He slouched back in his seat with his legs kicked out and arms tucked at his chest. If someone were to glance at him, he’d just appear to be really laid-back, but the pose put his head closer to mine, enabling more whispering.
We clapped at the end of the number and he muttered, “This is killing me. Do you think they know any classics? ‘Free Bird,’ maybe? Can’t you just hear it chanted?” He made a low humming sound, not unlike the chanting men. “Hohhhhhh…”
An Acari in front of us turned and glared, and I gave her a prim smile. Placing a discreet hand in front of my mouth, I muttered, “I’d settle for anything tonal. What kind of mission will they send us on that we need to be familiar with Gregorian chant?”
Thinking about it, I supposed the possibilities were endless. Especially considering that our enemy vampires were once monks who lived on another island in an abandoned monastery.
As I whispered to Josh, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Carden. Why was he even there? He didn’t strike me as a big music fan, nor was he the monastic type—particularly as unholy-goddamned-sexy could be counted among his qualifications.
What did this preoccupation with him mean? Was it permanent? Did I feel him out there, looming nearby, because he was focused on me, or was it that I was obsessed with him? Not to mention the fact that he was so hot in a roguish, careless sort of way. But again, was that purely the bond talking?
Regardless, I leaned away from Josh—I didn’t want to get him in trouble. I’d already been his downfall once before, when he’d intervened and stopped Masha and her cronies from hazing me. Her cronies…including Trinity.
He’d had hell to pay for it, too. I still didn’t know who’d beaten him up. All I knew was that he’d put a stop to their torture and had shown up the next day with a battered face. He still had a scar cutting through his left eyebrow—a little jog where the hair hadn’t grown back.
Did that mean that he also had a motive to see Guidon Trinity dead? Did he even have the ability to drain a body like that? His vampire Trainee baby fangs weren’t all the way grown in yet.
I thought I knew him, but couldn’t say for sure. He’d been friendly with my nemesis, Lilac, and although it was probably just because Josh was friendly with everyone, that fact stuck in my craw and prevented me from really trusting him.
I felt myself beginning to nod off and I stretched my legs, squeezing life back into my butt cheeks. “Is this going to last the full three hours?” Class went till six p.m., and I wouldn’t put it past Dagursson to regale us with zithers and lutes for the full period. It was a grim thought.
Josh shushed me, canting his head to listen. When I cut my eyes to glare at him, I realized he hadn’t shut me up because he was listening to the music. A low murmur was traveling through the room, and he was straining to hear.
Two Acari in front of us began to whisper. I picked out bits and pieces. One girl’s eyes widened. “Another one?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Josh held up a finger to silence me. He turned to the girl next to him and turned on the old Joshua Nash charm.
When he leaned back toward me, his expression was unreadable. “Angel, I hardly knew you.”
I cut him a quick look. “What are you talking about?”
“You know Watcher Angel?”
I gave a slight nod, gluing my eyes back to the stage, pretending to listen to the music. “Angel of Death, you mean?”
“Yeah, the chick with the arms.”
What was it with guys and her arms? It made me impatient. “What’d she do?”
“She got herself killed.”
My mouth dropped open. There were lots of different ways to be killed on this island, but only one would cause this much gossip. “Like…?”
He shifted uneasily in his seat. “Like, drained killed.”
My eyes shot back to him. “Like Trinity.” I went numb.
“I also heard there was another one they didn’t even tell us about. Before Trinity. But you didn’t hear that from me.”
Suddenly, everyone around us was clapping. It jarred me to attention, and I clapped right along, but my gaze didn’t budge from Josh.
Everyone began to stand and gather their things. And even though the burst of activity made it safer to talk, Josh kept his voice low. “Careful, little D. It’s looking dangerous to be a sheila around this place.”
With a sigh, I stood. “What else is new?”
We exited and a male figure stood waiting, silhouetted in the half-light. I sucked in a breath.
Alcántara.