Eternal

privacy. But I wanted him close by, where I could see him.

Even though my bracelet’s moonstones glowed benignly instead of the more ominous bloodstones, I still didn’t trust Mrs. Girard and Luc, not completely, and not with my Megved.

Aidan and I had to tell Mrs. Girard about my connection with Matthew when we’d insisted that he join us. She’d seemed genuinely surprised and not at all pleased that we’d kept it from her. I counted that as a personal victory. My secrets were mine to keep until I was ready to share them. Besides, Mrs. Girard didn’t own me—she didn’t own any of us. She wasn’t even Matthew’s boss anymore; he’d turned in his resignation weeks ago, effective today, the last day of the term.

So he could follow me to the ends of the earth, I supposed. Poor Charlie.

“We still have several more hours until we land,” Aidan said, interrupting my thoughts. “You should try to get some sleep. Dr. Byrne too.”

I glanced over at the window, forgetting that the plane came equipped with permanent blackout shades. There was nothing to see, no indication of the hour outside the window, no view of the night sky or the ocean below.

“I don’t think I could sleep if I tried,” I said, nervously twisting the ring on my finger. Not on a plane full of vampires, even if they were the friendly variety. And not with the unknown danger that lay ahead of us.

Mrs. Girard had prepped us once we’d taken off, filling us in on what was going on. It didn’t sound good— Propagators gathering in Paris, along with leaders from a few Eastern sects who sided with them. The message was clear: Come and get us, if you can.

And so we would, or die trying. I’d agreed to the plan, the price of Aidan’s freedom, so there was no backing out now.

Just freaking great.

At the time, it hadn’t even occurred to me that I was pledging Matthew to the fight too. If something happened to him, if something happened to Aidan—

“It’s going to be okay, Violet,” Matthew said, his steady gaze meeting mine. “I don’t know how, exactly, but we’re going to succeed, okay?”

I sat up straight in my seat, my heart pounding now. “You’ve had a vision!”

He nodded, looking strangely grim. “I’ve seen enough to know we come out safely on the other side of this.”

I took a deep breath, considering his words—and the ones left unspoken. He’d seen more, something bad. That was the way our visions worked. “What else?”

“It doesn’t matter; let’s deal with this threat first.”

“You can’t just—”

“I need more details,” he interrupted. “A replay when I can actually focus on it. There’s time. Just . . . trust me on this.”

From the tone of his voice, it didn’t seem like I had a choice.

“Anyway, Aidan’s right. We should get some sleep.” He set his book on the table in front of him and then retrieved the blanket from the empty seat beside him, unfolding it and laying it across his lap.

“I’ll keep a close eye on everything,” Aidan assured me, reaching for my hand. “I promise.”

“Maybe if I listen to music,” I said, reaching for my cell phone and earbuds.

Aidan leaned toward me, his lips close to my ear. “Remember that song you played me? The one with the slow, marching beat? Try that; I bet it’ll put you right out.”

I shot him a glare. “I love that song.”

“I know you do,” he said with a grin.

“You’re lucky I adore you,” I shot back, then shoved my earbuds in and pressed play.

Not a day goes by that I don’t give thanks that you do, he answered inside my head, drowning out the song’s opening notes. Now go to sleep, love.

I hadn’t thought it possible, but I must have dozed off. The next thing I knew, the landing gear rumbling beneath my feet jolted me awake. The lights in the cabin were low; I had no idea if it was night or day. Across from me, Matthew was still sleeping, his arms folded, his features slack. He looked peaceful, far younger than his years, a shock of dark hair falling across his forehead.

I sat up stiffly, an uncomfortable crick in my neck where I’d been leaning against Aidan’s shoulder. “We’re landing already?” I asked, yawning.

“I’m afraid so. How’d you sleep?”

“Like a rock,” I said.

Matthew woke, straightening in his seat. “We’re there?” he asked sleepily.

“Just about,” Aidan said. “I talked to Nicole while you two were sleeping. When we land, the three of us are going to my apartment to wait. Nicole and Luc are going straight underground, gathering forces. When they’ve chosen the spot for the confrontation, we’ll join them, drawing the enemy to us.”

I nodded, unable to speak.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked me, just as the plane bumped against the ground.

“How long do you think we’ll have? At your apartment,” I clarified. “Before they send for us.”

“Not long. A matter of hours.”

“That’s it?”

He nodded. “That’s it. We need to get you and Dr. Byrne something to eat right away.”

“What time is it?” Matthew asked.

“Hard to tell with no windows, isn’t it?” I glanced down at my watch. “Just after four in the morning, New York time. So that’s, what? Ten a.m. in Paris? The sun will have risen already—how will they get around?” I asked, assuming that Mrs. Girard and Luc hadn’t taken the elixir that made it possible to withstand the sun.

But crap, Aidan had taken it—which meant he was going into a fight with his abilities compromised. Again.

“Don’t worry,” Aidan assured me. “They have their ways. Paris has an extensive underground footprint, you know. It’s why the city is so popular with vampires. Tribunal Headquarters is really an entire network—safe houses connected via the Metro system and unused tunnels and chambers. It reaches far out into the countryside.”

“Wow, they should include that in the travel brochures,” I said sourly. “?‘We’ve got vampires, all the way out to the burbs.’ That’ll get the tourists flocking.”

Aidan just shrugged. “It’s true of most cities with a large subway system. London, New York, Sao Paulo, Prague, Moscow, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong.”

“Remind me to avoid those cities from now on,” Matthew said with a frown.

The plane rolled to a stop, and Mrs. Girard made her way to the front, pausing as she passed us. “You know the plan, Mr. Gray. There’s a car waiting to take you to your apartment.”

He just nodded, reaching for my hand and helping me to my feet.

I wondered where, exactly, we’d landed. A private airport, I imagined, but surely we’d still have to go through customs or something.

Turns out we did, but there wasn’t much to it, just a single agent who barely glanced at our passports before waving us along. We followed Luc and Mrs. Girard down a ramp and through a door that led to a garage, where two long, dark cars were waiting. Somehow, our bags had already made it off the plane and were being loaded into the trunks by liveried drivers.

Silently, we climbed into the rear car. Just like on the plane, Aidan sat beside me, Matthew directly across, facing us. The first thing I noticed was that a panel completely blocked my view of the driver, and the windows on the sides and back of the car were entirely blacked out—which was odd, because it hadn’t looked that way from the outside.

Curious, I tapped on the glass.

“We don’t need this,” Aidan said, hitting a button on a panel above our heads.

There was an electric whir, and the dark panels on either side of the car slid down, revealing normal windows. “They’re reflective from the outside,” Aidan explained. “So, looking in, you can’t tell the windows are blacked out.”

I suppressed a shudder. “That’s so creepy. How far outside Paris are we?”

“About an hour, if the traffic’s light.”