A Fall of Silver (7 page)

However, despite his efforts, Quicksilver sat back, her eyes hardening. Then she deliberately turned toward the darkened window and fidgeted in her seat.

Her impatience was palpable.
He instinctively knew she would resent further efforts to dissuade her from hunting. Somewhere in the night, vampires waited, and she wanted to destroy them.

So i
nstead of making progress, they’d returned to the edge of the precipice.

He nodded to
Joe, hoping he could salvage things. Kethan instinctively knew if he opened his mouth now, it would only make matters worse.

The priest
continued, although the quaver in his voice revealed his discomfort at her growing hostility, “Do you have a lot of students?”

“Enough to pay the bills.”
Her lower lip thrust out. She blew a puff of air upwards, fluttering the hair off her smooth forehead. Her gaze strayed toward the ceiling. “Look, I need to get out of here. I want to check on Kathy.”

“In a minute,” Keth
an replied. “Right now, we should discuss what happened.”

“Enough talking
.” Her knee nudged his.

He ignored the hint t
o get up and let her out.

Joe
twisted his napkin into a corkscrew. When he couldn’t smooth it out again, he reached across the table to pull out another one from the metal napkin holder beneath the window. Unfortunately, his sleeve caught the salt and pepper shakers and sent them spinning across the table.

Mumbling apologies, h
e fumbled over the thick glass shakers with nervous fingers. The shakers spun further across the table, spilling their contents in spirals. His thin cheeks flushed. After several agonizing seconds, he finally managed to collect the salt and pepper containers and tuck them back into the tiny metal shelf opposite the napkin holder.

Eyeing him, Quicksilver eased out a
nother fresh napkin and handed it to him.

“No, we’re not finished,” Kethan said when the
clatter subsided.

“Yes, we are
. Let me out.” She leaned as far back as she could, legs straight, to dig a small wad of money from her tight jeans. Peeling off a twenty, she shoved the rest back into her pocket. Then she swung around and braced her back against the window sill.

Beyond
her shoulder, something moved on the other side of the dark glass. A pale face, too bloodless to be human, stared at the back of Quicksilver’s head. Kethan froze.

Her knee dug into his hip
, grinding into his bone. A sharp pain flared in his side.

The face in the window melted back into the
shadows.

He
pushed his fear away and smiled as he settled back. “You interrupted critical negotiations—”

“
So? I don’t get it. Why would a priest negotiate with the damned? With vampires? Isn’t the church supposed to fight them?”

“Vampires are living beings
—” Joe said.

“Vampires are people, too?
Get off it. They’re killers. Not to mention, dead. Or undead. They’re demons.”

Joe
clicked his tongue softly in admonition. “And they deserve a chance at salvation.”

“A
chance?” Her laughter ripped the air with bitter claws. “And who’s going to give their victims a chance? Your vampires won’t, believe me.”

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” Kethan repeated Joe’s remark
in a calm, low voice.

“So
instead of saving humans, the church is bargaining with the damned? For what? And when did they start acknowledging that vampires even exist?”

“
Officially, they don’t. But that’s not the point. We’re bargaining with them to save souls and stop the killing of innocents like your friend, Kathy,” Kethan said.

“Oh, yeah
. And we all saw how well that worked, didn’t we? Two kids have gone missing this month. And you were in the middle of your freakin’ negotiations when a couple of Sutton’s boys decided to take a bite out of Kathy. You can’t trust them and you’re a fool if you do.” Bracing her back against the wall, she shoved her knee harder into his thigh, pushing him inch-by-inch toward the edge of the bench.

“We’
ll see.” Kethan braced himself to avoid falling to the floor.

When he rested a hand on her
knee, she lowered her leg and straightened. Her pale face flushed. “Fine. Go back to your negotiations. I’m just warning you, if I see another vampire hanging around the Convent of the Weeping Madonna, I’m going to kill him, negotiations or not.”

“The Convent
? Oh, the children’s home.” Joe leaned back, his eyes focusing on faraway memories. “Is Miss Blackstone still in charge? I haven’t seen her in years, not since she left the Order and founded the orphanage.”

“Yes, she’s
there and still killing vampires, too, when she has the chance. You won’t get any support for this lunacy from her, either.”

Kethan laughed.
“Have you asked her?”

“No
, but I know.” Despite her words, a flash of uncertainty lit the sea-blue depths of her eyes.

“Ask her
what she really thinks,” Kethan suggested.

“Whatever.
So you’re going to negotiate, open the candy store to the wild kids. Fine. You know what? I really don’t care. Now can I leave?”

“I’d like you to
, but unfortunately, you can’t,” Kethan said.

“I can’t?”
She made an elaborate show of glancing around the House of Waffles. “So…what? I’m moving into the diner? Camping out in this booth?”

“No
, but you have to appreciate the position you’re in. We had a truce. You put Sutton in a precarious position when you killed Tyler and threatened Jason in front of him. He was accompanied by others who are looking for a way to wrest control from him. He’s lost face. Now he has to prove he can maintain control.”

“Then
he should’ve done it,” she retorted. “He should have stopped Tyler and Jason.”

“Exactly.
He should have.” Kethan caught her wrist, focusing her attention on him and away from the window. “But now, you’ve weakened his position in public. The dynastic struggle will escalate. Their previous master and a good number of his people were killed a few months ago. Their deaths left a vacuum.”

She leaned toward him, her eyes flashing silver.
“Perfect. We can wipe them out for good. Where’s their nest?”

“You
’re not going to wipe them out. Not now, not ever. There will always be another master, another clan. It’s when the situation is destabilized that humans have the most to fear. We’re trying to prevent more bloodshed on both sides.”

“Well, good
ie for you.”

“No
, bad for you. You clearly don’t understand. Because you made Martyn Sutton look weak, he has to strike back. At you.”

“Let him
.” Her chin rose. Her eyes glittered with defiance. “I hope he does.”

“I spoke with Mr. Sutton
,” Joe said before Kethan lifted his hand. “Killing anyone on either side will make matters worse.”

“Tell that to Sutton.” She tapped the side of her fist against the tabletop
, her face set in unforgiving lines.

“I’m telling
you.
Don’t go hunting. I don’t want any more deaths. Or interruptions,” Kethan said.

She
paused, her eyes focused on the tabletop. He could feel her rapid thoughts shuttling back and forth as she weighed his words. “You hold negotiations at the Orchard Hotel?”

“
Don’t count on it,” he replied in a dry tone.

“Oh, I just want to make sure I don’t interrupt you
. Again.” She flashed her teeth in a gleaming wolf’s grin.

Kethan caught
Joe’s gaze and sighed.

Fli
cking his hand at Denise, Kethan paid the check and stood up. He waited for Quicksilver to slide out of the booth before he placed a gentle hand on her back. To his surprise, she didn’t immediately shake him off. One small victory in a frustrating night.

He wished
controlling her was truly that easy.

Outside, the night had cooled as midnight
flowed toward a new day. Damp air wrapped around Kethan’s neck like a wet rag, but overhead, stars twinkled, clear and cold, defying the glare of city lights.

“You have nothing to fear
.” He threaded her resisting hand through the crook of his arm. “We’ll convince Martyn Sutton that he needn’t worry.”

She laughed. “Yeah. Right. How are you going to
convince him?”

“
I’ll guarantee your cooperation.” His words sounded crazy even to him. How the heck was he going to do that?

“Uh, huh.” She
clearly didn’t believe him, either. “Is that why you’re afraid to let me out of your sight? I didn’t realize you were doing the whole Border Collie thing, protecting the sheep from the wolf.” Glancing at him coquettishly, she thrust her luscious lower lip out. “And here I thought you just wanted the company of a beautiful woman.”

His g
aze fixated on her mouth. That single feature altered Quicksilver’s prettiness into sizzling beauty. His heart thudded. He looked away and took a deep breath, trying to control the beat pounding in his ears. “I never turn down the company of a beautiful woman.”

“Especially since you’re no longer a priest?”
Her eyes slid down his body and then back to hold his gaze. His blood thundered. “I’ve always figured an ex-priest might be kind of like a convict out on parole. A little fast and maybe a little hard to handle, but really hot for at least, oh, five minutes or so. Maybe even ten if he’s got enough self-control. And stamina.”

His mind devolved into a quivering mess.

Joe cleared his throat. “I should be getting back. It’s late.” He caught Kethan’s gaze, his expression crinkled with worry.

Kethan cleared his throat and tried to concentrate.
“Get some rest, Father.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss
Bankes. I hope we’ll see you at Mass.” Joe held out his hand.

She caught
his outstretched hand and gave it a sharp pump. “Stranger things have happened. But be careful, don’t trust them. No matter what they say, never trust a vampire.”

“
I’ll keep your words in mind,” Joe assured her with a warm smile.

“
Father, just a minute?” Kethan touched her shoulder. “Will you excuse me for a minute? I’ll be right back.”

He
joined Joe a few yards away. She watched them curiously, but she made no move to leave or come any closer.

“
Do you think we can we rely on Sutton to keep a low profile?” Kethan asked.

“If you can control Miss Bankes
, perhaps. I’m not entirely sure. It’s a shame to see this end so quickly.”

“
We never even started.”

“It’s not
her fault.” Joe’s brown eyes, filled with compassion, searched Kethan’s face before resting briefly on Quicksilver. “She was protecting her friend. You did the same for me once.”

“
Maybe. But when I hunted vampires, it was for entirely different reasons.”

Joe
studied him with puppy-dog-brown eyes. “Are you sure about leaving us? The Church will sorely miss you.”

“I think I
’ve paid enough penance for my sins, don’t you?”

“Was it only penance, then, that led you to
us? The desire to punish yourself? Atonement?”

“Not entirely
. You know that. The church was a sanctuary when I needed it most, but I never had the calling. I wish I had. I’ve always envied you that.” He pulled out his wallet and fished out his spare car key which he tossed to Joe. Kethan had driven them both to the meeting, and he hated to abandon his friend without transportation. “You can take my car, just leave it in front of my house.”

When Joe glanced at him, another bubble of doubt rose in Kethan’s mind.
Am I doing the right thing giving up the priesthood?

He’d found
a home and friends in the church. They had forgiven him even when he could not forgive himself, couldn’t get over how stupid and naive he had been. Was he being foolhardy in throwing everything away?

Despite his
misgivings, he knew he couldn’t stay in the Church. He lacked Joe’s selfless devotion and because of it, when he knelt and prayed shoulder-to-shoulder with men like Joe, he gained only sore knees and a paralyzing sense of isolation.

He didn’t belong there. He never had.

“Then it’s best for you find your own path,” Joe said with a sigh. “I’ll pray it may one day lead you back to us.”

“Pray
I survive. That’s enough.”

The priest
laughed, his eyes resting again on Quicksilver. “Agreed. And perhaps it would help if you think of this as your penance for the sin of envy. I’ll pray to keep you both safe, particularly from each other.”