Love Your Entity(69)
“You could have done that upstairs,” she said. “Are we in the basement?”
“Yes.”
“Our basement?”
He was surprised at how her use of the word our got to him. As if they were a team, meant to be together.
“You’re going to pay to have that fixed,” she said.
Ronan didn’t know how to fix this situation. He had to get that key.
He stepped over the pile of fallen bricks and helped her into the basement. He steadied her a moment before reaching for the light switch.
She blinked and shielded her eyes at the sudden influx of illumination. “So that was the tunnel system that runs under the house.”
Ronan was no expert on the tunnels, but he knew that this particular branch hadn’t been used in decades. He’d have to consult with Damon to see what he knew.
“I’m going upstairs to eat my pizza,” she announced with a regal tilt of her head that made him want to kiss her.
He let her go. Because he knew that he wouldn’t stop with just one kiss.
She’d no sooner left than Damon appeared. He eyed the demolished bricks. “First you’re digging up coffins, now you’re destroying walls.”
“Did you know about that passageway?” Ronan asked. “It leads upstairs from the dining room down here.”
“I was not aware of a passageway within the house. Only the bootlegging tunnels connecting Vamptown. Did you find anything interesting in the passageway?”
“Sierra said someone died on the staircase in there.”
“You found a dead body?”
“No.”
“A skeleton?”
“No. Sierra just had a feeling, that’s all.”
“And you care because?”
“It’s my house.”
“And you’re awfully attached to it, aren’t you?” Damon eyed him suspiciously. “Remember I told you that we keep surveillance on area cemeteries? I saw what went on.”
Ronan remained silent. A hell of a lot had gone on in that cemetery.
“I saw Sierra talking to someone who wasn’t there.”
“There were a lot of spirits at that location,” Ronan said.
“So you think that finding this missing treasure of Hal’s will be enough to get rid of him?”
“If he doesn’t kill us first.”
“He’s a ghost. What can he do?”
“He’s already done plenty.”
“Are you referring to the vampire bond between you and Sierra?”
Ronan nodded.
“And where does Voz fit into all this?”
Ronan remained silent.
“I saw him there in the cemetery with you for a moment before the feed mysteriously went dead.”
“Thanks for enlisting Zoe’s help with returning the grave site to its previous state,” Ronan said.
“You’re avoiding my question. What did Voz want?”
“He was just checking up on me.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to make sure I was settling in here.”
“Because he’s a warm and fuzzy kind of Master Vampire, right?” Damon mocked.
“No.” Ronan suspected that Damon was well aware of Voz’s ruthless reputation.
“What then?”
“He has a hard time letting go.”
“Obviously.”
“What is Voz’s connection to Hal?”
“None that I am aware of,” Ronan answered honestly.
“That tat at the back of your neck did more than make you able to tolerate sunlight, you know. It made you part of our clan,” Damon said.
Ronan had been part of Voz’s vampire gang—always a lesser being, never an equal. He’d never been part of a clan before. That didn’t change the fact that he had to do this alone. He’d already involved Sierra in ways he’d never expected and now regretted.
“One way or another, this will all be over soon,” Ronan said. “You have my word on that.”
* * *
Ruby met Sierra at the top of the stairs. “I told you not to investigate that passageway.”
Sierra walked past her, opened the pizza box, and stuffed a slice in her mouth. She gobbled it down in a few bites and reached for another piece.
“Are you listening to me?” Ruby demanded.
Sierra shook her head and kept eating.
When Ruby floated closer, she warned the ghost, “Do not mess with me. I am eating this damn pizza without anyone bothering me. I’ve had it. Do you hear me? I’ve had it with spirits and ghosts and vampires and everything! Now go away and let me eat in peace!”
Ruby didn’t go away but she did allow Sierra to finish her dinner.
Sierra put the leftovers in the fridge.
Ruby sat on the kitchen counter, swinging her feet. For the first time, Sierra noticed the shoes she was wearing. They were black and had a shiny shoe clip on the vamp, which was fashionable in the twenties. But for the first time she noticed the heels, which were covered in colored rhinestones and glittered in the kitchen light.