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There were about a hundred things I needed to do right then, but for a moment, I just stood there. My wrist was throbbing, my legs felt weak as water and a massive headache was building behind my right eye. But he was warm and his shirt was soft and he smelled so damn good. I felt my whole body relax.
He didn’t say anything, but his arms tightened. And despite strict orders to the contrary, my eyes slipped closed. All at once, I just wanted to curl up and—
“Well, this is cozy,” Ray said, from under my arm.
Louis-Cesare pulled back with a sigh just as the door banged open and Christine stumbled in. Her pink silk gown was liberally streaked with mud, and the priceless lace was a soggy mess. She was dragging a couple of mud-covered suitcases and muttering something under her breath. She didn’t even appear to notice us, just dropped the suitcases near a body, turned and went out again.
Louis-Cesare looked after her, his face blank. “What is Christine doing here?”
“She said you told her to go with me.”
“She said—” He stopped, his jaw tightening. “I believe she misunderstood.”
“If you aren’t here for her, why are you here?”
“Because ofsubrand,” he said, like that should in any way be obvious.
“How did you know he was going to attack?”
“He attacked last night, but did not achieve his objective. Why should he not return?”
“You skipped out on your murder trial on the chance he might show up?” I asked incredulously.
He frowned. Apparently, that hadn’t been the response he’d expected. “It appears fortunate that I did.”
“You’re supposed to be facing the Senate right now! What are you planning to tell them?”
“Nothing. There is no point. Whatever I say, the outcome has already been decided.”
“Mircea doesn’t seem to think so.”
“Mircea doesn’t know Anthony as well as I do.”
“Meaning what?” I demanded, as someone started stabbing at the doorbell. I stared at it a little desperately. “Now what?”
“The Senate’s men, in all probability.”
“You were bluffing.”
“Not about that. I assume it is whysubrand left so precipitously. His spies must have warned him that reinforcements were on the way.”
He started for the door, and I grabbed his shirt. “You called them?” I asked, hoping that the sinking in my gut was wrong.
“No.”
“Then why are they here?”
“To take me into custody, I should suspect.”
CHAPTER 27
He pulled away, and after a stunned second, I followed Louis-Cesare through the ruined vestibule. The wind had picked up, billowing out the antique lace curtains and letting in the rain. And a lot of flashing lights. They strobed the small room in disco colors of red and blue, sending a flickering rectangle of light across the walls and making the shadows of the furniture jump.
We had visitors, but not the Senate. At least, not yet.
Across the muddy tire tracks, car parts and half a ton of couture that littered the lawn, I could see a dozen neighbors lining the street in their nightclothes. They were staring at the mess and the wreck of a house beyond it with the sort of keen-eyed horror people usually reserve for traffic accidents. And across the street, a third police car had just pulled up.
I should have expected it. The wards had dropped and the glamourie had gone with them. And half a dozen vampires ripping a Lamborghini apart wasn’t exactly quiet. We’d probably woken up half the neighborhood.
