We got in the car finally, and she pulled away from the curb.
I said, “With the last one, the one that I saw, I could work out how he had done it. He wasn’t shifted all the way to wolf. He could get the leverage to knock her over at the same time he ripped into her. I don’t like knowing that I could do something like that.”
“Being physically able to do it and being inclined to do it are two different things. You don’t seem like the type.”
“You only say that because you haven’t met Ms. Hyde.”
She eyed me with a mix of curiosity and skepticism at that, her brow furrowed and her smile uncertain. She dropped me off with the usual message: Call me if you find out anything. I promised I would.
I worked late. The building was dark and quiet when I left. Once again, it was just me, the late-night DJ, and the security guard. I hadn’t slept well last night, and tonight wasn’t looking any better. I didn’t really want to go home, where I’d worry myself into a bout of insomnia.
I planned on walking back. It would make me tired and maybe numb my brain enough to sleep.
When I stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of the building, I smelled something wrong. Something that didn’t belong. I looked—a half-dozen people were waiting there, some standing, some sitting on the sofas pushed against the wall.
They smelled cold. They smelled like the clean, well-preserved corpses they were.
The elevator door closed behind me, trapping me.
Pete, the night watchman, was sitting at his desk in the back of the lobby. Just sitting there, hands folded calmly in front of him, staring straight ahead, not blinking, not noticing anything. The vampires had done something to him, put him in some kind of trance.
“Katherine.”
I flinched, startled at the sound of his voice. Arturo stepped to the center of the lobby, into the spot of illumination formed by the security light. It was like he’d designed this stage himself and timed his entrance perfectly.
Arturo appeared to be in his late twenties, handsome and assured, w
ith shining blond hair swept back from a square face. He wore a black evening coat, open to show the dinner jacket and band-collar dress shirt underneath. He looked like he’d stepped out of an Oscar Wilde play, except that he moved too confidently in the modern era, looked too comfortable in the office lobby setting.
His entourage, three men and two women, moved from the sofa and the shadows to fan out around him, lending their own intimidating presences to his authority.
If vampires ever spend less time playing theatrics and living down to their stereotypes, they might actually take over the world someday.
One of the women was Stella, from the nightclub. She stood a little behind Arturo, frowning imperiously, like a statue. The other woman held Arturo’s arm and leaned on his shoulder. She was lithe and pretty, dressed in a corset and a long, chiffony skirt, an image plucked from another century. She touched him like she couldn’t bear to be parted from him.
The men stood on the fringes like bodyguards. Rick was among them. When I caught his gaze, he flashed a smile, seeming terribly amused by it all.
They all remained still, staring at me with detached ennui. That didn’t mean they weren’t paying attention.
“What do you want?” I tried not to sound scared, but my heart was racing and my gaze kept shifting to the glass doors and the street beyond. I tensed my feet, wondering if I could make a run for it.
“To thank you.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“For helping Estelle. And for helping me. At least, for trying to.” He smiled thinly and tipped his head in a small bow.
His words brought it all back, and I felt drained all over again. I rubbed my face and looked away. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else I could have done. I didn’t want it to turn out like that.”
“I know,” he said, his voice soft. Without the pompous edge, he sounded almost kind. He straightened, discarding that hint of another self, and smoothed the lapel of his coat. “You might also like to know that any grudges toward you I may have acted on in the past are no longer a consideration to me.”
I had to think about that for a minute. “You’re not going to try and have me killed? No more threats?”
“For the time being. I do reserve the right to change my mind should your behavior warrant it. Good evening, Katherine.”
He started to turn. I took a hesitating step after him. He paused and regarded me with a questioning tilt to his head.
It couldn’t hurt to ask. Especially when he was being so nice—for him. I plunged ahead. “Did Meg back you in hiring Cormac to come after me?”