"Hey-oh, aren't you jumpy tonight?" Jack grinned at me.
I kicked him in the shin, then leaned down and picked up my phone. I pocketed it and turned back toward Jack. "Let's go. "
He perked up. "Where to? If you're bored here, I'm sure I could find us a more entertaining party in New York. " He held out his hand, and although it was too dark to see his dimples, I could practically feel them. "Come on. "
I shook my head. I couldn't hang out with Jack, even if he would take me places I'd never see otherwise. It'd be too much of a betrayal of Lend. "I'm going home. "
A velvet voice bled out of the darkness. "So soon, Liebchen?"
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Uber-Bleep
I froze, terrified, as a shadow detached itself from a nearby tree and walked forward.
"Are you surprised to see me, little monster?" His voice was soft, the trace of a German accent low and subtle.
I swallowed hard, nodding before I could think better of it. What the bleep was Uber-vamp doing here? And how was I going to get out of this?
He smiled, his perfect white glamour teeth shining over his blackened, dead ones. "If it makes you feel any better, I am pleasantly surprised to see you, as well. "
"How did you get here?" I asked, taking a small step back as I tried to think of a way to stall, to call for IPCA help, to do anything. Vampires had no business being strong. It made things so much more complicated. And scary.
"That is the question, now, isn't it?" He considered me calmly, not moving forward. "I was in my cell in that hateful institution when someone attacked me from behind, and then I woke up here. And now you are here, too. It would appear that this is a night for strange coincidences and monsters in the dark. "
"Wait-someone jumped you from behind? In your locked cell? And you didn't see them?"
He nodded, nonplussed. "Where are we?"
I frowned, ignoring his question. There was no way this was a strange coincidence. Someone knocked him out, got him out of the Center, and brought him here-somehow knowing exactly where I would be. There was only one type of someone who could pull that off.
Faeries. Of course. It had to be a faerie. The question was, which one? Was this some sort of joke on Reth's part? He had deliberately put me in harm's way before when he brought Vivian to the Center. But I couldn't see any point to this.
Then again, there was a whole dark court of faeries who hated me, not the least of which was Fehl, who was nearly killed by Vivian last spring. And there was that faerie who showed up at the Center. She hadn't seemed very friendly. Plus Nona, who was definitely in contact with at least one faerie that I knew of. And if what Reth had said was true, I was supposed to do something for his group of faeries. When I chose not to, I kinda screwed up all their big, prophetic plans. So basically, you'd be hard-pressed to find a faerie who didn't want to hurt me. The sylph, the fossegrim, now this-there had to be someone behind it. Someone out to get me. The same someones who had always been out to get me.
"Bleeping faeries," I muttered darkly. Why couldn't they leave me alone?
Uber-vamp's eyes lit up. "Faeries? Do you know where I can find one?"
I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, if I could, I'd set you loose on the whole race. "
Someone screamed and giggled close by, and Uber-vamp and I both snapped our attention to the direction of the sound.
"Friends of yours?" he asked, and ice spread through my stomach.
"Humans. "
"Pity. I'm so very thirsty. Still, you and I have unfinished business, Liebchen. "
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I didn't want to be around him, be reminded of how badly I'd wanted to take his soul that night. "Look. I'm tired, and things haven't gone the way I wanted tonight. I'd really rather not deal with you right now, so what do you say we let Jack here escort you back to the Center. I'll visit you soon, and we can have a nice, long talk then. "
He laughed. "I think not. "
Something clicked and I grinned at him. "Well, it doesn't really matter anyway, since your ankle tracker tells IPCA exactly where you are, and they'll be here any minute. " Oh, bless you, IPCA technology.
He looked around, his movements slow and unconcerned. "And yet here we are, still, andthey are nowhere to be seen. "
I frowned. He had a point. They should have been here almost instantly. Why weren't they?