Toil and Trouble (17 page)

I practically dove for my seat, huddling down low and tucking my chin to my chest. “Thanks for seating me here,” I muttered, fully aware that Sinjin had orchestrated it on purpose just because he enjoyed stretching my limits. Before I could sit down, Sinjin smiled up at me devilishly. It was a smile that could lead to nothing good.

“Randall, meet my human,” he said and I could’ve punched him.

Rand glanced at me apathetically. He offered his hand but I was scared to take it, lest he somehow detect who I really was. But, when he didn’t pull his hand away, I accepted it and shook it limply.

“Pleased to meet you,” he said, smiling. “And I’m Rand, not Randall, despite what some people would lead you to believe.”

I offered him a quick smile, hastily yanking my hand from his. “I’m…” Crap! I hadn’t invented a new name and worse, I was talking in my own voice! My entire brain went into a meltdown and I just sat there like a moron. Sinjin reached out and patted my hand.

“This is Tallulah,” he said in a mocking voice. “I have just feasted on her blood, thus she is quite scattered.”

Tallulah?? WTF?? I swear, Sinjin existed merely to piss me off. I exhaled a long breath and tried to contain the hurricane of anger that was currently plowing through me. Regardless of what Sinjin did or said, I had to maintain my composure. There was just too much riding on my ability to dupe Rand. So, that’s what I focused on.

I managed an embarrassed smile to which Rand reciprocated before returning to his
Economist
newspaper. Well, at least he had no clue who I really was. And as for Sinjin…how I would survive the flight to Aberdeen, not to mention the two hour drive to Inverness was beyond me.

“Love,” he whispered and put his hand on the highest point of my thigh, just underneath my skirt. “Remember you are my human and you only live to worship me. You are not quite acting as well as you should.”

I leaned into him and whispered, “Get your hand off my thigh or I’m going to stake you.”

He chuckled and instead of removing the offending appendage, he massaged the inside of my thigh with the pad of his thumb. I didn’t want to admit it, but something like liquid lava erupted in my stomach and went due south.

“I can smell your desire, Love,” he whispered with a sibilant hiss.

A bolt of embarrassment coursed through me at the thought that Rand was sitting so close. Not wanting to draw attention to us, I merely gripped his hand, dug my nails into his skin and returned his property to his lap. “Are you trying to piss me off more than I already am?” I snapped.

“I find your anger…sexy.”

“I don’t have the patience to deal with you right now.”

“Ah, Tallulah…” he chuckled.

This was going to be a long flight.

* * *

One long, long hour later, during which Sinjin relentlessly pushed all my buttons, we landed in Aberdeen. As we exited the plane, Rand stood next to me while Sinjin moved down a few rows to get his bag from the overhead. Luckily for Rand and me, we didn’t need any luggage since our magic meant we could create whatever we required.

“I couldn’t help but notice you…arguing with Sinjin,” Rand started as my stomach plummeted. God, I hoped my rebellious sparring with the impossible vampire hadn’t jeopardized my disguise...

“Oh,” I started, but remembered I was speaking in my own voice again. Luckily, Rand didn’t seem to notice.

“I would be more than happy to share a ride with you if you’d like,” he said with a boyish smile. It was just like Rand to offer help to the damsel in distress. I could think of nothing I’d rather do than share a ride with him but as myself, Jolie, not as Tallulah the hippie cowgirl.

I cleared my throat and in the split second decision required to change my voice, I could only think of Dolly Parton, go figure. So, my voice came out soprano high, southern, and completely weird. “Thanks for the offer but Sin…and I were just havin’ a…lover’s quarrel.” Not only was my voice ridiculously high, but my accent was worse, a cross between a redneck in
Deliverance
and Scarlett O’Hara. Still, ridiculous or not, it didn’t appear Rand was in any way wise to my deception.

He just smiled and nodded. “I understand.”

“Thanks all the same…shugah.” Ugh, this was just embarrassing.

He turned and started down the narrow aisle, his body taking up the entirety of the small space. His relaxed dark jeans cupped his ass beautifully and contrasted against the white of his tee shirt and the navy blue of his…jumper as he called it. God, he was just beautiful.

Apparently the flight attendants concurred, as they both watched him and once he’d departed, one turned to the other, and whispered. “Holy shit, was he hot.”

I didn’t have a chance to see their reactions to Sinjin because he was several people behind me but I’m sure it would be the same. Despite being surrounded by incredibly handsome men, it didn’t take away from the fact that they were equally frustrating.

* * *

Sinjin told me to wait by the curb in front of the
Hertz
Rent-A-Car while he retrieved our rental. As I stood there, the members of our legion dispersed throughout the myriad of rental car agencies. It made me proud to be among them, to be fighting for the same goal.

I watched Rand depart from the
Europcar
rental counter, dangling keys from his fingers while searching for his rental from among the hundreds. His eyes eventually found mine and he smiled and waved.

“Good luck!” he called and I smiled, feeling like I wanted to cry.

I lost track of Rand as he disappeared into the deluge of rental cars which was just as well because watching him only depressed me. I didn’t ponder it any further because a black Mercedes pulled up. The windows were tinted so dark, I couldn’t see who was driving. The door opened and a smiling Sinjin stepped out, walking over to open my door.

My mouth dropped. This was like no Mercedes I’d ever seen before—two doors with the overall look of something closer to a Viper. No, this was an SLS AMG and the only reason I knew that was because I read it off the back of the car. “Hertz rents these?” I asked, amazed.

Sinjin chuckled. “No, Love. I own it and arranged to have it sent here. I thought you would enjoy driving to Inverness in style.”

Style could mean lots of different things. And I would’ve been fine in a Chevy Malibu… I shrugged and climbed in, sinking into the red leather bucket seat. The entire interior (seats, dash, doors) were red leather, in contrast to the shiny black dash. This vehicle was Sinjin to a T.

“So, you own this?” I asked, once we were on the road and his navigation aid finished chirping directions in a female British accent.

“Yes, do you approve?”

I didn’t really know if I approved or not and was overcome by the realization that I really didn’t know much about Sinjin. I mean, I didn’t know where he lived or what he did when he wasn’t preparing for war, the list went on. And how in the hell had he orchestrated delivery of this vehicle to Aberdeen in the first place?

“Do you live in Scotland?” I asked.

“No, Pet.”

I frowned when it appeared he wasn’t going to expostulate. “Okay, so where do you live?”

“I have made my home all over, Love. Most recently in Paris.”

“So, how did…”

“Enter next roundabout and take first exit onto A96,” the navigation aid interrupted me. Sinjin downshifted as we took the roundabout and then double clutched, revving the engine once we were out of the turn and onto the highway. With the scenery melting into a blur amid a black canvas, I couldn’t even guess how fast we were going. I hadn’t realized I was gripping the door handle until Sinjin glanced over and chuckled.

“I am a very good driver, Love.” He turned up the volume of the CD player and I couldn’t say I disliked the song. It wasn’t loud or too fast paced but there was definitely a beat. The male singer’s voice was soft, moody almost. Once I heard the lyrics, it made more sense as to why Sinjin was listening to it…

“…but resistance is futile…and I am gonna drink your blood…give you eternal life…”

“So, not only are you a vampire but you listen to songs about vampires?” I asked incredulously.

Sinjin smiled and didn’t seem in the least bit embarrassed. But he never got embarrassed so it wasn’t surprising. “It would appear so.”

“What are we listening to?”

“Indie music.” He reached into a consul in the middle of the car and handed me a CD. The cover was pink with some sort of robot on it. The band was
Say Hi to Your Mom
. I flipped the CD over and found the song—
Blah Blah Blah
.

“Can we listen to it again?” I asked, needing something to focus on, something to pull my thoughts away from the impending war.

Sinjin raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, merely hitting the back button on his steering wheel and
Blah Blah Blah
started up again.

I relaxed into my seat, watching the lights of the small Scottish burgs vanish as we raced by. The velvet black of the sky was punctuated with millions of twinkling stars and I couldn’t help but feel attracted to my vampire driver. I glanced over at him and noticed his eyes were frozen to the road ahead of us. Intermittently, he glanced over his shoulder so he could pass whoever happened to be slowing our progress.

Blah Blah Blah
ended and another equally great song took its place. The CD player screen read
Digitalism—Pogo
. Somehow Sinjin’s choice in music gave me a window into his personality I’d never seen before. And his indie music choices impressed me far greater than his car did.

“Are you still angry with me, Love?”

Was I still angry with him? The answer was pretty obvious. “It’s difficult to stay angry with you.” And it was the God’s honest truth. There was just something about Sinjin—something innocent and honest which so contrasted with who and what he was. At any rate, I wasn’t angry with him anymore.

He smiled eagerly. “Good, I do not like it when we quarrel.”

I continued staring out the window, studying the passing lights and feeling an emptiness that depressed me. In a night’s time, we’d be in the throes of battle. And there was so much riding on the outcome of this war. My stomach cramped violently and I suddenly felt as if I’d be sick. Anxiety climbed up my chest and lodged in my throat, cutting off my breath. As the panic overcame me, I grabbed the hand rest, leaning forward as I started hyperventilating.

“Jolie?” I couldn’t see Sinjin’s reaction, but the concern in his voice was obvious.

Tears started in my eyes as I tried to calm myself and tried even harder to breathe. I was hyperventilating to such a degree, I couldn’t control it. “I…I can’t breathe.”

I felt the car pull over and come to an abrupt stop. Sinjin’s door opened and the cold air enveloped me in a welcomed hug. My door flew open and Sinjin fumbled with my seat belt before hauling me out of the car and into his arms.

“Breathe, Love, you are having a panic attack.”

A panic attack? Yes, I imagined a panic attack felt just like this although I’d never had one before.

“Jolie, look at me,” he said, holding me at a distance. “Focus on the black of my eyes.”

His eyes glowed in the moonlight but I couldn’t focus on them, I was so petrified by the fact that I couldn’t breathe. “I…I…”

He shook me. “Focus on the black of my eyes!”

I forced myself to look into his eyes.

“Just breathe. You and I are going to get through this, do you understand?”

I nodded dumbly, wondering if he was referring to this particular situation or the war in general. My breathing became more regular but I wasn’t sure if Sinjin was bewitching me or just using the power of persuasion. Then I remembered he couldn’t bewitch me so I guess I had my answer.

“Take another breath for me, Love,” he whispered. “There’s my good girl.”

Finally calm, I inhaled deeply and collapsed against Sinjin’s chest, wrapping my arms around him. I just needed to be close to him, to be comforted. Sinjin held me while I cried, rubbing my back in large circles, reassuring me.

“What is the matter?” he crooned against my ear.

“I’m so afraid, Sinjin.”

“There is nothing to be afraid of, I will not allow you to come to harm.”

It was the same thing Rand had told me. But, what neither seemed to remember was the fact that if Bella won, there wouldn’t be a damned thing anyone could do for me or for themselves. And that’s what scared me the most—the what ifs. I couldn’t face that now though. Instead, I took comfort in Sinjin’s strength, in the feel of his arms around me.

“Thank you,” I whispered, suddenly overcome with the realization that Sinjin had always been there for me. Maybe I’d taken him for granted? I mean, I’d always thought of him as the hot vamp who wanted to get into my pants but figured it ended there. Was there a chance I’d been wrong? Maybe there was more to him than met the eye?

He pushed away from me and wiped my tears with the pad of his finger. “Your breathing has slowed.”

I nodded and couldn’t tear my attention from his incredibly handsome face, from the deep angles of his cheekbones, his Roman nose and the squareness of his jaw. How his impossibly light blue eyes leant him the look of some mythical creature, someone designed by the Gods themselves.