Page 30 of Fallen

Cain and Talon appeared loyal to Brien. Although with vampires, especially syndicate vampires, you never knew for sure; their first loyalty was usually to themselves. Still, they seemed close to Brien, and as “made” men, they’d have sworn an oath of loyalty to the Maritime Syndicate.

That left seven possibilities: the thralls, the flight attendant, the soldiers and Brien’s PA. The thralls—Eden, Lesa and Pinky—were all curvy model-types who didn’t seem interested in anything but money, sex and clothes. But then, no one knew better than me how easy it is to fake that kind of thing.

The flight attendant, Russell, was a smiling, let-me-entertain-you kind of guy, which could also be a cover. People tend to assume there’s nothing beneath the upbeat veneer.

Then there was Avril, Brien’s red-haired, thirty-something PA. She’d worked for Brien for years, and, from the way she eyed him when he wasn’t watching, she was half in love with him. I couldn’t see her agreeing to work for Kuro for any amount of money, unless, of course, he’d blackmailed her into doing it.

And the soldiers were both Canadian dhampirs who, like Cain and Talon, would’ve sworn an oath of loyalty to the syndicate.

Could Kuro’s reach extend into the Maritime Syndicate itself? SI had spies everywhere in the vampire world.

I stifled a sudden, inappropriate urge to laugh.Girl, you aresofucked.

I shifted on my seat. Crossed and uncrossed my ankles.

“Hey.” Brien put his hand over mine. “You’re under my protection. No one’s going to touch you.”

I drew a slow breath. He shouldn’t have picked up on my agitation; I was trained to hide my emotions from vampires. That Brien had sensed I was upset (even though he’d misunderstood the reason why) was disconcerting. I was losing my edge. Two years out of the game did that to you.

“Except you,” I muttered to piss him off. Better that than have him guess something else had upset me.

But he didn’t seem pissed off. Instead, he interlaced his fingers through mine in silent reassurance.

My heart lurched. His kindness touched something deep inside me, a lonely, needy corner that I’d learned to ignore.

I curled my fingers around his and stared out the window as the jet touched down. What would he do if I confessed why I was really here, telling him about Kuro and asking for help? Would he believe me, or figure it was a story I’d made up to get him to release me?

He could sense a lie in most humans—it came with a vampire’s ability to detect human emotions. But as a slayer, I’d been trained to fool a vampire in the same way a person can learn to trick a lie-detecting machine by suppressing their autonomic nervous system responses. Brien would know that.

The jet rolled to a halt. I pulled my hand from his.

Because in the end, if I was going to somehow fix this mess and be allowed back into SI, Brien was the enemy. A syndicate prince.

He had no reason to believe me, and it might make him even more suspicious. If he decided I was still a slayer, he might lock me up and throw away the key—if he didn’t slit my throat and feed me to those sharks he’d tried to scare me with.

The pilot came on the intercom. “My lord, ladies, gentlemen. We’ve arrived on Lilith Island. Welcome home.”

The cabin door opened. Brien grabbed his laptop from the overhead compartment and guided me toward the exit where the crew was lowering the stairs.

Three SUVs and a pickup truck pulled up alongside the jet. Under Russell and Avril’s supervision, the passengers were quickly sorted into the vehicles, and we set off for the castle, our luggage following in the truck.

Brien and I were in the lead car along with Cain and Talon. They were silent as we bumped along a cobblestone road through the forest. More fog covered the road and coiled, snakelike, around the dark castle hunkered on the cliff above the trees.

I glanced at Brien and found him staring broodingly back at me. I had to force myself not to fidget.

Not good. Not good at all. If you let him spook you, you’re fucked.

“Impressive.” I gave him a perky, Lainey-Q smile and waved a hand at the massive black building looming above us. “How long has your family lived here, anyway?”

He shrugged a powerful shoulder. “A couple hundred years.”

“They own the island,” Cain added.

His tone made it a threat, not a piece of information, but I simply nodded. “I know.”

We drove through a stone arch smothered in ivy and came to a halt in a cobblestone courtyard. Brien exited and helped me out. The air was damp with salt spray, and somewhere far below, the surf boomed.

Avril hurried up as the ornate wood doors creaked open. “Can I help you, sir?”

---