Red Queen (41 page)

Al blinked. “Kendor?”

“Took his head.” I made a slashing motion. “It was quick.”

“Wait a second,” Jimmy said. “I thought you and Kendor met for a friendly chat. You didn't say anything about a guy dying.”

“Did I have to?” I asked. “You saw what he did to those two who were parked in front of my father's condo.”

Jimmy nodded. “You have a point.”

“Kendor's famous for killing any Lapra on sight,” Al said.

“Is that why you've thrown your hat in with the Tar?” I asked.

Al shook his head. “I fell in with the wrong people when I was connected. I want to make up for things that I've done. I'm here to help.”

“What kind of things did you do?” Jimmy asked.

“Nothing I want to talk about,” Al told him before turning back to me. “Hatsu vouched for me, and no one on the Council would have done that unless they were sure about the person.”

“Have you met other members of the Council?” I asked.

“I only got to meet Hatsu because the Council knew I had been sent by Frankie to spy on your people.” Al added. “But I know your father.”

“How?” I asked.

“Dr. Michael Major happens to be a customer of mine in Malibu.”

“Sounds like a hell of a coincidence,” Jimmy said.

“It's just one of those things,” Al said.

Jimmy looked at me and rolled his eyes. This distrust was unlike Jimmy. He usually gave people the benefit of the doubt. I think his fear for my safety was causing him to overcompensate.

“Did Frankie know my father was on the Council?” I asked.

“I don't mind the test questions, but your father isn't on the Council.” Al paused. “Look, Jessie, I know you've had a rough time here in Vegas and I understand your suspicions. Right after I got connected, I was suspicious of everyone I met. It's a shame I happened to know your father ahead of time because it does look kind of convenient. But Hatsu has good reasons to trust me.”

“What are they?” Jimmy asked.

“I'm afraid I can't tell you right now,” Al said.

“More secrets,” Jimmy said. “Don't you guys ever get sick of them?”

“Hatsu has to be careful,” Al said. “We all do. You don't know what the Lapras are capable of.”

“What instructions did Frankie give you?” I asked.

“To infiltrate your group and report back to him.”

“What did you tell him about us?” I asked.

“Nothing. I was supposed to meet with him this afternoon but at the last minute he canceled on me.”

“So your affair with Alex is what? A lie?”

“From the outside it must appear that way. But I've already explained to her that I was sent here to meet her in order to keep an eye on you. She doesn't care, as long as I really care for her.”

“It's hard for us to believe that you do,” Jimmy said.

Al shrugged. “Believe what you wish.”

“How much do you care?” I asked quietly.

Al sat up straighter and a note of pride entered his voice. “I'm risking my life talking to you like this. Simply by staying here, after receiving no further orders from Frankie, puts me in danger. But I'm willing to stay because I think I can help you guys.”

“How?” Jimmy asked.

“I know how the Lapras operate. I'll know if they're tailing you or try to place someone else close to you. I can help in lots of ways.”

He sounded sincere, at least to me, although there was something about him that filled me with foreboding. It was weird but I felt like I knew his face, or rather that it would be a face I would never forget. I sensed he could impact my life.

Obviously Jimmy wanted him gone, although Alex definitely cared for him. I was unsure what to do.

“What year were you born?” I asked.

“1914. I served in World War Two.”

“How old were you when you were connected?” I asked.

“Twenty-eight. I was a fighter pilot. I was shot down by the Japanese during the Battle of Midway. I drowned at sea, sort of. When I came to, I was in witch world.”

“That must have been a shock,” I said.

“That's putting it mildly,” Al said.

I turned to Jimmy. “What's your prognosis, doctor?”

He stared boldly at Al. “Take him out and shoot him.” He chuckled softly. “Al, you seem like a nice guy. But it doesn't sound like you have a lot to offer Jessie right now. It might be easier for all concerned if we caught up with you later.”

“What about Alex?” Al asked.

Jimmy shrugged. “She's been known to go a week or two without sex. She'll survive.”

I spoke to Al. “With Frankie gone, who will the Lapras have you report to?” I asked.

“I don't know, this has never happened before,” Al said. “But you needn't worry. Whoever I speak to, I won't tell them anything significant.”

“Do you mind if I ask how many witch genes you have?” I asked.

“Two,” Al said.

“What can you do?” Jimmy asked, curious.

“We don't normally give out that kind of information.”

Jimmy got up and strolled toward the door. “You decide, Jessie. I want to order Whip something to eat,” he said.

When he was gone, I gave Al a wan smile. “I do hope you're not lying to us. I'd hate to have to kill you.”

“Trust takes time. I don't blame you or Jimmy.”

“All of this has been painful for him. He can't convince anyone on the Council to let him go through the death experience.”

Al nodded. “He feels left out and unable to help you.”

“Exactly.”

Al was thoughtful. “Maybe something can be done.”

Hours later, after dinner and long, gentle lovemaking in our room, I lay in Jimmy's arms and waited for what might be my last night's sleep in the real world to end. I wondered if I would sleep at all. Yet I remembered the cardinal rule. If I wasn't unconscious when dawn arrived, I would black out wherever I was.

“I don't hear the others,” I said.

“Alex and Al went for a walk. They'll probably be back soon.”

“You don't think she's safe with Al,” I said.

“Time will tell.” Jimmy paused and made a worried gesture as Whip choked in the other room. He was asleep on the sofa in the center of the suite but he didn't rest easily. “His lungs sound like shit,” Jimmy said.

“You should have left him with my dad,” I said.

“Not tonight.”

“Why not tonight?”

“We have to watch him some of the time.”

“I'll speak to the Council about him,” I said. “My father told me that Mirk is the most powerful healer in the group.”

“It's odd how Susan loves her son so much in witch world and can't stand him here,” Jimmy said.

“I'm not surprised. Look how warm-hearted he is. That quality alone would cause him to be banned from her sight.”

“I wonder who the father is?” Jimmy said.

“Me too.” He wasn't alone. From what Kendor had told me, I knew it couldn't be him. I was contemplating other possibilities when Jimmy suddenly kissed me. Soft and short but sweet, filled with such feeling. He began to stroke my bare hip, something that never failed to arouse me. “What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Molesting you,” he said. “Remember how it is for me. I'm not sure where you'll be when I wake up.”

“I'll be right here beside you.”

His hand slid up my side to my hair. He began to tug on my ear. “I wish we could all be together,” he said.

I smiled for his sake. “You and Huck and Lara and me. You know, for two crazy kids who just graduated high school, we have a pretty big family.”

“It's weird how we've got kids. I've never had sex without wearing a condom.”

I chuckled. “Are you serious? We've made love a dozen times . . . Wait a second, I think you're right. I'm remembering James in witch world.”

“What's he like?” Jimmy asked.

“I don't know, I've never met him.”

“But you just said you remember him.”

“Vaguely. My father ordered me to keep a distance from him until my other set of memories returned.”

“So for all you know, I could be a total asshole in witch world.”

I acted dreamy. “Actually, from what I remember, he's a much better lover.” He pinched my ear. “Ouch!”

“You deserved that,” Jimmy said.

“Probably.” I took his hand in mine. “You never ask about her.”

He sighed. “It's hard enough having to think of Huck.”

“I understand. But if we do manage to survive the next few days, Lara's going to be the center of my life, for a long time. Can you accept that?”

“As long as I get to know her in at least one world.”

“The Council will figure out a way to connect you that isn't so risky. It's supposed to get easier as you get older.”

“I can't wait until I'm thirty, Jessie.”

“You won't have to.”

“What about Huck? You asked about Lara. At least I'm related to her. In witch world, she's technically mine. But you
don't have that connection to Huck in either world. Will you be able to adjust to helping me take care of him?”

“I'm sure I'll love him. As long as . . .” I didn't finish.

“As long as Kari doesn't get in your way? That's what you were going to say.”

“I'm not going to lie. That girl's not fit to be a mother. The Lapras offer her some cash and a house with a view and she goes over to their side.”

“They offered her son back. Alive,” Jimmy said.

There was something in his voice. I should have spotted it earlier. “Christ. You spoke to her today. You saw her!”

“So? You saw Kendor.”

“That wasn't planned. Tell me what happened? Did she take you to see your son?”

“She offered to take me. I didn't go.”

Jimmy was telling the truth. In an instant I regretted having judged him. He was a stronger person than I was. Let's face it, I had gone to meet with the Lapras because I had wanted to see Lara, not because the Council wanted me to go.

“I'm so sorry,” I said, hugging him tight.

“It's all right,” he spoke in my ear. “I screwed her afterward, so the afternoon wasn't a total waste.”

I wanted to hit him. I wanted to cry. But of course I ended up laughing, and that was how we fell asleep, in each other's arms, with smiles on our faces.

WAKING UP IN WITCH WORLD
, in my hotel room at the MGM, I wished James were with me. I had not seen him since I had become connected. In that respect, James knew less than his counterpart. Hell, it was possible he didn't even know I was a witch. True, my father had talked to him, but I wasn't sure exactly what he had told him.

I woke up late, with the sun high in the sky. I remembered making love to Jimmy with a faint light in the eastern sky, which meant I must have passed out just before dawn.

I headed into the living room to call room service. I was starved—I needed breakfast, lunch, something. But there was a guy I didn't recognize sitting on the couch, casually reading the paper.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked.

He set aside the newspaper and straightened his tie. He
wore nice clothes: a green sports coat, slacks so white they looked like they would glow in the dark, and a gold Cartier watch. His dark blond hair was cut short.

“I'm Alfred,” he said. “Alexis's boyfriend. We spoke before you went to bed.”

“God, Alfred, I never saw someone change so much from one world to the next. What is it with you?”

Alfred, who was a head taller than Al, and no longer plump, but lean and mean, with muscles that only came from hours in the gym, nodded toward my bedroom. “I wasn't able to talk freely in front of Jimmy,” he said. “I apologize.”

“But why do you look so different?”

“This is how I look to Alex in the other world. This is my real appearance.”

“How can you look one way to her and like someone else to the rest of us?” I asked.

“Jessica, I could turn invisible if I wanted to.”

Then I understood what he was saying. It was the same thing Kendor had told me in the sewer. “You have the witch gene for invisibility,” I said.

“I do. In its early stages it just allows you to alter your appearance so that no one recognizes you. You could call that a form of invisibility.”

“Are all the powers like that? They start as one thing and transform into something deeper?” I asked.

“Yes. Your intuition has quickly appeared. But over a long
period of time it will mature into what we call wisdom. Only a handful of witches have that, like Cleo.”

“The way you're talking, you don't sound like a young witch who just got connected sixty or seventy years ago. Did you lie to us about your age?”

He chuckled. “I had to lie to keep my disguise intact. My lies were part of my disguise. That's why you didn't pick up on them.”