herself hope. She’d hated him for so long for letting them down.
And somewhere else, Andarta was plotting the downfall of the human race, and a few other races if she had her way. Roz shivered in the warm air.
“Are you okay?” Piers asked, squeezing her hand.
She halted, tugged free, and leaned against the wall staring out over the dark water. “Yeah, I reckon. Just a little overwhelmed.” She sighed. “I’ve got a dad, and he’s a bastard, and you hate him.”
“He doesn’t like me much either.”
“Great, just great.”
“Hey, but no worries. Andarta might just get us all first, and you’ll never have to meet him.”
“There’s something to aim for.”
Piers moved up behind her, resting his hands on the wall on either side of her head. Her back pressed lightly against his front, but he didn’t touch her anywhere else, and they stood in companionable silence. Only hours earlier, she had been facing certain death at her own hands. Now, the world seemed full of possibilities, which was strange when you considered that very soon they might all be dead. But maybe it was better to die free than to live a slave.
How different the world looked when you were five hundred to when you were seventeen. She had no wish to die. Whatever she had with Piers—it was too new to put a name on—she wanted to explore. And he felt something too. He could have left her to die, and the problem of Andarta and the Key would have been gone. Instead, he’d saved her. He hadn’t asked for anything in return, and no one had ever done anything close to that for her since her mother died. She was all sorts of warm and fuzzy. It probably wouldn’t last, but she’d make the most of it.
A small boat appeared from under the bridge and chugged past them.
“The city never really sleeps,” she murmured.
“I know. That’s why I like it here.”
“Me too. I love this place. I’ve lived all over the world, but I always come back to London when I can.”
“Will you stay?” he asked.
“Would you like me to?” She held her breath waiting for his answer.
He leaned down and nuzzled the side of her throat, nipped her ear lobe with his teeth and a ripple of remembered pleasure ran through her. “Yes.” His hands slid up her arms and he turned her to face him.
“I’ve been alone for so long, I’m not sure that I’ll be any good at anything else. But I’m willing to try.”
“Me too.”
“Of course, that’s presuming that any of us are still alive at the end of this. And I’ve got to admit, the last time I tried any sort of real relationship, it didn’t exactly have a happy ending.”
“Andarta?” she asked.
“Yeah, but I’d rather not talk about that bitch any more tonight. Tell me about your father. What do you remember?”
Roz thought back over the long years. She had memories of him, but she wasn’t sure they hadn’t been distorted through time.
“He was beautiful, like he glowed.” Closing her eyes, she pictured him. “Those early years, he was with us constantly. He used to teach me things.”
“What sort of things?”
“The door.”
“What door?”
Excitement was bubbling inside her. She’d forgotten that part. “There’s something inside me. A…difference. My father told me I must hide it away or bad people would find me, and they would kill my mother and me. He helped me build a wall with a door, and he taught me how to close the door, how to lock it tight.”
She glanced up to find Piers staring down into her face as though he could see into her soul and unlock her secrets. “Jonas will help you see if it’s safe to open your door.”
She shivered. “Maybe. Anyway, one day he was gone. My mother always swore he would be back, but he never came. Not even at the end.”
His grip tightened on her arms. “I’m glad you made that deal with Asmodai. I’m glad you stayed alive.”
She realized something and a surge of happiness flowed over her. “Me too. And I’m glad Jack turned you into a vampire.”
“So am I.”
He brushed the pad of his thumb over her lower lip, still swollen from his kisses, and the slumbering desire woke inside her. She flicked him with her tongue then shifted one hand to the back of his neck beneath the silky hair and pulled him down to her for a long, slow, drugging kiss. His tongue thrust inside, filling her as he pushed her back against the wall, his body pressing into hers so she could feel the hardening length of his erection against her stomach. Liquid heat flooded between her thighs, and she rubbed up against him.
Only the blare of a car horn as it drove past them broke them apart, and he laughed softly against her hair.
“Let’s go back,” he said. “Dawn will be here soon.”
The sky was growing pale in the east when they re-entered the building. He hesitated at the elevator. “Stay with me. I need to sleep.”
Exhaustion tugged at her mind, and her lids felt heavy. “So do I.”
Inside his apartment, he stripped her clothes, and made slow, savage love to her, stretching out the tension until she was begging for release. Only then did he tip them both over the edge.
Afterward, he lay beside her, propped on one elbow. “I know you’re not particularly good at doing what you’re told, but could I ask one thing?”
“What?” she asked suspiciously.
“If you wake before me, stay inside. The building is okay, it’s warded, but don’t go outside.”
“Okay. I’ll stay inside.”
His eyes narrowed. “Wow. That was easy.”
“I’m feeling mellow.”
“Yeah, great sex will do that.”
“You’ll have to make sure I get plenty then.”
He leered. “I will.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close and she snuggled into him. His body felt cool against the warmth of hers, but soon she drifted into a sleep. Her last thoughts were—
Chapter Twenty
The elevator opened directly onto the rooftop. Piers stood at her side, her hand clasped in his as though he sensed her nerves. Christian and Tara were behind them. The Walker had agreed to meet, and he would be here in a matter of minutes. Her insides churned with a combination of fear and anticipation.
As Roz stepped outside, Asmodai appeared out of nowhere, and she jumped. He was in his demon guise, nearly seven feet tall, huge black wings furled at his back. He tossed her a bundle. “Put it on.”
Roz pulled free of Piers and caught it. She shook out the material and found a black, velvet cloak, full-length and hooded. Obviously, Asmodai wanted her hidden. But why?
“You ashamed of me?” she asked.
A smile flickered across his lips. “Let’s just say, it might be better to get the bad news out of the way first.”
“He’s right,” Piers said. “For once.”
Wrapping the cloak around her, she pulled the hood over her hair. “It’s hot in here.”
“I don’t think it will be for long.” He gestured across the rooftop to where a group of faint figures was taking form.
