My Lord Immortality (Immortal Rogues #3)(36)

"What do you wish to know?"

Her gaze searched his face, as if seeking to discern whether he could be trusted or not.

"You will answer my questions?"

"To the best of my ability."

There was a long pause before she firmly pulled herself from his grasp and crossed her arms protectively about her waist. Sebastian experienced a pang of loss without her warmth next to him. With an effort he battled the urge to swoop forward and return her to where she obviously belonged. Per-haps it would be for the best not to have his head clouded with the passion she always inspired.

"You know Mr. Ramone?"

He gave a reluctant nod of his head. "For a very long time."

"Did you follow him to London?"

"I did," he admitted.

She sucked in a steadying breath and he could feel the struggle being waged within her heart.

She had said that she needed the truth, but Sebastian realized that deep within her she dreaded what that truth might mean.

Perhaps she already suspected that he was not precisely what he pretended to be.

"Did you follow him because you suspected that he was a vampire?" she demanded in commendably steady tones.

"Because I knew that he was dangerous and needed to be watched," Sebastian hedged.

She tested his vague words, clearly not satisfied with his brief explanation.

"Is that what you do? Hunt vampires?"

He swallowed a rather hollow urge to laugh at her absurd accusation. Whatever her lovely sense of wit, he was quite certain that she would fail to find the humor in the situation.

"Not at all," he assured her. "As I said, I am a scholar, nothing more."

"But..."

"Amelia," he swiftly broke into her confusion. "Following Mr. Ramone was only part of the reason that I traveled to London."

She stilled, seemingly caught off guard by his confession. Once again her tongue peeked out to dampen her lips, revealing the unsettled nerves that she was so desperately attempting to disguise.

"What was the other part?"

He took a cautious step closer to her. He wanted to he nearby because of the very real possibility that she might suddenly feel the need to bolt.

"You," he said softly.

Her eyes widened in shock. "Me? Why?"

"I knew that you possessed the amulet."

A gasp echoed through the air as Amelia hastily clutched the amulet about her neck. She did not even seem aware of the protective motion, although Sebastian noted it with a sense of satisfaction. Amelia might not understand the power of the Medallion, but she was clearly not willing to hand it over.

Most reassuring.

"You desire my necklace?" she demanded.

"Be at ease, Amelia." He lifted a comforting hand. "I do not covet the amulet as does Mr.

Ramone. My only interest is ensuring that it does not fall into his hands."

She continued to eye him warily, her fingers still tightly gripping the Medallion.

"How could you possibly have known that I possessed the amulet?"

He carefully considered his response. Blast, but he felt as if he were waltzing through a quagmire. One misstep could ruin his tenuous relationship with this woman forever.

"I was told it was given to you."

"By the Gypsy?" She frowned, then gave a pained shake of her head. "No, Mr. Ramone claimed that she was not a Gypsy at all, but a vampire."

The brief but revealing display of her confused vulnerability struck fiercely at Sebastian's heart. Standing there in the thin muslin nightrail with her tousled raven curls, she appeared to be little more than a child. Far too young and fragile to bear the burdens she had been forced to shoulder.

Worst of all, he had no notion of how to make any of this easier to endure.

Not when he was destined to cause her even more grief.

He winced before grudgingly squaring his should ders. He could avoid the unwelcome revelations no longer.

"Nefri," he said in clipped tones.

"Yes," she agreed slowly. "That was the name that he gave her."

"She is the most powerful and wise of all vampires."

A shadow drifted over her face as she absorbed the significance of his confirmation of what must seem to her a figment of her worst nightmares.

"How... how do you know that?" Her gaze frantically searched his features, perhaps desperate to reassure herself that he had not changed into a monster before her eyes. "Sebastian?"

"You are certain that you desire the truth?"

She bit her lip until she drew blood, but with that stubborn courage that he so admired, she kept her gaze steadily locked with his own.

"I must know."

Sebastian heaved a sigh, his hands clenching at his side. Bloody hell. He wished that Lucien, or even Gideon, were here. They were both far more experienced in handling the peculiar emotions of mortal maidens. No doubt they had easily managed the women they had been commanded to protect with perfect ease. He, on the other hand, was far more comfortable hiding behind one of his books. He was bound to make a botch of this.

Pushing back the heavy strands of his hair, he heaved an unwitting sigh.

"It was Nefri who sent me to London. She wanted me to protect the amulet, as well as you, from Mr. Ra-mone."

She was shaking her head in denial even before he finished speaking. Her expression was nearly undoing Sebastian.