“I’ll make sure he knows that,” she told her mother. “And yes, we are romantically involved again. Please try to keep an open mind. We were manipulated into breaking up. What happened before wasn’t all his fault.”
Tatiana’s voice turned cold and crisp. “Not true. You are my daughter. I raised you, and I know better than anyone what a good and generous heart you have. He should have had faith in you, no matter what.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. It was clearly going to take some time to build some bridges.
“I will say this much.” The reluctance in Tatiana’s voice was clear. “When we discovered you were missing, and I called to ask him to come, he did so without hesitation. And as you said, he tried to exchange himself for you, so I’ll grant him a small amount of leeway. Very small, Melly. Very, very small.”
“Understood.” She smiled. “Listen, I’d better go. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“All right, darling. Be safe.”
“I will.”
Disconnecting, she blew out a breath. At least her immediate family hadn’t conspired together to take a wrecking ball to her love life, so there was that.
No, she was beginning to think that Bailey might have acted on her own. Hotheaded, impulsive Bailey who lived hard, broke the rules, and who had once called Julian a bloodsucking boneheaded bastard.
Had Ferion been a willing participant, or had he thought he was just playing a little sex game when Bailey whipped out a wig?
Oh, that was downright skeevy. Melly made a face. She was going to have to break her fist on his face too, the next time she saw him.
Slipping on the slender, new house shoes that Gregoire had purchased for her, she took one more bite of cheese and headed out of the suite.
Following the sound of voices, she made her way through the downstairs level to Julian’s study. The room was darker than the rest of house, heavy on traditional décor, with wood paneling, oak floors, an imported Persian rug and a massive mahogany desk. A small sitting area with plain, cream furniture took up one end of the room.
As she entered, she found Julian and Xavier leaning over a street map that had been spread out on the surface of his desk. A young, dark-haired human woman with striking, angular features sat in the sitting area, listening to the men’s conversation with an intent expression.
After giving the unknown woman a curious glance, Melly focused on Xavier and Julian.
Xavier was the perfect example of how looks could be deceiving. While he appeared to be a pleasant, somewhat nondescript young man in his early twenties, in reality he was a Powerful Vampyre at least four hundred years old, a gentleman to his core, and a deadly fighter.
Beside Julian’s larger, more muscular build, Xavier appeared almost delicate to Melly’s eyes. It was another deception. His slim build contained a steely strength.
The occupants in the room looked up as she entered.
She went straight to Xavier, who stepped forward to give her a hug. He told her, “Melly, I am so glad you’re all right.”
She took note of how stiffly he moved. Normally he did everything with a liquid, panther-like grace. She tightened her arms around him with care. “I feel the same way about you. Thank God you’re all right.”
He gave her a small, grave smile. “I’d like you to meet Tess. She is my…” His voice trailed off, and he looked at the woman in some consternation.
Tess raised an eyebrow at him. Her intelligent expression turned humorous. “Your girlfriend?”
He laughed. “Yes, she is my girlfriend.”
Melly’s gaze lingered on his expression. Despite the evident pain of his condition, and the serious reasons why he had come to Julian’s house, he was lit with happiness.
She told Tess, “I’m delighted to meet you. Anyone who is important to Xavier is important to me.”
The other woman gave her a shy smile. “Thank you. I’m delighted to meet you too.”
“Tess saved my life,” Xavier said. “If she hadn’t known what to do and acted so quickly, the poison would have killed me.”
“All the more reason to welcome you,” Melly told her, returning her smile. Having finished with the pleasantries, she turned to Julian. “What do we know? How is the search going?”
His hard face was tight with frustration. “Too slowly,” he growled. “The only thing we’ve achieved so far is keeping pressure on her – at least I hope so. The problem is, whenever I make a countermove against her, she escalates to doing something else. Each time it gets more extreme. The last time she kidnapped you.”
“What about the helicopter you heard?” Melly asked as she looked from one male to the other.
Xavier shook his head. He said in his quiet, pleasant voice, “We’ve confirmed at least a dozen helicopter flights today alone. We’re looking into each one, but that takes time.”
Julian planted one fist on the top of his desk. “The one great advantage that any criminal has is that they can move quickly. Investigations take time. The fact is, we aren’t going to get her with the citywide search. It’s logical, methodical, and it’s not moving fast enough. We have to get in front of this. We have to make an intuitive leap to where she is going next and be waiting for her when she gets there.”
Closing her eyes, Melly pinched the bridge of her nose in an effort to think. Then she looked at Julian. “Justine said it, down in the tunnels. It’s all about you. Everything she has done has been about you.”
“Well,” he replied dryly, “it might have sounded good in theory, but she said that to needle me, and it isn’t exactly true.”
Suddenly Tess spoke up. “What she really wants is power. Every time someone acts to check her behavior, she lashes out. Xavier was surveilling her, so she killed his operative and tried to get rid of him as well. Same thing with Julian. Even killing all of her attendants was a massive, monstrous fuck you.” The human looked around the room. “I mean, come on. How likely was it that she let something slip that one of them would have overheard?”
“Can’t argue with that,” said Julian.
“Miss Melisande,” said Gregoire from the doorway. “Your sister and the Light Fae troops have arrived.”
Melly pivoted on one heel. Until that moment, she’d honestly had no idea how she was going to act, but maybe she’d only been fooling herself, because something switched in her brain, and everything became crystal clear, as if etched in ice.
“Thank you,” she said to Gregoire. “Please show Bailey to the library. I’ll be there momentarily.”
Telepathically, Julian asked, Want me to come?
She glanced over her shoulder. I’ve got this.
He assessed her with that wolflike gaze of his, then gave her a nod. If you need me, I’m here.
At that, she had to smile. She told him, I’ll always need you.
His face gentled, then Xavier called his attention back to the map.
Watching them, she came to an abrupt decision.
Come to think of it, she wasn’t going to wait for Gregoire to show Bailey to the library. Melly would already be there, waiting for her sister to arrive.
Sixteen
W
hen she reached the library, she headed straight for the liquor cabinet.
She had been fantasizing about having a piña colada for a long time. She might not get the chance to have one for a while, but for now, she could at least knock back something. Her days and nights were fucked up anyway, and you know it was five o’clock somewhere, baby.
Choosing a decanter at random, she splashed a finger of amber liquid into a tumbler and tossed it back.
Cognac. Unless she missed her guess, a high-end Courvoisier.
That would do nicely. She poured herself another.
Quick footsteps sounded in the doorway. She turned as Bailey entered the room. Bailey wore jeans, a short-sleeved T-shirt, a denim vest and a gun in a waist holster. Her short, curly hair was tousled as usual, and her face was etched with stress.
&n
bsp; Even though they were identical twins, to Melly, looking at Bailey had never been like looking in a mirror. They, of all people, knew quite well the characteristics that made them unique.
Bailey was a touch leaner, her face more angular. Melly was fit and active, but Bailey was driven to athleticism. She exceled at using several different weapons, whereas Melly was perfectly content to be merely competent.
Melly’s lips were fuller, her eyes a shade darker, and she had a dimple in one cheek that appeared whenever she laughed.
Still, when she looked at Bailey, she felt like she did when she looked at her mother. Whatever else had happened, Bailey had always been a fact of her existence. Melly had never known life without her. They had grown up together, had loved each other, played together and fought like cats and dogs.
As Melly regarded her twin now, pain and anger surged up so that she couldn’t speak.
Bailey’s expression lightened. She rushed forward to throw her arms around her.
Melly almost struck her in the breastbone with the flat of her hand to drive her back. Almost, but in spite of everything, she couldn’t bring herself to raise her hand against her sister.
Melly couldn’t return her hug either, so she stood stiffly in Bailey’s embrace.
“Thank the gods,” Bailey said in her ear. “I haven’t been able to eat or sleep. I’ve felt sick to my stomach for three days.”
Yes, Melly knew her sister loved her. That was why her emotions were in such a tangle.
Bailey pulled back and searched Melly’s face with a frown. Melly knew her expression had to be as stiff as the rest of her body.
After a hesitation, Bailey asked, “Are you all right?”
Melly said abruptly, “You need to know Julian and I are back together.”
All the confirmation she needed was there in her sister’s face. A combination of dismay and guilt darkened Bailey’s gaze. “How can you consider getting back with him? He treated you so badly when you broke up.”
Melly gave her a steady, cold look. “Well, he had reasons, didn’t he?”
Comprehension flashed across Bailey’s expression. Her gaze fell. She muttered, “I – I don’t know what to say.”
“Admitting the truth would have been nice,” said Melly, taking a step back. “Anytime, say, over the last twenty years. Of course it would have been so much better if you hadn’t done anything to begin with, but that water is long under the bridge, isn’t it?”
A dark flush of color washed over Bailey’s cheekbones, and wetness glittered in her eyes. “I wanted to tell you. I thought about telling you so many times. If I could have taken it back, I would have. It was a stupid thing to do.”
She bit out, “You think?”
“Ferion and I were hanging out, talking about all the shit that was going to happen if the Light Fae and the Nightkind demesnes came together. We cooked the whole thing up when we got drunk – and you wouldn’t listen whenever I tried to point out what an asshole Julian was, and how you deserved so much better than him… And I didn’t realize how much it was going to hurt you. I didn’t know how deeply you’d fallen in love with him. You’d only been together three months.”
“Bailey,” she interrupted sharply. The stream of words pouring out of Bailey’s mouth cut off. “I didn’t ask you for excuses or justification. The only thing I’m interested in hearing you say right now is I am really so fucking sorry. If you can’t do at least that much, we have nothing more to say to each other.”
They stared at each other.
Bailey whispered, “I am really so fucking sorry, Melly.”
Now wetness dampened her gaze too. She pressed her lips tight.
After a moment, she nodded. “Okay,” she said hoarsely. “I love you, and I promise, one day I’m going to forgive you, and you and I are going to be all right. But I’m not there today, and we’re only going to be okay if you promise to get over how you feel about Julian and accept that he’s in my life. You got that?” She stared at Bailey hard. “Because if you can’t do that much, I don’t want to see you again. And the thought of that really breaks my heart.” Her face clenched. “Don’t break my heart, Bailey. Not again.”
“I wouldn’t,” Bailey said, very low. “I won’t. I love you too.”
She nodded again and wiped her eyes. “Okay,” she said again. “We’ll put this behind us. For now, go home. I’ll get in touch when I’m ready to talk again. Don’t expect to hear from me for a couple of months. I need some time.”
Bailey took a quick step forward, her face crumpling. “Don’t send me away. I’ve been in hell. I only just found out this morning that you were okay. Let me stay to help.”
“Not this time, kiddo,” she said quietly.
Bailey’s obvious distress finally loosened Melly’s limbs, and she felt able to pull her sister into a hug. Bailey clung to her.
“I really hate this,” her twin muttered.
Yeah well, you should have considered that before you stabbed me in the back.
Melly thought it, but managed not to say it. As Julian had said, relationships are breakable.
She pulled away. “There’s a reason why I need to take some time.”
“Fine. Damn it. I understand. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” Bailey swiped at her nose with the back of one hand. “Mom sent Shane, and he can captain the other troops. They have your gear with them.”
“All right, thanks,” she said.
Reluctantly, Bailey backed up. She whispered, “I really am sorry.”
Melly had to turn away from the pleading in Bailey’s gaze. Her emotions were too powerful and contradictory.
“I hear you,” she said. It was the best reply she could offer.
“Melly,” Julian said from the doorway.
He strode into the room, sweeping past Bailey without acknowledging her presence or giving her a second glance. Bailey hesitated only briefly before leaving.
Julian strode across the room toward Melly, his face and body tight with fury.
“What’s happened?” Her heart kicked. She searched his face. “Justine’s done something else, hasn’t she?”
He shoved his phone into her hands. She looked at the screen.
There was a text message highlighted, from Gavin.
A single word.
Help.
Staring at it, she shook her head. Her thoughts felt slow moving, like a mudslide. “I don’t understand. Gavin’s the Nightkind government IT guy, right? Isn’t he in Evenfall?”
“Exactly,” Julian growled. “He’s in Evenfall.”
He spun to go back the way he had come.
Shoving the meeting with her sister aside until she could think about it later, Melly followed on his heels. Back in Julian’s office, Xavier paced stiffly as he spoke on his phone. Tess sat at Julian’s desk, tapping furiously on the keyboard.
When Xavier caught sight of Julian, he clicked off his phone and pocketed it.
He said, “I can’t confirm one way or another. One of the helicopters sighted this morning in the city could have been Dominic’s, but it might not have been. And nobody’s answering either of the secure lines at Evenfall.”
As Tess stared at Julian’s desktop screen, she spoke up. “The server appears to be down, which isn’t exactly news with the blackout in place. Most likely, Gavin sent that text using a hotspot in his phone.”
Xavier said quietly, “It’s possible the telecommunications cables have been sabotaged.”
Tess swiveled away. “The simplest way to create a blackout is to power down the servers. If they’re turned off and unplugged, they can’t be used or hacked, but that’s an easy fix. If somebody has cut the cables, then it will take a couple of days and repairmen to bring them back online.” She sounded frustrated. “Which is a shame, because if they were operational, I could try to patch into security footage to get some visuals from the camera feeds inside the castle.”
Julian’s expression turned violent. “And Gavin can’t act
independently to turn them on again without my express permission, because I gave him a direct order. He would have had to work against himself to get that one text out. I’ve texted him back to tell him to turn the servers back on, but now he’s not answering. Goddammit.”
The mudslide in Melly’s head might be moving slowly, but it was as inevitable as a train wreck. She ran her fingers through her hair and scrubbed at her scalp. “If Dominic and Justine have teamed up, your people are in danger.”
Xavier said, “Their main priority will be to take the IT and munitions area, which is separate from the rest of the castle. Once they have control over the technology and the weaponry, they can take care of everybody else at their leisure.”
“Yolanthe is in there, along with troops who are loyal to me.” Julian looked at Melly. “They won’t surrender. They’ll be fighting, and they’ll be among the first casualties. I’ve got to go in to help them.”
She moved close to him and touched his hand. “You’re not going in without me.”
His fingers curled around hers. He said telepathically, This has turned into a much bigger issue than simply going after Justine. You don’t have to do this. In a very real way, it’s not your fight.
She told him, You can knock that shit right out of your head, soldier. If you’re going to be in danger, then yes, it is too my fight. I know I’m not your equal as a fighter. I’m a relatively young Light Fae, and I would have to devote several hundred more years of my life to achieve that as a goal. But I can be your partner in other ways.
I know you can. He squeezed her hand. I saw that for myself, down in the tunnels. If it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t be free right now.
Giving him a quick smile, she switched to speaking aloud. “How are we going to go in? They’ll be watching the helipad, and they can shoot down anybody who tries to fly in and land.”
Julian smiled back. As he still looked furious, the combination was chilling.
He told her, “Carling and I built Evenfall. I know ways in and out of that place that nobody else does. I’ll get us in.”