The Flash of a Firefly (10 page)

I cringed at my own cliché statement, but she seemed to buy it. She went back to the old plaid couch and sat down, pulling a tweed blanket around her legs.

I hovered by the front door. “If this is a bad time, I can go,” I offered. I didn’t know what was best. If she was just trying to be polite, then I wanted to leave. It was awkward not knowing what to do.

“No, it’s not a bad time.” She patted the cushion beside her. “Some company would be nice.”

I walked slowly through the wide archway into her living room. When I sat down on the ugly couch, a spring poked up into my thigh. A scented candle was flickering on top of the entertainment center, filling the room with the smell of apples.

“How did you do on your test?” I asked awkwardly as I made myself comfortable.

Her face lit up. “I think I did pretty well, thanks to you.”

“That’s good.” I hesitated. I was feeling self-conscious. I didn’t know what she thought of my popping over, unannounced, two nights in a row. I was probably coming across as a level-five clinger.

Lyn’s cell phone rang, and she glanced at the caller ID before pressing ignore. Then she flipped it open and pressed a few buttons. She glanced up at me and asked, “What’s your number?” I told her, and she dialed it. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and then she ended the call. “There, now you have mine, too.”

Her phone was still in her hand when it rang a second time. She pushed ignore, turned the volume off, and shoved it between the cushions. Her breathing became shaky, and her eyes welled up with tears. I felt myself tense, anticipating the waterworks.

But she surprised me. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together. The water brimming in her eyes disappeared as she snuggled down into the corner of the couch and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.

Her body was emanating heat. I could feel it from a cushion away. I wanted to reach out and touch it just for a second. I wanted to soak it up. Her veins were visible under her translucent skin, mocking me, daring me to do it.

“So do you want to watch this movie with me?” she asked. “I just started it. It might be a little corny.”

I nodded. I had managed to get used to the urges once; I could do it again. The movie would be a good distraction. It would give me something to look at other than her.

She pressed play on the remote, and the scene changed from neutral to violent. The two people had been watching their friend turn into a zombie. They both started to run, but the zombie was faster. It caught the woman by the hair and bit into her shoulder.

It wasn’t going to be as good a distraction as I thought.

The green numbers on the cable box glowed two thirty. The second movie wasn’t as bad as the first one. It was about some little kid who could talk to dead people. I hadn’t seen the ending coming, which was a nice change. Lyn must have seen it before. She didn’t act the least bit surprised when the truth came out. She was curled up under her blanket with heavy eyes. The puffiness around them had subsided, and she was back to looking like herself again, just tired.

For the second night in a row, I found that I had gotten used to her scent. I had gotten used to the heat radiating from her body and her steady heartbeat. I still wanted to reach out to her. I wanted to touch her hair and feel how soft her cheek was. But I didn’t feel the overwhelming desire to taste her blood. There seemed to be something overriding that natural urge.

I was sure that I would feel it later, after I left. Subconsciously I knew what I wanted. It was secretly taking its toll on my body. When I got home, I would have to go straight for the mini-fridge.

When she clicked the television back to cable, a stand-up comedian was onstage. We watched for a few minutes in silence. I wasn’t much for comedy, but the man was good and I actually started to laugh. It felt good. I hadn’t laughed in ages.

Lyn sat up, letting the blanket pool on her lap, and smiled. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just let my lips fade into a little half smile. I was forgetting myself around her. It was dangerous for both of us. She could spot my fangs, or worse. But it didn’t seem to matter to me as much as it should have. I felt the pull to her more than I felt there was imminent danger. That alone should have sent me running.

“Kaden, I know this is going to sound stupid …” She paused, turning bright red. “We’ve only spent time together the last two nights. I don’t count when we met,” she added quickly. “But I feel like I’ve known you a lot longer than that.”

Is that how to describe the feeling?
I wondered. I had known a lot of humans for a long time, but I still didn’t feel as at ease around them as I did around Lyn. But it was different for me than it was for her. She was attracted to the vampire in me. Not only do our muscles tighten when we’re turned, giving us bodies that models would kill for, but we emit a low-level pheromone, making us the perfect predators.

Luckily I was saved from having to come up with a reply. It was good for two reasons: I had no idea what to say, and the interruption happened to be Alex. He came through the door with his arm around Lyn’s roommate, holding her up. The smell of alcohol trailed behind them as they moved toward the stairs. The second roommate stumbled in after them and made a beeline for the kitchen. From the sound of it, she didn’t make it to the garbage before throwing up.

Lyn sighed and got up, adjusting her sweatpants. She started to shake her head and disappeared around the corner. “Emma, get up,” she said.

I turned my attention to Alex. He was staring at me while he guided his pseudo-girlfriend to the second floor. He let out an exasperated sigh and picked her up by the waist, carrying her the rest of the way. She shrieked and then began laughing uncontrollably.

I waited for him at the bottom of the stairs while they shuffled around. The girl was still laughing as two clunks sounded on the floor above my head, which I assumed were her shoes. A few seconds later, the door slammed and Alex came running downstairs.

“Hey,” he said, giving me a boyish grin. “Sorry about last night. You caught me off guard, and I got scared. Sid talked to me though, and he wants me to stick with the plan.”

I didn’t understand why Sid would care what happened to Lyn. Humans were nothing to us. Each one only survived a split second in our eyes. “Really,” I said under my breath.

“Yeah,” Alex replied. “He said if you cared enough about the girl, then we should care too.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why didn’t you go on the bus?”

He reached around to the middle of his back and scratched through his polo shirt. “They wanted someone to stay behind and watch out for you during the day, so I hung out in the woods around your house until dark. Then I came here.”

“How were you watching her if you weren’t here?” I growled. I couldn’t help being mad. I wasn’t sure if it was because he had stalked my house all day or if it was because he hadn’t been keeping his eyes on Lyn. Maybe it was because Sid had him do all of it without telling me. Maybe it was all three.

“Listen …” Alex grew serious. “I know, but she’s been crying all day because her ex-boyfriend moved into the city to get her back. She doesn’t want anything to do with him, but he won’t give it up. Nothing was going to happen to her when a cop car was driving by every two minutes, and Sid would have killed me if I skipped out on your house.”

Lyn came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. “Are you all right to go home?” she asked Alex.

“I’m fine.” He beamed. “I didn’t drink tonight, so I’m just going to get going. It was nice to see you again, Kaden.”

He was a born actor. I would have believed every word that came out of his mouth if I didn’t know better. He smiled all the way to the door and even threw a wave over his shoulder before opening the door to reveal a police officer.

 
Chapter 9

“Excuse me,” the officer said, standing aside to let Alex pass.

Alex looked at me for a long moment, urging me to understand something. I didn’t know him well enough to know what he was getting at. If it was important, he would have to tell me later.

The officer, whose name tag read “Gorski,” stepped inside and closed the door. It obviously wasn’t a work-related house call. He didn’t introduce himself, and he didn’t carry that official air about him. He set his hat down on the dining room table and reached out to take Lyn’s hands. She was frozen in place, her eyes the size of dinner plates. I was standing right next to her, but I might as well have been invisible.

He pulled her in and hugged her. “You weren’t answering any of my calls,” he said. “I got worried.”

“What do you want, Frank?” she asked. “I said I didn’t want anything to do with you. Why are you doing all this?”

Alex’s look suddenly made sense to me. So did his comment about a cop car driving by constantly. Frank was her ex. He wasn’t what I would have pictured for her. He was short and had a long, curved nose. His ears stuck out slightly too far from his head, and he had a little mole just under his left eye.

“I want to be with you again. You’re not being fair,” he whined.

“Fair?” She pushed him away from her. “It wasn’t
fair
when you got that other girl pregnant.”

Her eyes welled up with tears as he tried to grab for her hands again, and I stepped between them. I didn’t need problems with a jealous cop, but I didn’t want to see her cry. I felt like I needed to protect her, so that was what I tried to do.

“Hello,” I said in a low voice.

He looked around me at Lyn and said, “Hi.”

Lyn clung to the back of my shirt. Her little hands wadded into my T-shirt and sent a jolt of electricity up my spine. I kept my body still so I didn’t make it worse, but my skin was soaking up the heat like a sponge. I wanted to close my eyes and enjoy the relaxing sensation. But the man in front of me made that impossible.

“Who’s this guy?” Frank turned his eyes back to me with a less than friendly look. “You’ve got a new boyfriend? You’re cheating on me?”

“I’m not your girlfriend anymore,” she replied angrily. “Go home.”

“Who is he?” He tried to stare me down, but I didn’t budge. He even went so far as to puff his chest out and go into full cop mode. When he finally realized that I couldn’t be scared off, he put his hat back on and broke eye contact.

“Kaden,” she said angrily. “He owns The Amaryllis, and he’s a friend of mine. Do you have a problem with that?”

“The Amaryllis?” he asked with a sly grin. “You mean the club in Manhattan? One of your employees was reported missing last night. Do you know anything about that?”

I had no idea what he was talking about. None of my employees were missing. If they were, then Jessica would have called to let me know. Putting aside the supernatural aspects, these were still dangerous times. Anything could have happened, but I would have gotten a call if it had.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Jessica Miner,” he said, gloating. “She’s been missing since last night. The last time her parents saw her, she was leaving for work. Your bartender reported it around two in the morning. You don’t know anything about it?”

My stomach knotted, and my hands balled into fists. It was no coincidence. I needed Jessica. She was what kept my business running. Without her, things would start falling apart. Francesca was going to try smoking me out. She thought that once everything I cared about was gone, I would go back.

Frank took a little notepad out and scribbled something down.
Who does he think he is?
I asked myself. He was a cop, not a detective. I doubted that he was even on the missing persons case.

“I’ll call you tomorrow. Pick up,” he told Lyn. He glared at me a moment longer, trying to commit my face to memory. “If not, I’ll stop by.”

“Go home,” she repeated.

He left, slamming the door behind him and leaving half of his tires on the road as he sped away. It looked like he had anger management issues. I would hate to be a criminal and cross his path. He would probably end up on the news for beating them half to death.

Lyn’s hands slowly uncurled from my shirt, and she stepped away. The places where she had touched me still burned and ached for more, but I checked myself. I had to keep a cool head and maintain control. I was glad to have a little space between us again, but it almost made it worse.

“I’m sorry,” Lyn said, letting out a long breath.

“Don’t worry about it.” I grabbed my sweater and zipped it on. “I’ve got to go to work and see what’s going on.”

“Of course.” She nodded vigorously. “Let me know if you need anything. And thanks for hanging out tonight. It was fun.”

“It was,” I agreed. I made my lips turn up into a charming smile before I flew out the door. I didn’t want to leave yet, but I had to find Jessica before it was too late, assuming it wasn’t already.

The wind whistled in my ears as I ran to Manhattan. The closer I got, the worse the weather became. Drops of slush began to beat down on me like little bullets. It wasn’t quite snow, but not exactly rain. It was the kind of weather that was only good for getting everything wet and dirty.