Soul Bound by Mari Mancusi

who likes to keep everything emotional buried deep inside, like I do. And I want desperately for him to know how much it means to me that he’s willing to open up and share. “I bet she was amazing.”
    For a moment he surrenders, allowing me to cuddle him, to soothe his trembling body. Then he stiffens under my touch. “Excuse me,” he says abruptly, removing me from his lap and rising from his seat. “I’m going to check with the pilot. See if he’s ready to go.”
    I sigh, curling up in the soft leather seat, watching him practically run in his emotional retreat. I know half the reason the past is so hard for him to face is the fact that he still hasn’t forgiven himself for what happened to his family. And, to be honest, I’m not sure he ever will.
    Not that I blame him. If something were to happen to Sunny—if I fell down in my duty and allowed a monster like Pyrus to take her life—I don’t think I could forgive myself either. Which is why we’re on this plane to begin with.
    “We’ll be taking off in a minute,” Jareth says, all businesslike as he returns to the cabin. “Buckle your seatbelt.” He sits down in the seat beside me and straps in, even though it’s ridiculous to do so. Not like a vampire can die from turbulence.
    “We’ll land in approximately five hours,” he informs me. “Just before dawn. And then we’ll head straight to the tunnels. Hopefully we’ll be able to get to them before Pyrus does.”
    “Do you think he’ll go himself?” I ask. “I mean, now that Bertha’s no longer doing his bidding?”
    Jareth shakes his head. “That’s not his style,” he tells me. “He wants to appear above it all, that he’s only asking that the two of them are brought back to face trial with a jury of their peers. If he went himself, it would raise too many questions.”
    “I suppose that makes sense. He gets them back and coerces the other coven leaders to convict them—and then he can do whatever he wants.”
    “Pyrus is a very patient vampire,” Jareth adds, as the plane starts rising into the air. “He didn’t get where he is today by being impulsive.” He pauses, staring out the window at the Vegas strip. “I wonder what he’s got up his sleeve.”
    “Well, at least Bertha’s now on our side,” I remind him. “That definitely helps.”
    Jareth turns and gives me a sharp look. “Don’t be too sure,” he says. “You don’t know she was telling the truth. Which reminds me, I need to check the recordings from the bug you placed in her bathroom.”
    Er… Ugh. “Um, about that…”
    Jareth looks at me questioningly.
    “I may have… forgotten to actually put the bug in. I mean with everything else going on.” I feel my face flaming with embarrassment. “But I swear, she was done with Pyrus. I mean, the guy hit her. He told her to get lost. I’m sure there’s no way…” I trail off. I am so fired from James Bond duty.
    Jareth lets out a long sigh. “Well, I guess we’ll have to see for ourselves,” he says at last. “And hope we’re not too late.”

8
     
    “ S o do you think there are rats down here?” I ask worriedly as I watch Jareth pry open a large metal grate embedded in the pavement with his crowbar. It groans as it slides from its decades-old resting point, revealing a slime-covered rusty ladder leading down into the darkness. I stifle a shiver as I stare down into the black pit we’re about to descend.
Really, Sunny?
Would it have been so hard for you and Magnus to hole up in the Four Seasons with a room service menu and downloadable movies while on the lam?
    We flew all night long and arrived in New York City a few hours before the sunup. I really did try to get some rest, but let’s face it—it’s not easy to sleep when your sister’s life is on the line. By the time they opened the cabin doors and allowed us toexit the plane, I was so tired I could barely see straight. And Jareth didn’t seem much better. Not surprising—from what I