Bete Noire (10 page)

“
Merci
.”

Tristan turned in his seat to look at Sebastian. The dude was smiling happily as if he had complimented him personally. The man went about the room, tidying up a space that was already as tidy as it was going to get. OCD indeed. Tristan stretched before climbing to his feet.

“What now?”

Ash held out Tristan’s shoulder holster with
the single Berretta. The gun was too small for him, but with firearms at such a premium in Japan, being illegal n’ all, he was going to have to make due until they left for the U.S. “Moreau gave you something?”

“Huh?” he asked and then remembered. “Oh right, before you jumped me.” He meant it in a lighthearted way but Ash’s scowl said she didn’t take it as such. God, she was just so serious all the time. He’d only heard her laugh, really laugh
a few times since he met her. What he would give to hear that again. He dug the envelope from his pocket and gave it to Ash in exchange for his gun.

In one clean movement she slipped her fingers into the flap, pulled out the note and unfolded it so that it appeared like magic. From envelope to hand, the note just
appeared.

Show off
.

Ash shot him the barest of smirks before turning her attention to the paper. It only took her a few seconds to read it all with her vampiric skills. She said a few words
of Greek under her breath, dropping her arms to her side.

“That good, huh?” he asked,
struggling into his holster.

“There is a Paris Master vampire who would be the equivalent of Yukihime.”

There was another ancient nut job like Yuki running around?

“Audric,” Ash said, reading the note again as if she didn’t believe it either. “He is her senior by three hundred years.”

Tristan stopped fumbling with the tight leather straps to give her a pained look. A thirteen hundred year old vampire? “I…” He had to clear his throat to speak. “I thought Yuki was the oldest alive.”

Ash looked up slowly and met his eyes, her own filled with worry. “I had believed so, yes. I did not know of Master Audric’s existence until just now.” In fact, there were many of her kind worldwide she knew nothing of. At first it was by design, Malik’s. After that it was simply just unimportant to her. In time, the need to know never grew, but perhaps it was prudent to start keeping a mental log of all of Tristan’s possible enemies. The older, the more deadly.

“And his House of power?” Tristan mindlessly took the dress jacket Sebastian was handing him and put it on. He didn’t even notice the small man.

Ash bit her lip, shaking her head. “It does not say.”

Tristan stopped for a moment to process the idea and screwed his face up, hands deep in his pockets. “You’re taking the news rather well.”

She gave a soft laugh looking tired. “How am I supposed to react?”

“Never mind,” he answered with a sigh.

“Audric and Guinevere were allies. When Yukihime and Malik moved on the House of F
ire, she made a deal with Audric to keep him from interfering. Later, Master Audric made his regret known in betraying his old ally. Because of this, Yukihime believes he may have given Lucien refuge now. She says that we may have to beg Lucien from him.”

Something tickled up Tristan’s spine and he shifted his shoulders to hide the shiver under the guise of adjusting the harness. “I don’t like the way that sounds.”

“As well you should not.”

“Why can’t you vampires ever play nice? Seriously.”

Sebastian let out a small chuckle and Tristan shot him a dirty look, not happy the strange man was listening in. “My apologies,” he said. “Is there anything further I may be of assistance with before you go?”

Tristan opened his mouth to tell the man off and to give him and Ash some privacy when she touched his arm and stepped around him. “Has
our trunk been delivered yet?” she asked.

Sebastian looked startled for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. “
Non
.”

Ash opened her mouth again to speak, but it came out in French, accent spot on. Flabbergasted, Tristan stared at her while the two of them had their conversation. He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised. Ash had said before that she knew many languages. He just didn’t know the extent of her collection. And she spoke th
em all with such fluidity and ease. He hoped that one day she’d tell him about her past and how she came to learn so many languages, and teach maybe him a little.

When Ash finished her rundown of instructions, Sebastian gave a low bow and turned away to clean up the dining table. Ash spun on her heel looking grim as she stalked towards the door to leave.

“Wanna fill me in here?”

“On the way,” she snapped as she jerked the door open.

Tristan sighed to himself.

Great
. Now she was in a bad mood. He wasn’t entirely sure exactly why either. They were in a foreign country on their way to an ancient vampire’s home to force said Master to give up a man that Ash had once had physical relations with, after having their own personal time interrupted by one of Yuki’s serfs, a man neither of them trusted.

Right, pick one.

At the door, Tristan stopped and looked back at Sebastian. He hadn’t anything personal he was leaving behind since his bag was in that trunk, but still, he didn’t like the guy being alone in their room.

Ash stepped into him, making him flinch at her sudden movement. “Do not let your guard down, not for a moment,” she said softly, eyes on the man in their hotel room.

“Don’t trust Yuki’s man?”

“Of course not. You know I trust no one.” Tristan opened his mouth to complain, but then she added, “Except you.”

“Sensible,” he said.

She nodded. “The last person I trusted killed me.” She met his eyes, something dark and guarded in her own. “You will not kill me, will you… Uruwashi?”

Tristan swallowed hard, anxiety tickling down his spine. His voice came out softer than he wanted when he answered, “Never.”

A WRACKING yawn shook Tristan and he shoved his hands into his pockets, gave a little shiver. Apparently, his warmer winter coat was in the trunk that was on the plane. And, apparently, there was a delay in having it sent to their room. Ash was more than a little steamed over that. At that moment, Tristan was too tired to care why. Back in Akita, it was mid-morning already. He was tired, starting his night over like this, and there were still hours and hours until he could sleep again.

Ash was marching off ahead of him, dressed in her less than active-wear outfit, looking sexy and smart, even if she was missing a few buttons. Despite the low temps, she seemed completely comfortable. Then again, she was really
angry; maybe that was keeping her blood warm. But Tristan was starting to suspect that she just didn’t feel the cold the same way he did. Vampire ‘n all. He’d ask, but it wasn’t worth the dirty look he knew he’d inevitably get.

Another ragged yawn brought tears to Tristan’s eyes. Before he could finish, he ran right into Ash. He let out a shocked noise and snapped his mouth shut, mid-yawn.

“Sorry,” he muttered with a sheepish grin.

Ash only blinked up at him. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered and then felt a rush of regret at the mean thought. Sure they didn’t have a “real” relationship, but he wasn’t the type to give up, not when he wanted something—
someone
so badly. She was constantly keeping him at a distance, but he was willing to keep pushing forward because he knew she was just lying to herself about how she really felt.

Her eye twitched as she heard, and ignored, his thoughts.

“Where are we going?” he asked casually.

“Audric lives outside of the city.”

“Let me guess, middle of nowhere.”

Ash gave him a look, small as it was. “Did you think Yukihime’s was the only burrow of vampires in isolation? That you would find someone so ancient in the middle of a busy city?”

“Not really, but it seems easier to find a meal in a big city.”

“We prefer our privacy over the convenience of food. There is always blood to be found...”

“Right.” He shivered again as the cold got to him. “Soooo… we walking to this Audric guy’s house or what?”

That twitch again, she was more annoyed than usual and he was too tired to care. Ash produced a key fob from her cleavage. Tristan smirked wondering what else she was hiding in there and if she’d let him have a
peek.

Another chill tore its way down Tristan’s back. He didn’t mind the cold
really, but once it set in too deep, he wasn’t good at dealing with it. “Can we get going already?”

“Does killing Lucien mean that much to you?”

Tristan bristled, flinching at her dark mien, the bite in her words. After a moment he made a face as if he bit into something sour. “It’s cold out. I’m cold.”

Ash harrumphed at him and held up the fo
b, pushing the button to make a chirp sound from the end of the row.

“That’s one hell of a rental,” Tristan whispered as they came upon the car Yuki lined up for them. Exotic, sleek and beautiful like a prowling white panther, it was the sexiest thing h
e’d ever seen in person: a brand new shiny Bugatti Veyron. He knew there was a reason he liked Volkswagen so much.

“Yuki’s got a thing for white, huh?”

Ash scoffed and he turned to look at her. “I asked for a convertible.”

“In the middle of winter?”

She looked up to him, desperation in her eyes. That’s right, she had a problem with him and close quarters. The “incident” in the hotel was a result of that. Not that it was all that bad... He rather enjoyed their little tumble, even if they didn’t even get a chance to get naked and really into it. Tristan groaned to himself, remembering how close they came.

Ash, feeling his emotions, let out a shaky breath. The interruption disappointed her more than he’d ever understand.

Knowing Ash would insist on driving, Tristan didn’t even argue about climbing in on the passenger side. Being a tall guy, he found a lot of sports cars uncomfortable and this supercar was no exception. He had to do yoga-like moves to just get his legs inside. The leather was cold, but welcomed him like the arms of a lover. Tucked into the car finally, his whole body sank into the seat and molded to the leather like the car was telling him he belonged. He liked belonging.

The dash was smooth black and he reached out, gently running his fingertips over the surface. His hand moved along the door ledge as he
pulled it shut, sliding across the top edge, admiring its exquisite, exotic beauty. Ash laughed, causing him to jump and he jerked around to give her a questioning look.

She gave him a sly askance grin as she pushed the key into the ignition. “You act if it is my skin you are caressing.”

He gave her a crooked smile, fingers still moving over the door. “Not even close. But, you have to admit, it’s damn sexy.”

Ash gave the small interior a quick look around, taking it all in, in a matter of seconds and shrugged. “I suppose.”

This made Tristan raise an eyebrow. “I mean, come on, how can you not appreciate an 8 liter W16-cylinder with four turbos and top speed of 250 mph…?” Ash blinked at him a moment and then he frowned, looking away as he mumbled, “I know more about this car than you.”

Ash returned his frown. She wanted so badly to just tell him everything, every detail of her life, what she was thinking and feeling. But she knew if she did, she would lose him. Perhaps it was time for them to part after all.
Losing him would be more bearable than the looks of disappointment and fear.

Tristan cleared his throat, refusing to look her way again. “You know the way?”

“Yes,” she answered softly. “I do.”

“Great.”

Mood solemn, Ash thumbing the ignition button below the shifter. The sound of a jet plane vibrated throughout the interior, across their chests and into the recesses of their bodies. Tristan reveled in it. Ash cracked her window, completely negating the heater as she gave the gas a quick jab, making the exhaust belt out it’s lovely siren’s song.

Tristan couldn’t help but smile. And then yelped
when Ash took off, nearly clipping the car parked next to them when the tires failed to keep up with the sudden jolt of power and mix of snow. She paused long enough to check for traffic—a slim second. Three seconds later they were barreling through the busy city at over 60 mph. Tristan let go of his tension and laughed hard. Ash was smiling too, enjoying the thrill. Really, she liked the car as much as she liked showing off her vampiric reflexes.

They moved out of the city quickly and into the quieter countryside. Ash sped through the windy roads like a seasoned Formula driver, but it was reasonable enough that Tristan could relax. Besides, with her reflexes, what could happen? The trip was quiet, despite the deep drone of motor and exhaust, and comfortable despite the icy wind coming from Ash’s open window tearing through his clothing and hair. He slipped farther down into the seat, his arms crossed over his chest. And though he was cold, the seats warmed up his ass and back enough that he had to fight off the urge to doze.

Until Ash suddenly spoke, starling Tristan out of his half sleep. “He’s a faerie.”

His head snapped up. “
Wh—
excuse
me?”

“Sebastian. He is
a faerie
.”

“Uh...” Tristan shook his head, wiling his brain to catch up. Where they in the middle of a conversation? “I take it you don’t mean he’s gay, right?”

Ash shot him a quick glance, pale brows pinched in confusion. “It is a trait of the fae to be gay. You will almost never find him frowning. In fact, he may even hum or sing while he does the most menial chores. All fae are rather jovial.
I find it rather amusing actually.”

Hum or sing? What, like
Snow White, whistle-while-you-work crap? “No,” he sighed and sat up in his seat, trying to clear the fog in his head.
Damn, I’m tired
. “Homosexual.”

She gave him another look, a white brow pulled up in curiosity. “Oh. Well, yes, indeed. Faerie are not particular on bed partners, except when the need to procreate arises.”

He snorted. “Arises…”

“Pardon?”

“Procreate… arise… oh hell, never mind.” She didn’t get it. That or she really wasn’t in the mood for jokes tonight. And he was definitely too tired to keep trying. “Thought faeries were tiny little things with wings and shit?” The guy was super “petit” anyway.

Ash
gave him another quick glance, taking in his tired stance and returned her eyes to the road. “
Wings
? Of course not.”

Tristan snorted. “Didn’t think so.”

“Sebastian is a male.”

Tristan sat up straighter, a little more awake now. “So female faeries have wings?”

Ash shot him a quick brow-furrowed look, lips puckered in irritation like he was being dumb. It wasn’t like Ash ever told him about the non-humans though, how would he know?

“Faerie, like the vampire, does not exist to the human populous, yet have walked the earth for just as long. The fae are a good-willed, nature-loving race that prefer to keep to themselves when possible
but are kindly with humans. They consider themselves healers of a sort, with their restorative constitutions…” And by constitution, she meant blood.

“So they’re hippies, got it.”

Ash shot him a look. “Must you always put such bland, stereotypical names on things?” she asked, thinking of his assessment of the pythia way back when. “Magic oracles” he called them.

He shrugged
. “Typecasts exist for a reason, and you know what, I’m just a dumb human, I need mnemonic devices, okay?”

He was being snippy and Ash didn’t blame him. It was partially her fault.

“Mind yourself around Sebastian. The fae may be a less violent race than the others but they find themselves in trouble often due to their mischievous nature.”

“Mischievous nature? You mean shenanigans.” Yeah, he could see it. It was the way Sebastian smiled, the twinkle in his eyes. The man had tons of amusing thoughts he was more than happy to keep to himself, lighting up the back of his eyes.

Ash smirked but did her best to hide it. “Yes and it is when he decides to not keep those amusing thoughts to himself that you should be weary. He is not to be trusted.”

“No shit… Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about there, I’ll keep a close eye on the kid.”

“Kid?” She gave him another dirty look. She was full of them tonight. “The faerie life span is approximately triple that of a human. Our dear Sebastian may only appear to be in his early twenties, however I am sure he is closer to ninety.”

“No shit?” The guy really did look to be about Tristan’s age. He never would have guessed otherwise. Then again, he was a midget.

Ash sighed at Tristan’s simplistic account of the man. “The race is in disarray now.”

“Disarray? Why?”

“Fae blood is highly restorative. Because of this unfortunate trait, they have been inadvertently hunted to the point of extinction. Yukihime is very fortunate to have several in her service. They are valuable resources.”

“Resources?” he snapped. “They’re people, Ash, not things. Do everything you vamps do have to be in excess?” He huffed, looking out the window to the dark world. “Christ, can’t you vampires ever leave
things alone?”

“It works both ways.” Ash’s hand touched his arm as if to take the sting out of her words.

He sank farther down into the leather. She was right. “Are you ever going to tell me the whole truth?”

“What?” Ash asked taken off guard. She hadn’t heard the thought before he spoke it. He was subconsciously becoming better at masking his thoughts. With some mild training he would be able to block them at will, maybe even permanently.

“You’re hiding shit from me still.” He turned to look her in the eye. “You’re not lying outright, but I can tell, there’s a shitton of stuff you aren’t telling me.”

She jerked her attention away, refusing to look at him. “We should be arriving at Audric’s home soon.”

Just like that
, he thought and looked away, watching the fields of grey grass pass slowly by. He slumped down into his seat to pout to himself and try not to mull over the frustration Ash caused him. He must have nodded off again because the next thing he was aware of was icy hands enclosing his face. He gasped, jerking upright in his seat, reaching for his gun.

Ash smiled coyly, knowing exactly what she had done. “You are faster
at that. Good.”

He let out a puff of air, still trying to recover from the shock. That was twice in so many days
that he’d been awakened by a vampire. “Lucky I didn’t shoot you.”

She smiled big, the not-so-emo Ash shining in those pale purple eyes. He liked the snarky Ash, she was fun. “I look forward to the day you can best me. I truly do.”