Bitten to Death

I began laughing before we hung up. I know, such the wrong time. But I was imagining the old wolf streaking through the streets of the city wearing nothing but sunglasses and a pair of Filas, his tongue hanging out like Jack’s as he did some mad dialing.

“This is not funny,” said Admes, shifting in his seat as if to disguise the worry in his voice. “In fact, I almost wish I had stayed silent. The Weres are angry with us. What if I have set off the firestorm Disa began brewing with the Sonrhain?”

I don’t give a crap if you guys war for the next two hundred years! I just want to know where Vayl went! Dave must’ve seen some of what I was thinking on my face, because he said, “Silence kills a lot more often than talk, Admes. You were right to share what you knew.”

By the time Krios called we were motoring toward the airport, speeding past square white high-rises spilling light and laughing partyers onto the streets. “The plane is a charter headed for Ljubljana, Slovenia. Two vampires were on it, both of them in a state of high spirits.”

“What? Wait a minute—both of them were happy?” I clenched my fingers in Jack’s thick fur and he swung his head up to look at me. Yeah, a little reproachfully.

“I’m only reporting what my man told me.”

I made myself relax. There must be some explanation. I’d imagined her loading him aboard via wheelchair. How else could she force him to travel with her? Cirilai couldn’t have sent me a false message, could it?

Disa, of all people, understood the consequences of tampering with Vayl’s powers. But she must’ve found a way to circumvent them. Or he thought he’d found the key to her downfall. Maybe he was just playing along.

Or maybe I was going to drive myself crazy trying to figure this out, in which case my big rescue would end with me standing in a corner, drooling, while I watched an imaginary parade on Venus. Not an option.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m not that familiar with Slovenia. Ljubljana’s the capital, right?”

“Yes, but I don’t think they’re staying. He overheard her speaking of renting a car once they arrived.”

“What are they going to do there?” I wondered out loud.

“Hold on, I’m getting another call,” said Krios.

I turned to Admes. “Does your Trust have any ties to Slovenia?”

He shook his head. Before I could ask him any more questions Krios was back. “My man just remembered something. Before they boarded, she laughingly gave him a coat, telling him they will need to bundle up because it might even be snowing where they were headed. And the male vampire said something like, ‘I hope my boys dress better for the weather than they used to.’”

“Oh God.” My hand dropped to my lap. I could hear Krios asking for me repeatedly, until Dave finally took the phone from my hand.

“What is it?” asked Admes. Only when he reached out to touch me did I come back to myself.

“Don’t,” I said, more sharply than I meant to.

“What is happening?” he asked.

Dave hung up, and immediately the phone rang. As he answered it I said, “Disa is taking Vayl to his sons.” He and I stared at each other and I felt as if thunder had crashed inside the minibus. My ears rang from the immensity of the realization. Because every genuine psychic Vayl had consulted since his sons were murdered had been vague or stalled him purposely—knowing that the day the three of them met they would all die. “How could she know, though?”

Dave closed the phone. “That was Tarasios,” he said grimly. “Niall made him join the chase for Koren. They found her pounding the door to the town psychic’s rental house, trying to gain entry. After some intense questioning, she admitted she was trying to get the woman, whose name was Erilynn, to help her discover where Disa and Vayl had gone.”

“And?”

“They found her slumped over her kitchen table. Her face was gone. She’d been there for a while, Jaz. The bugs were feasting.”

“Why wouldn’t anybody check on her before—”

“Last-minute vacation plans with orders for no one to disturb her until early next week. Disa had herself covered pretty well.”

I felt my stomach lurch and wrapped my arm across it as if that could keep my insides from banging against each other in the physical version of a bloody scream.

“But—it can’t be happening tonight! He’s supposed to meet them in America!” I realized I sounded desperate, but couldn’t seem to pull it into myself. “He told me a Seer said so.”

Dave gripped my shoulder. “Then maybe that’s how it’ll go down. Disa’s conned him before.”

“So you’re telling me to chill.”

“Hell yeah.”

I shook my head. “I’m too close to him,” I whispered. “It’s making me panic when I need to think the clearest.”

“Bullshit.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sick of listening to your excuses, Jasmine. You can sit here all day and list reasons why you and Vayl shouldn’t be together. Same with me and Cassandra. But there’s always the one that outweighs all the rest.”

“Which is?”