would have.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said quietly. “As long as it does not interfere with your duties, why should I care?”
How carefully worded.
But playing with the enemy, aka Vincent’s underling, certainly seemed as though it would indeed interfere with my duty to protect the one man the Vampire Lord was seeking to destroy.
I watched Ryder dust off the seat of his blue jeans. “Did you hear that, vampire?”
He raised his head. “What?”
“We are at opposite sides. Your Master wants mine killed.”
His blue eyes narrowed. “Yeah. No kidding.”
“So?”
“So what?”
Shannon let out a slow breath, putting her hands on her slim hips. “Idiot, she’s asking if she can trust you.”
He slanted a gaze at her. “What about you?”
“I’m supposed to be protecting her, dumb ass. Matthias owes Vincent nothing. If he wants the woman to survive, then I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her alive.”
How interesting. A bodyguard for a bodyguard. I’d certainly never had someone to watch my back before. Would I survive long enough to reap the rewards?
Or was it consequences?
Ryder was silent for a moment and then bent down again to pick up his coat, shaking it by the back to get rid of all the white dust disturbed from the fight. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” I said.
He sighed. “I know. Look, I promised I’d get you out of here. So we’ll do that. Let’s get out of here and then I’ll decide what to do.”
Leaving the corridor was quick, mercifully, but if I had expected some sort of army to meet us at the mouth, I would be sorely disappointed.
For there was only one.
Hair glistening like freshly spilled blood, the Vampire Lord of Centennial City stood before us.
Ryder swallowed audibly.
“Um, wow. Didn’t expect you here.”
Vincent turned his green eyes to him. There was absolutely no emotion in those eyes that were as bright as polished glass bottles. “I expected you here. I’m pleased to see you’ve survived.”
Ryder laughed nervously. “Well, you know, I guess I’m kind of like a bad penny.”
A corner of Vincent’s lips relaxed. Or so I thought. “Funny. That’s what Eve always says.” He turned to us and I felt Shannon tense next to me. “You have my most profound apologies. This was not how I wanted events to progress.”
Jason held up his head high. For some reason, it was surprising to see they were evenly matched in height. For whatever reason, Vincent had seemed almost god-like, but as far as height went, he and Jason were the same height. “I regret leaving before I could fully explain my situation. Perhaps I have complicated matters.”
Vincent tilted his head to one side, a strange look in his cat eyes. “Complicated matters...what an interesting way of wording this political fiasco you have put my city, my people in. I have killed for less.”
“Much less,” Ryder said weakly.
His gaze fell on me. “You.”
I was glad I was not asked to assassinate Vincent. For I knew in that instant, even three hundred years would not have been enough to put him under.
“Ran...” he said, voice trailing away. He picked up something from the ground and held it out to me, hilt first. “I believe this belongs to you.”
I took my sword, still in its bag, gratefully and slung it over one shoulder. “Thank you.”
His eyes grew hooded. “That is a weapon with a history.”
I nodded, but said nothing.
“Much blood,” he continued, voice emotionless as though he was simply reading from a book. “A great deal of pain. A cursed blade.”
I matched him, gaze for gaze. With my weapon, I felt almost foolishly brave. “I have always considered myself lucky.”
“You would have to be, to be own such a sword,” he said and then took a step back, motioning up the great staircase, the wood varnished and shining in the faint moonlight from the skylight and french windows. “I believe the Committee will now discuss the matters of you and your Master.”
Shannon sucked in a breath. “They just tried to kill us.”
It was unnerving to see how calm Vincent remained. “And this was a mistake that I have apologized for. We were wrong for not hearing your side, and you were wrong to run away before proper judgement could be passed.”
Jason moved past me, put a foot on the first step, put a hand on the varnished handrail. “Then we must go. We shouldn’t keep the Council waiting, should we?”
Vincent nodded. “No, of course we musn’t.”
Shannon followed Jason as did Ryder and I stood