Immortality sounded really good on paper, but it was also a bit of a lie. Vampires had many enemies that could snatch that promise of eternal life right out from under our noses. While we were stronger than humans, we were far from invincible—what just happened was proof positive of that.
Bernard was dead. Nothing remained of him but a stain and a memory.
A memory of Thierry threatening his life last night.
A memory of Thierry speaking to his murderer only three hours ago.
Thierry, who gripped me by my arm and directed me away from what remained of Bernard and out of the Little Miss Platinum Vegas after party. We took the elevator up to our floor in stunned silence. When we arrived and hurried down the hallway to our suite, he slid the key card into the door and swung it open.
“Thierry, what are we doing?” My voice shook. “Did that really happen?”
He pressed his hand against the small of my back and guided me into the room. “Yes, it happened. Bernard is dead. And we need to leave immediately.”
“Why are we leaving?”
“Because it’s not safe for you to be here right now.” His voice was as strained as his expression.
“For me to be here? What are you talking about?” I grabbed my suitcase and began to throw my clothes into it without bothering to fold anything first. “We need to find Laura. We need to—”
I couldn’t finish the sentence. I’d never before told anyone that her husband had been murdered. They’d been so happy together and now it was over. I looked at Thierry, imagining the horror of someone telling me that he was gone, killed by a hunter, and that I’d never see him again.
Thierry came to stand in front of me and he took hold of my upper arms. “It’s going to be all right.”
“Is it?”
“Yes, I promise you that. I’m putting you on a flight back to Toronto and then I’ll deal with the aftermath of what’s happened here tonight.”
“What really happened? I’m still trying to figure that out. He was standing there, talking to us, pushing your angry buttons again like he seems to be able to do. Then suddenly the hunter you were talking to earlier was there and he—he killed him. Why would he do that?”
“He’s a vampire hunter.”
“But…right in front of everyone?”
“Vampire hunters are unpredictable, even if we’re lulled into thinking otherwise.” He gently held my face between his hands. “This is not something that happens every day and there will be harsh ramifications. But first I must make sure that you’re safe.”
I wanted to argue, but he snapped my suitcase shut and took it in hand. I grabbed my purse and we moved to the door. When Thierry swung it open, someone stood on the other side.
It was the man he’d pointed out to me at the party, the pale one.
The enforcer.
“That was quite a party, wasn’t it?” he said. “It ended with a bit of a bang.”
“Markus.” There was nothing in Thierry’s voice to indicate how he felt about finding the Ring’s personal assassin blocking our way. As for me, I was about ready to pass out.
“Saw you downstairs, Thierry. I won’t take it personally that you chose not to say hello to me.”
“I know you’re not here to socialize.”
“No, I’m not.” The enforcer’s gaze moved to me. “This must be the infamous Sarah Dearly.”
Infamous, huh?
I swallowed, but fixed a pleasant yet neutral expression on my face. “That’s my name.”
He glanced at the suitcase. “Going somewhere?”
The way he was scanning the suite, my suitcase, and us was more than a little bit intimidating. More than a little bit threatening. Even I couldn’t find a suitable, lighthearted quip to help balance things out.
“I had nothing to do with this, Markus,” Thierry said evenly. “You must realize that.”
Markus cocked his head. “Nothing to do with what? With the murder of Bernard DuShaw not ten minutes ago? A man with whom you’ve had a history of unpleasantness and shared violence? A man whom you were overheard threatening only last night? No, Thierry, I’d say I’m not entirely convinced of your innocence in this unfortunate matter.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I managed, my heart thudding in my chest. “He was killed by a hunter, not by Thierry.”
“A hunter that Thierry is very familiar with and could easily have hired for this purpose. I was sent to this city to investigate the other local killings, but now it’s also my duty to take care of this new one as well.”
Thierry remained silent for a very long, tense moment. I wanted him to immediately jump to his defense, to argue with this jerk about how he couldn’t have had anything to do with Bernard’s death.
“So I am to be detained while you investigate?” he asked.
“Yes. And I will personally appreciate your cooperation in this. I’ll have men stationed outside this suite while I look into matters over the next day or two.” He shook his head, his expression neutral. “Got to say, though, it’s not looking good for you right now.”
“Thierry…,” I began.
Thierry held up his hand to stop me from saying anything else and turned to look me in my eyes, full on; he’d fixed a blank look on his face so I couldn’t read him at all. His talent for that was as frustrating to me as it might have been useful to him right now.
He said nothing to me before glancing again at Duncan. “I do have one request and it’s nonnegotiable.”
Markus raised his eyebrows. “What’s that?”
“I’ll remain here without argument while you investigate Bernard’s murder, but I insist that Sarah is safely escorted to the airport so she can go back to Toronto. I don’t want her to be any part of this.”
I felt sick inside with every second that ticked by. I wanted to wake up and find out this was just a really horrible dream, but I was out of luck. I was wide-awake.
Markus regarded me with a cold, appraising gaze—so cold I could have sworn I felt ice crystals form on my bare arms. “Request granted.” He smiled at me, but there was nothing nice about the expression. “Sarah, it was a pleasure to meet you. My men will accompany you to the airport. Your fiancé is smart to give you the opportunity to remove yourself from this situation. It’s not going to be a very pleasant couple of days.”
I ignored him and instead clutched Thierry’s arm. “You can’t just send me away and—and then what happens to you?”
Thierry remained silent, but his gaze was fixed on Markus.
“I’m an enforcer,” Markus said simply. “I enforce.”
Which meant he had full authority to decide for himself if Thierry was guilty of hiring Duncan to kill Bernard in full view of other humans because of a public disagreement they’d had over a stash of diamonds. The motive was clear and the opportunity was there. Thierry looked guilty as sin right now—even I could see that.
If Markus decided that Thierry was guilty, then he was going to kill him with full permission of the Ring.
Thierry touched my face and I tensed. “Please, Sarah, don’t argue this. Just go. It will be fine—I’ll be fine.”
I shook my head. “No, you won’t. I feel it, Thierry. This is bad.”
“If so, then I definitely don’t want you here.” The cool facade slipped and I could see raw concern slide behind his gray eyes. “Please, Sarah, go back home. Forget about this as much as you can. Do it for me.”
I clutched his arm and looked up at him, but then he crushed me against his chest.
“Are you guilty?” I whispered. “Did you do it?”
“No,” he replied. “But I’ve been set up. I’ll have to figure out who did it and why.”
“How are you supposed to figure that out while sequestered in this suite?”
“I’ll find a way.” He pulled back from me, then glanced at the men standing by the door, whom I hadn’t even noticed until this moment. He nodded at them before returning his gaze to me. “Please try not to worry about me.”
One of the men, a big brute with a crew cut and a tattoo on his biceps of a skull and crossbones, took me by my arm. The other one, bald with a thick black mustache, circa 1978, grabbed my suitcase. They directed me out of the room so fast that I didn’t have a chance to say another word. I didn’t have a chance to kiss Thierry one last time or even to say good-bye.
Stunned and shaken, I sat in the back of a black sedan as Markus’s thugs drove me to the airport. They took me to the counter so I could buy a ticket. They accompanied me to security clearance. Then when they were certain they’d done their job, they left me there in the line that moved slowly toward the scanners and the boarding gates beyond.
My head swam with everything that had happened. Bernard had been murdered and it looked as if Thierry had set up the hit.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, I knew he was innocent. But if he couldn’t prove that—and how could he prove something like that while he was stuck in a guarded hotel suite?—he was going to meet his own death at the end of Markus’s Ring-appointed silver stake.
He wanted me to go back to Toronto so I’d be safe. For me to say good-bye to him and try to put everything out of my mind.
You’d really think he’d know me better than that by now.
I waited five more minutes, making sure that the men didn’t return, before I slipped out of the line and exited the airport. I flagged down a cab to take me and my suitcase back to the Strip.
The man I loved—the man I fully planned to marry one day very soon—was in mortal danger. The least I could do was save him.