All Just Glass

He slammed a fist into the wall only inches from Jay’s head, as if his self-control was sufficient to keep him from hitting the other witch, but not enough to keep him from needing to lash out. Jay shut his eyes as plaster shattered, and then Michael dropped him, the argument abruptly forgotten as his attention shifted. It took Zachary a moment longer, but then he, too, sensed what had silenced Michael.

The power was faint, even with the wards around the house acting like an antenna. The vampire was lingering at least a block away, not coming closer at that moment, but near enough that they could all feel her there.

Her. Not Kaleo. The power Zachary could sense was not nearly enough for the ancient Roman to be approaching.

Was it Sarah? Could things be so convenient?

It had to be a trap. He stretched his awareness, trying to find more of her kind but knowing it was pointless, since they could appear at any time with no warning. Did she think she could trick them into trusting her and letting down their guard?

Had she come to turn herself in?

He squashed the thought. The vampiric animal always sought survival. He had to brace himself, because he knew that the vampire outside would look like Sarah, and sound like Sarah. But it wouldn’t be Sarah; it would be the thing that had killed her.

Maybe, it occurred to him, Kaleo had threatened her. Zachary hadn’t considered that obvious possibility before, that the other vampires might have turned on her. The twins were very protective of their sister, and the hunters had threatened her. Kaleo was incredibly possessive of the individuals he considered his. Maybe they had sent their newest fledgling here as a sacrifice to appease the hunters.

Or it could be a trap.

CHAPTER 8

SATURDAY, 7:29 A.M.

GIVEN THE HOUR at which Heather had received her phone call, Adia was not entirely surprised to find that the Makeshift bookstore was connected to a twenty-four-hour coffee shop. The bookstore itself was closed, but the cafe had its own door to the street.

Adia damped down her witch aura as she stepped out of the car, and as she crossed the threshold, she mentally donned a mask. Who should she be today? A college student, probably, on the way home from an all- night study session at a friend’s house, and not quite ready to go back to her roommate. She was social and friendly, confident, but possibly a little naive about the real world.

In theory, the Vida line was the most famous line of vampire hunters in history and should therefore be the most recognizable. In reality, especially in this generation, there were a lot of blond girls with blue eyes in the world. It meant she could be anyone she needed to be, and while she was lost in that role, she didn’t need to think about anything more than the immediate objective. The person she chose to be didn’t need to have a sister, or a grim duty to fulfill.

She knew her cheeks would be pink from having driven the last mile with the window down. She let herself shiver as she came in from the cold.

At seven-thirty in the morning on a Saturday, the atmosphere was subdued. The two young girls seated at a back-corner booth, eating sweet sticky pastries, both felt like bloodbonds, but there was also an older woman, reading the Boston Globe and sipping coffee, who probably had no idea that the man behind the counter was a vampire.

That bloodsucker smiled at Adia, his expression tired but friendly.

“I’m sorry, but if you’re looking for a place to stay, you’re out of luck.”

The way he had tossed out that information to a complete stranger suggested that enough people had been bothering him for help that he was getting fed up with it. That was only likely to be the case if individuals hiding from the Rights of Kin were coming to him, which would only happen if he was connected to Nikolas and Kristopher.

She flashed her own best long-day smile and said, “Actually, I was looking for a cup of coffee. Am I in the wrong place?”

His expression shifted as he focused his attention, seeming to draw himself together. “Sorry,” he said. “Yes, of course, coffee right away. How do you take it?”

She glanced at the menu behind the counter, trying to determine what kind of place she was in. Keeping to her pretense, she said, “I don’t care. Something sweet, with a lot of caffeine and a lot of sugar.”

“Starting the day with a kick, I see,” the vampire joked with her as he turned to the espresso machine.

“I’m normally more of a night person,” she answered. “I got up early to drive a friend to work, and have to hide from my roommate so she won’t drag me to Zumba.”

He chuckled. She could almost see the gears turning in his head. It was past dawn, the hour when decent vampires normally wanted to sleep, and she could tell he hadn’t had a chance to feed the night before. Here was a cute girl who no one expected home soon, who was willing to chat with strangers … and who, therefore, could probably be persuaded to go somewhere more private. He handed her the coffee, and the smile he turned on her was considerably warmer than the first one had been.

“I know what you mean,” he said. “My roommates have guests over at all sorts of crazy hours. Here’s your coffee, on the house. My shift’s pretty much—” He cut off, a moment after Adia sensed the aura of the bloodbond who had just walked up behind her. “Matt, it isn’t often you darken my door. Is something wrong?”

Adia turned, trying to make it look casual. She wasn’t sure whose bloodbond she was facing, but knew that the olive-skinned “young” man was decades older than he appeared. Bloodbonded humans, like vampires, didn’t age.

Matt lifted a hand to brush sandy brown hair back from his face, and the cuff of his long sleeve pulled back just enough for Adia to see the edge of a scar. Nikolas’s marks—a rose, a strand of ivy and Nikolas’s name. She was sure of it. Pure vanity made the vampire carve his symbols into the flesh of his victims. It also made them easy to identify.

Cold affected bloodbonds less than pure humans, so most of Nikolas’s bloodbonds wore their arms bare in any weather, no matter how much harassment it earned them from normal humans. Someone must have warned this one to cover up.

“Can I talk to you in private for a moment?”

The vampire looked from Adia to the bloodbond who had just walked in, probably torn between some sense of obligation and the prospect of a free meal. Adia debated interrupting to offer her name or phone number, but decided that would be too blatant.

She took the coffee and sought a quiet table in the back of the room, where she pulled out a science fiction novel she kept in her purse for when she needed an excuse. It would have been nice to eavesdrop on the two at the counter, but the vampire brought Matt into the back room, leaving a BE RIGHT BACK sign by the register. Adia supposed he didn’t care what customers he might miss.

Adia took the opportunity to scan the coffee shop over the pages of her book. This time of year, long sleeves weren’t exactly noteworthy, so there was no way to know if the other bonds in the room belonged to Nikolas. The real question was, why had someone called Heather from here? The phone was behind the counter, but customers might be allowed to use it. Anyone could have called; the phone itself wouldn’t give her anything more. Fortunately, every hunter knew that the friend of her enemy made a useful friend, and it looked like the local vampire might be a very good friend.

After about two minutes secluded in the back room with Matt, he returned to the cafe, nodded to a sleepy- looking human to man the counter and then slid into the seat across from Adia.

“What I was about to say was my shift is up,” he said. “I would ask if you’d like to get a cup of coffee, but I seem to have already provided that.” When she chuckled, he added, “My name’s Jerome.”