Breathe, sivamet. She will learn to accept me. She wants to protect you, that is all. She loves you. You apparently get into a lot of trouble when you are out of her sight.
I do not. She was silent for a moment. She sighed. Okay that’s not exactly the truth, but really it isn’t my fault. There was the time in Chile when the police—corrupt police—tried to take my passport and I refused to get back on the bus without it and they nearly shot me. She chewed on her bottom lip. There might have been a few incidents like that one, but I always get out of them.
“Come home, Teagan. Bring him if you want, but don’t do anything until we meet him. Just get away from those mountains. I have some friends who know all about that particular mountain range, especially around Romania.”
“I’m not in Romania at the moment, Grandma Trixie,” she pointed out. “I really have to go. I love you. Like crazy, I love you. To infinity and back.”
“I love you, too, Teagan,” her grandmother whispered. “Honey, come home.”
Teagan didn’t answer. She ended the call and turned in Andre’s arms. “That went well.”
“The police in Chile wanted to shoot you?”
“Corrupt police,” she said. “They have a great black market for American passports. I managed to get my passport and get back on the bus in one piece.”
“And Argentina?”
She gasped. “You looked into my memories.”
“What were you thinking in Spain, confronting those two men who tried to put something in your drink?”
“Well, it was an outrageous thing to do and very disgusting. It happens to women all the time, but see, I noticed because I was paying attention.”
“Why were you there in the first place with no one to look after you?”
He sounded genuinely puzzled as well as angry. Risking a look at him—yeah—he was definitely not a happy camper. His eyes went glacier cold, like total blue ice, and at the same time, his face darkened. He looked—scary. Really scary. She took a deep breath and tried to step away from him, put a little space between them.
His arms turned into absolute steel. She couldn’t move, not even a fraction of an inch.
“Andre.” She pushed at his arms. “Modern day women travel all the time on their own. They go into bars and have a drink, not to pick anyone up, but just to wind down. I don’t exactly look like the kind of woman men are going to get excited about. Maybe because I’m small, they thought I looked like a victim. I have a few self-defense moves. I can take care of myself.”
His breath rushed out of him. “We will talk about this later. We need to hear as much as we can about Jashari and his friends. We need information. The best place to hear gossip and news is there.” He indicated a rustic building just about a city block away. People were coming in and out of the door constantly. In fact, it seemed to be the only place where there was any activity.
“If a vampire is hunting, he will hunt there, or just outside. He can mask his appearance and force a compulsion on someone to accompany him outside.”
“Do you have your identification on you?” she asked. “I carry my passport and ID in my jacket.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “I have sent word to Josef, one of our boys well versed in modern technology, and he has built a full identity for when I travel with you to the United States, but I do not need anything here.”
She didn’t tell him he was mistaken. He slid his hand down her arm and threaded his fingers through hers, taking her with him down the street to a building where music, laughter and voices spilled out into the night. The rain had let up again so only a fine mist touched her face.
She noticed Andre was reaching out with senses, searching for something—or a lack of it. She stayed in his mind, trying to study what he did.
Vampires are so foul, nature shrinks from their presence. They try to disguise themselves by creating a space of nothing. No scent. No tracks. Nothing at all. That can give them away.
She liked that he shared. She liked that a lot. She especially liked walking beneath his shoulder, close to his body.
Did you spot anything?
“No. That does not necessarily mean we can relax our vigilance, but it is less likely one is close.”
He reached around her to open the door. At once the noise assaulted her ears, forcing her to figure out how to turn the volume down. Immediately Teagan realized just why Andre didn’t need an ID. She felt the exact moment he reached out and took control of the mind of the man at the door. They were waved through. He kept her close as they made their way to a table all the way at the back of the room.
The smell of alcohol nearly made her gag. She’d never had that reaction before, and she knew immediately she couldn’t possibly have a drink. Still, the moment the waitress came over, Andre ordered two drinks. He leaned close to her, creating an intimate space. Listen, sivamet. After a few minutes you will be able to process several conversations at the same time. Listen for Jashari’s name.
She nodded. She wanted to learn as much as she could from him and sitting at the small table listening to his quiet instruction made her feel as if he’d accepted her as a partner, instead of someone who had to be shielded at all times.
Water came first while they waited for their drinks. She sipped at the water, her eyes moving around the bar. It was packed. She was certain there wasn’t much else to do in the evenings. Music blared and couples danced. Laughter broke out at a table a couple of feet from theirs. It was normal. Human. She took comfort in that. She was apart from them all, just as she’d always been, but now, she had Andre. She was with him. She fit with him. She belonged with him. And that was just plain awesome.