Wanderlust (13 page)

“Oh, you guys are related to Chaseyn?” Addie asked.

I cringed and hoped Chip and Balthazar would corroborate our lie. The truth was that I didn’t know how the two of them knew each other. I assumed Chip was a fledgling vampire, but I couldn’t be sure. I was certain, however, that Balthazar was not her maker. He seemed to off put by the girl to spend more than a few moments in her presence, despite the fact that she obviously had feelings to the contrary. Even with his scruffy exterior, he was so much more sophisticated than she could ever be.

Chip. She was energetic, to say the least. She hopped around and fidgeted uncontrollably, and I drew the conclusion that she must have been ADD in her former
life
. Her voice was high-pitched and girly, and on both occasions that I had seen her, she wore the least amount of clothing required by law to prevent her from being arrested for exposure. Today, it was a barely there jean skirt with the pockets hanging below the hemline, a skimpy tank top, and biker boots. If we had been going to Amsterdam, we would have had to avoid the Red Light District for fear that she would be mistaken for one of the “working” girls. Despite that, she gave the overall impression of being a tomboy.

I cocked my head to the side at the thought, and I saw Addie do the same. She, too, was analyzing the new girl. I hoped they would get along, but I could never be certain how Addie would respond to strangers. Regardless, I knew it was for the best that Chip tag along with us. While I was in London, I knew I had been under the constant surveillance of Chaseyn’s friends and “family,” but once we left for mainland Europe, I couldn’t be sure what I would encounter. The reality was--as much as I tried to push the thought from my mind--I was in constant danger of being attacked by Alexei. More so now that the Soldiers of Solace were trying to get to him first.

“I should have told you earlier about Chip coming with us, Addie. I’m sorry,” Eli explained. “I only told Lia this morning while you were in the shower. Don’t blame her. Besides, it was all Chaseyn’s idea.”

Oh sure, lay the fault on the one person who wasn’t here to defend himself. Then again, it was kind of his fault.

“Chaseyn asked me to contact Balty when we arrived. I called him that first day when you and Lia were in one of the five million boutiques at Covent Garden.”

“But he said you talked the other night,” Addie said, looking right at me.

“He talked to me. It was our conversation,” Eli interjected. “He told me all about Chip--sent me some pictures. I got them when we went to that Internet café yesterday. Of course, they already knew what Lia looked like. Chaseyn and Mina had sent pictures a while back.”

This seemed to appease Addie, who shrugged her shoulders in complacence. But, I didn’t like how big the lie was growing. I struggled for a way to make it right, but I came up short. There was no other way. How could I explain the presence of a blood-sucking vamp on our quaint getaway? With the way Chip dressed, the vamp part, Addie would buy, but the blood-sucking part would be a harder sell.

“If we’re going to make our train, we gotta go now,” I said with a quick glance at my watch. “It leaves in 10 minutes, and I have no idea how this station works.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Chip said with a saccharine smile. Regardless of whatever else I thought of her, she was very pleasant to be around, and her accent was amazing. “I know this place like I know my own home. We’re leaving from platform 12. Let’s go.”

She gave Balthazar a quick kiss on the lips that seemed to linger just a second too long. Thankfully, Addie was a few steps ahead, and I hoped she hadn’t noticed. No daughter would give her father a goodbye like that. Maybe I was wrong. I had assumed that if he had been interested in Mina at one time, Balthazar would be looking for a more mature, classy woman. If Chip was his type, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Then again, I wasn’t dealing with mere mortals. For all I knew, Chip had been on this earth long enough to have been best friends with Cleopatra. Heck…maybe she was Cleopatra.

I turned to follow behind Chip, Eli with his arm slung around my shoulder. This seemed to be his new favorite position, but I felt the firm grasp of a strong hand wrap around my upper arm and pull me back a step.

“Here,” Balthazar said as he slipped a small, red envelope into my hand. “I know he said he wouldn’t contact you again until you were ready, but he wanted you to have this. Read it when you’re alone.”

Chaseyn. My heart practically leaped from my chest at the thought of him reaching out to me again. It wasn’t like Chaseyn to break his promise, and I wanted so much to be mad about it, but I just couldn’t. Eli tensed, and I knew he was bracing himself for an explosion. Instead, a huge smile widened across my face, and I flung myself at Balthazar, embracing him in a big, bear hug. The look of shock and surprise on his face was picture-worthy. If he would show up in a picture, that is.

I skipped off in the direction of the others, clutching the envelope to my chest. I couldn’t contain my happiness.

“So that’s the way it’s gonna be?” Eli asked. “You’ve made up your mind.”

He was mad. I knew I should feel guilty for not even giving him a chance, but I was too excited to care. Eli was a good guy, but he wasn’t my guy. My guy was dark and intellectual. Charming and chivalrous. Mysterious and immortal. There was simply no comparison.

As we boarded the train, Chip and Addie walked a few steps ahead, scanning the aisle for our reserved seats. Eli took the opportunity to interrogate me.

“Seriously, Lia. I need to know. Do I stand any chance?”

He was so sweet. So beautiful. So…human. I couldn’t lead him on any longer, but I couldn’t say the words either. All I could manage was a slight shake of my head. I was relieved when Chip called across the car to get our attention. She and Addie stood in front of our seats, waving us over. I took the opportunity to escape the awkwardness of what had just happened between Eli and me, and I dashed down the aisle. Eli lingered a moment longer.

“What’s wrong with him, now?” Addie asked. “There’s always something wrong with him.”

“He looks to me like he just had his heart broken,” Chip replied

Addie gave me a knowing look and a sad smile. As much as she didn’t seem to like the guy, she knew he really cared about me. Addie had been my friend for as long as I could remember. She knew I had never had a boyfriend before Chaseyn, and I had never had to break a heart. Now, I had done it twice in the span of a few weeks. She gave me a quick hug and then pushed past me into the aisle. What happened next was a complete surprise. She walked to where Eli stood dejected and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. They disappeared from our sight, and I knew she was going to provide him the comfort I couldn’t right now. Turns out she had a heart after all.

Chapter 14 - Heartbreak

Chip and I spent the first half hour of the two-hour train ride on our own. Addie and Eli had taken off to some other car, and I wasn’t about to go in search of them. The last thing Eli needed right now was to see my face.

As much as I wanted to tear open the envelope that I held in my hands like an eagle would clutch its prey in his talons, I was waiting for just the right moment to present itself. Now, was not it. Instead, Chip and I used the time to get better acquainted.

“Oh, that,” she said, the proverbial wheels going around inside her head. “Yeah. Of course. I’m glad to do it. From what I’ve heard, you mean a lot to this Chaseyn guy, and he means a lot to Balty. I’d do anything for him.”

“So, are you and Balty…you know?”

“Um, well, sort of,” she replied, a sheepish grin curling up the corners of her lips. “I mean, it’s not like I’m the only one or anything. I know that, but it’s better than not being with him at all.”

I hated when girls sold themselves short, even if they were immortal.

“What do you mean? Does he have a lot of girlfriends?”

“I’m the only one he sees regularly, but Balty’s pretty important. There’s a lot of women who want to be with him, and it’s not in our nature to hold back, if you know what I mean. I don’t fault him for it. It’s who is he is. He’s been that way for a long time.”

I decided to change the subject. This one was making me angry. It also made me a bit uncomfortable knowing that vampires were prone to satisfying their carnal needs on a whim. I didn’t want to think that I might be holding Chaseyn back from his true nature, or worse…that I wasn’t holding him back at all. For all I knew, he was with another woman right now. I shivered at the thought. Not Chaseyn. He wasn’t like the others. He had a heart--literally.

“Yeah. That’s why they chose me to go with you guys. They thought I would fit in the best because I wouldn’t have to try so hard. Could you imagine someone like Balty trying to keep up with you guys?”

I could, and it made me laugh. Hysterically. I pictured him trying to use a cell phone or send a text and knew there would be no way to hide
who
he was…no,
what
he was…from Addie. She wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but even she would know something was up. Chip joined in the laughter, and that’s how Addie found us.

“Well, I’m glad you’re able to laugh at this mess,” she said sternly, taking her place beside me.

“I’m sorry, Addie. I wasn’t laughing at what happened. Chip just said something funny, and I couldn’t help it. How is he?”

“It’s like someone stuck a stake through his heart,” she said without so much as the hint of a smile. That set Chip and I off again. Addie had no idea how close to home her reference hit, and we couldn’t help ourselves. “I can’t believe you two. It’s not your fault, Chip, you don’t really know what’s going on, but I’m surprised at you, Lia. There is a wonderful man slumped over an ice cream sundae in the next car, and you’re living it up over here.”

“It’s not like that, Addie, and you know it. I feel awful, but it’s not like he didn’t know things were likely not going to work out the way he wanted them to. It’s better it happened now than later. And wait a minute. Did you just say that he’s a wonderful man?”

Addie blushed. I had caught her off guard by throwing her own words back in her face, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. At least I had stopped her from chastising me, at least for now anyway.

“That’s not fair. I didn’t mean it that way,” she blurted.

“What didn’t you mean?” Eli’s voice from behind was a welcome sound. I turned around to face him, and it was hard not to notice the red rim around his eyes. I felt a pain in my chest at the thought that I had made him cry.

“Are you okay?” I asked. There was no point pretending I hadn’t noticed.

“What? This?” he asked, pointing at his eyes. “I’ve got allergies, and they flared up the minute we stepped foot on this train. I think it’s the cleaner they use in the bathrooms.”

Sure. That’s what it was. I let it go and decided to let him take the lead. He sat down across from me and avoided eye contact.

“Who’s up for a game of Fish?” he asked, pulling a deck of cards from his pocket.

“What’s Fish?” Chip asked cheerily, thankfully she had caught on to the gist of what had been going on and took the opportunity to turn the focus from Eli and me to herself. Though, I suspected she would take that opportunity whenever she could. Eli was more than happy to comply, and he quickly took to teaching her the fundamentals of the game.

If I hadn’t known better, Addie, who had been sending relentless texts to Rob since my earlier focus on her comment about Eli, had a bitter look on her face. Was she jealous of Chip? While I knew she hated when the attention was turned from her to someone else, I felt like there was more to her unhappy expression. I attributed it to a long-distance fight with Rob. They were notorious for their antics, breaking up and getting back together more often than I could count on both hands and feet over the past three years.

Everyone was preoccupied. This was my chance to break away from the group for a few minutes. I squeaked past Addie, who had curled her legs under her in the small seat, and made my way to an empty row of seats at the back of the car. I made myself comfortable before tearing open the seal on the envelope Balthazar had handed to me more than an hour ago. I wanted to savor every moment, every word.

Inside the envelope, I found a thin, filmy paper. It was a carbon copy of the original--a telegram that had been sent to Balthazar’s attention. I had hope to see Chaseyn’s familiar script rather than the cold typing of the telegram machine. Who still sent telegrams, anyway? Vampires who couldn’t find a way to cope with modern technology, that’s who.

OLD FRIEND -(STOP)- GET THIS TO LIA -(STOP)- I KNOW YOU HAVE SEEN HER AND I DO NOT KNOW WHERE SHE STAYS -(STOP)- MY LOVE MY LIFE - (STOP)- I MISS YOU DEARLY -(STOP)- I KNOW YOU ARE SAFE WITH BALTHAZAR -(STOP)- I TRUST HIM TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU - (STOP)- DO AS HE SAYS AND YOU WILL BE SAFE -(STOP)- COME BACK TO ME SOON LOVE -(STOP)-

CHASEYN

It wasn’t the heart-warming love letter I had been hoping for, but I figured it was better than nothing. I also felt a bit better knowing that Balthazar had found a way to tell Chaseyn about the situation in Europe. If he still felt comfortable with me being here, then the situation must be under control. Chaseyn didn’t have to be with me to calm me. Just knowing he was thinking of me could span his calming reach across the ocean. I melted into the seat and relaxed completely for the first time in days.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, the rumbling of the train grinding against the rails as it came to a full stop and the stirring of passengers gathering their belongings roused me from my slumber.