Ashes of the Day (14 page)

“I do not know, milady! There was something about a curse, as I recall. It was in Latin, in a very old hand. I had no more than a glance at it.”

“Latin.” Georgia pronounced the word with distaste. “Of course it was. Well, that’s something. You wouldn’t happen to know if Marc can read Latin would you?”

Drew closed his eyes. Up until now, he hadn’t felt as though he’d betrayed his friend to any extent. What had he said, after all, that anyone could take exception to? But this? What he was about to say now? He might as well be handing her a stake and pointing the way to Marc’s heart himself. “Yes, milady. As it happens, that subject came up as well.”

“And?”

“He has, I believe, a passing familiarity with the language.”

“Oh, outstanding.” Georgia fixed Drew with another eviscerating stare. “I have two more questions to put to you, my friend, and you will answer them honestly. Do we understand each other?”

Drew nodded. “Yes, milady.”

“Good. Because if you lie to me now and if I find out that you have done so—which I will do—then nowhere in the world will be remote enough for you to hide. I will hunt you down and I will find you and then I will kill you. And not even Conrad himself will raise a hand to stop me.”

“Yes, milady.”

“First, do you swear to me that Marc has said nothing to you that might suggest that he has any unusual interest in
Invitus
at all?”

“No, milady. I swear on my life. His only interests seem to be in the ferals and
Infragilis
. In fact, he seems sublimely indifferent to…to…” Drew swallowed hard. “To your kind, milady.”

“And what about yourself, Mr. Geiger? What’s your interest?”

Drew swallowed hard. “I-I don’t understand.”

“Your interest in my kind, Mr. Geiger. Are you certain you saw nothing in this scroll that pertained to
Invitus
? That you yourself have no undue interest, no intention of pursuing a subject that most assuredly does not concern you? Will I find myself regretting having come to you for help?”

That was three questions right there, Drew was sure of it. Pointing that out to the lady? Obviously a bad idea. “No, milady. I swear it.”

“Very well.” Georgia sighed. “Well, Mr. Geiger, it seems you’ve given me a lot to think about. When do you see him again?”

Drew shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Really? Well, that won’t do at all,” Georgia said, as she headed to the door. “Make it soon. And, this time, I’d appreciate more details.”

“What does my lady wish me to find out now?” Drew asked miserably.

Georgia chuckled. “Now, now, Mr. Geiger, there’s no need to sound so glum. Find out whatever you can. I definitely want to hear more about this scroll—where it came from, what it contains, whether there are others like it. Oh, and one thing more. Do try and discover the reason behind our mutual friend’s sublime indifference to me and my kind.” She paused and glanced back at him, her gaze faintly mocking. “I’m not used to such indifference, you see. It’s not the reaction I’ve come to expect from…
your
kind.”

Georgia swept out the door, leaving Drew sitting open-mouthed and more than a little stunned. Was he imagining things, or had she just winked at him?

Georgia stalked out of Akeldama the same way she’d come in, with her head held high and a brisk, purposeful stride. She pretended not to even notice all the lesser vampires scurrying to get out of her way, but it gratified her to see it. She was still a force to be reckoned with, she knew it, everyone knew it. She would die before she’d let anyone think otherwise, and for one simple reason. Because if anyone
were
to think otherwise, she very likely
would
die. And most unpleasantly.

Once she was clear of the club and its environs, and away from any prying eyes, her footsteps slowed. She sighed wearily as she cast a hopeful look at the sky. Perhaps it was later than she thought? But, no, this long winter’s night was barely half over. If she returned home now, Conrad was sure to notice and wonder why, to demand an explanation. She couldn’t risk that. Unless she went directly to her room? But, no. There again she was thwarted. This early in the evening, it was doubtful she even
had
a room to return to. Not with Damian overseeing the move. Was it too much to expect he would hurry on her account? Of course it was. When had things ever been otherwise?

She checked the street again to make sure no one was watching, then slipped into a nearby doorway and sat on the stoop. Lord, she was tired. Tired and hungry. As she leaned against the wall and let her muscles relax she could feel the hunger eating away at her insides, tunneling through her bones to gnaw at her marrow. It had been too long since she’d last eaten. Thank the heavens Christian would be here soon. She missed him. She missed his strength, his concern, his boundless optimism. She missed his blood.

She needed him to help her make sense of what was going on here, before it was too late.

For now, she turned the information she had received tonight over in her mind, seeking any scrap that might prove useful. The scroll—surely that was a good place to start. It had to be something she had missed in her initial sweep of the warehouse, which in itself was worrisome. She really was losing her touch if some scatterbrained feral could find what she had missed. But the fact that Marc had failed to report it? That he’d failed to turn it over to Conrad—as anyone with sense would have done? That only strengthened her suspicions about him. He was obviously hiding something.

Unless she was looking at the situation all wrong. What if Marc had been telling the truth when he told Drew he had Conrad’s blessings on what he was doing? What if Conrad already knew about the scroll? What if it wasn’t Marc who was hiding something from Conrad, but rather Conrad who was keeping secrets from her?

But would Conrad order her to search for something he didn’t really want her to find? Of course he wouldn’t. Unless it was a trap, or a trick, or a test of some sort? But no, what was she thinking? That would be too complicated, too Byzantine a plan for Conrad to concoct. Or, then again, maybe not. After all, how much did they really know about each other anymore? It had been decades since they’d been truly honest with one another. It had been centuries since there’d been no lies between them, no secrets, no fear.

Only two more days. That’s all she had to wait. Then Christian would be here to help her sort through the secrets and the lies. She just hoped that, whatever truth they uncovered, it was something big. Something crucial. Something she could use to her own purposes. That she could maybe even use to barter for her life.

Chapter Nine

December 29, 2009

“Hi, Brennan.” The soft voice, so close behind him, startled Brennan out of his obviously pointless perusal of the security feed.

“Julie. Shit.” He scrambled to his feet, instinctively placing the chair between them. His heart was racing as he turned to face her. “Where’d you come from?”

Some security guard he was. Damn it, he should have quit this job long ago. What was the point of even having cameras in a place like this? Or hiring people like him to monitor them? Given how quickly and quietly those damn vampires could move when the mood struck them, they might as well be invisible…except to other vampires, he supposed. Or until they’d buried their fangs in your neck. The memories brought on a full-body shudder.
Rough hands. Hot breath. A sharp sting. The relentless pull of lips on his flesh. His blood draining and draining and draining away…

Julie’s eyes had widened in surprise and Brennan could only imagine how he must look right now, hiding behind his chair, flushed, flustered, furious, frightened. Crap. He so did not need this. Ducking his head, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I guess I’m a bit jumpy tonight.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” She took a few steps toward him, her voice concerned, protective. “Has something happened? No one’s been bothering you, have they?”

“It’s nothing.” Brennan waved the questions away, his gesture stopping her in her tracks. What was wrong was she’d given him too much time to think. She hadn’t been waiting for him when he got off work that morning. She hadn’t been there warming his bed while he slept. Somewhere in the middle of those long sleepless hours, he’d realized he liked it that way. So now, the last thing he wanted to do was talk. “Forget it, okay? Everything’s fine.”

Her concern he appreciated, the protective vibe—not so much. Maybe she
was
old enough to be his mother. So what? That still didn’t mean he wanted her to treat him like a kid. Was this something new, or had it always been like that between them? Whatever. It was just one more reason for him to stick to his guns. Always assuming she’d let him.

“Are you sure? No one’s approached you about…you know…doing anything you didn’t want to do?”

“Drop it,” he barked, much sharper than he’d intended. “I said I’m fine, all right?” His nerves were shot, his temper was on its very last thread and if he’d been forced to decide, right there and then, which one he needed more—her, or her venom—he’d have had a hard time making the choice.

Quitting cold turkey, now there was a shit-for-brains plan if ever he’d had one. One day without her and he was already going crazy. On the verge of apologizing once again, he snapped his mouth shut, determined to say nothing more. He’d made his choice. Now, all he had to do was figure out some way to live with it—and convince her to do the same.

“Okay, well…good to know.” Julie glanced away, biting her lip, sharp, white teeth coming close to tearing the tender flesh. Brennan felt the knot in his chest pull tighter.

“So what’s up?” he asked, trying to ignore the sight of those teeth and all the complicated emotions they stirred up. Despite everything he’d just gotten finished telling himself. All the reasons why he wanted, needed to quit… He still wanted her so bad he ached with it.

Julie sighed. “We need to talk.” She glanced at him and, for a moment, he thought she was going to move in closer. He slouched back a half step and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. She seemed to take the hint. “I spoke to Conrad last night. I told him what’s been going on and…and he’s agreed to let you go.”

Brennan’s mouth fell open. “I’m fired? Julie…why would you do something like that? What the fuck am I supposed to do now?” He thrust his hands through his hair, pacing as much as the tight confines would allow. Holy shit. And here he’d been worried she’d be heartsick if he broke things off, that she’d go all fem-dom vamp on his unlucky ass and refuse to let him go. He guessed he’d been worried for nothing. This sure solved that problem…and created a whole bunch of new ones for him. He shook his head. “I don’t fucking believe this.”

“No, it’ll be okay,” Julie promised quickly. “I worked things out. Conrad’s taking care of everything—helping find you another job and a new place to live. He’s even agreed to keep paying you until you’ve got yourself set up someplace else.”

Brennan scowled. “Why would he do all that?” It was a stupid question and he couldn’t imagine he was going to like the answer. Nothing came for free. Every time he forgot that fact, he found himself in bigger trouble than before.

Julie shrugged. “Well, because I asked him to. And why wouldn’t he? He knows how important it is to me.”

Which was even worse than he’d thought. “Oh, yeah? And what did he want in exchange?”

“What are you talking about?” Julie appeared mystified. “What kind of exchange?”

“C’mon, you know what I’m talking about. Don’t play innocent with me. You always act like Conrad is some kind of father figure to you, like that’s all there is to your relationship, but I know better. I’ve been to their parties, Julie. I’ve seen what goes on there. I know what they want, what they’re like.”

Julie’s eyes flashed. “I can’t believe you’d think something like that. Don’t you know me at all? And what do you mean
they
? Did you forget? I’m Vampire too.”

“Huh.” Brennan huffed out an angry laugh. “I wish I
could
forget. In fact, I wish I’d never found out about any of it. Do you know how much better off I’d have been?”

“Well, maybe you’ll get your wish,” Julie suggested sadly. “After you leave here tomorrow, there’s no reason you can’t put it all behind you. No one is going to come after you or anything like that. If that’s something you’re worried about, don’t be. That’s something else I made Conrad promise. No one’s gonna bother you. So, you know, maybe you will forget. At least you won’t have any reason to think about it anymore, so…”

“Great.” Brennan shook his head. It
was
great. And, damn it, she was right—he
had
been worried about that. But he didn’t want her doing anything more for him, managing his life, deciding what was best, helping him out…even if he did need it. “Well I guess I should get back to work then, especially since it’s my last night and all. Or maybe I should just start packing now?”

Julie shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Whichever you want.” But she didn’t move away and if she thought he was coming even one step closer until she did, if she thought he intended to kiss her good-bye or hug her or anything like that, she was crazy. He couldn’t. If he touched her, he’d have to have her again. If she kissed him, he’d never want to leave.

“I’m sorry, Bren.” Her voice was so low he could barely hear her. “I didn’t want things to end like this. I never wanted to hurt you.”