Scarlet Masquerade (24 page)

“I can’t wait,” Carol called out to the departing couple. “Oh, by the way, Mr. Sex Ed. decided to show up after all. We can exchange all the juicy details Monday.”

A shudder went through both women as A.J pulled Clarissa into the crook of her arm and looked around for her car. There was at least one other vampire, other than them and Selene in the area. A.J. wasn’t exactly ready to engage it without knowing who it was first.

“Get in. Hurry.” A.J. practically shoved Clarissa into the car just as it start moving. Slamming the door, Selene appeared to pop out of the shadow.

“Selene!” Both women gasped at the same time.

Stunned, A.J. looked at Clarissa and questioned, “You know Selene?” Then looking back at Selene, “You knew you were protecting Clarissa and didn’t think I needed to know you knew her?”

“Look, don’t get your panties in a bunch, assuming you’re wearing any. It was a long time ago. Besides, it isn’t my history to tell.” Selene winked at Clarissa and smiled. “Good to see you again, kid. You okay?”

Both women turned their gaze on Clarissa as she let out a staggered breath, “I hope so.”

Selene handed both women a glass each filled with red wine and let out a sigh stretching her legs out between the two women sitting across from her. Her eyes moved from A.J to Clarissa and then back to her employer. The tension in the limo was palpable and seemed to constrict both women’s throats, so Selene spoke first.

“What happened in there?”

“De Marcus was in there.” A.J. took a sip of the wine and grimaced, then looked at Selene.

“What?” Clarissa looked at Selene and then they both looked at A.J. when she choked on her drink.

“Scotch please. This tastes like ass.” A.J. smiled and raised an eyebrow at the bodyguard.

“Hmm, some people have no taste.”

Clarissa touched A.J.’s arm when she handed the glass back to Selene. “Wait, De Marcus was at the ball. Are you sure?”

“He was the one talking to President Wood when we were leaving. Didn’t you see him?” A.J. accepted the scotch and took a long deep sip hoping the burn would trail down her body ridding her of the desire to kiss Clarissa. Now that they were safe and on their way to A.J.’s penthouse, the tension was leaving her body in droves. All she had to do now was convince Clarissa she wasn’t the murderer Clarissa thought she was.
Easier said than done
, A.J. suspected. She knew she had her work cut out for her and hoped she might be able to illicit Selene’s help to convince Clarissa of that fact.

“I knew I felt someone there. I just figured it was you two. Shit.” Selene looked out the window and watched the street lights pass, thinking about all the ways she was going to kill De Marcus, that was if A.J. let her.

“Who’s Mr. Sex Ed?” A.J. said, directing the question to Clarissa.

“What?”

“Carol said Mr. Sex Ed was there. Who is he?” A.J. now looked at Selene, each sharing a knowing glance before they looked at Clarissa.

“Oh, that’s Carol’s ex-boyfriend. He dumped her the other day so I’m surprised he even showed up. No biggie.”

“De Marcus.” Selene and A.J. said in agreement.

“What? No way. Are you sure?” Clarissa cringed thinking about how Carol had described their past sexual encounters. “We have to go back. She has no idea what she is getting herself into.”

“No.” A.J. said, taking another sip of Scotch and looking back at Selene.

“Alexandra, you don’t know what a ruthless bastard he is. He’ll hurt her.” Clarissa grabbed A.J.’s arm and pulled A.J. towards her. “He, will, hurt, her. She’s my friend. I can’t let that happen. Stop the car.” Frantic, Clarissa grabbed the door handle and started to open the door. Jerked back into her seat, she felt A.J.s body pressed against hers while strong arms encircled her.

“Look, my only concern is you right now. If he wanted Carol dead, he would have done it a long time ago,” A.J. whispered into Clarissa’s ear, guilt sending a chill through her for enjoying the feel of Clarissa’s body pressed against hers. “I think he was using her to try and get to you and since you never saw him, he can’t be sure it’s you.” A.J. felt Clarissa relax against her as she loosened her embrace hoping she was right in her logic and De Marcus.

Selene watched the two women and wondered how long it would take for them to become reacquainted.
Smooth A.J. smooth.

A.J. looked at Selene and raised an eyebrow.
Knock it off.

“I’ll send Selene to Carol’s house tonight to make sure she gets home okay. Will that ease your mind, Clarissa?”

“I suppose, if that’s the best I can get.”

“No, you can get a lot more if you want, but it’s what I’ll do for Carol to make sure she’s safe.”

A.J. nodded at Selene to make sure they both understood what Selene needed to do. “Make sure Carol’s okay. Leave the rest to me.”

“You’re the boss, A.J.”

###

A.J. and Selene stood by the side of the limo discussing the next steps needed to both protect Clarissa and take care of Kevin and De Marcus.

“She doesn’t look too happy, A.J.” Selene said looking at Clarissa in the limo.

“Yeah, well, it seems that De Marcus told her that I killed her whole family in my grief over her death.” A.J. slid a hand through her hair then pulled at the collar of her costume.

“Oh shit. No wonder she never tried to contact you.”

“What do you mean? You don’t think I killed her family do you?” A.J. stepped closer to Selene and waited for an answer.

Looking into blue eyes that betrayed the pain they were in, Selene shook her head. “No A.J., I don’t think you could do something so despicable, but if she thought you killed her family she would want revenge. Wouldn’t you? So, if she found you, she would do the honorable thing and avenge the death of her family. Or die trying.”

“I’m gonna kill that bastard. Did you see her reaction when we mentioned De Marcus? I thought she was going to come unglued right then and there. He was an evil son of a bitch back then, but I never thought he would turn Clarissa. He had lots of other women, so why turn Clarissa?”

“For the same reason he wants her now, you.”

“Me?” A.J. and De Marcus had always been rivals with the women, but there were plenty to go around so she never gave it much thought. In fact, her taste ran much gentler than his, so they rarely competed for the same breakfast back in Paris.

“A.J., the Coven records are full of accounts of his brutality. They want him dead and the only reason they don’t do it is because he’s an elder. They looked the other way when he faked his death. The word was, as long as he didn’t contact them he was dead to them, too. It seems, he was sick of the Coven and their constant intrusion into his life. They didn’t find out for a long time that he had faked his death. So, now they want that dirty business taken care of.” Selene grabbed A.J.’s shoulder and pulled her closer, “Someone knows what he’s been up to, and now they want answers. So you’re not the only one looking for him now.”

“You mean they know about the attempts on Clarissa’s life? But how?” A.J. didn’t like how this was sounding. The more that happened the more twisted things were becoming.

Shrugging her shoulders, Selene bent her head and whispered, “Someone made a call. Now the Coven is worried what little clout and respect they have will start to be eroded if he kills his slaves and they didn’t do anything about it. They’re still old school like that, lucky for you.”

“Fuck them. I don’t follow their rules anymore. I take care of what’s mine and I don’t need their help or their Coven.” A.J. was fuming at the idea that the Coven would assume she needed their help. She had walked away from that patriarchy a long time ago and she wasn’t about to get down on bended knee again. Just because someone was trying to kill the one person she had loved to the death, well almost to the death.

“You know he probably wants you dead, too, A.J.”

A.J. knew that De Marcus would have to kill her to get to Clarissa, but she didn’t care. She wouldn’t give up Clarissa that easily, not now that she had her back in her life. A.J. just needed to convince Clarissa this was where she belonged.

“That goes without saying. It’s the only way he would get to her, if I’m dead.” A.J could see Clarissa starting to fidget so she finished her instructions to Selene, “Look, go back to the university and keep an eye on Carol. Make sure she gets home tonight, alone. No strays following her home, if you know what I mean. Call the police on the asshole if you have to, but make sure she gets home safe. I’ll have Clarissa call her in an hour, so that should give you plenty of time to get him arrested or something.”

“Then what?”

“Then, we meet in the morning and deal with Kevin.” A.J. said one last thing before she got back into the car. “Put someone on Carol. I don’t want Clarissa worried about her friend. Then try and find out who called the Coven. I need to know, friend or foe.”

Selene watched the car’s light fade pulling her cell phone out of her leather pants. “I think I need to change first.” A quick dial and she connected with her contact, “Hey, I need you to do me a favor. Call Sgt. Gilmore and tell him to meet me over at the university. Thanks”

A.J. rubbed her palms watching Clarissa try to ignore her. She felt like a school girl with her first crush as she tried to think of something to say. What could she say to the woman who thought she killed her family? Each passing street light threw light into the limo. A.J. caught glimpses of the woman she had fallen in love with centuries ago. A tributary of tears etching their way down Clarissa’s face pulled A.J. from her hesitancy.

“Clarissa?” A.J. moved closer, but didn’t touch her, “Why are you crying?”

Clarissa looked at A.J. and sighed, “Memories. They’re the bane of our existence, aren’t they? I mean we live forever, meet so many people on their journeys through life and they become a thread in that fabric we call our life. I know it sounds like I’m trying to be so circumspect, but I can’t help it, Alexandra. I don’t know what to believe right now. I hope you understand.” A.J. watched Clarissa bite her lip. Another habit she recognized from the “old” Clarissa when she tried to control her emotions. “So do I call you A.J. or Alexandra?”

A.J. reached out, gently pulling Clarissa’s hand into hers. Running a finger over the knuckles and down her fingers, A.J. waited, but Clarissa didn’t resist the touch. Whispering, she said, “I’m sorry about your family, Clarissa. I…” A great weight seemed to settle on A.J.’s shoulders as she kept her eyes on Clarissa’s fingers. Threading her fingers through her lover’s hand, she cradled it between her own and sighed, “I was so lost in my own grief that I never thought about the pain that your parents would go through in losing you. I should have stayed close. Perhaps, I could have protected them. Prevented what happened.” A.J. remembered Clarissa’s little sister, Michelle, with her blonde hair and green eyes constantly following her around. While there was no love lost between A.J. and Clarissa’s father, she understood his passion to protect his family and the need to provide for them. What De Marcus must have put them through A.J. could only imagine and it was probably ten times worse than what she envisioned.

“If what you say is true, how would you have known what he intended?”

A flood of memories assaulted A.J. as she fell back into the grief she felt when she thought Clarissa died. She had gone to her country home, closed the drapes and languished inside. Every remnant that reminded her of Clarissa she burned, killed or soiled. A.J.’s plan was to die a slow, agonizing death through starvation. She starved herself to the point of almost being comatose. Her one saving grace was her servants who stayed on despite being ordered to leave. Lucas, her personal servant, had offered his own life to save hers and still she refused the gift. Lingering at death’s door, Lucas slaughtered a lamb and drained it of its life saving blood. He took advantage of her delirium and tricked her into consuming the blood. Months had turned into years before A.J. could force herself to resume some sort of normalcy. But to survive, A.J. knew she needed to leave France and probably never return and to never think of Clarissa again. One was easier to accomplish than the other.

“I would never have known, Clarissa. When you died, I died, too. I tried never to think of you again. Trust me when I tell you, it would be decades before I was successful in forgetting your perfume, the way your hair smelled, or the way you smiled when I kissed you.” A.J. felt Clarissa’s grip tighten at the revelation.

“Well, you’ve seemed to have done well for yourself in spite of everything.” The bitterness that crept into Clarissa’s voice was subtle, but not biting, yet.

“I’ve done a good job at compartmentalizing my life, Clarissa.” A.J. stopped stroking the back of her hand and looked into her eyes. “I have boxes of your memories stored away in the back of my mind, waiting to be unpacked some day. Perhaps, today’s that day?” Before Clarissa could say anything A.J. finished with her own biting retort. “Besides, you look as though you’ve done well for yourself, Professor Graham.”

“Life goes on, so they say.”

“So they say.”

###

A.J. swung the door wide and made a sweeping gesture for Clarissa to enter. Cautiously, Clarissa walked into the dark, cool space.

“Let me get the lights.”

The room barely came alive as soft lighting accented different features of what was obviously the living room. At first, Clarissa was impressed by the huge building A.J. called home, then she realized that she was here for all the wrong reasons. Her life, her very existence, now depended on A.J. Lockwood. She shuddered at the thought and then felt a gentle hand touch her back, guiding her to a leather chair.

“Can I get you something to drink? Do you eat?” A.J. looked embarrassed as she motioned to the frig, “I mean, food or…well, you know.” Shrugging her shoulders she leaned against the bar. “I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve taken care of your need, or how you do it, but I can offer—”