Department 57: Rubies of Fire

by Lynne Connolly

  But Andreas Constant was a special kind of vampire. Young, without family, more mortal than vampire in his habits. So yet again, she’d gone against type, against what her family wanted for her.

  Tough shit. She wanted this man. She would give anything she had to, as long as he wanted her. Family, reputation—she would give it up for him.

  And that thought terrified her.

  He was still staring at her, seemingly content to wait. What had he said? Oh yes, about going between feeds. “You’re what, thirty?”

  He nodded. That seemed so long ago to her. Before John, when she still wore corsets every day and kept her head down in society so as not to attract attention to herself. Of course, shortly after that, she’d met her first suffragette, and the rest was history. Literally.

  “Thirty. You can start spacing out your feeds now, making them every other day instead of daily. But don’t push it.”

  “I wish I could feed wholly from you.”

  She laughed. “We both need mortal blood, but we don’t have to be intimate with our prey.”

  “Yes.” He caressed her neck with one strong hand. “We can work that out.”

  “But?”

  He sighed. She knew he had something else on his mind. He’d closed part of his mind to her, and she didn’t want to probe. It indicated insecurity, a lack of trust, and she trusted him. Truly she did.

  “Tell me. You’ve already said you have to go to London for a while. What else? There is something else, isn’t there?”

  “Yes.” He drew the covers up over her. “Yes, there is. It’s probably nothing. I don’t want to mention it again, but I think I have to. Just to make sure.”

  He didn’t split his mind off from her, but she felt him withdraw, giving her the choice. What was he about to tell her?

  “Are you sure you didn’t see Fabrice just before he was taken?”

  This was so far away from what she thought he might ask her that she just gaped at him. What the fuck did he mean? Hadn’t she already told him no? Pulling herself together, she thought back. “The last time I saw him I was with you, remember? The day before he was kidnapped, at the Department when he read us.”

  “No other time?”

  “No.” Alarmed, she sat up. “What? What is it?”

  “You were seen.”

  He hadn’t dropped his shields, but she couldn’t reach him anymore, no more than his outer thoughts, the part of him he would present to any Talent. It hurt, more than she’d imagined possible. In response, she slammed down her own shields, almost instinctively protecting herself.

  “Seen where? Who saw me? What were we doing? Supposed to be doing?”

  He gazed at her, his eyes flat and expressionless. “Standing in the street chatting. On Seventh Avenue.”

  She hadn’t visited Seventh Avenue for weeks. What was he talking about? Who did he trust over her?

  In a heartbeat, she knew. Ellie. She saw the image of the young girl flash through his outer mind before he suppressed it. Andreas trusted her like nobody else. Their shared bond had drawn them together long before she, Roz, had met him. So he’d take her word as he would nobody else’s. “I wasn’t there, Andreas.”

  She watched him, felt him withdraw, and it bit like a knife to her soul. Nothing had ever hurt so much. Not her husband’s betrayal with another woman, not even his death, because with the advent of war, everybody expected death, although they dreaded it. She hadn’t expected this. After their closeness earlier in the evening, she’d dropped every barrier.

  He sighed and fell back against the pillows, disentangling his legs from hers, withdrawing body and mind, but never slamming the door on her.

  What could she say? She hadn’t gone there, period.

  “Sweetheart, I have to know. I have to eliminate all possibilities. Let me read you.”

  “You don’t trust me?” Letting him in wouldn’t tell him anything. “Fuck you, Constant. I’m screwed if I let you in or if I don’t. There’s no memory of any such meeting in my mind, but that doesn’t tell you much, does it? I could have wiped it.”

  Now or never. If this didn’t persuade him, she would give up. She sat up, stared at him, willing him to listen to her, to believe her over the kid. “I didn’t see him. Believe me or not, that is the truth.”

  She watched him, for once on the outside. He’d closed his eyes, lay beautiful and passive in her bed, next to her but entirely separate. “I’m an agent. I’ve been an agent all my adult life. I have to think.” He opened his eyes, but his inner being was locked deeply within him once more. The courage he’d had to join with her, risk all to give her what she wanted, what she needed, had gone, or he’d subdued it. “Fabrice is my best friend, and he could have disappeared because of me. Because I trusted people I shouldn’t have trusted.”

  “Me?”

  He looked at her as though he were looking at a stranger, and she resisted the urge to pull the sheet up around her body to protect it from him. “I don’t know.” He paused. “I wanted you to say you’d seen him, that you’d forgotten to tell me. But I have to know the truth.”

  “Then you must find out.”

  She got out of bed with one quick movement, not giving him a chance to pull her back, and snagged her robe from the hook on the back of the door. She shrugged into it without looking back at him. “Go find out, Andreas. Let me know when you’ve made up your mind. Don’t come back until you’re sure.”

  She opened the door and left. Into what she didn’t know, nor did she care.

  If he’d left it so they were lovers, enjoying each other’s company and bodies, she could have coped better. But he’d insisted on seeing her soul, finding his way deep inside her very being, her existence. She wouldn’t, couldn’t offer him any more. Either he trusted her, or he didn’t.

  He had to decide.

  Chapter Twelve

  He’d hurt her, but all his instincts had kicked in at her defensive withdrawal. Andreas couldn’t trust anyone when it came to finding Fabrice, except, perhaps, Cristos. Ellie had seen Roz, and she’d never lied to him. So Roz must have lied to him when he asked her. In his heart, he felt it couldn’t be true. She couldn’t have done this, but he had to know for sure.

  Since she wasn’t letting him in, he had to find out another way. If she continued to refuse to let him in, he’d have to tell Cristos. And he couldn’t give her long, especially if there weren’t any other clues.

  That seed of doubt Ellie had sown bloomed in his naturally suspicious mind, trained for years to suspect everything and everyone. He just wanted the niggling detail cleared up; that was all, and she’d turned on him. Her reaction to his simple question made his doubts even worse. But he’d think it over and decide what to do. Not too long, because Fabrice’s survival depended on quick action. Whoever had him would experiment on him to death or kill him when Fabrice wouldn’t tell them what they wanted to know. Either way, Andreas didn’t have much time.

  He loved Roz, but could he afford to trust her?

  He and Candy went in to the Department together the following afternoon, called in to report. The usual suspects were present in the boardroom: Leon, Cristos…and Roz.

  Their gazes met as though drawn to each other, but while he opened up to her, he only had access to her outer thoughts, and from them he knew she was furious.

  He said nothing. The others would pick up on it, and he wanted to give her every chance to tell Cristos for herself—if she had seen Fabrice. She must know how important it was. But by the end of this meeting Cristos would know, one way or the other. She wouldn’t leave this room unless she explained herself to his and Cristos’s satisfaction. Cristos had added another Sorcerer, Vencel Takasc, to the team today. They needed someone with strong psi to try to track Fabrice.

  “We have to be back at two,” he informed everyone. Or not, in Roz’s case. Should he say it now? Probably, but he wanted to give her this one last chance to come clean, to tell them of her own accord.

  “Is
there any more to be discovered? If not, I want you back here.” Today Cristos was all business, sharp appearance echoed by razor-edged mind.

  “Only that we need to know who told Knox details about the Department and the agents.”

  Cristos stared at Andreas for a moment, clearly making up his mind. “I want you back. Candy can stay. I’ll send Knox a message. Finish up today, then clear your desk.”

  Andreas bowed his head. “Whatever you say.” No more cheap, scratchy suits, no more nine to five. He should be happy. So why wasn’t he? Perhaps because it would be one less link with Roz. After this operation finished, she would be able to move completely out of his life as though she’d never been there.

  Except that she had. And he’d never forget her. He feared he’d always love her too, but he doubted she still loved him, if she ever had in the first place. She’d turned on him very swiftly, from love to hate in the space of half an hour.

  He sat across the table from her and kept his attention on his boss until Roz spoke. She cleared her throat. “I had an idea.”

  Then he had to look at her, but so did everybody else. She flushed a little. Embarrassed, he guessed, praying she was about to tell them of her meeting with Fabrice.

  “I thought, well, you know how vampires have sites with webcams trained on spaces and rooms, to help us flash more safely?”

  “Sure.”

  “Well, what if the opposition, whoever they are, has something similar? Why shouldn’t they use the same method? You can only get to the vampire sites if you put a keyword into a search engine, so that would be a way of linking the sites without any direct, overt links.”

  Candy groaned and covered her eyes. “Metatags! Why didn’t I think of that? I’ve been hunting for something obscure and clever, a backdoor Trojan maybe, but metatags!”

  Cristos looked at Roz with new respect, as they all did. “Good thinking. I’ll get our people on it right away. Lateral thinking. How did you come across that?”

  Roz carefully avoided looking at Andreas. “It just came to me.”

  He knew what she was remembering. His house, and the way he’d taken her there without consulting anything but his memory. There was no link to it anywhere, and she was the only person he’d given access to in that way.

  The door burst open, breaking into the peace of the room, and Ellie surged inside, her hair wild, her face agitated, eyes wide with alarm, mouth open to speak even before she’d closed the door.

  The door slammed shut as someone used telekinesis to maintain their privacy. Andreas suspected Cristos. “Take a deep breath, Ellie,” he advised, voice deep and steady.

  The sound seemed to calm the young vampire, but not by much. She carried a large dog-eared book, which she threw on to the table. “I found something. It’s really important.”

  She opened the book. “My friend Jenna Brice had an exhibition recently. I found her sketchbook today.”

  Andreas’s attention went to the open book, and he froze in shock. He recognized the poses, the lovers engaged with each other, totally absorbed. But the paintings in the gallery had been faceless, a device, he’d assumed, to indicate the paintings represented all lovers. The customers could project their own faces onto the bodies so artistically twined around each other.

  Ellie leaned over and flipped the page. The sketches became more explicit, the details more specific. Andreas leaned closer. “Is the girl Jenna?” He recognized the face, but he hadn’t paid much attention to the body. He’d been euphoric about his relationship with Roz, his mind filled with images of her.

  “Yes, that’s her. She’s tall, skinny, small boobs… Yes, I think so. And the drawings are done from life.”

  “So is the man. But although he has Fabrice’s face, that’s not Fabrice’s body.” He glanced up to see Cristos’s eyebrows nearly reach his hairline. “He’s my best friend. We’re not lovers, but we’ve been on the beach together, played some sports… Yeah, I’ve seen him in the shower. He has a scar here.” He pointed to a spot just above the model’s buttocks. “And Fabrice is more muscular. He works out. The shape isn’t right for Fabrice Germain.”

  “So she put Fabrice’s head on someone else’s body.” Cristos watched as Ellie flipped the page to an even more explicit drawing. The man was kissing his way down Jenna’s body, his hand between her legs, his thumb working her clit. Damn, they were good drawings! Andreas felt his dick move and willed it back down. Not the time, not the place. Stupid reaction. Entirely automatic, and one more reason why he shouldn’t let his cock rule his other emotions.

  Blushing, Ellie flipped back to the previous page.

  Cristos’s voice continued, level and rational. “Either she employed someone to pose with, or she did some life drawings and used them as a basis. It seems to indicate she’s obsessed with Fabrice. He would be on alert for anyone following him with malicious intent, but with adoration? He’s a good-looking man. To some extent, he’s used to admiration. Normally he does his best to ignore it.”

  “He hates it,” Roz said. “He told me. He can’t do anything about it, so he hates the admiration women show him.”

  “He probably disregards those emotions, then, when he’s scanning for threats. That explains how his abductor managed to take him by surprise. I’d assumed he was shot or knocked unconscious before he had time to call us for help, but I couldn’t understand how it’d happened.”

  “You think Jenna abducted him, then?” Ellie watched him, guilt shading her eyes. “I wish I’d thought of it earlier. She’s met Fabrice before, a few times, when he’s been with Andreas.”

  “Is she a Talent?” Cristos rapped out.

  Ellie nodded. “No, but she’s psychic for sure. She can’t use telepathy as we do, but she’s empathic and sharp enough to pick up on other Talents in the vicinity. Like most mortals, she assumes it’s just a matter of being sensitive. I haven’t told her anything, I promise.”

  “Sorcerers are vulnerable,” Vencel chipped in. He worked as a stage magician, had his share of fame, but today there was none of the posing, diabolical image he showed to the world. Just a concerned Sorcerer bringing what he could to the table. “There are several texts in public libraries we can’t get rid of. Legends and old stories, mostly. Like vampires, some believe in us, but we’ve never managed to use the legends like vampires have. So the texts that are out there are accurate, sadly. If she knew where to look, she could have found something to help her identify Fabrice as one.”

  Ellie watched him, growing horror in her expressive eyes. “She loves the occult, researches it all the time. Says it helps her with her art. Her room in our apartment is full of books, pictures, and artifacts.”

  “Does she know about you?” Cristos asked sharply.

  Ellie shook her head. “She says I’m psychic, but she doesn’t know what I am. At least, if she does, she’s never said, and I’ve never told her.” She glanced at Andreas.

  He nodded approvingly. “Quite right.” Andreas felt a surge of relief when he realized Ellie wasn’t at risk, but she would have to move. He would keep her safe. He hadn’t brought her this far only to lose her to some nut. As well as losing Fabrice. “Where would she have taken him? Any idea?”

  “How rich is she?” Roz asked.

  Andreas frowned at her. What difference did that make?

  Roz met his surprise blankly. “If she’s rich, she can afford more than one hideaway.”

  “Have you hooked into her mind? Can you track her?”

  Ellie nodded, white-faced. “I think so. She isn’t in our apartment. She’s a postgraduate student, so she could be at college. They have study areas there, and some of them are private rooms with locks on the doors, in case they’re working with fragile or precious material. She works at the gallery with me, but we don’t get paid an awful lot.” She stared at him, tears in her eyes, and he knew there was something else.

  He mustered every gentle chord in his voice. “What is it, Ellie?”

  “That thing I
told you? About seeing Roz with Fabrice? It was a lie.” She swallowed and looked away. “Well, kind of. I did see them on Seventh, but not when I told you I saw them. I guess you know why I changed the date.”

  He had no idea. He stared at her in astonishment until the answer came to him. A crush. The girl had a crush. He clamped his lips together and closed his mind, afraid he’d say something unforgiveable to her. What she’d done was a childish trick to try to smash the affair he was having with Roz.

  Tragically, she’d succeeded. His fucking suspicious mind, his lack of life experience had destroyed what they’d had. He should have believed Roz.

  Too late now. She’d never trust him again or let that moment of doubt pass. And he couldn’t blame her.

  Cristos called the meeting to order. “I want all the vampires escorted until nightfall. Pair up, people, and not like with like.” At least that meant Roz and Andreas could operate separately. “Ellie, give each an address and every pair take one. Even if it seems unlikely, check the places. Ellie won’t come into her powers until nightfall, so if we haven’t found him by then, we’ll rendezvous at the place Ellie pinpoints. Candy, go back to the DIB and work on Roz’s tip. Vencel, take Roz. Leonide is with Andreas.”

  Andreas ground his teeth. Vencel Takasc, good-looking, famous, rich, and definitely not a virgin, but a Sorcerer with great powers. Just the man to help her forget him. And he would, if the way the bastard was looking at her was anything to go by. Just what Andreas needed.

  And he got the testosterone-laden dragon.

  Pushing everything but worry for Fabrice out of his mind, Andreas said, “I need a weapon. I’m not armed when I’m working at the DIB.”

  Cristos nodded. “Pick something up when you pass by the weapons storage area. Leave a note. I’ll sign the forms for you.”

  “Aren’t you coming too?”

  Cristos’s mouth firmed into a straight line. “I wouldn’t miss it for the end of the world.”