“Fine. She’s werewolf hunting at the moment.” Francesca stared intently at the mortal, feeling that she’d somehow walked back into the past.
Francesca had seen Rose during the meeting at the Shagal Citadel, but only now did the identity of this red-haired, freckled, beautiful young woman finally sink in. “You really are Rose Cameron.”
Rose gave a smile made famous in many old films. “You’re a vampire. I’m only a movie star. Which one of us should be more surprised about the other?”
“But you’re—”
“Old. Yes, I know. I suppose that’s what you’re here to talk to me about.” She pointed to a chair near the bed.
The woman seemed calm yet radiated nervousness.
“I’m sorry,” Francesca said as she sat. “Talking about what happened to you will be painful for you, I know, but I’ve been asked to find out what you recall about the people who experimented on you.”
Rose flinched. “I’ve already told Anthony everything I know.”
“That’s very good, but what about the things you remember rather than know?”
Rose looked confused for a moment, then Francesca’s meaning sank in.
“I’ve told Anthony about the last few days, when I knew I was being experimented on, but this has been going on for a long time—at least a year.” She shook her head. “I have been so screwed with.”
“You have,” Francesca said in agreement. “But why you?”
“That one I know. Gregor explained that I was chosen because of my connection with Anthony. My blood was already somewhat changed, and I think they knew Anthony would someday taste me again. They used that as a catalyst. And we turned out to be a pair of romantic fools who did exactly what Gregor thought we’d do.”
The woman’s tone spoke volumes about this Gregor.
“Gregor’s a Tribe Prime?”
“Oh, yes. He took a great deal of pleasure in telling me that. He told me all about the Tribes’ evil experiments on me with all the relish of a bad movie villain. Anthony and I think—but you want me to start at the beginning, don’t you?”
Francesca leaned forward in her chair. “I could telepathically—”
“Hell, no!” Rose scuttled away to the end of the bed, radiating anger and fear. “Nobody but Anthony gets inside my head. I’ve been mind-wiped by that bastard Gregor a few times, and it isn’t happening again.”
Francesca was furious on the woman’s behalf. “I do not like this Gregor.” She folded her hands in her lap and tried to look as harmless as she was sympathetic. “Just talk about what happened to you, Rose. You never know what will be a useful detail for tracking these monsters down.”
Rose looked out the patio door. “It’s only the middle of the afternoon, but it’s already getting dark. I hate how the sun goes down so early in December, don’t you? No, you wouldn’t mind, since you’re a vampire. Anthony and I met in December—a long time ago.” Rose looked back at Francesca. “Maybe not so long ago for your people, but a lifetime for me. Now I’m trying to fight the urge to be grateful to the ones who used me as a guinea pig in a rejuvenation experiment because they’ve given me back time. It looks like we’re going to have the happily-ever-after Anthony’s Matri denied us after the war.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Rose said, noticing some small reaction from Francesca. She moved closer and put her hand on Francesca’s clenched fist. “Your Matri’s giving you grief about something too, isn’t she? Is it something to do with that Prime Anthony wouldn’t let in?”
“No—and yes.” Francesca looked away until she had the urge to spill her guts to this mortal woman under control. Rose looked young, but her air of experience reminded Francesca that Rose was well into her eighties. Rose also had the kind of presence that invited confidences.
“Let’s get back to you,” Francesca said to Rose.
“Anthony and I were lovers long enough for a bond to begin forming. I returned to the States in early 1945 and waited for him to come home from the war. I didn’t see him again until a few days ago. Oh, we kept track of each other, secretly, but never met face-to-face.
“Eventually I moved into a retirement facility. I was still fairly healthy when I moved in and I enjoyed the place for the first couple of years. Then the management changed, and soon after the new guy took over I began to get ill. Except I wasn’t sick: they were feeding me drugs to alter the chemicals in my blood, to bring out whatever it is that keeps vampires from aging. It hurt like hell,” she added. “The pain got worse and worse for nearly a year. All because somehow the bad guys found out about Anthony and me and tried to ruin everything we shared for what was in my blood.”
“Bondmates shouldn’t be separated,” Francesca said, knowing it was hypocrisy because she planned on leaving Tobias before things between them could get any worse.
Better.
More complicated, at least.
Rose gave her a worried look. “Anthony and I loved each other our entire lives and look what happened when we weren’t allowed to be together.”
“Your bitterness is understandable.”
Rose touched Francesca’s hand again. “Don’t let that happen to you.”
“I won’t.”
Francesca realized how sentimental this moment was and concentrated on the job. Besides, she’d been bitter for a long time; it was scary to be getting over it now. Disappointment was easier to live with than hope.
“Gregor gave you drugs for a year?” Francesca asked.
“Well, he wasn’t the only one involved, was he? I think the entire staff at the home was involved—complicit, at least.”
“Do you think they might have been telepathically tampered with?”
“I know I was. When I recognized that Gregor was a Prime, he told me that I’d realized it before and he’d made me forget. And he wasn’t the only Prime in the place. Gregor told me he was leaving California, but that doesn’t mean that the other one—”
“Other one?” This had to be important. “Who was he? What do you remember about him?”
Rose sneered. “Big blond guy. Called himself Dr. Stone. Gregor thought he was an arrogant idiot.” She scratched her head. “Where did that memory come from?”
“What else?” Francesca said urgently.
“Dr. Stone was in charge of the staff. He—No, wait, I have an idea.” Rose got off the bed, adjusted her sheet, and went to throw open the bedroom door. “Anthony, could you come back in here, please?” she called psychically and vocally.
Chapter Thirty-three
“Why can’t you leave Rose alone?” Tony Crowe’s question came out muffled as he pulled a black T-shirt over his head. He glared at Tobias when his head emerged. “She’s been through enough.”
“She has,” Tobias said in agreement. He waited until Crowe had finished dressing before he went on. “I’m trying to prevent the torture happening to her again—and to anyone else.”
Crowe’s eyes blazed with fury. Protectiveness radiated from him. “What do you mean ‘again’? Gregor told her she’d served her purpose.”
“And you believe him?”
Crowe considered that for a moment. “The bastard laid out a whole scenario to Rose. Maybe some of it—maybe all of it—was to cover his own ass in case she was rescued.”
“Do you think it’s over because you rescued her?” Tobias asked. “This Gregor might even have thought he was telling the truth, but I don’t buy it. She was a valuable experiment to them. They’ll try to get her back.”
“We took out everyone in the place where they were holding her prisoner.”
“But more of the enemy is still out there.”
Crowe gave a grim nod. “I don’t want to think about it, but you’re right.” Once Crowe finished dressing, he and Tobias walked back down the hallway. “Where are we going?”
“Your office.”
“Why?”
“It’ll be more official if you call people in there.”
“Who am I calling into my office? Do you really need me for anything?” Crowe asked him. “Or is this a diversion for Rose’s sake? A diversion so Flare can question my Rose, I should say. Thanks for using her instead of my Sid,” he added.
“I knew you wouldn’t let me or any other Prime talk to her, and it needs to be done.”
“I’ll kill anyone, including Flare, if they mess with my woman’s head.”
“Ah, but if you felt the need to harm Francesca I would feel compelled to rip your head off,” Tobias answered.
Both Primes knew that the other wasn’t joking.
Crowe chuckled. “And you wouldn’t be doing it to keep a gentle female from harm.”
“She’s not gentle, and I’m not a Clan boy,” Tobias pointed out.
“It’s better to leave chivalry to the professionals,” the Clan Prime said in agreement. Crowe gave Tobias a speculative look, and Tobias knew what was coming. “You and Flare are bonding, eh? Who’d have thought it?”
“Her mother,” Tobias growled.
“You’re glowing with bonding energy, son. That can’t be good for your concentration.”
Tobias eagerly grabbed at the opening. “That’s one of the reasons I need your help interviewing all mortals on the staff. One of them planted a bomb in Francesca’s purse two days ago and she unknowingly brought it into the Citadel. She could have been killed.” The thought of it made his blood run cold. He would have the one who’d done it.
Crowe came to an abrupt halt. “Someone planted a bomb on Flare? Here at the clinic?”
“Someone set a bomb at the clinic that went off,” Tobias reminded him. “There’s a conspiracy to open up our world to the outside. You know what will happen when that happens.”
“Yeah. You believe there’s a spy at the clinic.”
“A traitor.”
“Not among my people,” Crowe said. “I don’t like it that you want me to telepathically interrogate everyone who works here for you.”
“I’m not asking you to be happy about it, Crowe, but it needs to be done.”
Crowe was furious. “I’ve already vetted everyone who works here. If they want the job they have to let me into their heads. Our people are all loyal.”
“People change. Have you gotten into anyone’s head lately?”
“Anthony, could you come back in here, please?”
Speaking of getting into anyone’s head, they heard Rose Cameron’s voice telepathically as well as faintly audibly from down the hall.
“She’s getting better at communicating,” Crowe said with pride and relief. He headed back toward Rose’s room.
You better come too. This time the telepathic voice was Francesca’s.
I hear and obey. He followed Crowe.
Rose had put on a silk broomstick skirt and tunic and now sat on a chair in the middle of the room, the center of attention. She seemed to be the most relaxed person in the room, but she had been an actress for a long time. She was used to audiences.
Anthony Crowe stood behind Rose, his hands protectively on her shoulders. Francesca sat beside Tobias on the bed. They watched the other couple, and Francesca noticed when her fingers twined with Tobias’s.
She sighed but made no effort to pull away. This touch was only a small comfort, as much for him as for her.
If we give in to the little things . . ., Tobias thought.
Yeah, yeah, she thought back. Just put your arm around me and shut up.
He chuckled and pulled her closer as they kept their gazes on Rose and Tony.
“Go ahead,” Rose said to her Prime. “This will work.”
The plan was for Tony to tap into a moment Rose faintly recalled and bring out the details. He would touch Rose’s memories, keeping the mind touch between them, and then he would broadcast what he learned to Tobias.
Frankly, this seemed a little complicated to Francesca and she wasn’t sure it would work. But she thought, I understand Rose’s hesitation to—
“Can we take her now?”
“I’m not sure she’s out yet.”
She couldn’t open her eyes, but she heard Gregor’s voice, though it seemed a mile away.
“What difference does that make? You’ve always been too gentle with her, but she’s all mine now.”
That was Stone. She hadn’t seen him for a long time. Couldn’t see him now but the memory of his face flashed through her mind. She’d never liked his smile; it was too much like a sneer. There was something snaky about his pale eyes. Like a reptile looking out of a human suit. A reptile with a drug problem, at that.
“Not yet, she isn’t,” said Gregor. “I’m taking her to the safe house. You have your own assignments.”
“It’s my op. Everything and everyone is in place. The Clan bastards will be howling in outrage by this time tomorrow.”
“As long as your diversions cover moving our operations the Masters will be satisfied.”
“The Masters will be overjoyed!”
“Have you set this place on fire yet?”
“Don’t tell me my job. You’ve been in my territory too long already, Minotaur.”
They kept talking, forgetting about her as they stood on either side of where she lay.
Or were those words? Maybe it was rain. Soothing, soft rain. Everything was so soft.
Dark.
Chapter Thirty-four
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah, Rosie, my love. A lot better than I thought it would—from the totally stunned looks of those two, they joined us all the way.”
“It occurs to me that I am not Rose Cameron.”
The voice was deep and masculine and came from very close to Francesca. She was leaning into the side of a hard body and the warmth of it was pleasant and comforting after being so alone and lost in the dark. She sighed as she snuggled closer. And it began to occur to her that she wasn’t Rose Cameron, either.
Francesca opened her eyes and saw Rose and Anthony looking at her and Tobias.
“That was . . . different,” Tobias said.
“But it worked,” Anthony answered.
Francesca took a moment to straighten out what had happened, what she’d seen and felt of Rose Cameron’s memories, and firmly reminded herself of who and what she was.
“That was different,” she said. “We were all there with—as—Rose. We heard what she heard.”
“More importantly, we experienced her memories of Stone,” Tobias said.
“I’ve never felt telepathy used like that before,” Francesca said.
“I’ve never tried anything like that before,” Crowe said. He rubbed his temples, then massaged Rose’s. “Are you all right, love?”
“Can you imagine what the entertainment industry could do with something like that?” Rose asked.
“No,” all three vampires said at once.
Rose gave them all a disgruntled look, then she shrugged. “Come to think of it, we wouldn’t need actors if people could just be plugged in to story lines. Was anything you picked up from me helpful?” she asked.
“Yes,” Crowe and Tobias answered.
“I picked up a major hatred for those two Tribe boys,” Francesca told her. Not that disliking Primes had ever been hard for her, but what Francesca felt for all Clan and Family boys was love compared to her feelings about the arrogant evil of their Tribe cousins.
“Sounds like Gregor’s a Minotaur,” Tony said. “I didn’t think there were any of that Tribe left.”
“There’re one or two who are still renegade,” Tobias said.
Francesca noted the tenseness of the exchange and that Tobias’s expression was blank when she looked at him. The emotions pulsing from him were anything but blank. They were some confusing combination of sadness, wistfulness, and anger. Regret?
“You were born into Tribe Minotaur?” Francesca asked.
We’ll talk about me later.
Francesca nodded in answer to his thought, but she wasn’t sure his feelings had anythi
ng to do with himself. How many secrets did Tobias have?
“I recognize Stone,” Tobias said. “He’s one of the unaccounted for Tribe Primes we have a file on. He hasn’t been spotted for a couple of years.”
“Well, now he’s accounted for,” Anthony said.
“We’ll track him down soon enough. I’m sure you’ll want to be there, Anthony.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Tobias stood and tugged Francesca up with him. He nodded to Rose. “Thank you for your help, Lady Rose. I could still use yours,” he said to Crowe.
“Go chase vampires and leave me alone with my—”
“Oh, go on, Anthony,” Rose said. “You know you’ll feel guilty about not doing your duty if you spend every waking minute with me.”
“Yes, go on,” Francesca said as she slipped away from Tobias. She smiled sweetly at the Primes. “Let us girls entertain each other for a while. In fact, why don’t you and I go shopping, Rose?”
Tobias and Crowe stared in astonishment.
“I don’t have a thing to wear,” she added.
“Are you out of your spoiled-brat little mind, Flare Reynard?” Tobias demanded. “There are people out there who want to kill—”
“We’re supposed to be going about our normal lives, aren’t we?” she reminded him. “Wasn’t that your idea? To let the Dark Angels hunt the bad guys while we go about our daily lives and pretend there’s nothing wrong? Everyone knows that most of my life is devoted to shopping. And you have to be dying for a wardrobe update, don’t you, Rose?”
Rose was smiling and gave an understanding nod, while Crowe stood next to her, looking aghast. “I think getting out of here would be a lovely idea.” She added, “I will not spend my life imprisoned, even by you, Anthony.”
He said, “But—”
“I used to go to a place off of Melrose that specializes in vintage clothing,” Rose said. “I don’t know if it’s still there. I’ve been wearing granny gowns for a few years now.”
“If you’re thinking of Orion’s Belt, it’s still there,” Francesca said. “I’ll borrow a car and we can get out of the way for a few hours. I think we should ask Kea and Chiana to come along. Kea’s pissed off and Chiana’s stressed out. They could use some time off.”
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