Even though his prayers had allowed her to stay awake during the day, she looked as if the heaviness of death encroached. She’d have no recourse but to let it happen, and it would have to happen in that mausoleum of a room. Even though it was the safest place for her, he hated to see her go inside.
“I’m going to try out my room, Britt,” she said, her voice giving nothing away. He was sure she must hate it, too.
And, if he knew Jess—and he did—she’d find another solution to that dark, windowless so-called bedroom, and soon.
He smiled into her eyes and brushed a few locks of silky brown hair behind her ear. “I think I’ll take a nap, too. I’m sure we’ll have lots of exploring to do when you wake up.”
His lips brushed hers and he wanted to wrap her in his arms and protect her from the realities of her existence. That’s what really bothered him. He couldn’t help her, even though he had some angelic abilities. But they were still foreign to him, and for the most part, consciously inaccessible.
Somehow Britt had been able to save Jess’s friends, James, Terry, and baby Sephina, from vampirism, but he’d failed the woman he loved. How many times had he despised himself for that?
Jess shut the door and clicked the lock. He turned away. He wasn’t tired, but he wouldn’t leave her alone, even though she was locked in her safe room. So, instead, he decided to set up his Wi-Fi and do some virtual sightseeing, looking for places for them to visit whenever she was ready.
The Realtor had arranged to have things set up when they arrived, and the man had left the Wi-Fi password on the dining table. All Britt had to do was set up his laptop and sign on. Before he started surfing, his stomach rumbled, and he looked in the cupboards. Too bad they hadn’t thought about arranging to have the place stocked ahead of time. Luckily, he had some snacks left in his carry-on bag. He munched on a granola bar then went back to the computer.
Out of curiosity, he checked for an English news broadcast in Paris and found several. He started scrolling, looking for anything that might relate to the reason Regent had been sent to Paris. He noted that a few tourists had their wallets stolen by pickpockets near the Eiffel Tower. It was tourist season, so that wasn’t a surprise. And a bank had been robbed. But again, that was fairly run-of-the-mill and nothing that required a priest’s special abilities.
He scanned almost the whole paper before he spotted something on the last page. The article was so small, he almost missed it. Two citizens had been attacked by an unknown assailant, and were now in the hospital. One man said he’d been attacked by a shadow figure. The article went on to discredit the victim, saying that he’d been partying for three hours at a nightclub and his memory of the incident had likely been blurred by drinking.
Shadow figures? Now, that might require a priest with special abilities. But if there were shadows attacking people in France, what were they? Or had the guy just had way too much to drink? Rubbing his tired eyes, Britt turned off the laptop and found a comfy spot for a nap in the living room. He wasn’t interested in climbing into bed right now, maybe because his room was at the opposite end of the apartment, quite a distance from Jess’s safe room.
He stared at the ceiling for a while, his thoughts running rampant. Eventually, he felt himself drifting off and he let himself go. He was close enough to hear if anyone tried to get in Jess’s room.
SECONDS AFTER THE sun had set, Jess awoke. Disoriented for a moment, she considered that she might have been buried alive. Well, not technically alive. At home in New York, there were huge windows that opened onto the panorama of the city, something that never ceased to impress her.
But this was France. And she was locked in a sealed box.
She’d been excited about the opportunity to see another country. But she wasn’t impressed with waking in this dark, tiny room, even if it was in Paris. The room reminded her that she was an ungodly creature that deserved this kind of life. She dragged herself off the bed, even stiffer than usual.
She popped in the code, and the door opened easily. Good thing, because she was feeling a little claustrophobic. She didn’t think Britt would be awake yet. Jetlag had probably left him tired. So instead of bothering him, she made her way to the fridge and poured some blood into a glass. Gross! It wasn’t possible to have her little pre-made packets here—yet. She’d have to work on that.
She heard the shower running. It seemed Britt wasn’t as tired as she thought he’d be. He came out ten minutes later, freshly showered with wet hair and looking pretty fabulous in his jeans and T-shirt.
“Evening, handsome,” she said.
His gaze licked over her, setting her ice-cold skin afire. How’d he always do that? Maybe it was the angelic presence in him. Too bad she’d been told by the angel Uriel that Britt could never help her become human again—and she could never let him know that it was impossible to save her. Uriel had warned her that Britt needed to believe in that possibility. Telling him the truth could break his spirit, making him give up on learning what he could do with his special abilities.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. Britt must be starved.
“Always, doll,” he said, eyeing her again with a ferocious need that made her cold-dead heart vibrate with instant desire.
As much as she wanted to accept his tantalizing offer, she glanced at her watch. It’d been a week since she’d seen Regent, and she really wanted to go straight to his place and surprise him.
Britt instantly reined back his sexy vibe. “We should see Regent first. I’ll grab a sandwich on the way.”
She could have kissed him—and much more than that. But she’d save those thoughts for later. Right now, her baby brother needed to know they were here for him. She was sure she’d heard desolation in his voice on the phone yesterday.
The taxi driver delivered them to Notre Dame, where Regent worked, by what they figured to be the most circuitous route. She had the feeling the trip might have been shorter if they hadn’t been tourists. Unfortunately, once they got there, the huge gothic church made her whole body react—violently. Of course it would have a formidable effect on vampires. And even though she’d been blessed with a partial soul, she wasn’t immune.
She stumbled and nearly reeled backward the moment they got out of the taxi. Britt caught her, concern etched onto his features. She held up a hand to indicate she was okay, even though she could barely take a step forward.
“Can you manage?” he asked.
“Of course. I’m fine,” she said in a clipped voice.
He frowned. “If you say so, doll.”
She let out a long shaky breath. “I do, but even so, I think I’ll stay here. No sense tempting fate by entering the building.”
“Not a problem. Shall I go inside and get Regent?” His expression appeared pained.
She’d thought she’d be able to go inside, but now she realized how painful it would be. Why go through that if she didn’t have to? “Thanks, I think that’d be best.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s strange. I know this church is giving off bad vibes for you. But I have to tell you, the whole city is giving me bad vibes. I can’t explain it.”
“Really? How so?”
“It’s a deep feeling in my gut,” he said. “Something’s not right about this place.”
He looked to the other side of the street and his mouth thinned. “Maybe we won’t be bored here, after all.”
“Oh, geez, Britt, bite your tongue. Let’s hope we don’t catch sight of even a single vampire. I want to spend our time here as civilians, not as cops who hunt vampires. I think it will be like a breath of fresh air.”
He chewed on his lip. “Maybe.”
Her gut swooped. She’d never heard him talk like that before. Truth be told, it wasn’t only the church giving her pained vibes. They’d passed a few other buildings on their way into the ci
ty that made the hair stand up on the back of her neck. She’d put her off-kilter feelings down to the fact that Paris was a centuries-old city. It had seen its fair share of battles and death, and the city seemed to resonate with the shadows of those dark times in history.
She watched while Britt made his way inside the church, her eyes never leaving his form. How she could feel so much for this man? Vampires didn’t find love—they didn’t deserve love. But somehow Britt was the positive to her negative, and in her universe, defying the odds seemed to work for them.
Despite the discomfort, she sat on the ledge of an enclosure encased by shrubbery, and waited. And waited. She glanced at her watch and frowned. Shouldn’t Britt have found her brother by now?
She knew Regent would be shocked to see Britt. But because she couldn’t enter the church, she’d miss out on that first reaction, damn her black soul. Now, she was really feeling sorry for herself, and she needed to shake it off. She knew Britt would share every nuance of Regent’s reaction with her when they got home.
Across the street, dark shadows seemed to pool in the strangest places. Shadows that seemed somehow out of sync. Is that what Britt had sensed? She stared hard at the other side of the street, searching with her enhanced vision until somehow, she saw one of the shadows move without warning. Had it been a trick of the light?
Dread clawed at her gut while an icy sensation crawled up her spine and wrapped around the base of her skull. Someone must be watching her—a tourist perhaps, or someone strolling past taking in the beautiful sights—nothing more sinister than that, surely. She’d imagined the shadow.
She ran her hands up and down her bare arms, though it made no sense. She could never feel the cold because her skin was almost always icy, unless Britt had his hands on her. Only he could send a flash of heat through her, only he could set her on fire. But tonight, something chilled her to the bone.
Even worse, that cloying sensation of being watched became more pervasive.
She considered Paris’s vampire contingent again. She imagined there were a lot of them in the city, since vampires originated in Europe. But, whatever was watching her wasn’t a vampire, she’d bet her life on it.
She jumped when footsteps stopped next to her. No one ever caught her off guard. Luckily, Britt didn’t comment on her reaction.
“Regent’s not here,” he said. “I found someone inside who gave me the address of his apartment, though, as well as directions as to how to get there. Apparently, it’s not far from here.”
“I already had his address, but the directions will help. Let’s go,” she said to Britt, flicking another quick look at the other side of the street. How many of those shadows were wrong? Too many? Jetlag might have made her delusional, because when she looked again, she could see nothing there. Still, the feeling persisted.
She stalled Britt for a second by touching his arm. “Do you feel like something’s wrong here? It’s not the church, but there’s something off. A pervasive presence that’s almost palpable to me.”
Britt halted and rubbed the back of his neck. “You feel it too, huh?”
She gritted her slightly elongated teeth. “Damn it. This can’t be happening. We are supposed to be on vacation. Why do I feel like we’ll have to battle this out before long?”
A car passed them, its lights blinding them for a moment. In that moment, she could have sworn she saw the outline of something grotesque growing out of those inhuman shadows. “Over there! See that?”
BRITT DIDN’T HAVE to follow her finger since he’d already been looking in the direction of the out-of-sync shadows. He’d noticed that spot as soon as they exited the taxi. The ground was in full shadow where an overhead streetlight should completely illuminate the sidewalk. After reading the article in the newspaper earlier, he had the feeling he knew why Regent was here. But what were those shadow figures? Why did the church think Regent could help? Sure, Jess’s brother had fought vampires in his youth and he understood the underbelly of New York City, but this was different. He decided not to tell Jess about the article. He’d keep his supposition to himself for now. She needed to see Regent first.
“Jess, I think we should move on before it gets too late. We want to see Regent before he goes to bed.” And before they had to deal with whatever that dark, emanating menace was. Perhaps something evil drawn to the old church?
Fear lingered in the depth of her gaze, making his blood run cold. Jess Vandermire wasn’t afraid of anything, no matter how evil. Whatever the hell that mass had been, it had scared her as much, or more than, it had scared him.
“It’s this way to Regent’s place,” Britt said, immediately aware that they’d have to head toward the shadows.
“Let’s cross to the other side of the street for a while,” she said.
He agreed. He wasn’t ready to come face-to-face with whatever the shadows were. At least, not yet. Maybe they were just overtired and their imaginations were trying to come up with something to keep their instincts finely honed. Yeah, that was it. They were looking for trouble where there was none.
He cleared his throat and looked back at the shadows, to make sure nothing was following them.
He’d taken several surreptitious glances back as they strolled along the street until his mind and his inner alarm system finally relaxed. Whatever had been on the street was gone.
“Did you say his apartment is on the second floor?” Jess asked, looking up at the tall building.
“Yes.”
“Good. I see lights. It looks like he’s still up.”
Britt glanced up at the second floor apartment. She sounded pretty excited for a tough, unfeeling vampire. He’d let her have her uber-bad-girl delusions for now.
She rang the buzzer. “It feels okay here, doesn’t it?” she said unexpectedly.
He nodded and pulled the entry door shut behind them. “That aura of danger was pretty strong back there though, wasn’t it?”
“At least it didn’t follow us,” she said. “I would have been ticked if it held us up from seeing Regent.”
“Hello? Who’s there?” Regent’s voice crackled through the intercom.
“Oh, just a surprise guest or two,” Jess said with a laugh.
“Jess? Is that you? What in heaven?” The buzzer rang for the door to open, and they stepped inside and headed for the stairs.
He was in the hall when they made the landing. “Jess! How’d you ever manage to get here? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, dear,” she said, giving him a quick hug. “We just couldn’t stay in New York without you.”
Regent shook his head back and forth in obvious disbelief. “What about the police force? How did you get away?”
“We took a leave of absence,” she said.
“No! You didn’t. How?”
“I almost blew it at the airport when I was telling you about Jane and her team. She’s taking over for me. I feel quite safe leaving the city in her capable hands.”
“How long are you staying?”
“Three months, same as you,” she said matter-of-factly. “That is, unless your term here changes.”
Tears flooded his eyes and he blinked them back. “My first instinct is to tell you that you shouldn’t have come. . . . But I’m so glad you’re here.” He sniffed. “What will you do, though? You’ll be so bored.” The fact that he hadn’t balked at them staying for the duration of his time in Paris told Jess that her brother felt out of his depth. Her decision to come had been the right one.
Britt scanned Regent’s meager apartment from the kitchen. The church superiors hadn’t put themselves out in their efforts to make him comfortable. This place left a lot to be desired. And, Regent himself looked pale, and not quite himself.
No wonder coming here felt so right. They were needed. Still, it shocked him to
see Regent appearing so ill after only a week. Jess’s brother had been extremely healthy, especially since he’d been physically altered back to middle age last year. No one knew what the side effects would be or how long his artificial youth might last. It was another reason Jess wouldn’t leave him alone for long.
Britt held out a hand to Regent in greeting.
“My son,” Regent said, shaking his hand vigorously. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Again, Britt’s gut twisted. Regent knew something. He looked tired, but there was more to it. And Britt had a feeling it was bad. Because Regent had never been afraid of vampires. So what was going on here, had to be something worse.
Great.
Chapter Two
THE NEXT EVENING, Regent was back at work, deep in the bowels of Notre Dame, secretly trying to track down a lost script for the Vatican. He’d been told the script was the key to dealing with the outbreak of shadows terrorizing Paris. He’d been sworn to secrecy about them, and he regularly met with a group of priests who were also involved in the search.
He wanted desperately to warn Jess and Britt about what was going on but was torn. As long as these shadows weren’t threatening the city, he’d keep his word. But if he thought for a second Jess would be at risk, he’d tell her and Britt everything.
It was a miracle Jess had been able to fly to France. Even with extended prayers, it was a risky endeavor for her. What if they’d scanned her in one of those machines? They might have realized she was, for all intents and purposes, dead.
He leaned against the door casing. He’d been feeling weird ever since he’d arrived. He’d put it down to missing Jess, but deep down, he knew there was more to it. Ever since the cardinal had told him about the shadows—and then he’d witnessed his first one—he’d been feeling uneasy, as if waiting for . . . something.
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