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“Derek, the vampire who recruited the kids at our school, is weak. Saber’sboyfriendsays he’ll take a year to recover and that he’s vulnerable,” Lozen said.
“How did he get hurt?” Elijah asked.
“Lozen ran him over with my car,” Saber said with a hint of pride.
“Oh,” Elijah said. “Damn. Go Lozen.”
“Yeah,” Lozen said, brushing them off. “We should kill him first, and whoever he is working with, the woman. I don’t care about the other vampires. I want the ones who killed my cousin. I don’t know how I feel about the others. I don’t know if I care. The world is so much morecomplicatedthan it was just a few months ago.”
Saber was tapping her steering wheel and thrumming with anxiety as she pulled into Ansel’s driveway, Doug in her passenger seat, Lozen in the back.
She’d texted Ansel on Thursday to ask if he would meet Doug, not even sure he replied to text messages, but of course he did.
Why does he want to meet me?
I don’t know, but I’m trying to convince him it’s a bad idea to try to kill you.
It’s definitely a bad idea to try to kill me. But if it’s important to you and you trust him, I’ll meet him. Friday?
How can we get there safely?
I’ll arrange an escort. You won’t see them.
So, on Friday night, Saber had gone and picked up Lozen, then Doug, and took the now familiar drive to Ansel’s house. If they had some kind of protective escort, they’d certainly remained unseen. On the drive over, Saber had given Doug a brief re-telling of Ansel’s story.
They parked, made their way up the steps, and were met by Lia before they could knock on the door. All the warmth Saber had learned to expect from her was utterly gone, and she gazed at Saber coldly as she let them in. Doug and Lozen went ahead into the living room, but Saber paused in the foyer and turned to Lia.
“Lia, have I done something to offend you?”
She froze, and for a moment, Saber thought she might be startled by the question. She clearly didn’t want to answer or speak to Saber at all.
“I don’t trust you,” she said. “Ansel is the most incredible being I have ever met, and I think you endanger him.”
Saber’s stomach turned. She hadn’t considered Lia in all of this at all. Then a thought struck her.
“Are you… in love with him?”
The withering look Lia gave her was one of complete disgust.
“I’m a lesbian, Saber. I am not inlovewith him, but I love him very much. Can youtryto imagine loving someone for unselfish reasons? He saw me for who I was in a way no one else ever has. He offered meeternal fucking life. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can understand that or understand how it feels to have that dream put in jeopardy because of some stupid high school crush.”
“I wouldneverhurt Ansel.”
Lia rolled her eyes.
“There is nothing more dangerous than a teenage girl with an obsession.”
“Lia, would you mind getting a nice bottle of red from the cellar?”
They both turned, surprised.
Ansel had appeared on the stairs and had probably heard the entire conversation.
“And please, get a glass for yourself if you feel like it would help you relax.”
Saber walked with Ansel into the living room, and saw the way Doug looked at him wonderingly, a marvel of nature, or whatever the opposite of nature was. Lozen sank back into the sofa, regarding him with suspicion. She was completely immune to the charming effect he had on Saber.
“Good evening,” Ansel said, the picture of a gentleman. “Lia is going to get a bottle of wine, but if there’s something else you’d prefer, I can grab it myself.”
