Page 100 of Bent Out of Shade
25
I tooka sip of my tea, which I hadn’t added milk to, and which had gone tepid while I’d been thinking. With only Ohrists working for the library, my odds of passing the test were pretty good. Not only was I Banim Shovavim, I’d figured out the riddle in the Kefitzat Haderech to avoid eternal damnation. That right there had to count for something. Plus, the library was interested in important people, and I doubted it knew about Tatiana and Zev’s epic love story.
I took a piece of shortbread from the plate Nora proffered, not feeling guilty in the slightest about passing my boss’s love story on like cheap gossip. It’s not like anyone could just wander into the library and learn about it.
“Let’s do it.” I inhaled the cookie in two bites.
“All right.” She fired off a quick text and nodded as she read the response. “You’ll get confirmation in a second.”
“The test is here?”
“It’s everywhere.”
Did she mean the testing locations or the library itself? A sentient library watching us like Big Brother? Best not to think about it.
My phone pinged. “It’s happening in two hours in my living room. Not where I expected.”
“FYI, this is a one-time deal,” Nora said. “And don’t be late. If you miss the start time by even ten seconds, you don’t get to take it.”
“Understood.”
We chatted for a while, then I took my leave to allow plenty of time to arrive home and psych myself up for the test. Maybe read some stuff off the dark Ohrist web in case anything there caught the library’s attention.
Even though it remained overcast, the clouds had lightened, and the rain had let up. Taking that as a good omen, I drove home singing along to some breezy pop song and feeling confident about what I had to offer.
A call came in as I pulled up to the curb. An innocuous, old-school ring.
Knocks convey tone. Is it a furious banging on the door? A playful rap? They can be brisk or ponderous. Insistent or meek. Fast or slow. They’re a heads-up to what awaits me on the other side of that door.
But a ring tone? It didn’t matter if someone programmed their partner’s number with the sweetest love song, it wouldn’t alert them they were about to be dumped. This call could have been anything, including a bot, which was what I initially thought when my hello was met with silence. I’d almost disconnected when static crackled down the line.
“…wrong…” Emmett said.
“I can’t hear you properly.” I stuck my finger in my other ear.
There was another loud burst of static, but it was the single word before the call cut out that made my blood run cold.
“…trap…”
Fumbling with my seat belt, I almost fell out of the car, my return call already ringing in my ear.
And ringing.
And ringing.
A car backed out of a driveway startling a bird, and a garbage truck beeped in the distance. Just another mundane day.
Yet, I stood on the sidewalk, listening to Emmett’s snarky voice mail greeting, feeling oddly disconnected, my plea to call me back inadequate.
I multitasked at Olympic levels and my list making was second to none, so why was I totally blank about what to do next? A breath shuddered out of me, but it kicked in enough basic intellect for me to remember that Laurent had a phone. Before I could punch in his number, someone gripped the fleshy underside of my arm.
Where was my nosy neighbor Luka when I needed him? He wouldn’t have detected that Vincenzo’s grip was so tight that my eyes watered, but even seeing a man, not a vampire, with a torn jacket, and blood streaked along his forehead grab me had to send up a red flag, right?
“Is she alive?” Vincenzo hissed in my ear.
“Yes.” My eyes darted to my property line, safety a mere ten feet away.
The vampire spun me around and frog-marched me down the block. “Take me to her this instant or watch me destroy everyone you care about.”
