vampires of san francisco 07 - suckers lost and found (3 page)

After I dress in a bikini and cover up, we are going to go and lay in the sun. I meet Sebastian who has already made my coffee for me. After we discuss Aidan’s new plans for searching today we take a moment.

“Hasn’t this been nice? The privacy, I mean,” I say hesitantly.

“Yes, cherie. I have been thinking about it, a lot.”

“Me too! It’s getting so crowded at home.”

“I know. I don’t know what the others would say. I would miss them terribly. I have lived with Helena and Julian for almost 300 years.”

“What about something next door or across the street?”

“Everything is unavailable. But perhaps for the right price. We can look into it. I have decided I don’t like sharing you. I like to be able to do what I like to you and not worry about how much noise we make,” he says with a wicked look in his eyes.

“Thank God the noise from the engines covers up most of the noise we have been making on this trip.” Sebastian arches his eyebrows. “We haven’t had any complaints have we?” 

“Not so far. This is the honeymoon suite. They keep it away from the others for a reason.” He winks. “Did I tell you that you look gorgeous in this swimming suit? Much too sexy for the public eye. We might have to stay in and explore other options.”

“Bast, the last suit you said that about ended up in tatters. I had to get another one. Don’t look at me that way. Drink your tea.” 

There is a knock on our door. Andrew, Liam, Hannah and Diel arrive. Bast meets my eyes from behind them. I smile – delayed gratification, again.

“These two are as bad as you guys. I heard them all night, thrashing around in their room! Oh Liam, Oh Andrew! Oh my God!” Hannah says.

Sebastian roars with laughter.

“I told you it would be payback time when I was a vampire, so deal with it,” Andrew says. He gives Hannah a hug taking the sting out of his comment. He’s always adored her.

“Well, I’m embarrassed,” Liam says.

“Don’t be, Liam, I gave up on it. As Helena says, there’s nothing wrong with a healthy sex life,” I say.

“I heard my name,” Helena says from the inside of the door. She is holding Fiona.

“Come in, please,” I raise my voice so she can hear me over the noise in our room. 

Julian, holding Finn, and Helena and her bundle of baby make it a tight squeeze.

“I was just telling Hannah that it’s good that Liam and Andrew have a healthy sex life.”

“Well that’s something I wouldn’t know anything about,” Hannah mumbles.

“You have twins. Your sex life is over,” Aidan says when he pops in.

Now the room is positively stifling.

“Let’s go out on deck,” Sebastian suggests. Considerable shifting occurs as people pass each other.

We extricate ourselves and claim our chairs from the many arranged around the deck. More shifting as everyone finds a comfortable position to recline. Vampires don’t have to worry about the sun. It’s a myth, more of the misinformation out there. But no amount of sun will tan our alabaster skin. The babies have their own furniture shaded by huge umbrellas and guarded by Hades the incarnation of Peter Pan’s Nanna. The yacht doesn’t have a pool on board but when we dock in warmer waters we will take advantage of the swimming.

“Everyone in our room just now, proves our earlier conversation, ma petite,” Sebastian whispers.

“I know, I was thinking the same thing. Let’s talk about it later,” I say glancing at Helena who is staring at us intently.

It will break her heart if we move out. Raising Liam and Andrew will help. They are so newly bitten that they take a lot of care and time. If Bast and I could find a place across the street or next door, it would truly be perfect. The Blvediks’ home would be my choice. It has an indoor pool and is authentically Art Deco Style, my favorite. The mansion we share with our family is Italian Baroque and beautiful but Art Deco is more me. It is also smaller, which is perfect for Sebastian and me. The Blvediks are an old couple and don’t have any children. We might be able to talk them into selling for the right price. I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

I look over and smile at Sebastian and he takes my hand. He looks like he has been doing some calculating in his own head.

I whisper, “The Blvediks’?”

      His chiseled face softens into a grin and he nods. He must be thinking the same thing I am. Excellent.

      “I am going to call my lawyer at the next port, cherie,” he whispers back.

      I smile and then sigh, laying back against my chair to relax in the sunlight. I feel like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders. I didn’t realize how much this has been bothering me.

      So many of our plans, and our life, have been in limbo as we follow Manda’s trail. Other than the wedding plans – which have been mostly subterfuge – thoughts of moving are the first time I’ve really considered our future life together. Someday. I feel the fury at Zoe’s cruelty flare to full flame. I know Hannah and I have to tell Aidan about the vamp fights soon. I’m not sure how to approach it. Maybe at the wedding. It will give me a chance to question King Basilio. I’m not sure he’ll talk to me but I have nothing to lose by trying.

      Helena gives us that look again. With our heightened senses, she can probably hear everything Sebastian and I just said. She is definitely sharp enough to put it all together. I feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. She stares. Finally, she comes over to us.

      “Both of you come with me. Now, please,” she says.

      Sebastian and I look at each other. Helena never talks like this unless she is upset. She leads us along the deck, the farthest we can go without alerting everyone else. This way we can talk and they can’t hear us.

      “I’ll have a martini, a strawberry daiquiri for her and a cognac for the gentleman, please,” Helena tells the bartender.

      We sit down at the bar and Sebastian takes my hand. Helena waits until we get our drinks. The suspense is killing me.

      “Well, I knew it would happen one day. I have to admit, it is getting to be a tight squeeze at home,” she says, with a sigh.

      “You’re not sad?” I ask.

      “Of course I am. But not as broken hearted as you might think. You are thinking of the Blvediks’ house?”

      “Yes,” we both answer.

      “You won’t be able to buy it. They don’t own it and the owner won’t sell it to you.”

      “Why not? Who owns it? I am sure with enough money we can negotiate something?” Sebastian says.

      “Nope.”

      Helena takes a drink of her martini and grins mischievously at us.

      “I bought the house sixty-five years ago just in case something like this happened. I knew I couldn’t stand to be parted from either of you and had hoped that being next door would give you enough privacy.” She is having a good laugh.

      Bast and I sit with our mouths open. What do you say to that? I swear the woman is omniscient. How could she have known Sebastian and I would end up together? 

      “Helena, you said you wouldn’t sell it to us?”

      “That’s right, it’s a wedding present. One I was hoping I wouldn’t have to give you, but all the same, one that I am happy to give.”

      “It’s too much, ‘Lena,” Sebastian sputters.

      He is not used to receiving large gifts. This will be good for him. I can tell Helena is not in the mood to negotiate with Bast.

      “I bought it for almost nothing, dear heart. You can think of it like a godparent buying a savings bond for their godchild. It’s become a good investment for you. I always intended it for you and Lily. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. I had hoped that you would become a couple and I am so happy that is how it has worked.”

      “What happens to the Blvediks?” I ask.

      “They told me a few months ago that they planned on moving out this spring to a retirement village in Florida. I will just offer to pay them a little bonus to move earlier. I’ll call them at the next port and explain the situation. I am sure if I pay their moving and whatever they need they will be amenable.”

      “I don’t know what to say except thank you, Helena.” I reach over and give her a tight hug.

      Sebastian hugs her and kisses her on the cheek.

      “Does Julian know about this?” Sebastian asks.

      “Yes and no. He knows I bought the house next door for an investment, but doesn’t have a clue why. It is going to be hard on him. He might have to leave his library once in a while,” Helena says laughing.

      Suddenly, Julian puts his hand on her shoulder and she jumps.

      “It was never a mystery why you bought that house, my dearest one,” he says kissing her neck. “It is going to put a crimp in my day to have to go out in the sunlight to visit with these two, though.”

      “We will be over too. Probably so much that we should build a connecting doorway,” I say. “But let’s not tell anyone else until we get back home, okay?”

      “Deal. I think some hearts will be broken. Andrew will probably try to butler both houses,” Julian laughs.

      “Oh merde, I didn’t think of that. He is quite attached to you, ma petite.”

      “Well, we’ll deal with that later. We’ll figure something out.” I sigh.

LILITH

      We start stopping in our ports of call. Each one is exotic and exciting. Our plan is that when we stop in ports along the way, Julian and Aidan will make their daily hunting excursions. All of our searching has turned up only traces of the system that took Manda. They remain one step ahead of us. My biggest hope is we find her in time, before the three month time table the Queen gave us. Even that is generous to think we have that much time. I can literally see Aidan start to waste away. I beg Julian to take him somewhere he can rejuvenate when they go searching. He promises he will.

After several days at sea, our first stop is Gibraltar for the day. The history of the area is interesting and the shopping is good. So many countries are represented here. Officially a UK territory, Gibraltar has voted overwhelming to stay that way. Spain has been trying to acquire them for years. At one point they shut down their borders to Gibraltar in a fit of pique. The Gibraltarians are very friendly and have diverse backgrounds. It was a truly pleasurable day of shopping and sightseeing and under the secrecy of the night we jump off the yacht to swim.

Thank the Goddess for Aidan. He assured me that he would send all my purchases home. I’m shopping for the new house and I’m finding all sorts of things to commemorate our wedding cruise. Aidan looks at me funny when I ask him to send vases and rugs home. I find some local artists and buy original artwork for the walls. He doesn’t ask me why I am buying it; he just says my room is going to be full when I get back. 

      After Gibraltar, it is Monte Carlo for some gambling and time in the sun. We spend the day at one of the hotel’s private beaches, basking in the sun or under umbrellas like Helena and the babies. That night we go to the ballet. Barcelona is next and the market there is amazing. We have a day at sea after the whirlwind tour of the last few ports. Next we head to Greece and take a couple of days to tour the islands with their wildness and beauty. After Greece we are in Istanbul, Turkey, and back to Athens before we are at sea again headed to Italy and the end of our trip. I have shopped with Helena and Hannah til I almost tired of it. Amazing art work, Persian rugs of the softest wool and of course I slip in some clothes too.

      “Hannah, you’re spending hours on your laptop. You need to rest, girlfriend. Your babies hardly remember you,” I tell her as I find her nose buried in the computer up on deck.

“Ha ha, funny Lily,” she quips, still not looking away from the computer screen.

“I’m serious, Han. You’ve got to take a break.”

“Manda doesn’t get a break,” she says looking me square in the eye. I drop my head. “Hey, I didn’t mean you aren’t doing enough. You’ve been right next to me most of the time I’ve been looking.” She blows out a big breath and cracks her knuckles, putting the computer to the side.

“I feel like I should be doing more.”

“You’ve still been talking with Aidan everyday?”

“Yeah, we have a few minutes to ourselves every day.”

“I think that is the only thing keeping him going, Lil,” she says to me. Hannah frowns

and pulls her lip in between her teeth.

 “He’s been taking the guys with him to search. He alternates them every day. He says that he’s trying to keep a fresh approach to his tracking, that the guys each may offer a different perspective. He still prefers Julian because of his hunting and tracking experience in the wars.”

“I just can’t not look for her online. You know? I can’t explain it but I feel like if I’m not searching then something bad is going to happen to her.”

“Oh Han, that’s survivor’s guilt. I’m ordering you to take a break to go and play with your babies. You’ll feel better afterward. Go, scooch. I’ll search for a while.”

“Thanks, Lily. I need to see Finn and Fiona to remind me about all the good in the world. It gives me hope.” She leaves at vampire speed to the other side of the deck where Helena and Andrew are holding the babies under Hades’ watchful eye.

I search for the next three hours waiting for Bast and Aidan to return. Still no word, sign or indication that she still exists. Everyone is feeling the pressure to find her soon.

      Despite our search we are able to enjoy parts of the trip. Hannah, Liam, Andrew and I couldn’t get up until the afternoon, so we could dictate our own schedules. It made for lazy days and late nights.

      When we dock in Venice the cruise is over and we prepare for our visit to see the King of Italy. 

“What is the King like?” Andrew asks.

“Like Zoe but much more ruthless, and less progressive,” Sebastian says.

“He is much more ruthless and tied to the old ways than Zoe was. He rules with an iron fist, executing anyone, vampires or humans, that disagrees with him or stands in his way,” Sebastian tells us.

I use my hand sanitizer ten times that afternoon while we get ready. I am obsessive-compulsive besides being a werevamp, but I’m working on it. My OCD only comes out when I am very nervous or stressed. Sebastian tries to reassure me, but mostly he carries my bottle of hand sanitizer around. Aidan often summons some of my favorite kind germ killer. It smells like raspberries and chocolate. I must have a hundred bottles of it around the house but never seem to find one when I need it. Even with Manda missing and his heart torn in two he makes sure everyone is taken care of. His capacity for love is beyond understanding.