Page 46 of The Mermaid's Bubble Lounge
Cadmael nodded.
“The other two,” Clive continued, “I’ve only met briefly.” He looked in the rearview mirror and to his right. “What about either of you? Do you know Adaeze or Pablo?”
“Pablo, yes,” Cadmael said. “Climber. Ruthless.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Vampire.”
My phone buzzed in my bag. I had a new text.
Godfrey: Visit me now.
Me: We’re on our way…
I waited but there was no response.
Clive’s gaze flicked to me in the rearview mirror. “Problem?”
“I don’t know. Godfrey texted me to visit him right now.” I looked around. “We’re here.”
The gates were just closing behind the car. Clive drove to the far side of the courtyard and parked. Voice low, he murmured, “He’s not asking us to hurry up. Find him in your head. See what we’re walking into.”
I tipped my head back against the cushion, closed my eyes, and looked for the dead, or the undead, as the case may be. Three strong green blips with me and a concentration of far more close by. I zeroed in on the nocturne and found Godfrey quickly. He and Russell were almost as familiar to me as Clive.
I pushed on his blip. You rang?
Bloody hell! I’m waiting for it, and it still creeps me out when you do this. Yes. I rang. Audrey and I are picking up on some weird vibes with these Counselors. They’re strangely suspicious of us. We’re just hosting. We’ve done this countless times for other groups over the centuries. Normally, the hosting nocturne is treated like a hotel. We’re here to facilitate, but the meeting has nothing to do with us, so we go about our business.
What’s different this time? I asked.
Audrey says Thi, the Asian Counselor, is hiding some very strong hostility. Thi is quiet and hasn’t done anything unusual, but Audrey says she’s seething. The Master thinks they’re too interested in Clive and whether or not you’re joining him. He told me to contact you, tell you not to come. It doesn’t feel safe for you, missus.
Unfortunately, we’re already here. I’ll let the guys know. Thank you.
I relayed our conversation to the men in the car.
“I wondered at the time,” Vlad began. “There were a lot of vampires in that training room in Budapest when Cadmael decided to expose you to everyone.” The look he shot the back of Cadmael’s head was dark. “A message could have gone out before we quieted them all. I meant to check phones, but?—”
“It couldn’t have been done,” I told him. “How were you planning to unlock phones and check while we were dealing with a possessed vampire and bombs?”
“I’ll take you home,” Clive said, restarting the engine. “Maybe ask Dave to stay with you while I’m out.” He was mostly talking to himself as he put the car in reverse.
“Clive, stop.”
Guards appeared at the doors, trying to open them for us.
Clive slid down the window an inch. “A moment,” he said, sounding aloof and far too important. The guards stepped back from the vehicle.
Voice so quiet it wouldn’t be heard outside the confines of the vehicle, he caught my eyes in the mirror and said, “I’m not taking you into a possible ambush.”
I held up a hand, trying to settle him. “First of all, we’re already here. Everyone knows we’re already here. Leaving now will just add fuel to the suspicion fire. Second, we need to know what they know and what—if anything—was passed on. I don’t cherish looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Third, I want to meet these people. I can pick up a lot when I’m with them. Plus, once you guys meet me, you never think I’m actually dangerous.”
“She has a point there,” Vlad said.
I gave him a dirty look. He didn’t have to agree so quickly. “And let’s not forget, I can hold my own against vampires.”
Cadmael gave a grunt of annoyance. “Vampires or pooka. Decide. We can’t sit in this car all night.”
“But if we did,” I pointed out, “wouldn’t it be super comfortable?” I looked at Vlad, whose mustache twitched. “Clive, this is silly. I’m the only one around with a heartbeat. They know I’m here. Let’s just go. Besides, it’s not like you lot couldn’t kill them all.”
“But then we’d have even more positions to fill,” Cadmael groused.
