chapter Thirteen
Schuyler
he sound of breaking glass woke her from her sleep. Schuyler glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was four in the morning. She put on her robe and walked out to the living room. "Who's there?" she called. She padded through the dark hallway, looking for the light switch.
She turned on the light and saw Kingsley in the middle of the room, with a broken wineglass in his hand. "Oh, sorry, sorry - we were trying to be quiet and I tripped over the damn rug...." he said.
"I'll get the vacuum." Schuyler frowned and pulled the vacuum cleaner out of the closet.
"Bye, Dani," Kingsley said, as a sleek blonde walked out of his room, dangling her stilettos on one finger. She was a dead ringer for Mimi Force. The same almond-shaped green eyes, the same mane of lustrous platinum hair. The same sexy-pouty expression.
"Bye, darling," she said, kissing him on the cheek.
"Mind the mess," he warned, motioning to the broken glass on the rug.
"Always do," she said, delicately picking her way around it.
Schuyler gave Kingsley the look he had given her when he'd caught her holding hands with Oliver.
"What?" said Kingsley, with an innocent smile on his face.
"Bye, King-king," another girl said, this one equally stunning and equally blond. She wore only a bra and a miniskirt. But at least she was wearing shoes.
"Bye, Antoinette." Kingsley smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "We were playing strip poker," he explained, just as a third lovely girl stepped out of the room. This one had dark hair cut in a bob, and brown eyes. Not a Mimi clone, then.
"See you, Parker."
The one named Parker winked at Schuyler and pressed her finger to Kingsley's mouth. "Don't be a stranger." She giggled.
Schuyler rolled her eyes. "Is that it? Or are you hiding more in your harem?"
"Schuyler, darling, it's none of your business what I do or who I do it with," Kingsley declared as he went back to his room and shut the door behind him. "Good night," he called from behind the door.
The next evening was the same, but this time there were four blondes and no brunettes, while the next night brought the entire Farnsworth modeling class - the new girls who had arrived in London for the season - to their abode. "Fashion week," Oliver said wisely, as he left to partake of the glamorous festivities himself, holding up a sheath of glossy invitations. "You sure you don't want to go see Stella? I have an extra ticket."
"Since when do you care about fashion?" Schuyler demanded.
"Sky, what's with that face? It's not flattering," he teased. "Don't wait up."
"You've been hanging out with Kingsley too much."
Oliver didn't deny it.
Later that night, Schuyler had been awoken once again by a loud bump, and when she walked out to the living room, Kingsley was playing Twister with two girls, the three of them wrapped around each other in a braided mess of legs and arms and laughter.
She went back to bed, having rejected their invitation to join in, but the next day, as Kingsley was about to go out for another wild night, she stopped him at the doorway. She'd finally had enough of the constant partying, the loud music in the middle of the night, and the condescending looks of pity from the parade of paramours, who seemed to believe that Schuyler was "pining" for Kingsley.
"Do you mind?" he said, reaching for the door.
Schuyler crossed her arms. "What's wrong?"
"There's something wrong?" Kingsley asked.
"Why are you acting this way?"
"What do you mean?"
"The late nights, the girls, the partying...I mean, you've always been...social, Kingsley, but lately you just seem...desperate. And I don't know if you've noticed, but they all look a lot like - "
"Don't do it. Don't say her name," Kingsley warned.
"Fine," Schuyler said. "I just...I worry about you. What's going on?"
"There's nothing to worry about. I'm just having a bit of fun. You spend time in the underworld, see if you don't act the same."
"Kingsley..."
"I told you, nothing's wrong."
"Right."
"You know, Schuyler, she was right, you are a pain in the - "
"Martin!" Oliver warned, having walked out of his room to see what the commotion was all about.
Schuyler stepped aside, and Kingsley went out the door. When he shut it with a bang behind him, she turned to Oliver. "I'm right, you know. He's not the same. What's gotten into him? What do we do? We can't let him just waste himself this way - he's a Venator! The other teams are - "
"I'll try to talk to him," Oliver said. "Tell him to tone it down. Find out what's bothering him."
Oliver never got the chance to have his tete-a-tete. The next morning, when he and Schuyler walked into the dining room, Kingsley was already at the breakfast table, dressed and ready, reading the morning news on his screen.
"What's with the early-bird act?" Schuyler asked, picking up an apple while Oliver appraised the day's offerings of toad in the hole, kippers, and rashers of bacon.
"I'm, ah - leaving," Kingsley replied, putting down the tablet.
"Where to?" Oliver asked.
"Can't say." He took a drink of orange juice and grimaced, inspecting the glass. "I think this is off. But it could just be that I can't taste it. Oh well, thought I'd try." He picked up a doughnut and began to chew with a moody look on his face.
"Don't change the subject. Why can't you tell us where you're going?" Schuyler demanded.
"Better if you don't know. Safer," he mumbled.
Schuyler exchanged a worried glance with Oliver. "Kingsley, stop playing MI6. Let us help. This isn't a game."
"No!" he yelled, then looked abashed. "Sorry - but I have to do this alone. I'm not sure it's even something. It could be nothing, and I don't want you to get your hopes up....I don't have much to go on," he murmured, fingering something under the table. It looked like a postcard.
"It's about Mimi, isn't it? She's alive, then? What about Jack...? Kingsley!" Schuyler said, getting up from her seat. "Come back!"
But the Venator had left the room in a flash, and there was nothing left on his plate but a half-eaten doughnut.
"Let him go. He'll come back," Oliver said, spreading butter on his toast. He regarded his breakfast skeptically. "Wonder why it's called a toad in the hole. Are the eggs the toad? Or the sausages?"
Schuyler turned to him. "What if he's working for the Silver Bloods?"
"He's not, Sky. I know he's not. I trust him. Do you?"
"I guess I do. I just wish he would tell us what's going on." She did trust Kingsley - Oliver was right. He was no longer the slippery Venator who had danced with her at the after-party at the Four Hundred Ball and whispered in her ear. Back then, she'd even wondered if he had been the one who'd kissed her at the dance. It was Kingsley who had called forth the Silver Blood that had attacked the Repository, but he explained that he'd done it on the orders of the Regis - it was Charles Force who had commanded him to do it, to test the strength of the Gates of Hell. As a loyal Venator, Kingsley could only obey. She couldn't hold that against him. The gates were supposed to hold, but instead they had proved as permeable as a membrane, and the demon had been allowed to escape from the underworld. Only then did Charles finally accept that the Silver Bloods had returned.
"Kingsley does what he wants, but there's no changing him," Oliver said. "Let him go - he'll work it out."
"Do you think he's gone to see Mimi?" she asked. And if Mimi was alive, what did that mean for Jack? Did it mean then, that - ? She felt her heart clench at the thought - but it was too painful and too terrible, so she forcefully pushed it down. Jack - to even think of him brought such a sudden sharp feeling of pain that it made it hard to breathe. She saw his face for a moment - the sheen of his blond hair, his green eyes framed by golden lashes - how peaceful he looked when he was asleep. Would they ever be together again? Or was their last good-bye forever?
"Mimi? I don't know...but - " Before Oliver could finish his sentence, the phone rang.
The butler appeared. "A Margaret St. James for Miss Van Alen."
"Margaret? Oh, Tilly. Okay." Schuyler took the call.
Afterward, she went back to the dining room, where Oliver was tucking into a second plate of eggs and toast.
"What did she want? Another fashion show?"
"You wish. No - she said she remembered something that might be useful. There's one more person from the old triumvirate who's still in London. She rang him, and he says he'll meet with us. He knows what happened in Rome, might be able to help us unlock the gate."
"Huh."
"And we thought she was just an airhead who designed clothes," Schuyler said with a wink.