They Come by Night (46 page)

Adam entered and hurried to the bed. The familiarity of this room would be a comfort when Ty woke in the morning.

“Off, Mina.”

The
Înger Păzitor
leaped from Ty to the bed and scrambled to get out of the way. Adam shifted Ty in his arms, but before he could turn down a corner of the bedspread, his mother was there.

“Thank you.”

“Would he be impressed, do you think, to learn I did this for him?” she asked.

“I think it’s likely. He confessed once he’s always been in awe of the European royalty.” He laid Ty down, and Mina came to his side and curled up against him.

“Poor sabor.” She stroked her fingers across Ty’s brow, and even in his sleep, he protested and turned away. “What happened?”

“De Vivar’s
adepţi
tried to seize him, a band of vampyrs attempted to carry him off, and finally someone infiltrated his dreams.”

She spat a curse in Romanian, and Adam was sure his father had no idea she knew such a word. “Do you know who?”

“At this point, no. It couldn’t have been de Vivar, since he was severely damaged.”

“Poor little boy.”

“Hardly that, Mother.” Adam sank down at the edge of the bed, not really surprised when Ty turned and nestled into his thigh. He combed the fingers of one hand through Ty’s hair and gave a faint smile as the strands curled around his forefinger and seemed to cling. “He’s—”

“Love you, Adam,” Ty murmured, still asleep.

He did, and wasn’t that a most unusual thing? Adam didn’t need to feed just yet, and Tyrell didn’t need to feed a vampyr for at least another week or so.

“I love you too,
dragul meu
.” He leaned down to brush his lips over Ty’s cheek, but Ty turned his head and the kiss wound up on his lips. Ty gripped the talisman where it hung beneath Adam’s shirt over his heart, and held on tightly.

“Adam?” His mother sounded stunned, but he knew it wasn’t because he’d kissed Ty. Although at one time he’d dallied with women—vampyrs as well as saborese—the family knew he preferred the male to the female.

What she found so shocking was in the normal course of events, Adam would never permit anyone to touch such a valued token. However, it was obvious this was hardly normal.

“Didn’t the rege tell you how unusual Ty is?” He eased Ty’s fingers from around his talisman, pressed a final kiss to his palm, and rose.

“He did mention Tyrell was surprisingly attached to you.”

“And I seem to be attached to him.” He couldn’t flush—he hadn’t fed recently enough for that—but if he had, he would have. “I’ve got to leave. This night isn’t over, and there’s still much the rege needs me to do.”

“Of course.” She walked to the door and waited for him. “Ioan is in residence.”

Adam swore under his breath. It wasn’t as if the younger of the rege’s twin grandsons would harm Ty purposely. Born vampyrs learned from an early age to have a care not only toward sabors but to the saborese as well. But he was only fourteen and in addition wasn’t a full-blooded vampyr.

“Mina.” The
Înger Păzitor
raised her head. “Watch over him.”

She woofed as if to say “Don’t tell me my job” and rested her head on Ty’s hip.

Well, better safe than sorry.

Sending a final glance toward his sabor, Adam turned off the lamp, left the room behind his mother, and made sure the door was closed firmly behind him. He took a moment to secure it, so anyone other than himself would get a nasty shock if they attempted to enter before the wards were lifted.

Smiling grimly, he turned away.

“Adam.”

“Yes, Mother?”

“De Vivar wants to be rege more than anything, and he’ll do whatever he thinks is necessary to gain that station. He… isn’t quite sane.”

“Why did you turn him?”

“When he learned who I was, he kept importuning me. I thought it was because he was in love with me.”

“But you realized that wasn’t the case once you had turned him.” And perhaps she had been a little in love with him, because not much could be hidden from a born vampyr.

“No. Be careful, my son.”

He went to her and kissed her cheek. “Always.”

He left her at the top of the stairs and descended to the lower level. Was it too much to hope the mob in the Great Hall had dissipated?

He paused halfway down.

Yes, it seemed it was.

“I must meet with His Grace. When we return, you may direct all your questions to him.” As he’d known, that squashed their curiosity. “Until then, no one will disturb the sabor. Have I made myself clear?”

The enforcers curled their lips at him, as if anyone other than the rege could possibly concern them.

The nobles and gentry left for whatever the night had in store for them, as if such an idea had never crossed their minds.

And the servants scuttled out, as if their intentions had already been discerned.

After a final glance toward the upper level, Adam walked out of the citadel.

Within a matter of minutes, he would be back at Ty’s little house, and as he’d told his mother, there was still a good deal to do.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN
:
C
OME
A
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Y
OU
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S
CRATCHING AT the door woke me out of a sound sleep. “Wha…?”

After that lulu of a nightmare earlier in the night, I hadn’t had any others, which surprised me, given the way yesterday had turned out. I was pretty sure the only reason I’d been plagued with just a single nightmare was that Adam had stayed with me for a while.

A glance at the clock on the night table showed it was 3:36 a.m.

“Darn it, Min. Adam said he was going to walk you! Don’t tell me you have to go out again!”

She woofed, and I jumped. She was right beside me.

What the heck?

Grumbling, I tossed back the covers and rolled out of bed. The room was chilly, not really unusual for this month, because while May could have some hot days, June could have some that were equally cool. I remembered Dad having to turn up the heat any number of times in June, unhappy because he’d had the air-conditioning on just a couple of days earlier.

The scratching at my bedroom door became more insistent. Adam had things he had to do for the rege, but Raymond wouldn’t leave my home unguarded.

“Keep your shirt on,” I muttered as I crossed to the door. “Geez Louise, Ray. I already gave you permission to enter my room.” I reached for the doorknob, which was surprisingly warm. For a second I thought the knob wouldn’t turn, but then it did, and I yanked open the door. “Why’d you have to—you’re not Raymond!”

“No. And this isn’t your room.”

“What?”

The vampyr who stood in the doorway couldn’t have been more than fourteen, but he was already as tall as me. He wore torn jeans and a sweatshirt that read “Save Ferris.” Although he was backlit by the light in the hallway and I couldn’t see the color of his eyes, I could still tell he had blond hair. Something about the shape of his face struck me as familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

He scowled at me. “I said—”

“I heard what you said. What I want to know is how can this
not
be my room? And what are you doing in my house?”

“I’m not in your house. You’re in mine. Adam brought you here. Look, if you don’t believe me, go ahead and take a look around.”

“Okay. But stay there. You’re not invited in! Mina, keep him out!”

He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t let her size fool you. She’s a killer,” I warned.

“I’m sure.” He was laughing at her!

Now would be a good time for Mina to do her
Hound of the Baskervilles
thing, but she just sat in front of him and yawned.
Shoot.

“Of course this is my house,” I groused under my breath. How could Adam bring me anywhere without me being aware of it? I went to the closet and pulled open the doors. “Uh….” There were clothes in there, but they weren’t mine.

“Check out the bathroom.”

I opened the bathroom door and came to an abrupt halt. I blinked and blinked again. What the…. It was enormous. Instead of the tub/shower combination, this contained a huge jetted tub, and the shower had a separate enclosure. Nothing was the same, not even the lack of a mirror above the dual sinks on the vanity.

I looked over my shoulder into my bedroom. I looked back into the bathroom.

And I groaned. Was I having another nightmare?

Mina came to me and tugged on my sweatpants. I’d been sure Adam had taken them off, but could that have been part of that nightmare?

“Hold on a second.” I felt along the doorjamb, found the light switch, and pressed it. No window shielded by shutters. No door on the other side of the closet, leading to the dining room—the door where the vampyr stood opened on another wall entirely, and I’d been too groggy to realize it. “Oh crap! We’re not in Kansas anymore, pup!”

“Oh, that’s really funny.” Although I could tell from the way he said it the vampyr didn’t really think so.

“Where are we?” I expected more snarky attitude, but he gave me a straight answer.

“This is Grandfather’s citadel.”

That told me nothing. “Who’s your grandfather?”

“Alexandru Mondragon.”

“The rege?” My jaw dropped. He didn’t look old enough to be a grandpa.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Not exactly. Why am I here?”

“Duke Adam brought you here for your protection.”

“Huh?”

“Apparently someone tried to get at you through your subconscious.”

I thought of the nightmare. “Who?”

He shrugged. “The
Duque de Málaga
would be the most likely candidate, but everyone knows how badly he was injured when he tried to enter your house. Grandfather did that, you know.” The kid’s pride was obvious.

“So if it’s not de Vivar—”

“Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to cut this conversation short. I… I need you.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m not in love with you and I’m not going to feed you.”

That seemed to distract him. “That’s weird. How come?”

“I’m not in the mood?”

“No, I mean how come you’re not in love with me? It would be a heck of a lot easier if you were,” he muttered. “Then I could make you do what I needed you to do.”

“Oh yeah?” I scowled at him—that pissed me off—but he just scowled back at me.

“I thought all sabors had to fall in love with whichever vampyr came to them.”

“I guess you can say I’m not your average sabor. Now if that’s settled, I’m going back to bed.”

“No!” He grabbed my arm. I yanked it free, and Mina was suddenly on her feet, her jaws parted, and now she sounded like the hound of the Baskervilles. The young vampyr turned even paler than his normal skin tone and backed away. “I… I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to overstep the bounds. But I do need your help. If Grandfather were here, he could deal with this, but he’s away.”

“What’s going on?”

“Some weeks ago, a saborese was brought to us almost drained. Grandfather had no choice but to turn him, but he’s not doing well, and without Grandfather here to feed him….”

“Why come to me?” I was getting a bad feeling about this.

“You’re a sabor.”

“And…?”

“I heard Aunt Terese talking with the older vampyrs, and the consensus seemed to be without a sabor’s intervention, Daniel wouldn’t survive moonrise.”

“Why me?” We answered together: “Because I’m here.” “Because you’re here.”

“Does he have his talisman?”

His hand went to the spot above his heart where the talisman hung. “How do you know about this?”

“I’m psychic.”

His eyes grew huge, and I wanted to smack him upside the head.

“How do you think I know? Adam told me!”

“Oh.” He worried his lip. “Will you come?”

“Where?”

“Daniel’s room is just down the hall.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Let him feed from you?”

My stomach began churning. “I can’t—”

“Please.”

“What is he to you? You said he’s a vampyr now, so you can’t feed from him. Can you?”

The kid pokered up. “He’s…. Why should he be anything to me?”

“You seem awfully desperate to get me to feed someone who doesn’t mean anything to you.”

“I…. He’s… I don’t have to answer that!”

“Okay, fine.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I won’t promise anything, though.”

“Thank you!” He started to reach for my arm, but Mina’s warning growl made him think better of it. “Daniel’s chamber is this way.”

Would Adam be mad at me for doing this? Would it strike him as a betrayal? I followed the kid down the hallway. I’d seen pictures of castles, and this looked like one. Was this why it was so chilly? I wished I had a pair of socks on. My feet were cold.

“What’s your name?” I couldn’t keep thinking of him as “the kid.”

“Ioan Mic.”

“I’m Tyrell Small.”

“I know. Grandfather talks about you quite a bit. So does Uncle Adam. He’s not really my uncle. He’s more like my cousin.” He stopped rambling as we came to a door with a huge metal lock; he took a key from his pocket.

“Why’s he locked in?” If Ioan said anything about this Daniel being violent, I was so out of there.

He put the key in the lock and turned it before meeting my gaze. His eyes were unbelievably blue. “I was afraid he’d take off. He’s miserable and all he wants is to die.”

That shocked me. I remembered what had happened to Uncle Phil, and he hadn’t taken the easy way out. The notion a saborese would actually court death wasn’t something I wanted to consider.

I followed Ioan into the room. The saborese
/
vampyr was spread out on the bed, his hands cuffed to the headboard and his feet to the footboard. He raised his head. Another blond, but he had gray eyes. His face was lined with pain and despair, and he looked older than I imagined he really was. There was no color in his cheeks, and his lips were so pale they looked bloodless.

“Ioan…. Who’s this?” He bared his fangs… or tried to. They wouldn’t drop, and I wondered if he’d be able to feed from me if I agreed to it. Added to that, he had a serious case of anemia going on—his gums were almost white.