Tohr glanced across at John. Qhuinn was on the kid's ass tighter than a pair of pants, and that was a good thing as it was obvious that all was still not well in John's world: he smelled like his bonding scent, but looked like death.
The king bent down and talked to George for a moment. Then he grabbed his queen and kissed her like he meant it. "I'll be home before you know it, leelan. "
While Wrath walked through the crowd and disappeared into the courtyard without aid, Tohr went over to Beth, took her hand, and gave it a squeeze. "You don't worry about a thing. I'm gonna bring him back as soon as it's over - in one piece. "
"Thank you - God, thank you. " She put her arms around him and hugged him hard. "I know he's safe with you. "
As she sank to her haunches to comfort the anxious retriever, Tohr headed for the door, slowing down as he joined the traffic jam of brothers at the vestibule. Waiting to file through, he glanced up at the second-floor balcony. No'One was at the head of the stairs, standing by herself, that hood of hers down.
The braid needed to go, he thought to himself. Hair as beautiful as hers was meant to catch the light and shine.
He lifted his hand in a wave, and after she echoed the good-bye, he ducked out and emerged into the cold night.
Standing close, but not too close to John, he waited for Wrath to give the nod, and then he dematerialized with the king and the boys to a peninsula on the Hudson just north of Xhex's cabin.
As Tohr re-formed in the midst of a thin beard of forest, the air was bracingly cold and smelled of fallen leaves and the wet rocks of the shoreline.
Up ahead, Assail's contemporary mansion was a true showpiece, even from this rear view by the garages. The palatial structure had two main floors, with a porch that went all the way around, everything angled and windowed to provide as much of a view of the water as possible.
Dumb-ass place for a vampire to live. All that glass in the daylight?
Then again, what could you expect from a member of the glymera.
The house had been prescreened, as each of the other locations for the meetings had been, so they were familiar with the layout on the exterior - and V had broken in and surveyed the inside as well. Report: Nothing much in there, and clearly that hadn't changed. In the lights that glowed from the ceilings, there was a whole lot of nothing much in the furniture department.
It was as if Assail lived in a display case featuring himself.
And yet apparently the guy had done a few smart things. According to V, all those glass panels were threaded with fine steel wires, in the manner of a car window defroster system, so there was no dematerializing in or out. He'd also cleared the lawn that circled the place so that if anything or anybody approached, they'd be sitting ducks.
On that note, Tohr let his instincts and senses roam. . . and had a grand total of nada hit his radar screen. Nothing moved that wasn't supposed to: just tree limbs and leaves in the breeze, a deer about three hundred yards away, his brother and the boys behind him.
At least until a car came down the narrow, paved driveway.
Jaguar, Tohr guessed by the engine sound.
Yup, he was right. Black XKR. With blacked-out side windows.
The long-nosed convertible went by, stopped at the garage door nearest to the mansion, and then eased inside as the panels rose. Assail, or whoever it was behind the wheel, did not can the engine or get out of the car right away. He waited for the door to drop back into place behind him, and as it did, Tohr noticed there were no windowpanes in the thing. The shit was also a shade ever so slightly off from the trim on the rest of the house. Same with the other five bays.
He'd added those doors since he'd moved in, Tohr thought.
Maybe the SOB wasn't a total moron.
"Okay, I'll head over to the front door. " V's diamond eyes flashed. "I'll give you a signal. . . or you'll hear that lightweight scream like a girl. Either way, you know what to do. "
Annnnnd off he went, dematerializing around the corner of the house. It would be better to have eyes on him, but Wrath was the most important part of this, and the tree line in the back was the only cover there was to be had.
As they waited, Tohr got his gun out, and so did John Matthew and Qhuinn. The king was dripping with forties, but his matched sets stayed put. Way too defensive to have him with a gat in his hand.
But your personal guard? Part of the cocksucking job description.
Keeping sharp, he wished, yet again, that they could leave the king at home for the pregame process, but Wrath had flat-out no'd that idea months ago. Too galling, no doubt, given that, unlike his father, he'd been a fighter before he'd taken the throne - it was just, fucking hell, moments like this made you want to peel your own face off.
Tohr's cell phone went off three tense minutes later: Kitchen door by the garage.
"He wants us at the back entrance," Tohr said, putting the thing away. "Wrath, that's fifty ya
rds straight ahead. "