“It’s too risky.” I say nervously.
“Do you want to see Ethan put on trial for a crime he didn’t commit?” Delilah asks.
“No but,” I hesitate, just as I’m about to defend myself, and realise that I’ll probably get home and to bed a whole lot sooner if I simply go ahead and do this. “Oh God – I know I’m going to regret this. I’ll do it.”
Delilah looks like she just might kiss me, before rambling on, “Right okay. I promise you won’t regret this, we need to get both of your stories straight. What were you doing last night? I hope nothing too public.”
“I was at home in bed,” I answer.
“That’s perfect. Okay, so you’ll simply tell them that Ethan was with you all night.”
I cough, and remind myself the alibi is fictional. “All right. But where’s Ethan now? Isn’t he in his office being questioned already?” I’d figured this was the reason she’d told me to steer clear of the room.
“That’s the problem, Ethan’s been gone all evening and I can’t get a hold of him on any of his phones. Herrington and his wife Antonia are in his office waiting with all their bastard bodyguards. Ethan isn’t going to have a clue what’s going on.”
“Oh – I think I might have met one of the guards on my way here.”
“Which one?” asks Delilah, vaguely anxious.
“Dru – the girl one. At least I think she was a girl.”
Delilah laughs. “Oh yeah, she’s a girl all right. Probably the most personable of Herrington’s bulldogs too, but at the same time the most lethal. Don’t let her charm you, she’s a fucking snake that one.”
“I’ll remember not to,” I say.
Delilah rubs her bare arms a minute before grabbing her phone from the counter by the kitchenette. “I’m going to try Ethan one more time,” she tells me, turning away to dial his number. I sit still and wait. Ethan must answer because Delilah begins an angry tirade down the phone in a foreign language. I suppose filling Ethan in on what’s been going on, while also giving him an earful for being out of reach. After several minutes she hangs up.
“You got him then,” I say.
“Yeah. He’ll be here in five minutes. Come along, we’ll meet him in the car park.”
Delilah doesn’t seem bothered by the frosty cold temperature outside as we wait for Ethan in the half empty car park. I, on the other hand, am wearing a big fleecy jacket and am still freezing cold. I pull it tighter around me. A moment later Ethan’s recognizable Cadillac pulls into the night club, stopping in the spot just by the back door where we’re standing.
He smoothly slides out of the car and immediately walks up to his sister, again the two talk in hushed foreign tones. I roll my eyes, I can’t be dealing with all of this drama and intrigue right now. There’s no way I’m missing work tomorrow because of this, I’m in desperate need of my pay check this week.
All of that worry seems to disappear from my brain the moment Ethan approaches me, placing his hand on the small of my back.
“I appreciate you doing this,” he whispers, and all I can do is nod and look away in response. Ethan laughs softly. “So what’s our story then?” he asks.
I clear my throat, looking at Delilah for some help, but she just nods her head to me while checking her messages on her phone, as if to urge me on. “Well, um, we decided to just say that you spent the night at my place with me.” I answer finally.
Thankfully, Ethan doesn’t decide to take advantage of my embarrassment. “Sounds good to me,” he replies. “By the way, I did call to your apartment yesterday, but got no answer. You must have been out.”
“I wasn’t feeling well.” I say quietly.
“Oh – well I hope you’re better now,” he says, eyeing me closely, half concern, half something else.
I tell him I am and we continue on inside the club and to his office where Dru is still waiting outside the door.
“Decided to drop by did we,” she says to Ethan sarcastically, with a cocked eyebrow.
“I was unaware of the circumstances,” Ethan answers her simply before stepping by into his office, leading me in with him, Delilah heavy on our heels. Inside there are two stocky male vampires, who I presume are Herrington’s other bodyguards. Both wear all black, just like Dru outside. Then I see Herrington himself and understand why Marcel and Gabriel had found him funny. If ever there was a vampire version of Danny De Vito then this would be him. At less than five foot tall with a round head topped with balding jet black hair, he’s the spitting image of the comedy actor.
His wife Antonia, on the other hand, is tall and slim with pale white blond hair styled into a neat bun at the top her head. They make the quintessential odd couple, and if you didn’t look into the cold, hard, cruel jade green eyes of Antonia Herrington you’d almost wonder how Howard ever managed to keep hold of his leadership position. He doesn’t exactly command respect, and his body language suggests that he himself is truly tired of always being on guard. Like a dictator who’s sick of continually having to watch his back for fear of traitors. Just like Caesar.
Yeah, my bet would be that the wife is the driving force behind this power couple, her ambition propelling him into waters he’d prefer not to thread if he had any choice in the matter. The two stand by Ethan’s desk as we enter.
“Howard, Antonia, please take a seat,” says Ethan, with a welcoming hand gesture as he makes his way to sit down at his desk.