Chapter 63 - Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

JJ sat up with a wince and lifted his head, listening to something I couldn't hear. My hands shook and my feet were anxious to drag me far, far away. He didn't seem to be in a rush to get the hell out of there, and I whispered to him again to hurry.

To my confusion, he shook his head. "No need for that, ma chèrie, and all thanks to you. I have enough power to save us from these people's eyes now." JJ beamed at me, but with his burned face the sight was more macabre than anything, and I looked away, feeling both dizzy and queasy now.

I swallowed, forcing my guts to stay where they belonged while JJ stood up. In the next second, I saw his hand, one that looked almost healthy—from what I could see under soot and grime—in front of my face. Gingerly, I accepted it and JJ helped me to get on my feet. My dizziness intensified when the floor flew away from me, and I clutched onto JJ harder, all the while avoiding looking at him directly.

More footsteps sounded from the outside, and soon their owners stepped in. A group of police officers with guns in their hands carefully looked around, their eyes wide at the scene of complete destruction the restaurant turned into.

JJ's hand moved onto my shoulders and brought me closer to him, forcing a squawk of protest out of me. "It's easier to cover you in glamour when you are closer," he said. "Now let's take away the evidence and leave."

"Evidence? Isn't this entire place an evidence?" I asked, still whispering. Thanks to the glamour, the police officers ignored us as they explored the place, but I couldn't help myself.

Instead of an immediate answer, JJ pulled me with him as he walked towards a wall and pulled his stuck knife out of it. "This. An evidence, and just a valuable thing I wouldn't want to lose."

From this close I saw that the small double-edged knife was a letter opener, but its blade gleamed with silver. I'd say it was only coated in it, because a pure silver knife would've bent after being thrown into a wall like that.

Most of my attention, though, was on JJ. While the fact that he moved and talked and glamoured people was a sign of his relatively good health, the stiffness of his movements and the tension in his face was a show of the pain he must've felt.

"I will be alright," he said, as if reading my thoughts. When I widened my eyes in surprise, his twinkled with humour. "Your concerns are written on your face, ma chèrie. Let's go. We both need rest."

Side to side, we left the building. On our way I listened to police discussing the weird 'terrorist attack' and wondered if anyone saw Christina breaking the wall with her body, and if they did, how bad it was for us. While we waited for our taxi home, I asked that question to JJ.

"Christina has enough common sense to erase memories of anyone who saw her in her battle form. Even if she missed someone, an isolated incident will be overlooked by most people," was his response.

The taxi drive was silent. JJ closed his eyes and appeared to be resting, while I had too many thoughts on my mind that I previously avoided. The close brush with death, the fact that someone exploded right in front of my eyes…

And what the hell happened there at all? Why would Sergei explode like that? His glassy eyes, in that last moment, froze in my memory. He jumped me like a suicide bomber, but why? Why would all of that happen?

The answer appeared easily in my head. Christina. Sergei's vacant expression in his last moments was that of someone hypnotised. He worked for her, after all, who else his actions could've come from? It all was from Christina.

And now that madwoman was not after JJ's head, but after mine, too! The thought alone made me shiver. How long would it be until she found where I live and exploded my shop too? I huddled on myself, searching for comfort and finding none.

I regretted agreeing to try to sell that stupid coffin; I regretted dealing with JJ at all. It would've been better to send him off as soon as I could and deal with the store myself. It would've been harder without his skills in finance, sales and some occasional hypnotising (just for Kirill's sake), but I could've done it.

Then, at least, no one would've tried to kill me. I wouldn't have had to live in fear and be afraid of every shadow. I wasn't living in fear yet, but I knew with a horrifying certainty that now my world would never be the same in a way that differed from just knowing about supernatural.

When we exited the taxi, JJ told me to go ahead so he could pay the driver. The meaningful look of his scarlet eye told me that the driver will pay too, and in blood.

"Make sure to leave a nice tip, JJ," I said before leaving them be.

It gave me some time to gather myself. I wanted to rush towards the shower or bed, but instead I tiredly walked to the kitchen, fell on a seat, and let my head drop on my elbows. This was how JJ found me several minutes later, just like I knew he would.

"Are you alright, Diana? I took a noticeable amount of blood from you," he asked. My back was to the entrance, and to him, which made it easier for me to say what I wanted to.

"No, I'm not, JJ. I'm not alright at all!" My palms slammed on the tabletop. "I am fucking traumatised thanks to your… your… mad whatever she is to you! A man exploded right in front of my eyes, you look like a prop from a horror movie, I broke yet another rule to help you with magic—"

"Which was absolutely amazing—"

"Don't interrupt me!" I swivelled in my chair to point a finger at JJ and immediately regretted it. A single look at his mutilated body was enough for concern to well up and take away a part of my anger. I clutched whatever I left at him as I threw JJ the darkest look I could muster.

He raised his hands in a calming gesture and made a step back. I nodded with grim satisfaction.

"You pulled me in a way bigger pile of shit than I ever imagined. And I was insane to let you! I should've listened to Alexandra's rules, because you vamps are obviously all insane! Now, how about you disappear for a little while so I could at least try to forget everything that happened.. And then, JJ, you will have a LOT of explaining to do."