“Not much. Most of the stories I’ve heard…can’t be true. They have to be exaggerations.” Her gaze skimmed my face, then shifted away. Clearly, I should be more interested in the Langstons’ stories.
“What else did you hear about me, Selena?”
“You once killed another vampire to save Ambrose. After that, Ambrose tried to cut off all contact with you, but you insisted on keeping him in your life. You were once the most powerful man—vampire—in Philadelphia. Once you even dueled with the governor of Pennsylvania, and after that you disappeared. The next time anyone from my family saw you was at Ambrose’s funeral, and you warned his son to never contact you, but your name could remain on the building.”
So, a mix of fact and fiction. There was no duel with the governor, and I hated my name on the building. It surprised me that Ambrose had said anything about the night I killed one of my kind to save him, but then again, my friend was always full of surprises.
“Mostly true. All except my name on the building. I never intended to be part of Langston company’s operations. Not then, and not now.” Emotions played across her face—confusion and surprise. “But I’m glad it’s still there, because otherwise, you would have never come looking for me.”
“It wasn’t…” A strange look came over her face. “There was a note, Forge. Someone left me a note, with your signature. That’s why I came looking for you.”
“You told me that the first night.” I’d forgotten, but now that she’d brought it up, a flicker of misgiving went through me. “Out of curiosity, what did it say?”
“‘Find me if you need my help.’” Her grip relaxed slightly as she pulled back to scan my face. “It was signed by you—the signature was exactly the same.”
“How do you know what my signature looks like?” I asked, wondering who might be playing games. My friendship with Ambrose was ancient history, and given I’d been in virtual hiding for centuries, there was no one looking for me. Except, of course, the Elder. But involving humans in vampire affairs was now only frowned upon, it was foolish. And the Elder was not foolish.
“I just… I know, okay?” She pulled her hands from mine and turned to hide her blush. I was tempted to peek into her head to see how, exactly, she knew, but that would be a terrible betrayal, and not one I was willing to make.
Selena didn’t noticed the plane had reached cruising altitude until I leaned over and unbuckled her belt. “It’s a six-hour flight to Edinburgh. Make yourself comfortable—there are drinks over on the bar.”
She went over and put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the assorted bottles. “You brought Dad’s bottle.”
“I thought it might bring us a bit of good luck,” I told her, although the real reason was something I couldn’t admit, not even to myself. “There’s ice just below the glasses.”
When she returned, she handed me a glass, then clinked hers against mine. “Do you always toast when you drink?” I asked, thinking this was perhaps a new tradition.
“No, only with you. But it seems like we are always either celebrating something or one of us is trying to cut a deal.”
“Sláinte mhath.”
“Slang-var what?”
“Sláinte mhath,” I said again. “Good health in Gaelic, if you will.” I watched her mouth the words over and over again between sips. She had the most inviting mouth, and if I didn’t stop thinking like that, I was going to get both of us killed.
“I like the way it feels on my tongue. It’s almost like drinking good whisky, isn’t it, speaking Gaelic?”
I decided I could watch her drink whisky all day, from the way her throat moved as she swallowed, to the slight flush of pink in her cheeks.
“I’ve never thought of it that way. As a matter of fact, it’s been a long time since I’ve spoken that language.” Once, it had been the only language I’d known. Now I spoke at least four presentably, and preferred English, because it was generally easier.
“You still have an accent, though,” she said, turning her attention wholly to me. She gave me an easy smile, her head tilting slightly to take me in. “Kind of cute, if you ask me.”
12
What in the holy hell was wrong with me?
You didn’t tell a vampire he was…cute. Scary, most definitely. Forbidding…maybe, if I wanted to piss him off. But “cute” had to rank somewhere up there between calling him weak or a coward.
Which meant I did what any smart girl would do: I completely changed the subject.
“Where do we land?”
I hadn’t asked before, because, honestly, the whole situation seemed surreal, and I didn’t really think I’d actually be making this trip. Now that we were in the air, the prospect of an adventure seemed a bit more concrete.
“Edinburgh, of course.”
Excitement tickled my stomach as I mentally ticked off at least four distilleries close by. I’d dreamed of Scotland since I was little, from the stories Great-Granddaddy told, to travel books Dad had lying around.
“What time does this meeting of yours start?” I was already mapping out our route, the shortest distance with the most distilleries. It wasn’t even that hard, since there were so many.
“Not until midnight.”
“Wow, good thing that’s not clichéd, or anything.” I watched Forge’s eyes crinkle with laughter. “But good, we’ll have time visit a distillery or two,” I casually suggested. “Since I’m doing you a favor and all, you can indulge me, right?”
For a second, I thought he’d deny me, but Forge in the air was definitely more laid-back than Forge on the ground.
Of course, I should have known there’d be stipulations to him agreeing.
“Only if you manage to keep me from guessing every single thought that pops into your head.” He looked at his watch. “Starting right now.”
I focused my entire will on my
