Reunion by Felicity Heaton Page A

Tenebrae Law Keepers were there, sitting in the armchairs near the large fireplace with their noses in books. She had never seen two men study as much as they did.
    “Mission completed. I have brought back his body as evidence. I tasted his blood... whatever he was, he wasn’t all human. There was a trace of vampire in him.” She dumped the body down on the mahogany table in the centre of the room.
    Both men rose from their seats, placed their books down, and came over to stare at the body. She swallowed hard, waiting for someone to mention her company. None of them did.
    “Is everyone here?” she said.
    The Vehemens shook his head. “The Aurorea have called Daemon home... some business about the prophecy. Serge has been asked to investigate Ineru’s escape from exile and see if it was assisted or not.”
    She noticed his pause and frowned at him. It wasn’t like him to stop halfway through a report.
    “And Natyla?” she said, watching him closely.
    His eyes flickered with something for a moment and then all emotion disappeared from his face as though someone had wiped it away.
    “Natyla has been called back to Budapest. She has business to attend to.” There was a darkness in his voice that made her look at Jascha.
    She had heard something similar in his a thousand times. A hint of jealousy. It was probably just her imagination. Eduard would never be jealous. He never showed any feelings at all.
    He picked the body up. “We must see what has been done to this man.”
    She watched him go and then caught the eye of the Caelestis Law Keeper, Vincent.
    “He was in a fight and his target escaped, disappeared. Natyla apparently got in the way, misjudged her attack and caused Eduard’s injury. He has not spoken to her since.” Vincent shrugged in a way that said it was all he knew.
    Marise could swallow that easier than the thought of Eduard being jealous. He had always been the kind of man you didn’t cross and definitely didn’t get in the way of during a fight.
    “Who is your friend, little Marise?” The amused tones of Balthazar drew her attention to him. The Tenebrae Law Keeper was leaning back in a wooden chair beside the table, his dark eyes boring into her. He had always been the only one of her comrades to unsettle her. Quiet, secretive and with a vicious streak a mile wide, he reminded her of what the humans called serial killers. There was a blackness inside him that made him the perfect Law Keeper. Here was a man that no emotion could touch.
    “He is my child and elite guard of Venia,” she replied flatly, not letting her feelings come to the surface as they wanted to.
    He scrutinised her a moment longer and then stood, brushing his jacket down. He gave a disinterested glance towards Jascha and then left the room.
    “Eduard will be ready for us by now,” Vincent said and then walked away.
    She looked at Jascha. He raised his eyebrows.
    “Friendly aren’t they?” he said with a smile.
    “This isn’t the barracks, Jascha. This is the way we are expected to be. This is what it means to be a Law Keeper.”
    His smile widened and he pushed her hair behind her ears. She was surprised that he didn’t say anything. She had been expecting him to crack a joke, or reassure her that she wasn’t like the others, she wasn’t heartless as Tynan had told her the other night.
    She held his gaze, searching his face for a sign of what he was thinking. He closed his eyes, stealing their light from her world and dipped his head towards her. She didn’t stop him when he kissed her. Instead, she responded in kind, teasing his tongue with her own and showing him that regardless of what happened here today, she loved him and wanted to be with him again.
    He broke the kiss and held both of her cheeks in his hands. When he drew back, he was looking at her with so much emotion that she wanted to look away. He held her steady, forcing her to look at him.
    “Lubov moya,” he whispered and she melted into the pool of