In front of us, an elderly woman wearing a floppy straw hat turned around and regarded us over the tops of her very large white plastic sunglasses. I smiled. She glanced at my arms, her silver brows shot up, and she turned back around.
Noah grinned at me. “Nope. That was my own test. And yeah—you passed,” he said. “After talking with Eli this morning, I was told I had to bring a small group of my guys with me, ask permission from Preacher, as well as Monsieur Dupré, then set a game plan.” We started to move with the crowd. “You must be pretty freaking important, darlin’.”
I didn’t answer. How could I? I didn’t understand any of it myself. We stepped onto the sidewalk on the other side of Bay, hit Factors Walk, and walked the cobbles down to the riverfront. I stopped. Noah stopped and regarded me. “You already know I have potent blood?” I asked. I didn’t want to look like the cartoon pork chop running around on legs any more than I had to.
“Hell yeah. We all do.” He grinned. “Always have. We’re governed by the Gullah-Gullah, too, don’t forget. Pact and all, just like Savannah.” He leaned over and sniffed me. “Barely noticeable at all anymore, babe. No worries. Although there is something else funky in there.” He sniffed again, and I swatted him away.
“Two strigoi,” I offered. “So don’t piss me off.”
“Day-yamn,” he said, dragging the word out with his drawl, admiration noticeably in his voice. “Must have some wicked-ass tendencies.” His grin was wide and bright white. “This I gotta see, babe.”
“Riley,” I offered. “My name’s Riley.”
Noah barked out a laugh. “Sorry ’bout that—habit.” He lowered his shades and openly oogled me. “But I gotta tell you. You are a babe, babe.”
At the riverfront, I stopped and rounded on Noah. “So there’s some big meeting at the Duprés’ tonight? Permission slips and all that to be signed? That’s all fine with me, but first I have clients to finish and a business to settle.” I shook my head. “Nyx is gonna kill me.”
“Sweet. I’ll hang with you till tonight, then,” Noah said.
I stared at him as we headed up the sidewalk toward Inksomnia. “Behave yourself until Eli gets here.”
He grinned. “Don’t worry. I was raised a Southern gentleman, darlin’.”
I shook my head and led him up the walk. Just before we reached the shop, I stopped and met Noah’s shaded gaze. “Okay, first, what was that smell? Second, why this, all of a sudden? Phin just told me you guys would contact us when you needed help. He even said your group and ours don’t exactly get along.”
Sincerity sank deep into Noah’s features, surprising me. “First”—he withdrew a sachet of something and dropped it into my hand—“my mask. Most vampires, creatures of the afterlight, whatever, have a certain special something about them that makes them distinct from all others.” He grinned. “Mine is my scent. If I didn’t carry this around, I’d have chicks—of all species—chasing me down. It was pretty enticing for the first twenty or so years, but then”—he shrugged—“wore my ass slap out, keeping up with all the women.” He winked. “Not to mention all the poodles named Fee Fee I had to chase off. Second”—his face grew serious—“one of ours was destroyed last night.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Noah shrugged. “Simply, we were outnumbered.” He shook his head. “Never seen so many newlings gathered before. Freakin’ out of control. We knew then we needed help.”
I stuck out my hand and took his in a sincere shake. “I’m not a kick-ass vampire, but I promise to kick some vampire ass.”
Noah grinned. “I totally believe you.”
We started up the walk again, and, at Inksomnia’s storefront window, I stopped once more. I still had his sachet in my hand. “Okay, so wait a minute. Are you telling me that if you didn’t have your magic anti-want-me powder, I would be all over you?”
Noah’s smile was pure raw male seduction, and, for a quick second, my insides pinged with lust. He reached slowly down and pried the sachet out of my fingers, his face, those eyes, mere inches from mine. I shuddered. “That’s exactly what I’m tellin’ ya, darlin’.”
“Whoa,” I muttered, amazed, still feeling as if I were in a slight horny haze. I shook my head again, and he grinned. “I hope my dog doesn’t start humpin’ your leg, Noah.” I hoped I didn’t start humpin’ Noah’s leg. God-
damn
.
Noah burst out laughing.
“Miles, sup my man?” Luc’s voice said, suddenly beside us, grabbing Noah’s hand and the two bumping shoulders in a man-hug. Luc glanced at me, his brow raised in puzzlement. “Ri, you okay? Ah, dude—you didn’t?”
“Sorry,” Noah said, smirking. “She asked.”
I shook my head, my gaze still transfixed on Noah. His smile was subtle but still seductive. Shithead. I shook my head again and moved between Luc and Noah, grabbed the black iron door handle of my shop, and opened it. “Yeah,” I muttered to Luc, my head still a web of lust and confusion. “Fine.”
Before the door closed behind me, I heard both vampires laugh.
By the time I wrapped up my last client—a sick freehand tribal tat of a raven inked onto the chest of a visiting RAF pilot from North umberland, England—it was six thirty p.m. Noah had hung out in Inksomnia, watching me work, watching Nyx work, and catching up with Luc and Phin. Seth and Josie had wandered in around six, and had left right back out to the downtown branch library to check out books. Then, Eli arrived. We’d all planned to meet up at the Dupré House by nine thirty. Permission slips. Game plan. Proving one’s abilities. Stuff like that. Luc had taken Nyx home. After treating her house adequately with Preacher’s special sauce, he’d felt she was safe to return. She now knew all she had to do to have Luc there in an instant was to think it. She was cool with that—probably cooler than cool. The two had been staring googly-eyed at each other all day long.
The moment Eli walked in, he headed straight for Noah. They did that guy thing, slapping hands and then doing a man-hug. “I heard my woman kicked your ass to the ground,” Eli said with pride. “Guess I shoulda warned you.”
Noah grinned over Eli’s shoulder at me. “She’s a wildcat, man. She can definitely hold her own.”
That, as I smiled at Noah, I sincerely appreciated.
“So let’s get out of here,” Luc said. “Papa’s waiting for us.” He glanced at Noah. “You ride with me.”
Eli’s gaze found mine. “You ride with me.”
I met his gaze. “No. You ride with me.”
The guys all laughed, and they left us alone. I locked the shop behind them, and before I could turn around, Eli was there. His arms encircled my waist; his mouth nuzzled against my neck. “Riley?”
“Yeah?” I said, my eyes closing from the intoxicating feel of Eli’s closeness.
He turned me in his arms and looked down at me. “I want to tell you something. Alone. Not in front of my family.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“I tracked Victorian to Richmond. I could’ve killed him.” His eyes bore into mine. “I wanted to kill him.”
“Why didn’t you?” I asked.
“Because his mother begged me not to.”
My eyes stretched wider. “His mother?”
“Yes. In my head. She swore Victorian was innocent—has always been innocent.” He shook his head. “But that’s not the reason why.”
I continued to stare, waiting for the answer.
Eli inhaled. “She also told me that by killing Victorian, you in turn would be harmed, in some form. Because you have his blood. His DNA. You are part of him.”
I blinked. “I have Valerian’s DNA, too. You killed him, and I’m still here.”
“And that may be why you’re experiencing kills,” Eli said. “Victorian wasn’t quite the asshole I expected him to be. He was a lot more humble. But he did tell me something.”
“What?” I asked.
“He says Valerian isn’t dead. That we may have destroyed his physical body, but he’s found another way to revive.” Eli caressed my jaw with his thumb. “And I believe him.”
The air in my lungs ceased. “No freaking way.”
“We have to investigate it further, but I’m pretty sure Valerian, in whatever form, is the cause of the disruption in Charleston. I believe Victorian.” He scrubbed my jaw. “Don’t like the fucker, but I believe him.”
I drew out of Eli’s arms and paced the shop. I pressed the pads of my index fingers into my temples. “Well,” I said, then turned on him. “I guess we’d better get to your parents’. We definitely need a game plan now.” I moved to the stairs, but Eli stopped me, his hand firmly grasping my elbow.
“He won’t get to you, Ri,” he said, an edge to his voice. “I swear it.”
“I believe you,” I answered, and grazed his jaw with my fingertip. “Let’s go see what your dad says.”
We were silent on the ride to Monterey Square. The September air had finally grown a little cooler—not much, but a little, and it whipped at my skin as we drove through the streets. It was hard tonight, to concentrate; to block out the sounds, the smells. They assaulted me from every direction, and it was really starting to piss me off.
“It’s because your mind is worrying about other things,” Eli offered. “It’s natural.”
Nothing, I thought, was natural about any of this.
Philippe opened the door as we walked up the steps to the Dupré House, his face unreadable in the dim lamplight and shadows. He almost—almost—reminded me of that tall creepy guy from the old horror movie
Phantasm
. Tall, thin, with a long, structured face, gray hair, and constant expression of doom. He liked me, though—I could tell. I was going to make that man smile one day. “Hey, Phil,” I said as I passed by. He glanced at me, and I nodded. “ Sup?”
“At this late hour, nothing, young lady,” he replied in his dry tone. “They’re awaiting you in the parlor,” he said. I smiled and shook my head. “Thanks.”
We walked in to find Luc, Phin, Gilles and Elise, Preacher and Estelle, Jack and Tuba, Zetty, and four others I didn’t recognize; three guys, one girl. I surmised they were with Noah. They all regarded me, expressions unreadable. I gave a slight nod and moved to stand beside Luc. Eli stood behind me, Gilles on my other side. Noah approached Gilles first, shook his hand, took Elise’s and brushed a kiss to the top of it. Then, he surprised me further by moving to Preacher and Estelle and giving them both a hug.
I had to stop and wonder if Noah was in any way related to Nyx, what with the hug-a-thon I’d just witnessed.
“
Non
, we’ve just known Noah for a long time,
ma chérie
,” whispered Gilles, leaning over me. “Nice boy, Noah.”
Elise leaned around her husband and glanced at me, her elegantly coiffed ponytail barely bobbing with her movement. She nodded in agreement and smiled. “He truly is.”
“Is that with or without his magic powder?” I muttered, and Elise’s eyes glittered, her mouth tipped into a smile.
The horny devil had even gotten to Eli’s mom!
Elise leaned close to me. “Only slightly, love.”
I grinned at her.
Gilles rose. “Most of us know one another. Some of you I’ve known for a very long time,” he said, and glanced at Noah. Noah gave him a respectful nod. “We are sorry to hear of your loss. Your loss, invariably, is our loss as well. While it’s our nature to honor one another’s boundaries, in this we bind together. We’ll do all we can to help.”
“The newling band in Charles Town is large, Monsieur,” Noah said to Gilles. “Last night we were outnumbered.”
Gilles nodded. “Spawns from the Arcoses, no doubt,” he said. “As is our way, we’ll attempt to gather as many in transition as possible. Some, undoubtedly, will be lost causes, I’m afraid. An unavoidable mission.”
Noah nodded. “Of course. We appreciate any help you can offer, sir,” he said, then glanced at me. “What about Eli’s woman?”
Eli’s woman?
“She’s more powerful than even she knows,” Gilles announced, and glanced at me. “You’ve only uncovered a fraction of your abilities, Riley dear. The rest will eventually surface, with experience.”
“Until then?” Noah asked. “Will her present tendencies be able to withstand the danger? What of her brother? The newling band is led by an unknown. He has complete control over the newlings. They do any and everything that’s asked of them.” He shook his head. “I’ve searched and come up empty each time.”
“I have a little insight on that now,” Eli said, stepping forward. “Somehow, Valerian Arcos has a hand in this.”
“A hand? We burned his
head
,” Luc said. “How can he have anything to do with this?”
Eli glanced at everyone, then turned his attention to his father. “I spoke with their mother, who begged me not to kill Victorian. She said their DNA and Riley’s are one. To kill Victorian could harm her.”
“But Valerian is dead,” Phin said. “We all had a hand in it.”
Eli nodded. “Yes.” He looked at me, then back to Gilles. “But not before he passed his DNA on to another.”
Silence filled the room for several seconds. “He’s been reborn in another,” Gilles said, his voice stoic, deadly. “And to destroy either will possibly destroy Riley?”