Chapter 13

Sparkling Fortunes

Once again, Baldwin had been thorough in his arranging of everything needed to move Athena out of her place. He had told her to pack up anything personal and private that she didn't want anyone to touch, though she'd tried to badger him on what he was planning.

She'd started on Della's room, bagging up almost everything except for clothing. Baldwin had told her that he'd not been completely honest about Della's things needing to be put into storage. She hadn't been taken from the flat, and her body was all the evidence the Congregation would need to discover how she died. No one had mentioned by whose hands yet, as it wasn't yet known that Satu had been involved, or that she was missing, though with Diana calling the Congregation to order, her absence would soon be noticed. Athena was worried about that. She didn't regret what she'd done, but it would put them in danger with the Congregation. Ysabeau hadn't told her what she and Marthe had done with Satu's body, but she doubted it was still on de Clermont land.

By the time she was done, there were half a dozen people waiting to pack up everything else, standing beside a large removals van. She didn't know any of them, but she knew they were human. It was impressive. Baldwin seemed to know everyone.

"Are you all packed?" he asked from behind her.

"What? Oh. Yes. Where did they all come from?" she asked as they breezed past her.

"We use the same company whenever we need to move. Loyalty is everything."

"And... where are we going? I haven't even told my landlord I'm leaving or paid up."

"Don't worry about that. I've already informed them and paid any balance due."

Athena stared at him. He was doing it again. "Ben..."

"You don't need to worry about anything."

"BEN!" she yelled, clenching her fists to keep control. "Did you intend to tell me anything, or did you just expect me to follow along with your plans?"

Baldwin sighed. "I thought you had enough to deal with."

"That's for me to decide. It's not for you to decide what I can and can't deal with. So, tell me where you've found?"

"A place in Kensington. A two bed apartment. More space than this one, and should be better for you commuting. Also more secure."

"Kensington? I can't afford that! That's why we were living out here! Together!"

"Relax. There's no rent. I own it," he stated.

"Wait. It's your place? Are you... are you asking me to move in?"

Baldwin stared a moment. He hadn't thought she'd take that way. "No, not move in. It's empty. Has been for years. I bought it when prices were low, as an investment place. It was sublet for a while, but it's been vacant for months. You'd actually be doing me a favour. Property never does well when it's empty. It has the basics, but it will need more furniture."

She found it odd that he owned a property in London when he lived in New York. "Why would you buy a place in London?"

"I have property all over. We move every so often, so it's good to have options."

"I'm not sure I feel right living in a property I've made no contribution to," she said, shaking her head.

"I was thinking of selling it. Now, I don't have to. As you already know, I don't exactly need the money, but I don't like to leave things to go to waste."

Athena thought about it a moment. "Just as a temporary measure. Until I can find somewhere I can afford."

Baldwin fought against rolling his eyes. "If that's what you want."

He loaded her personal bags into his car whilst his team loaded up the van in less than an hour, once Athena had told them what belonged to her, and what belonged to the property. They were soon on their way into London.

Athena was quiet. It was simply another nail in the coffin of her former life. She hadn't let herself dwell on what had happened to her sister, and until she was able to bury her, she wasn't sure it was right to say goodbye just yet. She didn't have her sister's foresight, but her gut told her that whatever was being plotted against her, against Diana, against the de Clermonts, and against whoever would stand in their way, the ones responsible would likely strike again.

Peter Knox had harboured ideas for ridding the world of vampires, believing that the Book of Life would be the answer on how to do that. Now that he was gone, and the Book of Life with within Diana herself, she suspected they were looking for other ways. Going after a seer would make sense, but what she couldn't understand was why they seemed to be targeting her, and not her sister. She now knew that Della was only taken because she had deliberately gotten in the way. She wished she could talk to Della once more and ask her why. There were spells that could be performed to summon a spirit and bind it to the material world and the spellcaster, but it was dangerous, and no way for a spirit to spend their time before moving on.

Kensington. Beautiful properties, with extortionate prices. The property was white fronted with white pillars either side of the wide front door. The apartment was on the top floor. Not quite a penthouse, but large enough to qualify with it's modest balcony and enormous sash windows. The attic had been converted for storage, but could easily serve as a third bedroom. The living area was mostly open plan and extraordinarily light, with a white sofa, white coffee table, and a white dining table with oak legs. It was all a bit... clinical. It needed colour. Personality.

"Who did you say lived here before?" she asked, running a finger over the perfect white paint of the nearest wall.

"A solicitor."

"That explains it."

"Explains what?" he replied, frowning.

"The lack of character. I've seen more colour in a graveyard."

Baldwin chuckled. "You can redecorate, if you must."

She turned to him, smirking, slipping off her coat. "No matter the colours?"

He shrugged, feigning disinterest. "You have to live with it."

She made her way over to him, smoothing a hand over his chest. "What if I want to paint the walls sunflower yellow, and a deep purple?"

His eyes darkened slightly at her teasing, the only indication that her words had any effect. "If that's what makes you comfortable."

She pressed against him, slipping her arms around his neck. "And... what if I want to cover the walls in pink glitter?"

He grumbled in distaste as she rubbed her nose against his. "You don't strike me as the pink type. With or without glitter."

She gasped in mock offense. "I resent that! Maybe I want to surround myself in glitter!"

He dipped his head to run his nose along the side of her neck and up behind her ear where her scent was the strongest. "Someone as dazzling as you are, doesn't need glitter to shine..."

Her eyes had slipped closed as his nose rubbed against her skin, but his cheesy comment had her chuckling. "Dazzling? Isn't that a compliment meant for vampires? That lure thing you're all supposed to be able to turn on?"

"Can't say I've ever needed to..." he mumbled, nibbling on her earlobe.

She sighed softly, her hand slipping down to his crotch, grinning when her fondling earned her a growl. "Pretty sure this could be classed as luring..."

His hands had dropped to pull against her bottom, but the moving team he had assembled disturbed them. They grudgingly broke apart and let the team do their job. Once they were done, Athena moved to unpack the essentials. She was in no real mood to unpack everything just yet. Baldwin left her to it as he disappeared to take care of some business matters. He hadn't said when he be back, or even if he would be. Athena made no assumptions, and neither had placed any expectations on the other.

Using her phone, she ordered in some food and ate quietly, flipping though her grimoire, noting down some more protective spells and charms she could try out. She wondered if she could cast some form of protective circle around the property itself, but she found nothing helpful. What she really needed was to talk to another witch.

Just as she was about to call Diana, Baldwin returned, armed with paperwork and his laptop.

"I didn't leave you your key, or the code for the main door." He dropped the key onto the coffee table, along with a piece of paper with the code. "Mind if I use your table for a while? I haven't booked a hotel yet."

Athena shrugged, munching on a won ton. "It's technically your table..."

He slipped off this jacket and set himself up at the dining table whilst Athena rummaged through her things. They worked in companionable silence for several hours before Athena decided to brave looking though Della's sketches. She'd never looked at her sister's drawings before, unless Della herself was showing her one. There were hundreds, and they ranged from her childhood, all the way to before she died.

Many of them were simple images of something small and particular. A tree, a hand, a random symbol... But it seemed as she had gotten older, she had seen images of people or specific instances she felt the need to immortalise on paper. Athena found one image of two hands grasped together but engulfed in flames. There were no words or description. Just a date of when Della had drawn it.

It was one particular picture that caught her interest when she flipped past it, that she had to do a double take. She stared at it from every angle before realising what it was. She gasped and shot to her feet, dropping the entire folder, drawings scattering about the table and floor around her.

Baldwin was instantly by her side. "What's wrong?"

"Do you see it?" She pointed to the picture on the table. It had the caption 'Soldier of Fortune'.

Baldwin looked at it and then whipped his head back to her, his eyes mirroring her shock. "Did you draw that?"

Athena shook her head. "No, I can't draw. It's Della's... But... I don't understand... It's dated more than a decade ago! How could she have drawn you?"

"Was she known for having visions so far in advance?"

"It's hard to say... Her visions could range so widely... It's possible she saw more, but only felt the need to draw this..." She picked it up to take in the details. It was familiar, and not just because it was of Baldwin, but because she recognised his tie... It was the bronze one she'd admired.

"It's a curious description... Quite accurate," he noted.

"How so?"

"I was a soldier. Still am, I suppose. And my company is a Fortune 100 company. It's quite clever of her. Anyone else might not make the connection."

"She probably did that in case mum got hold of them. I wonder what else she saw..." she mused, sitting down and gathering up all the pictures.

"It could have been anything."

"Or nothing. She didn't always see anything except a single image. She might have had no idea who you were or why she felt the need to draw you..."

He sat down beside her, looking at the picture once more before passing it back to her. Athena put them all back in the folder and sighed heavily. She looked around the fancy apartment and felt strangely alone. Independence didn't scare her, but she'd been so used to having her sister in her life, that being away from their little flat and having more unanswered questions floating around in her head than she could handle in that moment, brought everything home. She put her head against his arm, needing something, someone to anchor her to the moment. Baldwin seemed to understand and simply slipped an arm around her, sitting back and letting her rest against him. Neither said a word, both lost in their own thoughts.

Baldwin had more of a reason to give Athena the use of his apartment, than simple kindness. He knew she would be safe here, and if necessary, he could instruct people to keep watch whenever he wasn't around. He also felt better that she wouldn't be commuting back and forth all the way to Cheshunt all alone. It was more protective than he was currently willing to admit, and his insistence that she had been doing him a favour, wasn't completely true. He could easily have sublet the place again, but he liked knowing that she was where he could protect her, though she seemed to be trying to ensure her own protection with all the spells she had been researching.