Deception (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 3) (12 page)

‘Okay, Sam. I trust you know what you’re doing.’

We sat there for a few more minutes, and then I leaned back away from him and stood up.

‘I have to go. Will you walk me home?’

‘I’d like nothing better than that,’ he replied, standing up and taking my hand. Then he pulled me close to him and kissed me. Only this time, his kiss was like the old days. And there was a passion in him that I hadn’t felt for a very long time. He was Sam again; my Sam.

~ Chapter Fourteen ~

‘Aha! I knew it. That’s why he hasn’t been answering my calls,’ Claire said when she called me for an update later that night. ‘The chicken … he didn’t have the nerve to tell me himself.’

‘You know what men are like, Claire. They don’t like confronting us. In fact, they’ll do anything to avoid it,’ I said, trying to laugh convincingly.

‘Yeah, you’re right there. Ah well, not to worry. I’ll just have to meet someone new then, won’t I?’

She seemed to be taking it in her stride, as I’d hoped she would. After all, she’d been away for four years, and she’d had a number of relationships during that time. She could hardly have expected him to be sitting here, waiting for her.

‘So, what are you going to do? I mean, about getting a job?’ I asked; mostly to change the subject.

‘Oh, Mum’s got some friend at an advertising agency and she’s arranged an interview for me. It’s tomorrow in actual fact. Assistant to an account manager I think she called it—sounds an awful lot like a secretary to me, but who knows. I’ll go and have a chat to them anyway,’ she said.

‘It could be fun … working in an advertising agency.’

‘Yeah, that’s what she said. Anyway, how about drinks this Friday? Remember that place we used to go to … I’d love to go back there.’

‘Sure, okay,’ I said, thinking about the last time I’d had drinks with Claire at that place. I doubted Claire remembered Sam having to chase her suitor off, but I sure did. I’d let him know where we were going, and let him decide if he wanted to keep an eye on us or not.

When I hung up the phone, I realised that it had been ages since I’d seen Crystal—other than just in passing. I rang her number, and she answered immediately.

‘Hi Lili, is everything alright?’ she asked.

‘Hi, Crystal. Yeah, everything’s fine. I just thought I’d ring and say hello, and see if you wanted to have lunch or something. We haven’t really seen each other since I got back from Mladen’s. And I have some photos to show you—from Ceylona.’

‘Oh, that sounds absolutely delightful. We’re free tomorrow, how does that sound?’

‘We?’ I asked.

‘Yes, Angelica and I—we’re free to have lunch tomorrow, if you are. There’s a cute little café near the markets; shall I book us a table, say for twelve-thirty?’

‘Oh, yeah, well, sure,’ I said, a little disappointed that she was including Angelica. I’d been looking forward to seeing Crystal, and being able to talk freely, but I couldn’t exactly say I didn’t want Angelica to join us. ‘Yes, that would be fine, twelve-thirty is good.’

‘It’s called
La Cantina
. We’ll see you there tomorrow. I’m so glad you rang.’

‘Yeah, me too,’ I said, trying to keep the hesitation out of my voice. Oh well, we were a long way from Ben, so I had no reason to be wary of her any longer. Besides, Crystal seemed awfully fond of her, so surely I could try to be nicer to her myself.

~~***~~

When I arrived at the café, I could see Crystal and Angelica already seated at a table at the back so I carefully made my way through the cluttered array of tables.

It was a miserably cold day, so I was dressed for it—jeans, boots, a heavy jumper and my black hoodie over the top of it. But Crystal had on one of her saris and Angelica wore a long sleeved yellow tee-shirt with a light weight lacy jacket over the top of it. Both dhampiras seemed oblivious to the weather.

‘You’re looking well, Lili. I’m so glad you rang. It’s wonderful to finally have a proper catch up,’ said Crystal as she stood up and hugged me.

Angelica didn’t stand, but smiled sweetly. ‘Yes, Lili, it is so nice to see you again. Have you eaten here before? The food is simply to die for.’ She laughed wildly for a moment then covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the laughter.

‘No, I haven’t. But everything looks good,’ I replied, giving her a sort of sideways look. She was strange, there was no denying it.

‘Yes, the food here really is quite good. So, how are you?’ asked Crystal, sitting back down and indicating for me to sit next to her.

‘I’m well, thanks.’

‘That’s good. Sam has said as much, but I was feeling that it was time for us to catch up. You’ve been back here a few weeks now. And so … you’ve spoken to Ceylona? Or at least you’ve heard from her?’

‘Yes. She’s written a few times now. And sent photos,’ I answered, pulling them out of my backpack. ‘She’s taken lots of photos, mostly of the dogs. She seems quite settled in. I even think she’s enjoying her classes.’

‘That’s wonderful. Oh yes, she is growing isn’t she?’ Crystal said, looking at the photos.

‘I guess,’ I replied, studying the photos. It was hard to gage her height, but I could see that she had lost even more of her babyish looks, taking on the shape of a young, almost pre-teen girl.

‘Well, it won’t be long until she’s fully matured, I dare say. Two years, tops, even with the slow start,’ said Crystal.

‘You can tell that, from the photos?’

‘Well, I can tell that she’s grown quite a bit since I last saw her, and that was only a month ago. So, she’s growing very quickly now, making up for lost time I daresay. Now, not to change the subject, but Sam tells me you’re looking for a house, so that you two can be together. Is that right?’

I looked at Angelica quickly—I hadn’t really wanted to talk about this in front of her, but it was too late now—I had to answer Crystal. ‘Yes, I’ve been looking at websites trying to find houses worth inspecting. Do you have any ideas?’

‘Hmmm… not really. Just a word of caution, I suppose,’ she said, looking at Angelica who sort of nodded, in an encouraging way. ‘You know that Sam would do anything to make you happy, don’t you—even if it meant risking his own safety?’

Her question caught me off guard, and I’m sure my face showed it. ‘Risking his own safety? What do you mean by that?’

‘Well, just that, I suppose. I mean,’ she said, then lowering her voice to a whisper, ‘these vampires we’re dealing with are pretty bold, occasionally even coming out in broad daylight to abduct people. They are ruthless and calculating, and I daresay they would find it very interesting to see you and Sam coming and going from the same house. It would make you somewhat vulnerable, as a target … or as bait … if they wanted to lure Sam into a trap.’

Again, Crystal looked at Angelica as she finished, and Angelica nodded her head in agreement.

‘Do you mean to say you think they’d be watching him? Watching … us?’

‘Yes. That’s why he moved out of the house. We had this sense of being watched, all the time. We’re very careful now, but still … if they see you and Sam, coming and going from the same property, they’ll pretty quickly work out that you can be used … to catch him.’

I felt a shiver run down my spine as she spoke. Could she be right? That was part of the reason I’d taken Ceylona away in the first place; so his enemies couldn’t use her as bait to get to him. Was I as much of a lure as I’d feared Ceylona would be?

‘But Crystal, surely, I can look after myself. They won’t be able to get to me, if I’m careful.’

‘Careful? Like that day in the gardens, when you approached that vampire because you thought it was Sam? You mean careful, like that?’ she asked sarcastically, her voice no more than a loud whisper.

‘Oh, that,’ I said, remembering the day well and feeling the heat of embarrassment rising to my cheeks. ‘That was stupid, I know. But I’ve learned a lot since then, don’t you think?’

‘I’m just saying it’s risky, Lili, for both of you,’ she said with an air of finality. She looked to Angelica, who nodded her support once again, frowning at me.

‘I guess it never occurred to me,’ I stammered, feeling awkward, and outnumbered.

‘And that’s exactly why I’m mentioning it now; to give you the opportunity to rethink things.’

I sat there, nearly dumbfounded. I’d expected to have a lovely lunch and catch-up with Crystal. I hadn’t expected to be warned against making a home with my husband.

‘So, what are you saying, Crystal? Do you think I should go back to California, until things settle down?’

‘No. I mean, I’m not telling you to do that. Of course, you could decide that for yourself. I’m just saying that it might not be safe for either of you to have a house together, in view of those that might be trying to harm one or the both of you.’

‘So, you’re saying I should leave.’

‘Or you could simply stay with Debs … until things settle down. We may get things under control, and back to a manageable state, sooner rather than later. And then next year either Ben or Henry, if not both of them, should be ready to join us. That will give us a much greater coverage of the area. Sam might not need to be so close … you could find somewhere a little less … conspicuous.’

‘Ben and Henry? Coming here?’ I hadn’t really thought much about where they would go, but I hadn’t thought of them coming here.

‘Why yes, of course. The idea was that they’d come here and Michael and I would work with them for a time, then when we’re satisfied that they’re ready, we’d move on to another area for a few years. Ben, Henry and Angelica should be well and truly capable of protecting this area, under normal circumstances.’

I looked at Angelica and she was smiling, and I had to fight to keep my voice even.

‘Of course, I mean, yes, I do remember you saying you would leave at some stage.’ So, Ben wasn’t safe from Angelica yet after all. And by the look on her face, she knew exactly what I was thinking.

Crystal smiled at me, then reached out and took my hands in hers. Her hands were cool, and her touch was as light as a feather.

‘Now, Lili, you won’t say anything to Sam about this, will you? He’ll just deny that it matters, and say that I’m being overly cautious. But I truly believe you would be putting him, and yourself, at risk.’

‘So, does that mean we shouldn’t be meeting in the gardens either then? I’ve been sitting with him after I run in the mornings.’

‘It’s probably not such a good idea, not regularly anyway. You just never know who could be watching,’ she said, looking at Angelica for confirmation. Angelica didn’t speak, but just nodded encouragingly.

The waiter arrived to take our orders, so I quickly scanned the menu and ordered the grilled calamari with a rocket side salad, even though I no longer had much of an appetite. After he’d taken the orders and gone, I sat quietly as Crystal and Angelica chatted about how they’d spent the morning at the hospital visiting the lonely elderly patients. It seemed that Angelica was learning more from Crystal than how to kill vampires; she was also learning compassion. And even though I knew this was a good thing, I could feel the sharp claws of jealousy grasping me once again. Crystal was my friend. I should be going on these visits with her.

I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts, and then brushed some imaginary hair away from my face to cover up the movement. I had wanted to speak to Crystal about Sam; to ask her opinion about his behaviour and seek her reassurance that things would work out. But now, with this news that Crystal felt it wouldn’t be safe for us to share a home, I was even more scared that our relationship would deteriorate further. But I couldn’t talk to Crystal. Not today anyway; not in front of Angelica.

‘Oh,’ said Crystal, breaking the silence, ‘Angelica and I were thinking of going up to Olinda on Sunday. We thought we’d poke around in the shops, and then have some Devonshire Tea afterwards. Why don’t you join us? It’ll be fun. It’s always so lovely up there in winter … the cold wet weather keeps the tourist numbers down a bit. Come with us. You could probably use a girl’s day out.’

‘For the whole day? Aren’t you concerned … about being away all day like that?’

‘No … the boys are on high alert. And if we needed to get back in a hurry, it’s not that far. It won’t be a problem,’ she replied.

‘Okay then … I mean, sure, thank you for inviting me,’ I said before I’d really thought it through. I’d already made plans to go to the football with Claire on Saturday, and now to spend Sunday with Crystal meant I wouldn’t be doing much house hunting. But maybe that was a good thing … to give it a rest and think about what Crystal had said.

When we left the café, Crystal and Angelica decided to walk back with me part of the way. We were half way through the gardens when I spotted Tom up ahead not far from Sam’s tree, talking to a woman with long blonde hair. From this distance she reminded me of Claire, although perhaps a bit taller and with longer hair. I called out to Tom, and he looked toward us and waved.

‘Oh there’s Tom. I haven’t seen him since I got back,’ I said to Crystal, pointing toward Tom and waving back.

‘Yes, I see him,’ she said, also waving.

Tom and the woman, who I assumed must be Rebekah, walked toward us, and when Tom reached us he threw his arms around me in a big bear hug, laughing as he said, ‘Welcome home, Lili!’

When he released me, he immediately took a step back and put his arm around the shoulders of the woman next to him and said, ‘Rebekah, this is Lili, Sam’s wife. Lili, meet Rebekah.’

Tom was absolutely beaming as he introduced her. And any wonder; she was simply beautiful. Up close, I could see that while she was like Claire in some ways—with her blonde hair and tanned looking skin—she was more exotic than Claire. I’d always felt that Claire had that girl-next-door innocent look about her, whereas this woman’s looks were much more sophisticated.

‘Lili, it is such a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,’ she said. I caught a slight accent that I couldn’t quite place—European of some sort maybe.

‘It’s very nice to meet you too, Rebekah,’ I replied, genuinely pleased to meet her. They made a good looking couple. Perhaps Tom had finally found someone who would stay the distance.

Crystal stepped up beside me saying hello to Tom and Rebekah, then looked over her shoulder to bring Angelica into the conversation, ‘And Rebekah, you remember Angelica?’

‘Oh, yes of course, Angelica. How nice to see you again,’ said Rebekah, but it sounded wooden, without the warmth I’d heard in her voice when she was introduced to me.

‘Likewise, I’m sure,’ replied Angelica, nodding toward Tom and Rebekah.