No Time to Cry (Nine While Nine Legacy Book 1) (26 page)

“Actually, I
have.” He astonished me with that answer.

“Seriously?” I
asked as he ushered me through my front door.

And that was
that. No further explanation. Come on, I point out a cat that is roughly the
size of a bob cat and that’s all I get? Gideon was reaching a new height of
omission. He hadn’t even bothered to say I was insane…about anything I’d said
tonight. Not about the woman, the necklace, the dreams, the book, not even the
cat. At the least I’d expected him to accuse me of a practical joke. Instead
he’d simply locked me in and said he’d see me tomorrow. Not so much as a
lecture about my writing.

I’d never seen
him quite so drained of color and wordless though, so I guess that was a
reaction of some degree. Had I gone too far? Said too much? Shit! I knew I
shouldn’t have said anything about the dreams. I should have kept the necklace
to myself too. Well, at least he didn’t know of the tattoo. I imagine he’d
really pop a vein over that news.

Speaking of, I
never had found out why Liam was so distressed over it. Serena had interrupted
before he answered.

He’d known the
symbol. Did I dare try to talk to him about it? Would he even tell me?

I paced the
living room lost in questions yet again, lost in thoughts, mired in memories,
both real and dreamed, until finally with an exhausted brain I
flopped
onto the couch and fell asleep.

 
~
Chapter Twenty-Six ~

I didn’t wake until late in the afternoon. A rare
thing for me. Extremely. Even after our crazy rooftop parties that lasted until
nearly dawn, I’d only ever managed to sleep until noon, or there about, at the
latest.

There was a text
notification flashing on my phone, Serena had messaged me that they were
meeting up for dinner at Metaphor, the restaurant attached to Allegory at eight
sharp, and then hopping next door to dance the night away. Now, that sounded
like a fun night!

I could hear the
coffee maker and its telltale sign of being done brewing, the familiar sputter
and gurgle. The room was fragrant with the lovely aroma of a blissfully dark
French Roast…and I sat up so quickly I nearly fell off the couch. I shoved
aside the cable knit blanket and peered over the back of my couch and into the
kitchen. No one was there.

“Gideon?” I
called out warily, like one of those stupid girls in a slasher film. No answer.
Had he let himself back in while I was sleeping and made the coffee for me? Or
Liam maybe? But, no, the coffee maker was just finishing brewing…how would they
have even guessed how to time that? How late I might sleep in? If it was
morning maybe, but it was far past. Then who?

Gods, things
were weird.

“Liam?” I could
see from my position that the front door was still locked. I got up and
searched the entire apartment, with caution, twice.

No one was
there.

“Can my life get
any stranger?” I asked the room as I poured a mug of liquid wonder and
happiness.

Meow…

The mug stopped
mid rise on its way to my mouth.

Meow
…

I looked down at
the sound that had emanated from that direction. A cat. Not just any at, but
the one from the courtyard. Brom Tom.

“What?” I
stammered. “How…” I looked at the windows. They were closed…like he could have
scaled two floors up anyway. “How did you get in here mister?” See. Bizarre.
“Things can get stranger. Thank you for pointing that out Mr. Tom.”

I could find no
reasoning as to how he had wound up in my place. He must have snuck in behind
us last night. Or perhaps with Gideon, when he came in to make coffee at some
point this afternoon. Logical explanations. And you know how logical my life
was these days. But it would have to suffice. For now.

I needed to
shower and get ready for dinner.

Gideon was back.

I felt a thrill
dance through me.

“I didn’t hear back from you, I thought you were mad
at me, for dancing with Liam. He told me there was nothing going on between
you. Please, tell me that
is
true. I really, really like him.” Serena
pounced on me as soon as she saw me approaching the table.

I looked past
her as she hugged me, Jeremy wasn’t at the table, as I’d expected when she said
‘we’…it was Liam. I swear I almost turned right back around and left, I was
very tempted. But the way she hugged me, I knew that wasn’t an option. I’d just
have to suck it up. She was my friend and it’s not like anything was ever going
to happen between Liam and me again.

Ever.

I sighed and
gave her a warm grin. “No, there’s nothing going on with us.” I assured her. I
pulled from her embrace and walked to the table.

“Hey there.” I
smiled at Liam.

He sheepishly
smiled back at me. “Hi.”

I was blank for
words. Very awkward. It was obvious by Serena’s greeting, and his slight show
of discomfort, that something had indeed happened between them. I felt a small
uncomfortable stitch in my heart, but thankfully it passed quickly. This should
prove to be an interesting dinner.

“Anyone else
joining us?” I posed the question to Liam, but then turned it to Serena by
looking at her also. She turned to him and I can only admit, a tad
begrudgingly, the look she gave him was absolutely precious.

“Michael said he
might, and Erin was a definite yes. She should be here anytime,” He answered,
then looked at me pointedly. “Gideon never quite gave me a reply, so who
knows.”

I nearly choked
on my ale. “Gideon here?” I sputtered, trying not to spray beer as I laughed.

“Why is that so
funny?” Serena asked. “What’s wrong with this place?”

“Well, okay, I
could see him coming here for a steak; I’ll give him that…” And I could. There
was a masculine sophistication throughout the restaurant that fit very well to
Gideon. There were no tables, only tall booths of dark leather. The walls were
of brick and brushed steel. Fixtures were of bronze and the tables a highly
polished wood. It was the antithesis of the Snug, though the color theme was
similar. This establishment was sleek, refined, stylish in a noble kind of
vein. Yes…very Gideon. A gas lamp even burned in the center of the table,
casting a warm and flattering light across the three of us.

“But I cannot
imagine him next door dancing.” I laughed again.

“Hi guys!” Erin
drawled as she walked up and scootched into the booth next to me. “Have you
ordered yet?”

I hadn’t seen
her since the dinner at Elysium. She looked stunning. I’d never seen her all
dolled up for a night out; she’d been dressed pretty casually at the meeting.
She and I had similar taste in fashion, and I wondered for a moment if she had
ever shopped at Catastrophia.

 “Not yet.”
Liam answered.

So, were Liam
and Serena so into each other already that he was introducing her to the Bháis?
It couldn’t be a formal meeting of some sort, there was no way we could discuss
‘business’ around Serena. I hadn’t realized that Liam and the others hung out
on a social basis. I guess I’d been so wrapped up in my own stuff all month,
why would I know?

 “Great!”
She picked up a drink menu. “What about drinks?”

“A round of
Guinness on the way.” Liam beamed. I think he moved in just a touch closer to
Serena.

I looked away. I
didn’t care.

My mind was
still on Gideon. The dreams of him. The actuality of him.

Michael showed
up only a few minutes later and after some small chit-chat we ordered.

At first I had
amused myself with pondering what the conversation would be like over dinner. I
mean, it’s not as if Liam, Erin, or Michael could discuss their jobs within the
Bháis
in front of Serena, at least she knew I was a writer already. But, I was very
happy that the topic did not arise over the course of dinner. I had no idea if
Liam or Gideon had mentioned it to the others.

Conversation
ended up not being an issue at all; it flowed quite readily and energetically.
We talked about music, upcoming possible concerts to attend, local art,
books—at which point Liam gave me something of a warning scowl—great used book
stores, vacation spots, and recent movies we’d seen. Completely normal topics.

At the beginning
of the evening I’d been afraid that I’d be uneasy about Liam being with Serena,
that I wouldn’t be able to stand witnessing it. But I found myself so
preoccupied with thoughts of Gideon, actually missing his presence, that I
didn’t have much left to feel for the situation, which I guess was a
providential thing, seeing as how they were so very snuggly with each other all
through dinner.

Thoughts of
Gideon. That baffled me nearly as much as turning a leaf into cash, which by
the way, was currently in the pocket of my boot, and I planned on using to buy
a drink with later.

The club had a great DJ; the past few
times I’d been here he’d played an awesome mix of artists. It felt good to
relax and dance. No pressure. No thinking. Just our little cluster dancing…like
my life used to be. The music pushed all the other stuff that was filling up,
and mucking up, my thoughts to the side for awhile.

We broke up the
bouts of dancing with drinks at the table we’d managed to snag; another one of
the atmospherically recessed booths with velvet privacy curtains and
beveled-glass enclosed candle light. It was mysterious and rather befitting of
the majority of the group, to be secreted away while having shots and sipping
cocktails…it lent a true feel of decadence. And I think maybe we even began to
bond.

A song by Xx
came on and we rallied to the dance floor, coerced into motion by the
atmospheric mixed acoustic instrumentation, the breathy vocal-centric
aesthetic. Following that was Marilyn Manson, Orgy, Insight 23, and then Ministry.
The excellent music never ceased, and time passed quickly, spent between the
two locations of our cloistered booth and the crowded dance floor.

I felt
increasingly
other
, altered. I wasn’t exactly human anymore, so what was
I? What were we, other than Rúnaigh? I knew what our titles were, but if not
angels, then what? As every day passed I felt an increasing sense of power, and
that
otherness
. Tonight I felt in charge of myself, strong, balanced.
Something was happening to me. I felt like I did within the dreams. It was
something…preternatural. I felt silly using that particular word. It’s a word I
used in my vampire novels…not in real life. But it was the only one that
fit…aside from mystical, or perhaps ethereal.

I’d always had
such an interest in the inexplicable, hence the writing topics I chose. And now
I lived it, was it. But there was something kind of on the awesome side of
that. I’d died and come back. I could go places, apparently, in my dreams. And
bring stuff back. I’d turned a leaf into a ten dollar bill today. Not in
dreamland this time, but in my courtyard.

The music segued
into NIN, Terrible Lie, and I felt myself getting lost deeper into the techno
synth riffs, and the gravelly, aggressive male vocals. I felt my eyelids drift
closed halfway, a smile play on my lips. And that
something
in me woke
up, tickled that special place in my brain and spirit.

Could anyone
else see it? Should I care? Could they see the dark amber glow coming from me?
Barely there, but it was there.

I danced closer to
the group, my friends, my new friends. They could be? They could be my friends,
my new family. Being with them felt right. There had been a level of clicking
and bonding over the course of dinner and then drinking and dancing.

Could they see
it? The Bháis, I mean. Could they see this radiance? I had to presume Serena
would not be able to. But yes, both Michael and Liam saw it. Both sets of eyes
locked onto me with unreadable expressions. Erin wasn’t facing me, but I bet
she would have seen it, had she been turned in my direction.

I danced away.
Good to know.

I did note, as I
worked my way through the others on the dance floor, that even though they may
not be able to see the luminous atmosphere surrounding me, they could feel it.

And it did
something to them.

I wanted to try
something, to see if I could deliberately move it. To see if I had any control
over it.

 I mean,
after all, I’d changed a piece of foliage into money earlier; I should be able
to rein in some ethereal light filaments, right?

I closed my
eyes. Felt the music. Felt the energy of the people all around me, let it wash
over me and through me, felt it slide along my own energy

I picked out a
nice looking guy. I gently pushed the energy, the light filaments out towards
him. I felt where the wisps touched him, I could feel it stretch out from me
and wrap around him, gently embrace him.

He smiled. He
felt it. I gave a gentle pull back…and the light retracted away from him, quite
easily, and came back to me. The way it looked, to my eyes, was like the way a
mermaid’s long, lustrous hair floats about her face and body in the water,
gently ebbing and flowing gracefully about her. My delicate strands of power
did exactly the same.

The guy looked a
little startled at first, sort of cast off, but then he danced away as though
nothing had passed between us. But he kept his smile, the one I’d given him.