Elliott Kay - Natural Consequences

The straight shot to home took him to I-5, and then to downtown. At this hour, it would take him only fifteen minutes at the most.

Instead, Alex rode to the 520 bridge across Lake Washington, rode all the way to Bellevue, and then back again toward Seattle across the other bridge on I-90 before he went home, hoping all the while for a rain shower to eliminate his scent and wondering if it would matter.

* * *

Though they had no rent to pay, Alex contributed as a matter of principle. He covered utilities and association dues. Those alone amounted to his fair share in terms of his financial means… which, on their own, would never have taken him anywhere near ownership of a luxury condominium in downtown.

The absurdity of it all sank in as he sat at the black marble-top bar of their spacious kitchen, staring at the depressingly short section of job ads in the newspaper. He had bigger concerns, of course, but at least unemployment was a mundane problem. He didn’t need supernatural help to find a job.

Alex hadn’t been out of work since he was sixteen. It was all part-time stuff, and living under his mother’s roof meant that he hadn’t exactly faced homelessness or bankruptcy, but the mitigating details didn’t make much difference. He couldn’t hope to land a job that would bring him to Lorelei’s financial level, and that didn’t bother him… but the thought of having no job at all rankled him deeply.

The front door opened and closed. Alex heard heels click along the tile at the foyer, but didn’t look up from the newspaper. He figured he could get to the end of the page before conversation distracted him. It seemed crazy to him that the want ads section was so short in a city this big.

“Hey, are you home early from work?” asked a familiar voice-and not one he expected to hear. Alex winced. No matter what his body had to say about it, he was not up for what would inevitably come of this.

“Hi, Cindy,” Alex replied, still not quite tearing his eyes away. His mind sought out both answers to some of the acronyms and abbreviations on the page and for a way to dial things back with the part-time maid. From the state of the apartment, he figured she’d already come and gone.

“Is Lorelei home, too?” she asked as she came up close behind him.

“Not yet,” he answered. “Probably still out doing her fundraising thing.” Alex turned on his barstool and found exactly the sort of naughty grin on Cindy’s pretty face he expected. Mischievous eyes looked out at his from under red locks. Her top showed off a little more cleavage than the last one she wore, but his eyes came back to those lips once again.

He felt her hands slip up to his thighs, but she seemed to catch on to his mood even as she touched him. “Are you okay?” she asked, putting aside her obvious plans for the briefest of moments.

Alex gently put his hands over hers to stop them from roaming. “I’m fine,” he said. Desires rose in him, reminding him of how much fun they’d had the last time she came by while Lorelei was out. More than half of him wanted to go for a repeat, but not with so much on his mind. He shut his eyes to block out the distraction of those appealing lips long enough to get a sentence out. “Listen, Cindy, you’re awesome, but I don’t know if we should keep going with-“

“Alex. Look at me.”

His eyes opened. Lorelei stared back at him intently. Startled, Alex jerked upright in his seat. Her hands stayed on his legs. “What-holy shit, Lorelei!”

“Forgive me, love,” she said calmly. “I did not expect to see such stress in your eyes, or there would have been no subterfuge.”

“Subt-is that what you call this?” he blinked.

“Are you angry?” she asked.

“I’m… no.” Alex looked at her in exasperation. “Cindy’s” racy top was long gone, replaced by Lorelei’s stylish blue dress. Cindy was more than pretty enough to catch Alex’s attention, but she wasn’t as stunning as Lorelei. Few women were.

His mind caught up to the implications quickly. “I’m not mad, but what is this? Have you been Cindy all along?”

“You never exactly saw us together, did you?” she shrugged with the mildest hint of guilt, or at least admission. “I thought it harmless. It seemed a safe bet that you would laugh once the truth came out. We’ve both had our fun.”

“Wow,” he huffed, shaking his head. “You plan to do this to me often? Pretend to be other women to seduce me?”

“ You seduced ‘Cindy,’ love, not the other way around,” Lorelei reminded him with a soft smile, “much to my delight. You’ve held back on other opportunities these last few weeks. I enjoyed creating at least one exception. And I’ll only continue such games if you continue to enjoy them. But maintaining the façade seemed trite compared to the cares on your face,” she finished, touching his cheek with her fingertips. “What troubles you? What happened?”

Shifting topics required a little effort, but Alex pushed the issue of “Cindy” out of his mind. “I got jumped by a werewolf today while leaving work. After I got fired.”

Lorelei’s expression turned grave. She led him from the bar stool over to the living room couch. “Was it the same woman from our abduction?”

“Yeah,” Alex sighed. “Diana. She showed up in the parking lot and said she’d been looking for me, that we’re meant to be together. Building security had a dude there to give me the boot, and I wound up having to protect him from her. Between her attacking the guard and us smashing up a couple cars, I’ll be lucky if I don’t hear from the cops.”

“Was she alone?”

“Far as I know. I just bought time for the guard to bail and then I took off.”

“Did you come directly home?”

“No. She said she doesn’t know where I live. I rode across the lake and back.”

“Good,” Lorelei nodded. “Why didn’t you call me right away?”

“Pain in the ass finding a pay phone in this town to begin with, but I didn’t know the number at the conservatory, anyway. I went by, but the lady at the desk said your meeting had broken up for drinks or something.”

“You could have called my cell.”

“Your which?”

“My cell phone?”

“What’s a-?” Alex blinked. Then he remembered. Oh God , he thought. How can I be remembering what a cell phone is? It’s right in my jacket pocket. He looked over to the countertop and the newspaper want ads. Why didn’t I just go online to look for jobs?

Lorelei caught it, too. Her expression changed. Alex saw her concern. “What’s wrong with me?” he asked.

Her hand came to his cheek again. “I have my suspicions. Put it aside, love ,” she said, allaying his rush of concern with a measure of supernatural suggestion. “Focus on the matter at hand for now.”

Alex shook his head. “She said she went looking for me at my old address, Lorelei. Mom’s in New York right now, but what if Diana finds her new place?”

“Do not worry about others,” Lorelei said with a shake of her head. “She is fixated on you. Proxies would only be in danger once she has you in her control. The werewolves are quite dangerous. Only a fool would face one alone. Flight was the wisest course of action.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Is she attractive?”

“She’s pretty, yeah,“ he shrugged.

“Alex, as encouraging as I am of whatever trysts you might wish, this one-”

“Hey, no. She’s pretty, but I’m not attracted to her. I do not want to go there. The whole thing freaked me out.”

“Ah. I felt whatever moment of sensuality and pleasure you had earlier. It did not seem familiar to me. I thought it might be her.”