The Flash of a Firefly (17 page)

He was sitting at a small desk that was situated in the far corner of the room. A copy of
Guinness World Records
was wide open in front of him. His head was propped up with his fist under his chin, and only his eyes moved to look at me.

“I have a favor to ask,” I blurted. I had to get it out before I changed my mind. “When this is done—”

“You want me to erase her memories of what’s happened,” he finished for me. “I had a feeling you would.”

“Yes,” I sighed. There was no going back now that I had asked it. I would stick to the plan. “It’s better that way.”

“For some of us.” He shut the book slowly and turned his head to look at me. “I will do it because you asked me to.”

I wasn’t quite sure if that meant he didn’t agree with what I was doing or not, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Lyn was going to be able to go home and forget this ever happened. She would be able to finish school, take care of her father, get married, have children, and die at an old age without knowing what really lurked in the shadows. It would never erase my guilt, but it was the only thing I could do for her at that point.

“Thank you,” I told him. “I’ll let you know when.”

He nodded and opened his book again. “Sleep well.”

I felt exhausted by the time I made it into my own room. Lyn was still holding the ice on her neck, but she was losing the battle to stay awake. I lifted the towel away from her and put it in the bathroom sink to melt.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yes.” I climbed into the other side of the bed carefully. I wasn’t sure if she would be comfortable with the idea any longer, but she was calm and relaxed. In fact, once I was settled, she inched closer to me and put her head on my shoulder.

“Good night,” she whispered right before drifting off to sleep.

I would have rather had her hate me. There was no question about it. I didn’t deserve to be forgiven.

 
Chapter 16

I hadn’t slept much. What sleep I did get was restless. It wasn’t just my conscience, although that was a big part of it. I was like a person on a caffeine high. The fresh blood woke my body up. I was buzzing with energy all day and was even feeling the effects of it as I sat in the leather recliner in my living room.

Flo and Stu were at it again. It hadn’t gotten to the point where anyone would get injured, unless you count a headache, so I didn’t stop them. It was going to happen. They were like five-year-old siblings. You could put them in time out, but the second you turned your back they would be at it again.

“Being the ladies’ man that you are, you shouldn’t have a problem,” she hissed at Stu.

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not my type,” he replied. “Besides, it only works on human women.”

“It doesn’t work with any women—alive or dead,” she snarled.

“Sure it does.” Stu turned his head toward Lyn and smiled. The look in his eyes changed, and his voice dropped an octave. “Hey, what do you say about—”

The spoon hit him right between his eyes, sending corn flakes around the room. It was a perfect throw. “Don’t even try it,” I told him.

Stu started to laugh and used his sleeve to clean the milk off his forehead. Lyn looked at him, then at me, and then down at her cereal before she realized what had happened. “I was using that,” she said when she spotted the spoon on the floor.

Stu kept laughing. “Don’t let him bully you.” He disappeared into the kitchen and popped back up beside her with a clean spoon. She jumped in surprise but smiled. He reached over and ruffled her hair. “So are we going or not?”

“I’m not,” Alex said. He glared at me from the stairs, where he had perched himself. He had to be uncomfortable. Marble wouldn’t have been my seat of choice, but he didn’t want to be anywhere near me.

Apparently he had just as big a problem with Lyn being bitten as I did. He made that blatantly obvious when I went downstairs just after dark. It wasn’t so much the shoulder check as it was the snide remark about being hungry. In my opinion, he had gotten a little big for his britches, or maybe Sid was getting too lax in the way he ran his pack. That was my doubled-edged sword. I wanted the racism between species gone, but I wanted their never-ending respect.

“Party pooper,” Stu taunted. “That’s what you get for staying up to watch
American Werewolf in London
with a certain human this afternoon.”

Alex glared at him. “Mind your own business.”

Stu rolled his eyes at me. “What about you?”

“What about me?” I grumbled. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what he had in mind. It was either the grin that was spread across his face or the way he said it. I knew Stu too well.

“We’re going to your club for a night out.” He started doing a little dance in the middle of the room. “We’ll let off some steam before playing Russian roulette with our lives.”

I sat in that chair wondering if I had heard him wrong. They were talking about going dancing when we were in the middle of a manure pile. I blinked slowly at him and shook my head. “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course we are,” Flo scoffed. “Even Sullivan is coming.”

Sullivan looked completely modern from his clothing to his hair, which was slicked back and knotted. “It will be a good time to check the exits,” he said, squirming uncomfortably in the recliner opposite my own.

I did want to take a look around before the meeting. I had my reservations about the location. There weren’t many exits, and being in such a busy neighborhood, it wouldn’t give us much privacy if things went downhill. It would be crowded tonight. It would be hard for anyone to attack us, but it would also be hard to defend ourselves.

“Would you like to go?” I asked Lyn.

She hesitated. “I … guess, yeah.”

She was probably worried about getting killed before I had a chance to take her back home. As unwarranted as that fear might be, I could hardly blame her for it. She was just a little girl with no special abilities. She wasn’t stronger, faster, or more agile than any of the things trying to kill her.

“Wear this.” Flo held out a loosely knitted blue scarf to Lyn. “We don’t need to advertise anything.”

There was a grunt from the stairs. I turned my head and threw Alex a dirty look. “You can stop. I get it.”

“Do you?” He got up and stormed into the kitchen. He started pulling dishes out of the cupboards and slamming things around. I had to bite my tongue and let it go. He was young after all.

Flo started to fuss with her hair in front of the mirror. Her eyes were carefully done with dark shadows, and the neckline on her dress plunged. Stu was hovering behind her. She batted him away, but he just moved to her other side. He was asking for trouble, and he got it. She spun around and swung a fist at his head.

“Nothing has changed between those two,” Sullivan observed. He was standing by the door, ready to leave. He held Lyn’s jacket out in front of him so she could slip into it.

She walked over and turned her back to him. Her big brown eyes found me, and she smiled.
What happened with her?
She was almost too all right with us being monsters now. I knew it was what I had hoped for, but something was strange. No one becomes that okay with it that quickly.

“No,” I said absentmindedly. I flinched as Stu missed a ceramic statue by an inch. “I don’t think they ever will.”

We watched their fight for a few moments in silence while Lyn adjusted the scarf Flo had given her. It was impossible that anyone had missed the bruises on her neck, but I was grateful that none of them had actually said anything. Alex would get over it, and no one else would hold it against me.

Lyn glanced nervously at the fight happening on the other side of the room, confused that no one was reacting to it. She leaned over to me and whispered, “I only have sneakers.”

I looked down at her white running shoes. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Your dress code,” she said.

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. “Don’t worry. I know a guy who knows a guy who can get you in.”

“All right,” Stu yelled. “Uncle. You win. Let’s go.” Flo stopped behind him and kicked the back of his knee so he fell forward. He stumbled but didn’t fall. He chuckled, taking off after her.

It looked like we weren’t taking a car. I looked awkwardly at Lyn. I was going to have to carry her, but I wasn’t sure how she would like it. It would be fast. Very fast. There was only one way to find out.

Sullivan waited in the alley behind The Amaryllis with me while Lyn threw up. I winced each time she gagged. By the time she was finished, I thought she had left all of her intestines on the cement, but she said she felt much better. I couldn’t imagine anyone feeling good after that, but she looked less green around the gills than when I set her back on her feet.

Inside, The Amaryllis was filled to capacity with scantily dressed women and men wearing too much cologne. The music was vibrating through the floor, and some of the Halloween decorations were still up from the night before. There were a few new faces working. A pair of platinum blonds were working with Max behind the bar, and there was a muscular man at the door checking IDs.

With Jessica gone, I had been a little nervous that my cover would be blown. Somehow, Max had managed on his own though. I suppose that meant I needed to promote him or give him a raise. I folded my arms and leaned against the back wall. It could be tricky if he didn’t stop running away from me all the time.

With Flo dancing and Stu chatting up girl after girl, it was no wonder we weren’t getting much done. At least Sullivan was checking the perimeter. Lyn was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing: staying in my direct line of vision. Her roommates had shown up. Strangely coincidental if you ask me, but she seemed happy to see them.

I, on the other hand, was miserable. There were so many people—warm people with fast heartbeats and pulsating veins. It was harder than usual for me to be around them. I had tasted real blood after such a long time. Now that goop I used to get from Merv made me gag, and with my senses peaked again, I had to force down twice as much. It still didn’t seem like enough, but I needed to try to ration the supply in the mini-fridge.

A girl with black hair and too much cleavage caressed my arm as she walked by. I gave her a cold look and walked away before she could talk me into taking her somewhere else. Max spotted me and rushed to the other end of the bar. I rolled my eyes. I just didn’t understand.

“I don’t see any enemies,” Sullivan stated, meeting me near the back door. “I believe we’re alone tonight.”

“Probably.” I glanced at Lyn. She was fine as long as she stayed inside. There wasn’t anything supernatural inside but us. “I’m going up to the roof for a minute. Do you want to come?”

He nodded, following me outside and up the ladder attached to the wall. The atmosphere of the city surrounded us. It was a giant buzzing energy. It was what most people were attracted to and what I hated most about the city.

“Is there any particular reason for this?” Sullivan asked.

“To make sure the alleys are clear,” I lied.

“You have to do that from up here?”

I walked to the edge of the building and looked down the street. It was lined with bright lights and glowing signs. Vehicles drove by honking their horns at each other. Drunk girls were cackling from the sidewalk. I wasn’t going to get any peace and quiet here, but the air was fresher.

“No,” I answered. “I just wanted to get away for a minute.”

“Things will work out. They always do.” He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets. “You shouldn’t think on it so much.”

“They don’t always work out. And I’m not.” I shrugged. “I’m not really worried about myself. I’ll be all right even if we lose. I can get away again when the time is right. If we lose …” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

“If we lose,” he continued for me, “you will go back to Spain and resume your duties. We will survive as best we can and wait for your return.”

“I won’t come back to New York. It won’t be the same after they get their hands on it. I’ll go somewhere else. Somewhere remote.”

“And Lyn?”

I stared across the sleepless city and cracked my knuckles. “If she doesn’t get killed, then she will be dead of old age before I could come back for her.”

“If we win?” He paused. “Would you still like me to erase her mind?”

“Yes,” I answered softly. I listened to the hustle and bustle of the street below. “As soon as we can.”

“Well, as they say, one bridge at a time,” he told me. There was a strange edge to his voice. I wanted to ask him for his honest opinion, but I was too worried that it would be something I didn’t want to hear. “It’s just about closing time. Shall we?”

I didn’t want to go back inside. I knew I’d start to feel real hunger soon, and I didn’t want to be confronted with it. My body could handle only so much under stress.

But I had to go, and when we got into the building, I noticed that Stu’s hand was very close to being inappropriately placed on Lyn’s hip. I checked my temper. There was nothing worse than acting irrationally and making a fool out of oneself.