“And you think he’s going to keep his word?” Dave asked, raising a cynical brow.
“Yeah, I . . .” I glanced at Vayl. “You know what, maybe not. It turns out I’m not the best judge of character.”
Vayl rose to his feet, his brows banging together like thunderheads. “You are so—”
“What?” I demanded.
He stopped. Took a breath. “Never mind.” I couldn’t read the look he gave me. Decided I didn’t want to. Facts are facts, folks. He was connected to Disa supernaturally. Every moment I was with him now, knowing that, it felt like she was in the room too. And it made me want to kick something.
Dave looked from him to me and back again. He patted down his pockets, found them empty, and dropped his hands. “Maybe I’ll go check out the rooms where the fires started,” he said. “See what they have in common.” Under his breath I heard him add, “Like being away from you two,” as he exited the room, leaving Vayl and me to share a long, cold silence.
After a few tense moments Vayl fixed his eyes on mine and said, “If your bolt had flown, you would have destroyed me tonight.” He brushed some dust off the knee of his slacks, giving me time to compute. Nope, it just wouldn’t key in. I had to hear it again.
“What?”
“The bonds that tie Maker and mate stretch beyond contractual obligation. For the next fifty years, if one of us dies, so will the other.”
I realized I was shaking my head. Denial. The story of my life. I dropped my gaze to the floor. “Vayl, I never wanted—” I stopped, because suddenly he stood in front of me, close as a shadow. When I looked into his eyes I realized they’d finally changed—to the dark purple of a new bruise.
“Tell me, Jasmine,” he demanded, his voice as hoarse as Rastus’s had been after having been pierced by a blade. “Why is it that after sticking Grief in Disa’s gut and pulling the trigger, you are no longer willing to fight for us?”
The wall behind my back felt like it was rippling, but I knew it was my own dizzy desire to throw myself into Vayl’s arms. Which made no sense. Wasn’t I still pissed at him? “Niall made the situation sound hopeless,” I told him. “So did you, for that matter.”
His hand came to my face, brushed my cheek and down to my neck. I fought the urge to reach out, sink my fingers into his flesh. He said, “Yes. It seemed that way at first. And then I looked into your eyes and remembered that you and I have never failed anything we set out to accomplish together.”
“Your eyes just turned. They’ve been brown up to now. Do you think that means something?”
He cocked his head thoughtfully. “Indeed.”
I dropped my gaze to his lips. Too tempting. Down to the V of his open shirt. Nope, too sexy. I closed my eyes. “I can’t think straight, dammit. There was something I wanted to tell you before. About this house. In fact, the entire Trust. The masks. The masks were throbbing.”
I opened my eyes when his hands dropped to his sides. “Some sort of spell,” he muttered.
“What?”
“That must be it. I can feel it working on me even as we speak. Like an itch, but not as strong now that I have identified it. Disa has been plotting, just like the old days. Of course. That is why she bound me! The underhanded little shrew!”
I nodded. “Yeah. Yes, that was it! Remember you told me before we came that we’d have to be careful? Well, you were right. This place is fucking with us, Vayl, I’m sure of it.” Before the thoughts could skitter out of my mind again I told him what I’d realized about the power of the Trust. “That fight we just had, I’ll bet that was part of it too. It’s messing with our heads. Divide and conquer, you know?”
Vayl had begun pacing back and forth in front of the fountain, tapping his fingers against his thigh. He didn’t demand proof, thank goodness. That gut wrencher we’d just been through must’ve been enough to convince him. “We are being manipulated, no doubt about it. Disa wants me to rejoin the Trust, that is clear. But as to the reason—I have no idea.”
“You mean beside the fact that she’s in love with you?”
Vayl’s jaw dropped. He looked so comical that I couldn’t help but smile. “No.” He shook his head. Adamantly. Like a guy who can’t believe Congress has raised taxes again.
“Yeah, I think so.” My hands ached to reach up to that face, smooth out the creases of consternation. I dropped them. Why do I do that? I suddenly wondered. What’s wrong with comforting someone you care for?
My inner bitch put down the mai tai she’d been glugging and winked at the bartender before pointing a wavering finger in my general direction. It’s not that part you’re worried about, ya’idiot. It’s the caring. ’Cause they always end up dead on the floor—or in Studly’s case, poof—before you even have a chance to give them their Christmas presents.
Why should I listen to you? I demanded. What kind of character leads a person in the right direction even as she adjusts her thong and tries to remember if the condoms are in her purse or the glove box of her Corvette?
Why are you asking me? she demanded. You’re the one who’s fucked up!
No argument there.
“So. What next?” My mouth felt dry. As I wished for a beer, I realized Dave had probably gone somewhere to snitch a bottle of booze. Which meant, as soon as I confiscated it from him, I’d have something to wet my whistle with. Unless . . . nope, this round was definitely not going down the drain.
Vayl gazed down at me. “The ball is in your court, as they say.”
“It is?”
His eyes darkened. Oops. Even when I wasn’t trying, I pissed him off. Well, damn, it would help if he’d stop emitting that bone-melting, come-jump-me vibe. How was I supposed to concentrate with the Trust hammering at one side of my brain while a wild woman panted for Vayl on the other, stomping and screaming like the tipsy maid of honor at a Chippendales show?
As I stood there, fighting for balance, gazing at the ring I’d abandoned as it nestled against Vayl’s chest, Dave walked in. I made myself inhale. Concentrated on my lungs filling with clean, clear air. Or the closest I was going to get considering my less-than-antiseptic surroundings.
Okay, just concentrate on the mission. It’s really important you get this right. Think of the lives you could save if you nail Samos. If you keep that in the front of your head, everything else will somehow fall into line. Won’t it? Yeah. Maybe. As long as you don’t panic. I shoved my hand in my pocket, felt Matt’s ring slip around my pinky, quickly followed by a sense of peace. I hadn’t lost that token. And some of him still remained, forever part of me, undiminished by time and distance. I felt myself straighten, realized my chin had lifted as I stared Vayl straight in the eye.
I’ll do whatever it takes to win, I told him silently.
His nod, a barely perceptible bob of the head, gave me his answer. That is what I wanted to hear.
I watched Dave edge into the room, looking from Vayl’s face to mine as he tried to gauge our moods. When I managed a smile he visibly relaxed.
“I didn’t make it far,” Dave said. “Only got to look around the garage long enough to figure out the fire started right in the middle of a huge pool of blood before Tarasios intercepted me and demanded to know what I was doing snooping around outside.”
I considered checking Dave’s breath to see if he’d been sampling the schnapps before he got here. “That makes no sense. How could a fire start in liquid?”
“No clue,” Dave replied. “But that’s where it was.”
“Weird.” A spidery sense of unease navigated my stomach. The fire’s location reminded me of the drippy face, which I still wanted badly to suppress. Could it have had something to do with the blaze?