by Jill Myles
Oh shit. I had dropped off a Da Vinci at the university? That was … not good. So much for keeping things low-key. I needed to get it back, and fast. I dialed the number that Becky had left on my phone.
She picked it up on the first ring. “Ohmigodohmigodohmigod—” she squealed into my ear.
“It’s a fake,” I lied, cutting into her enthusiasm. “I promise, it’s a fake. I had it painted for Noah as a joke.”
“A joke?” she echoed, crushing disappointment and confusion coloring her voice. “I don’t understand. Why would you ask me to carbon-date—”
“It was a lame joke. It’s for his birthday,” I said, making stuff up as I went along. “A little bet between us. I told him he wouldn’t be able to pick out a real Da Vinci from a fake and so I had this fake made.” Okay, even my explanation was lame.
Becky wasn’t convinced, I could tell. “But … but Jackie, I swear, it looks real. Professor Jergens has studied Da Vinci for twenty years and he says—”
“Jergens?” I laughed, mentally cursing myself. God, why had she shown it to Jergens? If anyone could identify a Da Vinci, it was him. I had to think fast. “That old creep will say anything to try and get you to go out with him. He hits on anything with tits. You could draw a stick figure, and Jergens would tell you that it’s a Picasso if it gets you in his office for five minutes.”
She paused. Paused for a bit longer. I bit my lip. “That creep,” she eventually said. “He totally had me convinced.”
I exhaled with relief. “Yeah. It’s supposed to look convincing.”
“It really does,” she said in a wistful voice. “It really looks like a real Da Vinci.”
That was because it probably was. Noah at Da Vinci’s school back in Renaissance Florence? Not entirely out of the realm of possibility. “Can you do me a favor and pack it up for me, Becky? I’ll swing by later tonight to grab it. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble,” she said glumly. “I was just hoping for something cool to happen. It’s always so boring around here.”
“True enough,” I lied, a cheerful note in my voice. “So did you look at the back?”
“Yeah,” she said in a mopey voice. “It’s just a date and a name, that’s all.”
“What name?” I forced my voice to be casual.
“Rachael.”
“Rachael?” It didn’t ring a bell. “Gotcha. Thanks, Becky.”
“Sure. I’ll have it wrapped up and left for you to pick up,” she said sorrowfully, as if I’d ruined her week.
I clicked off the phone and stared at the wall. Rachael. A woman’s name. A Hebrew name, unless I had misjudged the clothing. Why had Da Vinci painted a Hebrew woman? Why was Noah carrying it around? And why was she wearing my face? The questions circled in my head as I finished packing my clothing. By the time I’d finished, I still had no answers. Frustrated and distracted, I headed downstairs.
Ethan had been busy; the living room looked almost liveable again. If one ignored the shredded cushions, that is. But the couch had been placed back in its original spot, the broken glass had been cleaned up, and the trash had been removed. I could see the floor again … and the dark, rusty stains that wouldn’t come out of the carpet.
Maybe the trash was preferable.
“Thank you, Ethan,” I said, dumping my backpack of clothing on the corner of the couch. “I really appreciate it, and I’m sure Remy would too if she were here.”
He said nothing, but I caught the gleam of his eyes again. “You are welcome, Succubus.”
“Can you please just call me Jackie, for once and for all? Jeezus.”
“Calling you by your first name would imply an improper relationship,” he said in a stiff voice. “And I have no wish to imply such a thing.”
I waved a hand at him, frustrated. “Can you call me by something else? A pet name of some sort?”
He looked at me with a perfectly grave expression. “Like … Fluffy?”
I blinked, surprised. “Not a real pet name. I mean—” His expression grew embarrassed, and I said, “Never mind. Keep calling me ‘Succubus.’”
“Very well.”
“So did you find anything incriminating?”
“I found a severed foot,” he said, and began to reach into the garbage bag. “Did you wish to see it?”
“No,” I said hastily, putting my hands up to stop him. “I’ll take your word for it.” Jeez. That was disturbing. “Did you find the rest of the owner somewhere around here?”
“Just the foot,” Ethan told me. “We’d smell an entire dead body.”
That was … reassuring. I guess. “Was the foot male or female? Could you tell?” He moved to pull it out of the bag to show me, and I backed away. “Don’t show me. Just tell me.”
He stared down into the bag for a minute, then at his own foot. “Male, I think.”
“Then it must belong to one of the vampires that the queen said that Remy—er, Joachim—murdered.” Well, that was a relief. Sort of. I paced around the room, trying to think. “No signs of Remy, though?”
He shook his head. “Nothing that would indicate a succubus has been here. She is just gone.”
Well, crap. We were going to have to lure her, after all. I sighed heavily. The last thing I wanted to be was bait.
Trying to wipe the thought of “bait” from my mind, I made a pit stop at the university to clean up the mess I’d created. Leaving Ethan waiting at Remy’s house, I ran in to the Archaeology building and made a beeline for the desk of Dr. Morgan’s assistant, Becky Lewis.
She didn’t look thrilled to see me. “Hi, Jackie,” she said, barely glancing up from her computer as I approached. “Dr. Morgan isn’t in. He’s still in Mexico and will be for the next few months.” Her gaze implied I should be doing the same.
I gave her a fake, bright smile and lied through my teeth. “I had to leave early. Medical reasons.”
“I see.” She didn’t sound sympathetic in the slightest. “Did you need something else?”
I guessed that she’d had time to analyze our conversation about the painting and was mad at me. “Just wanted to swing by and pick up Noah’s painting. Do you still have it?”
“Oh. That.” Becky dug through some paperwork, pretending to look for it. After a moment, she lifted her coffee cup and pulled out the envelope underneath. “Here it is.”
I snatched it from her, resisting the urge to check and see if any of the wet brown rings on the surface of the envelope had leaked through to the painting inside. If she had even the slightest inkling that it might actually be a real Da Vinci, I’d never be able to give it back to Noah. So I forced myself to tuck it under my arm, real casual-like. “Cool, thanks. See you.”
“Later,” she said in the same passive-aggressive tone, and turned back to typing.
I hurried out of the building, and when I was safely back at the car, I tore the envelope apart, checking the painting. To my relief, it was still encased in plastic and the wet envelope had just been for show. Whew.
With the painting safely retrieved, I returned to Remy’s house and hid it under my bed, between the mattresses. It felt strange (and stupid) to hide a Da Vinci under the mattress, but what else could I do? It was too big to fit in my pocket. I kept Noah’s engagement ring with me at all times, tucked into a pocket, simply because it was too expensive to leave lying around. Leaving the painting at Remy’s house seemed like a bad idea, but the hotel safe seemed even worse.
With the painting successfully stowed, I patted my pocket to double check the ring, and then ran off to find Ethan again.
We locked up the house and left it, leaving a note taped to the door in case Ethel should return.
From there, I checked a few of Remy’s local hangouts. Her dry cleaner hadn’t seen her in a week. Her pool boy hadn’t seen her in longer. And her job was furious at her because they were waiting on her to shoot a movie and she was nowhere to be found.
By the time we returned to th
e hotel, the sun was close to setting and my frustration was mounting.
At my request, Ethan went downstairs to grab us a dinner from the lounge, and I went to the elevator to head up to our room. I needed to put away clothing and the stuff I’d grabbed from Remy’s house, and think of a Plan B before the vampires got up.
But when I arrived back at the hotel suite, the door was ajar, and Caleb was there waiting for me. He sat in a chair facing the door, and his face lit up as I saw him. “Welcome home, sweet cheeks. So good of you to rejoin us.”
All of my nerves tensed, and alarm bells went off in my head. “Hi. Er, where’s Zane?” I didn’t see my lover anywhere.
“He’s been a tad bit delayed.” His long, narrow fingers steepled, then flexed. “Is there something I can help you with?”
Best not to show my attachment to Zane or someone would get suspicious. I forced a bright smile to my face. “Nope. Just spent the day working on my tan.”
He shrugged. “It’s your friend’s funeral if you want to fuck around with the time we have. I don’t care either way, dollface.”
“If you’re going to be a dickhead, we don’t need you around,” I snapped back at him. “If you don’t give a shit, then why are you here?”
He smiled—a beautiful but cold smile. “To keep you in line.”
That sent a chill skittering through me. “And if I don’t stay in line?”
He tilted his head at me, so pretty and blond and evil. “Why, have you already disobeyed, my pet? Do you have something I should report back to the queen?”
“Pfft,” I said, though my heart was pounding. Did he know that Zane and I had hooked up last night? “I was just curious. You make it sound so awful.”
“Oh, it’s not pleasant when one disobeys the queen,” he said in that silky voice.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing that she’s not my boss,” I replied forcefully, digging through my purse for my phone to cover the fact that my hands were shaking.
He leaned back in his chair, his hands stroking his throat. My gaze was drawn to it and I frowned. That was a weird piece of jewelry for a guy to wear. The thick band of gold metal had a pronged bar across his collarbone; it was shaped like an O with a line underneath it. “What’s with the choker?”
Caleb stroked it again, his eyes crinkling as he gave me a friendly smile. That baby face didn’t fool me—nor did his simple explanation. “It is my shenu. An Egyptian symbol that carried great magic. It works twofold—for one, we can use it as a conduit to pull the spirit of Joachim from your friend Remy. And for two, it works as a magical shield. With it, I am protected from those that would harm me. The queen thought I should have some additional protection when we approach your little friend tonight.”
Oh, man. I thought of the severed foot back in Remy’s house. “You might need more than a necklace. She bites. We found a foot, but not the owner.”
Caleb winked at me. “I can take care of myself, babycakes. Don’t worry about me.”
Right. As if worrying about him had ever truly entered my mind. “Since you’re up, I’ll go find Zane,” I said, heading toward the door. “He in his room?”
The other vampire inclined his head, and his eyes grew red as I watched. “He is recovering there, yes.”
I didn’t like watching the bloodlust come over him. A knot formed in my throat. “Did you say … recovering? From what?”
He got up from the chair in a swift motion, and before my eyes could adjust, he’d crossed the room and loomed over me. I got the impression of heat and desire as he sniffed my hair, then snapped his teeth at me, displaying long—frighteningly long—fangs. “Punishment, of course. After only one day, you disobey the rules the queen has set for you?”
He grabbed my wrist and slammed it against the wall, pinning me there. The purse flew out of my hands and skidded across the floor.
Pain shot through my arm, and I whimpered when he pressed his body up against mine. He gave me another boyish look, staring down at my neck with interest. “Is it that you cannot resist vampires, girl? Or do you feel the need to grab any cock and ride it? Because you could have asked me.” He smiled at me, all teeth and red eyes and that ugly, thick collar. “I’d be more than happy to accommodate your needs.”
I twisted away from him. “Get lost, creep.”
“All I’m saying,” he said in a low, dangerous voice as he leaned in close to my face, “is that if you value your friend’s life, do not fuck him as soon as you are out of earshot, understand me? The queen knows what he did. I know what he did. And if I find out that you’ve fucked him again, he’s going to lose his wings. Permanently.”
He snapped his teeth at me an inch away from my nose. “I’m off to feed,” Caleb said in his musical voice. “I’ll be back here in an hour. Tell Zane that I expect the same from him.”
I rubbed my wrist as he stalked out of my hotel room, my heart slamming in my chest. How had he known that Zane and I had hooked up? What did it mean for Zane?
He is recovering there, yes. Dread curled through my stomach.
I barely stopped to grab my room key before racing out for Zane’s room. I slammed into the elevator and pressed the button repeatedly as the doors crawled shut. After an interminably long ride, the elevator dinged open on the seventh floor. I flew down the hall, skidding to a halt in front of Zane’s door.
I knocked, my heart pounding.
No answer.
I knocked again. Tested the door handle. Locked, and I didn’t have the key card to open his door. I glanced down the hall, where a maid was pushing a cart of towels. “I’m sorry,” I said, putting a sheepish smile on my face as I approached her. “I locked myself out of my room. Can you let me in?”
The woman gave me a suspicious look. “No, ma’am—”
Time to turn on the Suck powers. I reached out and brushed my hand over hers, sending a wave of my powers through her. She collapsed to the floor, and I rummaged through her pockets, grabbed the key card, then brushed her awake again, hurrying down the hall before she regained her senses to unlock the door
Zane stood at the window, a tall, lone figure silhouetted against the faint streetlight that streamed in. The room was otherwise dark. The end of a cigarette flared red, and I heard the paper sizzle as he stared out the window.
“I said no towels,” he said without turning around.
“Good thing I didn’t bring any,” I said.
He didn’t turn to face me. “You shouldn’t be here, Jackie.”
I shut the door and dropped the key card onto the desk. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said lightly, my pulse pounding with nervousness. “What’s wrong, Zane? Caleb said that you weren’t feeling well.”
“It’s nothing, Princess.” His voice was short, terse. “I’ll be down to your room shortly, and then we’ll go.”
Really. I took a step forward and watched him shift subtly, his shoulders setting as if squaring himself for something unpleasant.
I flicked on the light. “If it’s no big deal, then look at me.”
He turned, slowly.
I gasped. Encircling Zane’s neck was a thick black collar. The edge of it disappeared below the band of his T-shirt and swept around his neck like a thick choker. It seemed to radiate an almost blue tinge, and as I stepped forward I noticed that Zane’s skin underneath it had reddened, as if it hurt him.
I swallowed hard. “What’s that?”
Zane’s mouth lifted in one corner in his characteristic sardonic smile. “I’ve been a naughty boy, Princess.” The cigarette went back to his mouth, and he turned back toward the window. “And now I’m being punished.”
I moved to his side and touched his arm. “Did … did someone find out about us?”
Zane grinned down at me, though I could tell it was painful. His hand moved as if he wanted to tug on the collar, then he placed the cigarette between his lips again. “Yeah. The queen found out and she had Caleb collar me like some sort of dog.”
H
is collar looked nothing like Caleb’s. Maybe one was the reward and one was the punishment. “I see. And what does this do?” I touched the collar and it burned, ice cold. The pads of my fingers stuck to it like dry ice and I ripped them away, leaving a layer of skin on the surface. I hissed and stuck my burning, painful fingers in my mouth, sucking on them to make the hurt go away. The thing radiated cold and evil.
Zane flicked his cigarette and glanced out the window, not meeting my eyes. “Whenever I do something against her rules, it will burn me. The worse the infraction, the more it hurts. Since Caleb put it on me, only he can remove it.”
My breath choked in my throat. I hated it. And for a moment, I hated Zane for looking so casual about it.
“So this is to stop you from touching me,” I said bitterly. “Since you’re too far away for her to watch, she’s put a shock collar on you instead.”
He shrugged. “It is what it is.”
I shoved him away. “How can you be so calm about this? She’s collaring you like an animal! She’s trying to prevent you from being with me.”
He gave me a long, hard look. “You think a little piece of jewelry is going to stop me if I want to kiss you, Princess?”
He flicked the cigarette out of the window and pulled me against him. His hand wrapped in my hair and his mouth claimed mine. His tongue thrust into my mouth, seeking, branding me. I gasped at the surge of pleasure and returned the kiss, responding to his touch. The Itch stirred within me, sending my pulse through my veins.
A sizzle caught my ears, and a strange smell, and Zane’s hands tightened in my hair. I jerked away, gasping as I stared down at the collar encircling his throat. Tiny wisps of smoke escaped from his skin, and it was even redder. “It’s burning you!”