keeping close to the shelter of the rocks.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.
“It looks like I’m trying to keep you from being drained of blood,” he said tensely as he stared up into the night sky.
“It’s not like that,” she began, even though she could still barely breathe through the wild pounding of her own heart.
“Oh, it’s not. What is it like, then?” he said, still scanning the sky as he steered her up the incline toward the mansion.
“Well, sort of like being pursued by a vampire and rescued by a shape-shifter before any bloodshed or mayhem, something like that,” she admitted, breathless. As they crested the slope, she saw the Bentley parked and waiting.
“Good, we’re looking at the same picture, anyway. Get in the car,” he said.
“I have my own—” she started.
“Philip will come and take your car back. You’re coming with me.”
It was hard to argue with someone who had a spare driver to toss around like that, so she shut up and got in, sinking into the comfort and safety of the car as Mick shut the door after her.
The Bentley wasn’t as roomy as the limo, but it was more luxurious, in its way. There was even a bud vase on the dashboard, with a fresh rosebud. Barrie couldn’t take her eyes off it. It helped steer her mind away from her brush with death.
“Nice touch,” she said weakly, feeling her body go limp with the adrenaline crash.
“Don’t talk to me,” he said stonily as he started the car and steered down the drive.
“Why not?” she asked, startled.
“Because I am really, really angry with you right now.”
Barrie was silenced. He did sound furious. She huddled meekly in her seat, and he said nothing more until the tall metal gates of the estate were shutting behind them in the dark.
“Your cousins insisted on coming with you, hmm?” he said in a voice that could have cut glass.
“Things...came up....” She knew she was busted, but the excuse bubbled up, anyway.
“Right. What came up was a vampire in full-attack mode.”
“You saw it,” she said in a small voice.
“Hard to miss,” he said grimly, and took a bottle of water from the console, handed it to her. “Drink this. You’re probably in shock.”
She meekly took the water, and the second she tipped it up to her lips she realized she was practically dying of thirst. She drank almost the whole thing down, then sat back in the seat and sneaked a look at Mick, who was stiff and silent beside her as he drove. “Was it DJ?” she ventured.
He looked at her for a moment. “I don’t know,” he said, his voice flat. “It was a vampire.”
Great, she thought. That part I knew.
“What happened in there?” he finally asked, his hands tight on the steering wheel as he negotiated the curving and pitch-black canyon road.
“It was...amazing. He’s got a whole environment going. Trees. Dead big game. A river.” She was aware that she didn’t sound entirely coherent, but she couldn’t help herself. “Why did you come? What did you think was going to happen?” she asked on impulse.
“I came because I had a feeling you were lying to me,” he answered, his voice flat. “I have no idea what I thought was going to happen. With DJ, he could be just playing—or not playing at all.” And then, much more softly, he said, “Impossible.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“With DJ...impossible to tell.”
There was something in his voice that puzzled her. “How do you know him?” Because the way he was talking, it was obvious that he did.
He glanced at her in the dark, then away. “He’s a major contributor to the Circle Foundation,” he said with a hint of irony.
“Really,” Barrie said.
“I’m not sure that he actually knows it,” Mick added. “But the checks keep coming.”
“Well. How nice for you,” she said.
“It is,” he agreed. “Very nice. His name looks good on the masthead. These things mean something. Money makes money.”
She nodded, processing this.
“Did he say anything useful?” Mick asked in a voice that implied that he doubted it.
“I think so,” Barrie said slowly, although she was struggling to remember exactly what DJ had said that was in any way helpful.
“And?” Mick was waiting.
“He said that Johnny was on set until the movie wrapped,” she said. “And he said...” To her own total surprise, she burst into tears.
“Hey,” Mick said from the driver’s seat, alarmed. He reached over and took her hand. “What?”
It was a minute before she could