Chapter Eleven
It was the next day and Thea and Poppy had decided to take Cally out shopping in an effort to erase the less than welcoming memory of Blaise's attack.
Thea had apologized profusely on her cousin's behalf but Blaise had remained studiously tight- lipped since the encounter. Cally got the feeling that she had been more than reprimanded by Thierry already.
Poppy and Thea were trying clothes on in a trendy boutique while Cally waited outside the dressing rooms patiently. They had both tried to persuade her to try something on but she had refused. Shopping at the moment failed to interest her in the slightest.
"What do you think?" Thea emerged in a green silk dress and white top that clung to her figure and brought out her twinkling eyes. She did an experimental spin in it and laughed at herself.
"It looks nice," Cally managed.
"Nice?" Thea repeated. She wrinkled her nose and turned to look at her reflection in the mirror. "What do you think Poppy?" she called.
Poppy's dressing room curtain twitched and the petite vampire appeared in another creation. She studied Thea's outfit and nodded. "Get it, it looks great," she said.
Thea grinned and checked the price tag. "I think I will."
Poppy looked up at Cally and frowned slightly. "Listen, you're obviously bored out of your mind," she apologized, trading a look with Thea. "Why don't you go for a wander and meet us back here in fifteen minutes or so? That'll be okay won't it Thea?" She checked.
Thea nodded distractedly as she twirled in front of the mirror. "Yeah, just be careful," she instructed.
Cally smiled and nodded. It would be a relief to leave the two; nice as they both were, for some time by herself. She waved at them and left the shop and the sunlight shone down on her with welcoming warmth.
She still hadn't spoken of Blaise's attack and she tried not to think about it. Everyone else had been so nice that she didn't see the point in causing any more trouble by making a big deal out of it. Instead, she decided to enjoy her time alone and went down the street to look at the displays in the shop windows.
For some reason she stopped outside a CD store. The bright posters advertising new albums were everywhere and music streamed from speakers around the store.
She stepped inside and looked around at the shelves cased with CDs and albums. She fingered a cover hesitantly and turned it over in her hand.
"Tool," a voice said behind her. "They're one of my fave's."
Cally swung around in surprise, nearly dropping the CD. She met a pair of blue eyes head on and felt a rush of familiarity. The girl regarded her carefully.
"Do you like them?"
Cally felt troubled slightly. "I don't really know," she admitted.
A look passed the girl's face. At first glance it looked like relief but Cally knew she must be wrong. A smile touched the other girl's lips as she looked at Cally. "My name's Jasmine," she introduced herself.
"I'm Cally," Cally returned with a small smile.
The girl gave her a strange quizzical smile. "Cally?" she repeated.
"Um, yeah," Cally replied uncertainly.
"You're new in town?"
"Very new," Cally smiled. She liked this girl. Her face, her eyes especially, reminded her of something and she wanted to stay with her to see if the reason behind the familiarity would reveal itself.
"Come on," Jasmine invited with a gleam in her eye. "Let's go for some coffee. I just got into town but I know this awesome little café down the street a bit."
"Sure, that'd be great," Cally agreed, determined to find out who this girl was and if she was anything to her. To the old her anyway.
They walked together in a comfortable silence until they reached the coffeehouse and Jasmine ordered and led Cally to a table. They sat opposite one another and Cally got the uncanny feeling that she was being studied for something.
"So, where did you come from?" Jasmine asked politely. She leaned forward on the table eagerly. "Before you got here I mean."
"I'm not sure," Cally admitted. "I'm at a loss about where I was before now so I really couldn't say."
"Really?" Jasmine smiled and this time the smile was not warm, it was cool and calculating. "How intriguing."
Cally shifted with discomfort. "Not really," she contradicted uneasily.
"So you don't remember anything?" Jasmine persisted.
"Nothing," Cally admitted. She wasn't sure where the conversation was going and Jasmine's obvious interest in her was unnerving.
"How unfortunate for you," Jasmine sympathized. "You don't know who you are, I think that's terrible. For all you know, you could have been some great rock star or something." Then she laughed and the laughter was almost malicious.
Cally remained silent.
"Maybe you were one of the rich and famous," the blond girl continued and again she laughed.
"Maybe," Cally conceded reluctantly.
"Maybe you were in love with some big hunk or something," Jasmine went on, clearly enjoying herself. "Maybe he left you or he did something horrible and you were forced to run away from him."
The girl's behavior was now really making Cally nervous. All these scenarios were just that yet with every word the other girl uttered, a feeling of knowingness encased Cally and she didn't really like it.
"Why are you here?" she asked Jasmine politely, trying to steer the conversation away from herself.
Jasmine paused and her eyes flickered up to Cally's face with a look of weariness in them. "I had to sort some stuff out," she dismissed airily. "But I get the feeling that everything has already sorted itself anyway."
"Oh," was all Cally had to say.
"Oh, it's a relief," Jasmine smiled. "I thought some people might be making trouble for me but it seems I have nothing to worry about. Everything's going to be fine." Her last sentence was said as if to reassure herself and it held a tone of finality.
"I see," Cally replied. She smiled reassuringly. "That's great for you then."
Jasmine's eyes looked amused and her lips twisted in a strange smile. "For me? Yes." She agreed.
A movement at the door to the coffee shop distracted Cally for a moment and her eyes lifted to see Thea and Poppy entering. The two girls scanned the occupied tables before they found Cally, who lifted a hand in the air to welcome them.
Poppy smiled and walked over to them but Thea remained behind, staring.
"Hey!" Poppy greeted them. "You needed a coffee fix too?" she asked.
Cally smiled and nodded. "Poppy this is Jasmine," she introduced them. "We just met."
"Oh, that's great!" Poppy beamed.
She turned around at Thea's approach behind them. The witch's normally serene and warm face was now blank and set. Thea's eyes bore into Jasmine's with a look that Cally couldn't hope to fathom.
Jasmine's eyes widened in surprise and could it be that a touch of fear flicked through their depths? Cally dismissed it as imagination and introduced the two.
Thea nodded her head then turned to Cally. "Cally, we have to go now. Thierry wants us back at the mansion."
"He does?" Cally asked in surprise.
"Yes, he just called my mobile," Thea confirmed with another side-glance at Jasmine.
"Did he?" Poppy looked confused. "I didn't hear it."
"You were getting changed," Thea snapped, her voice clipped and authoritative. Poppy was not that only one to look surprised. Cally had never seen Thea like this in the small time that she'd known her.
"Okay, then Thea," Cally conceded slowly. "We'd better go then."
"Thea Harman?" Jasmine inquired silkily into the silence. Her eyes held aloof interest as they stared into Thea's face.
"Yes," Thea admitted. Her voice was frosty.
"Interesting," Jasmine mused. "Blaise Harman's cousin I assume?"
"Correct," Thea snapped, then turned to Cally again. "We really do have to go."
Cally looked to Jasmine and smiled. "I'm sorry I can't stay but maybe we could meet up again and finish our coffees then."
Jasmine was staring at Thea with a cold look in her eyes then slowly, she turned back to Cally with a smile. "I'd like that," she said.
"Here's my number," Cally said, reaching into her back pocket but Thea stopped her with a hold on her wrist.
"Perhaps Jasmine could give you her number," she suggested suddenly.
Cally looked surprised, as did Poppy. Jasmine looked mildly amused. She eyed Thea for a moment before turning back to Cally. "I'll get hold of you don't worry," she assured her. "I'd better get going too. You know," she glanced at Thea again. "Places to go, people to see and all that."
"I'm sure," Thea replied coolly. "Come on Cally."
Cally pushed her chair back and followed the two girls outside with one last look back at Jasmine. The blond girl was also on her feet. Her eyes were slightly cold as she watched them leave and at Cally's backward look, she wriggled her fingers in a farewell wave.
"Let's get to the car," Thea snapped. "Now."
Poppy and Cally exchanged confused looks but followed the witch without argument. Thea's driving on the way home was slightly erratic but no one dared to comment. When they reached the mansion, the witch left both of them immediately and made her way to Thierry's office.
Poppy stood in the hall with Cally.
"Did you have a good time?" she ventured finally.
Cally stared at Thea's retreating figure. "Yeah," she replied distractedly. "It was great. Thanks."
.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.
"I thought you were out shopping with Cally and Poppy?" Thierry asked, looking up from his paperwork with surprise. He saw the expression on Thea's face and frowned, automatically lowering his pen to give her his full attention.
"We found trouble along the way," Thea stated bluntly, her eyes worried.
"Trouble?" Thierry repeated, visibly tensing.
"In the form of Jasmine Abilene," Thea continued.
"*What?*" Thierry cried in disbelief. "Jasmine Abilene? Damn!" He banged a fist on his desk with frustration and an expression of anger. "What was she doing?"
Thea looked shame faced as she admitted, "We let Cally go for a walk on her own for a bit," she explained. Thierry sighed to himself and she rushed on, "She was bored and she looked like she could do with some time by herself. It was only meant to be fifteen minutes."
"Obviously a lot can happen in fifteen minutes," Thierry commented shrewdly.
"She must have found Cally and she offered to take her out for coffee. That's where Poppy and I found them and as soon as I got there I made Cally leave but-"
"You don't know exactly how much Jasmine managed to reveal to her," Thierry finished. He sighed again and leaned back into his chair tiredly. "Fortunately, I doubt it would be in Jasmine's best interests to reveal anything to Cally. Unfortunately, why exactly Jasmine wanted to hunt her out is another problem and of course, she'll now know where Cally's staying."
"She knew who I was and she remembered Blaise," Thea looked troubled. She was still clutching her shopping bags in her trembling hands and quickly dropped them with an expression of disgust. Perhaps if she hadn't been so eager to buy new clothes none of this would have happened.
"What are we going to do?"
Thierry shrugged. "There's not much we can do. At least you got her out of there fast," he conceded, giving Thea room to hope. "Just don't mention this to anyone okay? Especially not your cousin."
"Blaise would be the last person I would talk to about this," Thea said truthfully.
"Hmm," was Thierry's noncommittal reply. "Thanks for telling me about this straight away Thea."
The witch heard the dismissal in her boss' voice and made a quick exit, almost forgetting her shopping bags in her haste. After the door clicked to a permanent close, Thierry got up and locked it, checking to make sure it wouldn't open.
Then he went back to his desk and unlocked his desk drawer, pulling out a small black book. He scanned the names in there until he found the one he wanted and dialed it.
After three rings it was answered. "Brooks."
Thierry hesitated. "Uh, yes," he began. "Brooks, it's-"
"I know who it is."
Even Brooks' voice was filled with authority and threat. Thierry almost smiled to himself, remembering the days when he had been like that and when…but that wasn't the point. The elder shook himself back to reality hastily.
"What's the problem Elder Thierry?" Brooks asked. His tone was slightly mocking but only slightly so Thierry let it go.
"It appears we're encountering some trouble here," he began. There was quick intake of breath from the other end of the line that Thierry was forced to ignore. "I wasn't going to tell you the first one but it seems that Blaise Harman has taken a particular dislike to Callysta."
"Why?" Brooks demanded. "She shouldn't be able to recognize her with the spell still intact."
"Blaise is very powerful," Thierry reminded the vampire. "She senses that something is up and whether it is just instinct that reminds her of her dislike for the old Callysta I couldn't really say."
"Then keep them away from each other," Brooks snapped. "Simple."
"Ah, yes," Thierry replied hesitantly. "We are trying that at the moment but this is after one attack."
"An attack?" Brooks's voice repeated in tones of surpressed anger. "She attacked Callysta?"
"Don't worry," Thierry reassured. "She didn't find anything out."
There was a silence from the other end. "I'm going to catch the next flight over there."
Thierry relaxed minutely with relief. "I would recommend that but not because of Blaise." He paused. "Jasmine Abilene is in town and she's already found Callysta. They went out for coffee today."
"And Callysta didn't recognize her at all?" Brooks sounded worried and almost scared. "Is she okay? She didn't get hurt or anything?"
"They had coffee Brooks," Thierry repeated, rolling his eyes.
"*Is she okay?*" Brooks yelled down the phone. Thierry pulled the earpiece away from himself with a wince.
"Yes, she is okay." Thierry was growing tired of the protective boyfriend charade. "Jasmine didn't say anything to clue her in on her real identity."
"How the hell did Jasmine get close enough to say 'hello'?" Brooks snapped angrily. "I sent her there to be protected from the bitch and you let her waltz in with an offer for coffee? Daybreak must be a bloody mess if this is the way you handle things."
It was a struggle not to take personal offence to that and the only thing that held Thierry back was that he knew that Brooks wasn't really angry, he was scared. Scared that something would happen to Callysta, his soulmate.
"Your spells still intact," Thierry reassured him. "And no one knows that it was you that cast it."
"It had better stay that way, Thierry," Brooks warned in harsh tones of promise. "If it gets out that I'm a half breed then my career is over. Do you think the Night World want some half cast to do their business for them? No. They'd rather make business from the bounty on my witch slash vampire head."
Thierry decided it was now time to change the subject and he did so tactfully. "What time do you think you'll get here?"
Brooks' breath hissed down the phone. "As soon as I damn well can."
"Good," Thierry said pleasantly. "I trust you'll call me when you land."
"I'll call you but that's where my trust in you ends. You're running along a thin line Thierry Descourdes. If anything happens to Callysta before I get there, I'll have your blood in a drip."
"Cally," Thierry corrected.
"Cally?" Brooks repeated, for once caught off guard.
"That's her new name here," Thierry explained. "That's what you have to call her when you see her."
"Uh no." Brooks stated. "I'm not seeing her. I can't see her. If I see her the spell will break and everything will come back and we'll be back to where we started."
"Like Cinderella," Thierry smiled to himself.
There was a disbelieving silence before Brooks finally said, "I can't believe I left her with Daybreak." Then he hung up and Thierry was left holding the phone with an amused smile on his face.
He knew that Brooks would get there in record time and Jasmine Abilene would then be in serious trouble. She had messed with the wrong girl and when that same girl had a soulmate like Brooks, fate was not going to be kind.
I would love any sort of feedback you guys have to offer so please please please R/R!! And for those that are interested, I'm still working on Outcasts and some new chaps will be coming up soon…I hope.