Chapter 10
Ten
Darian turned to Cally as soon as Mr. Alexander had left the dining room.
“It’s stopped raining outside. May I show you some of the grounds?”
Cally glanced at Eve, who gave an almost imperceptible nod.
“Sure,” Cally said. “I could do with some fresh air.” And some time alone. But she’d settle for one out of two, and it seemed Darian had something he wanted to discuss—away from listening ears.
Darian’s mouth quirked. “I thought you might say that.”
“Well, it was a lovely dinner,” Eve declared, pushing herself up. “I think I’ll return to my room and read a few more pages.”
“My man will escort you,” Darian said, rising too, and waving over one of the discreetly loitering attendants.
They all knew Eve could find her way back without help, but she didn’t even blink. “How considerate.” She gave them both a smile. “Good night.”
Darian waited until Eve had left. “There’s a nice walk down to the lake. It’s beautiful this time of night.”
“You’re not worried about me learning where the mansion is?”
Darian led her into the hallway outside and to the front door. “We’ve come to an understanding, haven’t we?”
Cally clenched her jaw. “If you mean do I understand the threats leveled at me, then yes. I do.”
He had the decency to wince. “I meant that you’d agreed to help.”
“Right.” Except she hadn’t.
Cally stepped outside ahead of him, the cool night air still smelling of rain, the wet lawn reflecting the lights of the house.
“This way,” Darian said, turning onto a path that curved around the side of the house and continued toward the lake. They walked in silence, trees to either side, moonlight glinting on still water ahead.
“Flat response just now,” he commented after a while. “Aren’t you glad you can help?”
“I don’t disagree the world would be a better place with fewer vampires.”
“But?”
“It’s not so simple, is it?” She kept her gaze on the path ahead.
“If they think we can find them, they’ll go into hiding.
If they think we’re hunting them, it’ll start a war.
If they come looking for you, they won’t stop until the Order is no more.
If I help you, that includes me.” And those close to me.
He studied her. “You’re not wrong. So what do you suggest?”
She’d already said more than she should. “I don’t have an answer. Do you?”
“There isn’t one, other than to not be caught. Clean kills, no trace back to the Order, no one gets captured alive.”
“Next you’re going to tell me you all have cyanide capsules in your teeth.”
He looked straight ahead, his jaw tight.
“You do?” she asked, incredulous. “You all have some kind of suicide pact?”
“It’s not a suicide pact,” he muttered. “It’s just common sense.”
“I guess that’s one name for it.” She let out a short laugh. “I bet you’re real damn careful when you chew, huh?”
His lips twitched. “Gives a whole new meaning to nut allergies.”
“So what’s your story? How did you get mixed up in this, Darian?”
He walked in silence for a few paces, until she wondered if he would answer. Then he did. “A vampire killed my parents and brother.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” She almost reached out to him, but let her hand fall before it touched his arm. “How did you survive?”
“By not being there,” he said bitterly. “I was out with friends. Got home later than I should, expecting to be grounded.” A humorless laugh. “Instead, found them all dead.”
“My God. How old were you?”
“Sixteen.”
They reached the end of the path and walked onto a pier, the wood echoing with each step. Darian stopped and gazed over the water, lost in his memories. The lake was so still that a fish near the surface caused ripples that shimmered in the moonlight.
“I lived in foster homes until I was eighteen and the system kicked me out,” Darian said, his voice quiet but carrying clearly in the night. “Got into trouble more times than I can remember.”
“Fighting?” Cally could imagine that.
“Some, yes. But mostly for running away. I went looking for the killer.”
“But you never found them.”
“Right.”
“What did the police say?”
“They tried to blame my dad. There was no forced entry, no broken locks, no sign of a struggle, just the bodies with puncture wounds in the neck. The simple answer was my dad had stabbed them, then taken his own life.” He aimed a savage kick at a small stone, sending it skimming into the water with a gentle plop.
“They didn’t blame you?”
“They tried to at first, yeah,” he replied, staring down at the water. “Then forensics confirmed the time of death, and I couldn’t have been there.”
“When did you begin to believe it was a vampire?”
“I joined the army at eighteen—few options as an ex-foster kid with no money. When they discovered I fit a certain profile, the Order came recruiting.” His voice thickened with resignation. “They like orphans.”
Cally raised an eyebrow. “They have access to the army?”
Darian’s lips twisted wryly. “Technically, I’m still in the army. Sequestered for ‘special operations.’”
“Wow. That’s some pull.”
“It’s not that hard when you have the right connections in the government.
Just one more black ops project.” He leaned on the pier’s railing, gazing out over the lake.
“Anyway, that’s my tragic life story. I fit the Order’s profile, and they gave answers others couldn’t.
Now they give me a chance to stop it happening again. ”
Cally thought of her mother, and Joon’s sister. “It seems we both lost loved ones to vampires.”
He turned to look at her, brown eyes glinting in the lake’s reflection.
“Exactly. It’s why I wanted to talk to you.
I believe in this, and I think you do too.
The Order can be heavy-handed, I get that.
If I had my way, you wouldn’t have been threatened tonight.
” He sighed, a small frustrated sound. “You have to understand. To them—to us—you represent a hope, a weapon, a chance to fight back that we so badly need. Your value is beyond comparison.”
Cally leaned on the barrier beside him, considering his words. It wasn’t difficult to see it from their perspective, not really. Would she have threatened too, if the tables had been turned? Would she threaten now, to keep Antoine safe?
It was an easy answer, not least when they were in the middle of planning an illegal heist. She’d do anything to keep those she loved out of harm.
“It’s no fun being on the receiving end, but I do understand.”
“Well, that’s the other thing I wanted to say.” He met her gaze, his own steady. “My promises weren’t idle; I’m going to protect you. From any threat—be it vampires or the Order.”
Cally tried to hide her skepticism. “Are you putting my interests over the Order’s?”
Not a flicker of hesitation crossed his face. “I’m swearing I’ll keep you safe.”
“I suppose I should thank you for that sentiment, but I don’t need protecting, Darian.” She lifted her chin, watching the moon shimmer across the water, feeling his eyes on her as she deliberately looked straight ahead. “I don’t want to be wrapped up in cotton wool and smothered.”
“I know,” he said, his voice soft. “First, that’s not what I meant. I’m going to keep you safe because of how unique you are, what you mean to the Order, and just because I want to. But I wouldn’t dare get in your way. And second, so help me, but God I find you hot.”
She glanced at him in surprise.
“We’re two of a kind, Cally. Both fighters. Both driven. Both strong, in our ways.” Darian inched forward, closing the space between them. “Not only that,” he said, his voice husky, “but you’re absolutely, stunningly, gorgeous.”
He leaned in as his hand rose, fingertips lightly brushing against her cheek, his lips so close she hardly had to move to kiss him.
She turned her head away. “I’m flattered. Really, I am. But I’m not looking for anything here.”
He let his hand fall as he rocked back, a question in his eyes.
“That’s fine,” he said, voice unsure, his usual easy certainty faltering for the first time since she’d met him.
“I’m sorry, I thought you were single.” His eyes narrowed.
“No long-term relationships. But that’s not true, is it?
” He chuckled sardonically, looking out over the lake again. “Eve. How did we miss that?”
“Patriarchal ideals?” Cally suggested dryly.
Great. Now he thinks I’m sleeping with Eve.
They’d have surveillance in the hallways outside the suites even if his word could be trusted and there were no cameras inside.
She could kip with Eve tonight to keep up the charade.
Eve would profess she didn’t mind, but it seemed cruel to toy with her feelings.
Cally muffled a sigh. In the space of a minute, she’d rejected and possibly upset an Order agent, and her relationship with Eve was about to get way more complex.
Darian cocked his head as he regarded her, a small smile playing across his lips. “Are you only into women, or can I still harbor some hope?”
Shit.
“I don’t know, Darian,” she said, trying to buy herself some time.
The last thing she needed was for him to feel spurned, and to turn against her.
Their dynamic was already complicated enough.
“If we’re going to be working together, it seems wrong to blur the lines.
” Damn it, why did I say that? Now I’ve implied I like men too. She looked away, confused.
“That wasn’t a hard ‘no,’” he said, his voice measured and tinged with hope. “Give me a chance, and I’ll wear you down with charm and great coffee.”
“Great coffee?” It was so unexpected she laughed despite the emotions churning within.
His lips twitched. “Everyone likes great coffee.”
“You’ve used that line before, haven’t you?”
“I swear I haven’t,” he said, a hand clasped to his chest as though she’d wounded him. Then he sobered. “I won’t deny I’ve had my share of flings, but none of them with a woman like you.”
She fixed him with a flat look. “That was definitely a line.”