"Hi. Long time, no see."
"Oh, you've seen me," he replied. "You just like to pretend not to."
He'd noticed. Dammit.
"What can I help you with?"
A long second passed, then he talked, his tone even.
"It has come to our attention that you intend to leave the territory. Mikar will be accompanying you."
Chloe narrowed her eyes, blood boiling with a rage that she couldn't quite place.
"No."
A Bad Idea
She should have been grateful. She should have wept with relief. Had she not questioned her decision to leave out of fear? With Mikar by her side, she had no reason to be worried at all.
Chloe doubted that the huntsmen would pay attention to her at all times, but the vampire guard would keep his eye on her. This was a blessing.
But Levi was telling her what to do, and that ridiculous, childish, belligerent part of her that would not bend to him recoiled against the very notion.
Levi showed no surprise. The corner of his lips hiked up.
"That was a fact. I'm informing you as a courtesy. Mikar and Catherine have their orders and they will not break them."
Chloe willed herself to calm down and act like the reasonable woman she was. Thank you. The answer was yes, please, and thank you.
"Catherine?" she repeated.
Levi's smile grew broader, flashing teeth.
"Yes, Cat Stormhale. You might have seen her around; she studies biochemistry."
Chloe had seen her around. She was a beautiful, willowy loner who never gave anyone the time of day.
"I don't even know her; why would she want to babysit me?"
"She's the best-trained immortal currently available. If you want your pick of the guard, next time warn me before scheduling your little getaway."
Never mind being rational.
"Why would I? As it's apparently escaped your notice, I'm twenty-five, not six. And I don't answer to you, or anyone."
"I've noticed," he replied lightly. "Chloe, do you remember Primrose Hill? Do you want to know how close you were to being part of a murder scene—how those who took out nineteen fully trained witches left just an hour before you arrived?"
She blinked in shock. An hour? She'd planned to get there early. If the communal bathroom at the hostel where she'd crashed upon arriving in England hadn't been busy, she might have been there an hour earlier.
That notion made her sick to her stomach. She would have been, could have been, dead.
“I understand your nature will not allow you to submit to me,” Levi said. He understood? That made one of them. “But you need to get it in your head that I'm not trying to dominate you. I'm trying to keep you safe.”
Chloe knew he was protecting her.
She practically had to force the words out, but finally, she said, "Okay. I'll take Mikar and…Cat." It took more self-control, but finally, she also bit out, "Thank you."
To her surprise, Levi laughed. "I know how hard that was."
"Why?" she asked him. "Why can't I act normally around you? Are you using some sort of vampire mojo or something?"
Doubtful, but she would have liked to think so—because if he wasn't, that meant the problem really was her.
Levi glanced toward Mikar before answering. "Or something. It's a complicated question."
Now, at least, she had a reason to be pissed.
"Oh, come off it. Stop treating me like a damn kid and tell me! If there's something wrong with me, I need to know."
"There's nothing wrong with you," Mikar practically growled. "Nothing," he repeated, for emphasis.
She sighed. They didn't intend to tell her at all. Suddenly exhausted, she said, "Out. Both of you. Take the door, or window, or whatever. I need to take a shower and get ready. Until next time."
Mikar leaped onto the windowsill and jumped down. Levi remained. Of course he did.
"You'll have answers sooner than you think. And when you do, remember this: I'd bleed you now if I could."
Then, he was gone.
I'd bleed you now if I could.
She was right to mistrust him, right to be careful around him. But at the same time, he hadn’t done anything to her, which meant that for whatever reason, he couldn't, and wouldn't hurt her.
For now.
Overall, Levi's appearance did end up helping. She realized that she wasn't safe here in Oldcrest any more than she had been in NOLA. This was his domain, and although she felt strangely comfortable around him, he was saying he wanted to hurt her. He'd spelled it out to her practically each time they'd met.
He wanted to kill her. He hired a bodyguard to see that she was safe. He looked at her like she was dinner. He sent her sleeping draughts.
Nothing about Levi De Villier made sense. And under the hot stream of the shower jet, Chloe reminded herself that it didn't matter. He didn't matter. She liked her life here. She had friends aplenty, loved her lectures, and adored the food. He wasn't relevant.
He wasn't.
Chloe wasn't convincing anyone, let alone herself, but thankfully, she was quite gifted in the art of distracting her mind.
And she had a trip to London to look forward to.
They had two seven-seaters, and twelve of them were traveling, so they had two spare seats. Chloe hesitated at the door.
"Jack?" she called through the open window of the driver’s seat. "Do you mind if a couple of people tag along?"
Feeling eyes on her, Chloe guessed Mikar and Cat were observing her from somewhere in the shadows—probably the Wolvswoods. She wasn't sure how they intended to travel south, but they might as well drive together. It was kinder on the environment, and besides, the huntsmen would probably notice vamps on their trail. Chloe didn't want to know what would happen if they ended up fighting each other.
Jack lifted a brow. "Sure, I guess. Who's that?"
She shrugged. "I heard there were vamps going to London this weekend."
His expression darkened dangerously. Jack was ripped, fast, and his every movement said predator, but before anything, he was a team leader. He even looked the part of a businessman or politician in his suits. Chloe had never been able to picture him as a huntsman.
Now, she could.
"I mean, I'm sure they can find their own way…"
"It's…fine. If there are suckers on the road, I'd rather have my eyes on them."
Now, she recalled him telling her during their trip to town last January with Tris that he wasn’t fond of most vampires. Now she understood that might have been a euphemism. While Jack didn't have a problem with his cousin, despite her being a fledgling, he seemed to hate vampires.
She wished she could take the words back, but a breathtakingly beautiful blonde with long wavy hair stepped out of the woods, Mikar by her side.
"Joy," she said, with the most unfriendly, fake smile Chloe had ever seen. "Riding with blood bags.”
Oh dear.
An Engrossing Tale
A terrible idea didn't cover it.
"So, you're huntsmen in training, is that right?" Cat asked, batting her long lashes.
"Fully trained huntsmen," Bash amended. "We're in the Institute because furthering our education serves the order."
"I see. So, you've all murdered immortals and other sups already. Good to know."
Jack had closed the window and put the heating on, but the air in the car was ice anyway.
"Can we ride with Tris instead?" Gwen whispered to Chloe.
Cat's bright green eyes turned to the back seat where Chloe was huddled between Gwen and Mikar.
"And you're a witch,” she said to Gwen. “Unusual, wouldn't you say, for one of you to spend time with huntsmen? You know they're behind most of the witch massacres throughout history?"
Blair, seated beside Cat in the second row, replied, "Actually, that was mostly regular human men killing random regular human women for kicks. Trust me, I’m from the Salem Coven. We know our history. Huntsmen and witches have a great relationship where I'm from in the States. They come to us for protective spells; we go to them when we have a rogue shifter problem, or whatever."
Cat all but hissed.
"Ignore her," Mikar told them. "Catherine is a Stormhale. Her family's storm magic is unpredictable. They've made a mess a billion times throughout history, and huntsmen have had to put down too many of her people. She isn't objective."
"Stormhale," Chloe echoed.
Levi had mentioned that name, but now she thought of it, she’d heard it before then.
One of the seven, she realized. The seven families directly changed by Ariadne, the vampires' creator. Blair had called them vampire royalty.
Suddenly remembering that frustrating conversation from three months ago, Chloe asked, "Hey, what are the founding families again? De Villier, Drake, Stormhale, Helsing…"
Cat didn't miss a beat, finishing the list for her.
"Beauforts, Rosedean, and Eirikrson."
Eirikrson. That was it. The one Blair had refused to talk about.
Chloe felt like the name was familiar to her, somehow, although she'd be hard-pressed to say where she'd heard it.
Eirikrson…
"It must be amazing to come from a line with so much history," Gwen said.
Cat turned to her and smiled, completely changing her features. She no longer seemed quite so cold or unfriendly. She looked younger and, if anything, more beautiful.
"We have stories that go back to the Roman times. You wouldn't believe half of it. And don't get me started with the family heirlooms." She winked at Gwen. "Jewels. Loads and loads of jewels."
Reiss laughed at her side. "I bet. Shame no one can get into the Eirikrson coffers. There must be so many treasures lying around in their dusty old mansion."
Cat visibly relaxed. "In Rome, we have a painting of my great-aunt with Liz Eirikrson. Her sword had a diamond the size of a fist, she wore the most gorgeous ruby necklace, and don't get me started on her diadem. To know that they're all lying over there, unappreciated, breaks my heart."