Much Ado About Vampires by Katie MacAlister Page B

else believes me; why should you?”
    “I meant”—I slid my hand under his jacket, spreading my fingers out over where his heart beat true and strong—“I don’t believe what you said about betraying your own people. You didn’t.”
    His gaze searched my face for signs I was mocking him. I let him feel the strength of my conviction. “No, I didn’t, but that didn’t stop them from condemning me for acts I didn’t commit.”
    “Why didn’t you defend yourself?”
    His lips twisted in a self-mocking smile. “Because I did betray my friend.”
    “And seduced his Beloved?”
    He rubbed his thumb along my bottom lip, his eyes on my mouth. “That was before I knew she was his Beloved, actually. Once she made it clear her choice was him, not me, I left her alone. Other than trying to have them killed, but even that plan had lost its charm.”
    “So you’re martyring yourself because you were a bad friend?”
    His gaze flitted away again, his hand dropping. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, but ultimately, I was responsible for trying to ruin Kris’s life, and it’s only right I should pay for that.”
    “Bullshit,” I told him, causing his eyes to widen. “You’re having a good old-fashioned wallow in self-pity is all. I don’t say that you don’t have it coming to you, because I think you’ve done some things that you shouldn’t have done, but it seems to me that you’ve paid more than the price of your penance, and it’s time to move on. And that’s just what I intend to happen. We’re going to get out of here, all three of us, and no, I’m not going to leave you behind—”
    The words were ripped from my mouth as if a giant hand had snatched me aside, and flung me down somewhere else entirely.
    Which is basically what happened. I was aware of a momentary dropping sensation, and landed on my hands and knees on a wooden floor. I stared for a moment down at the grain of the wood, my brain stunned into a complete lack of cognizant thought, before I looked up to see a man and a woman standing before me.
    We were in a room that looked like a library of some sort, all deep leather armchairs, and pretty bound books in floor-to-ceiling bookcases. I glanced at the people watching me.
    The man was of middle height, with black hair and a goatee. The woman, who edged away from him, had a sunny face, curly red hair, and a friendly demeanor that made me address her rather than her companion. “What on earth just happened?”
    “I summoned you,” the woman said. She had an English accent, and a nice smile as she gestured toward the man, who stood with his arms crossed, his eyes narrowed on me. “You have Mr. de Marco to thank for that, though, since he hired me. I’m a Guardian, you see. My name is Noelle. Do you know that you’re glowing ?”
    “So I’ve been told. Why . . . wait, de Marco? You’re—” A shadow moved behind the man, coming forward and resolving itself. “Ulfur!”
    “I am Alphonse de Marco, and you will give to me the Occio di Lucifer,” Ulfur’s boss said in a no-nonsense tone of voice that really just irritated me more than frightened me.
    “The . . . oh. That.” I wondered how he’d feel if he knew the Tool was broken, and that I was the designated hitter. I glanced at Ulfur, but his expression gave nothing away.
    Ulfur hadn’t told his boss what happened, I realized with a secret smile. Bless his heart, he used the fact that I had the Occio to convince his boss to pull me out of the Akasha.
    Leaving Alec and Diamond behind.
    “Do you have it? ” de Marco asked, his expression darkening into anger.
    “Yes.” Hastily I assembled a plan that I hoped would rescue both Alec and Diamond. “I do.”
    “I have summoned you out of the Akasha. In gratitude, you will give it to me,” he ordered, his bossy tone really starting to get under my skin.
    I looked at the imperative hand he held out before me. “Well, you know, the Occio is a really big deal. It’s