Twenty minutes later Henry was hustling Vicki and Coreen into the elevator. As they crowded in together into the dark paneled space along with Henry's hastily packed bag, he said, "There will be a car waiting for us downstairs. We will detour to your hotel and you will have time to pack your bags and check out, but you must hurry."
"I've never been on a seaplane before," Coreen said, her eyes dancing with excitement. "Have you Vicki?"
"Never," Vicki answered in a substantially less enthusiastic tone, and then turning to Henry said, "You Hank?"
"Yes," Henry replied, his eyes focused on the lit numbers on the panel of buttons. "In the early 50's I was involved with a group of painters who would retreat to the northern parts of Ontario to work. We often used pontoon planes to land on the lakes. I remember once…well that doesn't matter now." He paused as the door to the elevator slid open.
When Vicki and Coreen had exited, he crossed to the security desk to speak with Tanya. He was turning away after having explained that he may be away for a few days when Tanya said, "I can see the resemblance now."
"Pardon?" Henry asked.
"The resemblance, between you and your sister, I can see it now."
"My sister?" Henry repeated in an even more puzzled tone, glancing to Vicki and Coreen. Coreen raised her hand to wiggle her fingers in the vampire's direction. Henry's brows lifted, but when he turned back to Tanya he said with a smile, "Oh, you mean that sister."
They headed to the door and as Coreen passed the security desk she rolled her dark eyes and shook her head silently indicating to Tanya just what her opinion of big brothers was.
Emerging onto the sidewalk they saw a black limousine in the no-parking zone, in front of the building. As soon as they appeared, the driver got out of the car and, coming around to the passenger side, opened the wide double doors to the passenger compartment.
He did not extend his hand to Henry but doffed his cap and said, "Mr. Fitzroy? I am Thomas Rogers, your driver. I was told that you will have one or two stops to make on the way?"
"Just one, Thomas," Henry replied as he urged Vicki and Coreen to pass by him. They slid across the leather seats of the luxuriously appointed interior. "I believe it is the Georgia Annex," Henry continued.
"Very Good Mr. Fitzroy, I know exactly where the Annex is."
Henry slipped into the cabin of the limo and Thomas closed the doors behind them with an unusually solid thud.
"Wow, these windows are tinted incredibly dark," Coreen said. "I can hardly see out."
Henry's reply was a mumbled "Mm-huh," as the limo pulled out into traffic, but once they were underway he said, "Uhhh, you're right Coreen; the Community usually maintains a vehicle which has been retrofitted especially for their vampire clients."
Henry opened a small panel in the door and flipped a switch. Vicki and Coreen watched as, noiselessly, what appeared to be steel sheets moved up into position from beneath all the windows including the one between the cabin and the driver. In a few seconds they were enclosed entirely in the complete dark.
Vicki drew in a very shaky breath, her hand reaching out blindly to come to rest on Henry's thigh. This is like a tomb, she thought.
"I'm sorry, one moment," she heard Henry's voice and then the sidelights came up in the cabin, a dim and golden light. Both Vicki and Coreen's pupils were entirely dilated and dark.
"As you can see, if a timeline is cut a little too close, these panels can be activated to keep the passenger from…"
"Bursting in flames? Being immolated alive? Christ Henry," Vicki sputtered.
"Unavoidable delays sometimes occur Vicki," Henry said gently. This equipment would enable the occupant to be transported to safety, even if the day overtook him."
Coreen's finger's touched the cool metal of the panels, "Have you ever used…"
"Upon occasion," Henry answered and then said, "Would you mind, if I lowered them now? I find it just a little claustrophobic."
"No, sure, go ahead," Coreen said.
Vicki quietly shook her head as the panels slid down and the faint lights of the Vancouver traffic streaming by could be seen once again through the heavily tinted glass.
Vicki felt her stomach clench; the reminder of how close destruction could so easily come to Henry, left her feeling queasy. It wasn't as though she didn't know what the sun could do and yet, the idea of him trapped inside this vehicle as the day overtook him…
"I don't suppose that there is a bar on this thing is there?" Vicki asked. "I suddenly feel like I need a drink.
Henry reached across to pull open a panel when at the last second Vicki stopped him. "Uhhh, first of all we're talking about, whiskey, right?" Henry shook his head and smiled and then opened the panel that tilted down to form a small shelf. Behind it, in a shallow compartment walled in the traditional mirrors, was a small mini bar. It was equipped with glasses and several rows of sparkling miniature liquor bottles; there was even ice.
"What did you think would be in the bar, Vicki?" Henry asked as he added a couple of cubes to the measure of scotch he had poured her.
"Well you know, maybe like…"
"Bagged blood?" Coreen suggested, a little too helpfully.
"Nooo," Vicki protested, "I wasn't thinking that," as she took the drink that Henry offered her.
"Oh, the bagged blood? Well, that's in this compartment over here," he said, reaching across Vicki and not quite managing to keep his grin in check.
Coreen started to giggle and Vicki punched Henry, hard in the arm. "Fuck you Fitzroy," she said without rancor, before joining the laughter.
A half an hour later they were back in the limo, Vicki and Coreen's bags along with Henry's in the trunk and they were headed past the Convention Center enroute to the docks and the seaplane hangars.
Next to the marina were the low flat structures that housed the small planes and the long docks that ran out into the water. As they drove along the shore they could see one tied up at the end of the wooden dock. These were private, for hire float-planes that flew passengers from the Vancouver harbor to the Inner harbor in Victoria. They arrived at the tiny terminal on the shore across from the dark mass of Stanley Park. Opposite they could see the stream of headlights heading over the causeway through the park to the Lion's Gate Bridge. Far down on their left, in the distance they could glimpse the lights of the Second Narrows Bridge arching across to the twinkling lights of the North Shore slopes.
Thomas was removing the bags from the trunk after opening the limo doors for them and when they had exited the car, they were approached by a man of perhaps forty-five, trim and weather beaten, in the way of people who spend a great deal of time out in the wind and the sun.
"Henry, I'm happy to see you." He held out his hand and Henry grasped it in his own cool one and then pulled him into a quick embrace.
"Kevin, I'm so glad that Augustus sent you as my envoy. I haven't seen you in several months now. I've missed our conversations."
"I've just returned from Belfast, Henry. That territory changed hands, abruptly, and there were some, difficulties, which required some heavy duty negotiations," Keith said lowly.
"Hostile takeover?" Henry's brow lifted.
"Uh-huh, very," Kevin confirmed. "Man, it is great to see you out and about Henry. Who are your companions? Augustus said to plan for two female humans."
Henry turned to Vicki and Coreen. "Your pardon," he said to them. "That was unforgivably rude of me. This is a good friend of mine, Kevin Talbot." He looked warmly back to Kevin. "He was a great help to me, when I first arrived here in Vancouver, and took up this territory. Kevin this," he said, indicating Coreen with a smile, "is my friend, Coreen Fennel. She often masquerades as my sister; I've been told there is a resemblance. She is under my protection."
Kevin leaned forward, with a smile, to take Coreen's hand in his. He had noted Henry's words carefully. If she is under Henry's protection then he will expect me to extend my protection to her as well, his friend.
Henry turned to Vicki and she stepped forwards to Kevin, sticking out her hand and saying, "Vicki Nelson," with a smile.
Kevin reached out to take her hand in his when he caught Henry's next words.
"Victoria is my Chosen."
Kevin froze in mid-action. I have lived all of my life in the Community. All my life I have had the knowledge of the "creatures" that the Community provided service to, and I have in all that time only ever met two other Chosen. He glanced to Henry, receiving a slight nod, before he took Vicki's hand.
"I am honored to meet you, Victoria," he said.
"Vicki, please," she said as she shook his hand. Her eyes went to Henry; she was confused by Kevin's sudden change to a more formal demeanor. Henry just shrugged a slight lifting of his shoulders.
Thomas had loaded their bags onto a small cart and was proceeding to wheel it into the terminal building. Coreen and Vicki started off after him and then Henry followed them. Kevin drew him back a few paces.
"You didn't inform us Henry that you were traveling with your Chosen to this meeting or for that matter even that you had taken a Chosen. It may complicate matters," Kevin said.
"I will not be parted from her," Henry said resolutely, his posture stiffening.
"I'm not suggesting that you should be; but, well I will just have to make some calls."
"Do what you must Kevin, I trust you." Henry said.
***
Orion Gaelan was forlorn; he knew well his own pain, his own tortuous disappointment in the human to whom he had given his heart. He had lived it for months, for years. He had never thought to see Liath, his beautiful and intelligent cousin, brought so low.
Liath of the bright spirit, Liath of the soft voice, Liath of the beautiful and loving heart, she had been his strength, when he couldn't leave the haven of the waves. She had lent him her love of life and the world of men, when his own was gone; she had drawn him once more to the shore. How had she come to this? How had she been brought so low, by a human that she had known no more than a handful of days?
He looked at her dejected form, her sorrowful and tear-reddened eyes as she sat hunched in the dim lighting of the living room.
"Perhaps, he doesn't know after all Liath," he tried. "Perhaps there is just a problem with his phone," Orion temporized.
Her desolate gaze came up to his face, "He knows, Orion," she whispered in a voice gone hoarse with her sobbing. "He knows, the woman from the beach in Stanley Park," Liath picked up Vicki's card from the coffee table, turning it over and over in her fingers. "She told him, she told him about you, Orion."
Gaelan paled under his tanned good looks.
Liath continued relentlessly, "And when he knew about you, well he knows you are my cousin Orion. I told him at least that much myself." She shook her head sadly.
"Our mothers were twin sisters Orion, it shows in our faces. He would have realized that if you are Selchie, then so am I. That's why he won't return my calls, that's why…" A tear slipped down her cheek and Orion leaned across to take her hand.
Clare came softly into the living room and turned on another lamp. "Perhaps he just needs some time to process what he has learned, Liath. I know that he loves you, it fair shines out of his eyes."
"He loved me Clare; he loved me, the human girl Liath. Now that he knows that I'm a…that I'm not human, not who he thought, he doesn't, h-he doesn't…"
Clare folded Liath in her arms. "Oh Liath, hush, you don't know that." Clare stoked Liath's hair while the girl sobbed against her shoulder as though her heart was broken.
"I sh-should have told him," Liath hiccoughed, after a few moments. "I should have told him myself, to his face, maybe somehow I could have explained."
"There are no words of ours that can make them understand, Liath," Orion said. Then he took Liath's hand and drew her to her feet. "Just for tonight, Liath, just for one night, let's lose ourselves to the sea. Please, Liath?" he asked.
Liath nodded slowly, wiping a sleeve across her face. "Clare will you fetch Liath's coat please?" Orion asked. "We are going to walk down to the shore."
Mike saw them as soon as they emerged from the house. From where he sat, parked further up the street, he watched Liath and Orion walk slowly away along the sidewalk.
He had been unable to settle in his hotel room, unable to sleep, unable to think. His heart was breaking. He couldn't, he just couldn't make sense of what Vicki had told him. So in the end, he had gotten dressed and driven to Liath's house, only to spend the last forty-five minutes, torn by indecision, sitting morosely behind the wheel of his parked car staring at her home.
He wanted to see her, he needed to see her, to ask her…but he couldn't and so he sat, staring at her house.
Now he watched as Orion Gaelan put his arm around her shoulder and they walked slowly down the street. His heart twisted in his breast as he watched her lean heavily against the taller man. She seemed weak, beaten somehow. His heart yearned towards her, he couldn't help himself. He followed. He kept far back on the street, turning off on a side street, parking and then watching them walk by opposite the corner. He knew where they were going now, to the water; they were going to the water.
He watched them from the distance as they started down the sloped driveway to Clover Point. He drove to the overlook of the Point, and parked in the dark, killing the lights on the car. After a few minutes as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw them make their way across the flat field of the Point to the rocky drop to the water. When they were past the lone lamppost at the end of the Point he saw Gaelan lift his head to look cautiously around. Then Liath and Orion began to pick their way carefully down the rocks.
Mike exited the car, and as quickly and as quietly as he could, he crept down the slope.
I should go back to the car. I should go back to the car. I don't want to know, but, I just have to. I have to know…
When Mike was crouched at the top of the rocks, he could hear Orion and Liath's soft voices.
"Liath," Orion said, "If he calls the house, then Clare will tell him you are at Maxine's."
He couldn't make out the words of Liath's response, just the tearful tone that tore at his heart.
"You need this Liath. Trust me; I know. When I finally took my skin back, the ocean was the only thing that eased the pain of L-Linda's betrayal. Just one night of freedom in the dark water, Liath, and you will have a cleared and calmer head tomorrow.
Mike crouched further down as suddenly Orion's pale figure came into view, wading out into the dark water that lapped at the rocks, its surface silvered and shingled by the tiny waves and the moon overhead.
Mike watched without drawing breath as Orion's form shimmered and then the man was gone and a sloe-eyed seal with a spotted coat slid beneath the waves. He watched as the seal flashed out into the deeper water and then saw the sleek head reappear with the peculiar bark of the grey seal.
Tears started in Mike's eyes as he watched Liath's shapely, naked form pick her way over the rocks to the water's edge. Her hair was loose across her back, lifting and whipping about in the onshore breeze. The moon sailed overhead, illuminating her pale, shivering beauty as she waded out into the water.
He could not look away; he was frozen, paralyzed, yet when the water was to her thighs and the body of the seal that was Orion circled her playfully in the water, Mike lurched to his feet, standing at the top of the rocks.
"Liath," he called to her, and she spun to look back at the shore, her arms crossed over her breasts and the dark water lapping around her navel. Mike began to clamber recklessly down the rocks. He looked up to her again. "Liath, please," he shouted.
Her eyes were huge and solid brown, dark in her face. The seal beside her twisted and turned in the water, urging her with sharp yips and a rasping, coarse, honking noise. When his feet splashed in the ankle deep water of the rocky shore, Mike stretched his arms out over the silvered surface. "Liath, please, don't."
Her dark eyes showed a terrible despair and then the edges of her form blurred. Mike watched; he never took his eyes from hers and yet he could not say, save for the emptiness in his heart, the instant that his Liath was gone. Now two sleek seal bodies, watched him, unblinking, from the tide.
"Liath," he whispered brokenly, and then she slipped beneath the surface and was…gone.