She sent Rhiannon a pleading look, to which the other woman responded with a scowl. But then, from outside the room, another voice came.
“That’s the problem with royalty. They can be so rude.” A third woman came into the room. She wore a plush robe and looked drained of energy. Her feet dragged a little when she walked, and her eyes were red, as if she had been crying or was suffering a hangover.
Amber shot to her feet, and Rhiannon turned to reach for the woman, but she held her hands up and stopped them both. “Don’t.”
Rhiannon sighed, but lowered her arms to her sides. “You should be sleeping.”
She shrugged. “Tell your friend Eric his vampire-tranquilizer needs tweaking. It might have put you out of commission, Rhiannon, but for a vampiress as powerful as I am, it only produces a slight buzz.”
“If you were yourself, Gypsy, I’d show you the meaning of powerful.” Rhiannon said the words gently, though. It wasn’t a real threat.
The “Gypsy” crossed the room, gently embraced Amber. “I didn’t exactly give you a proper greeting, did I?”
“It’s understandable,” Amber said, hugging her back.
As they pulled apart, the vampiress studied Amber, stroked a hand over her hair. “It’s redder than last time I saw you.”
“More burgundy than red,” Rhiannon said.
Amber shrugged. “It always seems to be changing. Mom says I have raven hair with bloody highlights.”
She was all about highlights, Edge thought in silence. Her ebony eyes turned darkest midnight-blue if you looked closely enough. He wondered if they had changed, as well, or if they’d always been that way. Not that it mattered in the least to him.
The third woman was facing him now, offering a weak smile and a hand. “I’m Sarafina.”
He took her hand. Her grip wasn’t as strong as he would have expected in one as old as she was. The power of a vampire floated around them like a nimbus. It grew with age, and he sensed a depth of it in this woman—nearly as much as he felt wafting from Rhiannon. But it was hiding now, or dormant.
“They call me Edge.”
“And you’re a friend of Amber Lily’s?”
He glanced her way. “I’d like to be.”
“Then you’re more than welcome to stay here with us.”
“'Fina, a word, please?” Rhiannon whispered.
Sarafina shot her a look. “There’s no need for secrecy, Rhiannon. I imagine Edge has figured out by now that you don’t trust him, and that you guard Amber Lily like your Pandora would guard a freshly downed antelope.”
Pandora? Edge sent the mental whisper to Amber, wondering if she could hear and respond.
Her pet black panther, she thought back at him.
He was impressed with her telepathic skills and not sure how to respond to the likening of Rhiannon to a predatory feline, so he said nothing at all.
Sarafina moved closer to him, studied his face. “Not that she’s overprotective, by any means. There are a lot of ruthless sons of bitches who’d give anything to get their hands on our Amber Lily.”
“And you think I might be one of them?” He tried to look shocked, glancing from her to Rhiannon to Amber. “I’m a vampire, ladies. I’m one of you.”
“You’re a vampire. Not one of us,” Rhiannon said, her voice soft, dangerous.
He held up both hands. “I didn’t come here looking for free room and board.”
Sarafina shrugged. “Still, I can’t think of a better way to keep an eye on you than to have you stay right here, with us.”
He smiled at her. “Not on your life, lady.” Then he turned to Amber. “I’m out of here, Alby. But I won’t be far.”
He started for the door, and Amber came up behind him. “Edge, you don’t have to—”
She stopped speaking when he turned around, snapped an arm around her waist, tugged her hard against him and kissed her mouth. It wasn’t a long kiss. It wasn’t meant to be. It was a message. And he thought the vampires received it loud and clear.
When he let her go, she frowned at him, almost as if she knew exactly what he was doing. Damn, she was supposed to be weak-kneed and confused. Instead she looked as sharp and nearly as mistrusting of him as the vampires were.
He said, “I’ll see you again.” Then he turned on his heel, walked into the hall, down the stairs and out of the house.
Amber closed her eyes, squared her shoulders and turned to face the two women. “Don’t even start.”
“I don’t like him,” Rhiannon said.
“He’s up to something,” Sarafina agreed.
“Of course he’s up to something.” Amber stalked down the stairs, with the two women right behind her. She headed to the kitchen, put on a kettle, dug in a cupboard for the herbal tea blend she and Willem both favored. Only then did she turn and face the women again. “Sit.”
“Amber …” Rhiannon began.
“Just sit. Sarafina, you’re going to fall down if you don’t get off your feet.” She took ‘Fina’s arm, pulled out a chair for her.
Sarafina sat down. Rhiannon didn’t. She folded her arms over her chest and speared Amber with her eyes. “Amber, he’s handsome, I’ll grant you that,” she said.
Sarafina agreed. “Devastatingly handsome.”
“Hottest man I’ve ever seen in my freakin’ life,” Amber put in.
The two looked at her, wide-eyed.
“Look, I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.”
“No. Just twenty-three years ago,” Rhiannon said. “Which really isn’t much longer than yesterday.”
“Not to you, maybe. But I’m not stupid.”
“I never said you were stupid, Amber, just. inexperienced.”
“With men, she means,” Sarafina put in.
“Not so inexperienced I can’t spot a con a mile away. God, do you think I believe any of this? He appears out of nowhere on a dark road and I don’t sense him there? He had to be shielding.” She shook her head slowly. “I’ve been mulling this over all the way out here. The only answer I can come up with is that he didn’t want me to see him before I hit him.”
Rhiannon blinked, glanced at Sarafina, then looked back at Amber.
“And that he just happened to be going to Salem? Come on, I’d have to be a dimwit to fall for that.”
“But you brought him here all the same,” Sarafina whispered.
Amber nodded, moving behind her to squeeze her shoulders. “Yes. And I’m sorry if it added any more tension to a situation that’s already unbearable, Sarafina. I didn’t want to make things worse for you.”
“Then why did you do it?” Rhiannon asked.
Amber met her eyes. “I think … I was supposed to.”
“What do you mean?”
Sighing, Amber shook her head. “No. Look, this is my deal, okay? I’m not ready to talk about it, not yet. And certainly not when there’s so much else going on.” She leaned closer to Sarafina. “Don’t burden yourself worrying about this. I can handle Edge. And don’t give up hope on Willem.”
Sarafina