Fallen (12 page)

“Izzy, put that
away
.” Maddie moved protectively in front of Lyon, her heart pounding. “You’re being ridiculous. He’s a friend.”

“A friend? It didn’t look that way to me. It looked as if you two were arguing—and he was going to take something you didn’t want to give him.” Izzy’s eyes were very hard, very cold. “Would one of you mind telling me who he is?”

In a smooth movement Lyon moved around Maddie and slid his hand around her waist, steadying her. Reassuring her. “I am Lyon of Greyhaven. I am a friend to Maddie—and if she wills it, a friend to you. You have no need of firearms here, I assure you”

Izzy’s hard expression did not waver. “I’ll be the judge of whether I need firearms, pal. So where exactly did you meet Maddie, since she’s only been in London a matter of hours? Something tells me this story is going to be a show stopper.”

“She was accosted in the cemetery. I gave her shelter.”

Izzy’s head tilted as he considered this information. “Do you have some kind of ID? I plan to run a deep search on you, Mister Lyon.”

“Just Lyon. And I do have identification, but it is not on my person. Nor will I leave to find it while you are holding that weapon. Put it away.” Lyon’s voice had turned icy, just as distant and hard as Izzy’s.

“Like hell I will. Maddie, I meant what I said. Come over here next to me.”

“I didn’t trust him either. But…what he says is true. And he did save my life, Izzy. Several times in fact.”

“Come over here. Do it now.”

Maddie glared at him. Her anger grew when Lyon gently pushed her behind him and stood rigidly, hands at his sides as if ready to charge Izzy despite his loaded weapon.

She shook her head in disgust. “Would you two mind? I’m not big on testosterone moments.” Although, the truth was, Maddie had a secret, guilty tingle of pleasure at the thought of two tough, handsome men fighting over her to protect her.

When was the last time that had happened?

The far side of
never
.

But she continued to glare at the two of them. “I’ve got a serious headache and right now my hands feel like they’re melting. Both of you need to cool off. Now.”

Her words had not the slightest effect.

Lyon took a slow, measured step forward. Then another. Izzy’s eyes narrowed and the gun rose higher. If Maddie didn’t do something fast, someone was probably going to get shot.

“If you two idiots want to shoot each other and tear each other into pieces, be my guest. But I’m not hanging around. I’ve got better things to do with my time. I’m going to find myself a cup of tea. I assume there must be a kitchen somewhere downstairs.”

“Maddie, wait.” Izzy turned, scowling at her.

Lyon’s face was just as hard.

“My heart, we need to resolve this now.”

“
My heart
? Try that again. You said you two just met, Maddie. What’s going on here?” Izzy looked angry and baffled.

She shook her head, suddenly tired and with no tolerance for this macho display. The headache was getting worse. Her hands, numb before, had begun to tingle and burn as sensation returned. “Like I said, I’m leaving. Do whatever you want. I’ll be downstairs in the kitchen, assuming that I can find it. There’s a cup of Earl Grey somewhere calling my name.”

“Damn it, Maddie, you can’t—”

She shrugged and strode right past Izzy, giving a little wave. “Roll with it, Teague. Whenever you want to work, let me know. I seem to recall there’s a code you wanted me to break. That might be a more productive way to spend your time.”

She was very satisfied to hear nothing but stunned, angry silence as she stalked out of the room.

Lyon’s eyes snapped with anger. He crossed his arms, glaring at the man Maddie called her boss. “You are wrong. I am here to guard her, not hurt her.”

“Yeah, is that right? Well you’re going to have to prove it to me, pal.”

“If anyone failed in his duty, it was you. She is young and inexperienced, a stranger to this country.
You
should have protected her.”

Izzy’s eyes flashed with impatience—and more than a little guilt. “That’s between Maddie and me. I’m not about to explain my actions to you. Because this whole thing seems a little too convenient. One moment she’s wandering around in London and then you just happen to find her and rescue her? That’s crap.”

“But it is also true. I followed her to the museum where you were making your illegal entry. The police came and she might have been picked up if I had not gotten her away. I also saved her in the cemetery. By my reckoning, that makes twice that I have saved her life.” Lyon did not mention the other two times. Once when the Fallen ones had sensed her presence and again when Maddie had begun her Change, caught helpless, unable to breathe.

Izzy frowned and then slowly lowered the weapon. “I was wondering how she got away. We didn’t expect the police or that fire across the street. But I’m still going to need some papers and identification. Maddie is a valuable government asset.”

Lyon’s eyes hardened. “She is a most rare and wonderful spirit, not an asset,” he said coldly.

“Well.” Izzy gave him a new, assessing look. “Sounds like this just got personal between you two.”

“Oh, it has been personal for a very long while. Understand me—I would protect her with my life.”

Izzy considered this for a few moments and then blew out a frustrated breath. “There’s no need to worry. Maddie’s in my protection. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

“I am glad that you have her interests at heart. But if you are truly fixed on protecting her, understand this. A much older danger waits out in the darkness. And it is not human.”

“Not human…” Izzy said slowly. “I’m afraid you lost me there.”

“I am not surprised. It is a difficult concept for many. But I think Maddie’s suggestion was best. We will discuss this over tea.” Lyon shot Izzy a hard glance. “And if you ever harm her or threaten her again, you will soon regret it. Mark my promise well.”

And for a second time Izzy was left staring in frustrated silence.

Lyon strode away after Maddie.

“I found the tea. I’m not sure I know how to use that old fashioned stove, but I think I managed to boil the water okay. I’m not much of a cook. Lyon, why don’t you find some cups? Any idea where there’s some food around here, Izzy?”

Lyon though she seemed calm, controlled, as if her anger had been put aside. And she seemed to enjoy ordering them around the kitchen.

“There’s a pantry over to the left.” Izzy pointed to a recess beyond a cabinet full of priceless glassware. “Usually the butler, Marston, handles that kind of thing, but he’s up north with Viscount Draycott and his family. I’ll have a look.”

“Something chocolate would be nice, too. Chocolate with a whole lot of calories and heavy cream. You British are big on heavy cream, aren’t you, Lyon? Just don’t slip in any of that nasty stuff.”

Lyon raised an eyebrow. “I do not understand you.”

“Oh yes you do. I’m talking about the kidneys. The brains. That stuff the Scots eat too, Haggis.” Maddie grimaced.

Lyon simply shrugged. “Food is food. In difficult times there may not be a great deal of choice. I think that people of this century do not understand how lucky they are.”

“Of this century?” Izzy turned slowly, studying Lyon with fresh suspicion. “You’re not trying to imply that—”

“
Don’t
get him started.” Maddie waved her hands. “Go find us some chocolate. We have work to do, remember?” She strode past the two men and attacked a drawer, searching for a teapot and tea bags.

There were no bags. Somehow she expected that. But she found a big box of loose tea that looked expensive.

“Let’s get to work, shall we?”

Izzy set a box of truffles on the table.

“First your pal Lyon here is going to explain what he meant about
not human
. After that, I want to know what he meant by
not of this century
.”

Maddie shook her head. “You’re not going to like it. You’re probably not going to understand it either. I know I didn’t.” She shot a glance at Lyon, whose face was expressionless. “You’d better tell him everything he needs to hear. At least, coming from you, he might believe it.” She cradled her cup of steaming tea and savored the rich, smoky smell. “After that, I’d really like to get to work.”

“That depends on your friend Lyon here—and how good his explanation is,” Izzy said grimly.

Maddie forced herself not to interrupt Lyon’s calm, methodical explanation. She wondered if Izzy was buying his story.

She really hoped so. If these creatures—or things—that Lyon mentioned came calling at Draycott Abbey, Maddie was going to need Izzy’s help. He would be a lot more effective if he believed the threat was real.

When Lyon finished, she rested her elbows on the table and studied the man who had arrested her five years before. “He’s telling the truth, Izzy. I don’t care if you believe it or not. There’s too much weird stuff going on for it to be a lie. And since we don’t have much time, let’s simply agree to disagree, shall we? I see you’ve got your laptop and briefcase in the corner and I hope that means you’ve got an update on my assignment. What happened at the museum?”

Izzy looked at Lyon, “This doesn’t leave the room, understood?”

Lyon nodded.

“Okay,” Izzy rubbed his neck.

We found what we went in for. I’m hoping you can help me understand what it means, Maddie.”

“So it’s some kind of artifact?”

“Not exactly.” Izzy hesitated, and then opened his briefcase, pulling out a heavy canvas bag, which he rested carefully on the table between Lyon and Maddie. “No discussion outside this room. Not now. Not ever,” he said roughly. He looked at Maddie, who nodded slowly. When he looked at Lyon, his eyes held a glint of challenge.

But Lyon simply nodded.

“Here it is. Tell me what you make of it. If there’s a pattern or a message in it, I sure as heck don’t see it.”

Maddie’s breath caught as he opened the brown canvas sack and pulled out a circle that burned and shone in the kitchen light. It appeared to be finely hammered gold worked in thin concentric lines. But it was too clean, too pristine, for an artifact, Maddie thought. “It’s a replica, I take it? Not the original.”

Izzy nodded, his mouth hard. “The original is far too precious for me to get transport clearance from the museum.”

There was something else he wasn’t telling her, Maddie sensed. She leaned down, running her finger carefully along the surface of the metal replica. “I’m assuming you don’t want an archeological or historical assessment here. I couldn’t do either one. There’s a message or information you want me to find, is that it?”

Izzy nodded, but said nothing.

Maddie took a better look at the fine circles, assessing the rows and the numbers and the spacing of the designs. She let the designs flow through her consciousness and waited for a pattern to emerge.

It was the way she always worked. It didn’t matter if she was working with computer code or a mathematical formula or any other kind of data.

She saw patterns in things, patterns that other people did not. It was just a gift she had, something in the way her brain had been wired. The real work came later, when she had to figure out what the pattern was supposed to
mean
.