"And he's the director of the governing board? Whew. No wonder you didn't like him. Are you really going to do it? Free Mattias and Kristjana, I mean?"
"I don't have a choice, do I?"
Her face screwed up in thought. "Nope. Can't see any other way out of it."
"Me either." I turned off the computer equipment and the lights, preparing to lock up the office.
"Boy, I'd give just about anything to see that delicious Christian's face when you walk up to his door and ask him for the reapers. You have to take me with you-I can't possibly miss something that's going to be so very entertaining."
"Oh, yes, it'll be a laugh riot, all right." My stomach felt like lead, my spirits dampened and drooping like soggy feathers.
She giggled, but watched me closely as I gathered up my things and stuffed them into the leather satchel that I used as a briefcase. I stood her scrutiny for as long as I could before turning to her with an irritated, "What?"
She nodded toward the door. "You were impressive with that woman, you know? It was a side of you I hadn't seen before."
"Needs must and all that crap." I set down the bag and slumped into a nearby armchair. "I just hate it when someone pulls the rug out from under me. It makes me feel so irritable. And now I have two separate groups pulling two separate rugs, and I don't know how on earth I'm going to do everything they want me to do."
"Suck it up, buttercup."
I glanced at her in surprise.
She laughed and gave my shoulder a little squeeze. "That's what my dad always used to say to me. I know you don't particularly want to have anything more to do with the vampires, but this may turn out to be a good thing."
"In no way will my further involvement with the vamps be considered anything but potentially disastrous," I complained, rubbing my temples. "Dammit, Magda! This isn't fair!"
"It's called life, and it sucks at times." She looked up as Ray opened the door and stuck his head in, asking if we were almost ready to go. She told him we'd be right there. "Then again, there are times when it really is very nice." She sighed happily as she watched him through the window.
"Christian is holding Mattias prisoner, which means I'm going to have to try to reason with him. You know what that means, don't you?" I said glumly to my hands. "He'll make me go talk to their council. And you and I both know what they want to talk about."
"A certain incredibly gorgeous vampire, so handsome he makes your eyes hurt, and we won't even go into that sexy, sexy Italian accent? Oh, yeah. And I can't say I blame them. I'd want to talk about him, as well. Mrrowr . I mean that, of course, in the strictest of platonic ways."
"It wouldn't matter if you didn't," I said, sighing heavily before picking up my satchel and purse. "It's not like Kristoff wants me."
"Bah. You just need to have a little quality time with him." Amusement was rich in her voice as she walked out the door. "Besides, I've never been to Vienna. I bet it's very pretty this time of year!"
I locked the door behind us, giving her a little shake of my head. "You can't possibly be serious about wanting to go with me."
"Of course I am," she said, whapping me on the arm. "We're here to spend two weeks with you, aren't we? So if you go to Vienna to meet with the vampires, and then pop over to Iceland to pick up Kristjana and Ulfur, we'll go with you. We'll be your entourage! It'll be fun!"
Fun. For some reason, that was the last word that came to my mind. "Well, that looks..."
"Ominous," I said, pausing next to Magda as we emerged from customs at the Vienna International Airport. Three men stood waiting at the end of the hallway for us. All three were tall, clad in black or midnight blue, and each wore the same identical suspicious expression. Two were dark-haired, one blond. All three were gorgeous enough that more than one woman's gaze lingered on them.
"They look familiar," Magda whispered to me as we walked toward them.
"They should. The one on the left with the scowl is Andreas, Kristoff's brother. The middle one is their cousin Rowan. And the guy on the left is named Sebastian. I don't know what his connection is to everyone else, but he seems just as unflinching as the others."
"Oy," Magda said under her breath.
I thought for a moment of turning and running back to the plane to demand that I be taken back to safety, but I had a feeling that Julian, the messenger, would grab me before I took more than a few steps. "You're the one who begged to come with me," I reminded Magda in an equally soft voice.
"I didn't beg. I just had you suggest to your watchdog that if he ponied up tickets for Ray and me, you would be less inclined to smite him with that blinding light you can summon up. And you have to admit he didn't really protest much once you told him you changed your mind."
I glanced behind us. Ray walked alongside the messenger, the former chattering happily and looking about with bright, interested eyes, while the latter stared at me in stony silence.
"I just wish we didn't have to involve an innocent bystander in all this. You're sure Ray is OK with the whole vampire thing?" I asked Magda.
"He is, rather surprisingly. He said he always suspected there was more going on around him than people were willing to admit, and who am I to poohpooh general paranoia? To be honest, he's dying to see them, since he's a big Joss Whedon fan. He was a bit disappointed when I told him they don't change their appearance at all, but he'll survive."