“What?” he rapped. He listened for about five seconds, said, “We will be right there.” He grabbed my hand, nothing romantic in that gesture, damn-it-all, and strode back toward the house.
“What’s the deal?” I asked.
“That was Cole. He said we should come back right away. Soheil Anvari is there. He is yelling like a madman. And he has a gun.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
W
e arrived at the house with less than half an hour until dawn. Not a comfy way to end Vayl’s day, especially considering the fact that Zarsa’s hubby was waving an AK-47 around with his finger inside the trigger guard as he spoke. I scanned the living room to see if he’d already shot somebody accidentally, but everyone seemed to have all their parts.
The entire crew was present. Jet, Bergman, and Natchez shared the couch. Cole stood behind the love seat, on which sat Cassandra and Zarsa. Dave, Cam, and Amazon Grace stood in front of the fireplace. All of Dave’s people, plus Cole, carried some sort of concealed weapon. And I could tell by the way Grace had her arm behind her back that she held her firearm in-hand, though Soheil was too distracted to notice. They could take him out any time if they were willing to take damage and make noise. But that might put the kabosh on our mission. So while that possibility remained on the table, Vayl and I hoped for a peaceful alternative.
“There you are!” cried Soheil, as we came through the door. He swung the gun on Vayl.
“Now, wait a minute,” I said, stepping between the gun and its target.
Stupid
, I realized immediately. Those bullets wouldn’t kill Vayl, but they’d certainly do me in. Amazing what places your instincts will take you. I stepped back to my original position. “I think we have a huge misunderstanding here,” I said.
“What makes you think I would listen to a woman?” Soheil spat. “I have been betrayed by one!”
“That is not so!” Zarsa cried, jumping off her seat.
“Sit down!” roared Soheil. Zarsa dropped to her butt so fast you’d have thought he slapped her.
And that’s when I really began to worry. Soheil, the adoring husband, seemed to be so far beyond reason no one could reach him. I wasn’t sure anyone would leave the room alive. And the mahghul seemed to agree. They’d begun to pour in through the windows Vayl had broken. No one saw them but Vayl and me. I tried not to stare, but I kept seeing them out the corners of my eyes, perching on a shoulder, crouching in a corner or on the lip of a vase. A room full of ghouls just waiting for the violence to commence.
Vayl sent out a wave of power, just a brush of cool breeze that swept through the room, taking the edge off the fever pitch, making Soheil blink. “Cole said you came to see me,” he told Soheil gently.
“My wife, she says you two have made the deal.”
Vayl nodded. “We had spoken of a matter involving my sons, who died many long years ago.”
Soheil shook his head. He obviously didn’t care about that part. “She tells me I no longer have to worry about her getting sick. She says after you are finished, she will live forever. But first she must die.” His eyes widened with horror as he delivered this news. “But that is not the worst. She says then she must spend many months with you, learning your ways, so that when she returns to me she can use her powers to mend the wrongs that have been done to our family. This I cannot allow.”
A sob from Zarsa. She clapped a hand over her mouth.
“You have defiled my wife,” Soheil announced. “Therefore I must kill you.”
“No!” cried Zarsa. “Never!”
“How exactly did he defile her?” I asked, stepping up to Soheil, getting into his face, forcing him to deal with me. “By making the agreement?”
Soheil pointed at Vayl dramatically. “He took her blood!”
I turned to Cole, knowing it could only have happened on his watch. He winced as he met my eyes and we shared our first unspoken conversation.
Cole?
I couldn’t tell you. You would have just thought I was trying to get you to hate him and like me. I’m sorry, Jaz.
No. It can’t be.
I faced my
sverhamin
. “Vayl?” I asked, forcing my voice low so the screams I felt building wouldn’t accidentally release. “What do you say to that?”
He lowered his head just slightly. The gesture acted like a hatchet, burying in my heart. “It is true. We had begun the turning.”
I spun back to Soheil. “Go ahead, shoot the son of a bitch.”
He looked at me, round-eyed with surprise as Vayl said, “Jasmine, you must understand. I was not in my right mind then.”
“Oh, I know exactly where your head was at!” I yelled, stomping up to him with the idea of punching him right in the nose. But Albert had raised me to hit people in self-defense, not vice versa, so I went back to Soheil. “What are you waiting for, Hot Stuff? You wanted to shoot somebody, there he is! Tell you what, why don’t you aim for the gut? I hear it hurts more and it takes them longer to die.”
