“My cousin tried to kill me today,” he said. He realized that his voice held an edge of hysteria. “She nearly succeeded. But I guess that’s fair, since I was trying to kill her at the time.”
“Do you need help with her?” she asked.
He shook his head. He didn’t know what kind of help she might offer, and he was pretty sure he didn’t want to. Michael wasn’t the only one whose friends did not live entirely by Vida code. Zachary maintained his relationship with Olivia by never allowing himself to consider the people she was willing to work with.
The kettle whistled, and Olivia poured two cups of tea. She made his sweet, with just a little cream, the way she knew he liked it, and handed it to him in a mug she had made with her own hands and always kept aside for him. She had “given” it to him as a gift, but kept it in her cupboard because she knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it anywhere he lived. A beautiful handmade piece of pottery sitting alongside the generic bargain-store white mugs would lead to too many awkward questions.
By the time he had taken the first sip, his anxiety was gone, leaving only bone-deep exhaustion behind. Olivia sat behind him, on the back of the couch, so she could massage his shoulders.
“So,” she said as he shut his eyes and leaned back against her. “Do you want to talk about this horrid hunt you’re on?”
“I can’t,” he answered. Some of Olivia’s contacts could probably connect him to his targets, which meant that according to the Rights of Kin, he
“You put all of SingleEarth in a flurry,” she said. “I had three appointments cancel this morning.” From someone else, the words might have sounded like an accusation, but from her they were as casual as a remark about the weather.
“Sorry,” he said anyway.
“Never apologize to me for doing what you have to do, and being what you have to be,” she replied, tilting his head up so he met her dark gaze squarely. She slid down from the back of the couch to lean against his side. “You should get some sleep, darling.” She ran a hand up his chest, then hooked one finger under the chain barely visible at his throat, fishing the necklace out so she could see it. The pendant was also Olivia’s work; she claimed that it was one of her first experiments with silver.
“I can’t go home.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Stay here. I’ll have homemade beef stew ready when you wake. You need to get your blood pressure back up. You’re much too pale.” Before he could comment on her ability to read him so well, she remarked, “I probably know you better than you know yourself.”
“Do you know how I’m going to make it through this hunt?”
She paused and kissed his cheek before saying, “I don’t care how. I just hope you
As she returned to the kitchen, he stretched out on the couch. He tried to watch her start the stew she had promised, but his eyelids began to droop. He knew it was a lie, an illusion, but he
CHAPTER 15
SATURDAY, 4:37 P.M.
AS DUSK FELL, Sarah opened her eyes.
She had been dreaming—or remembering.…
There had been a girl, a beautiful lady, with honey blond hair and dove white skin. She stood beside a sable horse, one hand on the leather of the saddle, and one hand out like a queen giving a serf permission to rise.
Then a different image. Nikolas, averting his eyes, turning his face away and asking in a very small voice, “Do you forgive me?”
Sarah shoved herself to her feet. Once again, it took too long for her to remember where she was.
She nearly ran into Kristopher as she stumbled into the hallway. He caught her arm to steady her.
Those were his memories. She had healed him but had not had any energy left to shield her mind before they had fallen asleep in rooms divided only by a single wall.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
She meant to say,
She wasn’t talking about the bloodbond who lived with them now, but the girl of the same name who the twins had loved when they were younger. Kristopher had pursued her despite the difference in their stations, and in the end she had rejected and publicly humiliated him. Nikolas, in a fury, had struck her and killed her.
They had both been human then. More than a hundred years later, the mere mention of Christine still had the power to affect both brothers strongly; just sharing the dead girl’s name had contributed to the modern-day Christine’s situation.
Kristopher’s eyes widened and she felt him try futilely to shield his thoughts from her. “She … you …” Though she tried to turn her mind away, Sarah couldn’t help feeling his distress. Of all the memories he had, the ones of that girl were the last thing he wanted to share. A century and a half later, his feelings about her were still ambivalent. He had loved her; he hadn’t really known her. And in the end it had killed her.
“Yes.” The answer came from Nikolas, who approached from the stairwell. He must have felt Sarah wake. Perhaps he even knew what she had dreamed, and had chosen to intervene.
“At least, she seemed to be. It’s hard to know what she would have looked like through different eyes.”
“Do you regret what happened?”
This time, Nikolas looked horrified. “Christine Brunswick was used to having everything she wanted, and she was thrilled to have two desperately infatuated young men tripping over themselves to impress her and answer her every whim. She loved to tease, in private, even though in public she put on her high airs and was too good to even look at us. She was a coquette. She was a spoiled brat. But she didn’t deserve to die.”
“I’m sorry,” Sarah said. “I shouldn’t even have brought her up. I’m not used to dreaming someone else’s memories.”
“At least the smile is nice to see,” Kristopher observed with a forced light tone as he tried to shift the conversation. “What’s it for?”
Sarah had been trying to suppress the expression, which didn’t seem appropriate for the conversation, but since Kristopher had noticed it, she had obviously failed. She admitted, “I forget sometimes that you two were born more than a century ago. And then I hear Nikolas use the word ‘coquette.’ ”
A cry from downstairs made Sarah spin about, tensing for a fight before her mind recognized the noise as a happy sound.
“Our Christine has a guest,” Nikolas said with a wry smile Sarah didn’t understand until the three of them reached the living room, where Christine was laughing over a photo album with Heather.
Heather’s smile and laughter instantly disappeared as she saw the three vampires. She snapped the album shut, and several loose photos from the back tumbled to the ground. She swiped them up quickly, shoved them back into place and then rose to her feet.
She spoke to Sarah. “Robert asked me to bring some of Christine’s belongings to her, after you sent me off with him. That’s why I’m here.”
Only after the bloodbond delivered the rapid defense did Sarah realize she had always thought of Heather as an extension of Kaleo. Heather must have anticipated that and known that one of Kaleo’s agents would not necessarily be welcome in this house.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” Sarah said. “And thank you for helping Robert and Christine.”
Heather visibly relaxed and then let out a sigh. “If you’re up, then I’m here later than I meant to be. I should get home.” She turned and grasped one of Christine’s hands before saying earnestly, “It’ll be okay, I promise.” She nodded to Sarah, Nikolas and Kristopher and then went through the front door as if she were fleeing.
