The Samantha Rain Mysteries

Chapter 21

21

The Drunken Turnip was pleasantly busy, bustling with people. All Nox, Samantha assumed. She took a sip from her lemonade, strategically avoiding alcohol, in particular, the whisky. She didn’t think her hangover could stomach that.

With a sigh, she checked her watch. Why was it that Lilith would show up at the most inconvenient times, but when she actually wanted to see her, she was nowhere to be found?

She took another sip, clearing her first drink. “Brendan, can I get another?”

“Coming up.” He dried a glass and nudged ahead. “Miss Lilith has arrived.”

“Finally.” Sam spun around on her chair, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. “Took you long enough.”

“Traffic was terrible.” She dropped her bag on the bar and sat down next to Sam. With a wave, she caught Brendan’s attention. “I’ll have what she’s having. Wait, what are you having?”

“Lemonade,” Sam replied dryly.

“Right. So that’s a no on the lemonade. I’ll have the usual.” With an unsuspecting smile, she turned to Sam. “So, I’m here. What did you want to tell me?”

“Did you—” Sam waited for her drink to arrive before she addressed the burning question on her mind. “Did you—”

The sound of shattering glass and shrieking people interrupted the conversation. Sam turned towards the commotion, just in time to watch a car pull up with shrieking tires. Besides a rock through the front window of the Drunken Turnip, a strange parcel had been dropped off on the curb.

“What’s going on there?” Lilith asked.

The two women slipped off their chairs and rushed through the bar, pushing the spectators aside. A couple of the customers had gathered around the parcel, chattering and whispering.

Sam squeezed through the curious crowd until she found herself face to face with a man she’d only seen a picture of.

Ian Fatuus.

Next to her, Lilith laughed. “Well, that’s a surprise. How nice of you to join us, Uncle.”

The man growled at her, squirming against his constraints and incapable of answering. The tape over his mouth was taking care of that.

“There’s a note on him,” Sam remarked. She bent down to pull the post-it off his arm and frowned. “Hah.”

Lilith leaned over her shoulder, dangerously close. “What?”

She handed the note to the other woman, making sure to take a step back to put some distance between them. Just to be safe.

“Hah,” Lilith echoed as she quickly scanned the note. “I didn’t think you’d manage to convince Catalina, but here he is. How did you do that?”

“Not important.”

Sam tried to return to the Drunken Turnip, but Lilith caught her arm.

Her blue eyes flickered. “No, really. How did you do it?”

“We made a deal.”

That was all Sam was willingly to say until she figured out just how much Lilith had been lying to her.

“You’re really not going to tell me more?” Surprise passed through Lilith’s eyes, but she nodded. “Alright then. Let’s deal with Ian first. Everyone, back inside! Brendan, send word to Boss.”

The bartender nodded, rushing inside. The customers lingered for a moment longer before they cleared away and left Sam and Lilith with the bound man. His eyes were filled with annoyance and frustration, not surprising, since he was tied up.

With a quick motion, Lilith yanked the tape off his mouth. “Ian. So nice of you to join us.”

“b***h!” he spat.

“Friendly, as always,” she mused as she crouched down, the threat crystal clear in her polite voice. “Your time hiding with the Gravitas is over.”

Samantha watched the two, remaining silent so she didn’t intrude. It certainly didn’t seem like the happy family reunion she expected, but then it was Lilith. She had to remember that nothing was what it seemed with her.

Ian laughed harshly. “Pff. You don’t scare me. You’re just a little girl.”

“That’s your mistake.” Lilith rose back up and two shadows fell over her shoulders. Two sets of piercing blue eyes appeared from the dark, followed by muscled men.

With a soft chuckle, Lilith gestured to the men. “Things have changed quite a bit since you left, Uncle. It seems your popularity has fallen. That tends to happen when you murder your wife.”

Murder?

Sam took a careful step back, making space for the henchmen.

“At your service, Miss Lilith,” the biggest of the two said, his voice deep and gravelly.

“Take him away. Boss will know what to do with him.” Lilith turned back to Sam, not even making sure the men were doing as she asked. She seemed certain they would obey and they did.

“Murder?” Sam hissed. “I thought his gambling debts were the issue.”

“Amongst other things.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

The woman thought for a second, before shrugging. “You didn’t need to know.”

“That’s it. Did you trick me into becoming a Warden?” Sam blurted out.

That stopped Lilith in her tracks. The breeze played with her long hair as she stood still for a second, before turning back to Sam. The dimmed lights cast a strange shadow on her face, hollowing her cheeks. “What?”

A shiver ran down Sam’s spine. Scary wasn’t the right word, but Lilith looked… haunted.

She gulped. “Did you put the hellhound on my path?”

Lilith narrowed her eyes, not answering as they walked back into the bar. Most of the customers had left and some of the staff were cleaning up the broken window, but Lilith walked past them like nothing happened.

She sat down on her seat and took a tentative sip from her wine. “And why would I do that?”

“You tell me,” Sam prompted.

“Why are you asking me this?”

A tense silence hung between the two, the eye contact intense. The piercing blue was almost intimidating enough to make Sam backtrack, but she couldn’t. She had to know the full story, especially if she was signing away a lifetime of servitude.

She took a deep breath. “I want the truth, Lilith.”

“The truth?”

The woman shook her long hair, momentarily distracting Sam. Her eyes were drawn down, her cheeks heated up as she caught a glimpse of cleavage. Lilith was young and everything was still perky and smooth.

Guiltily, Sam averted her gaze. Ever since she got together with Melissa, she’d stopped looking at other women like that. A habit hard to keep when Lilith was just so… So. But that didn’t stop her from feeling embarrassed that she was blatantly checking out the woman she was grilling for the truth.

“You okay there?” Lilith teased.

Sam gulped, even more embarrassed. Not only had she been checking out Lilith like a teenager, she’d been caught doing it too.

“Let’s not change the subject,” she firmly looked into Lilith’s eyes, making sure not to get distracted again. “Did or did you not put the hellhound in my path?”

“Define ‘put the hellhound in your path’,” she asked, making quotation marks with her fingers.

“Lilith.”

“I mean, did I intentionally put the hellhound in your path?” She clicked her tongue. “No, I did not.”

“What about ‘not intentionally,” Sam asked, mimicking the quotation gesture.

“Well…”

Lilith’s hesitation spoke volume.

Sam rolled her eyes, downed her lemonade, and grabbed her bag. “Right, I think I have my answer.”

She prepared to leave, but Lilith caught her wrist. “Wait.”

“I don’t think so. You tricked me.”

“But with good reason. I can explain.”

“There’s never a good reason to trick someone.” She pulled her arm free, slapped a bill on the bar, and turned to leave.

“Come on, Sam.”

“Don’t Sam me!” she burst, startling the other woman. A twang of guilt shot through her as she realised that anger was really aimed at her ex, but she wasn’t going to stay to explain. She just wanted to get out of here, away from Lilith’s addicting personality before she got roped into more of her lies.

If she hadn’t found the hellhound that night, maybe she could’ve saved her marriage. Melissa and her could’ve talked it out instead of fighting over the dog and she wouldn’t have been occupied by Lilith’s errands.

She turned to face the Nox, the anger lashing through her stomach. “You ruined my marriage.”

“Oh come on…”

“Showing up in my house in the morning, taunting Mel, taking up my time… I should’ve been trying to work things out with my wife instead of letting you boss me around!”

Lilith scoffed. “Now you’re being dramatic. Your relationship was already falling apart and you were eager to be away from your ex.”

“You left me no choice! You, you… You tricked me with a puppy and all that Warden fearing-for-my-life crap. Is any of that even real?”

“Of course.”

“Really?”

“Well… The weekly trial period isn’t exactly as strict as I said, and your hellhound won’t be killed, but—”

“I should’ve known. I should’ve trusted my gut when I saw your lying eyes.”

Hurt flashed across Lilith’s face, but Samantha didn’t see it.

“We are done here,” she announced.

“I get that you’re mad at me, but I didn’t lie about the Warden thing.” Lilith blocked Samantha’s path to the exit. “You need a clan or you’ll lose your hellhound. I’m sorry I tricked you, but you can’t just stay unclaimed.”

“Maybe I’ll join Catalina’s clan then.”

“What?” A strange emotion crossed Lilith’s eyes as she grabbed hold of Sam’s arm, tightening her fingers around her wrist. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not. She offered me a place in her clan right before I left yesterday. I told her no, but now I might reconsider.”

“You don’t know what you’re signing up for.”

“I don’t know that with you either. Good luck with your uncle.” Sam pulled her arm free once again and stormed past the woman, out of the Drunken Turnip. She needed some fresh air and she needed it now.

She paused on the curb, drawing in long breaths to calm herself down. She tried to haul a taxi, but they all passed her by.

“Oh, for f**k’s sake!”

“You’re sexy when you curse.”

Sam rolled her eyes at the woman appearing next to her. “Really? Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”

Lilith shrugged. “I thought it would make you smile.

“Does it look like I’m smiling?”

“Alright, so I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have tricked you into helping me, I could’ve asked you. I know that now. I’m sorry, okay?” She sighed, her face wrought. “I’m sorry, but I’m also not. I think we make a great team. I had lots of fun working this case with you and I know you did too. Become a Warden. You’ll never miss being a detective again.”

Samantha kicked a flattened can and scoffed. “I don’t think you’re qualified to make such observations about me. You don’t know me.”

“But I do.”

She tried to ignore Lilith and waved at another passing cab. “Taxi!”

“I’m serious, I know lots about you. That’s why I selected you. You’re smart and capable, in need of a purpose, a cause to serve. You’re perfect.” Lilith placed a gentle hand on Sam’s arm, different from before. “Tell me we don’t make a good team.”

With a sigh, Samantha finally looked back at the other woman. “That’s not the point. I can’t trust you and I can’t work with someone I don’t trust.”

“I messed up, but don’t throw something so great away because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared.”

“Aren’t you?” Lilith’s eyes softened. “Become a Warden for my clan. I won’t lie again. I promise.”

“I…”

A black taxi stopped in front of the curb and Sam shot the other woman a saddened smile. “I’ve got to go.”

“Samantha.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” She hugged herself as she pulled the car door open and got in. A heavy weight pressed on her heart as she moved away from Lilith, as if she was parting from an old friend instead of a new acquaintance. It shouldn’t be this hard, but it was.

“I’ll be here if you change your mind, okay?” Lilith held the door, her eyes shimmering. “Think about it.”

“Goodbye.”

“Think about it!”

Sam pulled the door shut and gave the driver her address. As the car pulled up, she looked back through the tinted window at the lonely figure on the curb until she couldn’t see her anymore.