Page 20 of Vacation with the Vampire
“There are predators in this city now who do not respect boundaries,” he continued. “Creatures who would have been dealt with swiftly in our time. Now, they organize in ways that are unnatural. They have claimed territory and quietly waged war on many of us.”
His gaze met mine. “It is not the same, Raoul.” A beat, and then he said, “It is worse, and the Regis does nothing—just sitson his throne and panders to his favorites—in England.” The last he drawled with ingrained French distaste; I wholeheartedly understood the sentiment.
I held his gaze, then inclined my head slightly. My worry had only spiked, but with it came a surge of excitement. Nothing was boring since I’d opened my eyes, not Susie, not my friendship with Thibault, and definitely not Paris, either. “I am glad I returned, then.”
Something in his expression eased, and a wry smile curled his mouth. “As am I, old friend, as am I,” he concurred. I could see the tension seep, just a fraction, from his lean frame.
The moment passed, and I made my decision. “The girl,” I said. His attention sharpened immediately. “She is mine.” The words settled into the space between us, final and unambiguous. Thibault did not interrupt, but his gray gaze grew wide. “She woke me,” I continued. “In my sanctuary, guarded by Louis’s most powerful spells. She woke me by means I do not yet understand.”
Recognition flickered in his eyes, and he straightened, leaning his elbows on his knees. Now we were in mirrored poses, with only a scant foot between us. “You believe…” he whispered, awe and a good dose of disbelief in his voice.
“That she is my soulmate,” I said simply. There, I’d actually said it out loud. It was a bit like I was defying fate by saying the words, daring it to be the truth, yet the knowledge had already scored itself into my bones, singed into my blood.
Thibault froze, not even breathing as he processed the words. When it sank in, he gave me a slow nod. “Mon Dieu, that would explain much.” Yet it left equally as many questions unanswered. Soulmates were so rare they were almost myth, which made Susie, improbable, extremely unlikely, and even more precious.
“It would,” I agreed. “Which is why I sought Louis. If anyone would know if such a bond could break his spells, it’s him.” It worried me that he’d apparently died—for real this time—in Rome, and not even that long after he’d cast his spells on me. Why? How? It felt nothing like him to leave Thibault alone amid such unrest.
“And now?” my gargoyle friend asked. He was much like the statue his name referred to, hunched forward in his seat, frozen in place. Intense, but also protective. Thibault would never leave Paris, probably never even leave this building except for short night flights.
“Now,” I said, “I adapt, but until I have answers, she is vulnerable.” It pained me to think that she was alone in that hotel room right now, unprotected, and hurt by my need to leave.
Thibault’s expression sharpened slightly. “You ask for my protection.” He didn’t ask a question because he already knew exactly what I’d been thinking.
He might not run the den anymore, speak of broken alliances, but I knew he still wielded power—a lot of it. I’d sensed the wards, the guards hovering out of sight. He had the means. “I do,” I agreed. Even if that meant I owed him a favor.
“You have it,” he said, without even a moment of hesitation, and it was not followed by conditions, either. That’s when I knew our friendship was still on solid ground. We’d danced around one another, tested loyalties, and found they remained.
Relieved, I inclined my head. “Thank you.” I quietly filled him in on the situation: her ransacked room, and my suspicion that more was at play than a simple attempted burglary.
That got his full attention, and he rose to pace by the fire, his hands clasped behind his back. “By whom?” he asked, piercing me with a dark look. He’d taken off his coat, and now he tugged at the tie at his neck, loosening it and carelessly tossing it onto the nearest table. Restless energy crackled in the air between us.
“I suspect a shifter,” I said. I remained seated, watching my friend pace and feeling an odd echo of familiarity. How often had we sat by the fire and plotted? Maneuvered alliances, politicians, humans? Manipulated the outcome of events to our satisfaction with ideas hatched just like this?
His expression darkened. “I am not surprised. It is the shifters who have united under a single Alpha’s guidance and begun their insidious war on the rest of us, chipping away at territories until they crumble.” That was what he’d hinted at, but I did not like that Susie might be embroiled in this conflict, human and ignorant of the true danger she was in.
“The coven?” I had to ask, an almost belated sense of loyalty rising from the crumbles of a past I had all but forgotten. The coven and I had never seen eye to eye, but they’d always been a steadying, harmonious presence in the supernatural world of Paris.
“They killed Francois sometime in the first dozen years after you went to ground. The vampires have been lying low ever since.” That would be me, except I never did what was expected. It explained the hopeful look on the face of my vampire guide as we moved through the bank. I’d sensed a need in him, a hope with no name. He thought that with my return, I might step in and fill the void Francois had left. He was wrong.
“I see. You’ll have to apprise me of it all, but for now, your offer of protection will suffice.” I rose and headed for the door, the draw to return to Susie too strong to linger any longer.
“You’re leaving so soon?” Thibault drawled in surprise. He indicated the darkness outside his window, a reminder that we used to talk until dawn approached.
“I have someone waiting.” I had more tasks to finish before the night was out, and I needed to do them sooner rather than later.
A flicker of amusement crossed his face. “Ah,” he said. “Of course you do.” I did not dignify that with a response, but I felt a surge of smug satisfaction. Yes, my soulmate, if I was right.
The night had deepened by the time I stepped back onto the street. As much as I wanted to return to my mate, there were practical matters to address. The garments Susie had acquired were tolerable—barely—but insufficient.
The driver was waiting for me, as promised, and he proved very capable of taking me where I needed. Guided by instinct, observation, and the quiet efficiency of the modern systems now at my disposal, proper attire was quickly secured, pre-tailored so well it did not require waiting. I also got rid of theboots that creaked and groaned from wear, replacing them with new leather shoes that felt like walking on clouds. I was very impressed with these improvements to fashion.
What I didn’t need right now, I’d sent to my home with the driver. With the basics covered, some of my questions answered, and protection secured, my thoughts returned to her. To the room and the promise I’d extracted. When I returned, I would return not as a relic of the past struggling to understand the present, but as something far more dangerous. Something ready. Ready for this world. Ready for her.
Chapter 11
Susie
The door had barely clicked shut behind Raoul when the silence rushed in to replace him. I stood there for a second, my mind spinning, my stomach a mess of butterflies, nerves, and rejection. God, that kiss. My lips tingled like they remembered something my brain hadn’t caught up to yet. It had been slow, deliberate, like he had centuries to savor the moment—and then he’d just left. “Seriously?” I muttered to the empty room.
