With reluctance, I tucked him away with careful movements and did up his fly. The hand tangled in my wayward curls gentled, rubbing at my scalp before falling away to lie at his side. His gaze had cleared somewhat when he met my eyes in the lamplight.
“Not a bad way to wake up,” he observed slowly, “though it’s somewhat concerning that I don’t recall going to sleep in the first place.”
I placed a finger over his lips again in warning. “I... think we must have been tired after the mess in York,” I said warily.
When he nodded his understanding of the need to stay quiet, I grabbed the pen and paper from beside the bed. ‘I think Nigellus did something to both of us so he could drain you again,’ I scribbled. Rans scanned the words. His face went hard, but not before I saw the pain of betrayal flare behind his expressive gaze. He took the pen and wrote ‘we still need him’ on the page.
“Blimey,” he said aloud. “I suppose we must’ve been knackered, at that. Ah, well. We should go see what Edward’s up to. The sooner we can get out and about without attracting the wrong kind of attention, the better.”
“Is there a right kind of attention, these days?” I muttered under my breath, and went to clean up so we could go meet Edward.
FOUR
AS IT TURNED OUT, being magically warded by a centuries-old butler involved—all together, now—blood. The dark red liquid mocked me from inside the small glass Edward was holding, reminding me of the blood wine in Hell.
“Hang on just a damned minute. What kind of blood is that, and where did you get it?” I snapped.
Yeah... I might have been just a bit on edge at that point. So sue me.
Edward blinked at me in mild confusion. “Human, of course. Specifically, mine, from a cut at the base of my left thumb, Miss. Why? Is there a problem?”
Rans sniffed the cut crystal glass containing the small amount of ruby liquid, and gave me an almost imperceptible shake of the head.
“No. There’s no problem, Edward,” he said evenly. “I’m afraid that too close of an association with me has made Zorah a bit blood-shy, for obvious reasons.”
“Ah,” Edward replied. “I understand. But I’m afraid magic and blood are tied together rather closely, Miss. I assure you, there’s no danger... though I will have to break your skin when I carve the runes.”
I opened my mouth, thought about it for a moment, and then shut it again. “You know what?” I decided eventually. “If that’s what it takes to get Myrial off our backs, I’m cool with it. As long as there aren’t any hidden catches, anyway.”
It was Rans who answered. “There aren’t. It’s a simple cloaking spell. The effects will fade over the course of a couple of months unless the wards are reapplied.”
“Awesome,” I said flatly. “All right, let’s do this thing, and I’ll just pretend I’ve never taken any first aid courses that highlighted the dangers of allowing someone else’s blood near an open wound. No offense, Edward.”
Edward was still watching me with a bemused expression. “None taken. And yes, Miss, that would probably be for the best.”
The old guy hadn’t traded in his smart black suit for wizard’s robes or anything like that, but he certainly had the ‘black magic’ spiel down. First, he chanted over the small glass of blood in an unrecognizable language, and power began to swirl above it with an eerie white glow. Then he chanted over a small silver dagger in the same way.
I shot a wary glance at Rans.
He met my eyes, not looking concerned. “Silver is the only way to carve a rune in me that will stay open long enough for the spell to work,” he murmured in explanation.
“Indeed. Would you care to go first, sir?” Edward asked.
“By all means,” Rans told him, and started unbuttoning his shirt.
I raised an eyebrow—not that I objected to the view, I just wasn’t sure if I’d be expected to follow suit... because baring my boobs to Edward would be a little farther along the freakazoid spectrum than I was comfortable with going. The butler noticed my expression and blushed a bit, of all the unexpected things.
“The rune works best over the heart for vampires,” he explained. “Lower abdomen would be ideal for a full-blooded succubus, and probably for you as well, Miss. I’ll make certain to preserve your modesty, I promise.”
“Uh, great. Thanks.” I glanced at Rans, trying to convey without words that any amusement he expressed about the current state of my ‘modesty’ would be met with swift and severe retaliation. But aside from a barely visible twitch of the lips, he was busy polishing his halo as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and let it hang off his shoulders to bare his chest fully.
Edward ignored the byplay and guided Rans to stand facing the room’s light. Like the blood, the little silver dagger was emitting a soft glow from within, I noticed. With only a moment’s hesitation, Edward inscribed a small pentacle in Rans’ skin with the blade. It was drawn differently than I would have done it... assuming I’d ever been inclined to carve a pentacle into someone, which I wasn’t. Instead of a single point on top and two pointing down like the star at the top of a Christmas tree, the single point was facing downward.
I could see Rans’
