“I heard,” I said, staring at the screen where, only a moment ago, there had been a view of Leo’s desecrated tomb.
Eli said, “Grief is a peculiar thing. It can hit out of nowhere and knock you off your feet. Take you back to another time and place. Another part of yourself.”
I nodded but didn’t reply to his wisdom, instead changing the subject. “I read the Onorio’s mind. Monique’s, not Bruiser’s.”
Eli tilted his head the barest fraction, visible in my extreme peripheral vision. “How?”
“I rubbed a little of her blood into the Glob and onto my crown, and I touched her.”
“Guesswork? What if she had taken you over?”
I shrugged and said, “I’d have broken her neck.”
“Good answer. Still. That was stupid.”
“Yeah. Next time I’ll make sure you’re there. But she was secured with null cuffs that I duct-taped in place. And I got info.”
“I’m listening.”
I turned to face Eli and told him what I had learned from our prisoner. With a battle-worthy smile, he said, “We should take Monique Giovanni with us. She might be enough of a lure to bring out the Firestarter.”
I chuckled, and though it sounded tired and worn, I managed to add, “Make it so, number one. Oh. You may need a stretcher. I think I broke her.”
Eli gave me that rare, full grin, flashing pearly white teeth. “Good. We got this, babe. It’ll be fine.”
I didn’t believe it. Not with the wordsmy masterfalling so easily from Bruiser’s lips. Silently, I climbed the stairs and entered our suite. Bruiser wasn’t packing. He was staring out the windows at the hills, arms crossed over his middle. I stood in the doorway, watching him, the tightness of his shoulders, the angle of his head, looking out and down.
“I want him to be dead,” Bruiser said, his voice laced with the softness of grief that Eli had mentioned. “I want Leo to be dead because if he is not, and if he has risen as a revenant, I will have to find him and kill him.”
It was much the same thoughts I’d had about Grandmother. But I wasn’t sure whyBruiserhad the “kill Leo job.” That was my job.
I crossed the room to him, standing with my shoulder touching his. Together we looked out over the quiet, peaceful vineyard and the hills beyond. I didn’t know much about the way love turned to hate in people, but I had seen it often enough. I let him talk.
“His death as a revenant would fall to me as his former primo. That responsibility was assigned to me when I accepted the position and was part of my contract with him.”
“And if he rose sane?” I asked.
“If Leo is twice risen, thrice born, and if he rose in his right mind, he would have gone directly to the Mithran Council Chambers, where he would likely have challenged you to take back his city.” Bruiser let go of himself, turned, and pulled me slowly into his arms. “Yet he has done nothing. He has not appeared. There are no reports of feeding massacres. He has not shown up at the place of his power in the city.” His arms tightened around me.
“I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to do. He was my friend.” He massaged his temples with one hand for a moment, as if he had a headache, before he put his arm around me again and dropped his head to mine. “I loved him once, but that was a long time ago. I will end him if I think he is trying to harm you. I will drain my former master into my slave. And that might...” He took a breath that quivered softly. “That will either break me or make me just like him.”
I hugged him tightly.
CHAPTER 6
Whoopie Dang Do
An hour before sunset, Bruiser and Eli loaded the luggage into a suburban, readying clothes and gear to be taken to the airport. As they sweated and grunted, I watched and twiddled my thumbs and ground my teeth. I really hated the Dark Queen’s official jobs and lack ofrealjobs. I wanted to be hauling luggage. Which was stupid.
I realized I was bored. And that made me grind my teeth even more. I was the DQ. I should be able to do what I wanted. But I couldn’t. I watched them drive away to the airport, leaving me safely in my quarters. Frustrated, I decided to eat a snack. A dozen eggs and big bowl of oatmeal sounded good. I needed the protein and complex carbs. Maybe I’d put a pile of sugar on the oatmeal.
***
They were back at the inn by the time the vamps woke at sunset, and we loaded everyone into SUVs and headed to the airport. There were hungry vamps in the two leading Suburbans—Kojo and Thema, Koun, Tex, and their human breakfasts. I still had to deal with the whole “Kojo andThema drinking but not sharing blood for healing” thing. In the middle SUV were Bruiser, the Younger brothers, and me, all of us heavily armed in case we were attacked on the way to Asheville. Monique Giovanni, still unconscious and securely shackled, and her guards rode in the fourth vehicle. In the last vehicle was the remaining luggage, things everyone forgot to pack and justhadto have. The five-vehicle caravan wove down the hilly roads. It would be a miracle if the Learjet didn’t fall out of the sky with the weight of us and all the stuff.
Except we didn’t board the Lear. When we stopped, it was in front of a bigger aircraft.
Bruiser said, “It is a PC-24, Pilatus charter jet. It’s big enough to carry us and all of our luggage. And it is almost as fancy inside as your Lear,” he added. “Go on. Check it out. We’ll wait.”
