As though I hadn't had enough time just staring and waiting to fall asleep last night. I laid in bed fidgeting and tossing in pure daylight. Don't get me wrong, I tried to sleep. But it wasn't long before I got bored and my questions started to come up again. I remembered event with the streetlight. Was it a coincidence that such an odd thing happened the day before I met Alec?
"Hey Alec, was that you the night before I met you?" I asked him. Without even looking at him I could tell he was rolling his eyes. Then he hesitated.
"Was what me?"
"The streetlight fell over when I was outside to get my cell phone. Were you and Nicholas fighting or something?" I asked him. He didn't respond.
"When was this?" Now I was intrigued.
"I don't know. In the middle of the night?" He thought on this and put his hand on his chin again as he thought. He was completely baffled by something which had my attention. I was never going to be relaxed enough to sleep.
"Wasn't that you?" I asked. "Or did the streetlight just fall by itself?"
"It didn't. I'd assumed Nicholas did that," he said. My eyebrows went up at this idea. I looked at him. "That was where the mediator died. It happened while I was hunting. You were outside when it happened?"
"I thought Nicholas killed the mediator," I said. "But if I was outside at the time, why wouldn't he have jumped at the chance to kill me? I was completely vulnerable." Alec thought on that. He groaned as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and slid beside me over the covers on my bed. He took out his cell phone and fidgeted with it. He stared at it intently.
"This is bad," he said.
"Why?"
"Because it means he might not have been the one to kill her. Which means, I may have made a huge mistake," Alec said, his eyes showed that he was deliberating. In an instant he sat up moving so fast that I wasn't exactly sure of what he was doing until I saw the phone was pressed to his ear.
I took this time from my distracted guard to get up. Unfortunately, if nothing else, the NyQuil had gotten me pretty loopy. I wandered into the living room not really caring what Alec was talking about. It didn't matter anyway, because he was speaking to fast for me to understand. So I flipped on the television. Jasper jumped up beside me, since Alec wasn't in his spot and vegged out for a little bit.
Then, I heard something. A familiar rustling for keys downstairs. I knew those keys anywhere. Will was home! He had more keys than a janitor. Before I could dart downstairs to greet my friend, I paused.
Oh no...
Will was home.
Then there was the loud stomping up the steps. He was coming to my apartment. I screamed telepathically for him to turn back. To pretend he didn't know me. Nicholas could be watching. He couldn't know he was associated with me at all. But Will's not that kind of guy to just come home and call you. He's kind of like a not-so nerdy Steve Erkel whereas he lived for grand entrances.
Alec was in the room in an instant speeding up his words even faster to deliver the message. He slapped his cell phone shut just as Will turned the key in my door and stepped inside.
"Hidey ho, neighbor," he said opening the door. Will barges in unannounced all the time. I gave him a key a while ago when I went to go out of state for a work seminar and I needed him to watch Jasper. Then he refused to give me back the key so he frequently uses it to burst in and force out of whatever activity I happen to be doing to entertain him. Once he even pulled me out of the shower butt-naked because I had to help him pick out a tie for his date ASAP. (He got a good slap for that one.)
But he was my best friend and I loved him.
"Lady Jay, have I got some stories to tell you." Then he looked up from what he was doing having gotten the key out of the door. Will and Alec immediately locked gazes. Alec was not so thrilled, arms crossed over his chest.
Will looked at Alec like God had just given him a present.
"Who is this?" Will said looking him up and down suggestively. Alec's brow furrowed and edged away from him. His looked was priceless. I would kill to have had a camera with me.
"That's Alec," I said standing up and wobbling a bit. Will laughed.
"Hitting the drinks a little early, aren't you Jay? Or are you still a little drunk from last night? You look like hell." Will smelled the air as if he were testing it. He had an uncanny ability of knowing exactly when something wasn't right. "Well, you didn't sleep together. So what's up?"
"I'm not drunk. It's NyQuil," I explained.
"You're not sick," he said. Will never misses a thing.
"Leave," Alec demanded. Will looked confused for a moment and then gave a light laugh. Instead of listening to him he turned to me.
"Don't you want to know why I'm home early?" I opened my mouth to tell him that it would probably best if he did leave, but Will was never one to wait for a response before he just dove in.
"Well, my boss hit on me. That's right. She hit on me on the business trip which turned out not to be so professional. She was pushy and trying to shove me into a hotel room. I tell her I'm gay and she sends me home. Now I have to go to work on Monday and its going to be awkward. I mean, what if she tries to fire me or something?"
Then he looked at Alec.
"You're hungry," Will said to Alec completely surprising the vampire. Like I said, Will never misses a thing. Even I hadn't noticed Alec's eyes were steadily getting darker. "Jay, let's order a pizza and I'll tell you the details. Obviously you have to clue me in on the hottie. Oh and this is for Jazzy." He pulled out a tennis ball. Jasper was on his feet in an instant wagging his tail in front of him. Will teased him for a moment and then threw the ball down the hall. Will practically collected tennis balls for Jasper.
"Will," I interrupted him as Jasper was coming back down the hall with the ball in his mouth. "Now's really not a good time."
Will patted Jasper.
"Why not?" he asked as Jasper ran in circles around him. Jasper absolutely loved Will. I once joked that Jasper loved Will so much that he must have imprinted on him. But Will didn't get it so I just came off looking like a dork.
"Because..." I nodded at Alec. "I'm trying to work something out with Alec. It's just really not a good time. I'm sure you have a lot of unpacking to do." Will looked at Alec with new suspicions. The vampire kept quiet, jaw clenched in agitation of the new variable in his little Game.
Will stood up from where he was knelt next to Jasper. I think I offended him. He tried to look understanding though. He just nodded and pointed at me.
"You will tell me what's going on, Jay," he said.
"Yeah," I agreed not sure if I was lying or not. He left it at that. I heard the slow footfalls going down the stairs back to his apartment. I groaned and hit the couch covering my eyes. Now my friend was in danger and he didn't even have his own personal vampire to protect him! "This is so bad!"
I peeked through my fingers and then sat up. Alec was looking at the wall thinking. Then he paced. He knew too. Will being home this early was in nobody's plans. Though now he might be in the predator's. I had to ask the vampire before I started going into hysterics again.
"Is Will in trouble?" I asked Alec.
"No," Alec said softly turning away from me to make another round. I exhaled with relief not even questioning whether he was telling the truth. "We need to go. Now."
"Where?"
"We have to speak with Nicholas," he said. My eyes went wide at that thought. He scoffed at me. "Well, I hope you're happy. You said you wanted to meet him." Now I instantly regretted the very suggestion. I thought about it for a moment.
"You were on the phone with him?" I asked Alec. He nodded. "Why?"
"The Game has been compromised. I had assumed Nicholas killed the mediator, which is cheating. That was why I broke the rules. But Nicholas didn't kill her," he said.
"Who did?" I asked.
"Damned if I know!" His voice was so loud I felt like it had cracked my skull. Luckily, I was drugged so I didn't quite feel the headache it gave me. Jasper whined next to me. He shot his glare at me. "Get dressed. We need to go."
"I'm going to meet with the guy who wants to kill me?" I questioned.
Alec mumbled something incoherent and walked toward me obviously meaning that I was going to get dressed one way or another. His intentions now clear I stood up on my own and headed towards the bedroom. Alec stalked me down the hallway impatiently behind me. I tried to go faster, but he wasn't patient enough to go tailgating me, so he carried me bridal style.
I frantically grabbed at his neck to steady myself, much more terrified than I thought I'd be in my first time in this position. Alec set me down and then started throwing clothes at me from the dirty clothes pile. I tried to hurry pulling my shirt over my head, knowing he was too distracted to sneak a peek.