New York, NY
Sunday, August 12, 2001
evening
It wasn't planned, but somehow Christian and Lilianna pulled up to Irons' mansion at the same time as Sara and Jake. Christian mentally compared Lilianna's behavior now to the first time the four of them had been confronted with each other. She had leaned on him and looked as if she would fall to pieces if someone said boo that night at the club, but now, though her fingers were laced through his, it was only to stay connected to him.
She stood tall and proud by his side, smiling at her mother and father. And even though neither one of them wore their Blades, she wasn't nervous. The Blades were hidden in the plumbing at Gabriel Bowman's empty apartment, one of the last places someone would think to look. They had both decided earlier that whatever was meant to happen, would happen. After all, hadn't fate brought them together despite Irons' manipulations in Lilianna's timeline and this one?
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Sara and Jake did a double take when they noticed Christian's clean shaven appearance. Lilianna smiled. She knew it would have surprised her as well, if Christian hadn't asked her to help him do it. She knew, too, that he had done so knowing that being part of the process would take the strangeness out of it.
Christian looked a lot younger without his beard, almost as young as she herself was. He was wearing a black Armani suit with a black shirt and a silk tie the exact shade of his eyes and her dress. She had modeled the dress for him when she got home from shopping with Sara and he had found the tie while he was in London. The dress was sleevless and had a halter top, but was very modest for the style. The skirt was long and had a slight fullness to it. The material complemented her curves and moved rather beautifully.
Christian's hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and his suit was one that had been hand tailored, accentuating his body. Lilianna could barely keep her eyes (and hands) off him. He was more than handsome tonight, he was stunningly beautiful.
Her father looked handsome, too. Jake wasn't quite as dressed up as the rest of them, wearing slacks and a collar-less dress shirt. Where Lilianna's dress perfectly matched Christian's tie and his eyes, the dark blue of Jake's shirt was a perfect foil for Sara's siren red dress, which was an off-the-shoulder mid-thigh little number. Sara's hair was softly curled and feathered away from her face, to which she had painstakingly applied just enough makeup.
Lilianna herself had never worn makeup, it was never brought up at the Centre so she didn't know how. But she didn't mind. Christian looked at her with the same heat in his eyes no matter what she wore, be it baggy sweats or nothing at all. Her reflection in his eyes told her more than any mirror ever could. She had no need for artificial enhancement. His love made her beautiful.
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Sara was in a mild state of shock. Not only had she somehow agreed to this dinner, which had to be a set-up, but the changes in her daughter and Nottingham were mind-boggling. Lilianna appeared confident and happy, and, Sara was happy to note, very helathy, even though she was about to walk into the lion's den. And evidently without the Witchblade. Sara berated herself silently. Of course Lilianna would not wear her Witchblade in front of Irons. Setting aside her worry over Irons for a moment, Sara smiled.
She and Jake had made a beautiful child together. Though actually Lilianna was far from being a child anymore. No, their daughter was a beautiful woman, and the love shining from her deep blue-green eyes was breathtaking. Sara let go of her lingering misgivings about Nottingham and Lilianna's relationship. Nottingham was obviously good for her.
And Nottingham...wow! If he hadn't been raised to be a bodyguard, assassin and all-around henchman, he could have made a fortune as a male model. For an instant, she felt a pang of guilt; Jake had been right, if it weren't for having fallen in love with Jake and Lilianna's claim to the dark, gorgeous man, Nottingham definitely would have been her type. Sara tucked her arm through Jake's and lightly kissed his cheek. He smiled lovingly at her, and Sara forgot how gorgeous Nottingham was.
Nottingham still refused to meet anyone's eyes, but he was standing straight. She had never before realized how tall he was, and Sara wondered momentarily if Irons made him slouch over to hide the fact that Nottingham was the taller of the two men. That thought brought her back to where they were, and she moved forward to embrace her "sister".
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Jake waited while Sara hugged Angel. When she was once more by his side, he nodded to Nottingham. To Angel, he said, "It's nice to see you again. You'll have to come over to our place soon. I'd like to know more about Sara's family."
"That would be nice," Angel said as she smiled at him, affection clear in her gaze. "How are you feeling?"
Although he was disconcerted by the affection he realized he somehow also felt for her, he answered smoothly, "Pretty good, I haven't hit my head in a little over two weeks."
Jake took note of Nottingham's quick grin out of the corner of his eye and was caught off guard when Angel laughed lightly. She had the same laugh as his aunt, soft and musical.
"I was unaware the party had been moved outdoors."
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Irons watched as all four of his guests jumped at the sound of his voice. While Jake McCartey had simply been surprised, he was sure the other three were now on their guard. He frowned momentarily. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at Nottingham and Lilianna. They both appeared serenely happy, and Lilianna's Witchblade was nowhere to be seen.
Did she have it somewhere on her person, or had they left it at the loft? It was of no consequence either way. He didn't know enough about her Blade to attempt wearing it. No, he meant to control it through her, and his trip to London and Nottingham's forced surgery had put him one step closer to his goal.
Moving his plotting to the back burner, Irons smiled at his guests and waved them into the mansion. Irons watched as Nottingham held back, and he and Lilianna followed Sara and Jake inside. At least some things were still the way they were supposed to be.
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Irons led them to the library, and a maid brought in a tray with four champagne flutes and a bottle of Dom Perignon. Jake frowned at the lack of a fifth glass. When Irons offered the champagne to everyone but Nottingham, Jake mentally shrugged. Maybe part of Nottingham's training and duties was foregoing alcohol. Angel politely refused, asking instead for a glass of water. That didn't come as a total surprise as the young woman had also had water weeks ago at the club. But when Sara echoed Angel's request, Jake frowned again.
Thinking back, he couldn't remember Sara having any alcohol in more than two weeks. Sara was far from being an alcoholic, but she did drink with the guys down at the pub that the members of the 11th Precinct frequented. Why was she abstaining?
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Sara noticed Jake's reaction to her refusal of champagne and realized she could tell him about the baby. It had been two and a half weeks, and she highly doubted that Jake would know it was still technically too early for a pregnancy test to have an accurate result. Would Jake be happy about the baby?
Suddenly, Sara had another reason to wish the night would end soon. She only hoped that whatever reason Irons had for inviting the four of them to dinner didn't have anything to do with poisoning all of them. She glanced down at her wrist, but the Stone was silent. Maybe all Irons wanted was to observe them and make Nottingham and herself nervous. It fit what little she really knew of the obsessive billionaire. He enjoyed playing games with people, and she and Nottingham were his two favorite pawns. Sara prayed that he never found out how much more powerful a player Lilianna was in their particular little game than he could possibly know.
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"And what shall we drink to?" Irons asked rhetorically.
Lilianna waited. She, Sara and Christian each had a glass of water now, and everyone raised their glasses in anticipation of a toast.
"To...partnerships." They were all about to drink when Irons continued, "And family."
Lilianna and Christian smiled at each other. Lilianna turned her gaze to her parents and smiled at them as well.
"To family," she echoed, and everyone drank.
Jake asked a question about one of the paintings on the north wall, and Irons walked with him to that side of the room, speaking down to Jake as if he were an ignorant child who knew nothing of true art. Jake corrected one of Irons' factoids and Lilianna silently cheered her father.
Catherine appeared in the room. Lilianna barely managed not to react. She had never taken her Blade off before, outside of the time it had come off on its own to form Christian's Blade, and she had always thought that her Witchblade Guardian wouldn't be visible without it. When Christian had told her about Catherine's visit with him on the plane to London, she had assumed it was because Catherine was his mother and that perhaps Christian had a touch of the Inner Sense like his sister and one of his brothers. Now she realized it was because of the Periculum.
Even though they didn't have the Blades with them, the Witchblade was in their blood, their cells. Catherine smiled and nodded. Lilianna knew that Christian saw her as well, and they both watched as she moved away from them. Walking to the far wall, Catherine touched the spine of a book on a shelf at waist level. She blew them both a kiss, then she was gone.
"What were you two just looking at?" Sara asked quietly.
"My mother," Christian whispered back.
When Sara frowned, obviously puzzled, Lilianna added softly, "She's my Witchblade Guardian, like Maria is for you. She was showing us something, though what it means I don't know yet. Do you think you could keep Irons busy for a few seconds?"
Sara nodded her understanding and acceptance and moved to join Jake and Irons across the room. She asked a question about the crown molding near the ceiling and the architectural origins of the mansion. Irons launched into a detailed description. He loved to show off his possessions. Hearing himself speak was an added bonus.
Lilianna and Christian moved unhurriedly across the room and lifted the book Catherine had indicated. Christian frowned, but Lilianna simply concentrated on Mara's spatial displacement ability and hid the book from reality. She would be able to draw it back out when they were home.
A young woman dressed in a maid's uniform came into the room and announced dinner. Irons offered his arm to Lilianna. With no hesitation, she laid her own atop it. Sara and Jake followed, Christian bringing up the rear. Lilianna knew she appeared completely calm to the others, but she was fighting very hard on the inside not to pull away from the touch of the man she hated above all others. The presence of her parents and her husband gave her strength but also made her nervous. If she made a slip, Irons would already have all of them together.
But whatever else Irons was up to, he seemed content just to let them stew. Dinner passed pleasantly enough, the conversation remaining on neutral subjects. Maybe he didn't know anything important. Why else would he be waiting so long to act?