Sex, Lies, and Vampires

I finished the ward on the window, mentally dividing my brain power between it, a review of my checklist of tasks to be accomplished before Hurricane Saer hit us, and trying to think where Belinda might have gone. Surely she knew that Saer was a danger to her? Surely she must know he was going to try to use her? She had to know that the only way both she and Damian would be safe would be to keep as far away from Saer as possible…

"Hell!" I spun around, suddenly sure of where she had gone, and why. I ran straight into the mummies, scattering their emaciated forms throughout the hall. "Sorry! Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

I raced up the stairs as fast as my weak leg would allow me, sprinting down the hall that ran the length of the house until I reached the end, yelling, "Belinda's missing! I think she went out to try to stop Saer by destroying herself. We have to get to her before she does anything stupid!"

Melissande was on the second floor, carefully scattering bits of broken glass before the windows. There wasn't enough time to ward all the windows in Christian's eleven-bedroom mansion, so Allie and I had concentrated on protecting all the doors and windows on the ground floor and basement, while Melissande was in charge of prohibitive measures for the second floor. She sprinkled broken glass on the floor before the window, pausing to frown over her shoulder at me as she straightened up, absently dusting her glass-encrusted leather gloves together. "What did you say about Belinda? What's the matter with her?"

I skidded to a stop, avoiding the glass scattered in front of a nearby window. "She's gone. She's being all noble and self-sacrificing and martyring herself to bring down Saer. Dammit, I knew something was wrong when she hugged me before she went to check on Damian. No one hugs like that when all they're going to do is check on a child!"

"Belinda wishes to destroy Saer?" Melissande gasped, throwing down the metal can that held the shards of broken glass. I spun around and headed back down the hall, Melissande on my heels.

We ran down the stairs, coming to an abrupt stop at the front door. "Can you open it?" she asked.

"Sure. It's warded to keep things from coming in, not from letting us out." I opened the door a crack, peering outside to make sure no army of white supremacists stood outside. The street was empty and quiet, a few forlorn brown leaves scuttling quietly down the gutters in the predawn breeze. "All clear."

We slipped out the door, shivering as we looked around. Christian's house was detached, a red-brick former ambassador's residence set back slightly from the rest of the residences, with a minuscule garden to the side, garage to the rear, and wrought-iron-fenced area to the front. The traffic in this part of London was at a minimum at four in the morning, so we had the street to ourselves as we trotted down the empty sidewalk.

"Where are we going?" Melissande asked, her voice hushed as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Are you sure that Belinda has gone to destroy herself? She is Saer's Beloved—she knows that to destroy herself would mean his end as well."

"Oh, she knows what she's doing. Or she thinks she does." I stopped in the middle of the street to look back at Christian's house. Silhouetted against the black sky, blacker figures moved around on the roof, setting up quickly rigged sensors that would alert us to anyone who tried to get in via the top floor. "First Adrian, now Belinda… I don't know why everyone thinks the only solution to the problem of your brother is to martyr themselves. Why don't we split up? You go down that way to the intersection. I'll go this way."

"But she's had at least ten minutes! We'll never catch up to her—"

"She doesn't have a car, there are no buses or trains running at this hour, and heaven knows there are never any taxis when you need them, so she must be going to Saer on foot. I'm assuming that he is fairly close, as she probably knows. I know when Adrian is around."

Melissande stilled, closing her eyes as she held her breath for a few heartbeats. "He is near. Very near." Her eyes opened again, and even in the dim light from the streetlamp I could see her fear. "Oh, Nell, what are we going to do? If Saer knows that Belinda intends on stopping him"—she choked for a moment—"I have been so stupid, so blind, but I see it all now. Forgive me, Nell—"

We didn't have time for her to unburden herself about either her treatment of Adrian or her unquestioning acceptance of whatever Saer told her. I gave her arm a squeeze before gently shoving her in the direction of the intersection. "You can don your hair shirt later, after we find Belinda and stop her."

She didn't say anything, and I didn't stay around to give her another chance to vent. I jogged down the road, trying to open myself to possible movement ahead, but the only thing I sensed was a sudden rush of anger that washed over me at the same time a voice barked in my head.