Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang(70)

 

I summoned a tiny ball of light and let it dance in front of his feet.

 

He looked at it without moving.

 

“If I wanted to, I could probably pull down enough light to seriously harm you, Kristoff. It may take a ceremony with a couple of Brotherhood guys channeling their powers to finish you off, but I’m sure we wouldn’t need a Zenith to do so. Frederic must have found this out. Remember that Denise was a Zorya before she was the Zenith. I bet somehow they found it out, and that started his convoluted plan.”

 

“Convoluted, indeed,” Kristoff said, still watching the light bobbing at his toes. I waved a hand and dissipated it.

 

“I just bet you that Frederic is making sure another Zenith isn’t named. Which all points to one very clear conclusion.”

 

“Yes, it does. It says that you are more tired than either of us realizes.”

 

I made a face at him. “No, silly. It means we’re going to have to deal with Frederic.”

 

“I agree. We will kill the director.”

 

I gawked at him. “How on earth did you jump from ‘we need to give Frederic the third degree’ to killing him?”

 

His eyes lightened a few shades. “He is manipulating you, Beloved. Your theory is interesting, but unproven at this time. It is more likely that if the director is not working with Alec, he is probably holding him prisoner. And since he is fortifying his defenses, he must expect an attack by us. You are my Beloved, a fact he knows. Do you honestly believe he will not attempt to destroy us should he be given the opportunity?”

 

I was silent for a moment, remembering the pain of the knife Frederic had wielded as it sank deep into my flesh. “I don’t condone what Frederic has done in the past. And I don’t appreciate him manipulating me, and he’s definitely up to no good. God knows I certainly don’t support the war between the Brotherhood and you vampires, but someone somewhere has to draw the line and end the war. Someone has to stop the killing. And I choose to be that person.”

 

To my surprise, a faint smile was visible on Kristoff’s adorable lips. “My mother would have liked you. She was frequently in the stocks for what the local nobleman who ruled the town called gross impertinence to his position. She always championed the downtrodden, and more than once came close to the gallows for her attempts to right what she saw as wrongs.”

 

“She sounds like she was a marvelous woman,” I said, and, tempted as I was to continue that line of conversation, I set it aside for a bit. “You’re not going to distract me from the discussion, Boo. Especially since you know I’m against unnecessary violence.”

 

He sighed, a weary expression on his face. “What would you have me do? Promise that no harm will come to any reaper?”

 

“No. I would like you to think about ways to get what we want without anyone dying.”

 

Water lapping gently at the rocks was the only sound for a few moments.

 

“I will not risk your life,” he said finally.

 

“Nor would I expect you to. Just don’t go into this with a no-quarter stance, OK?”

 

His expression was sour, as if he’d tasted something bad. “I do this under protest.”

 

“So noted.” I swam backward a couple of feet, determined to enjoy the few hours of respite granted to us. I allowed myself a few smutty thoughts about what I’d like to do to him before continuing. “Back to my original question-why aren’t you soaking in here with me?”

 

“My friend is continuing to track Alec’s last-known movements.” He glanced at his watch. “I expect the answer to come in shortly. Much as I would like to make love to you, Beloved, I must attend to this first.”

 

“You know what I say to that?” I asked, reaching beneath me to scoop up another handful of the white silica mud.

 

“Something that’s intended to irritate me, I’m sure,” he said with a mock sigh.

 

“No. I say: incoming!” I hefted the handful of dripping wet, slippery mud and flung it at his head.

 

The mud hit him full in the face with a wet splatting noise. He stood stunned for a moment before turning a really top-quality glare on me. “That was uncalled for,” he snapped, reaching for a towel.

 

“Oh, come on, Kristoff! Just come have a little dip with me, and then you can do all the tracking down that you like. I’ll help.”

 

He just continued to wipe the mud off his face and upper part of his shirt.

 

I scooped up another handful, and thought about pelting him until he gave up and came after me. But I didn’t want to force him into having a little fun. That would defeat the purpose of him having a few hours of relaxation. No, he just needed a little persuasion, something that would convince him of the benefits of taking a little time away from the burdens we both bore.