Page 30 of Unholy Gambit: Checkmate in Blood
She’d known there were red flags all over the place the night before, and had seen even more while talking to Dr. Woods, but she wasn’t denying their existence, just making a decision to mostly ignore them.
Because, bottom line, if he wanted to hurt her, she didn’t believe she knew anyone who could stop him. He didn’t need her cooperation to do really bad things to her, but if he was telling the truth, he felt something for her, and she was choosing, at this time, to believe him.
If she doubted his word, she’d have to at least attempt to hurt him, and that went against every instinct she had.
She finished her meal, cleaned up, and was watching a podcast of a chess player who’d been invited to the World Chess Championship Candidates Tournament when her phone chimed with an incoming video call.
She was annoyed until she saw it was Axel, and she couldn’t help her smile when she answered.
“Hello there. You’re awake!”
“I am, and I’ve been in contact with your Dr. Woods. I’ll stay in a different location tonight, and will text the address to both of you once I rise tomorrow.”
“He said you might not want him to know where you bed down during the day. I guess he was right?”
He nodded. “I’m in a foreign territory with permission of the local Master, but I haven’t made it to seven hundred years of age by taking chances. I caught your broadcast today, well done.”
“Thank you. What time do you wake up?”
“Today, I woke in time to catch your broadcast.”
“Ruby says the stronger you are, the earlier you rise, and I guess that’s the right terminology? Rise instead of wake? Anyway, she said some vampires keep when they rise close to their chest.”
He nodded. “I trust you with the information, but another vampire only has to dip into your head to see what you know.”
“Then don’t tell me anything that could put you at risk.”
“In time, darling Aurélie, but not yet.” He frowned. “I can teach you to shield. You don’t have to go to someone else.”
“I appreciate that, but…” She sighed. “I didn’t know you could read my mind from a distance, and I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’ll feel better having someone else teach me. I’ll gladly learn from you, too, but it never hurts to have multiple teachers for something important.”
“I can’t get into your head from an ocean away. Most people, I need to be within a mile to a mile and a half, but our connection is so strong, I can find you from farther away.”
“What languages do you speak?”
“I’m currently fluent in several Arabic dialects, French, and I’ve kept a strong English foundation, but I’m brushing up on contemporary American vernacular. I could handle simple conversations in Greek, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian, Hindi, and a handful of other languages, but I’d need a week to bone up on them before I traveled to those countries. In past centuries, I’ve spoken other languages, but I’d need a few weeks of coaching, possibly longer, before I could approach fluency. Languages change a great deal over time, so it isn’t just recalling the language, but learning how it’s spoken in this century,” he grinned. “Thisdecade, if you’re talking to twenty-somethings.”
“How much do you know about me? Just what you’ve learned on social media, or did you have other ways of finding out…things?”
“I had other ways, and I’m not at liberty to tell you who helped me. I’ve seen your high school and college transcripts, so I know the classes you took and your grades. Social media was mostly a huge tease since you only posted publicly what you intended the public to see. Even as a teen, you understood privacy, which was safe and good, but frustrating.”
“What did you find out from yourother ways?”
“That your sole boyfriend was a long-distance thing and never went beyond kissing, for starters. That’s the only huge standout I can think of at the moment.”
“You have someone who can break into systems?” There were other ways to get transcripts, but a hacker seemed the simplest for someone outside the country. She wasn’t so worried about him knowing she’d never done more than kiss a boy — he’d been in her head and quite clearly knew that without needing digital access.
“You think I’d have to hire someone to hack for me?”
“You’re rich, and you’re old, so it’s logical. Are you saying you’ve learned how?”
“I paid someone to show me how to do so because what was found was no one’s business but mine. I’m not an expert hacker, but I can probe into a great deal more than probably seventy to eighty percent of those who claim to know how.”
“Ruby and I had an apartment together at Vandy, and I mentioned to my parents that we were talking about getting an apartment in Chattanooga when we returned. My parents live on a huge estate, and they built me a cottage about a hundred yards from their house, to entice me to stay home. It’s peaceful, and Ruby spends the night with me there, sometimes. Mostly, we prefer to be in the city, and I stay with her.”
“Meaning if you take me to your home, I’ll have to meet your parents. We’ll work on what you want me to tell them. I imagineyour father will want to know where I work and that kind of thing.”
“It isn’t like I’ve ever brought a man home before, so yeah, it’ll be a big deal. Also, I imagine you’re right, and he’ll want to know your education and work.”
