He unlocked and opened the door without calling to announce his presence. He didn't need to announce it; his mother would sense him.
Inside, it was all cathedral ceilings and fashionably bare walls.
The one oddity was that every one of the many skylights was covered with elegant custommade drapes. This made the interior seem spacious but dim. Almost cavernous.
"James," his mother said, coming from the back wing. She had jet-black hair with a sheen like lacquer and a perfect figure that was emphasized rather than disguised by her silver-and-gold embroidered wrap. Her eyes were cool gray and heavily lashed, like James's. She kissed the air beside his cheek.
"I got your message," James said. "What do you want?"
"I'd really rather wait until your father gets home...."
"Mom, I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry. I've got things to do-I haven't even fed today."
"It shows," his mother said. She regarded him for a moment without blinking. Then she sighed, turning toward the living room. "At least, let's sit down.... You've been a little agitated, haven't you, these last few days?"
James sat on the crimson-dyed suede couch. Now was the test of his acting ability. If he could get through the next minute without his mother sensing the truth, he'd be home free.
"I'm sure Dad told you why," he said evenly.
"Yes. Little Poppy. It's very sad, isn't it?" The shade of the single treelike floor lamp was deep red, and ruby light fell across half his mother's face.
"I was upset at first, but I'm pretty much over it now," James said. He kept his voice dull and concentrated on sending nothing-nothing-through his aura. He could feel his mother lightly probing the edges of his mind. Like an insect gently caressing with an antenna, or a snake tasting the air with its black forked tongue.
:"I'm surprised" his mother said. "1 thought you liked her."
"I did. But, after all, they're not really people, are they?" He considered a moment, then said, "It's sort of like losing a pet. I guess I'll just have to find another one."
It was a bold move, quoting the party line. James willed every muscle to stay relaxed as he felt the thought-tendrils tighten suddenly, coiling around him, looking for a chink in his armor.
He thought very hard-about Michaela Vasquez. Trying to project just the right amount of negligent fondness.
It worked. The probing tendrils slipped away from his mind, and his mother settled back gracefully and smiled.
"I'm glad you're taking it so well. But if you ever feel that you'd like to talk to someone ... your father knows some very good therapists."
Vampire therapists, she meant. To screw his head on straight about how humans were just for feeding on.
"I know you want to avoid trouble as much as I do," she added. "It reflects on the family, you see."
"Sure," James said, and shrugged. "I've got to go now. Tell Dad I said hi, okay?"
He kissed the air beside her cheek.
"Oh, by the way," she said as he turned toward the door. "Your cousin Ash will be coming next week. I think he'd like to stay with you at the apartment-and I'm sure you'd like some company there."
Over my unbreathing body, James thought. He'd forgotten all about Ash's threat to visit. But now wasn't the time to argue.
He walked out feeling like a juggler with too many balls in the air.
Back in his car he picked up the cellular phone, hesitated, then snapped it shut without turning it on. Calling wasn't any good.
It was time to change his strategy.
All right, then. No more half measures. A serious offensive-aimed where it would do the most good.
He thought for a few minutes, then drove to McDonnell Drive, parking just a few houses away from where Poppy lived.
And then he waited.
He was prepared to sit there all night if necessary, but he didn't have to. Just around sunset the garage door opened and a white Volkswagen Jetta backed out. James saw a blond head in the driver's seat
Hi, Phil. Nice to see you.When the Jetta pulled away, he followed it.
CHAPTER 8
When the Jetta turned into the parking lot of a 7-Eleven, James smiled. There was a nice isolated area behind the store, and it was getting dark.
He drove his own car around back, then got out to watch the store entrance. When Phil came out with a bag, he sprang on him from behind.
Phil yelled and fought, dropping the bag. It didn't matter. The sun had gone down and James's power was at full strength.
He dragged Phil to the back of the store and put him facing the wall beside a Dumpster. The classic police frisking position.
"I'm going to let go now," he said. "Don't try to run away. That would be a mistake."
Phil went tense and motionless at the sound of his voice. "I don't want to run away. I want to smash your face in, Rasmussen."
"Go ahead and try." James was going to add, Make my night, but he reconsidered. He let go of Phil, who turned around and regarded him with utter loathing.
"What's the matter? Run out of girls to jump?" he said, breathing hard.
James gritted his teeth. Trading insults wasn't going to do any good, but he could already tell it was going to be hard to keep his temper. Phil had that effect on him. "I didn't bring you out here to fight. I brought you to ask you something. Do you care about Poppy?"
Phil said, "I'll take stupid questions for five hundred, Alex," and loosened his shoulder as if getting ready for a punch.
"Because if you do, you'll get her to talk to me. You were the one who convinced her not to see me, and now you've got to convince her that she has to see me."
Phil looked around the parking lot, as if calling for somebody to witness this insanity.
James spoke slowly and dearly, enunciating each word. "There is something I can do to help her."
"Because you're Don Juan, right? You're gonna heal her with your love." The words were flippant, but Phil's voice was shaky with sheer hatred. Not just hatred for James, but for a universe that would give Poppy cancer.
"No. You've got it completely wrong. Look, you think I was making out with her, or trifling with her affections or whatever.
That's not what was going on at all. I let you think that because I was tired of getting the third degree from you-and because I didn't want you to know what we were doing."