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Alcántara had noticed them, however, and called, “Guidon Trinity. ”
Trinity gave me the evil eye, taking in the cozy tête-à-tête between Alcántara and me, and I imagined it was only a matter of time before Masha got the full report. But she was all deference when she jogged back down the stairs to answer him. “Yes, Master Alcántara?”
“Clean this up. ” He waved a dismissive hand to the target I’d hung on the tree. “I have other uses for Acari Drew just now. ”
I’d have laughed at the expression on her face if inwardly I hadn’t been cringing so badly, because Trinity might as well have moved that target to my back. Her pale eyes crackled with cold fury. Having Alcántara by my side was the only reason I felt safe—in fact, his favor would be the thing that kept me alive…if it didn’t kill me first.
“Walk with me. ” He linked his arm
with mine in a very old-world-gentleman sort of way.
I’d just inched up the totem pole, and I felt the other girls’ eyes boring into me. I forced the thought from my head. I was above them—he’d said so himself.
Etiquette classes aside, it felt good to be treated like an adult—to be trusted, and with such astounding news. Other vampires? Bad ones? How could it get worse than this lot? The thought chilled me.
Did that mean there was some greater conflict happening in the world, between good vampire and bad? Suddenly, our mission took on a whole other aspect.
Good versus evil…It was all so superhero Justice League sort of stuff. A tiny part of me regretted I’d be escaping, turning my back on such a life.
But then I remembered the Draug. I was excited for the mission, but I was even more excited to hightail it off the island. It was only a matter of time before I became someone—or something’s—lunch.
I whispered low, so the Guidons wouldn’t overhear, “Where are the other vampires? Who are they?”
“We must distance ourselves,” he said quietly. “What I have to say is not for curious ears. ”
We walked to the far end of the quad, to a bench near the old chapel. The silence wasn’t easy as I’d known in the past with Ronan. Rather, there was an energy, a chemistry between Alcántara and me, and it made the silence charged and uncomfortable.
We settled on the bench, and I noted how closely he sat—with the vampires, everything meant something. There were no accidents, and even how and where one sat was rife with meaning.
“What I am about to say to you, what you will see on our mission—these things must remain between us. ” His intense gaze locked with mine as though he might bond me to this pledge with his eyes alone. “I am confident you will not betray this trust. ”
“I won’t,” I said gravely, even though Ronan and Amanda didn’t seem to believe it. Unlike them, Alcántara was beginning to trust me. “I can keep secrets. ”
“That is good, querida. Because it is in secrecy that we will be traveling. ”
I shivered, wondering if I’d wear a mysterious traveling cloak, or carry an attaché. “When do we leave?”
“One week. We shall travel by boat. ”
I got goose bumps. This was it—our moment was approaching. I’d go on a mission, real good-against-evil stuff. I’d be tested; I’d show myself worthy.
And then I’d make my getaway. Sweet freedom would be mine. I bet I could get any job I wanted once I escaped—I could join the CIA, or be a celebrity’s bodyguard.
But then I remembered the whole waitressing thing. “You said I’ll need to wait tables?”
“You will be in disguise, mijita. These vampires we infiltrate—the leaders call themselves the Synod of Seven—are a force of evil. They have captured one of our own, whom they would keep locked away for eternity. He is somewhere on their island, and they are starving him, endlessly torturing him for information they think he can provide. ”
“Who is he?” I whispered, enthralled.
“A vampire by the name of Carden McCloud, from eighteenth-century Scotland. ”
I heard myself gasp and shut my trap. I was being entrusted to help find an ancient vampire. Me. Annelise Drew.
The name was familiar, and then I remembered that Ronan had mentioned an elder named McCloud, who’d hailed from the island. I tucked that fact away, images of a kilted, fanged version of Sean Connery flashing in my head.
But one thing stuck in my craw. “If he’s Scottish, why did I need to brush up on German?”
“The Synod of Seven members still speak the language of the ancient monastery in which they reside. ”
