“Her Valkyrie sisters. They’re likely coddling him, convincing him to join their alliance.”
In other words, they were brainwashing her brother. “There has to be a way around those wraiths.” If tracing past them wouldn’t work, ghosting and walking right through them probably wasn’t an option.
“For now, our best bet is to hunt Nïx. You have to be patient.”
“Patient? Not my strong suit. You got a plan B?”
He gazed away and murmured, “Always.”
Why did that one word send a chill down her spine?
THIRTY-THREE
Josephine took Rune’s hand to trace him to her home, what promised to be some grand manor or stately castle. As she began to teleport, she and Rune seemed to fade before traveling. Whereas Sian’s tracing was quick and seamless, the vampire’s left him swaying.
Rune frowned at his new surroundings, a small dingy room with red carpet worn down to the foundation and paint curling away from the cinder block walls. A garish floral cover topped the bed, and the air conditioner rattled. “Where did you take us?”
“To my digs.”
“This is where you live? It’s a rat trap! You had the nerve to call my place quaint?” In one corner of the room, next to stacks of comic books were stacks of cash. “If you’ve got money, why not get a nicer place?” This one was pitiful and demoralizing. The only positive he could discern? It was spotlessly clean.
“I like to fly under the radar. I don’t mind it here.”
A picnic table stretched the length of one wall, covered with random things: a phone, a tiara, plastic beads, a metal stick with a camera on the end.
“Immortals with power simply don’t live like this.”
“I can’t get an ID, okay?”
“I could get you one in an hour.” He bit the inside of his cheek. She’d never need an ID because he could never set her free in the world. She still potentially had his memories. “So this is where the fair Josephine sleeps. Since you’ve taken my blood that first night, have you had dreams of me? Experienced any scenes from my past?”
“Oh, yeah, constantly. I love watching you screw two hundred nymphs at one time and kick puppies.”
“I have never kicked a puppy.”
Rolling her eyes at him, she crossed to a garment rack filled with dark clothes, all in various stages of disrepair. She selected black jeans and a sleeveless T-shirt with some band logo, then tossed them on the bed.
“Why did you dress as a man-eater the other night?” Definitely not to seduce Thaddeus. “You wore that skimpy red dress to impress me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” No denial.
A cracked full-length mirror hung on the bathroom door. Had she inspected her reflection there before setting out to find him? “Perhaps that’s why you made your earlier vow—your power play—because you yearn to be near me. And now we’re trapped together for as long as the mission continues.” He should still be pissed over that play; yet he found the corners of his lips curling.
And for some reason, his cock was semihard.
“Believe whatever you like, Rune, but I told you why I made that vow.” To protect her brother.
If Nïx found the two siblings valuable, then the Møriør should as well. Though Rune might have difficulty assassinating the oracle, he could hurt her by recruiting the weapons Nïx wanted: Josephine and Thaddeus.
It wouldn’t matter that Josephine knew his and his allies’ secrets if she became an ally herself.
He crossed to the picnic table, reading the inscription: Orleans Parish Parks. He inspected a sequin-covered phone, then moved on to the next item. “What is all this stuff?” He twirled a plastic tiara on his forefinger.
She snatched it from him. “Mementos from my experiences.” She set down the tiara, arranging it just so.
“So you took my talisman to remember me by?”
Shrug. The one that meant Yes, Rune.
“How do you steal so easily? And why not anything of significant value?”
“Like your relics? All you’re doing is inviting B&E.”
At his blank look, she said, “Breaking and entering? People coming into your territory to boost your stuff?”
He’d noticed a brace on her motel room door. She might be a hybrid, but she was just as territorial as other vampires he’d known.
She walked to a set of drawers, opening one filled with underwear, selecting two pieces of black lace. “So what’s up with your talisman anyway? I’ve seen you roll it in your pocket.”
“I’ll start talking about my past as soon as you tell me anything about yours.” He sat on the bed, his good mood unaffected. How could he feel this way after what he’d lost? For millennia, his collection had been his one nondeadly pursuit. Perhaps it’d masked his lack in other areas.
No generations to discover before him; no generation to come from him; no hope of a mate.
Now as he gazed at the vampire about to undress, he had difficulty recalling which piece had been his favorite. Which one his newest. At least she’d spared his precious library. Still, he said, “I should destroy everything here for turnabout.”
She smiled over her shoulder. “See where that lands you.”
He leaned back on the bed, hands behind his head, inhaling the meadowberry scent of her pillow. “So you believed I was out diddling nymphs, and you smashed my belongings? You must’ve been in a fit of jealousy.” Possessiveness had always rankled the hells out of him. Strangely, hers made his cock grow harder.