«We need to get seats.» He whispered it against my hair.
I drew away from him, frowning again. I shook my head and that only partially cleared it. I reached into my coat pocket for a small, padded velvet bag. I opened it and dug the padding out until a cross spilled into my hand. It lay there silver and inert. I'd half expected it to glow, to show me that some vamp was messing with me. But it lay there, innocent and untouched.
«What is wrong, Anita?» Nathaniel looked worried now.
«I think someone's messing with me.»
«The cross isn't showing it.»
«You're scrumptious, Nathaniel, but it's not like me to lose focus this badly in public.»
«You think Mommie Dearest is trying again?» he asked.
Mommie Dearest was my nickname for the head of the vampire council, the creator of vampire culture. The last time she'd messed with me, a cross had burned into my hand and had to be pried out by a doctor. I had a permanent scar in my left palm from it. Up to now the cross, in a bag or under my bed, had kept her at bay.
«I don't know, maybe.»
«There aren't that many vamps that can get through your psychic shields,» he said.
I slipped the chain over my neck, the silver glittering against the thin silk sweater.
«You sure that's enough cloth between your skin and the cross?»
«No, but I don't think it's Mommie.»
He sighed and tried to keep the frown off his face. «Do you need to skip the movie?»
«No, Jean-Claude said we'd be safe tonight.»
«Okay,» Nathaniel said, «but I don't like the way you said that. What's gone wrong now?»
«Let's find seats and I'll tell you what little I know,» I said. We managed to find two seats in the back row so my back was to a wall and I could see the rest of the theatre. I wasn't being paranoid, or at least not more paranoid than usual. I always sat in the back row, if I could manage it.
By the time the previews had finished, I'd told him everything I knew, which wasn't much.
«And that's all Jean-Claude would tell you?»
«Yep.»
«Way too mysterious.»
«Understatement,» I said.
The music came up, the lights went down, and for the life of me I couldn't remember what movie we'd decided to see. I didn't ask Nathaniel, because it might have hurt his feelings, and besides, in moments, the question would answer itself.
chapter four
THREE HOURS AND some change later, I knew the movie was the new version of King Kong. Nathaniel liked the movie better than I did. The special effects were great, but I was way ready for the ape to die long before he did. Which was a shame, since some of the movie was amazing. My cross hadn't glowed once, and I hadn't been more than normally fascinated with Nathaniel. Normally fascinated meant that sitting in date seats in the dark was intimate and fun, but it didn't make me lose control. I thought about letting my hands wander, and with the other men in my life, I might have, but Nathaniel had less inhibitions than most. I might start something I wouldn't want to finish in the theatre. Besides, you can't watch the movie and grope your boyfriend, or at least I can't.
One thing I had to do after a movie that long was take a restroom break. Riddle me this: Why is it that there is never a line for the men's room, but the women's always seems to have one? I did my bit in line, then finally got into the stall. At least it was clean.
The noise died away and let me know I was alone. Long damn line. I tucked and buckled everything back into place. One of the things I liked about shoulder holsters as opposed to carrying on the hip is that you don't run the risk of dumping the gun in the toilet. Inner pants holsters that don't go through a belt loop are some of the most precarious for bathroom use. Guns, unlike pagers, do not float.
I smoothed the stockings in place, glad that I wasn't having to struggle with pantyhose anymore. Garter and stockings really are more comfortable. The bathroom was empty as I pushed the door open. I started for the sinks when I saw the box sitting across one of them. «Anita» was printed on the box in black block letters.
That little dickens. How had Nathaniel gotten in here to leave a present? If he'd been caught in the ladies' restroom, it could have gone badly. I washed and dried my hands, then opened the box. I had to fold back layers of white tissue paper before I found a mask. It was white and would have covered everything but the eyes from forehead to chin. It was utterly plain, a blank white face staring up at me. Why would he buy me this? If it had been leather and fetish-looking, I might have guessed something more adventurous on the sexual front, but this didn't look like that kind of mask. Of course, I wasn't an expert on that kind of mask, so maybe that was what it was for. If so, he hadn't sold me on the idea. I didn't like masks, and I was far from comfortable with bondage and submission. The fact that I had leanings that way myself hadn't made me like it more; on the contrary, it scared me more because of it. You hate most in others what you're afraid of in yourself.
I tried to find an expression that was neutral, but pleased, and walked out carrying the box. Nathaniel was waiting against the far wall, holding both our coats and his hat. The leather hat got hot indoors. He smiled when he saw me and walked toward me with a quizzical look on his face. «Did someone leave that in the bathroom?»
I showed him that it had my name on it. «I thought you were trying to surprise me.»
«You hate surprises,» he said.
My pulse sped up, not a lot, but a little. I moved us so that the wall was at my back. I was suddenly looking at the people near us, looking hard; but everyone looked innocent, or at least not guilty. Couples holding hands, families with kids in tow: it all looked normal.
«What's in there?» Nathaniel asked.
«A mask,» I whispered.
«Can I see it?»
I nodded.
He moved the lid and tissue paper, while I kept searching the happy moviegoers for evil intent. There was a couple staring a little too hard at us, but that could be other things.
«It looks like someone started to make a mask and stopped before they finished,» he said.
«Yeah, it looks too blank.»
«Why would someone give you this?»
«Did you see someone carry this in?»
«It's a big box, Anita. I'd have noticed.»
«Did anyone carry in a bigger-than-average purse?»
«Not one big enough to hide this.»
«You were standing right there, Nathaniel. You had to see.»
We exchanged a look. «I didn't see this.»
«Shit,» I said low and with feeling.
«Someone was messing with you earlier, and they messed with me to get inside the bathroom,» he said.
«Did you sense anything?» I asked.
He thought about it, and finally shook his head. «No.»
«Double shit.»
«Call Jean-Claude, now,» he said.
I nodded and handed him the box so I could use my cell phone. Nathaniel wrapped the mask back up while I waited for Jean-Claude to pick up. This time he actually answered his office phone himself. «I got a present,» I said.
«What did our pussycat buy you?» he asked, not offended that I hadn't said hello first.
«Nathaniel didn't buy it.»
«It is not like you to speak in riddles, ma petite.»
«Ask me what it is,» I said.
«What is it?» and his voice was sliding into that blankness he did so well.
«A mask.»
«What color is it?»
«You don't sound surprised,» I said.
«What color is it, ma petite?»
«What does that matter?»
«It matters.»
«White, why?»
He let out a breath I hadn't known he was holding, and spoke softly and heatedly in French for several minutes, until I could get him calmed down enough to speak English to me.
«It is good news, and bad, ma petite. White means they have come to observe us, not to harm us.»
I moved so that my hand covered my mouth as I talked. I wanted to keep an eye on the drifting crowd, but I didn't want some human to overhear what promised to be a tricky conversation. But I didn't want to go outside until I found out how much danger we were in. The crowd was both a danger and a help. Most bad guys are reluctant to start cutting people up in a crowd. «What color would mean harm?» I asked.