Page 92 of Bishop's Flight
Carwyn kissed the top of her burned head. “You scared me.”
She wrapped an arm around the leg he had propped up on the bench. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Don’t go off on your own, darling girl. You know it makes me crazy.”
She said nothing, but she pressed her leg against his and let her head fall back against his chest as she looked up at the stars. “It’s nice out here.”
He kissed the top of her head again.
“Is it a horror?”
“Not too bad.” He ran a hand over the silky black hair and the burned edges. “You can buzz it again. It’s a great look on you, and you’ll barely notice the burned bits.”
She was silent. Carwyn could feel her amnis bouncing around, dissatisfied with not being able to find vengeance what with Zasha escaping again.
“We found a vampire on the beach with no head. Several human bodies floating.”
“Was the vampire dressed in a white button-down shirt?”
“No clothes left.”
“Brown hair and beard?”
“We didn’t find the head. He was tall.”
Brigid nodded. “It could have been a vampire called Henrik Anker. He was on the boat with us.”
“Any other Ankers?”
She shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
“Lee found evidence of a very sneaky virus in Agnes and Rose’s servers. It looks like the Ankers weren’t prepared to let Zasha take the reins after all.”
“They can’t work out in the open because no one trusts them and vampire tourism to the city would dry up,” Brigid said. “But they need a more reliable ally. They’re going to pick someone more respectable next time. Someone the rest of the world sees as legitimate.”
“I have a couple of ideas.” Carwyn took a breath. “Oleg.”
“Oleg.” Brigid looked over her shoulder. “He’s my first thought.”
“For right now, he’s playing well with others.” Carwyn had seen the fire vampire’s morals come and go with the trends of the moment. “We’ll have to watch and see what happens.”
Brigid wiggled down farther, turning her face to his chest. “I want to get out of this city. I found the boy. Agnes and Rose can clean up their own messes here; I have the equivalent of a vampire hangover.”
Carwyn smiled and ran his hand over her head again. “You saved the boy.”
Brigid turned her head to look at the teenager wrapped in a silver blanket. “He’s a good lad.”
“I’m glad he had you protecting him.”
“I didn’t do much other than get caught.” Her voice dropped. “I won’t be trusting humans blindly again.”
“Probably a good policy.” He pictured the wreckage of the boat in his mind. “You directed your fire.”
“Yeah.” She sounded pleased. “I did.”
The lights of the marina glowed in the distance, and a helicopterthwuppedoverhead. “We have plenty of time to get back to the city. Are you ready to be alone?”
“Yes, but I wanna get Lucas home first.”
