“I suppose you’re going to ask us to rent you a room,” I joked, then immediately wished I could take it back when I saw the stricken look on his face.
I didn’t have time to question him, because Aidan came back in then, carrying a sword.
“What are you doing with that?” I asked, watching as he took it over to the counter and laid it down with a clang.
“I think I have some silver polish somewhere,” he said, digging around the cabinet beneath the sink.
“You’re going to polish a sword? Now?” I finished my last fry, crumpling the container and tossing it in the bag. “Anyway, where’d you get that thing?”
“It’s been in the family for years,” he answered, still searching through the cabinet. “It’s quite old, really, but it’ll do.”
“For what?” Matthew asked.
“If I’m to be the point man, out front, I need a weapon,” Aidan explained. “It won’t kill a vampire, obviously, but it’ll stop one long enough for the two of you to flank in and do your thing. Anyway, we’ll need one for later. To separate—”
“—the head from the body,” I finished for him. “Yeah, I remember. Is it sharp?”
He nodded, running a hand down the length of the blade. A ribbon of red appeared on his palm, dripping grotesquely down his wrist as he reached for a towel. “Perfectly so. It just needs to be shined up a bit.” Wincing, he wiped away the blood. “That hurt.”
“I’m sure it did,” I said, watching in amazement as the deep gash healed itself in a matter of seconds, right before my eyes.
Matthew nodded appreciatively. “That’s a nice trick.”
“Isn’t it?” Aidan examined his hand, looking pleased.
I exhaled quickly. “Okay, what now? I mean, after you’re done polishing your sword?”
Aidan shrugged. “We wait. This might take me a while, though.”
“Great,” I said, feeling as if I might jump out of my skin. I had to do something, occupy myself somehow. Otherwise I was going to lose it, just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. “I think I’m going to go sit on the balcony upstairs and read my e-mail, then. Or . . . maybe I’ll check out the library first, if that’s okay.”
“Hey, mon appartement est votre appartement. This is your home, come fall.”
He sounded way too cheerful, I decided. As if he were putting on a front, playacting for my benefit—trying to pretend like everything was okay, when it wasn’t. How could it be?
“You mind if I come with you to the library?” Matthew asked, tossing the rest of his lunch in the trash.
“Course not.” I stood and headed for the door, taking my drink with me. “Come find us when you’re done polishing your sword, okay, Aidan?”
He nodded. “I won’t be long.”
But I knew he would be. He wanted to be alone; I could sense it. Whatever his reasons were, I’d have to respect them, even if I didn’t like it.
And I didn’t, not one bit.
“C’mon,” I said to Matthew. “Let’s go see if he’s got anything good to read.”
29 ~ Visitors of the Unexpected Kind
Ow!” I cried out. “My wrist.” I glanced down at my bracelet, horrified to see the blackish red bloodstone glowing hotly against my skin. “No. Oh no. Aidan!”
He was beside me in an instant. “Look,” I said, holding up my wrist.
He glanced toward the window, where the moon had risen high in the sky.
There was no way of knowing if this was a single assassin, or a larger threat. But there was a threat—there was no doubting that.
Megvéd, I called out telepathically, establishing the connection with Matthew. Without even trying, I relayed the information to him in a split second.
I wasn’t sure what room he’d been in—if he’d been in the library reading, or if he’d gone to bed. It didn’t matter, though. He had no trouble finding me.
We were ready, the three of us. Aidan with his ancient sword, me with my stake, and Matthew with his baselard. The three of us stood in the center of the master bedroom, an immobile unit as we waited, listening. Aidan’s senses were better than ours, and it didn’t take him long to figure it out. “The balcony,” he said. “Two of them—maybe three.”
In the blink of an eye, Luc appeared before us. “Vampires,” he said, his dark eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, we got that,” I said sharply. “Thanks.”
“A scouting party, I think,” Luc added, ignoring my jab.
“There’s not much room to maneuver on the balcony,” Matthew said. “We choose better ground, then draw them to us.”
“But where?” I glanced around the room, taking in the luxurious furnishings. “Here?”
Aidan shook his head. “Not here. There’s a park nearby. It’s gated—it’ll be locked. We go there.”
“You take Violet,” Luc said. “I’ll get him.” He tipped his head toward Matthew.
Panic made my breath hitch in my chest. “Wait, no! You can’t split us up. Aidan, take us both—like you did in Atlanta.”
“It’s okay, Luc. I can take them both.”
“What if they don’t follow us?” Matthew asked.
Aidan’s eyes hardened. “They will. Grab on, both of you.”
We did.
The horrible sensation was brief. A hiss and a pop, and I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a leafy park that was completely shrouded in darkness save for the hazy light of the moon.
Once again, I reached out psychically to Matthew, establishing the connection between us—horrified that, at some point, I’d let it drop.
We formed a semicircle, the four of us, waiting.
It didn’t take long. Two vampires appeared seemingly out of thin air, a male and a female. They were both tall, dark haired, and dark eyed. “We’ve come only to talk,” the female said, her voice heavily accented. “To see who this boy is that Nicole Girard keeps so close to her heart. Her most favored creation, yes? But why? What is so special about this boy, this vampire?”
“Who sent you?” Luc asked, stepping forward as if he were our leader.
“Why, we came on our own accord, of course.”
Breach her mind, Matthew urged. See if she’s lying.
I have to drop my connection with you to do that, I argued.
Just for a moment. Search her mind; see what her intentions are, he insisted.
“You’ve brought friends, I see,” the female said. “Mortals. Do not fear us. We talk, that’s all.”
I didn’t trust her. More important, my bracelet didn’t trust her. I did what Matthew asked.
It took me only a split second to see her plan. The male would take out Luc and hold Aidan captive; the female would kill Matthew and me. The “talk” was just a distraction. Of course.
Megvéd. Just like that, he knew everything I knew. We sprang into action.
The female first—she was our greatest threat. With her removed, the male would be indecisive, unsure.
Matthew’s baselard flew through the air, straight into the female’s eye. She shrieked, and Luc moved to protect Aidan while I leapt forward and plunged my stake into her heart.
The female went down with an inhuman cry that silenced itself as her body hit the ground. Matthew retrieved our weapons as I wheeled toward the male, who had somehow gotten one beefy arm around Aidan’s neck. Luc slammed the pair of them to the ground, struggling to free Aidan and gain his feet before the male came after them again.
They were moving so fast, I could barely follow the fight. Someone had to immobilize our enemy long enough for Matthew and me to do our job, but right now he was nothing more than a blur, a constantly moving target.