“There is still the matter of the director to be dealt with,” Kristoff said, taking my hand.
I tried to pull it away. His fingers tightened.
“I am not going to be party to wholesale murder for the sake of . . . well, I don’t even know what that would be, since there is no earthly reason you can have other than revenge for wanting to go after Frederic,” I told him.
“There are a number of compelling reasons why we should do just that,” he argued.
“Oh, yeah? Name one that doesn’t involve you guys wanting to get even.”
Kristoff opened his mouth, looked askance for a moment, then cast a pleading glance at his brother and cousin.
“Huh? Huh? ” I looked at them as well.
“Well, there’s . . .” Andreas stopped, his face screwing up as he thought. “There’s . . . er . . .”
“I thought so.”
“He poses a threat,” Rowan said suddenly.
The other two vampires nodded eagerly.
“A very big threat,” Andreas added.
“To whom? Other than in general to you vampires, I mean.”
“To Kristoff,” Rowan said, pointing.
Kristoff looked as surprised as I felt.
“He doesn’t even know Kristoff!” I protested. “Well, hardly knows him. He did imprison him, and tried to kill him after he couldn’t make me do the job for him, but that was two months ago, and I’m sure by now he’s forgotten all about Kristoff.”
“Thank you,” the love of my life said dryly.
You know what I mean, Boo. Besides, so long as I remember you, you have nothing to complain about, I said, blowing him a mental kiss.
His fingers tightened around mine.
“No other suggestions before I rest my case?” I asked the threesome.
The gentle whoosh of air from the air conditioner was the only sound for a moment.
“I hate to destroy any illusions you might possess regarding the director, Pia, but I’m afraid there is one very compelling reason for us to confront him and the other reapers.” Alec stood in the doorway, leaning against it with a mildly interested expression, as if he was somewhat bored.
“What would that be?” I asked.
He smiled. “You.”
“Me? I don’t stand in the way of anything Frederic wants.”
“You are a Zorya and a Beloved. Surely you’ve been in the Brotherhood long enough to know how vehement they are about anything to do with us. In their eyes, you are an abomination, tainted by your relationship to Kristoff, a contradiction to everything sacred. You must, at all costs, be destroyed before you can contaminate anyone else.”
I stared at him, my jaw slack, for a moment or two. “But . . . the reapers offered me a deal. They’re going to execrate me once I get Ulfur.”
The look he gave me was pitying. I leaned into Kristoff, needing comfort. “It says much about your purity of character that you believed what the reapers told you, but unfortunately, we know them of old. They will not honor their agreement with you.”
Kristoff?
I’m afraid he’s right, he said slowly.
You knew this? I asked, astonished.
I suspected that the deal the reapers made with you would not be honored, yes. But I did not know for certain, and since you wanted above all things to no longer be a Zorya, it seemed worthwhile to pursue.
You might have mentioned your suspicions to me, you know. I’m a big girl, Kristoff. I can take a little adversity.
I had no proof either way.
“I’m sorry, but a vaguely could-be-possible threat still isn’t enough,” I said after thinking about the matter, as well as making a mental note to have a long talk with Kristoff about my relationship expectations. Incredibly handsome and mouthwateringly sexy he might be, but he had a lot to learn about relationships. “I realize I can’t stop you guys, but you won’t get any help from me. My job now is to find Ulfur. The trail for the Ilargi may have run into a dead end, but I’m not giving up.”
“Excellent,” Alec said, striding into the center of the room, his eyes twinkling with enjoyment. “Then we can count on your assistance after all.”
“Huh? I just said-”
“You said you were going to find the Ilargi. Well, my fair little Zorya, that trail ends with the director.” His smile grew wider as I stared at him in incomprehension. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? Frederic Robert knows who the Ilargi is.”
CHAPTER 14
“So he just dropped that bombshell on you, and then went to bed?”
Magda and Raymond were seated in the chairs around a small round table in one corner of the hotel room, rapt expressions on both their faces.
“Well, it wasn’t quite that quick, but yes, basically, he said he believed that Frederic knew who the Ilargi was, and was tolerating him because he eliminated the need for Zoryas.”
“I’m not sure I understand your explanation of why this director fellow is doing what you say he’s doing,” Raymond said, his brows pulled together as he tried to puzzle out everything.
“You would not be alone in that,” Kristoff said as he passed me. He was pacing the room, his face abstracted with thought, obviously thinking about the plan for the following day.
I sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. I badly wanted to get Kristoff next to me, but knew full well that I wouldn’t be able to stop touching him should I do so. I closed my eyes for a moment, the faint scent of him teasing my nose, stirring the craving I had to taste him, to feel his tongue sliding along mine, to run my fingers along the smooth, silky lines of his back and chest, to caress the muscles that lay so heavily under his skin, begging for touches and kisses and long, loving strokes of my tongue.
If you truly want me to bed you right here and now, continue with those thoughts. Particularly the one involving your tongue.
I sat upright, blinking. Sorry. Got a little carried away there. I didn’t mean for you to overhear that. Just ignore it.
Ignore it? Ignore it? Woman, just being near you leaves me hard. I’m getting used to having a perpetual erection, but you don’t have to make things worse by indulging in fantasies that almost drive me insane with need.
I said I was sorry, I answered with a little smile to myself.
“Pia?”
“Hmm?” With an effort, I dragged my mind from the contemplation of Kristoff’s erection to the subject at hand.
The day my penis ceases to be the subject at hand is the day I give up living.
“Oh, sorry. Um. Oh, Frederic.”
I giggled into Kristoff’s mind and tried to look thoughtful, and not in the least bit like someone who was remembering that she owed the man she loved a blow job that would knock his socks off.
That’s it! Kristoff marched into the bathroom and slammed shut the door.
Magda looked in surprise at the door. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Er . . . nothing. He’s just a bit distracted.”
For which I have you to thank!
Hush. Go dip Sparky into some cold water so we can talk about what to do.
“Why doesn’t he want Zoryas to be around?” Raymond asked. “The director, that is.”
“He does, but only doing his bidding, not messing with something useful, like doing their original job.”
“Oh.” He thought about that for a moment. “I suppose that makes sense. Kind of.”
“It does to me,” Magda said, stretching as she smothered a yawn. “I’m just glad you guys got out of that all right. I was about to call in the police when the vampires showed up. I tell you, Pia, those reapers are just downright nasty. Ray and I ran off to get help the second we spotted the first one, but we got separated, and the reapers who grabbed me were saying all sorts of things about me having been dirtied by you and that I needed cleansing. Who knows what they might have done if your vampires hadn’t shown up?”
“Only one of them is mine, and I had no idea about the others, because someone didn’t tell me his super-secret plan, but that’s a lecture for another day.”
“Mm-hmm.” Magda yawned again.