Replica(34)

“Alfred. Yes, it’s me.”

My companions burst into laughter that I couldn’t understand. I shook my head. Must be still giddy on my blood.

“What can I do for you, Lea?”

“Alfred—” another burst of giggles I ignored, “—I need a car to pick me up at my current location, then take me and two associates to the airstrip. Victor has asked me to travel with him on his next excursion.” With any luck, he wouldn’t know Victor’s traveling days were over.

“Oh, thank God! You know where he is? You’ve spoken with him?”

“Only by text. He asked me to meet him at the airstrip.” I paused. “I can give him a message if you’d like.”

Alfred was quiet a moment. “No. No, don’t bother. I doubt I’ll be working for him much longer. Give me your address and I’ll send a car ’round for you. We have a new driver, pay him no mind; he’s a bit mouthy from time to time.”

I gave Alfred the address, or more accurately the intersection where we were standing, then handed the phone back to Ivan. He shoved it into his pocket and grinned at me.

“What?”

“Alfred? You really don’t know who that is?”

I shrugged. “Do I care? No, no, I don’t.”

Ivan and Rachel bantered back and forth about Alfred and someone named Batman. They were getting along better than they ever had.

They took blood from you at the same time, you idiot. They bonded through you. The thought hit me like a hammer blow and I took a few steps back. How long would it last? I couldn’t remember. I’d learned the ropes on my own, and this wasn’t the sort of situation I’d found myself in before. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Ten minutes passed in a weird silence. Weird because Rachel and Ivan kept sneaking glances at me, then at each other, then their lips would twist in smiles they suppressed.

Like a couple of kids.

I rolled my eyes as a long black limo pulled up.

A swarthy man in a limo driver’s suit stepped out and tipped his hat at us. Dark eyes and hair. He was handsome in a way that reminded me of home. As in Spain.

He smiled at me, but his eyes never left Rachel.

And hers never left his.

Well, this was interesting.





CHAPTER 16





RACHEL



What the actual fuck?

Should I acknowledge I knew him and tell Lea I’d seen him on the subway? That he was the one who’d given me the silver blade at the small of my back? That he had warned me not to trust her?

But he took the lead, shifting his gaze to Lea. “I’m Antonio and I’ll be your driver today. Per Alfred’s request, the car is suited to your needs.”

Lea gave him a curt nod as he opened the back door and waited for us to get in.

Ivan gave Antonio a quick once-over before sliding into the back. Lea slid in next, cutting in front of me.

As I looked up at Antonio—if that was even his real name—he put his finger in front of his lips, then lowered it slowly, mouthing, “Trust me.”

The sight of his lips sent my pulse into overdrive. What was this hold he had on me? It reminded me I should quiz Lea about other beings in the supernatural world—specifically if any of them could control humans like vampires could. Maybe he was a vampire who had mind-controlled me, but I quickly marked that off the list. His lips and body had been far too warm.

Don’t go there.

He stepped closer, as though to usher me into the car, and the musky scent of his shampoo filled my nose, flavored with a scent I knew had to be his alone. Lea’s blood had kicked my sense of smell into overdrive and my body flushed, liking what it was picking up. The thought of screwing him right there and then flooded my brain, and it took everything in me to control myself.

This was not me. My reaction to him was ten times stronger than it had been in the subway the night before.

He studied my eyes, his gaze darkening as it flicked into the car and back. He leaned into my ear and whispered so quietly I shouldn’t have been able to hear him. “The blood will pass out of your system soon enough, and I will be there to watch over you.”

I pulled back and gaped at him in surprise. How did he know I’d taken Lea’s blood? But the thought of screwing him was overwhelming, especially with him so close, and I took a step toward him, fully intending to shove him up against the car.

His fierce gaze turned to agony as he gave me a soft push toward the open car door. There were two seats facing one another. Lea and Ivan sat next to each other in the seat facing the front. I climbed in and reluctantly sat in the rear-facing seat, hating that I was in such close proximity to Antonio. Even before I was seated, I knew Lea sensed something was up. She didn’t look at me, but a slight tensing of her shoulders gave her away.