Page 88 of Marked By Moonlight
But like good little crime boss minions, we did head back, taking the Tube, then walking. The sun was close to setting by then, though clouds still hid any sign of it, threatening to dump rain.
When we were two blocks from our hotel, Mina squeezed my hand.
“Thank you. For saving my day. For everything,” she added softly.
I raised her hand to plant a kiss on her knuckles — then froze, staring. A heartbeat later, I hustled Mina back around the corner.
“What—?”
I cut her off with a sharp motion and peered around the corner.
“What is it?” she whispered, leaning in behind me.
“Not sure.” I studied a dark alcove in the alley.
Szabo,my gut screamed in warning, though I hadn’t gotten a good look at him.
I led Mina back in the direction we’d come while digging out my phone.
“Szabo?” Mina’s eyes went wide as she listened to me talk to Roux.
I clicked off the phone and led her down the street. “Maybe. Roux is on it.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, barely keeping up with my long strides.
As far from him as possiblewas as deep as my thinking went at that point.
“You mentioned another trip you made to London,” I said. “Where did you stay?”
“A basement Airbnb in Belgravia.”
“Did that trip have anything to have to do with Gordon?” When she shook her head, I added, “Good. See if you can book it.”
She looked startled as hell but pulled out her phone and started scrolling.
* * *
An hour later, we were in a compact, white-on-white studio apartment half a story below street level. Not a dragon’s top choice of locations, but we could make do. Roux had called to report no trace of Szabo, but that didn’t mean much since vampires left no scent trail.
I wasn’t leaving anything to chance, though.
“Keep an eye on Celeste,” I told Roux after promising we would check in in the morning. “Try not to let on that we’re not there.”
“Oh, that will be fun,” he grumbled.
Yeah, about as fun as one of those team-building exercises Gordon had made us do when he’d first thrown us together. Worse, even, since it involved Celeste.
I hung up and flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
The mattress dipped as Mina sat beside me.
“You okay?”
“Peachy,” I grumbled at the ceiling.
Rain pattered the sidewalk outside, and I hoped Szabo was out there in it.
A quiet minute went by. Then Mina murmured, “Would it help if I said you were right about not getting involved in all this?”
