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And the part of me who’d always secretly envied a vampire’s powers would get her wish. I’d be superhuman—faster, stronger, able to heal from almost any wound—but that was just icing on the cake of the life that Brien and I could build together as vampire mates.
I drew a shaky breath. “Iwantthis.”
Now I’d just have to convince him.
* * *
When I got out of the shower, a Canadian passport and a phone were on the table next to my breakfast tray. I opened the little blue book first. It was issued to Susan Kane, with my photo and a made-up birthdate and place of birth.
Beneath the passport, I found a debit card in my new name with a bank statement showing a sum had been deposited for me. I had to read the amount twice because at first my brain couldn’t take in the stupid amount of zeroes at the end.
It was enough money for me to go anywhere in the world. Enough money that I’d never have to work again.
My eyes stung. I squeezed them shut, digging my teeth into my lower lip. For Brien to provide me with a passport was huge, but to give me that much money was even bigger.
He was saying he trusted that I’d keep my word and stay with him. But if he lost the challenge, he’d provided me with the means to save myself.
It was the best gift he could’ve given me.
* * *
The afternoon inched by. I got my cellphone up and running. A sticky note on the back had included my new phone number and that the bill would be paid by the Maritime Syndicate. For now, I held off contacting anyone, even Renata. It was enough that I could.
William stopped by to report that my halmoni had been stashed in a safe house in northern California. “She put up a fight,” the beefy dhampir told me, “but the men insisted.”
In other words, they’d kidnapped my grandmother. The next time I spoke to her, she was going to chew me a new one. But at least she was alive.
I tried to read a book, but even a sexy paranormal romance by one of my favorite authors couldn’t hold my interest. Things were coming to a head, and my gut told me we didn’t know the whole of it. This entire op had been like feeling your way through a dark tunnel without a light. A shitshow, in other words, and I felt powerless to fix things.
I fuckinghatedfeeling powerless.
I tossed the paperback aside and worked out instead, an hour of martial arts followed by an hour of yoga.
Demon meowed at the hallway door. When I got up to let her in, Kerry opened the door. “Here’s lunch.” She shoved a paper bag at me and turned to go.
I took the bag and grabbed her arm. “What the hell’s your problem?”
“You.” She rounded on me, her narrow face livid. “This is all your fault—the old primus’s death, the challenge. The prince isn’t ready. And if Prosper stakes him, the syndicate will be without a true heir. Everything my lady worked for—the planning, the preparation—will be all for nothing. Maybe you even had something to do with her assassination.”
Her lady.
This was about Brien’s mother?
“Okay.” Letting her go, I lifted an index finger. “First, I had nothing to with the prima’s assassination. I’ve never even been to Nova Scotia, let alone Lilith Island.” I raised another finger. “And second, the primus attacked me. The man was blood mad. He’d already killed one thrall.”
Kerry’s eyes flickered.
“Yeah,” I said. “I know about Gwen. If I hadn’t staked Leclerc, who knows who else he would’ve killed?”
The housekeeper folded her arms over her flat chest. “Maybe so, but your people were behind the prima’s death, and Jules would never have gone mad if he hadn’t lost his mate. How do I know the slayers didn’t send you to finish things? Everyone knows you were here to stake the prince.”
I flinched. “That’s true, but I was being blackmailed—”
“So you say. But you’re a slayer. Lying for you people is as easy as breathing. If you ask me, the prince is thinking with his balls, not his brain. And the challenge is because of you. William told me that the prince forced a challenge to save you from Prosper.”
I gave a helpless shrug. It was more complicated than that—Brien hadwantedProsper to challenge him. On the other hand, I couldn’t deny that he’d done it partly to protect me.
“Well?” Kerry demanded. “Aren’t you going to tell me that’s not true, either?”
