Where Loyalty Lies

Where Loyalty Lies - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

There was a definite spring in my step as I made my way through the hallways of Rillith. I jangled my car keys in my hand as I trotted down the stairs of the main entrance and down a passage that I knew would lead me to the west side of Rillith, where the car park was.

I yelped as I turned a corner and walked straight into somebody.

“Well, I thought that might be you coming; only you could make so much noise,” Henry said.

I held my hand over my still racing heart and let out a long breath.

“Bloody hell, Henry, you scared the hell out of me. Could you at least try to make a bit of noise when you’re moving?”

I looked over Henry’s rather ruffled state of appearance and smiled. Maybe he was trying to be quiet for a reason.

“Well, I don’t need to ask what you’ve been doing,” I said.

Henry followed my gaze to his crumpled red shirt and he gave an evil grin as he attempted to straighten it out and tuck it in.

“There, is that better?” he asked when he’d finished fussing.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Not really, you have lipstick on your neck.”

Henry’s hands moved towards his neck but then he seemed to decide he didn’t really care and propped himself up against the wall instead.

“So we’ve established where I’ve been, but I’m intrigued to know where it is you’re heading in such a jolly mood.”

“I’m going for a drive,” I said, waggling the keys in my hand for added emphasis. I regularly went out driving, even though I still couldn’t leave Rillith. Holt had patiently sat with me at first but, after a few times, he’d told me he thought I’d be fine on my own.

That was one thing I loved about Rillith. They had their own laws here and nobody batted an eyelid at the idea of me spending hours driving myself around, even though I didn’t have an official licence.

“I see,” Henry said. “Well, I could use a bit of fresh air, would you mind if I tagged along?”

I gave him a knowing look. “I go out on my own all the time, you don’t need to come and keep an eye on me.

“I didn’t suggest it so I could keep an eye on you. I just thought you might like some company?”

I couldn’t be sure if Henry was telling the truth or not but I decided it would be fun to have him with me.

“Okay,” I agreed. “But you’re not coming like that; you look like you’ve just come out of a brothel.”

Another evil grin from Henry. “It could well have been a brothel for all the things that innocent-looking lady just did to me.”

“Oh God, no... no... no. I really don’t want to hear about it.” I held my hands up between us, as if they might be able to stop Henry’s words from settling into my brain. “Please just go and shower and change and I’ll meet you by the front doors.”

“Fair enough, give me fifteen minutes.” Henry moved off without making a sound.

I shook my head, he wasn’t even the tiniest bit ashamed of being caught doing the morning walk of shame. I couldn’t say I was really surprised; it was Henry we were talking about after all.

My car was exactly where I’d left it, parked between a Porsche and a Ferrari. It was strange that, out of all the expensive cars here, my little Yaris was probably the most loved and appreciated of all of them.

I slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. It was cold so I set the heaters onto full blast and waited for the air to heat up. After fifteen minutes, I was warmed through and I turned the heaters off before driving round to the front doors. I hadn’t expected Henry to be there yet but he was already waiting.

I mentally rolled my eyes. Only a vampire could shower and dress that quickly and only Henry could look gorgeous, despite the lack of time he’d had.

He bounded down the stairs and slid into the passenger seat. His hair was wet and tied back in its usual style and he smelled fresh and clean.

“That’s better,” I said as I pulled away.

I felt more than a little silly driving around with Henry, not actually being able to go anywhere. I headed towards the usual road I took that led around the back of Rillith. Henry’s hand came out to touch my arm and I hissed in pain as he touched the place where it had been cut with silver.

“Sorry,” Henry said, eyeing the part of my arm that was nicely covered with a grey woolly jumper. “I was just going to say you should go down there.” He pointed to a road forking off to the left and I took it. It wasn’t a road I’d driven down before because I’d assumed it led to the front gates.

“So what happened to your arm?” Henry asked.

I’d tried to prepare myself for what I’d tell Henry if he ever asked. I felt a little guilty about having to lie to him but it was for the best, the main problem was that I had to keep track of my emotions so they didn’t give me away. I gave a casual shrug and tried to think about something else entirely.

“I slipped on the floor when I was coming out the shower.” This was true, I had actually slipped coming out of the shower a couple of days ago, it’s just not where my injuries had come from. I concentrated hard on the road, trying to keep my feelings to a minimum.

“Must have been quite a fall,” Henry said.

I wasn’t fooled by his casual tone, I knew he was probing.

“It was one of the most painful things I’ve ever done. I cried like a baby.” Now I was talking about how I’d actually received the cut, so this was also the truth.

“Maybe you should go and see a doctor about it, if it’s that bad.”

“I did. Phillip’s seen it, he says there’s no permanent damage and it should all heal over in the next week or so.”

That did it, Henry knew I was telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth about that and he assumed that, if Phillip had seen it and thought it was okay, then there was nothing to worry about.

“So where does this road go?” I asked, grateful to change the subject.

“To the airstrip.”

“The what?” I said. “Rillith has its own airstrip?”

“Of course. You don’t think The Sénat go on public planes?”

I hadn’t really given it much thought. “It’s one thing to have your own private jet but it’s another to have your own airstrip.”

“It’s just more practical. Enforcers have to travel a lot so it’s more convenient not to have to get to the nearest airport. Plus there’s the fact that sometimes we have to come back with unwilling guests and that would attract too much attention at a public airport.”

I had to admit that did make sense. Plus The Sénat seemed to have more than enough money, so why not make life easier for themselves and their own.