Department 57: Rubies of Fire

by Lynne Connolly

  “Shocked, like me. She found Jenna’s notebook with sketches of you in it and came straight to us at the Department. I’d be with her if I wasn’t here with you. But she’s with Cristos. He took her home to look after her for a day or two.”

  “Cristos? Well, she couldn’t be in safer hands.”

  Andreas grunted in agreement. “She’s broken up. She knew Jenna wanted you, just not how much. You’re a good-looking man, and so it’s not surprising her friend would like you.”

  “One good thing, I suppose. I can stop guarding my precious virginity.”

  Andreas was vaguely shocked that Fabrice could discuss it so dispassionately.

  Fabrice gave him a crooked smile before going back to watching his hand, still clenching and unclenching. “I’ve got to find something good in this. Otherwise I’ll go completely mad.” He paused. “I figured Jenna misunderstood me when we ended up at her studio instead of at my hotel. I felt worse after she made me coffee. She said I could crash, and I figured what the hell? I was already feeling woozy, and I remember wondering why she’d brought me to her studio. Then she asked if she could draw me, and I said yes. I stripped down to my underwear. After all, she was an artist, right? Of course by then the drugs had well and truly kicked in, and to say I was suggestible was the biggest understatement to date. Then the first erection happened.” Another long pause, one Andreas didn’t want to interrupt. “It hurt. I mean burned, really fucking hurt. I couldn’t think for a while, and when I did, it was too late.” He swallowed, all bravado gone.

  Andreas didn’t want Fabrice to look at him. He was afraid of what his friend might see.

  Fabrice seemed like a schoolboy, despite his powerfully built form and the rhythmic clenching and unclenching of one fist. He drooped against the pillows, one lock of golden hair falling forward over his face. “I couldn’t think of anything except stopping the pain. And when I did, all I wanted was to do it again. Because I had nothing to lose, then, except the pain. All the while she did it, I felt the power drain away from me, but I held on, or tried to. When I released—I can’t call it an orgasm, because I didn’t feel any pleasure in the act—everything went away. Then, too late, I thought of calling for help. The telepathy had gone. I had all the techniques, all the skill I needed, but no power. Nothing. I never felt so helpless. Andreas, I cried.”

  “I would have cried too.”

  When Fabrice lifted his head, Andreas could see the sheen misting his eyes. “She thought it was joy. She was completely nuts. She said all kinds of weird shit. We were meant to be together, it was fated, she knew as soon as she saw me I was hers and she was mine. And when I fell asleep, she must have shot some more poison into me, because I woke up hard again. What an introduction to sex!” His sharp, hard laugh held no humor, but a bitter agony. “She took away my free will, used me like a thing. I tell you, I’m going to help raped women all I can when I get out of this. Christ, I was so angry! But I couldn’t do anything except fuck her and fuck her and fuck her. That was all there was. And she kept telling me crap like she loved me. Who’d do that to someone they loved? Really loved?”

  “Nobody, man. Nobody.”

  Then Fabrice wept, and Andreas wept with him.

  Andreas glanced up to see the door open to admit Cristos, Leon, and Roz.

  “The case is still open,” Cristos informed everyone, “but the situation has changed. Andreas, you can go in to the DIB and tell them you’ve been transferred back to me. There’s nothing left for us to do there. Candy has already resigned at the DIB. She’s back with us after she’s cleared up at the DIB.”

  Roz stood by the door, as she had the day before. She refused to look at him, wouldn’t open to him, although he reached out to her as soon as he saw her.

  Sitting up in bed wearing an open shirt, Fabrice looked every inch the powerful Sorcerer, but everyone present knew that had gone from him. Not everyone knew to what extent it had gone. Only Andreas and Cristos knew for sure.

  Everything. Fabrice was a mortal, a human being. A very handsome, reasonably well off, successful human being, but at the moment, he felt like an intruder in the company of Talents. Andreas knew because he’d told him. Cristos knew because—because he just knew, but neither man volunteered any information, only exchanged a brief mental link before the meeting started. It wasn’t their call.

  Typically, Fabrice faced his new status head-on. “I’m not much use to you anymore. I’m nothing but a man. A mortal.”

  “You’re more useful than you know,” Cristos told him. “You’re still a trained agent. You’re a successful businessman, and you happen to be in a business we’re currently investigating. You know your company has a branch in London?”

  “Yes, we opened it about ten years ago.” Fabrice frowned, and Andreas knew he was wondering where Cristos was leading them this time, because his mind went that way too. Andreas had decided to move to Europe. Was Cristos changing his mind?

  “We need a man in London.” He glanced at Andreas. “I thought a full-time agent would be useful, but I was wrong. We need someone who can contact corporations, entrepreneurs. There’s a specific company there we need to investigate. I was planning to send Andreas as a trained field agent, but you’ll do better because you have an entry. I wouldn’t have asked you before, but… Well, things have changed.”

  “You’re damn right things have changed. And yes, I’d like to get away for a while. The change of scenery would do me good.” Talents in London might know he’d been a Sorcerer, but not what kind, not the virgin, highly trained agent kind. Cristos had deliberately kept Fabrice’s extremely powerful abilities quiet. He’d been a secret weapon. One of a few.

  “If you want, the job’s yours. A fresh start in London and a new assignment. You’ll have a new boss too. My London equivalent. The MI6 department is smaller. It depends more on outside agents, but it’s just as wide ranging. You’ll like Grady. He’s an old friend of mine.”

  “So I wouldn’t be working for Department 57 anymore?”

  “You know better than that, Fabrice. You’ll always be working for us. Us being the operative word. Whatever the collection of Talents calls itself, you’ll be part of the collective. Always.”

  Fabrice’s mouth turned down in a derisive sneer. “An honorary member?”

  “No.” Cristos didn’t hesitate in his reply “Whatever or whoever you are, Department 57 can always use a man like you. Grady’s department is tucked away in the MI6 building, but it’s separate.”

  “Thank you.” Fabrice sounded humbled, or as humbled as he ever sounded, which wasn’t very much. “I’ll go.” He paused. “But not as an agent, or not wholly as one. My company has a branch in London. Maybe I’ll just transfer. What about Andreas?”

  “It’s up to him.” Cristos turned his laserlike stare on Andreas. “You can go with Fabrice if you like, act as his backup, or stay here. There are others I can set to work with Fabrice, and I have plenty of other things for you to do. This new avenue of exploration is turning out to be more fruitful than I thought. Roz’s idea is on the right track. Candy’s not here because she’s glued to her monitor. I glued her there.”

  “Does this mean Italy is involved too?” Leon, until now staring out at the night sky, turned to confront Cristos.

  “Very much so.”

  “So I am to return home?”

  “Back to Europe, anyway.” Cristos spread his hands. “I know you came here to get away from a difficult situation back home, but that’s more or less resolved. There is a definite Italian link. We need all the good people we can get if we’re to put the lid on this problem.”

  “What, precisely, is the problem?” Andreas found himself asking. He concentrated on Cristos as he rarely had before, but he didn’t fool himself. He looked at Cristos so he wouldn’t have to look at Roz. The last time he’d held her, why hadn’t he memorized every touch, every dimple and hollow and curve? They would have to last him a fuck of a long time. The way she gave him one, brief glanc
e of contempt when she entered the room told him all he needed to know. She was done with him.

  “I’ll brief you all when I know more. Candy isn’t getting time off. Nor are any of the computer staff at the Department. They have a lot of garbage to sift through before they can find the gold, but gold there is. I’m sure of it. They just have to establish a pattern, and we can go to work. When I know more, you’ll know.” Cristos, who looked as though he’d never abused a suit in his life, shoved his fisted hands in his pockets, making the fabric bulge out of shape. Andreas almost winced. Such a perfect example of the tailor’s art didn’t deserve treatment like that.

  Ellie! “Where’s Ellie? How has she taken all this?”

  Cristos’s expression softened. “She took it badly at first, wanted to take all the blame. When I told her it wasn’t her, it was Jenna, she needed some persuading.” Typical of Cristos to take time off from a punishing schedule and urgent appointments to reassure a frightened and insecure teenager. He’d probably given her much more time than he had to spare. “I’ll bring her to visit as soon as she feels ready. And as soon as you feel ready, Fabrice.”

  “I’m ready,” Fabrice said softly. “If the poor kid is worrying, the sooner the better. She’s as much Jenna’s victim as I am.”

  Andreas felt an unaccustomed blast of sentimentality. Ellie had gone through far too much in her early years. She deserved some downtime. Fabrice had been generous, though. Nobody had suffered from this more than he had. In Fabrice’s place, he would have wanted Ellie dead. Maybe that was the vampire in him talking. Perhaps he had some natural vampire instincts, after all.

  His thoughts had taken him off guard, and somehow he found himself staring into Roz’s fathomless eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Give me another chance!” He no longer cared who heard him. His fierce empathy with the orphaned teenager had driven him to make the wrong decision. He’d never forgive himself. Pleading seemed the only thing left for him to do.

  “No.” The single word came calmly and dispassionately into his mind, but for a brief moment, the time it took for her to open up and say it into the depths of his being, he saw the grief and turmoil at the heart of her. He’d hurt her badly, as she had hurt him. Not that he didn’t deserve it. He deserved every stinging word. He just wanted her to say them, throw them all at his head so he could accept his punishment. Then there might be a chance for their relationship. They could go on.

  He wanted Roz even when she despised him, wanted her as though he’d taken the Spanish fly instead of Fabrice. The ache deep inside wanted, needed to feel her in his arms, her skin connecting with his so he could be whole again, complete. He couldn’t do anything about it except try to ignore it and hope the ache went away, given time.

  She was looking at him as though he’d crawled out from under a rock. “Do you particularly need me, Cristos?” she asked, her voice hard and unyielding.

  “Why? Have you something better to do?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  “What?” Andreas surprised himself by the hoarseness of his tone.

  “I have a wedding to go to. Nancy’s, and maybe my own.” She tilted her chin up. She’d never looked more beautiful. Dressed simply as Roz always was, nothing detracted from her beauty.

  “You’re marrying one of those men?”

  She shrugged. “I’m thinking about it. I could do a lot worse.” So she intended to marry one of the two Gardiner vampires? He couldn’t remember which one.

  “Yeah, you could. I hope he looks after you.”

  Her chin went up a fraction more. “Sure he will.”

  Someone cleared his throat. Leon, a thick black brow fractionally higher than usual. “You’re rescheduling this assignment, Cristos?”

  “I have no choice. It’s changed since we began it. By the end of the week I’ll have more idea of where we stand, some names to make a start on. I’ll keep you all in the loop. Meantime, consider yourselves off duty. We could all do with a few days’ R and R.”

  The visitors dispersed after that. Roz left without looking back at Andreas, and he tried hard not to care. He forced a smile for Fabrice once they were alone again. “So it’s London for us. Should I start calling you ‘mate’ and practice my accent?”

  Fabrice smiled back, and this time he seemed more relaxed. “Better not. The English like an American accent, just as we like the English one. It’s different, a touch of the exotic.”

  Andreas snorted. His wouldn’t describe his accent like that.

  Fabrice’s face turned solemn once more. “But I want you to reconsider.”

  Again the hurt, again the careful shielding. Used to feeling Fabrice’s mind in his, Andreas finally realized that wasn’t going to happen. Not ever again, but his reactions would remain for a long time. “Reconsider what?”

  “Going to London. You should think about Roz.”

  “What’s there to think about? We slept together a few times. Obviously I wasn’t to her liking, because she’s most definitely moved on.”

  Fabrice lifted his hand, but let it drop back onto the covers. “You think so?”

  “I know so. I communicated with her privately. She said no. Then she shut me out. She’s done with me.”

  “But you aren’t done with her, are you?”

  Andreas knew exactly what Fabrice was getting at. “No, but I’ll have to try to get over her. Otherwise what would it be?”

  “Stalking?” said Fabrice with a small, melancholy smile. “Oh, I know what that feels like. But if you’re on this side of the Atlantic, you might still have a chance.”

  “You heard her. She’s getting married.”

  “Wait until you know for sure.”

  Andreas’s mouth flattened. “That shouldn’t take long. She has her groom all lined up. She was promised to him before our little fling.”

  “An arranged marriage? Do vampires go for that?”

  Fabrice’s look of blank astonishment drew a reluctant laugh from Andreas. “No, but this was something she agreed to. You know there’s a problem with vampire fertility?”

  Fabrice nodded.

  “Well, the Gardiners are even worse off than the other families. They have few womenfolk, and it sounds as if the elders have decided to do something about it before they start to die out. So they’re gently pressuring their women into marriages most likely to produce little vampires.”

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  An involuntary sneer curved his mouth. “Nothing. I can do the business, but you know what I am, Fabrice. A vampire with no family. No support, no wealth, no influence to bring to the Gardiners. I’m the lowest kind of vampire you can get. I’ve always known that, and it’s never concerned me before. I do okay.”

  “Go after her, Andreas. Give it all you’ve got. Then, if she still says no, come to London. Although I’d rather go on my own.”

  “Why?” Andreas fought the feeling of uselessness and won. Ever since he’d come into contact with vampire society, they’d made it clear he was low in the pecking order. Before, it had only made him more determined to succeed on his own terms, and he’d done that in spades—money in the bank, a comfortable home, a worthwhile career. But his situation had helped to lose Roz. All the misery of his early teenage years returned to haunt him, the feelings of worthlessness, of doubt in himself. Cristos had tried to foster him to a vampire family, but as soon as he’d realized they did Andreas no good, he’d pulled him back and taken over guardianship himself. After the trauma of knowing he would never regain his early memories, he was all too ready to accept martyrdom. Until Cristos has shown him otherwise.

  “I want to make a clean start. I don’t want to carry the legend of Fabrice the Mighty Sorcerer with me. I want to be Fabrice Germain. That’s all.” He fixed Andreas with his electric blue stare. “I need to do this on my own, see what I can make of my new life. There’s a lot of it left. But if I wanted anyone with me, it’d be you.”

  “Thanks for that. Yeah, I can see what you’re g
etting at. You’ll let me come visit sometimes?”

  “Sure. I insist on it.”

  While Andreas understood what Fabrice was telling him, it still felt like rejection. Again. He’d had too much of that lately. Well, it was the story of his life. He’d cope. He always had. “Don’t think you get rid of me that easily.”

  “Wouldn’t want to. I just need some time to get my head together on all this.” Fabrice’s smile was much firmer than it had been earlier that day. “Okay?”

  Andreas sighed. “Okay.”

  “Never mind, hon. Forget Andreas. Think about the future, what you’ve got ahead of you.”

  Roz smiled wanly at Nancy. “Sure. I’ll get over it.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Don from the other side of her. “Just a passing thing, eh?” He gave her a swift hug. Roz had to force herself not to shrug him off. She didn’t want anyone to touch her.

  All Roz wanted was to get well and truly loaded, just to forget for a few hours. It would stop hurting soon; she knew that. It seemed Andreas was headed out the country in any case. She’d just made the inevitable break a few months early. She didn’t believe in long-term relationships, even for vampires. So why did she feel so bad? She’d had affairs before. Why was this one different?

  It just was. But she’d survive; she’d manage. She always did. Smiling at Nancy and Don, she crossed the living area in the direction of her bedroom.

  “Hey, Roz, did you mean that about marrying a Gardiner? Marshall wants you, you know. He’ll try to claim you if you don’t object.”

  She considered the possibility. Marshall would befriend her, take her out, and if they liked each other, claim her in front of witnesses. In the old days vampire males would claim a woman without her knowledge, but the women had refused to put up with that shit anymore. The whole thing was still a bit too macho for her, but she liked Marshall, and what did she have to lose?