Enjoying his irritation, Beth took a sip of her coffee and promptly spat it out. “Ugh,” she said with disgust and tossed the drink in the garbage can. “Save your money, Donny. That’s the worst instant coffee I’ve ever had.”
“Ooooh, but they have mocha! I haven’t had that since I was mortal.”
Beth turned back to the younger man and raised her eyebrows. “You’ve had coffee, though, right?”
“No. I’ve been in training since I was turned,” Donny explained, digging in his own pocket for change. “Lucian sent me to this place in Winnipeg for proper training and they’re pretty strict. No pizza, no sweets, no pop, no caffeine. It’s all steamed veggies, rice, water, and constant lectures about how your body is your temple and eating junk means a need for more blood and stuff,” he said with a grimace as he popped change into the machine. “Well, that and weapons training and martial arts, and classes on how to approach a rogue.”
“Oh,” Beth murmured as she watched him press the Mocha button. She and Dree had gone to a special camp in Spain for training as Rogue Hunters too. But it hadn’t been anything like what Donny was describing. Mind you, this was a hundred years ago. There had been no pizza then. At least, they hadn’t heard of it there, and there’d been no packaged sweets like they had now. They’d also been encouraged to try things like coffee to see what effect it would have on them while they were in a safe environment.
For some reason, caffeine was one drug nanos did not immediately work to flush out of the system. They didn’t seem to recognize it as a drug. Or perhaps they didn’t see it as detrimental to the system. Whatever the case, they just let it be, which was weird because it seemed to have a heightened effect on immortals compared to mortals. At least for some. Some didn’t feel any effects from it at all. For instance, with Beth it merely woke her up and made her a bit hyper. Drina had done okay with it too. But there had been immortals they’d trained with who had been badly affected by caffeine. Apparently they wouldn’t find out today if Donny was one of them, she decided with amusement as he spat the sip of mocha he’d just taken back into the cup.
“Disgusting,” he agreed, and tossed the drink into the garbage as she had done. But then he turned to put more change in the machine.
“You are not going to waste more money on that machine, are you?” she asked with exasperation, and then suggested, “You might want to wait until we’re at the house to try more coffee.”
“I’m thirsty,” Donny complained. “I’ll just try the cider this time. That can’t possibly be as bad as the other stuff. But I do want to try an espresso later. You have to promise me I can.”
“Promise you can what?” Scotty asked, rolling the baggage cart up to them.
“Try an espresso,” Beth explained as she watched the machine produce a steaming cup of what looked like urine. Seriously, the man must be truly thirsty if he was even willing to try that after how horrible her drink and, she imagined, his drink had been. Apparently he was that thirsty, she decided when he blew on the steaming liquid and then took a large gulp.
“Well?” she asked.
“Eh,” Donny said with a shrug, but took another sip.
Shaking her head, Beth turned to glance out the front windows. Spotting the SUV pulling up in front of the building, she headed toward the doors. “Come on. Matias is out front.”
“So,” Matias said as soon as they had stowed their gear in the back and joined him in the SUV. “I will take you to the university. You can be done with your business. And then we relax and enjoy your stay until the plane arrives to take you away.”
Beth glanced to Matias with surprise. “I thought Kira was out of town until tomorrow night?”
Matias shook his head. “Mortimer, he had the dates wrong. Tomorrow is the party she is attending in California. Today she is home.”
“It’s after eleven thirty, though. If she has morning classes, this would be kind of late to go see her, don’t you think?” Beth asked after glancing at her watch to note the time. When she’d asked Mortimer why they weren’t talking to the girl tonight, she hadn’t considered that attending the university as she was, the girl had probably had to modify her hours to match those that mortals kept. She’d thought of that only on the plane. And apparently she’d thought wrong, because Matias snorted with disbelief.
“Eleven thirty is not late,” he scoffed. “Besides, you are still on Toronto time. Is only eight thirty-seven here.” He tapped on the dashboard clock as proof and then added, “As for the morning classes, Kira is immortal. She will have mostly evening classes and some afternoon classes that were not available at night,” he assured her. “In fact, she probably does not even have the classes on Friday. Most students try to avoid the classes on Friday.”
“Why?” she asked with curiosity.
“Because then they can start to party on Thursday nights,” he explained with a grin.
Beth frowned. “So she probably won’t even be there?”
“Oh, sí, she will,” he assured her. “The bars and dance clubs, they do not get busy until eleven o’clock or midnight. Before that, everyone is getting ready and drinking in their rooms or homes. It is cheaper. Drinks at the bars and clubs are very expensive, so most students get ‘half cut’ before they hit the bars. She will not have gone out yet.”
“Hmm,” Beth murmured and then smiled and shrugged. “Then I guess we’re going to the university.”
Five
“Here we are,” Matias announced cheerfully when they pulled into a parking lot at the university campus.
“Thanks.” Beth got out and walked around the vehicle, aware that Scotty had got out of the back seat and was following. She slowed and then paused to peer at her cousin with surprise, though, when she saw Matias was out and following Donny toward her. “Where are you going?”
“With you,” he said as if that should be obvious, and then, grinning, he said, “It is a building full of young, nubile women. I will be good backup.”
“I think it’s a mixed-gender residence,” Donny commented. “There will be guys too.”
“The males are your problem,” he said with a shrug. “But the women I can help with. They love me.”
Shaking her head, Beth turned to start walking. “Fine. But don’t get hurt. Aunt Giulietta would flay me alive if you got hurt.”
Matias snorted at the claim. “My mother loves you. She would blame Lucian.”
“Yeah, she would,” Beth agreed with a grin.
“Why does Giulietta love her?” Scotty asked with curiosity, and Matias glanced at him as if he were crazy to even have to ask.
“Because Beth is perfect,” he said. “She is smart, and kind, and good and strong . . . and she used to keep me out of trouble when I was young.”
“I babysat him when he was growing up,” Beth said with affection.
“Sí.” Matias nodded. “She was the best aunt ever.”
“I spoiled him rotten,” Beth admitted without apology.
“Sí, as I said, the best aunt ever,” Matias repeated.
“I thought you were kissing cousins?” Scotty said dryly.
“As an adopted sister to Drina, she is my cousin,” he said solemnly. “But I called her Aunt Beth when I was very young.”
Scotty merely grunted in response. They’d reached the residence, and all fell silent as they entered the lobby.
Beth took a quick glance around, and then approached the front desk. She smiled in greeting at the twenty-nothing girl behind it, and decided she would try the mortal approach first. “Hello, we’re here to see Kira Sarka. Do we have to sign in before we go up to see her?”
“No. You can’t go up,” the girl said baldly. “Visitors have to stay here in the lobby until the student comes to get you. But I can call and tell her you’re here. What’re your names?” she asked, picking up the phone and starting to punch numbers.
That’s when Beth decided that the mortal approach sucked, and slipped into the girl’s mind. The last thing she needed was Kira knowing they were coming so she could warn her bodyguards. Making the girl set the phone back in its cradle, she quickly rearranged her thoughts a little so that she would forget they had been there and not notice them heading to the elevator. Easing out of her mind, Beth gestured for the men to follow and led them to the bank of elevators.