The coincidences seemed too numerous for Jules. “So you just happened to know who the Master of Baltimore was and where to find her? And you just happened to know you were supposed to check in with her, and you just happened to be checking in with her when Ian found me? Is that what you’re telling me.” “Something like that.”
Jules fully intended to pry more information out of Drake, but Hannah interrupted.
“Never mind all that. Let’s get back to the important stuff. Like what happens now?”
Not a topic Jules was anxious to discuss. He wasn’t ready to face the shambles he’d made of his life. He’d burned his bridges with Eli, and now he’d learned that his quest for revenge had been doomed from the beginning. He’d always known it was a longshot, but he’d never allowed himself to believe it was impossible.
“We get the hell out of Baltimore as soon as possible,” Drake said.
“And go where?” Jules asked.
Drake frowned at him. “Back to Philadelphia, of course. Where else?”
Jules shook his head. “I can’t go back.”
“Of course you can, you ass.”
Jules raised his chin. “I disobeyed his direct orders. And he was already angry at me for not controlling my temper better.”
Drake shrugged. “So?”
“Don’t play stupid! If I go back to Philly, he’ll kill me.”
Drake snorted. “God, what a moron you are. How have you managed to live this long?”
Usually, Jules’s temper would have made an appearance just now, but he was too drained to rise to the challenge. Regret weighed his shoulders down, and his chest ached with something that just might have been despair. “We all know he’s not the kind of man you want to cross, and I’ve crossed him. Big time.”
“Jules, he’s not going to kill you.”
“Why shouldn’t he? He set a precedent with Tim Carter, didn’t he?”
Drake was silent for a long moment, staring at him with a strange expression on his face. Then he sighed and looked like he was bracing himself for something. “No, he didn’t. I killed Tim Carter.”
Surprise sucked the air from Jules’s lungs. He might have thought Drake was lying, either to shield the Founder or to persuade Jules it was safe to go back, but there was a haunted look in Drake’s eyes that said it was the truth.
Jules should have felt at least a little outrage over the murder of his fellow Guardian. Instead, he just felt confused. And curious.
“Why?”
Drake stared at his fingernails with great concentration. “He showed his true colors when he refused to obey Eli.”
“Drake, I just refused to obey Eli. Are you going to kill me too?”
“Carter was different. He turned on us. And he incited others to join him.”
“But you didn’t kill the others.” The small cadre who had deserted along with Carter had all come back to the Guardians. There was a lingering taint of desertion that clung to them, but for the most part they’d been accepted back with open arms.
“They were just confused, and following someone who could be very persuasive. But Carter was never coming back. And he’d shown how much hate was inside him. It was only a matter of time before he went rogue.”
Jules opened his mouth, then closed it with a click, realizing he understood more than Drake had said. Drake might have been the one to kill Carter, but Jules would bet anything it had been on Eli’s order. He was covering for Eli after all.
“You’re not like Carter,” Drake finished. “This is an aberration.”
To Jules’s surprise, Hannah hopped off her bed and came to sit next to him, putting her arm around his shoulders. The small gesture of solidarity felt better than it should have.
“I hate to tell you this,” she said, her voice serious for once, “but it doesn’t sound like you’ve got a whole lot of good choices here. What would you do if you didn’t go back to Philly?”
He sighed. “I don’t know.” Once or twice, he’d tried to plan for the aftermath of his vengeance, but his mind had always balked. Besides, he figured when it all played out, he would either be dead, or in such a different place in his life that it was pointless to try to plan for it.
Bitter as the realization was, he knew now he had to go back. Maybe Eli really would forgive him. And if he didn’t … Well, death at Eli’s hands would no doubt be quick and merciful. Certainly nothing like what Ian had planned for him.
Jules shoved that thought away. If he let himself think about what had almost happened, he’d fall apart—something he wasn’t about to do in front of Hannah or Drake.
Hannah’s trim little body was a comforting warmth by his side. He wanted to lean into that warmth, put his arms around her and let her dispel the chill that had settled over his soul. Of course, he did no such thing, shrugging out from under her arm and giving her a stern look.
“I thought I left you nice and snug in the hotel room,” he said, eliciting a cheeky smile.
“You did your best, sport. But I’ m a slippery little devil.”
He picked up the two ties she’d bound him with and saw the other—the one he’d used to gag her—crumpled on the floor. He frowned as fiercely as he could manage when he felt more tempted to laugh or pull out his hair. “So I ruined three perfectly good ties for no reason.”
She reached up to ruffle his hair, but he managed to dodge her hand. “Stop that!” he said, but his lips were twitching into a smile in spite of himself.
Drake’s cell phone rang, shattering the moment of ease. Drake unclipped the phone from his belt and scowled when he checked the phone number.
“Camille,” he said, shaking his head. “Not good.” But he answered anyway.
The expression on Drake’s face was hardly promising as he listened to whatever the Master of Baltimore had to say. Hannah tucked her hand into Jules’s elbow. He didn’t know whether she was seeking comfort or trying to comfort him. But no matter how annoying she was, she’d risked her life to come help him when he’d been too stupid to help himself. Gratitude warmed his heart. He covered her hand with his own and gave her a rueful smile.
Drake seemed to be having trouble getting a word in edgewise, and a fierce frown had taken permanent hold of his face. Finally, he snapped the phone closed and swore colorfully. Jules couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard Drake swear. Or look so worried, for that matter.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, not at all sure he wanted to know.
“Camille has decided she would like to speak with you about whatever happened with Ian tonight.”
Not a prospect Jules was terribly keen on, but it hardly seemed worth Drake’s level of concern.
“She wants us to come to the house in three hours.” Drake clenched his fists. “I was hoping to be long gone by then.”
“So we’ll be here a little longer than you’d hoped,” Jules said. “It’s not the end of the world.”
Drake stood up from his chair, pacing the length of the room. “There’s more.” He stopped in his pacing and looked back and forth between Jules and Hannah. “She wants all of us to come.”
Jules shot to his feet. “No fucking way!”
“Jules …” Hannah said in a warning tone.
“I am not taking a mortal into that creature’s house!” he continued, more forcefully.
“I don’t like it either,” Drake countered, “but we don’t have much choice.”
“Like hell we don’t! I say we head out of town full speed immediately.”
“We can’t. She’s set her fledglings to keep a watch on the hotel and make sure we don’t leave.”
“Why would she do that? Why does she care?”
“I don’t know,” Drake said, looking frustrated and angry. “I don’t know how strong the rest of Camille’s fledglings are, but I know Gabriel by himself is enough to take all three of us together without breaking a sweat. We’re not going anywhere if she doesn’t want us to.”
“Marde!” What
had he brought Hannah into? Not that he’d meant to, of course, but it was still his fault she was here. “We can’t just take Hannah into a house full of Killers!”
Drake chewed his lip. “We don’t have a choice. Camille doesn’t kill every mortal who crosses her path. She’s got a mortal working as a butler in her house. Hannah will probably be safe enough.”
“Oh, I’ll probably be safe enough. Gee, Drake, that makes me feel so much better. You guys are just tons of fun to hang around with, let me tell you.”
“I’ll go reconnoiter,” Drake said. “See how many fledglings are out there and see if I can find a hole in their perimeter we can sneak out through.”
He didn’t sound very hopeful, but Jules and Hannah had to agree it was worth a try.
But when the door closed behind Drake, Jules realized that his troubles were just beginning. For he was alone with Hannah now, and she’d heard too much, and already he knew her too well to think she’d just let things be.
He turned to find her looking at him with narrowed eyes and cocked head. The interrogation was soon to begin.
DRAKE RODE THE ELEVATOR down to the lobby, then found a secluded corner where he could lurk in the shadows and keep an eye out. Then he flipped open his phone and speed-dialed Eli’s number.
“We have a problem,” he said as soon as Eli answered the phone.
“We already had a problem,” Eli said. “What’s happened now?”
“There was a confrontation between Jules and Ian tonight. No,” he said, before Eli could come to the wrong conclusion, “Jules didn’t kill him. And Jules is all right. But it seems Carolyn’s friend Hannah followed him down here too. And now Camille wants to talk to all of us.”
“And the reason you’re not already in your car speeding toward Philadelphia is …”
Drake sighed. “She really wants us to stay. What is she holding over your head, Eli? I get the feeling it’s more than just your feeding habits.” No, Camille had been far too sure that Eli would order them to stay in Baltimore. Eli’s secrets ran deeper than Drake had imagined. “I told Jules and Hannah that she’d set her fledglings to watch us. For all I know, it’s true. At least one of them is incredibly strong and could keep track of us from far enough away that I couldn’t sense him.
“But I told a lot of lies tonight, Eli. And if we all go chat with Camille, I’m going to get caught in some of them.” He’d thought himself clever, taking all the responsibility on himself, claiming it was he who knew Camille. And if they’d gotten out of the city tonight, then he’d probably be happy with that decision.
“I’ll talk to Camille,” Eli said after a long pause. “I’ll tell her what you’ve told the others. As long as the three of you do what she wants, she’ll keep up the illusion.”
Drake shivered, not liking the sound of that at all. “What is she to you, Eli? Why would she do you favors?”
Not surprisingly, Eli ignored the question. “Gabriel might be a problem.”
Drake liked the sound of that even less. “So, you know Gabriel, too?”
Eli snorted. “Of course I know him. It’s impossible to know Camille and not know Gabriel. He’s a troublemaker. Camille can probably keep him under control during your interview with her. But you’ve got to keep him away from Jules and Hannah when she’s not around to hold his leash.”
Drake laughed bitterly. “And just how do you suggest I do that? He gave me a little demonstration today of how easily he can knock me on my ass.”
“Just … do whatever you can. I’m sorry to put all of this on your shoulders, but …”
“It’s okay, Eli. If I didn’t understand and agree, I wouldn’t be doing it.”
“One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t lie for me anymore. I don’t want you putting yourself in that position.”
Drake smiled a little sadly. “You have a reputation to protect. Mine sucks already. What do a few more stains matter?”
“It matters.”
“So should I take a page from your book? If I can’t answer truthfully, I don’t answer at all?”
Eli chuckled. “It’s a practice that’s served me well for a long, long time. Try it. It’s easier than trying to keep the lies you’ve told straight.”
“All right. I’d better get back upstairs before Jules decides to do something stupid like sneak Hannah out of the hotel behind my back. He doesn’t much like the idea of taking her to see Camille.”
“Camille won’t hurt her. I’ll let her know Hannah is under my protection just like you and Jules.”
He had a feeling he didn’t want to know why Camille would do Eli any favors while threatening him with exposure.
Drake swallowed another mouthful of questions he knew Eli wouldn’t answer. The undercurrents here were deep and strong, and he didn’t want to get washed away by them.
8
“SO,” HANNAH SAID, AND Jules flinched at the curiosity in her voice, “what’s the deal with you and Squires anyway?”
How much of their conversation had she heard? And had she known what to make of it? He mentally reviewed what Ian had said to him, wondering if an outsider would be able to read between all the lines.
He turned away from Hannah’s inquisitive gaze, busying himself with picking up his scattered ties. “The deal is he’s a sick son of a bitch,” he said, snatching one of the ties off the floor.
“Details, Jules. Inquiring minds want to know.”
He tossed the handful of ruined ties into the waste basket. “I’m not up for a game of twenty questions.”
“Oh, I’m way too nosy to stop at just twenty.”
He looked for something else to occupy his attention, something to keep him from having to face her, but the room offered no distractions. Crossing his arms over his chest, he put on his most repressive frown and turned to her.
“Do you think you could take it easy on me for just a little while? This has been a rotten night already, and it’s not going to get better anytime soon.”
Her hawk-like stare softened, and she stepped closer to him. He had to fight the ridiculous instinct to back away.
“Take a load off,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and pushing gently.
Reluctantly, he sat on the edge of the bed. Hannah sat beside him, close, but not too close. She bowed her head a bit, and her riot of dark curls obscured her face.
“I know guys don’t like all this touchy-feely talk, but sometimes you’ve just got to share the load. There’s a lot of water under the bridge with you and Ian, and it’s obviously some pretty toxic stuff.”
Toxic didn’t begin to describe it. Maybe if he told her a little, she’d be satisfied and shut up. Probably wishful thinking, but it was worth a shot.
“It’s pretty simple, really,” he said. “There’s nothing that hurts as much as being betrayed by someone you thought was a friend, and that’s what Ian did to me.
“We went to Penn together. The guy was a natural-born loser, and in my arrogance I thought I could help him. I made him into my own special pet project.” He tried to rein in some of the bitterness that had seeped into his voice, without much success. “I thought he was just socially awkward, so when he said meanspirited, shitty things to people, I made excuses for him. I took him with me to parties he wasn’t invited to. I loaned him money. I introduced him to girls.
“He was a wannabe-rake, but he didn’t get that you actually have to be nice to your date to get laid. He acted like he was granting these girls a supreme privilege just to let them be near him.” Jules shook his head, amazed at how much bad behavior he’d overlooked in his naivete.
“Sometimes, we’d go out drinking and gambling together, and we’d end up in places where Ian could buy female companionship—with my money, of course, because he was always broke. He was into some things that made me uncomfortable, but since the women were willing professionals, I figured it was none of my business.” He grimaced. “What kind of idiot doesn’t realize tha
t a guy who pays prostitutes to pretend he’s raping them is pretty damn twisted?”
Hannah looked at him, her head tilted. “How old were you at the time?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Twenty, twenty-one. I met him my sophomore year.”
She nodded sagely. “If there’s a creature on the planet stupider than a twenty-year-old guy, I don’t want to meet it.”
He couldn’t help chuckling, despite the memories that haunted him. “You have a lot of experience with twenty-year-old guys? I didn’t take you for a cradle-robber.”
She slapped his arm with the back of her hand. “I have three older brothers. Each one of them was twenty for a really long, really miserable year.” She frowned. “Actually, it was probably more like five years for them. But you get the picture. They were hormones on two legs, with maybe one fully functioning brain between the three of them.”
Her pert little nose wrinkled with distaste, sending her glasses sliding, but he heard the undertone of affection nonetheless.
“Three brothers, eh?” he teased. “That explains a lot.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t change the subject. If you’re beating yourself up because as a twenty-year-old kid you weren’t sophisticated enough to figure out Ian was a creep, then I officially give you permission to forgive yourself.”
Once again, she surprised a laugh out of him. Nothing ever seemed to quell this woman’s spirit! “Thank you. I’m all better now.”
“Hmpf! You’re still not telling me everything.”
He heaved an exasperated sigh. “Since when am I obligated to tell you everything?”
He’d expected Hannah to respond with another lighthearted quip, but instead she laid her hand on his arm and peered up at him.
“Look” she said, “I may be a tomboy, but I’m still enough of a woman to want to help when I see someone in pain. And you’re in a lot more pain than you’re willing to admit.”
A hint of resentment stirred in his center, then quickly subsided. How could he be angry with someone who so clearly meant well? He took her hand and raised it to his lips, meaning only to thank her for caring. It should have been a courtly, but gently dismissive, gesture. But the moment his lips touched her bare skin, the room seemed to hold its breath around them.