“What’s wrong?” I ask.
He sighs, taps out a text, and slides the phone back into his pocket. “One of the older vampires was trying to enter data onto a spreadsheet I’ve been keeping for some of our accounting stuff, and he managed to mess up what was already there. At least he thinks he messed it up. He probably just hit ‘show formulas’ or something, but I have to go fix it regardless.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Older, like—?”
He grins. “Older like rotary phones are newfangled technology and why in heaven’s name don’t we keep proper pens around here anymore, haven’t you any idea how wasteful these ‘point balls’ are?”
He scowls like an old man, making his voice gruff and grumpy until he can’t hold in his laughter any longer.
I laugh along with him, and he pulls me close, holding me securely against his chest. I bury my face in his shirt and wrap my arms around his waist, relishing the warmth of him all around me. I breathe him in, memorizing the way he feels and sounds, memorizing the way I feel when I’m with him. I’ll need these memories to keep me sane after I leave.
On the other hand, maybe holding on to these feelings is what will eventually drive me crazy—or get me killed. Because I’m not going to stop hunting vampires, and I can’t afford to show restraint on the street. Knowing that some of the monsters I kill might laugh like music and smell like warm rain in their home element will leave me with a guilt that whiskey won’t be able to touch.
He pulls away from me and kisses my forehead, then my nose, then my mouth. He lingers there a while until his phone buzzes again. Then he pulls away, eyes full of regret, and brushes his fingers over my face.
“Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow,” he sighs.
I grin. “I didn’t think you were a Shakespeare kind of guy.”
His brow furrows. “Shakespeare? I thought that was Willy Wonka!”
I can’t tell if he’s serious or not, but he’s gone before I stop laughing. I watch his cocky little strut as he disappears back the way we came from. For an instant, I consider following him, just because I know that he’s going to have to punch the code in to get upstairs, but I reject the idea as soon as it occurs to me. He’s too aware of my presence. Accepting momentary defeat, I head back to my room. Once I’m sure that Connor has moved on, I sneak out again and spend the rest of the day hanging out near the corridor where the elevator sits, but I don’t have any luck.
At dinner, every bite of food seems to go down my throat like a lump of cement, and I even go as far as veering out of the way instead of heading straight back to my room after the feast is finally over. But there are no vampires using the elevator at this time of “night,” since it’s actually late morning topside, so there’s nothing to see. I’m tempted to punch in what I know and guess the rest, but I don’t want to risk setting off an alarm with too many wrong guesses.
Disgruntled and on-edge, I head back to the tribute wing.
The moment I open the door to my little bedroom, I know something is wrong.
I can feel it even before I take in the chaotic mess that’s strewn about the space, like something hovering in the air. My mattress is lying cockeyed, contorted at an angle from the bedframe to the floor. Sheets and blankets lie scattered over the stone floor, along with all of my clothes and shoes.
Motherfucker.
My room has been ransacked.
Chapter Nineteen
Fuck. What the hell happened in here?
Fear clouds my brain, but a rush of adrenaline parts the clouds in my mind. Someone found out. Someone must have suspected me for some reason. Maybe because I went to Rome and tattled on the other vampires? Or did someone notice that I always seem to be out wandering, and that I tend to stick to certain parts of the palace on my meandering walks?
I want to punch a wall. Better yet, a vampire.
I have to get to Nathan, have to get us out of here before one or both of us gets killed. Did they find my weapons? If they did, I’ll be lucky to get ten feet, never mind trying to get across the palace to the men’s wing.
My mouth is dry, but my heart has finally come down out of my ears to rattle my ribcage at a more reasonable volume.
As my hearing returns to normal, something catches my attention out in the hallway. A whispered voice, quiet but high-pitched.
“—would have paid to see her face!”
“God, I would pay my whole bid price for a spy cam right now.”
Tittering laughter follows that statement, and my hands curl into fists. Something that’s part relief, part anger, and part annoyance rises up from my belly in a wave as I realize it wasn’t a vampire who went through my room.
It was a human. Several humans.
Several petty fucking bitches.
Fury, eager to be tapped after such a long suppression, overwhelms my lingering panic in an instant, and I move, spinning away from my open door. Here I am, trying to save my damn brother, and these assholes are pulling middle school fucking pranks. Blind rage fills every taut fiber of my being as I stalk the sounds to their source.
The girls are huddled in Winona’s room, whispering and giggling.
Several of them yelp as I crash into the room, but I’m not interested. Winona is sitting smugly on her bed, posing like some debutante princess. She gives me a cool, bored look.
Yeah? We’ll see how bored you are in a second, you twat.
She’s expecting a verbal altercation, so I don’t give it to her. Instead, I grab her by her hair
