His smile turned secretive, a challenge I couldn’t ignore.
“It’s old,” I offered haltingly, trying to put the exquisite taste—the experience—into words and failing miserably. “Older than anything I’ve ever tasted, maybe.” Age was the only explanation for the depth of the flavor. A crazy idea occurred to me, though I immediately discounted it.
As if he knew my thoughts, Forge’s smile grew wide. Forget handsome—set against the elegance of this room, he became every bit as beautiful as his surroundings. I, on the other hand, was most definitely out of place.
“When was this made?”
“When do you think?” he asked, the overhead light glinting in eyes that seemed to be laughing at me. For a second, I got caught on how his dark hair complemented his pale skin, then I shook myself.
“It can’t be what I think it is.” When he did nothing but watch me over the rim of his glass, I guessed the impossible: “This is Ambrose’s whisky.”
“The woman knows her whisky,” he said, his face frustratingly unreadable as he lifted his glass to me. “Unfortunately, I only have this bottle left. I decided it was time I open it. Sláinte.”
This time, when we clinked our glasses together, we both smiled.
“There is one more thing to take care of before we leave for Scotland,” Forge said, setting down his glass and leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “Your face is like an open book. Other vampires won’t have to read your mind, not when they can read your face so easily. We have to work on your poker face. If you can master that, then you’ll accompany me. Otherwise…”
My heart sank.
When, exactly, I’d decided that I really, really wanted to go to Scotland, I didn’t know, but I wanted it desperately. I wanted to be part of this Assembly, whatever it was. I wanted to stretch my wings, see what I could do. “All right. But what does it matter what anyone else thinks about me?” From everything I knew about vampires—which, granted, was mostly from reading steamy romances—vampires hardly even cared about humans. In fact, I was banking on the fact they’d just ignore me completely.
“They’ll be curious about you, at the very least. While it’s not unusual for clan members to bring a companion to Assembly, they will be suspicious of you. I would tell them you’re my lawyer…” A corner of his mouth twitched back up. “But we don’t use lawyers.” His humor faded away, leaving that serious, inscrutable look on his face. “Assembly lasts for one hour. During that time, your face must be as impenetrable as your mind.” He sighed. “Right now, you’re worried you won’t be going to Scotland at all. If I can read you that easily, then my brethren can as well.”
“Okay, well… I’ve never played poker, and I’m used to speaking my mind. What do you suggest?” I’d never had to control my emotions, for God’s sake, and given my admittedly bad temper sometimes got away from me, this newest task might prove more difficult than building my shield.
Forge pointed to a mirror hanging between two bookcases. “Face the mirror and watch how your face changes. Then figure out how to create a mask that no one else can read.”
I faced the mirror, and the only thing I noticed was how tangled my hair was. I wished I’d taken a few minutes to spruce myself up before I arrived. But no matter; Forge didn’t care about anything except that I could see into other vampires’ minds. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“If you don’t go to Scotland, I expect the money to be paid back.”
My mouth fell open before I had the sense to snap it shut. “But you said—”
“Look at your face, Selena,” he said gently. “You can’t show them every last thing you’re thinking. Let’s try that again.”
This time when he said it, I forced my face to remain smooth, settled into an expression of disinterest. It felt like my cheeks had rigor mortis, and my eye was beginning to twitch, but from the approval on Forge’s face, I knew I was on the right track.
“That’s much better. You have five days to get that expression down perfectly, and we can leave. If you can’t convince me you’re ready, then you stay behind.”
During the pause, I sensed he wanted to add something else to that, but instead, he said, “Practice as often as you can. Be here on Friday at seven o’clock. Not a minute before.” He seemed to put extra emphasis on that last word, but I was thinking about the money, and not keeping up my part of the deal.
“And the loan?” I took the last drink of my whisky, still amazed that it was Ambrose’s.
“We made a deal, Selena.” A smile quirked his mouth. “I know you won’t let me down.”
10
Friday, otherwise known as the day of my final test that I hoped I passed, came faster than I’d expected. True, I’d been practicing the face thing in the mirror, but nothing, it seemed, ever fully prepared me for Forge. Which was why I locked my shield into place before I even passed through the gates.
I arrived an hour early, planning—for once—to ambush Forge before he ambushed me, and I was feeling pretty damn smug, positive I’d get the jump on him as I parked the car and crept silently up the front steps.
“Now we’ll see who wins this round.”
The house was darker than usual, only a few lights on, and I pushed the door open after my faint knock went unanswered. True, I wanted to sneak up on Forge, but it still didn’t seem like a good idea to just let myself inside a vampire’s house. Much like the first time I was here, the rooms were dark, but after a quick pass through the first floor, I didn’t find Forge anywhere.
“He’s probably waiting until I get close, then he’ll jump out of the shadows and
