“But Master, please—I do not wish to leaveyou,” said the first voice, which sounded like the littlecurly-haired androgynous vamp that was Corbin’s assistant.
“I know you don’t, Antoine, but I’m afraidyou have no choice.” That was definitely Corbin and he soundedtired. No, not just tired—unbearably weary, as though he couldbarely make himself speak. What in the world could have happened tomake him sound that way?
“I will stay by your side, no matter what! Iwill go with you, wherever it is you are going.”
“Antoine…” Corbin sighed heavily. “I’m sorrymy little friend but where I am going, you cannot follow.”
I frowned. Was Corbin planning a trip?
“It’s that witch, isn’t it? That LaRouxwoman—she did something to you.” The assistant’s voice sounded highand unhappy. “I could tell by looking at her that something abouther wasn’t right. Please, Master—what did she do? You haven’t beenright since that night. Did she put you under a spell or—”
“She did nothing I didn’t ask her to do,”Corbin said sharply. “Antoine, you forget yourself. You areoverstepping your boundaries.”
“Forgive me, Master.” The little assistantseemed to be almost sobbing now. “It’s just that I am trying tounderstand what is happening. Why you are sending us all away—”
“You don’t need to understand, Antoine. Youonly need to obey. Now go and check on the figures I asked you toget. Everything must be in good working order before I pass theFang on to its new owner.”
Hearing that knocked me back a step. Couldit be true? Was Corbin actually selling out and moving on? But why?What the hell was going on?
Just then the little curly-haired assistantcame stumbling out of the office in a very un-vampiric display ofclumsiness. There were smudges of red on his cheeks and I realizedhe’d been crying. He looked up at me briefly.
“Hello, Mistress,” he muttered before goingon down the hall toward the bar and dance floor.
Mystified, I walked up to Corbin’s officeand rapped lightly on the open door.
“It’s me—can I come in?”
Corbin was sitting at his desk, pouring oversome paperwork. When he looked up, I saw with a shock that Taylorhad been right. He really did look terrible.
His eyes were red-rimmed and their lovelysilver-blue color seemed dulled somehow. His face was paler thanusual too and there were lines around his mouth and under his eyesI had never noticed before. In short, he looked less than perfectand that wasn’t like Corbin. If he was human, I would have said helooked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. But vampires don’t reallyneed sleep so what was going on?
“Addison,” he said, frowning when he saw itwas me. “What are you doing here?”
I leaned against the doorframe and crossedmy arms over my chest.
“I’m here because Taylor called and asked meto come over.”
“Then why are you not speaking to herinstead of bothering me?” he demanded. “I am very busy just now, asyou can see.”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded, refusing to let hisrudeness drive me off. “What’s this I hear about you packing up andmoving on?”
“It is none of your business, that is whatit is. Now if you have nothing constructive to say, I must ask youto leave and stop wasting my oh-so-valuable time.”
“Corbin, what’s wrong with you?” Istepped into his office and went to stand in front of his desk. Itwas stacked with paperwork and he had a laptop open on one corner.On the other corner, I noticed the black stake. Just looking at itmade me shiver—the silver runes were still red but I couldn’t helpnoticing that the red was darker now, less blood red and moremaroon. An idea began to form in my head…an idea about that damnstake. But I sensed that I couldn’t ask Corbin about itdirectly.
“Seriously,” I said, trying to keep my tonelight. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” He looked irritated. “It’s onlythat I have much to do and a very short time to get it done.”
“Before you leave, you mean,” I said and alump formed in my throat. “Corbin…will I ever see you again?”
He shook his head briefly. “No onewill.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Whereare you going?”
“Someplace very unpleasant, I assure you,”he snapped. “Addison, please—”
“Are you thirsty? Is that it?” I came aroundthe desk to stand in front of him and held out my wrist. “Drink,” Isaid. “If…if you want to.”
For a moment he just looked at me and thenhe took my hand in his. I was surprised at how cold his skin was.Despite being a vampire, Corbin had always seemed to run hot butnow, touching him was like touching a block of ice.
“Addison,” he said softly. “I’mtouched—truly I am. But what I need, you cannot give me. No onecan.”
“But…what is it that you need?” I asked,mystified and seriously worried.
Corbin only shook his head and dropped myhand. “Right now I need you to leave me alone to work. I will askyou for the last time, why did Taylor ask you to come here?”
“Because she’s thirsty,” I said, improvisingon the spot. “Really thirsty—where the hell is Victor? Does heintend to let her starve?”
Corbin sighed and ran long fingers throughhis hair. “My understanding is that he is putting the finishingtouches on the house he was building for himself. When he gets itdone, he will bring Taylor to live with him for the remainder oftheir three month period of ownership.”
“Well, he’s taking too damn long,” I said,putting my hands on my hips. “You need to call him and tell himso.”
“All right—I will do it.” He sighed inobvious irritation. “I will add it to the extremely long list ofother things I must get done before I—”
“Before you what?” I prompted. “Go on.”
“Never mind.” Corbin looked around inirritation. “Where is Antoine? I asked for those figures agesago.”
“Maybe he’s crying somewhere,” I saidquietly. “He looked pretty upset when I saw him.”
“You are probably right.” Corbin sighed andstood up abruptly. “I will have to go find him—I do not have timefor histrionics.” He looked at me. “Addison, you need to go. Ipromise
