signal. Can you hear me now?
Good.
The only time I had left the city in the last
seven months had been a Christmas visit to my Gramps back in St.
Lawrence County. Tanya had done just fine with that, mostly ‘cause
she had gone with me. Her and like about thirty of the Coven. Well
maybe only ten, but it had still been funny to see them all bunked
out in the back building at the farm. Gramps had been concerned as
that building has no heat, but Darkkin aren’t much bothered by
cold. It’s got to be well below zero to force them to put on a
jacket and even then a windbreaker will keep them just fine.
Just before twilight I headed out the door,
figuring to time her awakening to my arrival. The trees lining the
streets were well on their way to being fully leaved, and all the
smells of spring washed across my face as I walked. I was upbeat,
pretty sure Tanya wouldn’t have too much trouble with me taking a
quick helicopter ride to Vermont. My senses automatically dialed up
in the warm evening gloom. I could hear conversations in every
residence I passed, could smell a thousand dinners being cooked,
see everything that should have been hidden in the deepening
shadows. The Demidova residence was oddly muted as I closed in on
the front doors. Not that it’s ever loud, but I usually hear the
soft sound of classical music as I get near. Today, nothing.
The main door unlocked itself at the
application of my hand to the reader and I walked in. It was dark
enough now for security to have transitioned to the ‘night’ shift,
but no one was immediately apparent.
Then I spotted him, across the foyer, his
back to me, peeking into the main ballroom. It looked like Trenton,
a tall, lean versatile vamp who was in Arkady’s circle of trust. He
didn’t turn as I approached, absorbed in whatever he was watching.
My scent must have reached him before I did, because he suddenly
stiffened and spun in a blur, his expression scared, his body
tense. What the hell?
I raised my eyebrows at him, then flicked my
glance at the door behind him. My connection told me with certainty
that my girl was on the other side of that particular door. I
motioned him aside, still puzzled at his reaction. At first he
didn’t move, as if reluctant to let me through. When my expression
hardened, he rethought that and suddenly fled in a burst of vampire
speed. What was he scared of? Me? That I could take him in a fight,
even though he was one hundred and forty years old, was never in
question. But I got along just fine with Trenton. My elated mood
gone, I moved to the partially closed door with the tiniest bit of
dread forming in my stomach.
The door, tall and made of heavy wood, was
well balanced and moved smoothly at my touch. I looked through.
What I saw didn’t make sense for about two seconds. Then it hit
with all the force of freight train.
Sitting on an ornate French chair with his
shirt off was the Central American emissary, Desiderio Reyes.
Straddling him, wearing nothing but a sleep shirt, which his hands
were roaming under, was Tatiana.
Chapter 8
“ Of all the liars in the world,
sometimes the worst are your own fears.” - Kipling
I knew it was her, even if she was hidden by
his mouth, which seemed to be attempting to suck her lips off her
face. At that moment she lifted her head and stared at me, her face
blank for a moment before hissing at the interruption.
I’m usually pretty quick on the uptake, but I
couldn’t seem to make sense of what I was seeing. It didn’t help
that I couldn’t breathe or that my heart had stopped in my chest.
Desiderio choose that moment to look my way, a contemptuous sneer
on his face. The rage exploded in a black geyser through my chest,
my hate focused on his dark features like a laser beam. My right
hand slammed forward on its own, a bolt of deep purple power
blasting the Latin vampire right out from under Tanya and slamming
him twenty feet across the room and into the wall beyond. His
Good.
The only time I had left the city in the last
seven months had been a Christmas visit to my Gramps back in St.
Lawrence County. Tanya had done just fine with that, mostly ‘cause
she had gone with me. Her and like about thirty of the Coven. Well
maybe only ten, but it had still been funny to see them all bunked
out in the back building at the farm. Gramps had been concerned as
that building has no heat, but Darkkin aren’t much bothered by
cold. It’s got to be well below zero to force them to put on a
jacket and even then a windbreaker will keep them just fine.
Just before twilight I headed out the door,
figuring to time her awakening to my arrival. The trees lining the
streets were well on their way to being fully leaved, and all the
smells of spring washed across my face as I walked. I was upbeat,
pretty sure Tanya wouldn’t have too much trouble with me taking a
quick helicopter ride to Vermont. My senses automatically dialed up
in the warm evening gloom. I could hear conversations in every
residence I passed, could smell a thousand dinners being cooked,
see everything that should have been hidden in the deepening
shadows. The Demidova residence was oddly muted as I closed in on
the front doors. Not that it’s ever loud, but I usually hear the
soft sound of classical music as I get near. Today, nothing.
The main door unlocked itself at the
application of my hand to the reader and I walked in. It was dark
enough now for security to have transitioned to the ‘night’ shift,
but no one was immediately apparent.
Then I spotted him, across the foyer, his
back to me, peeking into the main ballroom. It looked like Trenton,
a tall, lean versatile vamp who was in Arkady’s circle of trust. He
didn’t turn as I approached, absorbed in whatever he was watching.
My scent must have reached him before I did, because he suddenly
stiffened and spun in a blur, his expression scared, his body
tense. What the hell?
I raised my eyebrows at him, then flicked my
glance at the door behind him. My connection told me with certainty
that my girl was on the other side of that particular door. I
motioned him aside, still puzzled at his reaction. At first he
didn’t move, as if reluctant to let me through. When my expression
hardened, he rethought that and suddenly fled in a burst of vampire
speed. What was he scared of? Me? That I could take him in a fight,
even though he was one hundred and forty years old, was never in
question. But I got along just fine with Trenton. My elated mood
gone, I moved to the partially closed door with the tiniest bit of
dread forming in my stomach.
The door, tall and made of heavy wood, was
well balanced and moved smoothly at my touch. I looked through.
What I saw didn’t make sense for about two seconds. Then it hit
with all the force of freight train.
Sitting on an ornate French chair with his
shirt off was the Central American emissary, Desiderio Reyes.
Straddling him, wearing nothing but a sleep shirt, which his hands
were roaming under, was Tatiana.
Chapter 8
“ Of all the liars in the world,
sometimes the worst are your own fears.” - Kipling
I knew it was her, even if she was hidden by
his mouth, which seemed to be attempting to suck her lips off her
face. At that moment she lifted her head and stared at me, her face
blank for a moment before hissing at the interruption.
I’m usually pretty quick on the uptake, but I
couldn’t seem to make sense of what I was seeing. It didn’t help
that I couldn’t breathe or that my heart had stopped in my chest.
Desiderio choose that moment to look my way, a contemptuous sneer
on his face. The rage exploded in a black geyser through my chest,
my hate focused on his dark features like a laser beam. My right
hand slammed forward on its own, a bolt of deep purple power
blasting the Latin vampire right out from under Tanya and slamming
him twenty feet across the room and into the wall beyond. His
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