David pursed his lips and shook his head. "Were it only that easy, but they are protected by the other side of the same coin."
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. "What the hell does that mean?"
"It means that though they use different weapons, their power is equal to ours and gives them protection from the usual defenses we might place around us," he explained.
"So we're what? Sitting ducks?" I asked him.
"So long as the sun is out, yes. However, we rule the night and have advantages after the sun sets and the shadows reign," he told me.
"But it's only-" I checked the clocks in my apartment, "-nine in the morning! What are we supposed to do until then?"
"Hide."
I threw up my arms. "Great plan! Just wonderful!"
"You could go to work. They might not know about that," Tiffany spoke up.
I cringed. "Death, or a fate worse than death. What wonderful options."
"Your friend is right," David agreed. "Your place of work, if it is unknown to them, would be far safer than here."
"'If?' I'm not liking that 'if,'" I commented.
Tiffany folded her arms across her chest and glared at me. "You got a better idea?"
Chapter 5
I didn't have a better idea. My shoulders slumped and I sighed. "All right, but I don't know how I'm going to explain my miraculous recovery from my illness on discovering Ann was pregnant," I pointed out.
Tiffany choked on her spit. "Ann's pregnant?"
"No, but Lenin needed an excuse."
"Oh. Well, just say you recovered from your feminine faint and that you're all ready to tackle that paperwork," she suggested. She clapped her arm around my shoulders and turned me towards the door. "In the meantime I'll keep watch over your place. It's my day off, so I can camp outside your door if I want."
I froze and the color drained from my face. "The door. One of the priests was at the front door."
"I can take you to your office," David offered.
"And what about later? What am I supposed to do after work?" I pointed out.
Tiffany grinned. "My place. You can stay with me and we can have a sleepover."
"Yeah, but for how long? I can't keep paying rent on an apartment I'm not using and the priests will probably find me in your apartment," I argued.
"We will decide that later. For now I will take you to the safety of your work," David insisted.
I turned to Mo, my last hope for some sort of plan other than to run away. "Can't you help out somehow? You know, use your powers to lead them away or hide us from them?"
He shook his head. "I can't interfere in the doings of humans unless it's to keep the peace of the city. Interfering now would show favoritism."
Tiffany stepped up to me and set a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, Liz. We'll think of something. Just go back to work and Ann will help you there while Mo and I figure out a plan here."
I sighed and hung my head. "All right, but the plans better be more than life or death."
"There is always the choice to join me," David pointed out.
I snorted. "Oh no, you're not getting me yet. Besides, these guys have to be dealt with whether I'm a full succubus or not."
David pressed his lips together, but nodded. "You are correct. Now is not the time for that choice." He held out his hand to me. "I will take you to your work and return you home when the clock strike five."
I took his hand and pressed myself against his chest. He felt so warm, and we fit so perfectly together, that I wondered if I'd just refused the best option I had of getting out of this mess."
"Behave yourself at work," Tiffany teased as she waved goodbye to me.
"Don't get into my fridge while I'm gone," I warned her.
"No problem. I was going to get into the cupboards, anyway," she quipped.
I didn't get a chance to say 'no' before David stepped into the darkness just to the side of the window and shadows swallowed us. We entered the same quiet, peaceful space as before, and as before I felt safe and comfortable in his presence. This darkness, even though I'd only experienced it once before, already felt like a second home to me. I sighed and leaned against David.
"Do you want to stop here?" he whispered.
I frowned and looked up. "Huh?"
"We need only stop here and your worries would be over. No more job, rent, or responsibilities. There would only be us," he explained.
"I. . .I don't know," I replied.
He lifted my chin between two fingers and tilted my head back so we looked eye-to-eye. "This trip is all I can provide you until sunset. My powers are too weak from last night's training to do otherwise. If trouble comes during the day I can't help you further."
His eyes begged me to accept his plea, but I shook my head. "Like I said before, we'd have to come out of this place eventually to feed off of people, and then those priest guys would get us. We've got to figure out some way to deal with them."
He sighed, but bowed his head. "You are right. It's selfish of me to pressure you into accepting my demands at such a stressful time."
I smiled and reached up to cup his cheek in one of my hands. "You're sweet, and really cute when you pout, but can we talk about this when I'm not hovering between life and death, and the 'and death' part is winning?"
He chuckled. "Very well, but I won't give up."
I dropped my hand and snorted. "I don't expect you to." David took us to the underground parking garage and we stepped out of the shadow of one of the pillars. He reluctantly released me and I turned to face him. "Don't go too far. I'm still going to need that ride later," I teased him.
He smiled and bowed. "Ever at your disposal, my love." He stepped back into the shadows and disappeared.
I sighed and turned towards the elevators. "Damn him and his cuteness. . ." I murmured.
They say there's no rest for the wicked. That was true for me. No sooner did I step off the elevator and onto my floor than I noticed a pair of men in suits exit Lenin's office with the devil himself behind them. His eyes fell on me and he pointed a finger at me. "There she is! That's her!"
I yelped and spun around only to have the elevator doors shut on my face. The men in suits rushed down the hall towards me. I pounded my finger against the button, but they reached me before the doors reopened. Each one of them grabbed an arm, and I struggled in their grasps.
"Let go! Let go of me!" I shouted.
"Bring her in here," Lenin offered as he indicated his office.
The men turned me around and dragged me kicking and screaming into Lenin's room. The whole floor was on their feet and watched the fiasco with bewildered fascination. Just before I passed the threshold I saw Ann standing off to the side. "Call Tiff!" I yelled at her.
I didn't get to see any response before the men pushed and pulled me into the office. Lenin shut and locked the door behind us, and I was dropped into the guest chair. One of the men let me go and stood to the side of the desk while Lenin walked around and seated himself in his chair.
"Do you know where the man who calls himself Magnus Magnificent lives?" the stranger questioned me.
"What is this? What the hell's going on?" I snapped.
"Answer the question," the man insisted.
"Not until you tell me what's going on!" I demanded.
"What's going on is you've somehow acquired the assistance of a dangerous man to sign your doctor's note," Lenin spoke up. He leaned back in his chair and intertwined his fingers. A smirk graced his lips and his eyes danced with glee. "I called the local hospitals and clinics about the signature on your slip, and they informed me that this 'Magnus Magnificent' is a dangerous man. He purports to be a doctor, but his methods are illegal. He uses illegal substances, unorthodox methods, and charges extortionist prices for his services."
"What's that got to do with me?" I countered.
"Currently there are eight separate arrest warrants out for him dating back five years," the stranger explained. He pulled
out a badge and flashed it in my face before he pocketed it. It read either federal agent or fries and chips. From their suits and serious expressions I guessed it was the former. "We've failed to track his whereabouts, and want you to help us find him."
"What? Hell no! He didn't do anything to me! He tried to help me!" I argued.
"If you refuse to cooperate than you are obstructing justice and could be charged as an accessory to future crimes," the man warned me.
"Don't I even get to call a lawyer or something before you throw me in jail?" I retorted.
The man frowned and his eyes looked to Lenin. Lenin stood, and the two men moved to the far corner of the office. The other stranger held onto one of my shoulders with his large, strong hand and kept me in the chair. I couldn't hear what my boss and the federal agent talked about, but I betted I didn't want to know. All I wanted to know was a way out of this mess. My eyes flickered up to the agent who held onto me. He was cute. Not handsome, but cute.
That kick-started an idea in my head. A slow, curvaceous grin slipped onto my lips. I leaned into his hold and smiled up at him. "You know, you're not bad to look at," I cooed.
"No talking," he ordered me.
Damn. Had to try harder. I puffed out my chest and my breasts pushed against my tight shirt. His eyes glanced down at me and his gaze stuck on my breasts. I could see that familiar cloudy look slip into the depths of his eyes. "Don't you want to let me go?" I whispered. His mouth opened and I swear I saw drool slip down a corner. "Come on, you know you want to." I jerked my head to the pair in the corner. "If you don't let me go they'll have their way with me. Do you want that?"
The agent's eyebrows crashed down and he pressed his lips together. He whipped his face towards his companion and Lenin, and a dark look of jealousy passed over his features. The man released me and marched over to the pair. I didn't stay for the show, but swung around the chair and rushed the door.
Our combined movement caught the eyes of Lenin and the federal agent. "Stop!" the agent called.
"She's mine!" his partner bellowed.
I opened the door and turned in time to see my enraptured agent barrel into the pair. He flung himself over them and they crashed to the ground in a mess of legs and arms. "Get off us, you idiot!" the agent yelled.
"Mine! You can't have her!" his partner growled.
I slipped from the office and saw the whole floor was quiet and many gawked at the entrance to the office. I sheepishly smiled and shrugged. "Bureaucracy," I quipped.
Someone grabbed my arm and I twisted around to find it was only Ann. I relaxed and breathed out. "Come on!" she whispered. She dragged me to the elevators and we rode them down to the garage. "I called Tiffany and she told me everything. I can drive you home and she'll hide you in her apartment," she explained as she rushed me to her car.
"Wait! Wait a minute!" I argued. I wrenched myself from her grasp and took a few steps away from her. "I can't get you two involved in this. This is my problem, and I have to fix it somehow."
She smiled and shook her head. "Tiffany and I already agreed we're not going to let you handle anything else alone, so you're stuck with us."
I threw my arms in the air. "This isn't some game of Who's-the-best-best-friend! Do you realize you're helping somebody who just ran from some federal agents?"
Ann paused and tapped her chin. "Is that who they were?"
"Yes!"
She dropped her hand and shrugged. "They weren't very nice, were they?"
"No, and they won't be very nice to you when they learn you helped me get off the floor!"
"Well, they won't get any help from me to find you," she insisted.
I slapped my hand over my forehead and ran it down my face. "You know you two are impossible, right?"
"Yep! Now let's get you home!" She snatched my hand and yanked me to her car.
Chapter 6
Ann tossed me into the passenger side of her little car and took the driver's seat. She pulled out of the garage and made for my home, but an interesting, and possibly life-changing, idea came to my mind.
I leaned into her side of the car and pointed at a road. "Take that way."
Ann furrowed her brow. "But that's not the way to your apartment," she reminded me.
"I know, but I have something I need to do. Just trust me and follow my directions."
Ann shrugged and took the turn. "All right."
My directions led her to the seedier part of town and to a certain little shop in a basement located in the old business district. Ann parked the car in front where Madam Curie's shop was located and shut off the engine.
"You stay here. I need to go have my fortune told," I explained to her.
She smiled and shook her head. "I promised Tiffany I'd keep you in my sight until I gave you to her."
I sighed and opened my door. "Fine, but don't touch anything. She'll probably charge me extra if you break something."
We stepped out and walked down the stairs to the basement door with the advertisements for food and a reading. Madam Curie opened the door covered not in flour but sugar. She leaned toward me and narrowed my eyes. "You again?" Her eyes flickered to Ann and she jerked her head towards my companion. "Who's this?"
"The cards didn't tell you we were coming?" I teased her.
She harumphed, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. "They told me there'd be trouble, but not who to expect. I suppose you want your fortune read."
I nodded. "Yeah. There's a lot of trouble going on and I want to see who's going to bump me off first."
She raised an eyebrow. "All right, come along then."
Madam Curie led us through her small abode. Ann looked at the kitchen in wonder. "Do all fortune tellers need a kitchen?" she wondered.
"Only the ones who can't want to survive on their piddly fortune teller salaries," Curie replied. We reached the dark rear room and Curie snatched another chair from a dark corner and gave it to Ann. "Sit there and don't say anything," she ordered my friend.
Madam Curie and I took our usual seats, and she took her cards in hand. She shuffled her cards as I fidgeted in my seat. All the card possibilities flew through my mind. Most of them involved Death being the final card.
Curie paused in her card shuffling and her eyes narrowed as they glanced at me. "You seem very tense," she commented.
"It's probably the federal agents after her," Ann spoke up.
I glared at my friend. "Thanks a bunch. . ." I mumbled.
Curie eyebrows crashed down and she set the cards on the table. "Federal agents? Did they follow you?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so, and they weren't after you, anyway. They wanted to know where Magnus was."
She frowned. "And did you tell them?"
"No."
"Good." She picked up the deck and continued her shuffling. "He's an old curmudgeon, but I'd hate to see him taken in by those idiots because they don't like what he's been doing for folks." She paused and glanced up at me. "Anything else I might need to know about?"
"Um, there's some crazy priests following me intent on destroying David and maybe me," I admitted.
Curie snorted. "Your life has become like my kitchen after a day of baking."
"Delicious-smelling?" Ann suggested.
"No, a mess. Let's see what your cards say." She tossed out the first three cards. There was the Empress, Lovers and Emperor cards, but Madam Curie tapped on the Lovers card. "I see a change in this card. You are pleased with him," she told me.
I blushed and Ann grinned. "I don't know about that. . ." I mumbled.
"No, it is very clear," Curie argued. She flipped over the next three cards and my eyes widened. Instead of the tale of my obstinance there was the Death, the Hierophant, and Judgment.
I pointed at the Hierophant and Death. "Is there any way to get rid of at least one of those, preferably the Death one?" I asked her.
Madam Curie pursed her lips and leaned forward so her pointed nose nearly touched the cards. "It see
ms you have resolved your doubt, but your fate still hangs in the balance. You must beware of the men in black. They must be the priests who follow you," she mused.
I cringed. The priests. "Isn't there any trap card you can pull on them to get them to go away?" I pleaded.
She set her palm on the top of the deck and shook her head. "The cards only show a destiny, they cannot control it. Whatever fate you have you must make of it yourself."
"But there has to be something I can do," I insisted.
A sly smile slipped onto Madam Curie's lips and she tapped a finger on the Emperor card. "He might perhaps be able to help you."
"He'd be glad to help you," Ann agreed.
I pressed my lips tightly together and stood. "How much do I owe you?"
Curie shook her head. "This one is for free. Consider it an early wedding present."
My cheeks reddened and Ann tilted her head to one side. "Wedding? Is someone getting married?"
I grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Not now, Ann. We have to get to the apartment before Tiff thinks the suits got us."
"Bye!" Ann spoke to Curie as I pulled her from the room.
"Farewell, and good fortune to you!" she called back.
I dragged Ann outside and we found the bright day was now cloudy. The smell of moisture hung in the air. Snow would soon fall. I wrapped my coat tighter around myself and led Ann to her car.
"Why did we have to leave so soon? Why couldn't I get my fortune told?" Ann asked me as we slipped into the car.
I pinched my nose and sighed. "Because I'm a little tired and that whole 'Death' thing isn't very comforting to me."
Ann started the car and pulled us from the curb. "But she said your fortune was what you made of it. Doesn't that mean you can still choose to go with David and live a happy life with him?"
"Yeah, but maybe I don't want that," I pointed out.
"I think you do," Ann argued.
I sighed and shook my head. "Maybe I don't know what I want to do. Maybe I'm just waiting for a clear sign that'll tell me what to choose."
"Life doesn't work that way," my friend scolded me with a smile. "You have to grab life by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. It's a lot of work, but it's kind of fun, too. Especially when there's mud."