Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down (12 page)

My jaw dropped as the idea solidified into a very real threat and I’d been utterly clueless to the danger.  Head hanging in shame, it made me sick to think what might have happened if Jakob had been the one to discover us.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that.”

“Put this out of your head for now, it ain’t worth the risk.”  His voice softened as he tipped my head up to meet his gaze.  “Promise me you won’t do such a daft thing again without talking it over with me, yeah?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make things worse.  I just want…”

Rob cut me off, pressing his forehead to mine.  “I know.  I want it too.  I want…” His tongue darted out to moisten his lips, mouth inching closer to mine before he caught hold of himself, drawing in a deep breath as he took a step back.  “It’s time for you to be getting on up to bed, miss.  It’ll be dawn soon.”

“Please don’t call me miss.”  If there was anything that made me feel the rift between us, it was that single word. 

“I don’t think I can say your name no more without giving myself away.”

“Oh.”  He was right, it was getting harder and harder to act like he meant nothing more to me than Gunnar or any other member of my staff.  But what else could we do?

“Tell you what, every time I call you miss, you can think of this.”  Rob leaned in and gently kissed my lips, slowly, full of bittersweet longing. 

I nodded when he pulled back, reaching up to wrap my fingers around the back of his neck.  “And every time I say your name, you think of this.”  My lips lowered to his neck, fangs extending slightly.  I made the tiniest of punctures there, drawing against his flesh just enough to send a ribbon of pleasure through him, relishing the hint of his blood across my tongue. 

“The things you say.”  His voice rumbled through me as we held each other close.  It was crazy cold outside though, and despite the heat his body put out, I could tell it was starting to get to him.

“Are you really
alright?” I asked, pulling back for my first up close and personal look at the ridge of scar over his heart.  My fingers skimmed over it lightly, and he shivered, whether from my touch or the cold, I wasn’t sure. 

His hand covered mine, pressing my hand closer.  “I healed right enough.  But there’s an ache in my heart Jakob’s blood can’t fill.”

“I’m there, he can’t take that away from us.”

“No, he can’t,” he agreed softly.

There was so much more I wanted to say, more than anything I wanted to stay in his arms, but he was right.  Now wasn’t our time.  Every second that ticked by spelled danger for the two of us.  I could feel the sun rising higher in the sky and my eyes began to itch with the coming dawn.  At some unspoken agreement we turned and meandered back to the house, our hands uncoupling as we left the protection of the maze. 

Tucker barely lifted his head as we slipped into the suite and I didn’t look back until I reached the door to my bedroom.

“Goodnight, miss.” Rob’s voice was barely more than a whisper, but it reached my ears fine. 

“G’nite, Rob,” I said, taking one last longing look before I climbed into my cold bed alone.

I had a feeling I dreamt about Rob that day, but the dream slipped away with the sun, no matter how hard I chased after it.  For once I had Jakob to myself, as I found him consuming a ginormous meal of fish and chips with an ocean of steamed clams on the side.  I swiped a fry off his plate, nibbling on it as I settled on the chair opposite him, giving nothing more than a polite smile to Rob who sat at the couch, cleaning one of his guns on the coffee table. 

“So um, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“I know, petal,” he said, delicately licking the grease from his fingers.  “My apologies, my time has not been my own.”

“No biggie, I know you’re a living god or whatever to these guys, but I did want to ask you something.”  That wasn’t strictly true.  I didn’t want to
ask
him anything, but I figured I’d get better results if I couched my desire to leave in terms that made it sound like I was hanging on his every word.

Jakob smiled indulgently.  “You can ask me anything,
älskling
.”

“Great,” I smiled. 
In for a penny, in for a pound…
  “I’ve been thinking, since you have things pretty much sewn up around here, I might go home early.  There’s a lot to do before my formal inauguration, and I’m sure there are a ton of questions right now with you stepping forward as my Sire.  I figure Felix can funnel any outstanding business to me as it comes up.”  I said nothing of the unrest waiting for me, figuring he might deem it too dangerous for poor little Anja to handle on her own.  I only hoped he hadn’t heard about it through the grapevine, but he showed no sign of anything but approval in his reply.

“That’s a good idea.  You would do well to prepare for my return.  There will be quite a fuss, I expect,” he smiled.  “I have some business to see to before I join you there, but I see no reason why you can’t make the journey, provided you are properly protected.”

Cool beans on toast!
  “Right, of course.  We’d be taking the private jet, so it’s pretty well protected.”

“You’ll take a full security detail with you wherever you go once you leave the House of Vetis,” Jakob insisted, dipping his fingers in lemon scented water before drying them on the napkin folded across his lap.  “Even to the smallest errand.” 

Again with the extra security.  I positively itched to ask him about the extra werewolf buddies he’d sent after us the night before, but I held my tongue except to say, “Okay.  Um, why the need for more red shirts?”

“Because the world is fraught with danger,” he said as though it was patently obvious.

Who did he think he was talking to?  If there was anyplace I felt safe in the world, it was in San Francisco among my own people.  “I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself.”

“I wish that were so, petal.”  Jakob reached out and patted me on the cheek like a child and it was all I could do not to bit
e him as he pulled his hand away.  “Rob, don’t you leave her side for one moment from dusk ‘til dawn until I return to her side, is that clear?”

“As crystal,” Rob replied without looking up from the oily rag. 

I couldn’t complain about that, but it worried me, what Jakob meant by returning to my side.  I wasn’t about to press him on it though.  “Great, well, I should get things in motion then.  I’d like to leave tonight and I should probably make the rounds, see if anyone needs me for anything before we go.  Also, I wanted to say goodbye to Sylvius too.  Rob, can you check and see if we need to put a request in for that or something?”

“Sure thing, miss.”

I smiled on the inside all the way out the door. 

* * *

My first stop was to see Felix and let him get cooking on the logistics to fly us out of there.  By the time we left, Bridget was complaining she needed a whole new suitcase to take home all the loot she’d picked up on the trip.  When had she gone shopping and why hadn’t she invited me along?

Rob excused himself after getting a text from Jakob requiring his immediate assistance, and Gunnar took over as my primary babysitter with the promise that I wouldn’t leave the grounds without waiting for Rob to catch up with me.  Deciding to skip any formalities, I dragged Gunnar down to the lower levels to see Sylvius, figuring it was simpler that way.  

Hoping to find Sylvius in one of his more lucid periods, I was trying to figure out a good way to bring up keeping an eye on Aubrey or at least appointing someone to keep an eye on him, when the man himself emerged from Sylvius’ chambers.  I opened my mouth to say something, but Aubrey turned and skedaddled in the opposite direction so fast, I wasn’t sure if he’d seen me at all.  Heck, maybe he was late for a cricket match on TV or something for all I knew. 

I knocked softly, but the great wooden door all but swallowed the sound.

“Maybe you try harder, like this.”  Gunnar thumped on the door, the sound echoing in the stone corridor with an ominous tone.

“Way to sound like the villagers with torches and pitchforks, now he’ll never answer,” I muttered, pushing the door open a crack to peek inside.  The lamps were turned down low, despite the hour, most of the light coming from the fireplace.  Sylvius sat slumped at his table before the fire, unmoving. 

“Sylvius?” I called out softly.  I knew he could hear me, if he chose to.  The Elder jerked in his chair, but didn’t say anything.  Jeez, maybe I’d woken him from a nap? “Sylvius?  I’m sorry to disturb you, but can I talk to you for a few minutes?”  I pushed further into the room, my eyes adjusting to the gloom.  “It’s me, Anja.  Remember?  Daughter of Jakob?”  There was no sense in skirting the issue now. 

His shoulders were even more stooped than they’d been the last time I’d seen him, as though he was caving in on himself.  His long, brown hair fell loose around his shoulders, but wild, as though it hadn’t been brushed in a couple of days.  One arm was retracted close to his body, the other pushed puzzle pieces around in short, jerky movements. 

“Sylvius?  Do you remember me?”  It didn’t look like we’d caught him on a good day at all.

“Doesn’t much matter now,” he replied, sounding winded, as though he’d been running.  “You won’t remember me after I’m gone either.”

“Of course I will.  Sylvius, when the time comes you’ll be leaving behind a great legacy.  A thousand years is nothing to sneeze at.  Think of all you’ve accomplished.”  Not that I had an inkling of what he’d actually done with his lifetime, but reaching the status of Elder, it had to be pretty impressive. 

“Doesn’t much matter now,” he repeated, fingers scrabbling at a puzzle piece that eluded his fingers, the fine dexterity needed to pick it up
having left him.  “Must hurry now, it’s coming… I can feel it.”

“What’s coming?”

“I can feel it eating at me from the inside.  Won’t be anything left.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  Gnawing and eating…”

“Okay, you’re starting to freak me out.  Gunnar, maybe we should call someone for help, don’t you think?” 

“Too late.  Too late to help me.”  Sylvius finally looked up at me, and my veins froze as I saw his eye filling up with blood.  I knew only too well what that meant.  “Gunnar, hit the bell pull and go get the Doc!  Frak, wait… he’s gone, all the Order’s gone.  Go get Bishop… he’ll know what to do.”

“Too late…” Sylvius burbled, his voice thick and decaying.  As I watched, his body caved in on itself as the ACBT ran its course and true to his words, Sylvius turned into a pile of dust in a matter of seconds.  A younger vampire might have left more of a mess, but one as ancient as Sylvius left nothing but oily ash. 

If he’d been left alone, there would be no sign of how he’d died, and no hint of the Order’s current weapon of choice.  Certainly no link to Aubrey if we hadn’t seen him leave minutes before. 

Gunnar hovered beside me, unsure what orders to carry out.  “What do I do, boss?”

“Find Bishop, tell him what happened.  I’m going to go look for Aubrey.  He has some explaining to do.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?  Why I don’t come with you?”

He was right, Rob would kill me himself if he found out I planned to accuse Aubrey of murder without backup.  “Fine, we’ll stick together.”  I reached for the bell pull, jerking it over and over until the sounds of footsteps scurrying in the halls reached my ears.  A nameless page entered, face crumpling in confusion when he found us there and not Sylvius. 

“Go get Aubrey and Bishop, right away, it’s an emergency,” I said, barely catching myself in time from blurting out that Sylvius had been murdered.  The last thing I wanted to do was start a panic.  The page hesitated for an instant, confused when he spotted the ash on the ground and I sent him a quick burst of compulsion.  “Get moving!”

More than anything I wanted it to be Bishop who came in first, but it was Aubrey who sauntered in, completely at ease for being summoned in his own House.  “Something amiss?” he asked, eyes lingering on the pile of ash for a moment before he turned to pour himself a drink. 

“You know exactly what happened here.  I’m giving you the chance to come clean about it.”

“Come clean about what?  There’s no crime afoot here, so you can climb off your high horse, sweets.”

How could he be so calm when all I wanted to do was tear his face off?  “You don’t call murdering Sylvius with ACBT a crime?”

“That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” he smirked, taking a sip and then pouring the rest of the glass.  “It was more of a mercy killing than murder.  Like putting down an old dog who was only suffering.  You should be thanking me, really.”

I stared at him, utterly floored by the admission, even if it was only in front of Gunnar and me.  “He wasn’t suffering!” I slammed the table with my fist, sending puzzle pieces scattering everywhere.  “Why did you do it?  He wasn’t getting in your way.” 

“Power unused is power lost.  I thought you would have learned that by now.  I’m the Elder now, not that wreck of a man.  Now I can do as I please.”

“Corley did as he pleased for hundreds of years.  Why did you have to kill Sylvius?”

“Because it’s my nature,” he bit back, eyes snapping with lost patience.  “Don’t stand there and tell me you haven’t done the same.  We’ve all heard the tales of what happens to those who block your path.  Or is that somehow different?” 

“I didn’t…” I closed my eyes, biting back the denial.  It wouldn’t do any good to cop to the deception, it wouldn’t bring Sylvius back, and I’d already been caught out in way too many lies so far.  “I won’t let you get away with this.  I’ll make sure everyone knows what you did to him.”

“Go ahead.”  Aubrey tossed back the rest of his drink, the smirk returning to his lips.  “Now, if there’s nothing else, I have a party to plan.  I’ll be sure to save a dance for you, sweets.”  He blew me a kiss, not even bothering to dodge the ornate porcelain box I winged at his head with enough force to shatter it into smithereens when it hit the wall instead. 

“Can you believe that guy?” I fumed, but Gunnar gave me an uneasy shrug, looking very, very nervous over the entire situation. 

Bishop showed up moments later, taking in the mess when his boots crunched on the porcelain bits.  “Hey, everything copacetic down here?  Should I be worried Aubrey looks like the cat that ate the canary?”

A wave of relief washed over me as soon as I saw him, and I immediately
darted forward to draw him deeper into the room.  “Yes, yes you should worry.  Bishop, he killed Sylvius.  Aubrey killed Sylvius.”

“What?” he blinked, the amusement fading, replaced by shock as he noticed the ash on the ground.

“It’s true, Aubrey shot him up with ACBT and it was too late to help him, and he just… he died right there and I didn’t do anything.  Bishop, he died right there…”  I dissolved into tears, unable to continue.  I couldn’t say why it hit me so hard since I barely knew Sylvius, but no one deserved to die like that.  Especially when he’d known it was coming the whole time.  

“Hey, it’s okay.”  Bishop gathered me into a hug, stroking my back in a soothing manner.  “There’s nothing you could have done to save him.  You know how the ACBT works
.  Once you’re hit, you’re a goner.”

“But you didn’t give up on me when I got hit with it,” I sniffed.  “You found a way to save me.  I just stood there and watched like a dumbhole while he fell apart.”

“That was before the Order weaponized it.  Anja, there’s no cure for that.”

I wanted to believe him.  I wanted to believe there was nothing I could’ve done differently.  Now, more than ever, I needed to avenge
Sylvius.  “We have to do something about Aubrey.  He admitted to killing Sylvius in cold blood.  Gunnar heard him, didn’t you?  The smug son of a bitch admitted it right to my face.”

Gunnar didn’t say a word, and I could tell from the way Bishop stroked my hair, he wasn’t all for
sending the guard after Aubrey.  “I’m sorry for his passing, and I’m sorry you’re upset, but I don’t see what I can do about it.”  

I pulled back from the false comfort to peer up at him through teary eyes.  “What do you mean?  We have to bring him to justice.”

“Anja, the strong can take what they want, it’s always been that way.”

He couldn’t be serious.  “That’s barbaric.”