so I'm sure you're aware. Please, enlighten me.”

              The look Rashid cast her was pitying, and she swore to herself that if he said the words “God's will,” she would actually hit him with something. At the very least, she'd throw that vile wine in his smug face.

              “Did dear Alexander tell you that nasty little rape wasn't your fault? Oh, kitten, what a stupid thing to believe.” Elise's mouth fell open. She read his smirk in his eyes as his words hit her like a slap. He didn't wait for her to respond, but kept on going. “Of course you were latent, so you didn't mean to. You just couldn't help putting into those poor boys' heads that you're the most attractive, most sexy, most desirable woman they're ever going to meet. I know you didn't actually intend them to do anything with that, but that makes you a bit of a tease, now doesn't it, sweetie?” He tsked at her, tapping his finger on his cheek as he rested his chin in his hand, looking very much like a disappointed parent chastising a particularly slow child. “How exactly would you expect God to defend those helpless boys from all the powers you possess? Even as a latent, you would have been incredibly potent. They never had a chance.” He took a sip from his glass, and automatically Elise did the same. The wine's bitterness on her tongue brought her to her senses.

              Elise stood abruptly, slamming the glass down angrily. “I told you to shelve the manipulation,” she hissed through clenched teeth.

              Rashid raised his eyebrows. “Is that what Alexander does-- bend himself to fit your will?”

              Elise felt her face twist into a derisive frown as she glared down at him, thrown yet again by the abrupt change of subject. “Alex is always himself,” she snapped. Then she hesitated, however, recalling that more than once, he had done precisely that. Wasn't that what she wanted, though? Someone who would respect her wishes, who would treat her the way she wanted to be treated? But if that meant changing who he was... was he really being honest, and did she actually care about him?
Besides
, a little voice whispered through her mind.
Wasn't I intrigued all those times when he took charge? Wasn't it exciting to play his games? I've made him give that up, haven't I?

              Rashid was watching her think, she realized as she took in his intense gaze. She wondered belatedly if she was shielding hard enough to keep him out of her head.

              “You know,” he said, his voice suddenly pensive. “I have always thought the strife in this world is caused by things being out of balance.”

              She blinked at him. When he gestured towards her vacated chair, she sat back down, too curious about his strange views to walk away at this point. Without thinking, she took another sip from her glass, belatedly grimacing as she recalled what filled it. “What do you mean?” She asked.

              Rashid sighed, gazing out the window on the far side of the close room. “God meant for the family to be ruled by a mother and a father, equal partners. Why should the world not be governed the same way? The Queen rules our kind alone, advised only by her three heirs, with no opposite to balance her; meanwhile, the human world constantly wars within itself. There is too much division, and no stability.”