1 Dicey Grenor (12 page)

“We keep a
detailed journal. It’s the one thing that helps us function well together.”

I must have been
in the journal.
Remi
had written about me? Nothing
too incriminating I hoped. Aaron seemed more lucid than
Remi
,
which meant Aaron might put pieces together. And he might be unhappy with the
overall puzzle.

“How do we know
you’re the real Aaron? You could be a fake personality,” the fattest group
member asked. Though she lacked tact and was probably ignorant about how
multiple personalities worked, she raised a good point. Was
Remi
the real person or Aaron? Wait—Aaron was the one with the trust fund so...

“I’m the host, the
one on the birth certificate and with the driver’s license,” Aaron said,
holding his license up so everyone could inspect.
 

“How do we know—
”

Someone else was
firing off a question when Dr. Floyd interrupted, “Okay. I know we’re all
gobsmacked
here, but let’s remember to focus on Aaron’s
sleep
disorder not his multiple personalities. That’s what this group is about,
right?” He looked around at us and smiled. Then he landed on Aaron. “Thank you
for sharing. And again, welcome to the group.” He pulled out a notepad. “Now…”

I was lost in my
thoughts the remainder of the session.

Remi
was actually Aaron. They had a schedule and a journal.
In all the time I’d known
Remi
I had no idea he only
came to the club once a week because he was sharing his body the rest of the
week.

Geez.

Saybree
could have just come out and said that. What was
with all the “many faces”
bull? What’s so hard about saying “split
personalities”? She was probably looking in her crystal ball watching me,
laughing…

Suddenly, I was
being dunked under freezing cold water. My parents were standing above me
speaking in tongues, screaming for the devil to come out…

I awakened
terrified. Even more terrified than when the frigid baptism had first happened
because it was happening again, and I’d vowed never to be at their mercy again.
They were unmerciful, busy doing “the Lord’s” work.

“It’s okay.
Willow, you’re safe. You’re with us.” I looked around from the floor until I
focused on Dr. Floyd’s face above me. “You just fell asleep during our meeting.
We’re all right here,” his calming voice soothed me better than a case of Jack
Daniel’s to an alcoholic. He was fanning his notepad over my face as I lay on
the floor allowing his words to wash over me…to rid me of terrible memories.
Ones that had crept into my sleep, no matter how briefly, and left me desolate
and scared even though it was all in the past.

I eventually
allowed him to help me up, because that’s what was expected of a human woman
who’d just hit the floor. As I sat back in my seat, he ended the meeting with
an encouraging poem and a warm smile. When everyone started leaving, I stayed
seated. Thankfully, no one came over with all the “how are
you’s
?”
It wasn’t the first time I’d fallen asleep during a meeting.

But it was the
first time my dream had been a freaking nightmare.

It wouldn’t take
long for Dr. Floyd to shake hands and chat it up with a few members so I
patiently waited my turn.

Aaron stayed
seated as well.

When our eyes met,
he looked down.
Naturally.

I folded my arms
and pursed my lips.
Whatever
.

Dr. Floyd walked
over to Aaron first. They chatted, Dr. Floyd slapped Aaron on the back all
brotherly-like, and Aaron left.

When Dr. Floyd
approached me, we embraced momentarily then I told him I was interested in
participating in the new narcolepsy clinical case study he’d mentioned last
week and asked me to think about. It was time to get on the ball, to find a
cure for my curse. I’d been thinking about taking a break from cure-seeking
endeavors since my human body had habituated to several drugs, and I hadn’t
responded to human drugs at all since I’d been undead. All the visits to his
office had started becoming a nuisance since there had not been any favorable
results.

I had to keep
trying though. I needed a cure, and sooner would be better.

Given the episode
he’d just witnessed, Dr. Floyd didn’t seem surprised by my answer. He knew me
well enough to know that although I wasn’t embarrassed about falling asleep, I
absolutely abhorred being weakened by it. What he didn’t know was that it
crippled me more as a vampire than as a human. It could be the difference
between being a predator and becoming prey. Having narcolepsy as a human meant
I might hurt myself. As a vampire, it meant I was always one step from my final
death whether by someone hard-up for cash or the sun itself.

And I couldn’t
have that.

When he asked how
I’d been coping, I met his
wise
, compassionate eyes
and wished I could tell him the truth. His salt-n-pepper hair and deep wrinkles
showed years of study and experience, which meant he’d probably be able to help
me better if he knew the full story. But even as my therapist, I couldn’t risk
him upholding patient/client confidentiality when it came to me being a
vampire.

So I smiled and
lied.
Everything’s great,
blah, blah, blah. We scheduled a time to meet
later and I left, walking through the glass doors out into the light rain and
darkness.

Preparing for my
walk home, I pulled my hood over my head.

“Willow,” a low
yet startling voice spoke beside me.

I jumped.

Given my keen
senses, I was rarely surprised—but in my defense—Aaron had called to me as soon
as I opened the door and stepped out.

“Thought you left,”
I said while zipping my jacket.

He ran a trembling
hand over the top of his wet head. “No, I waited for you.” Poor thing didn’t
have a hood or umbrella.

“What
d’ya
want
?”
I said coldly. He couldn’t wait to get away from me while we were inside. Now
he was waiting for me out in the rain?

“Can I drive you
back to your motel?” he said in that low voice, eyes downward.

Motel,
huh.
This was too weird. It was
Remi
, but not.

“So how much do
you know about me?” I said.
And hell no to the ride.

“Not much. I don’t
think
Remi
knows much about you, but you’re all he
ever writes about.”

“What did he write
exactly?”

He tucked a stray
lock of wet hair behind his ear. “That he sees you every Saturday night at some
fetish club. He also mentioned you walk everywhere, and that he followed you to
your motel. I imagine it’s difficult to drive with narcolepsy.” He glanced up
to gauge my reaction. I shrugged. “Willow, let’s get out of the rain. Let me
give you a ride,” he said.

I honestly didn’t
care about being wet, but I was curious about how much Aaron differed from
Remi
. I mean, how often did one find out the person they’d
known had multiple personalities?

“Is that all he
wrote about me?” I said.

He blushed. “No.
He also writes about you and him…doing stuff.”

I smiled.
Remi
would never have blushed about that.

This was becoming
mildly entertaining. With all the
supernaturals
and
their special gifts I’d met over the years, Aaron was quite possibly the most
fascinating person yet. He was a gorgeous man with mesmerizing eyes and was
thoroughly whacked in the head…

“Sure,
Aaron.
I’d love a ride.”

Chapter 14

“A Supreme Love”
by John Coltrane was playing nice and mellow-like through the silver Jaguar XJL
speakers. The smooth music and laid-back car were both evidence that
Remi
and Aaron were night and day.

Leaning my seat
back, I found myself relaxing and enjoying the tune and the peaceful company. I
glanced at Aaron. He was looking at the road…smiling. When he caught me
looking, the smile disappeared.

“He never
mentioned you liked Coltrane. Bet y’all don’t play anything like that at the
club,” he said.

“Franco
let’s
us use any music we like. There’s just no easy way to
slip in supreme love during our fetish performances.”

“That’s why I
wouldn’t go there. A fetish is something weird you
gotta
have to get off right?”

“More
or less.”

“Doesn’t
apply to me then.
Only thing I need is love and that’s not weird. Love
is my fetish.”

“So you’re in
love?” Fuck me—I was jealous.

“Not
exactly.
Dating doesn’t work out well for me. I just wish I was in love.”

Dating didn’t work
out well for
Remi
either. They had that in common. I’m
sure it couldn’t be easy to tell a girl
oh, by the way, I’m actually several
people.
At least Aaron could leave off the part about liking death…or could
he?

“You’re not a
necrophiliac
?” I said.

He looked at me
like I’d grown two more arms.
“God, no.
That’s
disgusting.” Then he realized what he’d said. “No offense, Willow. It’s just
not me.”

“None
taken.
I just perform for them.”

“But how can you
do that? Isn’t that just as bad?”

Good point. “Yeah,
I guess so.” I turned away from him and looked out the window. Performing
necrophilia shows was the least of my problems.

“I don’t mean to
sound judgmental. I’m just trying to understand you. I mean, I’ve been curious
about who you are for the longest. Why do work there if you—”

“I’m good at it
and I like pleasing people like
Remi
. That’s why.”
That was a question I was used to answering. Even my patrons couldn’t
understand why I did it.

He popped a
handful of tic-
tacs
in his mouth and offered me some,
which I declined. It made me realize another difference between them.

 
“You don’t smoke?” I said. He shook his head. “How
can you stand for
Remi
to?”

“I have to make
certain concessions to keep him happy. How can
you
stand
Remi
smoking?”

I smiled. “Guess
we both want
Remi
happy. So what concessions does he
make for you?”

“He only gets
Saturday.”

Huh. That had to
be tough for
Remi
. He only got one day and night a
week…and he chose to spend most of it with me.

We talked more
about jazz and then more about Hades. It was definitely not the
conversation-less ride I’d had with
Remi
.

I wondered how
long before I stopped comparing the two.

When we got to my
room, I didn’t hesitate to invite him in. Why? How the hell should I know? I
was just going with the feeling, and it felt good talking to him, being around
him.

When I turned on
the bedside lamp, he looked around until his eyes landed on the heavily-padded
window. “Can’t take sunlight?” he said.

“I like it dark.”

After tossing him
a terrycloth robe and a towel, I went into the bathroom to change out of my own
wet clothes.

“
Remi
asked me to move in with him, which is weird because
technically I’d be moving in with you,” I yelled from the bathroom.

“I know.”

“How in the world
was that going to work?”

“I don’t know, but
he threatened to go rogue if I didn’t give in. He wants you badly.”

It almost felt
like
Remi
was speaking of himself in third person,
but he wasn’t. It was Aaron’s softer, lower voice coming through the bathroom
door.

“You’ve actually
been good for him, kept him out of a lot of trouble. He’s a bad boy, Willow.”

“Don’t I know it,”
I chuckled. “Was I just supposed to wake up next to him one morning and you’d
be there? Was I not supposed to notice the difference?” I exited the bathroom
in my satin blue pajamas, proud that I was well-covered.

He was sitting in
the desk chair by the window with his wet clothes on hangers dangling from the
heater. What I noticed most was his toned, hairy legs escaping under the bottom
of the robe. I’d never seen his legs.

“The deal we made
was that he’d explain everything about himself, about me, to you and if after
full disclosure you agreed, then fine. I knew no girl in her right mind would
go for that, but he seems to think you’re different. That you care for him and
accept him.” He tugged on the hem of the robe self-consciously as if I was
staring. I dropped my eyes so he’d be more comfortable. “Do you care for him?”
he asked.

Guess
Remi
would have spilled the beans about Aaron if Max hadn’t
shown up while we were in the diner. “Yes. I do.” I held up my index finger and
thumb to indicate just how much and we laughed.

“He’s right. You
are different. Not many girls would invite a stranger to her bedroom after
knowing he was clinically insane.”

Naw
, I wasn’t worried. “You don’t feel like a stranger to
me. And I’ve always known
Remi
was off his damn
rocker.”
Plus, I’d drain you dry before you could say
hubba
-bubba
if I had to.

And suddenly I
wanted to do just that. I turned away in a hurry and focused on the blank wall,
willing myself to calm down. Since I’d already fed today, it wasn’t an
overwhelming urge so it didn’t take me long to get it together.