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Marcus glanced at Havily and frowned slightly. “We need to tell her,” he said.
“You mean about … earlier?”
“Yeah.”
Havily lifted her chin but released a heavy sigh. “Yes, I think so, too. Shall I?”
He smiled. Maybe she’d been set back on her heels all these decades by Endelle’s sour opinion of Havily’s powers, but his woman didn’t lack for pluck. “Go ahead.”
Havily met Endelle’s gaze head-on. “Earlier today, when Marcus and I were … engaged … I took him into the darkening.”
He liked that she said it flat-out. He also enjoyed just how wide Endelle’s eyes grew.
Her Supremeness blinked. “You did what?”
“For the past four months, I thought I’d been engaged in enjoying very intense, dream-like fantasies about Warrior Marcus. Two nights ago, when I had a vision of Luken with his wings on fire, I also thought it was a vision I was having.” She took a deep breath. This couldn’t be an easy thing for her to say, since she was essentially speaking about sex to the most vulgar, inappropriate, indiscreet vampire on Second Earth. Still, she pressed on. “However, today, this afternoon, when Marcus and I were … making love … we ended up in the darkening. I think all this time, I’ve been taking Marcus into the darkening, and when Luken was attacked I somehow took myself into the darkening and traveled to his location. Once there, however, I couldn’t reach him.”
“No one in this dimension,” Endelle cried, “can go into the darkening but me, not even Greaves. So forgive me if I don’t believe you. Settle down Marcus, what I mean is, why don’t you describe for me what it was like, what it looked like, what it felt like, and I don’t mean your warrior’s cock. This is important, Morgan. I must know exactly what happened.”
Havily took her time and described the experience. Marcus nodded his agreement.
When she had finished, Endelle just stared at her. “Holy shit,” she muttered. “Well, you’ve described it exactly and I’ll be a goddamn motherfucker if you don’t have darkening capabilities. It’s a goddamn righteous Third ability, you know.” Her brows knotted. “Were you in two places at once?”
Havily shook her head. “No, never that. In or out, never both, although I understand splitting-self is a critical aspect of the ability. I never did that. I suppose you can.”
Endelle snorted. “Damn straight I can.” She narrowed her eyes. “And you’re sure you weren’t in two places at once?”
“I’m sure.”
Endelle almost smiled. “Well, well, well. So you have some power after all. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow and we’ll talk about what to do next. For one thing, I’ll need to teach you how to split yourself. Then maybe you’ll be of some real use to me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Her Supremeness turned to Marcus. “Protect Havily and find this mortal-with-wings ASAP. Update Thorne then keep on updating him. He’ll contact me if I’m needed. Okay. We’re done.”
Endelle lifted her arm and vanished, no doubt to return to her meditation chamber.
He glanced at Havily. “Medichi’s first, then we’ll figure out what we need to do next. How does that sound?”
She nodded, frowning.
“What?”
“Well, you know how odd Endelle’s clothes can be? But she actually looked almost normal tonight, didn’t she, like she was wearing a sort of Grecian robe?”
“When she does her meditation work, her darkening work, she usually wears something comfortable. At least that’s how I remember her.”
“It was just so strange not to see her in a tiger skin or … rabbit pelts.”
“Rabbit?”
Havily laughed. “You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
He slid an arm around her neck, pulling her close. He held her in that position, locked against him, just looking into her eyes until her lips parted and he smelled a delicious wave of honeysuckle. He planted his lips over hers. He palmed her cheek and deepened the kiss. He made liberal use of his tongue until she responded with a soft moan. He stroked her cheek as he drew back. “We’d better get you over to the villa or I’m going to have you against that wall again.”
She searched his eyes. “Do you know how much I’m tempted to keep you right here?”
He growled deep in his throat. A woman shouldn’t say such a thing to a vampire, especially not to a vampire caught in the grip of the breh-hedden.
“Fennel,” she whispered. She pressed a hand to her chest and gulped as she drew away from him. She brought her iPhone out of her pant pocket, touched the screen a couple of times, then pressed it to her ear. “Hi, Jeannie,” she said after a moment. He still had hold of her hand. “Can you send us to Medichi’s villa?” A pause, then, “Yeah, I’ve got him. Do your worst.”
And the vibration began.
The hunt is the true elixir of ascended vampire life.
—Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth
Chapter 10
Havily released Marcus’s hand as soon as she felt the planked wood floor of Medichi’s villa beneath her feet. She was aware that if he so much as said the word, or came at her with a familiar wild glint in his eye, she’d fall right back into his arms and let him push her up against any of these walls.
She drew some much-needed air into her lungs and questioned all over again what she was doing with this man. She had never felt more vulnerable.
Marcus looked around. “I see he’s made a few changes.”
“Yeah. I guess it’s been two hundred years since you were here.”
“Yep.”
Havily glanced around as well. She had been to the estate a number of times. Though parties were rare, if the warriors had one, Medichi hosted, as well he should. The dark, almost black wood floors were covered in fine woven rugs. Antique furniture, some quite massive pieces, ran stem-to-stern.
His villa was a work of art in the Italianate style, and he had expanded the property over many decades. He was wealthy but then he’d spent centuries building his investments, particularly in the import business from Mortal Earth. He also had a love of computers, so as soon as there were whispers on earth of the PC, Medichi had bought stock.
She stood with Marcus near the front door in the large central foyer. Opposite was a bank of French doors that led to a beige stone terrace and rolling lawns, which sloped upward in the direction of the White Tanks Wildlife Refuge. The desert of the refuge was a powerful juxtaposition to the green grass and the dozen or so palo verde trees staggered on that part of the grounds.
