It is time.
It is…
Mairead took in a sharp breath. Sheknewwhat the date and time meant. They were the date of and time of Eiji’s death! If he wasn’t turned now, his time would be up. She clutched the front of her chest and felt like she couldn’t breathe for a moment. Eiji’s desire to keep her company had almost killed him and taken away his dream of being a Vampire!
But Sophia came! Sophia made sure he didn’t lose his chance!
Mairead didn’t even realize that she had stuffed papers hastily back into the envelope or set them back where they had been. She was rising and heading out. She glanced back down the hallway one more time. But she wouldn’t disturb Eiji. Shewantedhim to be turned now more than ever. She didn’t want a minute’s delay. She wasn’t even sure where she was going, but found herself taking the stairs two at a time and bursting out into the night.
Her head swiveled right and left. She saw the small, slender figure of Sophia in her ridiculously adorable dress standing by a nearby light pole. She had one hand on the pole and was swinging herself around it. Mairead ran to her. She had no idea what she was going to say. She skidded to a halt, feeling breathless and, abnormally for her, without words.
“Can you keep a secret, Mairead, if you know that it will ensure someone’s safety?” Sophia asked.
Mairead considered this. She thought of that date in the envelope. If Eiji had looked at it and hadknownhe would die, Nero might have wondered if he’d just chosen him to avoid that death. That would have been a bad outcome, but without Sophia coming, Eiji would have delayed his turning until it was too late.
Mairead nodded.
“And what if you had to keep many, many secrets for a very long time because you knew, in the end, it was the only way to make good things happen?” Sophia asked.
“I’d keep them,” Mairead said without a moment’s hesitation. “I don’t just want to know things simply to know them. Or for gossip. I want to know them so that I can keep myself and those I love safe.”
Sophia stopped spinning and looked up at her. She was holding an envelope for Mairead, but it didn’t have Mairead’s name on it.
“Dr. Amara Biswas? Why are you giving me her envelope?” Mairead asked.
“Open it. Read it. Know it,” Sophia said.
Mairead ripped open the envelope. Her hands were shaking a little. She pulled out another of the sheets of paper she was so familiar with already. There was a single line on the paper.
It read,Dr. Amara Biswas is a spy.
Mairead drew in a sharp breath. She read the line again. And again. She couldn’t believe it. Amara might not be her cup of tea in the way that she was so organized and type A that even a fork out of place caused her physical pain, but a spy? Shewantedto be a Vampire. More than anything!
Mairead lifted her head and opened her mouth to ask if Sophia was sure, but one look into those big, silver eyes and she had her answer. Sophia was certain. Her heart fell. Yet if Amara was a spy that meant she was a danger to the people that Mairead cared about.
Mairead asked, “What do you want me to do?”
THE HUNT
Ryder had been avoiding this moment. He told himself–and others–that he was not giving Legion the satisfaction of seeing him. Even standing outside the bars and staring in, saying nothing, would have given Legion a gift.
Even now, he could feel Legion’s longing for him like a physical pull. So he’d not gone to the dungeon in Daemon’s palace since Legion had been imprisoned there. He hadn’t even gone past the palace, staying well away, as he nursed Grayson back to full health. Or as full health as the young man seemed capable of since bringing the tidal wave. His determination to ignore Legion was to punish only Legion.
But that was not true.
And everyone knew it.
Especially him.
But no one called him on it. Not even Balthazar who just gave him a sad smile, patted his shoulder, and changed the subject whenever it was brought up and Ryder began to spiral. They understood that he needed a moment. Maybe more than just a moment to absorb the past, the present and what he intended to do in the future.
There’s only one solution. Legion cannot be allowed to go on. After they are interrogated and there’s nothing left to get from their mind then… then I’ll have to do something.
So there had been no necessity for him to see Legion. There had been no rush to speak to them or deal with them in any way. It was all done with as little inconvenience to him as possible.
But now the time had come.
Legion’s mind had been delved, probed, scraped clean, cut into pieces and reassembled. They knew everything that Legion knew. What Shaela knew too. And, Caemorn had taken particular pleasure in interrogating Roan with Christian’s help. Caemorn was crueler to himself–or a part of himself–than Ryder had ever been to any enemy. He had to admit admiring the other Immortal for it, but also bleeding internally for him.
