In the Dark (11 page)

“As you
like,” he said, and led the way back up the stairs.

T
he
trip-wire in the key hole was a relatively crude setup. It took only
a short time to dismantle. A small amount of C4 made up the
explosive, just enough to seriously injure one vampire at close
range. Sebastian removed the entire bomb and trigger carefully,
showing Ian how it had been put together and how to take it apart. He
did not know why or when he had decided to take her on as a student.
He knew she noticed things that many would miss. He felt she was
bright. Perhaps he needed no other reason. After all, with Kent gone
she needed a mentor, and Sebastian had not had a student in
centuries. If nothing else, teaching her would provide him a
distraction.

She paid close
attention to his lesson on explosives, probably glad to have
something to focus on besides her own survival. He did not tell her
how much force the bomb had, that it was likely intended to
incapacitate her only long enough for the woman to finish her off.
She did not need to hear such things.

He took the
explosive back to the Vector with them and tucked it away safely
behind the seats. Perhaps he would keep it, in case it came in handy,
perhaps not. He could always acquire more should he have need.

“So now
what?” Ian asked when they got in the car, holding her
shivering cat a little too tightly.

Sebastian
started the Vector and pulled away from the curb, enjoying the way it
responded to his commands. Definitely worth the high cost he’d
paid. He had, at first, debated with himself over simply stealing it.
In the end, he believed its makers had earned their pay. He waited
until they had gone a good distance from the house to answer Ian –
enough to ensure that no one had followed them.

“She
waited for you last night, but not tonight,” he said. “My
guess is that they did not expect you to find help, and are planning
a way around that help now that they know you have it. I would also
guess that because I had never seen either one before last night,
they do not have pertinent information about me – where I live,
what car I drive. You should be well hidden with me.” He
paused, thinking over how he would have done this if it were his
mission.

Remove Kent
and his young child. Kent is dispatched and the child is proving
difficult. She has found an unexpected ally.

Were it him, he
would remove that ally.

The only reason
Sebastian would not have removed someone who had made himself an
obstacle was if he knew he could not. But in order for these women to
know that, they must have some knowledge of who he was – more
than simply the chance meeting last night.

“I believe
they may know me,” he said aloud.

“Know
you?” Ian asked.

“Perhaps I
should say, I believe they know
of
me. They have not tried to
remove me in order to reach you. I believe that may be because they
know they cannot.”

Ian made no
reply to that. Her face spilled emotions like an over-full bucket:
disbelief, fear. He sighed internally and said nothing more. Perhaps
this was simply something else Ian did not need to hear.

She cleared her
throat into the silence. He acknowledged her with a short look. “So
what are our options?” she asked.

“We might
lay a trap, ambush them as they tried to ambush you. Or I can use
what knowledge I do have of them to attempt to track them. I prefer
that, but if it becomes necessary, a trap will do.”

Ian shuddered,
radiating revulsion.

“If this
bothers you Ian, tell me.”

She shivered
again, and looked out the window, petting her cat absently. It
bothered her. But Sebastian knew that fear for one’s life and a
need for revenge could be powerful silencers.

“Regardless
of our choice,” he went on, “we will need to wait a few
days so it seems we are in hiding. This will give us time to plan,
and to track, as well as make them less suspicious of a trap.”

Ian pulled a
little closer around her cat.

Sebastian sighed
out loud. “Is something on your mind, Ian?”

“A lot of
things,” she murmured into her cat’s fur.

That was only
natural. Her youth meant that her emotions still clung to the
surface, intense and harder to control.

“Such as?”
he prompted.

“Well, the
obvious,” she said, not looking up at him. “Of course.”

“Of
course.”

She missed Kent.

“And . . .
I’m trying to decide how comfortable I am with your help.”

“Ah.”

Sebastian let
her think on that herself. Only she could decide in the end. He could
certainly persuade her of her right to revenge, of the need to stop
these women before greater harm was done. He had convinced many
others.

But I am
trying to leave that behind. Perhaps I will return to it, but I must
leave it behind to make that decision.

He turned onto
the highway that would take them back to his home, and she sighed. It
was a loaded sigh that meant she had more to say.

“Why won’t
you help Josephine?” she murmured.

Ah. That.
Something else he had expected to hear more about.

“Why do
you wish me to help her so very much?” he asked.

Ian gave an
exaggerated shrug. “She just seemed so unhappy. All she wanted
was to be included. I don’t know what that would hurt.”

“I am not
interested in being responsible for more people. One is more than
enough, and with you I have two.”

“I don’t
think she wants you to be responsible for her, I think she just wants
you to look into her friend that’s missing. She thinks it might
have some connection to Kent.”

“It may.”

A frustrated
burst of air escaped her lips. “Then why won’t you talk
to her? This could be important.”

“If I need
any information from her, I will contact her.”

“Why are
you so hung up on avoiding her?”

The answer came
instantly to mind. Even thinking of Josephine brought up an
uncomfortable feeling he couldn’t quite identify, a fluttering
in his stomach that couldn’t be good. He had trusted his
instincts all his life, and had lived this long because of them. He
did not, however, feel inclined to say anything to Ian. She would not
understand how much he had relied on intuitions and gut feelings.
Because this one felt different from the others presaged danger no
less.

“I do not
like dealing with people who fear me,” he evaded. Not a lie,
but not the real answer.

“Does she
have any reason not to be afraid of you?” Ian countered.

She had a point.
He had spent centuries building a reputation for himself based on
fear. Josephine would have every reason to fear him. It did not
change the fact that something about her made him uncomfortable.

“That does
not mean I wish to work with her,” he said. “I am looking
into this matter. That is enough.”

“Maybe if
you gave her a reason not to be afraid, she wouldn’t be. Ever
think of that?” Ian’s voice sounded weary, as well as a
little angry.

“Yes.”
He had thought of attempting to ease Josephine’s discomfort
around him and dismissed it. Not only was such effort a waste of
time, it would not help the nameless suspicion he held of her.

Ian made a small
noise. “Then why don’t you? What harm is it gonna do?”

He sighed. If
she refused to drop this, it would do more harm
not
to include
Josephine.

Then again,
perhaps it would be best to interact with Josephine more. Identify
this unusual feeling and why she caused it in him. An odd
anticipation came with that decision – almost a desire to see
her again. It must be what needed to be done.

“If it
means that much to you, Ian, I will include Josephine.”

She stared at
him as if she had not understood, then shut her mouth. “Well,
it does. Thank you.”

He kept his
amusement at that to himself. He nodded once and exited the highway.
“I assume that since she gave you her number, you can reach her
to let her know I have agreed to help.”

Ian’s face
hardened. “You listened in.”

“Of
course.” Almost daring her to get angry.

It frustrated
her, but she did not take the bait. She sighed and threw her hands
up. “Yeah, I’ll call her.”

“Good.”

Very good.

She turned her
attention to the scenery outside the window.

“Is that
all you had on your mind, Ian?” It didn’t sound like it
to him.

“Yeah,
pretty much,” she said dully.

He let the
matter go. If she wanted to talk, she would open her mouth. He pulled
the car into the garage and parked.

S
o
now I knew how to take apart small bombs. Sebastian had been quite
thorough, repeating everything, telling me all the variations on that
kind of bomb, until I felt like I could take apart any explosive
device.

How useful is
that going to be in my future?

The answer
bothered me – maybe very useful.

Holding tight to
Gypsy, I got out of the car and trailed Sebastian to the elevator. I
felt sick. Imagining a sword going through me was nothing to
picturing a bomb going off in my face. And such a little bit of
plastic – I’d bet on it taking out half my house. Could I
survive something like that?

Another
unanswerable question. I doubted it, but then, if the explosion
didn’t work, she’d been right there to finish the job.
Probably why she’d been prowling around outside in the first
place.

Ugh.

“What did
I do to them?” I asked out loud.

Sebastian didn’t
even turn to face me. “Nothing,” he said as he hit the
call button. “My guess is that Kent offended or wronged one or
the other before he made you, and having gotten their revenge on him,
they are taking their anger out on you.”

“So
basically, there is no reason why.”

“I am
certain they would not see it that way.”

“Yeah,
well, they’ve obviously got some issues,” I muttered.

“Yes.”
He turned his key in the lock, and the elevator hummed to life.

“I’ll
call Josephine when we get upstairs,” I said. I wanted at least
the illusion of being able to speak privately to her. Sebastian
glanced in my direction and away. His way of acknowledging me.

I wrinkled my
nose. “What are you thinking about? Are you sorry you agreed to
help Josephine?”

His eyebrows
flicked up for a second. “No. I’m not.”

That was a
relief. Something about the way his eyes shone when he said he’d
help had me on guard. It was a look I hadn’t seen in his eyes
yet – I couldn’t puzzle out what it meant. It almost
looked . . . interested. In a spooky,
hungry
sort of way.

“Then what
are you thinking about?” I asked.

“Catching
murderers.”

Not an answer
conducive to conversation. I focused on petting Gypsy. She clung to
my shirt like she thought I might take her to the top floor and drop
her off the building. I didn’t want to think about murderers
anymore. Not tonight, anyhow. Breaking into my own house, taking
apart a bomb meant for me . . . I’d had enough for one night. I
planned on doing a little sketching and turning in once I talked to
Josephine.

I got off the
elevator ahead of Sebastian, sliding my cell out of my pocket. He
hung his coat up and disappeared down the hallway. Gypsy immediately
started sniffing and headed off to check the place out, tail stiff in
the air. I smiled to myself, then dialed Josephine. I almost thought
it would go to voicemail, but then she picked up.

“Josephine,
it’s Ian,” I introduced myself, hoping she would remember
me. She did. “Hey, Sebastian and I had a talk, and he said he’d
help you out if you still want. I know you said you didn’t have
anyone else to ask.”

A long silence.
I listened, wondering what kind of news I’d just delivered.

“Thank
you,” she said at last, softly.

“You’re
welcome.”

“I’ll
be over shortly,” she said, and hung up.

“Ah –”
I got a dial tone. Clicked my phone off. Maybe it was sudden, but I
didn’t think having Josephine over would hurt anything. Even if
it annoyed Sebastian to have to deal with her so soon.

Shoving my phone
back into a pocket, I took myself down the hall after Sebastian. I
had no idea which door he’d disappeared behind, but I figured I
could find him.

Easy enough. I
could hear him moving in one of the rooms. Fourth door on the left. I
knocked, waiting for a muffled “Yes?” before I let myself
in. I found myself in some sort of dojo-looking room: mirrors, padded
wood floor, all kinds of weapons and workout equipment spread around.
Sebastian had a wooden staff in his hands, his long hair pulled back
into a tail, his eyebrows raised.

“I called
Josephine,” I said. “She said thank you, and that she’ll
be right over.”

He stood there,
like he expected more than just that. I stood, too, not sure what
else to say.

“Ah,”
he said, carefully, still expecting something.

“Just to
let you know,” I said.

In a second his
stance shifted from relaxed and expecting to tense and impatient. I’d
said what I came to say, now he wanted me to leave.

“Okay,”
I said, and let myself out.

I wandered back
into the living room, leaving Sebastian to his martial arts . . . or
whatever that was. Someone should wait for Josephine to arrive, I
figured. So I dug my drawing pad out of my bag of things, dropped
onto the couch, and waited.

S
ebastian
had yet to reappear by the time I’d finished up a rough sketch
of him. It was a full-body portrait, complete with long coat, sword,
unreadable posture – and the expression he’d had on his
face for just one second the other night. That brief flash of
something other than his cold inscrutability. I had him lit from
behind, which gave me shadows to play with.