Chapter 16
16
I felt kind of stupid. Once I was safely inside under lights, I realized how silly I’d been to get worked up over shadows and what had likely been nothing more than the wind blowing through the trees. There was no boogeyman lurking on the trail I’d used, unscathed, dozens of times previously.
Funny how darkness and a wild imagination can make one lose all sense of rationality. Although, it wasn’t a wonder that I was off-balance mentally, with Nick suddenly coming back to haunt me. Then there was my new decoying job, plus the vampy femme fatale Marlena, who seemed to hate me and was refusing to let me see a certain immortal billionaire I’d somehow managed to delude myself into believing I could get to love me.
Still, I wouldn’t be running at night anytime soon.
I went into the bathroom to assess the damage. My workout gear was snagged and dirty, with a mortifying skid mark of what looked like moss and mud that ran down my entire backside, from the shoulder of my tank to the bottom hem of my shorts. I laughed morbidly at the likelihood that the neighbors had seen me running through the complex that way, crying and dragging branches in my wake.
On the bright side, my wounds weren’t as bad as I’d feared. My palms and knees were skinned pink, with a few minor scrapes covered in grit on my legs. Some were bleeding, but nothing that wouldn’t heal in a couple of days. I’d looked better, but I was thankful. It could have been a lot worse.
My ponytail, which was matted against my scalp in an angry snarl, was the most upsetting. Bits of twigs and leaves were woven through the tangles, along with a remnant of a spider web. I didn’t want to think about where its maker had been hiding while I’d tussled with the thorny branches. I picked the debris from my hair and then hobbled into the shower. The warm water stung my scrapes but felt amazing on my sore muscles, so I opted to take a bath instead. I plugged the drain and dropped in a lavender bath bomb, letting out a gratified sigh as the water swathed my scuffed skin.
Slowing my jackhammer heartbeat to a murmur, I focused on breathing. I held up my hand, pleased to see that my shakes were finally subsiding. I pulled the shower curtain closed on the outside of the tub to give the bath a womblike effect. My washcloth floated at the water’s surface like a jellyfish. I plucked it from the water and set it over my face, moaning as the comforting scent of lavender filled my nostrils. Dozing, dozing.
Sometime later, I jolted awake with a cry. “Shit!”
I’d forgotten to call Michael.
In my haste to get out of the tub, I sloshed water up onto the rim of the tub, knocking shampoo and conditioner bottles on my legs. My skin was pruned and covered in goosepimples, and the water had gone tepid. I must have been really conked out. Lucky I didn’t drown, with the night I’d had.
I pulled back the shower curtain, grabbed my bathrobe, and wrapped it over my shivering body as fast as I could. What time was it? It had to be getting late. My stomach grumbled, reminding me that I still hadn’t eaten.
I froze in my tracks when I noticed what was on the mirror. Drawn in steam was a smiley face. The corners of its mouth had started to drip, giving it a blurry set of fangs. Below the face was wobbly writing:
Hi Olivia!
My heart hammering in my ears, I froze, not sure what to do. Naturally, my thoughts went to the axe murderer in the woods. What was the plausibility that he’d jimmied the front door, crept into the bathroom, and drawn on the mirror while I slept in the bathtub? I shook my head at the ridiculousness of it. Keep it up, Taylor. You’ll be sporting a tinfoil hat in no time.
More likely was that Liz had drawn on the mirror earlier and I was only noticing it now because of the steam. Skin oils could stay on glass for weeks, even months. It was, after all, a smiley face , not a murderous threat. Liz was always leaving me funny notes and sending me memes with animals dressed up in weird Halloween costumes.
Having no idea what time it was, I wondered if she might be home now. “Liz?”
Silence.
Well, I couldn’t stand there all night. I had things to do, especially now that I could hear my phone ringing. As pathetic and delusional as it was, I hoped it was Robert—that he’d somehow acquired my number and was calling to profess the deep feelings he’d developed for me.
Silly me. Pestering me from a restricted number, turned out to be what I suspected was an electronic caller. Whatever the case, it certainly wasn’t Robert, unless he’d called to sit in silence while I said, “Hello? Hello? Hello?” half a dozen times before hanging up in frustration. I couldn’t believe that I’d gotten my hopes up for that. More annoying was that I’d gotten a few calls like that recently. Damn bots.
I unplugged the phone from the charger, then went into my bedroom to ring Michael. I cursed when I saw a screen full of missed calls, all from Nick. Six in total, plus an additional two text messages! Was he for real? Irritation stabbed my gut; whatever residual nervousness I’d had about the mirror evaporated the moment I pictured my cheating ex-boyfriend’s stupid face. Now, I was good and pissed.
I made it as far as the first message before hitting delete as soon as Nick’s wretched cries shrilled in my ear. I deleted the rest without listening to them. There was a limit to how much I could take.
I didn’t think it could get any worse, but then I opened the texts. The first read HE MISSES YOU , which I didn’t understand . . . Until I saw the second, a dick pic that had obviously been staged to make his penis look bigger than it was—seriously, are men not aware we know such tricks? Either that, or Nick had gotten enhancement surgery since I’d last seen him naked. I rolled eyes and deleted the texts, too. Gross.
Nick, while duplicitous and lazy, could also be surprisingly tenacious when he didn’t get what he wanted. Something told me he was not going to go away quietly, which is why I didn’t block his number. He’d only find other means to contact me, like showing up at my place—or, heaven forbid, tracking me down and confronting me while I was decoying for a vampire. The situation required a nipping in the bud before he became a real problem. The last thing I needed was Nick screwing up my life once again, especially now that I was finally getting it back on track.
I started to call Dignitary but then quickly hung up after remembering the alternate number Michael gave me earlier. That lifted my spirits a little, since the notion of having to deal with another scathing exchange with Marlena made me want to vomit. Still, I was nervous about what he wanted, with him firing me still being a possibility.
“Hi, Michael. It’s Olivia,” I said as pleasantly as possible once he picked up.
“Oscar!” he bellowed. “How the hell have you been?”
“No, it’s Olivia . I’m calling you back from earlier?”
“I was just thinking about you, old buddy,” he prattled on. He sounded like he was opening and closing doors. “I haven’t seen you since Kennedy was president! How are you these days?”
“Uh . . .”
“That’s great! I’ll have to fly over to Barcelona to see it for myself.” More doors opening and closing.
“Michael, I—”
“I don’t have long to talk, so listen up, girl!” he hissed.
“Okay.”
“First, I want to tell you how sorry I am about Marlena’s earlier behavior. She was completely out of line, speaking to you that way.”
“No problem,” I said dutifully. What was I going to say—you’re right, she’s a bitch?
“No, it is a problem, but when she’s heated like that, it’s best to let her have her rant. There simply is no arguing with the woman.”
“Marlena was right, though. She did tell me the rules when I accepted the job.”
“Hogwash! She was unfair to you, and you know it! It’s not your fault that photographer snuck into Locomotive.”
“I guess that whole thing about vampires being invisible in photos is untrue,” I commented, wanting to get off the subject of Marlena. No matter what he said, I wasn’t going to badmouth her. She was still one-half of my bosses, and Michael had to be somewhat loyal to the woman if they’d been running a business together for nearly a hundred years. Insulting his partner was dangerous territory I didn’t want to enter. “What was the deal with that, anyway—the guy taking photos? Robert didn’t seem too taken aback by it.”
“Americans,” he said with a snort. “They’re so obsessed with billionaires. Particularly ones as good-looking as Mr. Bramson.” He went quiet, as if he was expecting me to agree about Robert’s handsomeness. I wasn’t going to fall into that trap. “The paparazzi is forever trying to catch him engaging in scandalous behavior so they can crucify him in the media. He’s been far too cautious to give them any decent photo opportunities, though, after what happened with . . .”
I sat still as a statue. “After what happened with ?”
He sighed. “You’re a clever girl, Olivia, so there’s really no point in pretending. Even if I managed to convince you that you’d misheard me, you’d find a way to get answers on your own, wouldn’t you?”
Michael being cryptic and dodging my question was beyond frustrating. I wanted to jump through the phone, grab him by the lapels, and shout for him to spill the tea. Like Marlena, though, he was my boss. “I’m sorry, Michael, I’m not following. Answers about what?”
“I’m sure you remember how a few of our decoys have vanished?”
As if that was something I could forget.
“Raquel—the girl to have gone missing in 1924—was Robert’s mate at the time.”
Mate? “Robert dated a decoy?”
“They were quite close, actually. In love.”
How ridiculous was it that I was jealous of a woman who’d been with Robert almost a hundred years ago? “What happened to her?” I asked, immediately realizing how stupid the question was. She’d disappeared.
“Nobody knows, of course, but Robert was the last one to see her alive. She vanished from a beach. While he was swimming, I believe. There one minute, gone without a trace the next. He was a wealthy businessman even back then, and Raquel was a budding actress. Beautiful, beautiful couple. Naturally, they had a lot of eyeballs on them—envious eyeballs,” he said, clucking his tongue. “The papers were all over the disappearance, which they already had pegged as a murder. All suspicion fell on Robert. Ugly stuff. Robert had to go into hiding while the whole thing blew over, but he eventually managed to distance himself from the story.”
It was a lot to process. “You don’t think . . . I mean, Robert didn’t do it, obviously, right?”
Michael chuckled. “No, no, no! I would never let you decoy for him if I thought he did.”
I sensed there was something more. “But there are still others who think he hurt Raquel?”
“A few, yes.” Another sigh. “If there’s one thing you’re going to learn about vampires, Olivia, it’s that we love to hold grudges.”
“You all must have great memories,” I said, just to say something.
“Like you wouldn’t believe! I know a vamp who is still angry at the contractor who did shoddy brickwork on his castle in the Middle Ages,” he said. “Raquel was so lovely, and she’d made many vampire friends while she was a decoy. I believe you met one of them, Patrick?”
I thought for a moment. “Right, my fellow Dewhurst alum.” I wondered how Michael knew that we’d met, but vampires probably conversed the same way humans did. Either that or, which I thought more likely, Michael had his friends keep an eye on the decoys to ensure we were doing our jobs. Good thing I’d been polite.
“Patrick doesn’t genuinely believe that Robert hurt Raquel, I don’t think, but he does hold Robert responsible for not protecting her properly. A lot of vampires did and still do, which I find ridiculous,” Michael said sharply. “And Marlena . . .”
I felt my eyebrows raise. He didn’t follow up, so I finished for him. “She blames Robert, too?”
“Marlena doesn’t concern herself too much with blame. Consequences, on the other hand,” he paused. “She has a flair for vengeance. It was because of the Raquel tragedy that Marlena instilled the strict no romance policy at Dignitary. She says scandal is bad for business, and I’m afraid I agree.”
I braced myself to be fired. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
He surprised me by saying, “Still, as you are aware, Marlena and I do not agree on everything. Which brings me to why I asked you to call me.”
“Oh?”
“I see no rationale in turning away clients if they are not causing any harm to our decoys or Dignitary.”
I held my breath, not daring to feel hopeful.
“Robert has called and requested more time with you.”
“ Really ?” I squealed, my entire body tingling. Smooth. I cleared my throat and said evenly, “He did?”
“Yes, he’s booked you for three more outings. Don’t worry, I’ve penned Robert in under a different name in our books. This goes without saying: if Marlena does happen to ask, it would be best if you tell her you’ve been decoying for a vampire named Bradley Linn.”
I did a fist pump as I let out a silent cheer. With casualness I hoped didn’t seem exaggerated, I said, “Got it. When’s the next event?”
“Tomorrow night at midnight, if you’re available? Robert said it’s a casual affair, so there’s no need for a gown this time.”
I wanted to laugh. If I was available. I would have cancelled a vacation in the Bahamas, if it meant seeing the gorgeous immortal for a few hours. “That will work, Michael, thank you.” Already, I was worried about what a “casual affair” was to vampires like Robert and Michael, given their natural elegance.
“Fantastic. I’ll let him know.” As if sensing my apprehension, he added, “I’ve couriered over an outfit for you to wear for the event. It should arrive any minute now.”
I grinned. “What if I hadn’t been available?”
“Something told me you would be,” he said sassily. Michael wasn’t stupid. Did he know how much I liked Robert was the question. “I wanted to spare you a trip here, with Marlena being so opposed to you decoying for Mr. Bramson. There’s no need to have you lie to her, if such a situation could be avoided.”
“I appreciate that, Michael. Thank you—for sparing me a trip and, um, the other thing.” I doubted I would have been able to lie to Marlena, had I run into her at Dignitary. Her icy glare probably would have had me confessing the moment I laid eyes on her.
“Not a problem . . .” He trailed off at the sound of a female voice and then said something muffled. Marlena had sniffed him out. How annoying must it be for Michael, having a partnership with someone he had to hide from while making secret phone calls on behalf of his own damn business.
I listened hard, but it was impossible to eavesdrop.
“Alright, old buddy,” he chimed. “We’ll have to catch up soon—maybe Paris? Give my love to Susana!”
The line went dead in my ear. Fine. I had all the information I needed. I made sure that the call had truly disconnected and then jumped up and down on my bed like a kid on Christmas.