Free Bulletproof (Healer) by April Smyth Page A

to me that Maurice would know what I look like but then I remember Gabe’s box of newspaper clippings. Maurice has probably caught a glimpse of the black and white photographs from those which unnerves me as I don’t like any of them. I can’t help wonder how I appear now, compared to the pictures of me in my school uniform, with my trendy bob and provocative ensemble. Chec is leering at me and I am desperate for Gabe to take the reigns in this conversation. It is clear from the look on Gabe’s face that he dislikes this slimy, portly man as much as I do. 
                  “Thanks,” I say awkwardly. Please don’t tell me I have to spend the rest of the day with him. 
                  “What do you want, Chec? Do you have a message or are you completely useless?” Gabe asks. 
                  Chec plays ignorant to Gabe’s aversion to him and continues to grin, pushing apart his massive pink cheeks even further, “I’ve missed you Gabby. It’s been too long. But let’s be serious, Maurice asked me to chauffeur you to your hotel in Paris for the night and make sure everything is running… smoothly” Gabe must just realise we are still holding hands because he drops mine as if it is explosive. 
                  We followed behind Chec who talks quickly about his first time in Paris when he was just a boy. He is talking so loudly that I have the chance to whisper to Gabe, “What happened to playing couple for the crowd?”
                  A part of me expects Gabe to laugh. To say something conceited about how I want to hold his hand but his lips remain pressed into a taught line, “The authorities in France don’t know or just don’t care about vampires so they won’t be troubling us. That’s why Maurice stays here. A lot less scrutiny than back in Britain.”
                  I nod and pretend to be relieved, “Oh good.” Really I liked the way his hand felt in mine, I liked pretending he was my boyfriend.
                  France has a stale air, I notice. It is early evening now but it has clearly been a warm day. The sun is still clinging on to every atom in the air, unwilling to let go of the daytime yet. There is no cool breeze like I’m accustomed to living by the sea in Scotland. It smells like a brewery on a hot Summers day but in fact it is only the beginning of April. 
                  The dead air is almost knocked out of me when I realise what Chec will be driving us in. A sparkling white limousine. I’m glad there are no secret agents watching the vampires’ every move here in Paris because with this lavish expenditure all eyes are on us. I think about Maurice’s letter which ironically lies neatly folded beneath the pages of an Anne Rice novel. There is something unsettling about how willing this vampire is to please me and coddle me in gifts. 
                  Gabe catches my dazed expression, “Are you okay?”
                  He hasn’t shown the slightest bit of compassion for me over the past few days so why start now? He doesn’t like me, doesn’t want to be my friend and frankly I am beginning to tire of his beautiful, brooding face. He’s big headed and walks around frowning like a martyr all day long but instead of giving him a piece of my mind, I clamp my tongue between my teeth and nod.
                  Chec loads, with great effort, our cases into the back of the limo. He opens the door for me and I slide in. Gabe hesitates to come in beside me and asks Chec whether he should ride with him in the front. Chec, with a sneer, says that it is up to me. Maurice wants my ever wish to be their every command, he says in a mocking tone. 
                  Gabe questions me with his haunting eyes, “Well?”
                  I could use some company. Being alone right now makes me feel nauseous. In an unknown city with an