Chapter Six

"I'm so sorry but I am going shopping tomorrow with my mom. She insists on buying me appropriate school clothes." Collie St. John said in an emotionless voice to Heather and Kara. "So you see it would be impossible for me to come over."

Beth St. John's jaw started to drop but she contained herself. She had never known Collie to lie before. It just wasn't in her basic constitution to be deceptive; manipulative, yes, conniving and mischievous, absolutely to the point of driving Beth to the brink. Still, they were a team against the world. "Oh, yes, girls, Collie and I are booked for the rest of the week. When do you have to return to England?"

It didn't take much after that to get the two Emos to say their goodbyes and leave the pier on the Left Bank. Beth turned to talk to Collie but she was huddled with Elliott. Just as well, Beth thought, she was afraid that they had started drifting apart after he left for college. He'll find out what the problem is soon enough. At least before Mick notices, she hoped. She looked over and saw her vampire giving a hard stare at that perfectly nice man in the orange passing line. She smiled her secret smile, thinking of later. Usually Collie would be giggling by now, and teasing Mick. But not tonight. Once again, Beth started worrying.

Later that night in the Paris suburbs, Kara is furious. "We both felt it, right? She is the queen. So why didn't she recognize us?"

Heather is puzzled. "She's different somehow. Did you notice she and her father didn't eat anything? And it was creepy, her not saying anything. And that load of crap about shopping, even her mother noticed something was off. Has Elliott ever talked about his family before in the whole time we've known him?"

"No, not really. Just that his parents and sister lived in Los Angeles with a summer home in Aspen. They sounded rich but Elliott is so down to earth and unspoiled. And really his folks are, well, you met them, they're great. So funny and obviously well suited. Nothing odd other than cold hands and pale skin that I could tell. Maybe Collie inherited lots of food allergies from her dad?"

"Well, I'm going do some investigating. I may not make it back to school right away. You cover for me, okay, Heather?"

"We're in this together, Kara. But I am the one who should approach her again. I think maybe you were a little too intense with anticipation. And perhaps we need to jog her previous lifetime memories? After all, if she is our queen, yes, yes, I believe it, too, that she is, maybe after seeing us, she is in shock?"

"Maybe so. I guess I was expecting her to immediately recognize us. I was even prepared to get down on my knees and swear my allegiance once again."

"And then have her start barking out orders. Yes, I admit, I thought that, too. But she just stared at us. And got the hell away from us as soon as she could."

"You know, I'm calling Elliott. Let's see if I can find out what she's told him, and maybe we can get a chance once again to help her remember."