“I'll think about it,” I said in a non-committal tone.
“Please do.” She gave Diggy a stern look. “You bring her with you when you come. And do come. I hate to keep making excuses for you. It's like your job has taken up your entire life.”
It was Diggy's turn to shrug, but he didn't say anything.
* * *
As the ballroom filled to capacity with preternaturals, Diggy's lesson continued.
Four o'clock, bald guy with a mustache. Nine o'clock, brunette in an egg-white dress. To the left, sable-black hair, jet-black eyes, ruby-red shirt. On and on we went, pausing on occasion to talk to someone else or be introduced. Whenever I caught glimpses of Elizabeth, worry for Mwara would rush back. Then Diggy would demand I pay attention, and I'd put thoughts of the child on the backburner.
The next time we crossed Xandra and Boris's path, I pointed with my chin and said, “They're like you.”
Diggy paused, glanced at me, eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“I didn't see anything in Boris's aura, but with Xandra, there was the telltale silvery sheen. It wasn't something I was looking for.”
Diggy's gaze moved to the couple a few feet away, talking with a group of women and men, his expression pensive.
“I suppose she should have stayed home,” he said with a frown. “She's – expecting, and it seems that it's more stressful than she's letting on.” He sighed, and without another word, turned and steered us toward the stage where band members were testing musical instruments. Most of the crowd was gathered there, watching and throwing funny or flirtatious remarks at them.
Halfway there, I spotted a familiar face. Two, in fact, if the woman dressed in an elegant garnet-red ankle-length dress was Tony, the quiet werewolf from the Hunters.
I grabbed Diggy's arm and pointed. “Look, that's Vincent and Tony,” I said and broke away to intercept them, happy to see my mentor after all these weeks.
Tony spotted me first and smiled. When Vincent turned to me, my smile froze , half formed.
This wasn't Vincent at all. Not because his aura didn't shine silvery-blue, or because the tiny greenish shimmer in the disguised blue gave it away. No, it was the hostile glare, so out of character, that gave him away.
Tony touched the sleeve of Vincent's white suit and the glare switched to a pleasant smile, as if he'd just remembered this wasn't the right expression to display. But the disdain was still there, in the depths of those black eyes.
I recoiled a step, half turning before Diggy's hand grabbed mine and squeezed. I looked at him, ready to voice the obvious, but the warning glint in those hazel eyes had me swallowing back my words.
“Vagner,” Diggy said with the respect given to a superior. “Lopez,” he addressed Tony next.
“Vemourly.” They shook hands.
Vincent inclined his head to me in brief acknowledgement before shifting to the crowd cheering on the band. “The gathering today sure went for the theme. The enclave should make more of these, hmm, romantic atmospheres. Seems to me even the old ones are into it.”
We followed Vincent's gaze to where a few vampires were talking to Archer and Elizabeth.
“Mmm-mm.” Diggy turned back to Vincent and Tony. “Will you be lingering after dinner?”
“Certainly. With the Garage playing and the crowd so primed, I wouldn't miss it,” Vincent's doppelganger replied.
“Not a wise thing, given all those new cases,” Diggy commented with a shrug, his gaze holding that warning glint. “Me, I'd stay long enough to meet requirement and leave, but that's just what I'd do.”
Vincent inclined his head in an exact replica of the real Vincent. “Your opinion is so noted.”
“And,” Diggy added, his expression amused, “I'd give Gerome a wide berth, seeing he's somewhat steamed that Roxanne is spending time with me.”
I got it then. If I had recognized this wasn't Vincent, someone else surely would too. Like Archer, who was also the head of his clan.
Vincent's doppelganger glanced to where Archer stood, nodded once to Diggy and me and moved away without another word.
* * *
“Why are all those people gathered here, Diggy? What's this charity ball for?” Because it was obvious I was missing the big picture. We were standing at the back wall beside the stage, people-watching. Or rather I was people-watching. Diggy was searching for our next target, leaning against the wall with one shoulder, hands tucked in his trouser pockets.
One of the band members tapped on the microphone and people started cheering. The guy smiled to the crowd and announced that dinner would be served in twenty minutes.
“As a front? Some mumbo-jumbo nonsense about ecology, preserving nature, historic sites, stuff like that.”
“But?”
“But it's payment. For the government, to let us be. For our kids to attend any school or college of their choosing, get normal jobs, live freely. Something like taxpaying.” He straightened and motioned with his head toward a group.
“You do this every year?” I stepped beside him.
“Twice a year, sometimes. There are other balls, too. This one covers the north-east region. At the last trimester of the year there will be another one, for those who couldn't attend tonight.”
“So many,” I murmured. “What if someone can't pay?”
“Some don't. Some won't.” He paused near a group, his hazel eyes serious. “Those who won't, if discovered, have no rights. They're fair bait for the Scientists, for other rival clans who pay. Mostly, they live in isolated areas, or in fear of discovery. Their children are educated at home, their jobs nothing fancy. For those who can't afford the payment and still want the benefits, they volunteer for the war, go into law enforcement, become firefighters.”
“So much money.”
He nodded once. “For some of us who have lived a long while and accumulated enough wealth, these gatherings are pesky, necessary and unavoidable. Still, some would rather not attend, yet still want the benefits should the unfortunate event of discovery fall upon them. Those send clan representatives to the gatherings, pay the required attendance rate and still stay anonymous.” Diggy nodded to a couple chatting with a guy with a yellow aura, falling silent as we passed. “Like Archer, for example, and most of your clan. Vincent was the go-guy for that, representing all the members who wanted to stay anonymous. And before that, I guess it was your father.”
“But they took him anyway. Tortured him to an inch of his life,” I added, remembering the way Archer had looked then, fragile and weak. “But if they're kept anonymous, how can the PSS tell if they pay or not?”
“Good question.” Diggy nodded in approval. “Their names and prints are in the system. When they took Archer, all they had to do was run his prints. They knew who he was from day one. And because they did, they couldn't charge or ask for justice for all the carnage and damage you guys left behind.”
“So now that I'm a Hunter member and am here, attending…” I let the question hang, not sure how to finish that. Diggy's flat expression softened a bit, something that I wouldn't have been able to tell a few months ago.
“Yes, this was why Roland wanted you to attend. To let people know that not only are you paying your share, but that you're a member of the Hunters too. You'd have come with Vincent if he could have made it,” he added quietly, his gaze following Vincent's doppelganger across the room. “Come on. Let's do one more round before it's time to eat.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Well, well,” said a deep voice beside me.
I turned, only to find myself face-to-face with violet blue eyes and an aura so thin I could hardly discern the color right.
Diggy turned, his eyes going icy cold. It was a wonder that the temperature didn't drop. “Well, well,” Diggy drawled in return, eyeing the man up and down. “Look what the storm dragged in.”
“Storm, no. But I did catch sight of Iris around,” he responded with a fake smile, so thin and brittle, it should have cracked li
ke ice.
Diggy took a casual step forward, half covering me, disguising the gesture with a mock bow. “If it isn't Akinzo, finally back from a long vacation from wherever. It's so good of you to join us,” he scoffed.
“It was a wonderful vacation. I saw so much, learned so much. There's so much unknown out there, it amazes me.” There was a glint of excitement in his deep-blue eyes, a gleam that said the vacation was indeed amazing. “Maybe you should take one, Vemourly. You know, get that stick out.”
I coughed to hide a startled laugh and the guy looked at me. We were eye level with each other, putting the man about six foot four, an inch or two shorter than Diggy, though no less formidable in presence. This close, I could see his eyes weren't really violet, but an improbable shade of dark blue.
That's when I recognized where I'd seen him. My mirth died all of a sudden, my expression blanked.
Violet eyes. Eyes I'd once seen clouded with pain. Eyes that had wanted me to end it for him.
I knew him. I remembered him.
He had been emaciated then, the bones of his ribs and back so pronounced… He'd changed, gained some much needed weight. Gotten some color into that complexion. He'd looked like a ghost the last time I'd seen him. Hooked to a number of strange machines with weird symbols, connected by a slender stream of blue laser light.
He definitely had not been on vacation. Unless the PSS could be considered an extension of Disneyland.
Ladies and gentlemen, our newest attraction! The house of horrors!
“Who's this lovely lady?” he asked, his eyes piercing.
“No one,” Diggy said, his voice tight.
Akinzo barely spared him a glance. Though the expression on his face was friendly, the intensity of his gaze felt probing.
He remembered me. Despite all the pain, the glazed look in his eyes, he recognized me too.
“I'm Zantry Akinzo,” he said, not extending a hand.
“Hello. I'm Roxanne,” I replied, ignoring Diggy's scowl.
“What a lovely name.” He offered a charming smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling with pleasure.
“She's off limits to you, so beat it.”
“So, Roxanne.” Akinzo tucked his hands into his pockets as he rocked back on his heels. “Are you from around here?”
Fishing. He was fishing. That meant he hadn't yet found anything about me. About the person who had freed him from infinite torture.
If I were in his shoes I'd have liked to know more about someone who saved my life, so I decided to cut him some slack.
“I am now.”
“Ah, new to the city. How do you like it?”
“It's alright.” I shrugged, aware of Diggy's glare.
“Back off, Zantry,” Diggy said ominously.
Akinzo turned to him. “Why, my friend, are you being so rude?” he asked, then straightened with realization, his searching eyes moving between Diggy and me. “Unless she's your lover?”
Diggy's scowl darkened.
I swallowed a chuckle, but I was so going to rub this in his face later.
“A slave?” Akinzo asked next, and the ominous vibration I sensed from him caught me by surprise.
Diggy's rumbling growl was low, but carried enough resonance to call the attention of the nearest passersby. The brown-aura couple appeared out of nowhere, moved nearer, their intense brown eyes fixed on us with displeasure.
“No, I'm a Hunter member,” I replied before Diggy could start a fight.
Akinzo paused, his head cocking aside. The information surprised him, even if it didn't show, and he relaxed. “You must be new to the guild then. I don't remember meeting you before.”
“I am,” I said, then added , “I became a member about Three months ago.”
Something flickered in Akinzo's eyes, so fast gone that I couldn't decipher it.
“Take a hike, Akinzo. She's my responsibility,” Diggy snapped.
Akinzo spared Diggy a brief glance before re-focusing his eyes on me. “Are you underage?”
“No.”
“Then I don't see why you're so wound up about me exchanging harmless words with this lovely lady.” He gave me a charming smile, his eyes twinkling with mischief. He was baiting Diggy and loving every moment of it. “You should reserve me a dance later. I hear the band is very popular.”
Diggy stepped closer, speaking through clenched teeth. “Back off, Akinzo. I mean it. She's off limits. Believe me, you don't want to go there.”
“That a threat?” Akinzo asked with interest.
“If you don't back off, damn right.”
Akinzo angled his head, his eyes level and not the least intimidated. “You willing to risk the enclave?” He looked at the brown-aura couple, who was watching and near enough to hear, then back to Diggy, ready to accept whatever reply he was given.
The tension between the two men was tangible, and escalating with every breath. Why were they fighting over me? Diggy was my instructor, Akinzo a stranger I had helped once.
I stepped forward. “I don't dance. And I think you should go,” I said firmly.
The smile returned to Akinzo's eyes. He bowed once, took my hand and kissed the knuckles. A frisson of static passed from him to me, though I couldn't really say the sensation was unpleasant. “Then, lovely Roxanne, I'll see you next time.” Tucking hands back into his pockets, he turned and strolled away.
I gave Diggy a sideways glance as the crowd started to disperse. Again. “Why did you do that?” I asked as we moved away.
His jaw tightened. “That man is dangerous, a traitor, and a manipulative bastard. Stay away from him.”
“I imagine a lot of people here fall under that description. Even some of those you introduced me to. Why didn't you react then?”
His expression was icy-cold. “This one is different. You are my responsibility. If you tangle with Zantry Akinzo on my watch, Roland will have my ass. Until Vincent returns, I forbid you to go near that man.”
I raised my eyebrows, not liking the ultimatum one bit. “If I do?”
He didn't miss a beat. “I won't stop you. But I'll report it to Roland and wash my hands of the problem.”
I nodded. The problem. How could I forget that was exactly how Diggy saw me?
I left Diggy stewing and excused myself to go to the bathroom, and when I was washing my hands and going over my encounter with Zantry Akinzo, the older woman I'd seen at the bar earlier, walked in.
I glanced once at her dark eyes and hurried to look down, recalling that feeling of being unable to look away.
“Hello.” She said politely, coming beside me to wash her hands. Every finger had a bawdy ring on it, some matching the many necklace hoops around her neck.
“Hello.” I replied, in a hurry to get the hell out of there.
“My name is Matilda. My friends call me Mattie.”
I gave her a weak smile. “I'm Roxanne.” I took a step towards the door.
“I know. You look like your father.”
I paused, my inner voice warning me she'd said this to get my attention, but I stopped nonetheless. “You knew him?”
“Not really,” She replied. “But I'd like to talk to you. There are things you need to know. About how you –” The door of the bathroom opened, “are wearing a beautiful dress.” She finished. It was clearly not what she was going to say, but the woman who entered – the redhead that had been with Logan, obviously was not supposed to hear whatever it was she wanted to tell me.
The redhead's aura was blue, plain and human, but the dangerous glint in her black eyes was enough to tell me she was more than what her aura said. No doubt a Dhiultadh. A good one, because there was no silvery shimmer in the inner line.
She inclined her head at me and Matilda before continuing toward one of the stalls.
“It was nice to meet you, Roxanne.” Matilda said, extending her hand.
Automatically I took it, feeling the crisp fold of the paper she passed me. Without another word, Matilda turned and le
ft the bathroom, and I tucked the note into my tiny purse without looking at it.
The stall door opened, and the redhead stepped out. No toilet flushed, no clothes rustled. She glanced at the closed bathroom door before advancing to the sinks.
“Did Logan send you?” I asked, because it was clear she hadn't come in to pee.
“Yes. He saw Matilda follow you. I was sent to make sure you were alright.”
“Why?”
The redhead shrugged, dried her hands and left without a word.
When I returned, Diggy was seated, engaged in conversation with the woman of the brown-aura. Neither paid attention when I sat beside him, relieved to finally remove some pressure from my tortured feet.
Chapter Fourteen
The food was excellent, the conversation light. The band, once the food was served, began playing slow, classic music. Two vampire couples were seated with us, along with the brown-aura woman, Cora, and the guy with the teal aura, David Lee.
Both Cora and David Lee were members of the enclave, a group of powerful beings that formed the Grand Council of the preternaturals.
The Hunters, Diggy said, answered to them first and foremost, even before they answered to Uncle Sam.
Aside from being one of the twelve members of the enclave, Cora was also the leader of the earth witch coven, and she was almost a thousand years old. Powerful and dangerous, she was one of a few left from her line.
On the other hand, David Lee was a basilisk, the one and only king of snakes. I'd correctly sensed something reptilian in him, but wrongly undermined his danger meter. At the moment, the man with the brown aura, Cora's counterpart, and Avaran, David Lee's mate, were seated on the table with Archer and Elizabeth. I wondered if the arrangement was intentional, a warning of sorts?
As the meal progressed, laughter could be heard from every direction, along with good-natured curses and shouts. Beneath the soft strings of the band, clinking glasses and chiming silverware echoed around the vast room.
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