“Andre, wait!” Lucy stepped between the two men staring hard at her partner. “Joseph, what information did you give the ES that led to the attacks?”
Joseph lowered his eyes, unable to face either of them. “The profiles of all hunters and the territories we would be hunting in that night.”
“And did they tell you your wife would be released after you did that?”
“No,” he said and shook his head slowly, “they took my blood. Tonight they told me what I needed to do to get Ephebia back, but it is for nothing.”
“This has all been for nothing, Joseph!” Andre could not contain the malice in his voice. Lucy shot him a dirty look over Joseph’s head.
“What did they ask of you, Joseph?” Lucy asked softly.
“They say Evan has a dhampir working for him.”
“A what?” Lucy looked to Andre for an explanation and saw that he had paled suddenly.
“A dhampir,” Andre took a ragged breath and licked his lips, “is a half vampire.”
Lucy felt the bile rise in her throat and swallowed. “B-but that’s impossible, right?” she stammered, covering her shock badly.
“A creature that exists in legends only,” Joseph added ruefully. “Even if it were possible, Evan has not mentioned such a person.”
“And Evan would never put a vampire, half or otherwise on the team!” Andre added with more vehemence than necessary.
“Okay,” Lucy said with calm she was not at all feeling. “Let’s say for the sake of argument this, this domper, or whatever you called it, does exist. What do they want you to do?”
“They will trade Ephebia’s life for the dhampir.”
Lucy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her secret was out. How that happened was anyone’s guess. The fact that because of her, an innocent woman’s life was at stake weighed heavily on her conscience.
“Did they give you any more information?” Lucy asked Joseph. “A description or anything to go on?”
Joseph shook his head wearily. “Nothing.”
Lucy glanced cautiously at Andre. His eyes narrowed as he read her expression.
“No.”
“No?” Lucy rounded on Andre. “What do you mean no?”
Andre sighed. “I know what you’re planning, Lucy, and it’s not going to work.”
“We have to do something, Andre. We need to get her out of there.”
“Please,” Joseph pleaded.
Andre stared hard at the man and shook his head slowly. “I’ll do everything I can, Joseph, but you realize you are now effectively under arrest for the admission that you placed the lives of all hunters on both continents in peril.”
Joseph nodded vigorously. “I understand.”
“Go home,” Andre continued, “and speak to no one. I’ll talk to Jean and explain that there was a family emergency and you will be out of town for a while. Contact no one, and I mean no one or I will personally put a bullet in your brain, do you understand me?”
Joseph nodded. “Yes, Andre, of course.”
“Two guards are waiting out front. They are going to be staying with you until Evan decides what to do with you.”
“Thank you.” Joseph bowed before making a hasty retreat. Lucy picked up her discarded wig and turned to Andre who was between her and the exit.
“Okay,” Lucy ran her hands through her hair and let out her breath. “Andre? Can we discuss my plan that you were so ready to nix before hearing now?”
“When I said no, I meant no, Lucy,” Andre said shortly. “Walking in and handing yourself over to the ES is simply suicide. Besides, I do not very much trust that they’ll hold up their end of the bargain and release Ephebia, they’re more likely to kill her in front of you or try to force you to do it.”
“Hand myself over?” Lucy’s eyebrows shot into her hairline. “My plan was to gain access to the club and get Ephebia out of there, hopefully killing a few of those bastards along the way.”
“It won’t work. Lucy. Despite the fact that they didn’t give Joseph a description, they know exactly who you are. The group I followed were discussing how they expected Joseph to react to what they told him. They said telling things like, ‘She won’t have the heart not to help him.’ It was obvious that they were talking about you. As disturbing as that is, it’s even more disturbing that they clearly know what you are. Now do you finally see why your emotions need to be reined in? They’ve set a trap and you are all set to run head first into it.”
“But how…” Lucy mumbled. “This doesn’t make sense. Unless…”
Andre held up his hand to silence her. “We need to talk, but we’re not alone anymore and as of right now we trust no one, friend or foe.” Andre raised his head toward the front of the church where two priests had entered through the side door and were preparing the altar for the morning mass. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 25
When they reached the second floor of their building, Lucy leaned toward the panel to unlock the door to the apartment, but Andre shook his head and pointed to the door on the right. “We have someone we need to visit if we want to entertain the idea that we have a chance of getting into that club.” He opened the door and motioned for Lucy to enter the small room, which turned out to be an elevator. Andre put his hand on the wall panel that was just like the panels at EJC and said, “Garage.”
Lucy stepped out of the elevator and gasped. They were clearly underground, in what appeared to be an earthen cavern that housed several cars and motorcycles. Though the walls appeared solid, Lucy had been working with EJC long enough to realize there was likely a door or two hidden somewhere.
“What are you, Batman?”
Andre didn’t answer, but pulled out his keys, hit a button, and a small sedan’s lights blinked. “Come on,” he said, opening the passenger door for her. As she expected, Andre made a U-turn and drove straight at the seemingly solid wall, which slid up and out of sight, and into a narrow tunnel.
Lucy glanced nervously out the small car’s window at the tunnel walls that were very much closer than a safe distance from where she sat. Within minutes, they emerged into a normal, well-lit tunnel that looked like it was a basement level of a parking garage. Instead of driving up, Andre drove lower and veered off into what looked like a maintenance access area that was devoid of any lighting or traffic signs. Lucy closed her eyes and swallowed her panic. The walls appeared to be getting closer.
“You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”
“No,” Lucy said a little more breathlessly than she would have liked. “But I don’t like being underground.” Andre glanced sideways. Lucy was pale and a light sheen of perspiration dotted her forehead. “I’d feel better if you were watching the road.”
“If we run into traffic here I’d be very surprised. We’re almost there. Around that next curve and we’ll be out in the street again.”
Moments later the car bounced slightly as they resurfaced in an alley. Andre parked between what looked like two abandoned buildings and Lucy opened her eyes, taking in their surroundings. Aside from the occasional garbage dumpster, the alley was empty. A single streetlight near the entrance from the main road was the only illumination.
“Well this is cheerful,” Lucy grimaced. “I thought we weren’t hunting vampires.”
“We’re looking for vampires of a different sort,” Andre replied cryptically. “Stay close. I know it looks deserted, but the security here is strong.” Andre led her to one of the buildings and placed his palm on the rusted metal door. There was a slight click and the door swung away, revealing a dark entry. He motioned for Lucy to follow, which she did, reluctantly. The door swung shut, leaving them in a darkened room, no larger than a broom closet, with another large metal door in front of them. Andre shifted past Lucy and placed his palm against the second door. Again, there was a soft click and the door swung open, revealing a brightly lit restaurant style kitchen, where a short, well-built man in full chef’s whites was chopping veget
ables at a large table.
“Andre!” The potatoes and knife clattered unceremoniously on the table as the man wiped his hands on his apron before shuffling to greet Andre with a flourished embrace and a kiss on both cheeks. Lucy was surprised to see Andre lean in as if they were expected. “Everyone has come in for the night, so you startled me.” His already expressive face lit up when he noticed Lucy standing by the door. “And who is your very lovely companion?”
“Lucy, this is Fausto Maestronetti, Fausto, this is Lucy Soriano, my fiancée.”
Fausto opened his arms in an expansive gesture, embracing Lucy as if she was his long lost child. “Welcome, Lucy!” He stood on tiptoes to kiss her on both cheeks, just as he had with Andre. “I worried my boy here would never meet a woman working all the time, but look at you, beautiful, and if my sixth sense for my fellow countrymen is correct, Italian, no? What more could any man ask for?”
Lucy looked closer at Fausto’s smile-crinkled eyes and noticed the amber color was just a shade lighter than her own, with an unearthly gray ring around the iris. Her lack of subtlety was not lost on Fausto.
“Ah, you are in the know! Of course,” Fausto chuckled. “You see it now, don’t you? Not many of us Italian vampires. But I don’t think you came here in the middle of the night to deliver a wedding invitation to an old family friend, did you Andre? Would your visit have anything to do with why Edmund and Marco left in a hurry?”
“I’m afraid it is the latter. We need to see Mira. Is she in?”
Fausto could not hide a look of incredulity. “Mira? Andre, this does not sound good at all.”
Andre’s face was stone. “It’s not. Is she in?”
“Of course she is, and as you expect, she isn’t happy about it either.” Fausto looked nervous. “Are you sure this is not something I can help you with?”
Andre sighed. “I’m afraid not. I’m assuming Mira’s reluctance to be here indicates that she still has nefarious dealings with the wrong element, which unfortunately, is the kind of help I need.”
Fausto nodded with sadness. “You are all too correct in that assumption. She is likely in the library.”
“Thank you.”
Andre took Lucy’s arm and led her from the kitchen, through an expansive dining room and into a large foyer with an ornate, sweeping staircase that rivaled the grand staircase of the Paris opera house. Where there should have been a door and windows, there hung a tapestry that looked like it should have been hanging in a museum.
“What is this place?”
“It was once a hotel, but that was several decades ago.” Andre’s tone told Lucy that was all the information she was getting out of him at the moment. They ascended the staircase and Lucy followed Andre down one of the wings to a closed door. He knocked.
“Who is there?” an airy feminine voice called.
“Mira, it’s Andre.”
“It’s open.” There was a slight hint of irritation in the answer.
Lucy followed Andre into the room that was just as ornately decorated as the others she had seen. There were bookshelves lining all the walls and every piece of furniture appeared to be an antique. At the far end was a large oak desk, possibly bigger than the one in Evan’s office. Behind the desk stood a woman with luminescent white skin who could only be a vampire.
She was tall and painfully thin, but curved, almost impossibly, where it mattered, and she wore a dress that emphasized this fact. Her hair was a waist length sheet of perfectly straight, silvery blonde that Lucy suspected no bottle could ever reproduce. Her eyes, Lucy noticed with a start as they approached the desk, were an unnaturally pale shade of milky lavender with pupils slit like those of cats. Those eyes all but ignored Lucy, boring straight into Andre with a deadly mix of contempt and hunger. Lucy fought the urge to smooth down her own out of control locks that had frizzed into a halo of wiry brown curls from being under the wig all night.
“To what do I owe this late night pleasure?” Mira’s voice held a hint of danger that Andre ignored.
“We need information.”
“We?” Mira looked at Lucy as if she had just noticed that she was there. Her eyes narrowed, as she not so subtly appraised her competition. Her gaze held Lucy’s for a moment longer than was comfortable. Despite the fact that she wore dark contact lenses. Lucy had a sneaking suspicion that Mira, unlike everyone else Lucy had met tonight, saw through her disguise. Mira turned back to Andre. “Who does she belong to?”
“Me.” Andre’s response startled both women. Before Lucy could react, Andre continued. “Lucy is my fiancée.”
Mira smirked slightly at Andre’s pronouncement, but recovered quickly. “How very noble, considering your views on…our kind.”
Lucy bit back a gasp of surprise, but Andre remained impassive. “Lucy is most certainly not your kind.”
Mira laughed, a melodious tinkling sound with a sinister undertone. “Do not play me for a fool, Andre. You can hide her eyes, but the fangs are a dead giveaway.”
Startled, Lucy ran her tongue over her front teeth and gasped when she felt the sharp points of her canines. In her heightened state of agitation, she hadn’t even felt them descend. A glance at Andre revealed that Evan had not briefed him on everything that happened while he was recovering.
“I think you know very well that I was not referring to Lucy’s vampirism when I said she is not your kind.”
“Tut!” Mira wagged a silver tipped talon at Andre. “No need to resort to name calling. I suppose then, congratulations are in order.” The smile she gave Lucy did little to hide her bitterness. That’s right, you fake bitch, he’s mine. Lucy mentally kicked herself for the thought. No, Andre was definitely not hers, and that was an issue she definitely didn’t want on her mind at the moment. “Well Andre, given that bit of news, what information could you possibly need from me?”
For the first time since they arrived, Andre looked uncomfortable. “Do you deal with Noirotique?”
Mira raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. “Noirotique? My, my, Andre, how would one like you know of such a place?”
Andre regained his composure. “Do you ever deal with them?”
“You come looking for information, but provide none in return. But no, I don’t, would not ever deal with a place like that. The management and I have conflicting views on self-employment.”
“Do you have any clients who might be clients of theirs?”
Mira shrugged. “It is possible, but why do you want to know? Trust me, Andre, you are known to that world, you wouldn’t live five minutes after stepping through the door.”
Andre sighed. “I’m sorry to have bothered you, Mira. Thank you for your time.” He turned to leave. “Come on Lucy, this was a mistake.”
“You disappoint me, Andre.” Mira opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a black book. “I was just having fun with you. Here,” she handed him a slip of paper with a name on it. “I’ve not heard much, but I have heard that the owner of Noirotique has been bragging about a certain advantage over your organization he has recently acquired. Oscar can answer any questions you may have. I wish you luck.”
“Thank you, Mira.”
“You are welcome. And Lucy,” Mira’s cat-like eyes glinted. “If things don’t work out, I may be able to find a position for you in my company. Some of my clients have…particular tastes.”
Lucy smiled tightly and resisted the urge to run back into the library and yank each silky strand from Mira’s head.
“So you have fangs.” Andre steered the car back into the narrow tunnel. Lucy winced at the accusation in his voice.
“It happened Halloween night. I assumed someone told you, especially after the thing with your blood.”
“What thing with my blood?”
Whoops!
“That’s not important right now,” Lucy waved his question aside. “You said the ES knows about me. I want to know how. I also want to know why you know a vampire hooker.”
“Mira’s more
of a Madame than a hooker, though truthfully, I do not know, nor do I want to know any details about her life.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Lucy said dryly. The sun was just starting to rise when they returned to the apartment. Although she was tired, Lucy was not going to get any sleep until she had answers.
“It’s a long story,” Andre said with a dismissive air. “I’ll explain everything after I’ve had a few hours of sleep.” He dropped his keys and wallet on the coffee table and headed for the stairs to his room, but Lucy got there first and blocked the narrow staircase. “Lucy,” Andre groaned, “come on, just go to bed. We’ve got a lot to do and half the day is going to be wasted as it is.”
“It was the watcher, wasn’t it?”
“Hmm?” Andre yawned and rubbed his eyes.
“The watcher from Halloween, the one Evan didn’t recognize, that’s how the ES knows about me right?” Lucy huffed crossing her arms in front of her.
“That’s what I suspect,” Andre nodded. “I’m guessing the ES has been watching us for a while now. I’m sorry, Lucy, if I had any idea this was a trap, you wouldn’t be here right now. In fact, it may be best to make arrangements to get you back to the States tomorrow.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Andre!” Lucy bristled. “Now tell me about these vampires, Fausto seemed friendly enough, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around this Mira chick. I couldn’t tell if she wanted to have sex with you, disembowel you, or both.” Andre glanced incredulously at her, but did not reply. “At least tell me whose side they’re on.”
“Ours. At least, Fausto is. Mira’s…complicated.”
“What does that mean?” Lucy took a step backwards so that she was standing on the first stair, eye to eye with Andre, who stepped closer.
“Lucy,” Andre growled, his face inches from hers, “drop it for now. I’m exhausted. You’re exhausted. Neither of us is thinking clearly. We need to rest.”
“And I need answers before I can even think about sleeping!” Lucy shouted.
“If you aren’t going to let me pass,” Andre took another step closer, “I’m going through you.”
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 24
