We drove in silence back to the Rudas. He parked the rust bucket on a side street, not trusting the valet with it.
When I tried to open my door, the hinges stuck. I pulled at the handle and heaved with all my strength.
“Stop, you might break it.” He got out and pulled it open with a metallic squeal.
I unfolded to get out of the compact vehicle. “This thing’s a death trap.”
“Not for me.” He had to put his shoulder against the door to push it closed. “I don’t think we should open this door again until I get it fixed.” He gave the microcar a sad look and patted the roof. “It’s my first car. An Alba Regia, I bought it after the second world war.”
“I thought it belonged to a friend.” I grinned to myself amused by my suave, elegant vampire’s eccentric tastes.
“And I thought you tripped into the river.” His eyebrow quirked up.
I struggled not to laugh and bit my lip with the effort. Vampire or human, deep down inside, men were the same, in love with their cars. I took his hand and tugged him towards the hotel. “Come on, no one will steal your rust bucket.”
I rolled my eyes at his behavior but it dawned on me that this was something vampires always dealt with. They could never really keep anything. Everything around them changed, aged, died but they never did. Rurik tried to explain this to me the other night when we bathed together.
Vampires knew grief well.
I flashed him a gentle smile over my shoulder and squeezed his hand. Unbelievable how easily he made me feel comfortable and at ease. I knew grief well too.
He pulled the hood from his sweatshirt over his head, leaving his face in shadows. He wore baggy jeans and faded cracked sneakers. “You look like a street thug.” A really yummy one.
He chuckled. “That’s the point. I’m in disguise.”
I gave him a silent ‘oh ’ and lead him to the hotel. Why would the Overlord of Budapest be hiding? Maybe he didn’t want to be seen with me, or worse, maybe he didn’t want anyone to identify him later. I gulped and glanced back at him.
This was it. I had to make a decision, killer or not a killer. Without the pictures I believed him innocent but that evidence probably came from Tane which made them suspect.
We arrived at the back entrance and I pivoted to face him. Our eyes met, grey storms versus blue ice. I didn’t know what I looked for but I wanted something, anything to clue me in on what I should do.
He picked at a wet strand of hair stuck on my cheek. His fingers hesitated on my skin as if enjoying the touch. “You’re freezing, let’s go warm you.”
I nodded and opened the door. My gut instincts won over my rational thoughts. We climbed the stairs. Once we entered my room I tossed my hand purse on the night table. “Okay, spill it. What do you want?” A shiver shook me and made my last words tremble. My cold, wet clothes clung to me and sucked any remaining heat.
He wandered around my bed and plucked the blanket from it. “Take your clothes off and wrap up before you catch your death.”
I reached behind me to undo my zipper.
“Whoa.” He spun to face away.
“What? It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”
He chuckled. “No, and I wouldn’t mind seeing you again but we’ve important things to discuss. If we start out like this, I can guarantee you there will be no talking. And I promised you I’d wait until you were ready. Are you?”
I slipped out of my sopping dress and took the blanket from Rurik’s out stretched hand to wrap around me. “No.”
He sat on the edge on the unmade bed, with a slight heave; he was up against the headboard, his feet crossed at the ankle. He patted the space next to him.
I shook my head. “I’ll take the chair.”
“Why were you at the A38 with Tane?” I could feel him watch me cross the room to sit in the chair. A tinge of jealousy colored his voice. “One vampire in your life isn’t enough? Or does his power draw you? The power hungry are always drawn to him.”
“Tane frightens me, not attracts me. Anyway, I don’t think I meet his crazed, knife wielding tastes.”
“Eric accompanied him? He usually doesn’t like to share his master.” Rurik’s smile grew.
“They surprised me. I didn’t expect them.”
“Who were you expecting?”
“You.” I looked at my blanket bundled lap, unable to make eye contact. The comment wasn’t suppose to come out so personal but it did. We needed to change the subject before things went where they couldn’t go. “Why were you following Tane?”
He stared at me for a moment longer before he sighed. “I think you’re keeping secrets.”
I sat straighter in my chair and crossed my arms. “Ditto.” A manila envelope sat next to me on the desk. The temptation to pull out those horrid pictures and throw them in his face almost overcame me. It would reveal me as a potential threat though. Even if I believed he wouldn’t kill me, it would be difficult to ever wipe their memory away.
The only reason Rurik didn’t get introduced to Colby tonight was a niggle of suspicion created by Tane. He and Dragos didn’t strike me as humanitarians. Hiring Colby’s mercenaries to take out a rival seemed more plausible. Unfortunately, the pictures told a different story.
Rurik’s gaze bore into me. “My compound was attacked this afternoon. They specifically looked for my place of rest. They destroyed it, and my home.”
My heart thumped and I tried to control the sudden rush of adrenaline, but I may as well have tried to control a wild horse. Was it Colby? “How did you survive the attack in the middle of daylight hours?”
A small smile touched his lips. “I’m not without resources, Rabbit.” He held up the hand that bore the Overlord’s ring and tapped it. “Someone informed me there would be an attempt.”
That ruled out Colby, since no one knew what he planned to do until the last minute.
“My people have been evacuating the city in small numbers since Dragos ’ arrival. A few have volunteered to stay and keep up pretenses. Most think the attack on the party was after Dragos but I know better. I think someone hired a slayer to kill me and he found my kiss.” Rurik moved so fast, when he wrapped his fingers around my wrists I felt the sensation before I saw him do it.
I jumped in my chair but his eyes held me so I poured what concentration I could muster into my mental shields.
“Tell me, Rabbit, what were you doing with our charming Tane tonight? Is your grief so easily forgotten?” His grip tightened. “Did he catch your eye at the party?” He pulled me close, pressing my hands against his chest. “Why did your heart speed up when I told you of today’s attack?” His eyes began to dilate, absorbing his irises.
Curse his hearing! “T-Tane lured me there.” My voice shook, I couldn’t help it, but the fury it ignited helped me control the fear and come up with a plausible story. “I thought you sent me a ticket for the A38 jazz concert.”
Rurik’s grip loosened and he released me. He heard my words through the rage that boiled in his face.
“Tane wants to use me. He heard what happened between us at the bathhouse.” I rubbed my wrists where he’d gripped them. There would be bruises in the morning.
“Of course he knows, I told him.”
I startled. “Why?”
“He’s been my friend for centuries.”
“Your friend wants me to spy on you.”
Rurik sat on the floor at my feet. He stared at the ring on his finger in silence. “Why would he want that? I hide nothing from him.”
“Tane said a bunch of terrible things to you at the party. What kind of friend is that?”
Twisting the piece of jewelry around his pinky he didn’t even look at me when he answered. “A secret one. If you didn’t notice, Dragos barely tolerates my presence. It places Tane in an awkward situation.”