The Deadliest Bite

probably try to talk him into going back.

The French innkeeper was too good a fit for him, dammit! For now I said, “Okay. Text me the details of your flight and I’l pick you up at the airport.”

“Make sure it’s an unmarked car.”

“Holy shit, Miles! What, did you think I’d be riding up in a parade float?”

“Is Cole with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Possibly.”

I promised him to keep it on the down low and we hung up. At which point Astral ran out of disaster video, rol ed over on her side, and farted out one of her grenades.

“Take cover!” Vayl bel owed as he snatched up the explosive and hefted it as hard as he could into the field that fronted his house. He grabbed Aaron’s arm, I whistled to Jack, and Raoul slapped Cole on the back of the head to snap him out of his bemused daze. We booked to the back of the garage, making it just in time for the explosion, which sounded so much like a fouled firework that Aaron checked out the sky.

Then he looked at Vayl. “Does this kind of stuff happen to you al the time?” Vayl considered his question. “Only since I met Jasmine.” He smiled at me. “She makes life incredibly exciting.”

“But you’re not alive… are you?” Aaron asked. For once he just sounded curious. Was he final y learning?

Vayl leaned his shoulder against the rough brick of the garage wal . In the dim light of the moon the shadows covered his entire face, so that al we could see was the glitter of his eyes when he lifted his head. “I have watched humans move through their entire existence without ever truly testing the limits imposed upon them by their families, their cultures, and their own minds. They have wil ingly traded love, risk, adventure, and knowledge for a safe haven from pain. If those humans can choose undeath, I can choose life.”

“Hel o.”

Aaron shrieked as Astral joined us, sitting quietly beside Jack, who panted over her happily, both of them acting as if nothing potential y deadly had just happened. Animals. So charming of them to poop and forget.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Wednesday, June 13, 3:45 a.m.

We wandered around to the front of the garage, though only Vayl and I could see the devastation the grenade had caused to the cornfield. He could probably read a map in the dark, and my sight had radical y improved each time he’d taken my blood, to the point where I barely needed to use Bergman’s see-in-the-dark contact lenses. Which, I could tel , Cole wasn’t wearing tonight.

“So,” he said. “You guys were already outside when I got here, and the garage door was up. Jaz sure seemed eager to take off just now, so where were you headed?” Vayl had been checking his watch. He slid it back into his pocket and said regretful y, “We did have plans. But now it is too late for us to make a round-trip to Cleveland and be assured of completing our mission successful y before dawn. We wil have to wait until tomorrow to smoke the Rogue.”

Cole held up a hand. “Wait a second. Your Trust stretches al the way to the city?” Vayl said, “Our Trust includes the city.” He stared hard into Cole’s eyes. “And you, as wel , if you would like to rejoin us.”

I held my breath as Cole considered his offer. I’d only observed the inner workings of a single Vampere Trust— the one Vayl was attached to for most of the 1800s. So it had been pretty twisted.

Plus, he hadn’t given me a lot of detail as to how ours should work since it was stil mostly a show-car organization, put together for the sake of certain observers inside the Whence. Formed to protect those of us who were most obviously attached to Vayl from his enemies, who’d flout human law but would never risk trial in other courts, our Trust didn’t even have its own letterhead. I mean, if you’re gonna be official, shouldn’t you at least have a logo or something? So, while I wasn’t sure what a nod from Cole would provide him specifical y, I knew that when he’d left Vayl’s protection in Marrakech he’d opened himself to attack from Kyphas. Which meant that if he accepted Vayl’s offer he’d be taking a solid step away from her.

Cole ran a hand through his sun-drenched hair, pul ing it back from a face that could easily have taken him into the spotlight, onto the big screen along with the rest of America’s pretty people.

Instead he’d chosen dark shadows and cold rooftops. “I stand by the demand I made in Australia,” he said, his old charm lighting up his face as he reminded Vayl. “I want to be the secretary of social events.”

“Of course.”

“Then I’m in.” Aaaahhh! Inside my head, Teen Me was jumping up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs, and trading high fives with Granny May, who’d taken a break from some new project she’d started at the dining room table. For once I agreed with my inner adolescent. This was worthy of major mental celebration. Especial y when Cole said, “I’m gonna need a party fund.” Vayl sighed. “Fine.”

“So tel me, how far does our territory real y run? And if it includes Cleveland like you said, what happened to the three nests I heard about last time I was in town?”

“I wil show you a map,” Vayl said. “We are responsible for the city, its suburbs, and several miles of surrounding countryside. As for the nests”—he looked at me—“Jasmine and I have been busy.”

Cole stared at us. But he didn’t say anything as we led him, Raoul, and Aaron into the house.

We’d decided Astral couldn’t be trusted near people until Bergman fixed her, so I’d ordered her to secure the perimeter until further notice. As a result Jack seemed slightly bummed. So I took him to the kitchen. To my surprise, al the other guys fol owed as wel .

“What do you want?” I asked my dog as I opened the fridge. “Cottage cheese? Baking soda?

Oh, I know.” I pul ed out a covered dish and, when I noticed him looking up at me suspiciously, said reassuringly, “Don’t worry. Vayl cooked it.”

I pul ed out a couple of brats and set them in his dog dish. “Don’t get used to this,” I warned him as he dove into them with the snorting noises that signaled deep satisfaction. “You’re back to that hard square stuff for your next meal.”