When they reached her, she commented mildly, “So, you can’t ignore a woman in trouble any more than I can.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tybo muttered, exchanging a chagrined glance with Valerian as he pulled out his key fob and hit the button tounlock the SUV doors.
“Did you notice all the people videotaping?” she asked next.
Both men stopped dead at her words and turned to look around the parking lot. Many of the witnesses who had been filming weregone now, most leaving when the campus police had arrived. But there were still a few watching them with phones out, stillrecording.
“Damn,” Tybo growled.
Valerian sighed and said, “You take the two on the right side of the parking lot, and I’ll—”
“Don’t bother,” Ildaria interrupted as the pair started to move. “It’s already been uploaded to the net at least once.”
When both of their heads swiveled toward her with alarm, she smiled sweetly. “I tagged Lucian Argeneau on mine. He’s probablylooking at it right now.”
“Ah, crap,” Tybo muttered.
“Now you know how I feel,” she said grimly and turned to get into the SUV, leaving them to follow at their leisure. When she finished doing up her seat belt and glanced out, she saw that the two men were still standing beside the vehicle, but with their phones out now. Looking for the video, she supposed with amusement and guessed they’d found at least one version of it when they both began to curse.
Releasing a satisfied little sigh, she leaned back in her seat to wait for them to get over their upset and take her to Lucian.Oddly enough, they didn’t seem as eager to get her there as they had been when they’d pulled her from class. It was a veryquiet ride to the Enforcer house, with a lot of angry and accusing glares cast her way.
“Ildaria! How nice to see you again.”
Ildaria smiled crookedly at that greeting from Samantha Mortimer when Tybo and Valerian marched her into the Enforcer house.She stood stiff and still when the other woman hugged her . . . until Sam whispered, “It will be fine.”
Relaxing a little then, Ildaria raised her hands to return the slender woman’s hug and even managed a real smile when Sampulled back enough to look at her face. Ildaria wasn’t sure it really would be all right, but Sam’s words at least gave herhope.
“Lucian and Garrett are waiting in the office,” Sam said, finally releasing her. She then glanced to Tybo and Valerian andadded, “For all three of you.”
Ildaria bit her lip when both men groaned and cast her accusing glares, but Sam grinned with amusement and slid her arm throughhers to lead her down the hall as she asked, “How are you settling in at Marguerite’s?”
“Good,” Ildaria murmured, forcing her worry aside for the moment. “Marguerite’s very nice.”
“Yes, she is, isn’t she,” Sam said with a smile that dimmed a bit as she added, “But I hope she’s taking it easy. She andJulius were so crushed when she lost the last baby. I’d hate for it to happen again.”
Ildaria halted and turned on her sharply. “Marguerite’s pregnant?”
“Yes. But maybe don’t mention it to her. She hasn’t told everyone yet. I only know because I heard Lucian talking about itto Mortimer and warning him not to involve her in anything stressful until the baby is born,” Sam said quietly and explained,“She was pregnant a year or two ago, but lost the baby and Lucian is sure it had something to do with stress so wants to besure we keep her stress free this time.”
“Oh,” Ildaria murmured. She had been living with the woman for more than a month now and hadn’t picked up on her delicatestate. Although, Ildaria had noticed that Marguerite was consuming a lot of blood, which was a necessity for an immortal femaleto carry a child to term.
“In fact,” Sam continued, “Lucian’s so determined to keep Marguerite relaxed and stress free you almost had to stay with uswhen they dragged you here from Montana . . . which I would have loved by the way,” she added sincerely. “But Marguerite hadalready got wind of your situation and insisted you should stay with her. She worried that your staying here would be uncomfortable.That the cells out back would feel like a constant threat to you of what could happen if you misbehaved.”
Ildaria grimaced at that comment, because here she was, in trouble again and probably going to end up in those cells Sam had just mentioned.
“It will be fine,” Sam murmured again, patting her arm. “And here we are.”
Ildaria glanced around to see that they’d reached Garrett Mortimer’s office—or Mortimer’s office, since everyone seemed toaddress Sam’s husband by his last name. Officially, Mortimer was the head of the Immortal Enforcers in North America, or roguehunters, as they were often called. But Lucian Argeneau was the head of the North American Immortal Council and often stuckhis nose in and usurped Mortimer’s position.
As he was apparently doing in this case, Ildaria decided when she saw that the ice-blond Lucian was seated in Mortimer’s chairbehind the desk while Sam’s dark-haired husband was perched on the corner of his own desk. The two men had apparently beendiscussing something, probably her, but stopped at their arrival.
“There are brownies and cocoa waiting in the kitchen when you’re done,” Sam said lightly as she released the hold she’d hadon Ildaria’s arm and urged her into the room. Ignoring the scowl Lucian gave her, the slender brunette then disappeared downthe hall, leaving Tybo and Valerian to enter the room as well.
“Sit,” Lucian said firmly when the three of them stood stiffly in front of the desk like naughty children in the principal’soffice.
Ildaria sat, taking the nearest chair, which happened to be the middle of three in front of the desk. It left Tybo and Valerianto take up chairs on either side of her.
Once the three of them were seated, Lucian turned the portable computer on the desk toward them.
