a small table in the corner, along with a note. She stood up, rubbing her eyes so she could read it.
Sleep as long as you wish. I’ll be in the library until dawn. The code for the room is your birthday.
She blinked. Apparently, someone had moved her in. Or he didn’t trust her out of his sight. It might have been a little of both. She took a long drink of water and began to pick at the fruit and cheese on the plate before her. After a few minutes, she realized she wanted company more than food, so she left the room and walked down the hall. It led to a staircase going up, and Natalie realized the hallway full of vampire rooms was just below where she’d been staying. Well, that was convenient; she knew where everything was. Heading toward the library, the house was almost eerily silent until she got near the second floor.
“—suspicious of your own family.”
“You are not my family any longer.”
“Do you think because you and Father fight I no longer consider you a brother?”
Hi="1 nos sister. Baojia had a vampire sister, and they were arguing. Natalie didn’t go any closer, but she couldn’t manage to tear herself away.
“I don’t want to put you in an awkward position. But I cannot deny I am worried about Ernesto. He tied my hands. I couldn’t protect him. I couldn’t protect you or Rory. I was stuck in San Diego doing nothing while my sire and his territory were being threatened. I had no choice.”
“You made the choice. You chose that woman and the humans over us. If you had stayed—”
His voice was clipped and impatient. “If I had stayed, he would have kept ignoring it and then I would have lived with the guilt of knowing something was going wrong and not being able to do anything about it, Paula! How can you not see that? And how can Rory ignore this? He must know what’s going on.”
“It is a human problem, Baojia. A serial killer like the one in Juarez. It is for the human police to investigate. Not our problem. Not your problem.”
“We found a girl who had come directly from Ivan’s bar. Do you think that is coincidence? Natalie was attacked by one of Ivan’s thugs last night. Is that a coincidence?”
“Natalie? Is that the reporter’s name?”
She shrank against the wall.
“This is not about her.”
“This is completely about her. Take your amusement, hermanito, but why do you abandon your family for this human? She is here today and a memory in fifty years. We are your family. Go to Father. Ask forgiveness.”
“It will not happen.” His voice broke. “And it does not matter if she is human. I have sworn my protection over her. She is under my personal aegis. Do not think to attack her or send someone who might. Attacking her is the same as attacking me.” The soft voice grew hard. “And will be dealt with in the same manner. Do you understand?”
The other vampire’s voice was acid. “I understand you have lost your reason. I only hope you come to your senses before this has gone too far.”
She heard footsteps approaching and darted into a coat closet she’d just passed. She heard the steps slow, then speed up, a low female voice muttering in Spanish about what, she couldn’t understand. A second set of feet approached and the door creaked open.
“She could smell you in here, you know.” He parted the coats she’d hidden behind. “She could sense you on the stairs.”
“Did you leave your family because of me?”
Baojia held out a hand. “How did you sleep?”
“Answer me, please.”
He sighed and leaned against the doorjamb. “It was for a number of reasons. You were part of it, but not the whole. Can we leave the coat closet now?”
Natalie brushed past him, unsure of how she was feeling. Worried. Elated. Nervous. Grateful.
“You show everything and nothing on your face,” he called to her back.
Natalie spun around. “I could say the same thing about you.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No.”
He stepped closer. “Thirsty?”
“I drank some water in your room. Which looks an awful lot like our room now.”
Baojia sped to her side, making her eyes swim as he rubbed her shoulders. “I don’t particularly want you out of my sight.”
“How very caveman of you.”
He grinned. “Still thinking abol twanut that cave, aren’t you?”
She blushed and saw his fangs lengthen in his mouth. His eyes watched her with predatory awareness.
“Baojia?”
“Are your human needs met?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then