He released me and looked on in grim satisfaction. “Well, well, all grown up at last. Welcome to eternal perdition my dear, with all its empty promises and unending torment. Now you know… ”
Mia trailed off into silence. Joe observed her pained expression, and thought it best to call it quits. “That’s enough. I still have to go play chess with Kurt.”
She nodded, saying nothing more, still and depressed.
“All right?”
“Just missing him.”
“I understand. Good night.”
“Good night.”
He took a last inquiring look, but she didn’t move a muscle. What had gotten into her lately?
Joe carried the beautifully carved chess set his father had left him into the other cell. Kurt delighted in the carving of the onyx pieces as Joe unpacked them, turning the slightly transparent stone in his slender fingers. “Exquisite… ”
“Been in my family for generations— played a lot when I was a kid.”
“My father taught me when I was very young. We played backstage during my concert tours in the early thirties.”
Weird. Kurt was older than Joe’s father was when he died, yet he looked so young and smooth. That image made Joe uncomfortable.
Kurt chuckled. “Doctor, you needn’t be so tense. I only want a game of chess.”
“Sorry?”
“Set up the board. You move first.”
Joe made his first tentative move. Kurt astonished him by beating him in four. They played again and again. Each time Kurt swiftly took him down.
“You’re murdering me.”
Kurt sat, arms folded across his chest, face relaxed. “Take time to consider your moves.”
“You just look where I move and pounce.”
“I can see exactly what you’re doing. You make it much too easy. See the board in your mind. Anticipate my next move. Set up again.”
This time Joe was able to hold him off awhile. Kurt was very pleased. “You see— you can do it when you think.” Kurt looked over the board before he moved. “You talked with Mia earlier?”
“She’s really upset about something.”
Kurt slid his bishop forward. “You shouldn’t have advanced that knight. Check.”
Joe made a defensive move, but Kurt boxed him in. “Checkmate. Mia knows every ploy man has used on woman. To maintain her trust you must be completely honest.”
“Do you trust me?”
Kurt’s face curved into a smile. “You haven’t tried to manipulate me yet.”
“You scare the shit out of me.”
Kurt chuckled, looking the most human in aspect Joe had seen. Was it just because usually Kurt sat in near darkness, cast in long shadows, eyes glittering in his pale face like two blue Christmas lights?
Joe finally got an inkling of just what attracted Mia to him. Kurt was calm, logical and even serene in manner.
The vampire sank into the chair opposite, thick lashes drooping over his intense eyes. “You’ve been very decent to us.”
The vampire’s close proximity and sexual ambiguity made Joe very uneasy. Joe found himself blushing, not able to meet Kurt’s gaze as he packed up the pieces. “It’s just the right thing to do. By the way, Lee Brooks is coming at the end of the month. Lydia believes she’ll want to speak with you then.”
“Without you we have no lifeline between us. The only thing we have to bargain with is information. Can we play again sometime soon?”
“Sure, I’ll leave the board here. Goodnight… ” Joe hesitated a moment.
Kurt’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Doctor?”
“I saw rune symbols while Mia was reading your first letter.”
The vampire sighed. “I devised this system of communication just in case we were ever separated.” Kurt’s troubled gaze met Joe’s full on. “One must always anticipate the opponent’s next move.”
Joe understood. They wouldn’t sacrifice their most valuable piece until they were assured of winning. Little Kurt was very shrewd; he had coached Mia all the way.
FOURTEEN
* * * *
Joe lay in Jean’s bed, tossing and turning. Stress and fatigue had rendered him impotent. He lay empty and aching, staring at the pattern of swirls in the plaster ceiling of the bedroom. Jean was fast asleep beside him, her breathing even. Finally, his swollen eyes grew heavier and heavier, until he couldn’t pry them open.
He awoke with a start. A heartbeat echoed in the room, fast like a kid’s. A light wind blew through the open window. Seductive musky scent filled the air, the pheromone. He bolted upright, horrified. Mia? How on earth did she escape and find him here? She appeared at the window, suspended on a current of air, a fallen angel, the moon back-lighting the diaphanous white robe she wore, revealing the lush curves of her body. Dark hair blew away from