Miss Me When the Sun Goes Down (24 page)

Though I really liked Jarrod and Leander’s new club Nightshade, some nights I wanted to keep a lower profile and get a quiet drink.  On those nights I preferred the Bleeding Hart.  I still got my own private table and free drinks, but fewer people came up to petition me for advice and nobody ever badgered me to sing.  

The rest of the family had gone out for drinks and a late movie, but I begg
ed off, wanting something less crowded.  Truth be told I’d been trying to get Rob alone, where I could talk to him, and I thought a quiet drink with just the two of us would be the perfect setting.  Rob wanted to stick close to the house, but agreed to a drink or two as long as we agreed to come straight home afterwards. 

He seemed more at ease around me again
.  Maybe it was the beer, but he didn’t clam up when I tried to draw him out.  I got him talking about Pandora’s Cross, his favorite watering hole back in England, and some of his exploits with his mates.

It was almost like a date, but not.  Especially when he excused himself to sit at the bar after Jarrod came to pay his respects.  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything?” Jarrod asked, noticing Rob’s rapid retreat as well.

“No, not at all, have a seat,” I smiled, not wanting to broadcast Rob’s issues to anyone.  Jarrod took the seat opposite me and talked my ear off about all the nuts and bolts of the new club and how it was well on its way into the black ahead of schedule.  I’m not sure why they assumed I wanted to know all the ins and outs of the business, but I smiled and nodded, making noises at the appropriate pauses like I knew what the heck he was going on about. 

Every once in a while I’d catch Rob’s eye and he’d raise his beer or give me a quick wink and I started to think he hadn’t left because he felt awkward around me, it was because all that business talk was dull as dishwater.  As my attention started to wander, I thought about
sneaking away with Rob to try and recapture some of that open communication at a late night coffee shop or something. 

I was about to give my apologies to Jarrod and call it a night when Rob appeared at my side, gently drawing me away by the elbow.  “It’s time to go.”

I couldn’t help but feel a secret thrill that he’d been thinking along the same lines.  “I know, but first I need to say goodnight…”

“No, it’s time to go now.”  He gave a pointed look to a woman who stood just inside the entrance, her head canted to one side as she studied its occupants.  Little more that a girl really, I guessed her to be around twenty years of age, with long
, honey brown hair that spilled loose around her shoulders.  She wore a gauzy dress in a muted floral pattern that reached below her knees with an oversized man’s cardigan sweater, the color of moss, that dwarfed her arms.  Despite the chill in the air outside, her feet were bare. 

“Table for one?”  Charisse approached the girl with a smile when she hovered by the entrance.

The girl’s eyes remained distant for long seconds before she focused on the pretty waitress.  “One is the loneliest number,” she replied cryptically, the burr of an English accent shaping her words.

“Ah… yes, I suppose it is,” Charisse nodded.  “Um, so, will someone else be joining you then?”

The girl’s face brightened with a glorious smile, her dark eyes shining with happiness.  “Soon it will be time for dancing and presents, and treacle tarts if we’ve been good.  I’ve been good, have you?  The Lady always knows if you’ve been naughty or nice.” 

Charisse blinked at her, not quite sure how to reply to that.

“Come on, we’d better get her out of here.”  Rob propelled me towards the door, letting go to exchange his hold for the girl’s elbow.  “Time to go, Bits.”  Without waiting for a response he herded her out the door, expecting me to follow.

“She always knows,” the girl called back over her shoulder to Charisse who stared after her,
utterly perplexed.  I gave her a helpless shrug, following after them before I died of curiosity.

“You were supposed to meet us at the house, I gave you the address.”  Rob’s voice was stern as he led us to his sedan.  I followed along, watching the exchange with confusion.  Who was this girl?  And why was Rob so hot to get her out of there?  She seemed a little touched in the
head to me.

“Robby!”  The girl cried out in delight as though she’d just noticed Rob for the first time.  “I was making friends, did you see?”

“You’ll have to make friends another day, we got serious business to attend to.  We work before we play.”

“You invited her over to my house?  Who is she?” I asked, about to climb into the back seat when Rob tossed me his keys.  Since when had I turned into the chauffeur?  Rob ignored my questions while he fastened the girl’s seatbelt like a child.

“She shines, Robby.  She shines bright like the light of the world.”  The girl’s eyes fixed on me, a touch of wonder in her voice. 

“Yeah, I know, Bits.  That’s why we’re helping her.  Let’s go,” he urged when I sat there watching them in the rearview mirror.

“I’ll bet you’re delicious,” she added conversationally, leaning forward in her seat, the look in her eye sending a shiver down my spine.  Human, but not… my senses told me, just like Rob.     

“Now hold on, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.  Who is she and why does she think I’m all shiny and delicious,
Robby
?” I demanded, feeling more than a little nervous with them both at my back.

“It’s alright.”  Rob’s tone was placating, but his impatience was clear.  “She’s my sister.”

His sister…  Besides the accent, now that I looked for it, I could see a similarity around their eyes and perhaps they shared a fluidity of movement.  The girl’s limbs possessed a willowy suppleness and Rob’s muscular form a lethal grace, each appealing in their own way.  “Your sister?”

“Anja, this is my sister Leila, Leila this is Anja Evans.  Now can we go?”

“Alright, alright, hold your horses.”  My brows drew together, still not understanding the reasons behind Rob’s impatience.  I didn’t miss the use of my real name, not the alias I operated under in town.  “Nice to meet you, Leila,” I nodded at the girl in the mirror as I pulled out of the parking space, but Leila looked out the window, already having lost interest in the conversation.  The ride home was a silent affair, with me trying to puzzle out why Rob had sent for his strange sister and why he was so eager to get Leila to my place.

Leila’s attention remained fixed on the scenery outside until we approached the sprawling house and then she sat staring at the building, her eyes wide as saucers.  “No…” she whispered.

Rob got out of the car, coming around to Leila’s door.  “Come inside, we’ll have a nice cuppa tea and you can warm up a piece,” he began in a cajoling tone.

A shake of the head was given, her eyes wide with fear.  “There’s blood on the walls… blood on the walls and blood on her soul.” 

Blood on the walls?  I stared at Leila in shock, not so sure I wanted her in the house after all.  Clearly she wasn’t all there. 

Rob wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders.  “Come on like a good girl.  Nothing left here but a memory of what was.  Nothing to hurt you, dead and gone now, see?”  His cadence changed when he spoke to her, taking on an almost singsong quality as he pulled her from the car and propelled her towards the house.  I followed along behind, giving them a wide berth, prepared to bolt if she turned the least bit violent. 

Leila allowed him to lead her to the house, though her reluctance was still clear to see.  Laying her hands against my front door, she closed her eyes, breathing becoming erratic.  Her head twitched in jerky movements until finally she calmed, her eyes popping open.  “Gone… dead and gone,” she nodded, the fear fading from her eyes.  “Do you have any biscuits?” 

“Got a whole cupboard full.”  Rob gave her a rare smile, unlocking the door and opening it wide.  Leila returned the smile with a sunny one of her own, stepping across the threshold as though nothing was amiss.

“What just happened here?”   There were so many questions I didn’t know where to start.

“I may have mentioned before, my sister’s got the Sight
.” A half shrug was given.  “She could tell there’s been blood shed here, she’s a mite sensitive to things like that.”

“The sight?  Do you mean she can see the future?”  I’d always thought that would be a handy gift to have.  Maybe not as cool as compulsion, but possibly more useful. 

“Past, present, future – Leila sees things most people can’t.  It tends to… skew her perception a bit.  It just wants a little getting used to is all.  I sent for her to help secure your home.”

“She’s a security expert as well?” I scoffed, eyes following the girl who wandered through the house looking for the kitchen.  “Wait, she’s the specialist you sent for?”  I couldn’t wait to see what she dreamed up to make the place more secure than it already was. 

“Even better,” he said, eyes shining with pride.  “By the time she’s through with this place, won’t so much as a mouse be able to get in without your express invitation.”

My estimation for the girl went u
p a notch, though I was still vague on what she was actually going to do.  “How’s she going to manage that?”

“I imagine she’ll want to give the place a good look over.  I’d better keep an eye on her.”  I followed after him as he unerringly tracked his sister down, finding Leila standing in the middle of Ellie’s bedroom, her eyes staring sightlessly into space.

“She burns with hunger…” Leila murmured.  “It eats at her soul so that she itches on the inside of her skin.”  Her own fingers raked at her face.

“What’s she talking about?” I whispered, more than a little unnerved by the vacant stare of her eyes.  The
paint looked a tad shabbier since we’d scrubbed the blood off the walls, but other than that it looked like any other teenage vampire’s room.

“Nothing.  It’s almost time, Bits.  You should get ready,” Rob spoke quietly.

“Do you have everything I’ll need?” 

“Course I do, what do you think I am?”  The corner of his mouth quirked in amusement.  “Excuse us won’t you?”  Rob led her out of there, leaving me with more questions than when I’d walked in.

They were in the middle of some pretty elaborate preparations when I got downstairs, so I went into the kitchen to put on the kettle, remembering he’d said something about a cup of tea.  After the water came to a boil, I went out to ask what kind of tea they wanted and found Leila sitting on the floor in the front parlor within a five pointed star surrounded by a circle drawn on the polished wood floor in black charcoal.  The tang of burning herbs hung heavy in the air and I noticed a bundle of smoking leaves lying on a metal plate that contained two candles, one black and one orange.  Afraid to speak for fear of breaking the spell, I came to stand beside Rob but Leila beckoned to me.

“You have to join me in the circle.”  Taking care not to muss the star, I went to her obediently after an encouraging nod from Rob.  “Sit here across from me.”  Leila smiled that glorious, sunny smile and I did as she asked, mimicking her pose and sitting cross legged on the wood floor.  “Now give me your hands.”

I darted a last nervous look to Rob and placed my hands into Leila’s.  With a mere glance, the candles burst into flame and she began an incantation in a language as old as time itself.

“Fra utover dette lyset lyset
…”
 

While my ears didn’t recognize the words themselves, the meaning was clear as day to me as I sat linked to the witch. 

From beyond this candlelight

Wax and herb now bring me power

Protect me and mine

Make this house a bastion of safety

None shall pass with evil in his heart

None shall hold sway over me but what I give them

As I will it so mote it be.

A rush of wind lifted my hair and I felt the power swirling around us, gathering, waiting to be released. 

“With me,” I heard Leila’s voice in my mind, “say it with me.”

I opened my mouth to object that I didn’t know the proper words to say, but instead the incantation rose to my lips as though I’d learned it like the
Pledge of Allegiance.  We repeated the words to the spell in the strange language again twice more, and then when the last line hung heavy in the air,
“Idet Jeg vil den så lage den være,”
Leila’s head flung back and the full force of the spell was released into the air. 

I moaned with the intensity of it, my entire body tingling as the power enveloped me and I became part of it.  In the space of a few heartbeats, it was over and I felt drained but still hyperaware as I saw the world with new eyes.  All of the colors in the room
were richer and I could see a nimbus of golden energy around Leila.  I gave her a serene smile – it had worked.  I could feel the strength in my house now, and I wondered that I could feel such a thing. 

Then Leila pulled her hands away and everything
returned to normal again, and I missed it with an instant longing.  Was that the way she saw the world all the time?  What would it be like to feel so connected all the time?