Astrid’s expression wasn’t nearly as impassive though.Her eyebrows lifted.“Is he dead?”
My peripheral vision caught Blake looking at me, probably with amusement gleaming in his eyes.
“He’d be ash if he was dead,” Melissa said.
“Even inside The Rain?”Astrid asked.
Melissa opened her mouth.Closed it.“Good point.Did he die after he crossed the threshold?”
“He’s not dead,” I said, not quite hiding my irritation.“We’re taking him to a room.”
“And then Blake will be leaving?”The way Melissa asked the question made it sound almost… impolite?Rude?She wasn’t exactly challenging him.It was more like she was a poker player sizing up her opponent’s hand.
“I might decide to stay,” Blake said, his voice slowing to a lethal drawl.
The muscles in my shoulders took on the tension building in the room.What was this?Just the normal competition that existed between vampires and werewolves?Or was Melissa channeling the animosity Christian and Blake had always held for each other?Either way, she was much too young to disrespect someone like Blake.
“He’snotstaying,” I said, answering Melissa’s question.“We’re taking Deagan to a suite on the third floor.Is Christian around?”
If she’d kept her gaze locked onto Blake one second longer, he might have interpreted her behavior as a challenge.Fortunately, her expression softened when she looked at me.“He left with Phedre and Thordis.Why?”
I waved away the question.“Just wanted to talk to him about something.It’s not important.”
It was sort of important.Jared said he wouldn’t have brought Deagan if he were dangerous, but Jared couldn’t really know the state Deagan would be in when he woke up.I wanted to make sure he was watched by someone who could handle him, and Christian would be perfect.He’d survived more than a few skirmishes with paranorms, partly because of his military background but also because he was smart.He’d designed two different chemical concoctions to temporarily disorient vampires and werewolves.Then he’d found a way to compact and enclose the mixtures into tiny marble-sized orbs.He’d woven them into the black macramé bracelet I wore around my wrist, which he’d given me before Blake escorted me to Beltane.
I motioned Blake toward the stairs.
“Third floor?”he asked, shifting Deagan into a more manageable position.
I nodded, barely suppressing an apologetic grimace.Blake didn’t have his werewolf strength and stamina in the Null, and he’d been carrying Deagan for a while now.Even though he didn’t show it, he had to be getting at least a little tired.
Blake gave me a look but headed to the stairs without a complaint.
Chapter Four
“Thevampireshouldn’tbehere,” Blake said, staring at Deagan, whom he’d laid on the bed more gently than I’d expected.
I arranged the blanket up to his chest.“It’s the best place for him.”
“Not Deagan.The one who tried to kill you.”
I glanced at him, but his gaze remained on Deagan.I hadn’t known he’d made the connection between Melissa and my brief stay in the hospital after my parents’ deaths.Honestly, I still had a hard time moving past my first impression of her.I couldn’t erase the memory of Melissa as the woman who’d lured a staff member to bite the hell out of her shoulder only to turn around and fake being a human.But her master was cruel and manipulative, and when he’d learned my parents were looking to re-create the bloodsong spell, the magic that had created the Null, he’d assigned Melissa to recon duty.She’d been watching me well before the night I met her at The Rain.
“She’s Christian’s sister,” I said.“I trust him.”
Blake gave me a blank stare.“You worded that carefully.”
“Yeah.It’s complicated.She’s saved my life more than once, but she has to obey her master’s commands.”
“Who is it?”
“Her master?Crusco.Jared has people looking for him, so she shouldn’t have to stay much longer.”
“Will Christian leave with her?”
That question was unexpected, and I hadn’t thought about it before.Christian had been staying at The Rain on and off long before I returned home.He’d been friends with my parents, and I was used to him being here now.It would feel weird with him gone.“I’m not going to kick him out, but once Melissa’s free of Crusco, he doesn’t really have a reason to stay.”
Blake humphed.It was an odd reaction and an odd conversation.He and Christian were definitely not buddies, but Blake didn’t usually bring up…
