My foot eventually dragged against something, and after a few more strokes, I reached the shore.
When my head lifted out of the water and the wind slapped my face, I crawled to shore and vomited. River water gushed out as I expelled it from my lungs with every subsequent cough. Each gasp of air was worse than the last, as if I were choking again. I coughed so hard that blood sprayed the wet pebbles. I couldn’t tell if it had come from my throat or if maybe I’d bitten my tongue. Before the sun dipped behind a cloud again, I pulled healing sunlight in through my fingertips. While it healed any injuries, it didn’t relieve me from the burning sensation, the numbness, the feeling of being encased in a block of ice.
I stripped off my wet jacket and then removed my shirt. The snowy bank led up to a road, but I didn’t see any cars or anyone else in the area. No one could see me except maybe an idiot with binoculars at the apartment buildings across the river. I squeezed as much water as I could from my shirt before putting it back on.
When I sat back on my legs, I looked in the direction that Lenore had fled. Still coughing, I recalled those last moments before falling and vividly remembered something the moment my legs had touched the water.
The pilot had turned around to look at me through the window. And as I let go, I recognized him as the man I’d been dining with just hours ago. The man who asked me questions about wishes and seemed genuinely interested in my thoughts. The crossbreed who was now damned to walk the earth forever but took it in stride. And there he was, aiding the two people in the world I most wanted dead.
Houdini was an escape artist after all. A trickster who cared for no one, not even me as I tumbled into the dark waters.
CHAPTER26
When the light switched on in the small room and Gem came face-to-face with Borislav, she froze like a statue. They had been working in that basement for hours! Not a single peep. Vampires didn’t have detectible energy, so she’d had no idea he was in there. They also didn’t have a personal scent that Chitahs could detect, so Claude wouldn’t have noticed him unless he put out intense emotions. And by the blank stare on this guy’s face, she gathered he was a master at controlling his anger.
Borislav stared at them with soulless black eyes. Like all Vampires, his skin was blemish free—no wrinkles caused by the sun and nary a freckle. It was especially jarring to see on a man his age. He almost looked dead as he stood motionless in the center of the room… staring at them.
“If you close that door, I will be angry,” he said in a thick and distinctly Russian accent that made Gem think of big bubbles in a tar pit. It was a strange mental image, and she found her thoughts fuzzy as he looked into her eyes.
Claude suddenly put his hand over her face, shielding her eyes. “We didn’t come here to steal your belongings,” he assured him. “We’re only here to document.”
“You are not with Frazier. I heard everything.”
Gem wriggled away from Claude’s big hand. She didn’t want to be blind to what was happening. “Why didn’t you come out earlier? We have nothing to hide.”
Borislav canted his head. He was a well-dressed man with grey hair slicked back. In fact, he reminded her of Anthony Hopkins in that serial killer movie that gave her the heebie-jeebies. “Everyone has something to hide.”
“Clearly you do,” Claude muttered.
Gem nudged him. While the both of them could outrun the Vampire to the elevator, it would take too long for the door to close. You had to outwit your enemy. “What do you want from us?” Gem asked in Russian.
Claude looked down at her, but she kept her eyes on Borislav.
Borislav slid his eyes back to her, and she lowered her gaze. “No need to show off. I speak English very well. You are more impressed by the books. It is rare to find someone with such appreciation for history.” He drew in a deep breath and sighed. “Am I to understand from listening to your conversations that this was all schemed by Frazier and Parrish? And what of my two colleagues?”
Gem rocked on her heels. “Alas, they weren’t as fortunate. Why are you hiding in here? Ronald didn’t mention you were here, and we charmed him.”
“Because, little one, he did not know. I do not trust easily. I hypnotized him to give me code and spare key and forget I am here. I am not concerned with the human. I have known Lenore Parrish from years ago, and I did not trust her then.”
“Then why did you strike a deal with her?” Gem asked.
He shook his head at her, the way ancients often did when they felt they had all the answers figured out. “A man in my position worries little about trustworthy people. If you betray me, you die. Simple as that. She has good business sense and power. It has grown increasingly difficult to access my wealth or understand how to use it. She understands the modern world, and I am an old Vampire who tires of hiding.”
“And yet here you are,” Claude said observantly. “Hiding.”
“Had you worked for Lenore, I would have snapped your necks hours ago. I want you to contact your boss and tell them you are done and going out for drinks. I will call my people to collect my things. The rest is yours. If you cooperate, I might let you live. But I will steal your memories of me.”
Claude growled.
The Vampire clasped his hands in front of him as if he were growing bored. “If you have the notion to run away and search for impalement wood, I will walk over to that wall and I will break the switch that operates the lights. Then we will see how fast you are, Chitah. How confident are you that there is impalement wood in this basement? The crates most certainly are not. Do you think I would have stayed down here without considering that?”
Gem gripped Claude’s arm when she noticed his fangs elongating. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Do as he says.”
This guy wasn’t bluffing. If he shut off the lights, that would be the end. He could shadow walk anywhere, and Gem wouldn’t see him coming.
She looked up worriedly at the Vampire. “I left my phone by the treasure chest.”
“Put your phone in my hand,” the Vampire instructed Claude while reaching out.
