He walked to the sink and rinsed his mug. He put it on the top rack of the dishwasher and paused. It was astonishing how easily he’d slipped back into his old routine. He’d been back in town, back in this house that he’d maintained during his absence, less than twenty-four hours, yet in many ways it felt like he’d never been gone.
Except for the empty place next to him in his bed, things seemed much as he’d left them.
Nix stifled a yawn and glanced at her watch again. It was just after six o’clock in the morning and because of her tumbled thoughts she hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night. The sofa on which she sat was the most comfortable she’d ever parked her rear on. She held back another yawn and resisted the urge to get even more comfortable. She’d fall asleep if she did. She should never have sat down to begin with, but it would have been rude to refuse.
She looked at Byron Maldonado sitting in his big leather armchair next to a crackling fireplace. Legs crossed, he was the picture of elegant grace. Yet she was all too aware of the dark danger that lay beneath the surface.
Tobias had broken the news about Amarinda to him, and now the other vampire’s eyes were black rage surrounded by crimson sorrow. The look in his eyes reminded Nix of a wounded animal.
“What happened?” Maldonado asked, his gaze flicking from Tobias to her and back again.
When Tobias seemed unable to share the details of the grisly death, Nix said as gently as she could, “There’s no easy way to say this. She was eviscerated.”
Maldonado’s lips thinned. “Bastards,” he muttered. His eyes grew wilder. “Why?”
“We were hoping you could help us on that one.” Tobias leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. His voice was low, calming. “What had she gotten herself into, Byron? She called me in Alaska, asked me to come home. Do you have any idea what she wanted to talk to me about?”
Maldonado closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, not really.” He looked at Tobias, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes deepening. “She changed, Tobias. Over the last several months I noticed a shift in her personality and it was not for the better. She was…jaded. Bored. But when she talked about the stars, about space…” Sadness flickered over his face. “She was more animated than I had seen her in years. Centuries.”
“Was that what she wanted to talk to me about? Space?” Tobias looked as lost as Nix felt.
Maldonado lifted one shoulder. “I honestly don’t know. She had taken a leave of absence from…my organization while she attended school.” He leaned his head against the back of the chair. “But I never thought she would end up…” With a speed as violent as it was unexpected, he surged to his feet and slammed his fist into the mantle. The wood fractured and splintered, the end falling loose from the river rock it had been embedded in. “Damn it to hell.” He bent his head and stared into the hearth. After several seconds he turned back to them. Nix noticed his eyes had returned to their normal rich hazel. Good thing he’d gotten control of himself. Though Nix and Tobias were trained and could take care of themselves, Maldonado was…Maldonado. He’d come through the rift at the same time as Deoul, which made him the oldest vampire around. At least if there were any older she’d never heard of them.
“Rinda was the second victim, Byron.” Tobias stood, too, though he didn’t move any closer to the other vampire. Maybe he didn’t trust that Maldonado’s control was as strong as he’d like it to be. “The first was Johnson Pickett. Know him?”
Maldonado shook his head. He leaned his shoulder against the river rock of the fireplace. “No. I’d heard of him, of course. But I never had any reason to look him up. He was harmless, as far as I know.”
“That’s pretty much what I’ve been told,” Nix said. Even knowing how ruthless the vampire leader could be, she found herself feeling sorry for him. “So he had no dealings with any of your companies?”
“I just said no.” He shot her an arch look. “And as far as I know Pickett and Rinda were not involved in anything together.”
“But you just said she’d changed,” Nix said. “Is it possible she kept things from you?”
He straightened from the fireplace. “As much as I’d like to deny that, with the way she’d been acting these last few months, I can’t answer in the affirmative.”
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Nix murmured.
“Nix.” Tobias’s voice held a deep note of caution.