The Darkness in Dreams (Enforcer's Legacy, #1)(63)

It happened so quickly, she was across the piazza before he could react.




As Lexi hurried across the cobbled distance, she heard Christan's muttered curse and didn’t stop. He hadn’t wanted her out of his physical control. She ought to feel angry about it, but she didn’t. Instead, she felt as unsure with their relationship as he appeared to feel. What had happened in the kitchen had been impulsive, she realized it now, as much her fault as his, but they still needed to work together.

Katerina was watching her approach. She looked young and wary, but confident. As Lexi slipped into a vacant chair at the small table, the girl rose to her feet.

“Please wait, Katerina” Lexi said. “I only want to talk.”

“How do you know my name?”

“We have a mutual acquaintance.” Lexi pulled out Christan’s phone and thumbed open the photo of Kace. “Do you recognize this man?” she asked, even though she’d watched the surveillance footage and knew Katerina did.

The girl looked at the image on the phone, glanced around and then sat down. She did not relax. “He introduced himself at the museum the other day, suggested we share coffee.”

“He’s been hunting you.”

“I’ve suspected it.”

“Then I hope you’ll trust me, Katerina.”

“Why?”

Lexi slid the phone back in her pocket and folded her hands. “I talked to Renata.”

“I’m surprised Dante let you through,” the girl said. “You must have connections.”

“The good kind.”

“There are no good connections.”

“It was Renata’s choice, and some of the connections are good.” Lexi’s voice gentled. “Dante’s good, the way he cares for her—that much was obvious.”

Katerina didn’t answer.

Lexi said, “I want to help you.”

“Thank you, but I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry you feel the need to hide.”

Katerina did not seem receptive. She reached out and deliberately pressed her finger into the memory lines on Lexi’s wrist. “You’re having dreams?”

“Yes. They haven’t all been pleasant.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To make you an offer of safety.”

“I’d rather trust myself.”

“I understand,” Lexi said. “but if you intend to hide, pay attention to the places that attract you and stay away from them. Kace isn’t stupid. He’ll figure it out and track you.” She paused. “Like we did.”

“Track me how?”

“We’re all drawn to elements from our past lives and you seem to be drawn to Etruscan history. There will be geographical areas that will feel familiar and safe. Others will feel tense and unfriendly. Go for those. The negative energies probably won’t be from past life influences at all. They’ll be emotional imprints that aren’t even connected to you.”

Kat’s mouth twisted. “You’re an expert?”

“Yes.” The simple truth.

“You saw what they did to Renata.” The girl fell silent as a group of laughing tourists walked by. “You’re the one who should be watching where she goes, because they’re after you. Last I heard, the mate to Three’s enforcer has a special bounty on her head over the rest of us.”

“How would you know?”

“I’m not as isolated as you think. I realized who you were the minute I saw you, and everyone knows they’re here.” Katerina nodded toward the shadowed alley. “An enforcer and his second-in-command, together in the same city? It’s all over the street, but it doesn’t matter because the immortals will destroy whoever they can. And they’ll use the girls as bait.”

“Arsen is here to help.”

“Then tell Arsen take you home.” Katerina’s voice was brittle. “And stay away from me. They follow you, they find me, too.”

Someone laughed in the distance. There was the sharp interruption of crockery and silver, crashing to the cobbled stone. Voices followed, offering embarrassed apologies. The night closed in around them.

Lexi said, “I can help you stay safe.”

“No. You can’t.” Kat was adamant as she rose to her feet and gathered up the papers spread out around her.

Lexi saw Christan moving. She grabbed the pen that Kat left behind and scribbled on a paper napkin, pushed both at Kat when the younger girl turned.

“This is my personal email, and the number of my cell phone. Is there any way I can contact you?”

But Kat disappeared into the shadows like a fading ghost. Christan’s hand closed around Lexi’s arm and he bent his lips to her ear. “Run,” he whispered, and pulled her in the opposite direction.





CHAPTER 26





Lexi looked up into Christan’s savagely dark face and reached out with her senses, trying to find the emotional imprints, but there were too many complex layers of love and betrayal, fear and murder overlying everything else. She thought she sensed a threat moving toward them from the side, but Christan detected it too and altered their direction. Her feet stumbled over the uneven pavement. Christan’s aggressive pace increased. Lexi kept even with him, gripping his hand.