Infinitas 1 - Warriors of Faith (11 page)

It was clear to him that she was emotionally confused.
Ever since they’d met, they’d been nitpicking. There’d been no tender moments, only hostility.
She merely seemed to be interested in him because of his tattoos and what had happened between them in the warehouse, she’d analyzed correctly.
It was their nature and didn’t mean anything,

at least not to Sara.
He saw things in a totally different way. Sara had awakened feelings in him, which made him totally lose control.
Every second, he was reminded of her warm body, her kisses and her hands gently stroking his face.
No, for him it wasn’t just something in his nature; for him it was more.
For him, it was in his heart, but that was something he couldn’t possibly tell Sara, let alone show her.

Without being conscious of it, his feet brought him back to Sara’s house.
By the time he opened the front door, his blood pressure had returned to normal and he heard voices coming from the living room.

Sara looked at him and hurried over to him.

»My darling, here you are finally.
Let me introduce you to someone.« She kissed him on the mouth and put her arm through his to pull him into the living room.

Channing was surprised as the scent of a human being drifted into his nose.
He was all the more speechless by the fact that he could recognize the difference.
Still, the dark-haired man standing across from him smelled unquestionably like Homo sapien.

»Channing, this is Philippe. I met him in Paris and he actually managed to find me here in Seattle.« All the while starring intensively into his eyes.

He held out his hand to Philippe.

»Channing McArthur. Welcome, Philippe!«

»Dr. McArthur?«

Channing nodded and put his arm around Sara’s waist possessively.

»What brings you here, Philippe?« he asked in a somewhat arrogant tone of voice and then turned to Sara.

»My darling, you have to change.
We have plans tonight.« She nodded thankfully in his direction.

»Oh, I don’t want to bother you.« Embarrassed, Philippe shifted from one leg to another.

»I just wanted to say a quick hello.
I had promised Sara that we’d see each other again someday.« He turned to go.

»Wait, Philippe, I’ll show you out.«

Sara brought him to the door and then closed it behind them.

»You can stay a little longer if you want!«

»Why should I want to? You lied to me in Paris.«

Philippe’s words were only a whisper.

»Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?« He looked her reproachfully in the eyes.

»I didn’t lie.
I told you that it didn’t make any sense.
Why didn’t you just believe me, Philippe?«

»I didn’t think you were seeing anyone, but you’re actually seeing this Dr. McArthur.
You must have really had a good laugh about that, right!«

»No, Philippe, that’s not true.
Where are you going now? Do you have a place to stay tonight?« She tried to grab his arm but he wouldn’t let her.

»Let me go.
I’m fine alone.
I don’t need your sympathy.«

»Philippe, I didn’t lie to you.
I told you the truth from the start.« But he wasn’t listening to her anymore.

»You’re going to regret this!« he hissed and ran down the steps.

Another promise from Philippe, and Sara knew that it wasn’t an empty threat.

She found Channing in his room.
Without knocking, she entered and walked over to the window to him where he was watching Philippe walk down the street.

»Thank you for helping me out.«

»He smelled like trouble!«

»Yes,« Sara nodded.

»I met him in Paris in front of the Notre-Dame. He’d sketched a portrait of me in a bistro and then brought it over to show me.
He’d managed to find me in your apartment although I had even given him your address.
Exactly like he found me here.
Nothing happened between us, if that’s what you’re thinking.«

Channing turned around and sat down on the bed with his feet stretched out in front of him.

»That’s not what I think ... my apartment in Paris ... I have no memory of it.
What does it look like?«

»It’s beautiful. Full of pictures by famous artists.
It’s a small apartment with a kitchen, living and dining rooms, a bedroom and bathroom. Full of light with large windows, which look out to the Rue de Rivoli. It’s not that far from the Louvre.«

»Why did I have an apartment in Paris?«

Sara turned away from the window and sat down on the other end of the bed with Channing.

»You’ve completely lost your memory?«

He nodded in silence.

»You wrote in an email that you work as a historian in a museum and came to Seattle to look into pieces for an exhibit.
You’ve got two diplomas hanging on your wall, one in English and the other in Art History.
I don’t know where you worked. Maybe at the Louvre because of where you lived.
If you want, we can fly to Paris and you can take a look at it.«

»I’m not sure if I want to know all this.
Right now, I have no idea what to do.
I don’t even know where I belong.«

»You belong with us. This is your home.
We need someone like you who knows a lot about history.
You will lead us.«

Channing’s mouth twisted into a smile. »Well, as a fighter I’m more of a dud.«

»A great leader doesn’t always have to be a good warrior.«

»I don’t think that I can lead you.
I won’t be of much help to you.«

Sara moved closer to him. »But you can’t leave us.
You are destined to lead us and you belong to me.«

Channing glanced up and looked her in the eyes, which were starring back at him.

»Who says? You?«

Sara lifted her chin and nodded.

»Yes, that’s what is written and until now, everything written in the
Diarium
has happened.
You can fight against is as hard as you can, but it won’t do any good.«

Channing shook his head.
»And what if I don’t want any of this?
If I can’t stay or if I don’t want you?« When he said this, Sara’s eyes flashed dangerously and she began to move slowly towards him, smoothly like a tigress on the hunt, and then sat down on his legs.

»Did I understand you correctly? You don’t want me?«

Her eyes were fixed on him and a soft growl emerged from her throat.
Sara’s proximity made Channing’s blood pulsate and he was breathing hard. She came closer and paused right in front of his lips.

»Just to make sure I understand you correctly.
You really don’t want me?«

Instead of giving her an answer, Channing pulled her body down towards him and kissed her.
First only softly to see if she would resist, but when she returned his kiss, he gently stroked her face with his finger.
He rolled over on top of her on the bed to avoid letting her control things this time, running his lips down her neck and shoulder.

When Sara moaned loudly, a smile passed over his lips.
She slipped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him as close as possible.
He felt how her body moved with his and how she pressed her round breasts into his chest.

Channing had to muster all his energy to lift up his head and look her in the eyes.
Sara squirmed impatiently underneath him.

»So, you really think this is all happening because it’s written in your sacred book?« She wasn’t in the position to express herself clearly so she just nodded, tossing her hair back and forth.

»Then it’s happening because of the tattoos on our bodies are telling us to?« He kissed her softly on her temple, looking down the length of her neck.

»Where is your tattoo then? Not on your chest and back, is it? At least I can’t see it there.« When he reached for her pants, Sara let out a sound of surprise and Channing paused a moment.

»You’re right.« He stopped abruptly and got up off the bed.
»I should find that out another time.« With those words he left the room, leaving Sara alone and confused on the bed.

Eva steered the Audi towards downtown and stopped a little ways from the Empire.
She parked the car and turned off the engine.

»Not a single scratch,« she said turning to Shia.
He nodded, pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently.
His hands ran down her shoulders and he could feel how her body immediately pressed closer to his.

»I don’t want to leave you alone now,« he whispered to her. »Not here, Eva!«

She pulled herself away from him. »Why not?«

»This is the place where we fought those creatures last night.«
His voice had lost all its emotion. »I will definitely not leave you alone here.«

»Shia, I’m a Lieutenant in Homicide and not a bureaucrat. My colleagues are waiting for me a few hundred yards from here.
What’s going to happen to me?«

»This area is crawling with creatures.
What did you actually find here?«

»Two male bodies where found in the trash cans behind the club.«

»Had their blood been drained?

Eva shrugged her shoulders. »I have no idea.«

»I won’t leave you alone.
Take me with you!«

»Shia, this is a crime scene.«

»Tell them I’m your brother.«

»That won’t work.
I don’t have a brother.«

»Then tell them I’m a colleague from L.A.«

Eva looked at him. »Shia, you don’t know what it means to me that you’re so worried about me.
No one has ever been that way. It’s unbelievably sweet, but you can’t come with me.
I have to go.« She tried to open the door, but Shia held her back.

»Eva, that wasn’t a request.
I won’t let you go alone.«

Eva seemed to lose her cool for a second, but then she reached into her purse and handed something to Shia.

»Here, put this on your belt.« He looked down at a police badge.

»It belonged to my late husband.
I’ve kept it with me as a reminder,« she explained quickly. »Do you have your weapon with you? Of course, what a question! Wear it so that it can be seen.«

He looked at her puzzled.

»Wouldn’t this be impersonating an officer?« Eva shrugged her shoulders. »More like reincarnation!«

She climbed over the yellow tape with Shia behind her.
A police officer held the both of them back until Eva showed her badge.

»Who do we have here, Esposito?« Eva asked in a harsh tone of voice.

Her partner, a small Mexican-American, looked over at her sternly.

»No unauthorized access.«

»He’s with me! Esposito, allow me to introduce Shia Keane, he’s a colleague of mine from L.A. We worked together on the same unsolved cases.«

When she mentioned Shia’s name, Cruz Esposito looked up interested.

»Shia, this is my partner Esposito.«

While they were shaking hands, Shia flashed the golden badge and the weapon under his jacket for a second, so that Esposito registered them, but couldn’t see them in detail.

»We have two men who worked at the club, employed as bouncers. Like before, bodies beyond recognition, covered in bites and blood drained.
We are waiting for the evidence team to finish up, but I’m not gonna get my hopes up that they’ll find anything.«

Eva walked up closer to the dumpster and looked in at the two bodies which had been thrown into it like trash. The arms and legs grotesquely twisted, the eyes frozen in terror and the skin pale and gray.
She looked over at Shia who was subtly shaking his head.

»The cleaning crew from the club found then around eight o’clock this morning.«

Shia looked at his watch.
It was already 8 p.m. »Hey, you’re wearing a Breitling Bentley,« shouted Eva’s partner in surprise.

Eva frowned. »What’s so interesting about that?«

Esposito scratched his chin. »They cost about eight thousand dollars.«

»Fourteen thousand, nine hundred, to be exact.
It’s a steel Flying B Chronograph,« explained Shia. Esposito whistled through his teeth and Eva threw the both of them a dirty look. »What do you guys earn in L.A.?«

»Esposito, I think you can handle this alone.
I’ll take Shia home before you two exchange underwear brands.
See you tomorrow!« Then she turned to Shia and said, »Go ahead to the car.
I’ll be right there.«