Authors: Heather C. Hudak
“Sorry to have sprung her on you like that,” Balthazar broke in. “I asked her to wait until I had a chance to make you comfortable with the idea before introducing the three of you, but, as you can see, she’s just so excitable that once she sets her mind on something, she just has to see it through.”
“Back up a minute,” I said, placing my palms flat on the table and aggressively pushing myself upright, the chair wobbling behind me. “What did you mean when you said that you wanted to ‘make us comfortable with the idea?’ what idea?”
Thanks to Chip’s outburst, I had a good idea what the idea was already, but I needed to clarify with Balthazar to be sure. Regardless, I was certain I was not going to like what I was about to hear.
“First, let me say that I tried to contact both Chaseyn and Mina to warn them of the dangers here, but I could not reach either one,” he said.
I wasn’t surprised. Sure, Balthazar looked like a modern-day mountain man, but I was fairly certain that he was much more antiquated than his appearance suggested. If the elders were seeking his help in recruiting new members to the Soldiers of Solace, my guess was that he was nearing elder status himself--making him several centuries old, if not more. That knowledge made me believe that he tried to contact Chaseyn and Mina using a landline or snail mail at best. During the summer break, they would be traveling, as well, and not bothering to check their home phone or mail for messages. Why would they when there was texting, cell phones, and emails? I pushed aside my thoughts for the moment and focused again on what Balthazar was saying.
“I had to find another way to protect you, so I am sending Chip along with you,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and giving us his best cheesy grin, hoping to lighten the mood.
“You’re what?” Eli asked in utter shock. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t figured it out earlier. It was no surprise to me, and I expressed so much in the look I gave Eli. “Okay, I get it. I’m an idiot for not figuring it out.”
“She can’t come with us, Balthazar. How will we explain her to Addie?”
“You leave that to me, Lia. By the time you meet up with her on Tuesday, all of the details will be sorted. Until then, all I ask is that you keep yourself safe.”
Before we could respond, the two goons were back at the doorway. Balthazar remained inside the room, pacing back and forth in thought. He bid us a polite farewell and signaled the guards to guide us back to the bar. This time, instead of winding back around the dark, narrow corridor, they led us through a nearby entrance that opened onto a side street.
“Seriously? We couldn’t have used this route on the way down?” I said with no effort to hide my irritation.
“Balty seems like the kind of guy who likes to include a bit of drama in his actions,” Eli replied.
“Make it melodrama, and you’d hit the nail on the head.”
We followed the goons around to the front entrance, where, once inside, they pointed out Addie’s location amongst the bold, beautiful, and undead before they retreated to the underbelly of the establishment. Addie loved being doted on, especially by pretty people. She wanted so desperately to be accepted by them that she would do anything they asked of her. Fortunately, we arrived before they had a chance to figure this out about her. Despite the fact that Balthazar was supposedly looking out for my better interests, I was skeptical of the people he had in his employ. There was no way I was ready to trust a bunch of vampires with my best friend.
Chapter 10 - Rest
“Addie,” I shouted exuberantly as I approached the barstool where she was precariously perched amid a bevy of unnaturally beautiful people. She was soaking up the attention as they fawned over her every move. She was oblivious to the fact that they had been planted there in an effort to keep her in the dark about why Eli and I had mysteriously disappeared. “I’m so sorry we took so long.”
“Long?” she looked at me puzzled. “Don’t be silly. You haven’ been gone long at all.”
“When did you get back here?” Eli asked, knowing she must have been sitting there for the better part of an hour.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, waving a hand carelessly through the air. “I barely noticed you were gone.”
Addie turned her attention back to the blond-haired boy who was absent-mindedly caressing the fingers on her right hand. Another boy, this one with a fall of dark waves, stood behind Addie, massaging her shoulders and stroking her hair. No wonder she had lost track of time. Addie’s better half, Rob, was the definition of boy next door. But these delicious creatures--and don’t be mistaken, that’s exactly what they were--were anything but ordinary. In addition to possessing ethereal good looks, their movements were fluid like that of water running over river rocks. Shrouded in mystery, their seductive charms were impossible to ignore. Even knowing what they were, I found it difficult to keep from falling under their spell.
“We have to go, Addie,” I said, pulling her to her feet. The look on her face suggested that she was about to throw a child-like tantrum, and I was in no mood. “Now.”
As reluctant as she was to leave her entourage, Addie understood the authoritative command in my tone. Grabbing her purse, she blew a kiss at the two boys who had been attending to her needs, bowed her head at the remaining members of the group, and stumbled behind me as I dashed toward the door. Standing on the curb, she could no longer refrain from giving me a piece of her mind.
“Why did you make me leave?” she snapped angrily. “I put up with it back home, but I’m not going to do it any more.”
“Do what?” I asked, anger betraying my voice.
“It was your fault that we never hung out with the popular crowd in school,” she explained, her eyes cold and voice shaky. “You were always content to be on the sidelines, and you’re my oldest friend, so I was happy to stand there with you. But, we could have ruled the school.”
I stood there looking at Addie in wide-eyed confusion. Never in all our years of friendship had she indicated that she was unhappy with our position in the class system at school. Sure, she would joke about it from time to time, and when I went through a bout of sleeplessness last year that had left me extra time in the mornings to look my best, she had hinted at the fact that I was positioning us to take the reins. Still, I had never known that she had wanted so badly to rise to the top of the popular clique.
“Where is this coming from?” I asked, upset that she was making such a show of it now, but she just turned on her heel and stomped away. I thought about running after her, but instead, I sat down on the curb.
“Don’t worry about it, Lia,” Eli said soothingly, wrapping his arm around my exposed shoulder. “It’s not her talking--I think they slipped something in her drink.”
“They didn’t. But, thanks,” I whispered, my eyes staring holes into her back as she walked away. He squeezed my shoulder tight, and I leaned into the warmth of his embrace.
“It’s been a long day, and everyone’s grouchy,” he said standing up and pulling me to my feet. “Let’s get some rest, and things will be better in the morning.”
I nodded, wrapping my arm around his as we followed Addie from a reasonable distance.
***
Morning came too soon. While unpacking my bag the afternoon before, I had stumbled across the travel alarm clock I had tucked in a side pocket of my backpack. With the best of intentions, I had set the alarm for a startlingly early hour. With only two days to take in all that London had to offer, I didn’t want to waste any of the daylight--and that was before I knew I was being tracked by vampires, albeit friendly vampires, but vampires no less. Now, as the high-pitched bleating blared through the tiny room, I was regretting my decision immensely.
“What the?” Eli mumbled, his voice hoarse with sleep. “Where is that racket coming from? And would someone stop it?”
My arm flailed wildly in the direction of the bedside table, but it never connected with the source of the excruciating sound. I opened my eyes to take a look around, but when they met with the bright rays of sun that were shining through the barely there curtains, I squinted against the throbbing pain it caused in my head.
“Agh,” I grumbled at the clock as I rolled onto my side, pushed myself upright, and then planted my feet on the floor. “Fine. You win. I’m up.”
When I finally found the clock, I stared angrily at the numbers that glared back at me. A bright red eight and two zeroes. What had I been thinking? At any rate, it was too late to undo the damage, and I stumbled to the bathroom. As I splashed cold water on my face, I could hear the others grumbling just outside the door. At least they had finally found common ground on one subject--their mutual despise at my early morning wake up call. To drown out the sounds of their rants, I decided to hop in the shower and give them time to overcome their issues.
When I realized what was involved in taking a shower in our cramped quarters, I almost changed my mind. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed before--perhaps, my excitement at being overseas or my extreme jetlag had overshadowed the inadequacies of the situation, but now it was impossible to avoid. The shower consisted of nothing more than a long tube attached to the end of a faucet sticking out from the tile wall just above the toilet. Doing a slow circle, I soon realized that the entire two foot by two foot space was covered in tile from floor to ceiling. There was a drain in the centre of the floor. With the door closed, the room effectively became the shower stall.
“Ewww,” I shouted, dashing back into the sleeping area with nothing but a towel wrapped around me.
“Suddenly, I feel wide awake,” Eli smiled wryly as he took in my nearly naked body. I picked up a nearby pillow and tossed it at his head. “I deserved that.”
“What now?” Addie asked, still irritated with me.
“You don’t want to know,” I said, staring through the door of the bathroom in an effort to determine the best course of action. If I maneuvered carefully around the sink, I could effectively avoid touching the toilet as I washed. I stepped back inside without saying another word. She would figure it out on her own soon enough. The thought made me smile.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, when I had finished up in the bathroom and Addie had made her way inside, I heard the familiar sounds of disgust and knew that she had discovered the cause of my earlier upset. Again, the sound made me smile, and I felt a little bit like a bad friend…but only a little bit. Addie was a lot to handle, after all, and I had put up with my fair share.
It took Addie the better part of an hour to complete her routine, at which time, Eli, who had been waxing poetic about his rumbling tummy for the entire duration, graciously took his place in the bathroom. He was out in five--a man on a mission.
“Let’s eat,” he said, pointing his fingers at the door and beckoning us to follow suit.
After we had satisfied our hunger pains, we took to the top row of a double-decker bus and began a whirlwind tour of the city. At Eli’s request, we had decided to forego most of the museums in favor of the traditional tourist photo stops. To be honest, I was relieved. Staring at ancient artifacts held little interest for me when compared to trying to make the guards with the funny hats laugh. They never did.
First stop: Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. When we arrived, moments before the fanfare started, thousands of people lined the streets. It was all we could do to get within a block of the place.
“I knew I should have set the alarm earlier,” I said, disappointed that we could barely see the tops of the guards’ heads as they passed by. If looks could kill, I’d be struck down where I stood. Both Eli and Addie gave me glares that suggested I should not test my theory by setting the clock to go off any earlier the next morning. In fact, if I had taken the hint, I wouldn’t be setting an alarm at all.
“This is way cool,” Eli said, a huge grin flashing across his handsome face.
“It’s way better when you’re up front,” Addie chimed in her two cents. Of course, she had seen it all before and from front row no doubt. She had barely said two words to me all morning, and I wasn’t about to let her bring me down. I had enough on my mind without thoughts of what had happened between us the night before adding extra weight to my already-sagging shoulders.
I didn’t want to worry Eli, and there was no way I could let on to Addie that anything was wrong, but after learning about the Soldiers of Solace the night before, it was hard for me to think of much else. The alarm had startled me awake in the morning, but I had only fallen asleep a short while before it began to bleat. Most of the night, I had lain awake pondering what it all meant for me.
Alexei could be looming around any corner, and I would be none the wiser for it. The fact that he could stalk me so stealthily had hit home when I realized that we had been unsuspectingly trailed through all of Soho by multiple vampires. And, that those vampires could use their “charms” to manipulate others into assisting their every whim. It was all very disconcerting.
On top of fearing for my mortality, I had to find a way to right what had gone wrong during Addie’s selfish assault on our friendship--all on a few hours sleep. I felt my body suddenly heat up and black spots fade across my vision, and the next thing I knew, I was propped up on a bench in a park across from the palace.
“What happened? Where am I?”
Panic was all I could feel as I whipped my head around in search of a familiar face. I was certain that I had become victim to my own worst nightmares as they had played out in my head while the others enjoyed the spectacle at the palace.
“It’s okay, Lia,” Addie whispered, petting my head. Her hand was weighted with moisture--presumably sweat from my brow. “You passed out, but Eli caught you before you hit the ground. I guess it’s a good thing he’s here after all. There’s no way I could have carried you over here on my own.”
“I fainted?”
Eli was now staring into my eyes nodded feverishly, clearly relieved that I had regained consciousness.