to us in person.” To Ian, he said simply, “What’s Timothy done?”
Ian leaned back with a sigh. “It’s what he could do. You remember Timothy left because he was looking for Cain? He and the cult he joined believe they’ve found him, or Cain’s remains, as it were. More importantly, they believe those remains can be raised back to life if given the blood of a human, vampire, and ghoul tri-bred to drink.”
Light suddenly exploded around Cat in twisting, diaphanous forms while an unearthly wail made me want to clutch my ears. Just as quickly, it was gone, leaving Cat haloed in nothing except the artificial glow of the room’s subtle high-hat lighting, while the only sound came from Silver’s contented grunt as he settled near Mencheres’s feet. I looked around, amazed that no one else seemed to have noticed that for an instant, Cat had been surrounded by deadly wraiths.
“Your old friend wants to bleed my daughter?” she hissed.
“If he knew about her, yes,” Ian answered bluntly. “Granted, Timothy didn’t kill me when he had the chance, but I’d never bet on friendship against zealotry, and Timothy is a zealot now.”
Bones reached out to take Cat’s hand. “Then I hope we never see him again,” he said, his tone no less deadly for its new softness. “Now, what’s this thing you stole from him?”
I got up, not needing to see Ian demonstrate the horn’s remarkable abilities. I must have still had a grudge against the relic for blowing Ian’s head off and nearly killing him.
“I’ll check on Ereshki,” I said as Ian took his cashmere jacket off. Ian had arrived at the beach house this morning wearing only ripped pants, and Mr. Rich had been a similar size, so Ian had raided his closet. I wasn’t judging; I was now wearing a cashmere sweater and slacks, courtesy of Mrs. Rich.
“I’ll go with you,” Cat said, surprising me.
We were halfway to the door when Mencheres suddenly blocked my path. I tensed, but all he did was fold me into his arms.
I was startled. Even at our friendliest, Mencheres and I were not huggers. Only when Mencheres whispered, “Thank you,” in a voice vibrating from emotion did I realize why he’d done this.
Ian. Of course. We had loving him in common.
“You’re welcome.” Though I didn’t do it for you . . .
Mencheres released me. “As long as I’ve known you, Veritas, I’ve either admired you as an ally, respected you as an equal, or been wary of you as an adversary. Now, it is my great honor to welcome you to my family as a daughter.”
Ian’s smirk said, Told you he’d do this.
I was touched, but I couldn’t show how much without revealing feelings Ian didn’t yet reciprocate. That’s why I covered my deeper emotions with a wry smile.
“That’s sweet of you, Mencheres, but considering I’m more than a hundred years older than you . . . I’m not calling you ‘Dad.’”
He chuckled. So did everyone else, which covered up the vulnerability of the moment for me. Or so I thought. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Cat giving me a knowing look. Was she very perceptive, or were all my efforts futile because what I felt for Ian was written all over my face?
I didn’t want to find out. “Ereshki,” I said, as if reminding them of where I was going. “Where is she?”
“Ask any of my guards,” Ian replied. “They’ll show you.”
I looked at Cat, wishing I had an excuse to avoid her now. “Still coming?” Please say no . . .
“Right behind you,” she replied with a quick smile.
Shit.
Chapter 34
I intended to avoid conversation with Cat by quickly finding one of Ian’s guards to take me to Ereshki. However, we’d barely left the drawing room before Cat began tugging me across the formal hall to one of the many rooms beyond it.
“The library,” she exclaimed, as if she’d never seen one before. “The last time I was here, I almost killed Ian in this!”
She kept tugging on my arm to get me to follow her. I gave the glass-domed ceiling above the foyer a longing look. If I flung Cat through it, she’d get the hint that I didn’t appreciate being pulled along like a reluctant toddler, though that would be a bit extreme. And rude, I supposed.
Thus, I let her lead me into the library. It was an impressive, two-story room with thousands of old and new volumes lining the walls. Another section housed