Even The Vampires Get The Blues

'I'm sorry, no, I haven't. Not yet, but I'm working quite hard on it. I wonder if it's possible to set up an appointment to meet with you?'

'I don't suppose there's any chance of you coming to London for a few days?'

'I'm sorry, but that's out of the question,' I said firmly, wondering why he wanted to see me so badly. 'Unless you have a solid lead indicating the manuscript is in London, that is. Do you have such a lead?'

There was silence on the other end of the phone. 'No,' he said finally, regret audible in his voice. 'I don't have a lead.'

'We are working as hard as possible on it,' I reassured him. 'I believe you said you'd be returning to Edinburgh at the end of the week?'

'Yes. I suppose I could come home early. Since you refuse to come to me, I shall have to, shan't I?'

I didn't roll my eyes. I wanted to, along with wanting to point out to him that in this day of instant technology, on-site research all over the globe was not necessary, but I kept that to myself, as well. 'I don't intend to rush you, naturally, but if you were coming back to town—'

'I will return tomorrow.' His voice was clipped, as if he was biting off the words.

'Great. Can we meet as soon as possible once you return?'

'That would be agreeable. I am free in the early afternoon.'

I raised my eyebrows at Paen, who was listening in on Clare's phone. He nodded.

'Yes, that would be fine.'

We set an appointment time for early afternoon, and I hung up after reassuring him once again that we were on the case, and hoped to have results in the very near future.

'In other words, you lied to him,' Clare said, frowning at me. White clouds suddenly appeared to darken the sun.

'I did not lie. I can't lie, remember? We are on the case, and I fervently hope and pray we'll have results in the near future. And stop clouding up the sky. We get little enough sun here, I'd like to enjoy it while I can.' I paused a moment, glancing at Paen. 'I can still go out in the sun, right? Beloveds don't burn easily, do they?'

'No. I told you—nothing other than your mortality has changed.'

'Whew. I don't think I could do without sunlight. Let's go back a couple of minutes—why is Pilar after your blood now?' I asked Paen.

'I have no idea. Perhaps he wasn't really after me?'

A little chill sent goose bumps down my arms. 'In which case, it means he's willing to kill anyone in order to get that statue.'

'Why don't we take a look at it?' Paen suggested. 'You said it's locked in a safe?'

'Mila has it in her office downstairs.'

'I'll get it,' Clare said, jumping up. 'Mila knows me.'

'As your sworn bodyguard, I will assist you,' Finn said, following her to the door.

She cast a hesitant glance at the window. The sun was still shining brightly. 'You don't have to. It's not that far.'

'No, no, I want to. It's my duty.'

'But I don't want you to get burned…'

'It would be worth it. Come on, let's go.' Finn pushed her toward the door.

She paused a moment, then gave in. 'All right, but we'll go the back way. There's less outdoor time that way.'

I gnawed my lip as the door closed behind them. 'You think it's OK to let them go off on their own with a murderous Pilar lurking around?'

'Yes. Finn will let me know if he needs help.' Paen didn't look the least bit concerned. It went a long way to calming my jangling nerves.

'I suppose so. I don't know why he was so anxious to go with her. It's just downstairs… oh. The sex shop?'

He smiled. 'That would be my guess.'

I tipped my head as I looked at him with a critical eye. 'You should do that more often.'

'Reveal to you the unsavory side to my brothers?'

'No. Smile. It looks good on you. It makes me go all girly inside when you smile.'

His smile faded, his eyes turning dark. 'Sam, I don't like this.'

'You don't like me complimenting you?'

'No, I don't like you falling in love with me.' He crossed his arms over his chest and loomed over me, clearly trying to intimidate me.

'I never said I was falling in love with you.'

'You didn't deny it, either.'

Despite my tall parents' genes, I'm not a tall person, which leaves me a tad bit resentful when I'm loomed over. I stood up and faced him. 'You want me to do something elfy to you?'

He frowned. 'You're changing the subject.'

'Yes, of course I am. I learned it from you. You want me to or not?'

'Do what? Curse me?'

'No. This.' I leaned against him, closing my eyes, breathing deeply as I allowed my soul and his to merge. We were still Paen and Sam, but now we were one being made up of two. As we bonded into something new, I reached out with my inner elf, searching for the entry point. I found it and pushed through, pulling Paen with me, causing the world to shift slightly. It was as if everything had been ever so minutely out of focus before, but now everything was sharp and correct. 'Welcome to the beyond.'

'Beyond?' Paen asked, looking around my office. 'The shadow world of the elves?'

'Well… kind of. Elves live here, but so do others. Faeries, for one.'

His gaze touched the familiar objects in the office. 'It doesn't look different.'

I smiled. 'My mother chose this building for our office. She's the original feng shui-er. Or rather, the first to do the elf version of it. She chose this location because it is in what the elves call a founded place—one fundamental to the world, rich in the essence of the beyond. Sympathetic to elfkind, in other words.'

'Ah. I wondered why you chose Scotland to live if you needed sunshine. We're not known for our overabundance of sunny weather.' A smile flirted with his lips.

I went all melty inside at that smile, but I tried to keep things light. 'Any sunlight is good. It doesn't have to be a gloriously sunny day like today. The reason you don't see anything different in the office is because this building stands on land that is founded, but the area down the block isn't. If you can risk a peek out the window, you'll see the difference.'

Paen used a folder to angle the sun off his face as he opened a window and poked his head out quickly. A low whistle of surprise followed.

'Pretty freaky, huh?'

'Different. It looks… unpleasant. Disjointed. Harsh.'

'Yeah, it does. That's what our world looks like to elves who walk in the beyond.'

Paen closed the window, looking thoughtful. 'That would explain why there are so few of them around.'

I nodded. 'Only the ones like my mother who are comfortable in the mortal world live outside the beyond. The rest prefer this world, where they can avoid anything upsetting, and stay in founded areas.'

'Understandable.' His lips pursed. 'How do we get back?'

I smiled. 'Worried I'll leave you here?'

'Hardly.' This close to him, and with my elf senses running amok in their native environment, I could feel every emotion in him. His face held polite interest, but inside him, curiosity was driving him nuts. 'I'm merely curious. I had no idea you could bring a non-elf into this world.'

'I've never been able to before, and yes, I've tried. I think it's because now we're bound together.' I slowly backed up a step, pulling my soul from his, shifting us back into our reality.

'Interesting,' he said. 'You said elves are not the only ones who can enter the beyond?'

'Any Fae being can. Others as well—mages, for instance, can, or so I've been told. I've never seen any