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“Hey, Alexandre?” I smiled, baring my fangs at him. I must have looked insane.
I felt insane.
“What?”
“Run.”
He hesitated, as I hoped he would, frozen by uncertainty or stupidity. The last mistake he’d ever make.
I lunged for him, and that got him moving. He dove headfirst out of the door, landing on his back next to the train track. Six inches farther and the Paris Metro would have done my job for me.
I hopped down, sword angled towards the ground as I stepped over him, lowering my body so I was straddling him and the katana’s blade was under his chin, hovering over the skin.
“Isn’t this romantic?” I asked. We were hidden by the shadows, but the glow from the metro platform was a literal light at the end of the tunnel. Snippets of conversation floated towards us, a reminder of the real world we were both hoping to escape to. I pushed the blade down until a line of bright red blood seeped from his neck. He winced. “What’s the matter? I thought you liked it when it hurt.”
“I have something you want,” he whispered.
I raised both eyebrows and let up on the blade. I hadn’t figured he’d go through the bargaining phase, but if he wanted to pretend he could talk his way out of this, so be it. “Oh?”
“Mercy.”
At first I thought he was asking for my mercy, and I almost laughed again, but then the real meaning of the word sank in. My mother. “What about her?”
“I know where she is.”
This gave me real pause, and I chewed the inside of my cheek. “So what, I let you go and you tell me? That’s what you want, right?”
“Seems like a fair trade. Her life for mine.” He was speaking slowly and quietly to avoid meeting the blade again.
I leaned in close and let my nose brush against his. I met his eyes without flinching. “I found you. I can find her.”
“Not before she takes more of what matters to you.” He sounded smug when he said it, and I recoiled as if I’d been slapped.
So he knew about Brigit.
“Get up.” I rocked back onto my heels and stood up, one foot planted firmly on either side of his ribs. I didn’t offer him a hand as he got to his feet, checking his neck, where the flesh wound had already healed.
He did nothing to hide his expression, a mix of relief and superiority. The look plainly said, I knew you wouldn’t kill me.
“Louisiana or Manitoba?” I asked. He’d said she would go after what I loved, and though New York was the most obvious target, I didn’t think she’d be in a hurry to cross into Lucas’s territory after what he’d done to her makeshift pack last time. She’d find another way to lash out at me.
“Warm or cold, warm or cold?” He was enjoying himself now.
Light started to form at the opposite end of the tunnel, and the ground shuddered beneath us. “I don’t have time for games.”
“Where’s your sense of fun?” he teased.
“Just tell me.”
He stepped backwards, inching towards the platform where I would lose him. I didn’t know how or if I’d find him again once he vanished into the crowd.
“Tell me,” I snarled.
“I’d say go home, but that won’t narrow it down. How about I say, go to the one who named you.” He grinned, pleased with himself.
I thought of the postcard Grandmere had received, and my stomach bottomed out. On the outside I forced a smile, showing him my teeth one last time. He sure didn’t like the look of that.
“Thanks.?
