The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires

stoked up my 'go with the flow' intentions, and told myself I'd sort it all out later.

'Oh, this and that. It's mostly automated now, so it doesn't take too much effort to keep running. Leaves me time to spare for more pleasurable activities, like showing a lovely lady around the Court.'

'You've clearly devoted much time to flattery. It's second to none,' I said with a smile I didn't really feel, gently extracting my hand from his arm as we walked through a tunnel.

'Why, thank you, sweet lady.' He kissed my hand, then gestured widely as we emerged through an arched doorway into the third area. 'Behold, the sanctuary.'

'Is the sanctuary a, for lack of a better word, holy place?' I had tried to keep an eye on where we were going, memorizing as best I could the twists and turns through the town so I could find my way back to the main square. I gave up doing that as soon as I realized there were frequent signposts like the one Theo had consulted.

Gabriel laughed, and gave my fingers a squeeze, replacing them in the crook of his arm. I gritted my teeth against the desire to remove my hand. 'I can see you're going to need some help understanding how things work here. Holy has no meaning in the Court.'

Portia? Where are you?

Shoot, I keep forgetting I can mind-talk to you. I'm in another section of the Court. I'll be right there.

I do not like to be kept waiting. Where are you?

Keep your girdle on, I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Someone is showing me around.

Who?

'And here we are. The sanctuary is the area containing the offices and living quarters. No tour is complete without a visit to the grand apartments.' Gabriel gestured toward a bridge leading to a square-turreted castle that, for some bizarre reason, reminded me of Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland.

'Hang on one minute, now,' I said, coming to a stop. 'I am not going back to your apartment with you, if that's what you're thinking. I told you that I'm with someone, and he's waiting for me, so if you don't mind, I'm going to return to the square. Thank you for the tour—it was edifying in a number of ways.'

He grabbed my hand to keep me from leaving. 'What's your rush? Your friend will wait. My apartment is very special. I think you will enjoy it…and me.'

I gawked at him, unable to believe I was hearing what I was hearing, but the lascivious look on his face left me in no doubt as to the meaning behind his double entendre. 'I have no intention of enjoying you.'

Portia?

Coming!

'Why not?' Gabriel winked at me. 'You could do a lot worse than a cherub, you know. We're known for our sexual skills.'

'I wouldn't be surprised to find out that you're in charge of porn sites on the Internet,' I said, snatching my hand back and turning on my heel to walk back the way we'd come. I'm on my way.

Overhead, thunder rumbled.

'You are making a mistake, Portia Harding,' Gabriel called after me as I stormed into the stone tunnel. I stopped and looked back at him. He was leaning against a signpost, a knowing smile on his face. I wanted to slap it off.

'How do you know who I am? I didn't tell you my name.'

He laughed, pushing himself off the post to saunter over to me in a blatantly carnal manner. The air grew thick with static electricity. 'Word gets around. The latest rumor is about a mortal who had the cheek to get rid of a virtue in order to pardon her boyfriend. I have to admit, I like strong women, women who are not afraid to give in to temptation. I particularly like how they struggle before submitting.' He brushed a strand of hair off my face, his fingers stroking my cheek, leaping backward with a startled look on his face when two thin snakes of lightning struck the ground immediately in front of me.

'You dare!' he snarled, his face turning red as he backed up another couple of steps.

'I'm sorry. I don't seem to have much control over my little storm cloud, but it should be clear to you now that I don't intend to take you up on your…er…offer.' I mentally dismissed my cloud, and was relieved when it dissipated to nothing, the air losing its charged feeling.

'Bitch! You will find that we are not as easy to fool as your lover. The Court takes a dim view of murderers and cheats, Portia Harding.'

There was no reply I could make to that which didn't involved some pretty rude language, not to mention more in the thunder-and-lightning area, so I simply turned around and walked away as fast as I could. I got lost twice despite the signposts and Theo's mental threats to hunt me down, but finally arrived back at the square to confront the furiously scowling vampire of my dreams.

'You can stop looking like that—I didn't leave willingly. I was hauled off by a cherub to go on a tour of the Court.'

His scowl turned blacker as his eyes lightened to a slate grey. I followed as he started off in the opposite direction. 'Don't you think you have enough trouble without getting involved with that randy lot? Come along, we don't have time to waste.'

'Where are we going?'

'The library. One of the mares has agreed to meet with you.'

'Excellent. I have much to say to her.'

'I'm sure you do.'

I peeked a glance at Theo, but his face was unreadable.

'Are all the cherubs like the one I met?'

'Yes.'

I bumped my hand against his a couple of times, but he didn't take the hint, so I ended up sliding my hand into his, smiling to myself when his fingers tightened around mine. 'You might have warned me, you know.'

'Consider yourself warned: Stay away from the cherubs. They're a heartless group.'

'They certainly don't fit into the idealized vision of angelic,' I said, pondering that point for a few minutes while we walked along the narrow path that ran alongside a tall stone wall. 'You said this isn't heaven, but I rather expected the people who hang out here to be more or less good. If the cherubs are such bad news, why are they allowed to stay?'

Theo stood aside as I passed through a narrow wooden doorway. Ahead of us, a building dominated the area. Tall, with high, stained-glass Gothic windows, and pointy spires that seemed to stretch up to the sky, the building looked more like a cathedral than a library. 'You have such a black-and-white view of the world, Portia. You're going to have to adjust that to include shades of grey.'

'Meaning, everyone who resides in the Court is not good? I suppose it follows that everyone in Abaddon isn't evil?'

'As you have had proof, having visited it just a few hours ago.' Theo marched forward, to the marble steps that led to wide double doors.

'Touché.' It was cool inside the library, the sunlight beaming through the windows not doing much to raise the temperature. As I gazed around at shelves of books that seemed to be at least fifteen feet tall, I wondered if the climate was artificially controlled. Some of the books that lay open on pedestals appeared to be old, and no doubt fragile. There was a hushed atmosphere of subdued reverence that seemed to seep into my bones, leaving me with a slightly itchy feeling, and the propensity to whisper. 'Whereabouts is the mare?'

'This way.' Theo's voice was quieter than normal, making me feel a bit better about my own reaction. He led me to the left, to an area that would have been a small chapel if this had been a cathedral. We wound our way through the maze of books until we came upon a door almost hidden by a rolling ladder that allowed patrons access to the upper shelves.

Theo stopped before the door, fixing me with a dark look. 'Although the sovereign does not enforce strict formality in the Court, mares are usually treated with a bit more circumstance than the rest of the officials. They are referred to as 'your grace' in conversation.'

'I have no intention of being rude,' I assured him. 'Credit me with having some amount of tact.'

'You will need more than tact,' he answered rather ominously, knocking firmly on the door.