He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb, laughing so hard that Auntie peered around the corner of the wall to look at him. Wiping his eyes, he gestured toward the swords and said, “Trust me, this is exactly the way to woo her.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Savi, her real name is Lilith.”
Her mouth fell open. “You’re joking.” Her eyes narrowed when he shook his head. “It explains a lot, though. What was it, in high school? She got to you so bad that you turned her into a demon in your book?”
“Not exactly,” he choked.
“Well, in any case, you might be interested in what else I found out about her.” With a mischievous grin, she added, “I poked around.”
“Good,” Hugh said, his own humor fleeing. “I need every advantage I can get.” The headache that had been threatening since late afternoon began to throb in earnest. He rubbed his forehead, fighting his guilt at using Savi to gain any of those advantages. But he couldn’t do this alone—not completely alone.
Auntie cleared her throat, and he looked up to find her glaring at him, a platter in her hand. “Come, beta. Eat.”
Colin waited in the alley beside the restaurant, the smell of food threatening to overwhelm him. His mouth watered, but it was a craving that had more to do with memory than actual hunger. “I may as well be one of Pavlov’s dogs,” he said with a touch of bitterness, and ignored the look Sir Pup gave him. He slipped on a pair of sunglasses. “Very well, then. Harness?”
The hellhound obliged by calling in a guide dog’s apparatus, and allowed Colin to fasten it over his shoulders.
Across the street, a male and a female—one tall and fat, the other tiny—stopped next to the police cruiser parked at the curb. The man made a gesture with his hand, and Colin heard the passenger window slide down.
“Anything?”
“No, sir. He went home, ran in the park, then came here.”
“And you say that Agent Milton left his office after you returned to your surveillance?”
“Yes, sir.”
The female sighed, and tilted her head back to look at the sky as if exasperated. The pale skin of her neck seemed to glow under the streetlights, and Colin’s fangs throbbed in response. If he hadn’t glutted himself on the Guardian still lying unconscious and chained to his bed, he probably would have taken the opportunity and protection of the hellhound to hunt. As delicious as Selah’s blood had been, he preferred them awake.
It was difficult for a woman to admire him when she was unconscious.
“This isn’t good, Joe,” she said as they crossed the street. “Something’s way off.”
“Yeah,” her partner agreed. “We’ll get Jorgenson to talk to . . . what’s his name? Bradshaw?”
“Yeah.” Resignation in her voice.
He moved deeper into the shadows, waited for them to go inside. A few minutes later, he followed them.
The hostess was older than she appeared; and though her eyes widened at the sight of the dog, she gave no indication of the displeasure he felt emanating from her. As Colin disliked the hair and other . . . things . . . the dog had trailed into his house, he couldn’t blame this woman for a similar reaction.
“You’ll be having the buffet? Or you would like a menu?”
He bit back a sigh as his gaze skimmed over the table surrounded by young males—hot, thick blood. The full-bodied taste of the matrons in the corner. The delicate, ripe flavor of the lady detective filling her plate at the buffet. And the wild, tangy essence of the woman—little more than a girl—who came through a swinging door at the back to greet the group of boys at the first table.
“A menu, please,” he said with regret.
“Of course. If you’ll allow me . . . ?” She held out her arm, her bangles sliding up her forearm, almost to her elbow.
Colin stared at the pulse beating beneath the golden brown skin of her wrist before he remembered that he was supposed to be blind. “You’re very kind,” he murmured finally, inwardly cursing Lilith for talking him into this, and himself for going along with it. In my long life. I’ve never seen beauty such as yours, Colin! He mimicked her voice internally, then glanced down at the dog, who seemed to be laughing up at him as if it could read his thoughts. “She’s a liar.”
The hostess turned. “I’m sorry? This table isn’t to your liking?”
“It’s fine, thank you.” Perfect, actually. From the bench, he had a view of everyone in the restaurant and could clearly hear each conversation. “I was simply instructing my dog to lie down.”
“Ah, very good.” Again, that flicker of distaste as she looked at the dog. Sir Pup’s tongue lolled, dripping saliva on the wooden floors. Colin was certain the hellhound did it deliberately. “You are familiar with our menu? My granddaughter will read the items, if you wish.”
As if she’d heard ‘granddaughter,’ the wild-tangy girl-woman looked over at them. Her breath caught as her gaze ran over his face. Sweet torture, to have that delicious morsel so close.
He smiled, savoring the anticipation that shivered up his spine. “Yes, please.”
Hugh scraped up the last bit of dal with a piece of ghee-soaked naan, slipped it into his mouth, then pushed away from the counter before Auntie could return to the kitchen and ladle more onto his plate. He opened the swinging door with his shoulder, still wiping the ghee from his fingers onto a napkin, his stomach pleasantly full but happily not bursting. Auntie was as manipulative as a demon when she thought he hadn’t eaten enough.
Not that it was a hardship; a man could fall prey to gluttony rather easily when a meal tasted as good as—
“Savi.” A whisper, a warning. No mistaking the ecstasy on the vampire’s face as he leaned toward her arched neck and inhaled deeply. She didn’t hear Hugh, but Colin did. A cruel, predatory expression flashed over his features before it changed to a look almost comical in its surprise. His eyes were hidden behind dark glasses, but Hugh felt the quick survey the vampire took of him before murmuring something to Savi that made her dissolve into giggles.
His tension subsiding, he finally noticed the silence that had fallen over the gaming table.
Taylor and Preston sat with them. The group had tripled in size, and the greetings from the boys held a note of guilt and unease. Preston rose to his feet, extended his hand.
“Didn’t think you’d mind if we talked with these guys, Castleford.”
Hugh stepped forward, shook it, not bothering to keep the wry smile from his face. The detectives hadn’t been so friendly that afternoon, but they likely didn’t want to raise any protective instincts in the group that would make them less open to discussing Ian, Javier or their professor. “Of course not.”
Taylor gave Hugh a cursory glance, then looked past him toward Colin and Savi. Had she seen the fleeting exchange between the two men when he’d opened the door?
If she had, she kept her curiosity well contained, nodding toward her plate. “Excellent selection here.”
“I’ll convey your compliments to Auntie,” he said. “Agent Milton couldn’t join you?”
“No,” Taylor said, not quite hiding the dislike beneath the flat tones.
Hugh’s lips twitched. Lilith had that effect.
Another burst of laughter from Savi, this time with a deeper, throaty edge to it. He clenched his fingers in the napkin. “I don’t know if you’ve had an opportunity to speak with Savitri Murray,” he said. She’d been interviewed by uniformed officers and confirmed Hugh’s story about the night before he’d found Ian, but as far as Hugh knew, hadn’t talked to the two detectives. “But she created DemonSlayer. Any questions you have about the game, she could answer them; and she knew both Javier and Ian.”
Preston and Taylor looked from him to Savi. The question on Preston’s face was clear. “Just housemates,” Hugh clarified.
“We had hoped to interview her today, before—” Preston stopped, but Hugh imagined he knew what had happened. Before Lilith had shown up with the symbols and the story that had led
them to his office. “We intended to speak with her tomorrow.”
Hugh smiled thinly. “I’m glad to speed things up, then.”
A burning frustration stalked with him to Colin’s table. The vampire looked up at his approach, but with a studied lack of focus in his expression. Hugh frowned; then he saw the dog on the floor, the harness, and understood why Savi was reading aloud a description of bhindi masala.
The hellhound grinned up at him.
“Savi,” he said, his gaze never straying from Colin’s face. “I believe the detectives would like to speak with you.”
“Oh, but—” As if his words finally registered, the dismay left her voice and her tone hardened. “What detectives?”
He glanced away from Colin, found her staring over his shoulder at Taylor and Preston. “They just want to ask a few questions.”
She straightened. “What should I tell them?”
She sounded as if she wanted to tell them to go to Hell and quickly. He noted Colin’s sudden grin and had to smile, too. “The truth.”
“All right.” A little deflated, she sucked her upper lip between her teeth, the lower pushed out into a pout. It was a gesture she often made when she was torn between doing the correct thing and doing the thing she considered more exciting.
“The truth,” Hugh repeated. Seeing how Colin was suddenly entranced by her mouth, he gave her a push.
“Oh! Will you, uh—” She gestured to the menu, to Colin’s sunglasses. Then she slapped the laminated menu into his hand. “Take over? I was on forty-two.”
Colin watched her walk away with a heavy sigh.
“No,” Hugh said and took the seat opposite the vampire. The hellhound scrabbled to his feet, pushing his cold nose into Hugh’s lap. After a brief, frozen moment, Hugh began scratching its ears. “She’s my sister.”
“Oh, come now—” Cutting himself off mid-protest, the vampire exhaled sharply. “Very well. If you call her sister, I’ll not pursue her.”
“I do.” That relationship wouldn’t have mattered to the vampire—most women were sister to someone, after all—except that Hugh claimed it. Two hundred years before, Hugh and Lilith had helped protect Colin’s sister from a nosferatu . . . and from the newly turned, starving Colin.
Colin had very few scruples, but in his appreciation for that he remained steadfast.
With a petulant curl of his lip, the vampire said, “You’re looking very”—he waved his hand at the stubble on Hugh’s jaw, the casual roll of his sleeves over his forearms—“disheveled. Scruffy, even.”
Hugh blinked, and a reluctant smile pulled at his mouth. “Better than the friar’s robe?”
Colin shuddered, as if something unpleasant had crawled over his skin.
“You aren’t here to critique my appearance.”
“No. She asked me to spy on them. The critique is an unexpected bonus.”
Hugh’s stomach tightened. “Why isn’t she here?”
“I don’t know.” Colin slid off his dark glasses. “Her message was rather cryptic. I’m supposed to watch the pigs in the mug-gle’s kitchen, which I understand well enough. Though I might have gone to your house had the dog not led me here instead. And, afterward, I’m supposed to stop by her apartment and collect something to give to you.”
Hugh nodded slowly, unsurprised that the vampire and demon had a system of code to speak in public. The hellhound whimpered and licked his hand, diverting him from his contemplation of it. “Are they speaking with Savi?”
“They’re asking about the game and the nosferatu.” Colin looked over Hugh’s shoulder, an assessing expression in his eyes. “Did you tell her the truth?”
“Not yet.”
He said no more, as Auntie appeared next to the table and her quick gaze moved between them. “You’re a friend to Dr. Castleford?” She emphasized the title proudly. “You should have said.”
Colin gave Hugh a brief, quizzical look before turning to Auntie with a smile designed to charm. The vampire maintained the pretense of blindness; his gaze rested just above her shoulder instead of on her face. “My apologies, madam.”
The placement of Colin’s lips, perfectly concealing the sharp points of his fangs without appearing to hold the smile in an unnatural position, was the most accomplished Hugh had seen; an untrained human would never be able to determine the difference. “Mrs. Jayakar,” Hugh supplied. “This is Mr. Ames-Beaumont.”
“Call me Auntie.” A blush darkened her cheekbones to a rich cinnamon. She fussed with her sari, slipping her fingers along the sash as if to make certain it still covered the bare skin at her waist. “Are you from Great Britain, Mr. Ames-Beaumont?”
“Colin, please,” the vampire said. “Yes, originally from north of London. But I emigrated some time ago.”
“For your profession?”
Colin’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Yes.”
Hugh opened his mouth, but Auntie lifted a single finger toward his face. He snapped his teeth together.
“And what is it you do?”
“I’m an artist,” Colin said. “I paint.”
She gave a startled glance at his unfocused eyes. Taken aback, she looked from the vampire to Hugh again, and Hugh said, “He’s interested in the Raja Special.”
She inclined her head, her expression brightening as she took in Colin’s slim frame. Given a chance, she would feed him herself. Colin watched her walk toward the kitchen, but without the hunger with which he’d looked at Savi. His brows drew together, and he returned his attention to Hugh. “You’ve made a family for yourself.”
“Yes.” He looked across the table at the vampire, felt the hellhound’s heavy head against his leg. “So has Lilith.”
“Yes. She has spent many a night with me.” Leaning back, he curled his lips into a mocking smile.
Hugh shook his head, grinning. “There is truth in that, but not what you suggest. She’s your reflection, not your lover.”
“My reflection?” The vampire laughed, as if startled by the idea. “Yes: vain, selfish, greedy.” Despite his words, his gaze had warmed.
“Exceptionally loyal to those few she cares about,” Hugh said, and rubbed the hellhound’s ears when it gave a quiet bark of agreement. Difficult to keep the roughness from his voice. Before he’d Fallen, there had been no one else she’d cared for—but she hadn’t been alone these past sixteen years. “She trusted you enough to show you the symbols.”
“Yes, but she did not expose herself for my sake.” Colin pierced him with a hard stare. “I don’t know what was done to her; perhaps we should exchange information. She said it was not from the Punishment she received, but I don’t know if I can believe her.”
A low growl rumbled from the hellhound’s chest. Hugh had to force the words out through the tightness in his throat. “What Punishment?”
The vampire blinked, and then his eyes narrowed. “She never used it against you,” he said, a disbelieving laugh slipping from him. “She cannot speak to me without manipulation.”
Hugh’s fingers clenched. “Explain yourself.”
“Tell me about the symbols first.”
“She was human once.” His chest ached, as it had whenever he thought of her revelation. He saw the surprise on Colin’s face, then the confusion. “The symbols are a part of a ritual that transformed her into a demon.”
“But—”
“Guardians. Vampires. It follows demonkind would have their own version.” Hugh shook his head, anticipating Colin’s question. His bitterness was self-directed. “I didn’t know, either. I suspect only Michael did.”
“Why the need to mislead the police?”
“One of my students was killed by the nosferatu, and the symbols were carved into his body.”
Colin was nodding, as if in sudden understanding. “Hence the forgery of Polidori’s letter.”
“Yes,” he said. “Do you have a copy?”
“She took the originals. They might be at her apartment, too. You may as well g
o in my place; being a courier has never appealed to me.” He nudged the dog with his foot. “Sir Pup, do you have a key you could give Castleford?”
“Sir Pup?” Bemused, Hugh looked down at the hellhound, who was flopping his ears from side to side as if in answer to the vampire. A sweet pain sliced though him, left him open and vulnerable. “She named you Sir Pup?”
“The detectives are leaving,” Colin said softly. “The woman just received a phone call; they’re both getting up to go.”
Hugh turned. Taylor and Preston’s faces were hard, bleak. Taylor slashed Hugh a look, but they left without speaking to him. “Could you hear the voice on the other end?”
“No.”
Auntie reappeared, her arms laden with trays, and Hugh stood up to help her. Savi slipped in between them, arranged the chutneys to her satisfaction, and transferred the platters to the table.
Colin stared at the volume of food, swallowed hard. Auntie waited with her hands folded at her waist, but as Colin continued staring without moving to fill his plate, she began scooping and explaining the location and taste of each dish, stopping just short of spooning bites into Colin’s mouth.
Savi stood by Hugh, her head at the level of his shoulder. “He’s very handsome,” she murmured in Hindi. Colin glanced up, but the rapacious pleasure in his gaze turned to something painfully beleaguered when she added, “It’s too bad he’s gay.”
Hugh looked down at Savi, then back at the vampire. Some lies were definitely useful. “Yes,” he said, as the vampire choked on a mouthful of rice. “I suppose it is.”
CHAPTER 20
The misting rain formed a halo around a light illuminating the front of a run-down apartment building. Though Savi had lifted Lilith’s address from a law enforcement database, he doubted she actually lived there.
He frowned. Despite eight hundred years spent fighting them, he didn’t know what demons did when they weren’t convincing humans to create chaos. Like Guardians, they didn’t need to sleep or eat, so it was possible there was no downtime; and unlike Guardians, demons were not social creatures—particularly not with their own kind. Lilith’s friendship with Colin was an anomaly; any other demon would have considered it a weakness.
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