Scarlet Masquerade (30 page)

“Well, look at the bright side.”

“What bright side? He took his secrets with him, fucker.” A.J. slammed her fist on the work table, rattling the specimen jars. “De Marcus must be some kind of asshole for these fuckers to find death a more welcome companion. Shit.”

A.J. felt Selene grab her shoulder before she spoke. “Look, if it’s any consolation, we have De Marcus.”

“You don’t understand. Kevin worked for me for eighteen years. I trusted him and he betrayed that trust. He owed me the satisfaction of dying by my hand.”

“Did you really want that on your conscience? You have Clarissa now. Be happy about that. You don’t want that kind of blood on your hands. Trust me, A.J.” Selene’s words rang hollow for A.J. She wanted revenge for Clarissa, for what he had done. Now, she would have to accept that she would never know why Kevin did it. Pulling her cell phone, she called Mayfield again.

“Hey, Doc. It’s me again. We got a biohazard in the freezer. Yeah, Kevin Armstrong killed himself.”

“I guess we better get back to the penthouse.” A.J. slammed the door to the freeze and stalked out. “You better get De Marcus. I don’t think he’ll take the coward’s way out. Do you?”

“Hardly.” Selene said, following A.J. and shutting the lights off.

Clarissa walked around the huge penthouse admiring its simplicity. It definitely felt like Alexandra’s home. The style, while modern, had her flair. From the big masculine leather sofa and chair to the simple black and white photography that graced the walls. Each item spoke of another time, of simple, yet elegant tastes. It was hard to pass by the huge windows and not look out at the great cityscape that unfolded before her. Turning the huge chair around to face the window, Clarissa settled into the soft leather. The morning was beautiful. Perhaps it was just her, but she felt like a new person, as though a veil had been lifted from her gaze and she could see a future for herself.

Opening her cell phone she dialed Carol’s number. What would she say to her friend? What would her friend say to her?

“Clarissa? Oh my god, are you alright?” Fear oozed from the other end of the phone. Carol sounded beside herself.

“Carol, are you alright? Selene told me what happened.” Clarissa felt her eyes start to tear as she listened to Carol sobbing on the other end. She explained what had happened and how Selene had probably saved her life from a killer. Why hadn’t she suspected anything, Carol cried. Clarissa wished she could explain everything to Carol, but it was better this way. The less she knew the safer she was, reasoned Clarissa.

“Why don’t you relax? I’ll cover for you at the university. Besides, after what you’ve been through you deserve a break.” Clarissa hoped Carol would listen to reason. Until they knew what was happening with De Marcus, Carol wouldn’t be safe. “I’ll call you when I hear from the police and let you know what’s happening. I want you to be safe. Please?” Pleading, she finally got Carol to agree to a much needed vacation. After a few more minutes of chit chat, both agreed to call the other daily.

Clarissa’s safe, neat little world was changing faster than she could imagine. Her mind was a jumble of images making it hard for her to concentrate. The past blending with the recent events of the last two weeks had Clarissa wondering what to do next. She had lived an easy, obscure life in education and now it was fractured. Shards of her life littered the floor of her mind as she tried to reconstruct the past century. What was a lie? What was the truth? She had been living a lie the past half century and De Marcus had let her. Had he been watching the whole time? Nothing made sense and the more questions she asked the more confuse and angry she became. Perhaps Alexandra would have some answers to her questions when she returned.

Thinking about what Alexandra was doing sent a shiver through her. Could she do it, take someone’s life? She had purposely avoided Alexandra so she wouldn’t be faced with that decision, but looking at the situation, if she was in Alexandra’s position could she kill someone? She had fed to survive, but that was different. But revenge killing, was it in her spirit to protect someone she loved? Absolutely. In fact, she knew she would kill De Marcus if she had the opportunity. He had robbed her of her family and her own mortality. A man like that served no useful purpose, so his death wouldn’t be a loss for anyone. What did her ability to rationalize his death say about her she wondered? Thinking more about it, she knew she wanted to be there when Alexandra confronted him. She had a right to face him, question him or at least watch him die. Revenge was a bitter sandwich to eat, but she had to take a bite or it would haunt her for the rest of her very, very long life.

###

Flipping the phone closed, Selene turned to A.J. “You’re not going to like this, but the Coven wants De Marcus brought back. They want to take care of him.” Selene braced herself for the onslaught she knew was coming.

“Are you fucking kidding me? They knew where he was the whole time and didn’t do a fucking thing. Now, they want him brought back to face their justice. Oh that’s ripe. Assholes.” A.J. slammed her fist against the steering wheel. “I want to talk to him first, Selene.”

“I can’t, A.J. They’re sending a plane for him tonight. I’m supposed to meet them at the airport in two hours.” Looking at her watch she continued, “That barely gives me enough time to get home, pack a bag and meet Sgt. Gilmore at the airport. Sorry, A.J. Maybe it’s better this way.” Selene tried to look on the bright side, but A.J. wasn’t having any of it.

“How? After what he did to Clarissa, how is this better?”

“No blood on your hands.”

“He robbed me of my happiness for the past century and you think I’m worried about a little blood?” A.J. hated the rules of the Coven. She didn’t owe them anything. They were a useless bunch of geriatrics that only imposed rules when it suited their purposes. “Why now?”

“I think they want to save face. Maybe try and take back control over the ‘congregation’, so to speak. Selene made a set of air quotes around congregation, knowing there really wasn’t a word that described the disorganized group of seekers, masters and slaves that existed in the world today. “Things have gotten way out of control. I think the Coven will use this to send a strong message that says they aren’t above killing an old master. The younger vampires have walked away from the old ways and they’re trying to bring back some law and order.”

“Yeah? Well I’m not part of their law and order. So when you see them, you can tell them not to count me in on their ‘congregation’. In fact, you can tell them I said to go fuck themselves. Clarissa and I won’t be bound by their laws. I’m kind of surprised you’re working with them. Last time I checked, they didn’t do you any favors.”

“It’s hard to explain, A.J.” Selene hoped A.J. didn’t press her for an explanation. Selene still had attachments to the Coven and while she looked the other way on a lot of what happened in the human world, she couldn’t ignore a direct order from the Coven. “Look, I’m not happy about this either, but I have to do this. Until things change there, I’m still bound by a few rules. This is one of them.”

A.J. just grunted her disapproval. It wouldn’t assuage her anger but one way or another De Marcus was a dead man, either by her hand or by the Covens.

“You just make me one promise, Selene?”

“What’s that?”

“You stick around and make sure they kill that bastard.”

“Deal”

The last few days had been pure bliss. Waking before her lover afforded A.J. the pleasure of watching Clarissa sleep. It seemed to be her favorite pastime lately. The quiet solitude of her penthouse was in stark contrast to the last few weeks’ events. They had spent time rediscovering each other and found little had changed between them. The easy banter they had enjoyed a century ago was back, along with talk of a true future together.

Clarissa had asked few questions about Kevin’s death, relegating his suicide to a guilty conscience and nothing more. But A.J. knew differently. She hadn’t the heart to tell her that both assassins and Kevin found death preferable to going back to De Marcus in defeat. The request of the Coven was another matter and A.J. didn’t sugar coat her anger with them. But Clarissa had surprised A.J.

“It’s probably for the best, Alexandra.”

“How can you say that? You of all people know what kind of man he is. He doesn’t deserve a humane death. He deserves to be punished, to be tortured like he’s tortured others.”

Clarissa wrapped her arms around A.J. and rested her head on a strong shoulder. “That may be true, but I don’t want that blood on your hands. Does that make sense? I am happy to know that you didn’t have to take a life on my account. I’m not sure I could live with that.”

“I wish I had your compassion, my love. You’re an angel that has brought light back into my life. Thank you,” A.J. said, kissing Clarissa’s hands.

Clarissa never ceased to amaze A.J. with her gentle, quiet reserve. She had lost her family and almost lost her life and yet she always looked on the brighter side of things. She had even tried to put a positive spin on things when Carol had finally come back. A.J. and Clarissa had told Carol that her boyfriend had been wanted for murder in another state, hence his sudden departure. A lie, but one told to keep her safe and asking as few questions as possible. Carol seemed to take everything that had happened in stride.

A.J. snuggled closer to Clarissa, enjoying the intimate time together. Soon she would have to get up and go to work. It was time to start to think about making a move. Changing jobs for Clarissa would take time and energy, but for A.J. it would be a matter of setting up a new company, staffing it and giving it time to get established. She had done this time and time again and it was nothing new to her. However, this time she was bringing someone along for the ride. Before she made any plans, she needed to talk to Clarissa first.

The phone on the night stand vibrated with the incoming call. Looking down at the number, A.J. smiled and whispered into the phone.

“Selene, it’s been a while. I’m assuming you have good news.” A.J. pulled her sleeping lover closer.

“I’m afraid not, A.J. De Marcus got away in Montreal.”

A.J. felt her stomach drop as she bolted up, spilling Clarissa to the bed. “What do you mean he got away? When? How?”

A few minutes later, A.J. hung up the phone and threw it against the wall. Leaning against the cold glass she cursed the Coven, De Marcus and the world. She had him right in her grasp and yet he still slithered away. Arms reached around A.J. and a head leaned against her back.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright, Honey.”

“How do you feel about the Northwest?” A.J. grabbed the hands that held her and pulled them tighter around her. Time wasn’t their friend. Circumstances had changed and they would have to speed up their timeline on things.

“Anywhere with you is home now.” Clarissa rubbed her cheek against A.J.’s back then turned her around. “What happened?”

“It’s what didn’t happen,” A.J. said, wrapping her arms around her lover. She explained everything Selene had told her. “The Coven promised Selene they would find De Marcus, but now he’s out there somewhere, free. I know we’ll never be free of him until I kill him so...” She saw the look on Clarissa’s face and knew it would take her time to come to terms with what A.J. needed to do.

“I hear they get a lot of snow up there?”

Smiling, A.J. pulled Clarissa tighter. Life was finally worth living, even if she had to take care of some unfinished business.