The Lie (The Skyy Huntington Series) (14 page)

I was not sure what his feelings were for me, if he liked me as a friend, more than friends, or as a food source, or something totally different that I could not comprehend. He had been nothing but kind and helpful to me though, and I had already hurt one person’s feelings tonight, so I made the effort to put a happy face on and smile. “Did you want to go swimming?” I asked, still stuffed up and puffy eyed from crying.

He nodded at me, “Sure if you’d like to swim I’ll join you.”

I took my stuff up to my guest room and went to change into my swim suit. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I realized that I looked like crap. I made my way back down the hallway and saw Aiden waiting for me by the stairs.

“I’ll change once we get up there,” he said as he began walking towards the other hallway. I wondered what he was talking about.

“When we get up where?” I asked.

He pointed up, as we moved down the hallway leading to his bedroom. He had a pool in his bedroom? We went up the staircase to the third floor of the house, and he opened the door. If the rest of the house amazed me, this area simply flabbergasted me.

It was his own personal sanctuary, and I was 100% sure I was the first human to ever step foot into it. The floor was separated into three rooms, his bedroom, a decent sized living room, and a very large bathroom. Then there was another room which held a small swimming pool and a hot tub, the walls and ceiling were almost entirely made of glass in this area. The room had the metal shades on it to block the light out, but since it was dark and they were lifted, it took my breath away. It was a clear night and I could see the moon and stars shining up above us.

Swimming actually did make me feel a little better. The warm water relaxed my muscles, and got my mind off of things for a short while. Aiden and I made small talk but I knew he could tell my mind wasn’t in it. I was really worried about Christian and not sure how to fix the situation from here on out. After about forty-five minutes I hopped out and grabbed my towel. Even though I slept so late, I was suddenly very tired. I said goodnight to Aiden and made my way over to the guest room to change. Ten minutes later I was sound asleep in the comfortable bed.

Chapter 8

I must have dialed Christian’s number over fifty times the next morning, but couldn’t push the send button. I didn’t know what to say to him. He was really mad at me, and assumed that I was dating someone else. I guess if I were in his shoes that is exactly what it looked like.

The night before was productive in the fact I was able to go through a lot of my grandfather’s old things, but we didn’t find the book or any item that would have led Aiden to believe that someone would break into my house. There was still a lot of space we didn’t cover, and since we called it a night earlier than we had wanted to that meant we were going back again tonight.

Aiden was nowhere to be found when I finally managed to get out of bed and shower. It was close to noon, and I was starving. I made myself a quick breakfast: a bagel and cream cheese with a banana and a glass of milk.

Deciding I wasn’t able to vocally speak to Christian, I opted to text message him instead. I knew he’d be taking his lunch break soon, so I thought I would ask if he wanted to meet up for some coffee or a smoothie. I’d be able to judge from his answer if he was still mad at me.

Over ten minutes passed and I was giving up on getting a reply, when he messaged back saying he would meet me at a local deli that was a block away from his work. That was it, short and sweet. I couldn’t really figure out if he was still mad, but the fact he agreed to see me was a good sign, wasn’t it?

I let Cupcake outside before I left, grabbed my coat and keys then locked up Aiden’s house making sure to set the alarm system on the way out. As much as I tried to relax on the drive to the deli, my palms were sweaty and I was getting fidgety and nervous. I had never had fights with Christian before, not like this anyway. Even though we weren’t dating, this was a big deal. He was already there and inside by the time I pulled up. I sucked in a deep breath, got out of my car and walked inside the deli.

Christian was sitting at a small two person booth in the corner, eating a turkey and swiss grinder. He gave me a sad smile as I shrugged out of my coat and sat down across from him. I smiled back. A simple “Hi,” was all I could squeak out.

He looked back down at his plate, picked up his pickle spear and crunched into it. “Hi,” he said back, with a full mouth. After he swallowed, I saw he was fidgeting with a potato chip on the plate. He was just as nervous as I was apparently. “Do you want anything? A drink or some lunch?” he offered.

I shook my head no, “I just had a late breakfast at home, and I’m full. But thanks for asking,” I smiled at him, as best as I could, and met his eyes.

A few moments passed in that awkward dreaded silence everyone hates, Christian munched a few chips then said, “If this is about last night, I really don’t want to talk about it Skyy.”

I guessed that he probably wouldn’t want to talk about it, but I had to try to make things right. I hated to see him upset. “Well, I won’t keep you very long, but Christian, there are some things I really want to tell you.” I had been thinking on the way over, that I probably should let someone, other than Aiden…someone human anyway…know that I could be in potential trouble. There was no easy way to leave out all the details. Couldn’t just say ‘oh hey by the way I’m socializing with vampires now and someone wants to kill me‘.

Christian just kept looking down at his plate, taking small bites of his grinder, then he nodded, which I assumed was the green light to talk to him.

I took in a deep breath and went for it. “I know what you think you walked in on last night, but I want to tell you, honest to gosh, it is
not
what it seems Christian. Aiden is only my friend, we’ve never been romantically involved. His…job schedule…is odd so he is usually only around at night, and sometimes only late at night.” I paused a moment to figure out where to go from there, when he looked up at me and I could see the anger coming back into his face.

“I get that you have other friends Skyy, but why wouldn’t you have asked me to help you pack up? That is what I was trying to ask last night. I knew Grandpa, I know how hard it must be for you to do. I’d do anything to help you and support you,” he said, as calmly as he could.

So not only was he jealous of Aiden he was hurt that I had left him out in what he considered my time of need.

After a moment, I spoke, being very careful of the words I used. “Christian, it’s more than just the packing. I…well, I might be in some kind of trouble ---” he cut me off mid-sentence.

“Trouble? What kind of trouble, what’s wrong?” he asked in a startled voice. Suddenly all his anger was gone.

“I’m not sure Christian. My house got broken into the other night while I was out with Aiden,” I figured it was ok to stretch the truth a little, this way I could work Aiden into the story, “when he dropped me off at home he saw the front door was ajar and he found a guy upstairs going through the closet in Grandpa’s room.

The two of them struggled but Aiden was able to knock him out, which gave us time to call the police. He mentioned he was looking for something he was told Grandpa had, and he was hired by someone to break in and find it. I’m not sure what kind of stuff Grandpa might have been involved in, but this guy was armed and he meant business.

I just…uh, thought I should let you know Christian. In case anything happens to me. That’s the truth of it. I didn’t tell you because we were on shaky ground as it was and I didn’t want to worry you or upset you. Since Aiden lives down the street and he was there he offered to help me start going through Grandpa’s things and box them up, looking for anything odd or suspicious that this man might have wanted.”

Even with a thick turtleneck sweater on I realized I was shaking and cold. I had to stretch the truth a little bit, and I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t tell him the whole of it.

Christian looked almost panicked. He was sitting there with his brow furrowed in his suit and tie, trying to figure out how to help me I was sure. “Oh my God Skyy.
Why
wouldn’t you tell me something like this? You could have been killed!” I waved my hands to try to calm him down.

“I know, I know. I just…didn’t want to worry you and I knew you were kind of pissed off at me as it was, Aiden just offered. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, and didn’t think you would be coming over with roses and liquor trying to sweep me off my feet while he was there either.” I still felt awful about it.

He nodded his head. “In my defense I did try calling you many times before stopping by. We’ve always just been so close I didn’t think stopping in would be an issue, and I certainly didn’t think you would be dating anyone or I never would have done it.”

“I’m not dating him! Really! I’m not! He is just my friend, and I am glad I had him there the other night when the burglar was there,” I said, in a hurry.

He shot me back a look like he still didn’t believe me. “Yeah, well he is way too good looking to just be around to 'help you' if you ask me. But, jealousy aside I am glad he was there too. What have the police said? Is the man in jail still?” Crap. I didn’t think this far ahead and since we didn’t actually call the police I didn’t know what to say.

I spoke quickly, and tried to change the subject, “Oh, I’m not sure. They gave me some paperwork and I had to answer some questions but it wasn’t a big deal. I’m freezing, I think I want some tea.” I started getting up to go order a cup of tea but he jumped up out of his chair first.

“No no, sit still. I’ll get you some. What kind would you like?” he asked. Just what I counted on, I had to get him off the police questioning.

He came back a few minutes later with a steaming cup of decaf tea and set it in front of me. He glanced at his watch, “I’ve got about eight more minutes until I have to be back to work. But, we need to figure out who’s staying where before I leave.”

I was stirring sugar into the tea looking down. I didn’t want to have to tell him I was staying with Aiden, that would just piss him off even more. But, no sense in lying, he knew I didn’t have any other friends close enough to bunk with.

I sighed, and figured I better get it over with. “I was staying with Aiden the last couple nights. He has a really huge house, pretty much a mansion, it’s really safe and even has a gated drive and an alarm system.” The look that crossed his face for a brief second was pure jealousy. It almost made me laugh but I kept it to myself.

“Well, when I get off work tonight, I’ll come pick you up and you and Cupcake will be crashing with me for a while until we can figure out what is going on. And there is no way you’re going to be staying in your house alone unless we know that guy who broke in is still in jail,” he said it so matter-of-fact.

Well now I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I felt safer staying with Aiden, he knew the
whole
story, and I knew he could protect me better than Christian ever could even on his best day. Not that I didn’t love him for trying, but he was a human, and I didn’t know if whoever was behind this break in was or not. Aiden’s house was also better protected. I figured I could delay him at best, and came up with a plan.

“Look, it’s Wednesday now, you have to finish up your work week. I’ll stay over at Aiden’s until the weekend then I will come crash at your place over the weekend. Hopefully I won’t have to put either of you out that long. I’ll call the police and see what I can find out. Ok?” I looked at him, trying to assure him this was a good plan.

He sighed, clearly unhappy. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t like it Skyy, but if it’s what you think is best then I’ll roll with it. My house isn’t as secure as a mansion with a gate, I’ll give you that…”

He stood up then, putting all his trash onto the tray and dumped it into the garbage can. I grabbed my tea which I was still working on, and walked out to the parking lot with him. He wrapped his arms around me in a big hug. “Promise me you won’t go to your house alone, even in daylight. Please?” he said. I nodded against his chest.

“I won’t, I promise. I don’t have a death wish. I took some clothes and Cupcake’s food over to Aiden’s for now. His house is about as safe as it gets outside the police dept. don’t worry about me I’ll be fine, ok?”

He stepped back from me, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll call you when I get off work later. Maybe we can go out for dinner or something?”

I didn’t know if he was asking me as a concerned friend or if he was asking me in a romantic way. Either way, I hadn’t come this far to make him mad at me again, so I agreed to dinner if that’s what he wanted. We gave each other a quick hug goodbye again and went to our own cars.

Giving him a quick wave, I watched him pull out of his parking spot and out onto the street while reaching into my coat pocket to pull out my cell phone. Damn! Aiden had called me over ten times, and sent me several text messages. I didn’t think he would be up for a while when I left and didn’t think to leave him a note. He was really worried. I shot him back a quick message that I was fine and on the way back to his house. I also had a text from Cate wondering if I was still coming to Boston for the weekend, which totally slipped my mind. I’d have to call her to reschedule, which made me unhappy but there was nothing else I could do about it.

I put the phone back in my pocket and as I was getting ready to back out of my parking spot, I noticed a guy, leaning up against the building staring holes right in me. It gave me chills down to the bone. He had long jet black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, and if I had to guess he was in his early thirties. He was dressed from head to toe in black, wearing a very expensive looking black trench coat over it all. He was almost handsome except for the glare he was giving me. I looked down to shift my car into reverse and in the time it took me to glance down then back to where he was standing, he was gone. It was all too weird to shrug off as a coincidence, and I figured that he was probably a vampire too on top of it. What the hell had my grandfather gotten me into, I wondered, as I drove with haste to Aiden’s house.