squared his shoulders. “May I ask how you know about my personal history with her?”
Vincent smiled but it was like how Jason smiled. Lips curved upward, but no mirth in the eyes. “When I learned about Reynold and the contract out for you, a mere pup of a bloodsucker, I thought it was quite strange. He had been offered quite a bit of money, if you must know. I couldn’t help but wonder why someone would put out a hit on a newborn, and not only that, but put a large sum of funds on it. As of yet, I have not found out why. I’m sure, given enough time, I will. But can you see where I am coming from?”
I didn’t, but this was not a conversation I could interrupt. As Jason’s Ailward, it was my job to look tough and menacing.
But without my weapon, I wasn’t sure how I was pulling it off.
“I’m a rich man,” Jason said with a straight face. “To Reiko, I think I am a formidable ally. There are many who would think nothing of knocking an entire House down, if only to advance their own families. No matter how you try to hide it from the humans, there is always internal strife. Each House battles another for prestige and honor. Every year, more vampires die at the hands of their own brethren than from human hunters.”
Vincent inclined his head. “This I can attest to.”
“Then why is it so wrong for me to have a bodyguard?”
Vincent looked at me and in his eyes I read the mind of a man I hoped never to anger. “It’s not the fact you have a bodyguard that surprises me. It’s the fact that you have her as one.”
Calling me a bitch would’ve been less offensive. It was that sort of tone. I could have been on fire and he wouldn’t have pissed on me to save my life.
Jason tilted his head to one side. “Who better to protect me than someone like her? She has made it her life work to eliminate vampires. Human bodyguards are easy to get, but someone like her? No…she is a rare treasure and one I plan to protect.”
Strange choice of words. After all, I was meant to be protect him, not the other way around.
He put a hand on my waist and I let him. “She is, for the lack of a better word, incorruptible . Wouldn’t you agree…Vincent?”
Vincent’s lips tightened until they almost disappeared in the pale oval of his face. “So be it. Keep your secrets. But consider this a warning, newborn. I am going to watch you. I am going to watch your so-called Ailward . If I so much as sense some sort of treachery from you, if you do anything to harm Reiko and her House, you will not live to see another moon rise. Do you understand?”
Jason nodded. He did not have to see anything.
I stood still as Vincent’s eyes raked me one last time.
“One foot out of line, hunter. One foot out of line and I’ll rip you apart.”
I had no doubt he would. “Warning well noted.”
He whirled on one heel and left us then, the faint scent of oranges and something else, something coppery, staying in the air for quite some time.
His human emissary was the last to leave.
She paused, one hand on the metal railing and then looked over her shoulder.
“If I were you, I’d listen.”
I had to clear my throat to get any words out. “But you’re not.”
Her lips twitched. “No. I’m not. And thank God for that.”
She left and I let my knees get a little weak.
That I had been around such a vampire like Vincent and emerged alive and well…this was certainly quite an education. “This complicates things.”
Jason sighed. “You don’t say. It appears Reiko did not share with Vincent the…details of our relationship.”
“If I kill Noir and Vincent gets the idea it’s me, I won’t stay alive for long,” I said quietly.
“I can keep you away.” Jason looked up at me, eyes glittering like black diamonds. “I can hide you. Get you a new identity if you need it.”
A tempting offer, but… “If that vampire wanted me dead, I don’t think a new name would keep me alive.”
“What about a new face?”
He
Vincent smiled but it was like how Jason smiled. Lips curved upward, but no mirth in the eyes. “When I learned about Reynold and the contract out for you, a mere pup of a bloodsucker, I thought it was quite strange. He had been offered quite a bit of money, if you must know. I couldn’t help but wonder why someone would put out a hit on a newborn, and not only that, but put a large sum of funds on it. As of yet, I have not found out why. I’m sure, given enough time, I will. But can you see where I am coming from?”
I didn’t, but this was not a conversation I could interrupt. As Jason’s Ailward, it was my job to look tough and menacing.
But without my weapon, I wasn’t sure how I was pulling it off.
“I’m a rich man,” Jason said with a straight face. “To Reiko, I think I am a formidable ally. There are many who would think nothing of knocking an entire House down, if only to advance their own families. No matter how you try to hide it from the humans, there is always internal strife. Each House battles another for prestige and honor. Every year, more vampires die at the hands of their own brethren than from human hunters.”
Vincent inclined his head. “This I can attest to.”
“Then why is it so wrong for me to have a bodyguard?”
Vincent looked at me and in his eyes I read the mind of a man I hoped never to anger. “It’s not the fact you have a bodyguard that surprises me. It’s the fact that you have her as one.”
Calling me a bitch would’ve been less offensive. It was that sort of tone. I could have been on fire and he wouldn’t have pissed on me to save my life.
Jason tilted his head to one side. “Who better to protect me than someone like her? She has made it her life work to eliminate vampires. Human bodyguards are easy to get, but someone like her? No…she is a rare treasure and one I plan to protect.”
Strange choice of words. After all, I was meant to be protect him, not the other way around.
He put a hand on my waist and I let him. “She is, for the lack of a better word, incorruptible . Wouldn’t you agree…Vincent?”
Vincent’s lips tightened until they almost disappeared in the pale oval of his face. “So be it. Keep your secrets. But consider this a warning, newborn. I am going to watch you. I am going to watch your so-called Ailward . If I so much as sense some sort of treachery from you, if you do anything to harm Reiko and her House, you will not live to see another moon rise. Do you understand?”
Jason nodded. He did not have to see anything.
I stood still as Vincent’s eyes raked me one last time.
“One foot out of line, hunter. One foot out of line and I’ll rip you apart.”
I had no doubt he would. “Warning well noted.”
He whirled on one heel and left us then, the faint scent of oranges and something else, something coppery, staying in the air for quite some time.
His human emissary was the last to leave.
She paused, one hand on the metal railing and then looked over her shoulder.
“If I were you, I’d listen.”
I had to clear my throat to get any words out. “But you’re not.”
Her lips twitched. “No. I’m not. And thank God for that.”
She left and I let my knees get a little weak.
That I had been around such a vampire like Vincent and emerged alive and well…this was certainly quite an education. “This complicates things.”
Jason sighed. “You don’t say. It appears Reiko did not share with Vincent the…details of our relationship.”
“If I kill Noir and Vincent gets the idea it’s me, I won’t stay alive for long,” I said quietly.
“I can keep you away.” Jason looked up at me, eyes glittering like black diamonds. “I can hide you. Get you a new identity if you need it.”
A tempting offer, but… “If that vampire wanted me dead, I don’t think a new name would keep me alive.”
“What about a new face?”
He
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