Luca turned his head to look at her, the expression in his eyes cold and hard. Before she knew it she was on her feet, alarm streaking through her, until she realized that expression wasn’t aimed at her, that what she felt, he, too, was feeling. “Yes,” he said. “I want you safe, I want you to live. I will protect you,” he added grimly. “I won’t let her hurt you.”
Chloe blinked. “Her?”
The expression on his face subtly changed. “They, I should say. There are three of them, but the most powerful is a woman.”
Three of them. Great. The more the merrier—The doorbell made her jump. Holy crap! He’d warned her that vampires were coming, but she hadn’t thought he meant right now. And what kind of sneak attack started with ringing the doorbell?
Luca started toward the door. Chloe darted forward, grabbed his arm. “Uh, isn’t this the time we should use one of those other exits?”
“No. I want to hear what they have to say.”
“They’re here to talk?”
“I imagine so.”
He took her hand from his arm and maneuvered her farther from the door, all the way back to the entrance to the living room, as the doorbell sounded again. “Stay,” he commanded.
“Woof!” she said, narrowing her eyes at him to let him know what she thought of the order.
He slanted a quick look at her, but the sharpness of the glance was offset by the tiny smile that quirked his lips. Still, she recognized the seriousness of the situation.
“Okay,” she said in a lowered voice. “I’ll stay.”
Luca opened the door. Chloe could see the three vampires in the hallway; Luca only partially blocked her view. The three looked ordinary enough, she supposed; well, no they didn’t. One was a beautiful, statuesque woman with red hair, wearing a simple black dress that probably cost a couple of thousand dollars, and killer high heels. The two men wore expensive suits; she knew Italian tailoring when she saw it. They looked human enough to her eyes, but then, so did Luca.
Luca would fight to protect her, but there were three of them and only one Luca, and she knew how strong vampires were. Chloe didn’t fool herself into thinking for a moment that she would be of any use at all if a fight broke out here. No, she’d only be a liability, as Luca attempted to protect her. On the other hand, if these three were here to kill her, would they be dressed the way they were? They looked as if they’d be right at home at a White House function.
If she hadn’t been so scared, she would have laughed at the idea of vampires having a dress code for killing, but female was female, and she’d bet there was no way the redhead would risk getting blood on that fabulous silk dress.
“Council members,” Luca said very politely, but without any welcome in his tone. “Come in, please.”
Chloe stiffened. Oh, shit; he’d invited them in. That meant—well, she didn’t know what it meant, because this hotel suite, as lovely as it was, wasn’t her home, so she supposed the vampires could have invaded at any time anyway, if they’d been so inclined. She needed to have a long talk with Luca, find out exactly how all these details worked.
The woman vampire fastened her gaze on Chloe, and abruptly she no longer looked entirely human. There was something feral in her eyes and in the way her muscles tensed, as if she were ready to spring forward, claws exposed.
“Alma,” Luca said curtly, drawing her attention. “How unexpected that you’ve found me here.”
Alma looked away from Chloe, focusing on Luca, and waved an indolent hand to indicate one of the men. “Benedict can locate specific energies, if he puts forth the effort. He hadn’t tried in decades, but he came through for us.”
“And you, Theodore?” Luca asked, turning to the other man. “Why did you tag along?”
Theodore was thick-bodied and looked ill-tempered, with his heavy dark brows and perpetual scowl. He gave Luca a long, cold look, one that struck Chloe as being … something else, something she didn’t understand but was somehow different. Different from what, she had no idea. “I was curious to see what was keeping you from your duties to the Council.”
Luca didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Protecting Chloe is my only duty, at the moment.”
Alma once more turned her attention to Chloe, her eyes hard as stone and mean as a snake’s.
“Don’t waste your time trying to glamour her,” Luca said, menace lacing his tone. “We’re bonded. She’s immune to you. And she’s mine.” He didn’t have to say, but implicit in the word “mine” was the dark promise that if anything happened to her he would have his vengeance on the offending vampire.
Alma turned her snaky stare to Luca. She actually looked shocked. “But … you’re a blood born. Why on earth would you bond with her?”
Luca gave a cold smile. “My reasons aren’t any of your business. All you need to know is that Hector’s warning about an uprising was the truth, and there’s a traitor on the Council. Chloe is a conduit. The rebels want her dead. I don’t.”
The one named Benedict took a step back, as if he could escape the news with physical distance. He looked distressed. “Rebels! What on earth are they thinking? Why do we have to go through this every couple of hundred years? Doesn’t anyone remember that it’s always a disaster? It’s in everyone’s best interest to maintain our world as it currently exists. Any intelligent vampire can see that.”
“Apparently not,” Luca said drily. “From what I’m able to sense, there are a large number of rebels involved and they’re gathered very near. Didn’t you pick up on the energy?”
Benedict looked stricken by the question. “N-no,” he stammered. “I didn’t. Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. They’re not afraid of you, or they’d be gathering somewhere else, in California or Seattle or London. But they’re here, and you all have a decision to make. You can fight with me, you can wait to be taken over by rebels, or you can hide and hope this war shakes out in your favor.”
Theodore said, “Open war isn’t the answer. Any war will result in our existence being made public, and from there on out the fighting will be constant. It’ll never end. Any idiot can see this, if they know anything about humans.”
“It appears that war is coming, like it or not,” Alma said. “We can hardly sit back and wait to see if the warriors win it for us.” She hesitated. “Or if, perhaps, the rebels are right and taking over will mean a better life for us.”
“You don’t look as if you have it rough now,” Chloe said sarcastically, then wished she’d slapped her hand over her mouth before saying anything, because four sets of vampire eyes settled on her with expressions ranging from warning to outrage.
Luca kept his attention on the visitors, but Chloe could feel something of him with her, as if he were all around her. She knew, through her connection with him, that Theodore was somehow different from the other two. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly how, but she knew that difference existed.
“We’ll be lucky if many warriors arrive,” he said. “The rebels’ initial strategy has been to kill as many conduits as possible.”
“I never thought to hear the words ‘lucky’ and ‘warriors’ used in the same sentence,” Benedict grumbled, almost beneath his breath, “but I swear, it seems they are our best hope for ending the rebels.”
Chloe could feel Luca’s anger bloom, as if it had weight. She could almost see it, the color and form of it. “If that’s your position, that the Council will just sit back and let the warriors fight our battles for us, then the Council has become useless. You’re no better than any other group of politicians.”
All three were offended by that remark, if she judged their expressions correctly. Well, who wouldn’t be?
“You will protect us if the rebels come for the Council directly, won’t you?” Theodore asked.
“No,” Luca responded, his voice soft but pretty damn certain to Chloe’s ears. If he’d told her no in that tone, she wouldn’t bother to ask again.
“You serve the Council,”
Alma responded, her voice and expression going cold and haughty.
Luca snorted. “I worked with the Council, not for it. You were never discerning enough to tell the difference. But I hereby offer my official resignation. Council business is no longer my concern.” His voice was so cold, Chloe shivered.
Benedict began to sputter and protest, but he didn’t get far. Luca herded them all toward the door. The meeting was over, and it hadn’t been violent at all. But boy, did she have a lot of questions for Luca.
When the vampires were gone, Luca turned and looked at Chloe. He was very angry, but there was something else in him that she couldn’t quite grasp, something she never would’ve seen if they weren’t bonded. Regret? Yes; regret, not for what he’d done but for what had been, or could’ve been. He’d just cut himself away from an organization that must have been a big part of his life for God only knew how long.
And he’d done it for her.
“What’s the deal with Theodore?” she asked.
His eyebrows raised, very slightly. “You caught that?”
She rolled her eyes. “Bonded, remember? It’s a two-way street.”
“He’s … perhaps an ally.”
“You don’t sound very enthusiastic. Or convinced.”
“Theodore’s decisions are always based on what’s best for Theodore. He offered some assistance. A warning. I’m just not entirely sure why.”
“I didn’t hear him say any of that, but you know him and I don’t. But I think I know why. He’s looking out for himself. Even if I was a vampire, with all kinds of woowoo powers, I’d want you on my team,” Chloe said honestly.
“I am on your team,” Luca said, his gaze going warm as he reached for her. As if she had a single doubt …
Nevada crawled into bed and pulled the covers over her head. The new guards, female and physically appearing to be less dangerous than the old male guards, were likely to walk into the room at any time. They brought her tea, or threatened her family, or said they’d drink every drop of her blood if she didn’t get the job she’d been given done. Soon. They enjoyed scaring her, like children jumping out and saying “Boo!” Except these weren’t children, and they wouldn’t stop at boo, if they were ever allowed at her.
It wasn’t as if Sorin ever knocked, either. She had no privacy in this place.
In order to let her spirit travel to spy on the vampires—and check on her family—she had to conceal herself. The shower worked well for a short period of time, but she couldn’t shower more than a couple of times a day without raising suspicions. And seriously, what if she fell while she was in the spell, and cracked her skull? So far that hadn’t happened, but these trances were getting deeper and deeper, so she couldn’t be certain what might happen. Maybe if the guards came in and caught her under the covers, they’d think she was taking a nap and leave her alone. At the very least, they shouldn’t be suspicious of what she was doing.
Nevada wasn’t sure she’d even be aware of an interruption, if her thoughts and spirit were elsewhere. Did any part of her remain with her body when she traveled? She didn’t know, had no way of finding out.
It was stuffy beneath the covers, too warm and very dark. Nevada closed her eyes, took a deep breath, gathered the energy around her, focused, and let herself go.
Traveling this way was like flying in a dream. She felt herself, light and airy, leave the room, even though her body didn’t move at all; it remained huddled under the covers. For a moment she was in both places, in her body and in the air, and then her connection with her physical self was completely severed. She passed the guards in the hallway, but they had no idea she was there. She floated down the stairs, through a few walls and down again, until she found herself in the large, windowless basement.
Abovestairs, the house appeared perfectly normal: bedrooms, bathrooms, a study, a formal living room, and a huge family room, complete with a large flat-screen television and video games, which the vampires really got into. There were other rooms she hadn’t seen and had no interest in exploring. Servants’ rooms above her, a library, a kitchen.
The basement was like a warehouse, the space divided by hallways that crisscrossed and with closed doorways. Just a quick look at this level told Nevada the basement served as prison and war room, barracks and armory. This was where the vampires planned and managed their war, where they kept Nevada’s family, and goodness knows who else, prisoner. Here there were no pretty pictures, no vases of flowers and fine furnishings; it was as utilitarian as a shovel.
Tonight she was here. Nevada could feel the poisonous energy of the self-proclaimed queen, the female vampire who had put this plan into motion. Nevada hated her with a passion, hated her more than she hated Loman, or all the guards who’d tormented her over the past three years. She even hated the bitch more than she hated Sorin, who hurt her the most because she hated him one moment and thought of him as a friend the next. She kept thinking he was different from the rest, he was somehow better, which was reason to fear and hate him most of all.
But Regina was … God, she was awful. The energy Nevada felt around her was the coldest, most brutal and ruthless energy she could imagine. Regina was the reason Nevada hadn’t yet told anyone that she’d found the last piece of the puzzle, that she now knew how to break the spell that protected humans in their homes. She’d told Sorin that she was close, but in truth she was beyond close. The job she’d been brought here to do was finally done, and she didn’t dare let anyone know.
Nevada loved her family; she wanted to live, and she wanted them to live. But she couldn’t bring herself to set these monsters loose on the world, no matter what the cost. If she could just figure out a way to set her family free before she told the queen to go take a flying leap, she could die satisfied. Her own death was a given; she’d accepted that a long time ago. The first time she’d looked into Regina’s eyes, she’d known there was no hope for survival. She wasn’t going back to school, wouldn’t ever have another boyfriend, get married, have kids, sleep late and dance and eat birthday cake … there were so many things she would never do that thinking about them all had the power to paralyze her. She had to put all those thoughts aside and think about what she could do.
What was important was making certain that Emily and Justin would go back to school and eat birthday cake, that they would do all the things Nevada could not.
Would Sorin really work with her, would he let her family go if she promised to do as she’d been told? He’d said yes, but was his word enough? There was so much about Sorin that confused her, and the only way she could function right now was if she put him out of her mind.
Invisible to those she passed, Nevada walked down a long, plain hallway with concrete floors and gray walls. Behind a closed door, a man screamed. Nevada shivered to her bones. The screaming man was food, she supposed. That’s all people meant to the monsters: food. Then there was sudden silence, and that was more frightening than the screams had been.
Sorin had promised her that as long as she cooperated, her family wouldn’t be touched, wouldn’t be food. Could she trust him? Not really. But she’d come to understand the importance of her part in this, and she believed that the vampires would do as they promised, for now. It wasn’t as if there was a shortage of blood donors to serve their dining needs. They didn’t need to feed on her family. Besides, now she had a way of checking up on them.
She reached the room where her family was being held. She could feel them inside, as sharply as she’d heard that poor man scream. They were here. The powers she hadn’t even known about, before Sorin kidnapped her, literally grew stronger every day. She touched the wood door, but couldn’t feel any resistance. The last time she’d visited, she’d just popped in, like dropping out of the air. This time she walked through the closed, locked door.
Emily’s head jerked up. She looked directly at Nevada, her eyes wide. Nevada held a finger to her lips, to keep Emily from saying anything.
She took the time to look aroun
d. There were additions to the room: a cooler of drinks, a stack of books and board games, a handheld video game, and the remnants of a recent meal. For now, at least, it appeared that Sorin was keeping his word.
Her mother read; Justin was playing the video game. Her father stared into space, his mind elsewhere. They were all silent, much too quiet and reserved. Her family had always been a lively bunch, sharing jokes, laughing, taking all life had to offer. She’d think they were drugged, but she suspected that they had simply given up. They were resigned to being here.
She moved closer to Emily, so close that their arms brushed. “Do you see me?”
Emily nodded. She swallowed and looked down, then darted a quick look at their parents. “I don’t understand,” she whispered. “Is it really you? How are you doing this? How do I know you’re not some vampire trick?”
Nevada smiled. “You got the normal name.” It was a thing with them, and always had been.
“You got the interesting name,” Emily responded, and a new light, the light of hope, brightened her eyes.
Then Nevada felt as if she was yanked backward through the door, into the hallway, and with a sharp thud, a gasp, and a pounding of her heart, she was fully and completely back in her bed.
But she was no longer under the covers, and Sorin’s blue eyes were mere inches from her own.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
Nevada looked as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide and bright.
“Are you napping?” Sorin asked, incredulous. She knew how important her task was, how crucial her participation was to the safety of her family. How could she sleep in the middle of what had become her day?
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