Night's Honor (Elder Races #7)(78)

The other Vampyre’s eyebrows lifted. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were falling for her.”

He leaned against a nearby table. “Why do you think you know better?”

“Xavier, for as long as I’ve known you, I think you’ve had a total of maybe three relationships, and those were all shallow and ended after just a few months.” The younger Vampyre gave him a sidelong, curious glance. “Son of a bitch. You are falling for her, aren’t you?”

He didn’t have to reply, but he did anyway. “I am.”

Gavin’s eyes went wide. Then he grinned. “Good for you.”

After transferring the recording to his desktop, they listened to it together. “Trim everything off but their agreement,” Xavier told him. “Then get the clean copy to Julian as soon as possible.”

“You got it.”

While he had finished what he had come to do, he hesitated and turned his attention to the wall of TV monitors, watched by two Vampyres across the room. They studied footage from security cameras placed at strategic intervals all over Evenfall.

He said, “Do me a favor and run a search for Justine over the last twenty-four hours.”

“You got it,” Gavin said. He walked over to another computer system, sat down, and his fingers flew nimbly over the keyboard. “Can you tell me what we’re looking for?”

Watching, Xavier crossed his arms and shook his head. “I don’t know. At the very least, I just want proof that she is actually still here. I haven’t seen her since I’ve arrived. I’ve only heard Julian mention her.”

“Well, that should be easy enough to confirm.”

Fifteen minutes later, Xavier watched irrefutable evidence. Justine had been present in Evenfall for at least a day. He studied snippets of footage of her in various public spots. Twice, the recordings showed her in conversation with Julian, their expressions cold and body language angry. The footage didn’t supply any sound, but he wasn’t interested at the moment in overhearing conversations.

Frustration spiked, and he rubbed his face. While she was clearly here, that didn’t mean Marc was in any less danger. She had any number of employees who weren’t here with her.

“Is that what you needed?” Gavin asked.

Sighing, he said, “Sure. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Night had fallen while they had worked. Xavier could feel it, the cool, welcome darkness pulling a veil over the land. He said good-bye to Gavin, pocketed his phone and headed back to his rooms.

There, he found Tess stretched out on his bed, reading a paperback. He could sense Diego in the other part of the apartment, but for the moment he focused all his attention on Tess.

She had showered and dressed in clean jeans and a dark red, long-sleeved shirt. The color suited her as much as the dark blue of the ball gown did, and he smiled with pleasure to see her.

Noticing him in the doorway, she gave him a self-conscious smile. “I hope you don’t mind me coming in here. I figured if you could invade my bedroom—twice—I could invade yours.”

For a brief moment, he forgot his concerns and laughed. “You have an open invitation. You can invade my bedroom anytime you like.” He braced one knee on the edge of the mattress and leaned over to give her a deep, slow kiss.

Afterward, he pulled back. She searched his face. “Any news about Marc?”

He shook his head. “The sun has set, and we need to leave. I know this isn’t what we had planned, but I’ll have to drop you off at my town house and leave you for a while. I need to find out where he is.”

Pushing off the bed, she slipped her shoes on and stood. “Of course.”

He went to Diego’s room, rapped on the door and opened it. Diego had been reading too, and he set aside his e-reader when Xavier appeared.

“Time to go?” Diego asked.

“Yes.”

For a moment, as Xavier looked at him, he considered offering Diego the chance to look into what had happened to Marc. The impulse passed quickly. Not only was it something that Xavier needed to investigate personally, but it was also clear from the younger man’s closed expression that Diego had already emotionally disconnected.

He’d already said it. He was done, and there was no going back.

Back in Xavier’s bedroom, it was the work of a few moments to gather up his things and pack them in his overnight bag. When he had finished, they left.

As they walked through the halls of Evenfall, he held his hand out to Tess, no longer caring how they broke the news to Diego. He planned on talking to Raoul and the others soon enough. Besides, he simply wanted to touch her.

Hesitating only for a moment, she laced her fingers through his. When Diego’s gaze fell onto their linked hands, his eyes widened briefly, but then indifference returned and he looked away.

This time, Xavier escorted Tess to the front passenger seat and he drove, while Diego rode in the back.

They made the drive across the Golden Gate Bridge mostly in silence. The night was clear and unusually warm, a choppy wind blowing off the waters of the bay.

Pinching her full lower lip and appearing deep in thought, Tess stared out her window, while Diego checked his phone and spoke up just once. “You know, you don’t have to take me all the way to the hotel. You can drop me off somewhere convenient, and I can call a taxi.”