Don’t be so certain of that, Kristoff thought at me.
I put his suspicions down to a normal response to the underhanded way Alec had revealed the truth, and pressed up against him when he opened the door a crack to look out.
“It’s clear. The meeting room should be in the back.”
“I just hope Alec knows what he’s doing,” I murmured, emerging from the room. “If we’re wrong and there is a Zenith, she’s going to view his being a decoy as the perfect opportunity to have a little vampire melting party.”
“He knew the danger when he volunteered to be the one caught,” Andreas said behind me.
The hallway was brightly lit, but devoid of Brotherhood folk. I glanced around, curious, as we passed a couple of closed doors, but despite my worst suspicions, no klaxons went off alerting people to our presence, and no one went screaming down the hallway yelling about vampires. There wasn’t even a security camera tucked away in the corner of the hall. The only noise to be heard was our nearly silent footsteps, and the almost sibilant whoosh of air.
“Don’t you think it’s a little odd that there aren’t more guards around?” I whispered, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. “Or, rather, any guards?”
“If Alec has done his job, they will be swarming him,” Andreas answered.
“Yes, but they’d also want to know where he came from, and be searching for any of us. You said there were a ton of Brotherhood people here, right?” I asked Kristoff.
“No. I said they were preparing for a battle. The two things are not the same,” Kristoff said. “There are fewer reapers here than normal, but the ones who are here are higher in the organization. They are members of the governing board.”
“Brought out the big guns, did Frederic?” I murmured.
As we approached a double door at the end of the hallway, Kristoff paused for a moment, his head tipped as he listened intently. I put my hand on his back, as much for my own comfort as to remind him he was not alone anymore, when I noticed something curious.
“Uh, guys?” I held up my wrist. A crescent moon- shaped light glowed gently as it swung from my bracelet. “There are spirits here. Do you think it’s Ulfur?”
“He is a lich now, not a spirit. He wouldn’t register on your stone that way.”
“Oh. Good point. Well, regardless, there are some ghosties here somewhere.”
“Stay behind me,” Kristoff said, glancing over my shoulder at Andreas. The latter nodded at him as they exchanged some sort of macho guy look, the kind that said they had to protect the poor little feeble female in their care.
Silly vampires. I snorted to myself, flexing my fingers as I gathered a little light, preparing to halt the charge of reapers that was sure to follow when Kristoff flung open the doors to the conference room. They should know by now that this female was far from feeble.
Kristoff opened one of the doors a smidgen. Andreas and I crowded around him to peer in.
“ . . . tried and tried, but I just can’t understand them. Maybe one of you can, but for the life of me, I can’t see how I’m expected to do a job if these people can’t even be bothered to speak something understandable!”
The voice that reached our ears was female, whiny, and had a faint inflection that I mentally termed “mall rat.”
“Get her out of here,” a low male voice said. Its sheer lack of emotion sent a little skittering of fear down my back. That and a jolt of recognition, not to mention a number of memories I’d rather do without.
“Frederic’s in there,” I said in an almost inaudible whisper.
Kristoff nodded.
“You were told before that the director had no time for this,” a male voice said in a bossy, also familiar tone. “You must leave now.”
“Great. And Mattias.”
Kristoff’s back twitched.
“I don’t care what sort of war games you’re running-how am I going to get these two to T’ien?” the whiny woman demanded to know.
“You will leave now. You never should have been allowed in. The office is closed while the board deals with some unprecedented events. You must find your spirits’ destination by yourse-”
The door suddenly opened in front of us. For a moment, we stared in surprise at an equally surprised Mattias, behind whom was a petite woman holding a Chihuahua. Beyond her I could see two spirits, both male, both Chinese, dressed in identical tattered blue cloth jackets and pants. They looked like the poor immigrants forced to work on the railroad lines during one of California’s many growth spurts.
Mattias was the first to recover. “Wife!” he said, his blond brows pulling together in a frown. His gaze narrowed on Kristoff and Andreas. “You’ve come to flaunt more lovers in my face? I will not have it! You will not-”
I flung my handful of light past Kristoff and fully into Mattias’s face. He stood dazzled for a moment, the scowl fading into an expression of delight. “Pookie!”
“Oh, God,” Kristoff muttered.
Andreas snickered.
“Hey! He’s helping me ,” the other Zorya said, stuffing her dog into an oversize violet bag. Light flashed in her hands as she sent it flying around Mattias’s head.
He turned to her, a slightly less delighted expression on his face. “Zorya Amber.”
She smirked at me for a moment before turning to him, pursing her lips, and making one of the most repulsive simpers I’d ever beheld. “Big ol’ sacristan wants to help Amber get rid of these annoying ghosts, doesn’t he?”
“Of course,” Mattias agreed.
“What is going on?” a different male voice called out from the depths of the conference room. The door was only half-open, so we couldn’t see in. “What is the holdup? We have things to do to prepare for the attack. Remove the Zorya at once.”
“Mattias?” I said, smiling as he turned back to me. I shoved a handful of light into his face.
“Pia, Pia, Pia!”
“Get rid of the chick,” I said, nodding toward Amber.
She gasped and started to summon light again when I grabbed her by the strap of her purse and hauled her out into the hallway.
“Stop that!” she shrieked, slapping at my hands. “You’ll stretch it! Do you have any idea how much I paid for this bag?”
“Dump her outside,” I told Mattias. “And don’t let her gather up light!”
He grinned and grabbed both of her hands, frog-marching her outside, her squawks of protest echoing down the empty hallway. The two ghosts followed her, neither of them looking very happy.
“I’m sorry,” I told them as they left. “I hope I didn’t screw anything up for you guys, but things are bound to get a bit hairy, and it really is better if you’re not in the middle of it.”
The door was jerked open just as I turned toward it.
“Ah. You have arrived at last,” Frederic said as Kristoff tried to shove me behind himself. I poked him in the shoulder and scooted to the side. Frederic’s eyes bugged out a bit at the sight of me. “Zorya Pia! You . . . er . . . are here as well?”
“As you see. Good morning, Frederic,” I said brightly, clutching Kristoff’s arm. I might not be a wimp, but I wasn’t stupid, either. “You can stop whatever horrible plans you’ve set into motion with the capture of Alec, because the cavalry has, in fact, arrived.”
Both his eyebrows rose in genuine surprise. “Capture of Alec? Dare I assume you mean a Dark One?”
“Don’t try to be coy,” I said sternly, leveling my best glare at him while keeping a firm grip on Kristoff’s arm. He was as tense as a panther about to leap. “We know you know who Alec is, and we also know you captured him a few minutes ago. I’m sure, if you put your mind to it, you can figure out how-”
He stopped me with a slightly raised hand, his lips curling in a sickly approximation of amusement. “My dear Pia, I haven’t the slightest idea of what you’re talking about.”
“You . . . er . . . don’t?” I looked at Kristoff. Is he bullshitting us?
I don’t think so. Kristoff’s gaze was unwavering and intent on Frederic. A lesser man would have backed up a step, but Frederic simply maintained an expression of mild interest.