Engines and werewolves

Chapter 8

O'Hara slapped his palm against his forehead. "Of course, the card." He fumbled in his pants suit pocket and pulled out a card. "I was told to give you this?"

Victoria caught sight of the card as it exchanged hands. There was an emblem of a yellow crescent moon in the center of the black card, and below it was a handwritten signature.

The employee took the card and smiled. He bowed his head to them. "I see. This changes everything." He passed back the card and gestured for a waiter to hurry over. "Would you please show Mr.-"

"Mr. O'Hara and daughter," Robert spoke up.

"Mr. O'Hara and his daughter to Mr. mac hensaw's table?" the head waiter finished.

His subordinate bowed his head and turned to us with a smile. "If you would follow me."

Robert offered his daughter her arm, and she took it in a daze before they followed their waiter into the dining area. The small tables were covered in crisp white tablecloths and small vases of flowers. Along the walls ran booths with plush red cushioned seats. The waiter took them to the far corner and seated them at one of those booths.

He handed them each a menu. The material was cloth and a rich satin, and the courses were written in a flowery type. The wine selection was longer than most restaurant menus.

The waiter pulled out a notepad and pen. "Would you like anything with which to start your meal? Wine, perhaps, or some food?"

O'Hara glanced at her daughter. She shrugged. He smiled and turned back to the waiter. "I think we're going to need some time."

The waiter smiled and bowed his head. "Very good, sir. I'll return in a few minutes."

Victoria scooted close to her father and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to come here? I could have changed before I came."

He chuckled. "I didn't know it myself until I got to work. I met with Mr. Audrey, he's one of Mr. mac hensaw's personal assistants, and he informed me that not only was I to have a new office, but as a long-time employee I was being allowed certain perks." He pulled out the card and held it up. "That's what this is. It's a pass into some very select places in the city. Mr. Audrey gave me a list, so that's how I knew we could come here."

Victoria frowned. "Mr. Audrey? Why didn't your supervisor meet with you?"

Her father shook his head. "No. He had an early appointment elsewhere. I didn't pry beyond that, especially when Mr. Audrey informed me that my salary had been raised."

Victoria's eyes widened. "It has? Why?"

O'Hara leaned back and studied his daughter with a soft smile. "Whatever you told Mr. mac hensaw last night had quite the effect on him."

Victoria shrank in her chair. "That makes two of us. . ." she murmured.

"Pardon?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing. So what else happened? Did he part the ocean for you?"

Her father chuckled. "Nothing quite so dramatic or Biblical.

"And the guy you had trouble with?" she wondered.

He smiled and shook his head. "There will be trouble no more. He's being demoted, or so I guessed from my conversation with Audrey. He also assured me I wouldn't have any more problems with my supervisor."

She studied the tablecloth and pursed her lips. "Does. . .does your supervisor wear gray suits and has a handlebar mustache? And his hair is pretty thin and he combs it back?"

Her father arched an eyebrow, but nodded. "That certainly sounds like him, but I'm surprised you remember him so well. I'm sure I only introduced you to him once, and that was several years ago."

Victoria shrank in her chair and shrugged. "I-um, I think I just saw him a while ago, that's all, and I guess it clicked a memory inside me."

Robert smiled and nodded. "I see, that would be it. Anyway, no more talk of business. I want to celebrate." He signaled to the waiter who hurried over to their table. "A bottle of your finest wine, and don't tell me what the price is."

The waiter smiled. "Price is no concern for you, sir. Mr. mac hensaw covers all costs incurred for this table."

O'Hara turned to his daughter and grinned. "I'm starting to like this."

Victoria managed a small smile, but her instincts were warning her that trouble was brewing on the horizon.

The lunch was delicious, but Victoria couldn't enjoy the rich food. Her thoughts lay far away and down a particular driveway. She parted ways with her father and hurried back to their apartment. The mirror was still on the coffee table.

Victoria grabbed the mirror and turned it so the glass faced her. "Show me Lukeman." The surface remained reflective. She frowned and gave it a shake. "Show me Lukeman."

Nothing happened. She dropped the mirror to her side and pursed her lips as her eyes swept over the room. The unease she had since the beginning of lunch sank deeper into her. She was sure the man she saw in the mirror was her father's supervisor.

That wasn't what worried her, however. What worried her was Lukeman looking at her and seemingly shutting the mirror off. She wasn't so stupid that she didn't recognize a hide when she saw one.

Victoria raised the mirror and looked at the glass. Her tense face stared back at her. She sighed. "Time to go for a ride. . ."

Victoria left a note for her dad telling him she had a late study session and, with the mirror in her possession, she hurried to the car. The sun was on its way to the dark horizon as she drove the winding bay road. The crashing waves mimicked her anxious thoughts as she turned onto the bumpy driveway.

The thick canopy of tree limbs above the road forced Victoria to flick on her headlights. The darkness slipped over the car and sank into her bones. She shivered, but not from cold. The thick air and shadows stirred within her a tantalizing l**t, one she found difficult to quash. Her determination to find the truth battled against a growing desire to see the monstrous master of the house.

Victoria shut her eyes and shook her head. "Snap out of it! You're not here for that."

A tiny voice inside her head argued with her, but she ignored it. Nothing good would come out of those types of thoughts.

Except some fun she found herself thinking.

Victoria pursed her lips and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "Get yourself together, Victoria. You want to know about the mirror and what you say, that's-" She reached the turnaround and found a surprise.

A sporty red car was parked in the center of the road. The sun shown through the opening canopy and glistened off the shimmering paint. She directed her car between the trees and the other vehicle, and stepped out with the mirror clasped tightly in one hand. Her attention was drawn to the flashy license plate.

"I-B-4-N-1," she read aloud. Victoria wrinkled her nose as her mind deciphered the hidden message. "I break for no one." She shook her head and turned her attention to the house that loomed in the short distance.

Victoria walked up to the gate. The entrance was closed. Her foot slipped in the soft earth. She stumbled, but caught herself and in so doing looked at the ground. Long, thick footprints stood in front of the stone column with the intercom.

Victoria furrowed her brow and side-stepped the footprints. She leaned down and pressed the button. "Hello?"

There was a pause and then a familiar voice crackled over the intercom. "Good afternoon, Victoria. Please come inside."

It was just like in her dream. The gate opened, this time with a high-pitched squeak, and she walked past the high wall and into the large front yard. The tall trees covered her from the gleam of sunlight as she walked beneath their branches. She felt like a shadow scuttling back to its master after a long day of separation.

Victoria reached the front door. The entrance opened and the manservant stepped to the side. He pursed his lips, but bowed his head to her. "Good afternoon."

Victoria slipped inside and tensed when the man shut the door behind her. She held out the mirror. "I was wanting to-"

"You may find the master in his chambers," the manservant told her as he nodded at the steps to his right. He returned his dark eyes to her. "He will answer all your questions."

Victoria side-stepped his glare and reluctantly crept up the stairs one step at a time. Each one groaned beneath her feet before she reached the top. The long hallway from last night presented itself to her. The door to Lukeman's room was ajar. Victoria walked over to the entrance and pushed open the door. The door swung open and she glanced inside.

The scene was as in her dream and the previous night. The lit fire crackled in the hearth. The bed lay empty. Lukeman, however, stood in front of the French doors. The curtains were drawn and the light from the late-afternoon sun cast deep shadows over his handsome face. He turned to her and smiled. His long teeth glistened in the sunlight.

"You're early," he teased.

Victoria's heart fluttered. She tried to catch her quickening breath. "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't know I was expected at all."

He turned to face her. His yellow eyes glowed brightly in the dimming light. "Yes you did. You knew you were expected because you felt my call, so you came."

Victoria pursed her lips and held up the mirror. "I came because of this. What is it? How does it work?"

A sly smile curled onto Lukeman's lips. "Haven't you guessed? It's a magical mirror."

Victoria narrowed her eyes. "Magic isn't real. Is it some sort of-" A chuckle from her host interrupted her suggestion.

Lukeman walked over to the fire and leaned one arm against the mantel so he faced her. "Surely you realize that if werewolves exist then other fairy tales might be true."

She strode over to stand before him. "I demand the truth. All of it." She used the mirror to point to the window. "Who's car is out there? Is that my dad's supervisor's car? Why did you meet with him and not want me to see?"

Lukeman's yellow-tinted eyes studied her face as his lips curled back in a sly grin. "You are most becoming even when you're angry."

Victoria started back. She lowered the mirror and blushed. "T-that isn't why I came here."

He pushed off the mantel and stepped close enough to her so their chests nearly touched. His voice was soft as he reached up and brushed his finger over her red cheek. "Isn't it? Did you not heed my call and answer it?"

She stepped back and shook her head. "No, that's-" He grabbed her hand and pulled her against him.

Lukeman leaned down and brushed their cheeks together. "Don't fret. You can't help yourself. You're mine now. Nothing can stop that."

Victoria shut her eyes and shuddered. "B-but I'm not-" She gasped as his lips pressed against her trembling neck.

"Don't fight me, Victoria," he whispered.

A bright light illuminated the shadowed room. Lukeman growled and pulled her to arm's length. He held her shoulders and looked down. She blinked and followed his gaze to the mirror in her hand. The glass surface glowed brightly.

Lukeman snatched the glass from her hand and turned his back on her. "What now?" he hissed as he strode a couple of steps.

Victoria followed him and looked over his shoulder. The glass revealed the side of the property along the wall path she'd taken last night. A cloaked figure flitted among the trees and paused at the tree line closest to the small gate.

"What are we seeing?" she asked Lukeman.