Cursed (Book 1, The Watchers; Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (27 page)

“And you didn’t
tell me?” Tara whispered to me.  I could tell she was having a hard time
keeping her self under control.  What she really wanted to do was ask me a
hundred questions but even she knew doing that would be rude to do in front of
our guest.

“Come on in,
Malcolm.  Are those for me?” I asked stretching out my arms to take the bouquet
of roses from him.

 He handed me the
flowers and gave me a wink.  I just rolled my eyes at him.  I guess this was
his way at playing it normal.

Tara finally
stepped back from the doorway to let Malcolm into the apartment.

“I hope I didn’t
interrupt your breakfast,” he said seeing the food on the table.

“Would you like
some?” Tara offered.  “We’ve got leftovers.”

“That would be
very kind of you, thank you Tara.”

While Tara went to make a plate, I whispered to Malcolm, “Can you eat real food?”

“Of course, it’s
just not my choice of sustenance,” he whispered back.

I retook my seat
and Malcolm sat across from me.

“So what brings
you by, Malcolm?” Tara said sitting a plate of bacon, eggs and biscuits in
front of him at the table.

“I came to see if
Lilly would be free today.  I have some business on the coast and I thought she
might like the diversion.”

“Oh that sounds
like fun.  You should go,” Tara urged me with a lift of her eyebrows.  “What
sort of business are you in?”

“I own one of the
casinos down there.”

“You what?” Tara asked, sure she had heard wrong.

“Well, I don’t own
it alone of course, but my partners are pretty silent.  I have to go down there
on occasion to make sure the manager is handling things to my satisfaction.”

“So do you live
here in Lakewood?”

“No, not yet,”
Malcolm looked at me.  “But I’m considering buying a home here.”

“So where do you live?”

“Here and there,”
Malcolm said vaguely.  “Where ever the wind takes me.”

“Well I think
getting out of town would be good for Lilly.  She did tell you she doesn’t have
a boyfriend right now didn’t she?”

I put a hand up to
my face in complete mortification.

“No, I didn’t know
that.  Thank you for making it clear, Tara,” Malcolm said with a Cheshire smile while he took a bite out of his eggs.

“Oh yeah, she’s
free as a bird.  Just make sure you get her back here before ten though.  We
have school tomorrow.”

“Your wish is my
command, Tara.  I shall have her back this evening before you even have a
chance to think about worrying for her welfare.”  He said with a sly wink in my
direction.

While I was
getting ready for my day with Malcolm, I called Tara into my room.

“What’s up, hon?” 
She said hopping on my bed to sit while I picked out something to wear.

“Why are you so
eager to see me go out with someone you don’t even know?  Before you let me go
out with Brand you gave him the fifth degree.  How come you’re giving Malcolm a
free ride?”

“Brand was
different.”

“How?”

“I could see you
getting serious with Brand.”

“And you don’t see
that as a possibility with Malcolm?”

“Well, don’t get
me wrong.  That man out there is drop dead, drop your mouth, drop your pants
gorgeous.  But, I know you, girl.  You’re still trying to get over Brand.  I
know you still love that man.  You need someone to take your mind off him for a
while and Malcolm seems like he’d be a good distraction for you.  Lord knows if
he can’t distract you, no one can.  And you never know,” Tara said with a shrug
of her shoulders, “something might happen between you two.”

“You don’t have to
worry about that.  I don’t think Malcolm and I will be having that type of
relationship.”

“Maybe not on your
end, but he looks at you like he wants to eat you up!”

I couldn’t help
but wince internally at Tara’s choice of phases.

“Just go out and
have fun, hon.  But keep that phone on you just incase he turns out to be a
turd.  I’ll come get you if you need me to.”

I dressed in a
pair of black slacks and a red shirt
.

“Now don’t forget
to have her back by 10 o’clock,” Tara reminded Malcolm when we stepped out of
the apartment.

“You have my word
as a gentleman that she will be back by then, Tara.”  Malcolm assured her.

“Ok, have fun,”
she said emphasizing the last two words while looking me straight in the eyes
before closing the door.

“Where’s your
car?” I asked not seeing something in the parking lot that would fit Malcolm’s
personality.

“Why would I need
a car?”  He asked, a quizzical eyebrow raised at the absurdity of my question.

“Well, I can’t
just snap my fingers and appear somewhere.  How will I be getting to wherever
it is we’re going?”

“Didn’t they tell
you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Here, take my
hand.  It would be easier to just show you.”

I hesitated for a
moment unsure if this was the safest thing for me to be doing.  Had I
completely lost my mind?  And then Tara’s words came back to me:  ‘have fun’.

I put my hand into
Malcolm’s without another thought.  He held it tightly.  The next thing I knew
we were standing in a room in front of a glass wall looking out on the beach in
Biloxi.

“I didn’t even
feel us move,” I said in amazement.  “How does that work?”

“We can fold
space.  So you didn’t actually move, the space around you did.”

“I guess we
haven’t gotten that far in my physics class.”

“I wouldn’t worry
too much about the specifics if I were you, Lilly.  It would probably just make
your head hurt.  I know it does mine,” he laughed. “Come on,” he bade, tugging
the hand he still held, “I want to show you my casino.”

We took the
private elevator to the first floor.

I’d been to the
coast a couple of times.  Tara and I had made a trip down here on her
eighteenth birthday.  We tried to go into one of the casinos but they wouldn’t
let us in since we weren’t twenty-one.

“You know I’m
still only eighteen.”

“But you’re with
me, it’s not like their going to card you.”

When we reached
the first floor I could hear the distinctive chimes of slot machines in play.

“I thought you
were lying to Tara earlier.  You really do own a casino?”

“Among other
things, yes.  You might be surprised by what I have my hands playing in,” the
intimate way he said the last sentence made me think he was talking about more
than just business.

It didn’t take
long before the casino employees were fawning all over Malcolm.  I guess having
the boss on the grounds was a big deal.   The way they were acting I was
surprised they weren’t throwing rose petals at his feet and fanning him with
palm fronds.

Malcolm called one
of is security guards over to us.  He was a tall black man with a bald head and
beer belly.

“Get my guest some
coins, please Fredrick?”

“Sure thing, Mr.
Malcolm.”  The guard left and walked over to the chips/cash out window.

“Would you mind
playing with the slot machines while I handle business?  It shouldn’t take very
long, but I think it would bore you.”

“No that’s fine. 
I’ve always wanted to try them.”
     Fredrick came back with a bucket full of coins.

“Take her to the
good machines, Fredrick.  Make sure she has a nice time.  And make sure she
cashes out whatever she wins.”

Malcolm kissed my
hand before leaving.

“This way, miss,”
Fredrick said motioning me with his hand to follow him.

“Have you worked
here long, Fredrick?” I asked as we made our way through the crowds around the
floor of slot machines.  Apparently business was still good even in the economy
wasn’t.

“You can just call
me Fred, miss.  Only Mr. Malcolm calls me Fredrick.  And I’ve worked for Mr.
Malcolm for almost ten years now.”

“Do you like
working here?  Does he treat you well?”

“Oh yes, miss. 
He’s the best boss I’ve ever had.”  Fred stopped in front of a bank of dollar
slot machines.  “You might want to try your luck on these, miss.”

“Just call me
Lilly, Fred.”

“Ok, Miss Lilly.”

Fred stood by me
and instructed me on how to play the slots machines.  Before long we had four
machines going at one time.  About twenty minutes later, I hit the jackpot on
one of them.  It was for $5,000.  Fred helped me at the cashier window to claim
my winnings.

“Thanks for
showing me what to do,” I told Fred holding out half the money to him to take.

“Oh no, Miss
Lilly.  I can’t accept that.  I’d get fired.”

“Fired for what?”

Malcolm came to
stand beside us.  “Did you clean me out?”  He looked over my shoulder at the
stack of hundreds and twenties in my hands.

“Almost, sir. 
She’s a natural,” Fred praised with a smile.

“You wouldn’t fire
Fred for taking some money from me would you?” I asked.

“I’m afraid it’s
against the rules, Lilly,” Malcolm told me.  “But don’t worry, I won’t forget
Fredrick’s kindness to you when bonus time rolls around.”

Fred seemed really
pleased by this so I let it slide.  I thanked Fred for his help and Malcolm and
I walked out of the building.  He took my hand when we reached the beach and
the scene turned from day to dusk.  We were walking down an old city street
where the scent of freshly baked bread seemed to permeate the air around us.

“Where are we?” I
asked looking at the odd buildings around me.

“Venice, Italy.  Have you ever been here?”

“No,” I said
remembering the dream I’d had the night before.  I had never walked these
streets in real life but that didn’t stop the odd feeling I was having of
actually being here before.

“Come on, you
haven’t seen the city properly if you don’t take a gondola ride through the
canals.”

“I don’t like
boats.  I don’t like being on the water.”

“Oh,” he seemed a
bit surprised by this fact.  “Are you afraid of heights?”

“No, why?”

He took my hand
and we were instantly transported to the top of the Eifel Tower.

Ok, this was too
weird. It was like déjà vu.

“I’m sure you’ve
never been here right?”

“No, I haven’t.” 
I decided not to worry about the coincidence of my dream with Malcolm’s
itinerary.  It had to just be chance happenings.  It’s not like he could see
into my dreams, at least I hoped he couldn’t.

I looked at the
people milling around us like nothing was out of place.

“How come people
weren’t startled when we appeared,” I asked.

“They don’t see it
consciously.  It’s sort of like knowing something is different but not knowing
what exactly.  If I wanted them to see it, they could, but I rarely want to
scare a human that badly.”

“I don’t
understand.  I know when someone does it.  I’ve seen you, Will, and Brand do
it.”

“Like I said,” he
tucked a wayward strand of hair blowing against my face behind my ear
tenderly.  “You’re different.”

I wasn’t
completely comfortable with the way Malcolm was looking at me.  At least when
he made his lewd off handed remarks, I could play it off as a joke.  But the
tender, loving way he stared at me now took me completely by surprise.

“There seem to be
a lot of people here,” I said, finding a good excuse to break our eye contact. 
“Are you comfortable with that?”

“Surprisingly
yes,” he said surveying the crowd around us.  “I think having you near helps
control that particular craving of mine.”

He held out his
arm to me.  “Would you like a tour of the city, dearest?”

Malcolm spent a
lot of time showing me the sights of Paris.  It felt odd to be touring the city
at night when back home it was still mid-morning.

“I’ve spent a lot
of time here,” he explained when we stopped to eat at the Café de l’Homme
restaurant.  We sat by the windows looking out at the Eiffel Tower which was lit up against the night sky now.  “I love this city.  It never sleeps.”

“I guess that’s
convenient considering what you are.”

“It has its
advantages,” he agreed with a sly smile.  “So,” he said sitting back in his
seat looking at me.  “What do you think Brand would say if he knew you were
here with me?”

“That I shouldn’t
be around you.  That you’re dangerous.”

Malcolm’s eyes
narrowed on me like he was trying to figure something out.

“And yet you still
agreed to spend the day with me.”

“He doesn’t have
any rights to me anymore.  He can’t dictate who I spend my time with.”

“So, what exactly
is the relationship between you and Brand anyway?”

 “There isn’t one
anymore.”

“Do you love him?”

“I don’t see what
business that is of yours. He left me.  Everyone leaves,” I took another bite
from my plate of pasta hoping he would drop the subject.

“Everyone?  Who
else has held your heart and left you?”

“Will was my first
love,” I wasn’t sure why I was telling Malcolm about my personal life.  I guess
it was the fact he knew them and what they really were.  He probably knew them
better than I did in some ways.

“And he broke your
heart too?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s Brand
you still love?”

“Listen, I’d
really rather not talk about Brand if that’s all right.  I came with you today
so I wouldn’t have time to think about him too much.”

Malcolm grinned. 
“Fair enough.”

He leaned his
elbows on the table.  “Why haven’t you asked me the question you kept asking me
the other night?”

I shrugged my
shoulders.  “I thought about it, but honestly, I don’t think you know who wants
me dead anymore than I do.”

“Perceptive,” he
said, his voice rising a pitch higher like he was impressed.  “What made you
come to that conclusion?”