Chapter Sixteen
“A debt?” asked Nik. And now the Grinch looked like a sad, drowned puppy.
“Have you forgotten the favor you offered me back in Venis?”
Nikolai’s wheels turned slowly as he remembered said favor. I glanced at Mikhail, who seemed content to let them continue with their verbal foreplay. He was still smiling at Emma. Evidently, he really liked her too.
Nikolai sighed. “What is it you want? Since it’s clearly not me.”
“Who says it isn't you?” Emma purred as she pulled a folded piece of paper from the bust of her dress. I realize that paper is thin, but really, how did she manage to fit it in there? Her breasts were already spilling over the top. I sighed. Women. Or should I be more annoyed with men? “But business before pleasure…”
She handed the sheet to Nik, who glanced at it and passed it on to Mikhail. I caught a glimpse of the paper. It contained a list of some sort.
“What is it?” asked Nik.
“Just a collection of items belonging to Henry the Fifth. I'm starting a new collection and am hoping to get my hands on these items. In the past, they have been sold together. But I lost track of who has them now. When I realized I needed help finding them, I could think of no one better than you.”
“Is she talking about finding antiques or having sex?” I whispered in Josh’s ear. The others turned to scowl. Oh right, vampires and their super human hearing. Oops.
“When do you need them?” asked Nik, diverting everyone’s attention from my humorous blunder. Okay, Josh and I were probably the only ones finding it humorous.
“As soon as possible, really. I am planning a party around their debut in my collection. The party is in five days.”
“I wish I could, but Mikail has me doing a task for him at present,” said Nik.
Mikhail glanced up from the list.
“Still following Mikhail's orders?” Emma asked, her tone a mix of playfulness and sarcasm.
“I hold loyalty as a valued trait,” said Nikolai. “Give us a moment, Emma. Maybe I can talk Mikhail into freeing up my time,” he added, holding up a finger to forestall her from speaking.
Emma quirked the left side of her mouth up into a lopsided smile and sauntered out of the room.
Mikhail handed Nik the list. “It's your debt to pay,” he stated. “If you wish to pursue it, you may.”
“I'll need to leave Ashley here for her protection.”
Mikhail stared at Nik for a long, awkward moment. “Are you refusing to do your duty to the seethe? Ashley is your responsibility.”
“It won't be safe for her out on the streets.”
“That is your problem. I will not have her here for long periods of time. The seethe is a place of safety for our family. Her continued presence here threatens the sanctity of the seethe. I want her out when the sun sets again.”
“So you're saying I have to protect her, I just can't use our greatest source of protection to do it?”
Mikhail smiled as though he was simply asking Nik to get him a drink of water. “Are you suggesting you are not capable? Maybe Samuel… ”
“No.” Nik ground his teeth together. “I’ll repay the debt later.”
“I’d rather you finish this. Your debt is my debt. Besides, have you ever known Emma to ask for such a simple return to a favor? Normally she wants you to kill a dictator or something equally ridiculous. This should be easy. You can take Josh and Ashley with you.”
It didn’t sound like a suggestion.
I glanced between the two powerful men, feeling very uncomfortable, like the child in divorce court with the parents fighting over who had to take me. It wasn't a good feeling. All these problems were because of me. I was the remote detonator to a nuke, and I suddenly became grateful that my parents had never divorced.
“Josh, fetch Emma,” Mikhail ordered. A second later they returned.
“I will retrieve the items,” growled Nik, his eyes still flinging fire at Mikhail. Emma smiled brightly. The expression lit up her face in a way that made her genuinely beautiful. From the first moment I had seen her, I knew she was sexy, but real beauty has little to do with sex appeal. I saw why Nik was attracted to her. She was full of life and vigor. I couldn't imagine her doing anything half-assed or “just because.”
“Goodbye,” hinted Mikhail.
Josh took my arm and started pulling me toward the door. Nik pocketed the paper and guided Emma out.
“Josh, take the girl away. Nik and I have some catching up to do.”
Josh obediently looped his arm through mine and began tugging me away from the others.
“Later, all,” Josh said as he hauled me toward the lower level. He squeezed my arm slightly.
“Goodbye Miss Tanner,” I said, slurring the title into a curse. She glared at me, looking ready to lunge at my throat. Before she could, Josh jerked me into the stairwell. We descended them at a run. She had a temper, I realized belatedly.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Josh asked with a chuckle. “Emma is older and stronger than you.”
Josh pushed the door to his room open and waited for to me enter—a gentleman, as always, despite the mussed red hair and sandals. Entering his room felt a little like going home. It had been a place of solace and safety after first realizing what I had become. Coming back to it, when exhausted and frustrated, made me feel as though there might be something of normality left in this world.
Everything, from his fancy futon to his mint condition posters, was just as it had been when I first saw it. I sighed, letting the fear and uncertainty drip from my stiff shoulders. I knew it didn’t make sense. The room was hardly something I was familiar with, but it had provided me a safe haven when I needed one.
I glanced at Josh as he entered. Was it the room, or the person? A smile pulled my lips upwards. Josh was a true friend. I felt lucky to have him in my life. I forced the smile away, not wanting to share my epiphany just yet.
“So what's the story?” I asked to distract myself.
“What do you mean?” Josh pulled two blood bags from his fridge and guided me back to his futon.
“Nik and Emma. There's clearly a story!”
Josh grinned mischievously. “I don’t know all the details, but I do know they met in Russia around 1800, or so. And were together awhile.”
“Lovers?”
“Lovers,” he said with a nod. “For about fifty or sixty years. During a violent riot in France, they got separated and had to flee the country. I think, but I’m not positive, that Emma left Nik and he barely survived as a result. It’s taken Emma a long time to get back in his good graces. Since then he somehow became in her debt, though I don’t know how exactly.”
“It seems she has succeeded in ‘getting back in his good graces’,” I murmured before trying to force a grin to my own lips. Though I knew I should find the whole thing very funny, I couldn’t; I just wanted to tear her head off. I tried not to think about what they might be doing.
Josh stared at me for a moment. “Not sure. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
He rose with a groan and moved to the dressers. He pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and a black T-shirt, tossed them to me, and nodded toward the bathroom area. “Go clean up and get some rest.”
“I don't suppose I can have a room of my very own?”
He shook his head. “Not until you’re a full member of the seethe.”
I sighed and pulled the curtain closed around the tiled section of the room.
When I emerged, Josh was already changed into a pair of black basketball shorts that hung past his knees. I shouldn't have been surprised by the sleek shape of his chest. It wasn't the bulky weight-lifting muscle that would turn to gelatin if he aged. Instead, his body was covered in long, lean muscles. He looked like an Olympic swimmer rather than a body builder. I was surprised to find myself ogling Josh. It just wasn’t right.
“You take the bed,” he suggested as he made himself comfortable on the fut
on. “The sheets are clean.”
I smiled and moved toward his queen size bed. I’d never met a man who would think about clean sheets for his guests. I’m not even sure if Jordan knew sheets were supposed to be cleaned on a regular basis.
I went to sleep with a sad smile on my face—thoughts of new and old friends mingling together.