After the Fall: A Vampire Chronicle (Book One) by Mary Ellen Gorry Page B

them. And that he was one of those people. Lorenzo would not be happy with that. No one outside of the Manus Dei had ever heard of the order or knew of its existence. That’s how secretive the organization was. Not even the pope was aware of its existence.
                  Okay, now he was staring off into space, probably ignoring her. Good. Then he wouldn’t notice her leaving.
                  “Okay, well this has been fun,” Caroline said, lying through her teeth, “but I have somewhere to be.” The truth was, she didn’t even have anywhere to go.
                  Christian came to a split second decision. He grabbed her hand, and held up his other hand as a sign of peace.
                  “Don’t get mad,” he said softly. “I mean, don’t get any madder than you already are. I know that right now, you probably hate me.”
                  She didn’t hate him, although she didn’t correct him. The truth was, as much as she had yelled, she kind of liked him when he wasn’t being all pushy and nosy.
                  “I know we just met,” he continued, “and I know you’re probably not too keen on trusting strangers right now, but I have a favor to ask.”
                  She said nothing, and he rushed to continue, knowing he had to convince her, knowing she had no idea that it was a matter of life and death.
                  “I need you to come back to my hotel with me. I think you need to talk to Father Lorenzo.”
                  She started to protest, but he interrupted.
                  “Not about how you’re feeling and how you should be feeling,” he insisted, “but about what you saw that night.”
                  “Why?” she asked suspiciously.
                  He hesitated. He couldn’t tell her. Not without talking to Lorenzo first.
                  “I need you to trust me, Caroline.”
                  She didn’t know what it was about him. Maybe it was that familiar look she had glimpsed momentarily in his eyes earlier, maybe it was the fact that she felt so comfortable with him that she had been able to blow up at him in public. Whatever it was, she felt something deep inside her that told her he was on the right side. He was on her side. No matter how annoying he had been, he was trying to help her.
                  “Okay. I’ll go with you.”
                  As they began walking towards the subway, Christian knew he had made the right decision, to bring Caroline back with him. Lorenzo would give him hell about it, but he had no choice. He could’ve tried to protect Caroline from afar, and not let her know she was being protected, but unless he was watching her 24-7, the Master Vampire would make sure she was dead. The only way to ensure her safety was to bring her back to the hotel and tell her the truth about everything, Lorenzo and secrecy be damned. He had already failed her once; he wouldn’t fail her again.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
                 
    Lorenzo Catalano was more than surprised and not too thrilled to find two people standing in the hallway when he got up to answer the knock on the door to the hotel suite. Though the priests at Saint Joseph’s had offered to put them up in the rectory, he and Christian had chosen to stay in hotel because it afforded more privacy for the work they were doing.
    Christian had a guilty but determined look on his face, and the girl standing next to him… well, Caroline looked like a girl who had just buried her family that morning.
                  He watched with disappointment as she didn’t seem the least surprised to see him there. If she had known to expect Lorenzo to be staying with Christian, then he must have told her something about what they did, something he shouldn’t have