Zen and the Art of Vampires - By Katie MacAlister Page 0,18
was not wasted on Alec. He chuckled and flashed me a quick grin in the mirror before returning his eyes to the road as we approached the square.
Kristoff grunted and looked out the window.
I figured it would take Alec forever to find a parking spot, but he solved the issue by simply parking sideways across a sidewalk. "That is the bookstore?" he asked, pointing to the end of the street, where it opened into the pedestrians-only square.
I nodded.
"Let me see the books," Alec said, opening the door for me and offering his hand to help me out of the car.
I was simultaneously charmed by the gesture and pleased by the warmth in his eyes. "I'm afraid I only have one of them. I dumped the other one when Mattias started after me."
"Mattias?" Alec asked, examining the book I held out for him. He riffled the pages but found nothing.
"The sacristan," Kristoff informed him. He turned a hard gaze on me. "Why, exactly, were you running from him?"
I was flummoxed for a moment when Alec tucked my hand in the crook of his arm, covering my fingers with his free hand as he led me down the street. It was a surprisingly intimate gesture, one that gave me more pleasure than I wanted to admit.
Part of me, the vindictive, evil part that I really liked to pretend didn't exist, wished that Denise would walk past us at that moment. I wouldn't gloat, I wouldn't preen, I'd simply smile and allow my two incredibly handsome escorts to accompany me.
Fortunately for my ego, she wasn't present in the crowd who now pulsed and bobbed in that odd throbbing fashion large groups of people packed into a small space have when they attempt to dance. The music hit us with the force of a brick wall, and it wasn't until we slipped around to the back of the row of buildings lining that side of the square that I could make myself heard above the noise.
"No answer?" Kristoff said, stopping at a metal door bearing a faded plaque with the name of the shop. One of his chocolatey brown eyebrows rose in mock surprise. I had the worst urge to yank it back down.
"I'm not avoiding the question. I just didn't want to bellow it out in front of everyone," I said with dignity. "I was running from him because he was just as mistaken as you two - he thought I was this Zorya person, and wanted to marry me."
Alec pulled out a large set of keys and started applying them to the door.
Kristoff eyed me from toes to nose. I flushed for the umpteenth time that night and, in order to forestall the obvious comment, said quickly, "You can stop looking at me like I'm a big, fat liar, because I'm not."
Kristoff blinked for a moment in surprise; then his face hardened into its familiar suspicious expression.
For some reason, that just seemed to irritate me more than if he'd come out and accused me of trying to pull his leg. "You can believe what you want, but it's the absolute truth. The lady... what's her name... Kristjana mentioned Mattias and me getting married so he could die in my arms or something like that. So you can just wipe that you're-so-insane-you're-barking look right off your face."
Behind me, Alec started laughing. Kristoff's eyes lit from within with anger, and for one horrible second, I thought he was going to hit me. But instead he took two steps forward, backing me into the wall of the shop. "Do you have any idea who I am, woman?"
"I know you don't like me, and I have to say that the feeling is reciprocated," I told him, my stomach quivering, but whether it was from fear or anger, I wasn't quite sure.
Kristoff wrapped the long fingers of one hand around my throat, tightening them with uncomfortable pressure. "I could kill you right now."
Fear won out over the anger, but I wasn't going to let him see that. I clutched the material of my skirt with both hands to keep from grabbing at his wrist. "If I'm who you say I am, that would defeat your purpose," I pointed out, ignoring the fact that my voice was quavering. "You'd have to explain my death to the Brotherhood."
A slow smile curled the very edges of his mouth, but didn't do much to warm up his icy gaze. "I believe I would enjoy that."