Angel Falls (Cassandra Bick Chronicles Book 3) (25 page)

‘Good evening.’ We heard a voice and spun in what must have looked almost comical coordination to see Josephine, as dazzling as ever, though unlike the other patrons, she hadn’t really dressed up. Gold liner slicked along her eyelids and a darker shade of lipstick were her only concessions to the event, otherwise she had stuck to her vamp CEO look, as if she’d popped in to the party after executing a massive round of redundancies at some underperforming bank. In fairness, her outfit was so well-tailored it probably cost more than most of the clothes in here. Perhaps when you pay so much for your apparel, it makes sense to kill someone over a pair of ruined boots. She cast an involuntarily appreciative glance at Medea, but directed her remarks to me and Cain – and I noticed that, taken as she was with Medea, she wasn’t finding Cain hard on the eye, either.

‘Having abandoned your… companion to his fate, have you come to watch? Or is this a misguided attempt to stage a rescue?’

She waved an encompassing hand, as if to illustrate the futility of any such endeavour: after all, we were in a glass and steel walkway 200 feet in the sky, surrounded by vampires, and with both exits clearly guarded. Cain shrugged. If there was one expression he could pull off magnificently, it was indifference.

‘Like you said, we betrayed him. For our own reasons, not yours.’ He cast a meaningful look at me, and I blushed, inadvertently selling the bit. Nobody would believe Cain was suddenly chummy with these vamps, but one glance at him would be enough to convince you he would throw a romantic rival under the bus without a second thought. ‘My mind’ll be a lot easier once I know he’s dead. A pile of dust never took their revenge on anybody.’

She tilted her head, as if sensing he was lying, but not clear on what he was actually saying. Then she nodded, cautiously.

‘It is always wise to make sure your enemies are thoroughly neutralised,’ she agreed, coolly, and I felt the skin on my neck prickle, once again feeling as if we were in some invisible crosshairs.

‘Always pays to be smart about deciding who your enemies are,’ Cain said, his voice mild. She regarded him with glacial amusement.

‘I am nearly 700 years old, hunter. You do not live that long without choosing both your allies and your enemies with care.’

Cain smiled that switchblade smile.

‘Tell that to the 1,000-year-old vampire about to get a suntan.’

Her eye twitched, ever so slightly, at that and Cain lifted his own hand, echoing her expansive gesture. As he did, there was a tiny tremor in the floor beneath us. Not enough to scare anyone, but enough for her to pick up on – Laclos, too, as he looked slightly alarmed at the fact his glass cage rocked, even if just a fraction. Josephine did a good job of hiding her shock, but I stepped back, grabbing Jonesy’s arm for support as my Sense recoiled. As Cain unleashed his own power, she instinctively did the same; like most older vampires, she normally kept it tamped down. But even as I tried to shield myself from this, holding onto Jonesy, I shoved myself up against Cain’s back, offering him physical support. I knew how much even such a minor display cost him, these days – not only in doing it, but controlling it, and if he keeled over now we’d be in serious trouble.

‘Laclos’ mistake was to confuse cooperation with weakness,’ he said, conversationally. ‘I liked Laclos. Quite a lot, actually.’ And something in the way he said that made me realise this, at least, was true. ‘And I‘m here to drink champagne as he burns for no other reason than he became inconvenient to me.’

Josephine took a small step back, and nodded. She was a smart woman, and I could see her making some fast connections. If Cain was this powerful, then surely he could have protected Laclos if he wanted? It certainly made his betrayal seem convincing, though it wasn’t exactly painting me in the most flattering of lights, ready to throw my lot in with whichever suitor was strongest. Or maybe, to a vampire, it was: they generally approved of a ‘to the victor the spoils’ attitude, and it made sense for a weak and feeble human to align herself with whichever man could protect her best. She was looking at me, appraisingly, and I could tell we were not unobserved: the hunters in the room were naturally watching to see what was happening, and several of the vampires stared with open curiosity, and, in some cases, ill-disguised unease. I’m guessing every vampire with a couple of centuries under their belt could sense Cain’s power, now, and I hoped that wouldn’t backfire. If they all suddenly felt the kind of bloodlust – or even straightforward lust – that he triggered in Laclos, this could get messy fast. At the very least, a crowd of ardent suitors would cramp our plans.

Josephine’s smile tightened, and she turned fully to me, staring at me with patient condescension until I was forced by sheer politeness to emerge from behind Cain. She nodded slightly, and laid a hand on my wrist. She was warm, for a vampire, and had clearly fed before the party.

‘Since, in the new order of things, we are likely to have much to do with your organisation, perhaps we should begin our fresh footing this evening? Would you allow me to give you a little tour?’ She smiled back at Cain, an open challenge. ‘You don’t mind if I borrow your charming date? I promise to be nice to her.’

‘Not too nice, I hope.’ He nodded towards Laclos. ‘Look what happened to the last guy.’

Her smile faltered for a second, suddenly brittle, because the threat in his tone was unmistakeable. Obviously he didn’t expect Josephine to try and seduce me in front of him, but he was making it clear I was under his protection. I found it a little chest-beating for my tastes, but to a vampire, such proprietorial behaviour was the norm. She inclined her head to him in acknowledgement and then held out her arm in an oddly formal gesture, like some regency beau offering to escort a maiden to dine, and I had no choice but to take it, even if it – deliberately, I guessed – kept us in uncomfortable proximity. Under Cain’s unshakeable gaze and trailed by concerned looks from Medea and Jonesy, I allowed myself to be steered away from our group.

***

Up close, I Sensed both Josephine’s power and, beneath that, unease, though she moved with the serenity of a swan, leading me back towards the now-empty stage, and the busier-than-ever drinks tables.

‘I do not pretend to understand the strange allegiances you and your paramour have, or your clearly very different opinions on Laclos. You are obviously a woman with hidden… depths, and I suspect the one calling himself Cain is even less bound by human mores than I am. Is it true what they say about him? That he is the Burner, reborn?’

‘I wouldn’t know about that,’ I said, but something in my heartbeat made her give a thoughtful nod. Shit, I really needed to start doing yoga or meditation or something. Though at least I was in such a state of generalised panic I hoped she couldn’t pick up on anything specific. But there was something off about her, too. Her tone was casual, conversational, but her expression was at odds with her words, as if she were willing me to see past them. She was as aware as I was that everything we said could be potentially overheard.

‘I feel I should tell you, that if your plan is to rescue him, that would be a futile and dangerous idea. There are over three dozen vampires in this room. Many of those are on our side, including some of the strongest in London. Indeed, the world, since this city has always appealed to the ancients.’ Her eyes flicked towards one of the doors and, while I could see Alastair, surrounded by a posse of younger vampires, I Sensed Amalthea as well, hidden – too young to be seen at such an event, too ancient to miss it. Josephine saw something register in my face, and I wondered how much she knew about me, about my Sense. Her next question made me even more curious.

‘And how are you to tell the innocent bystanders – human or vampire – from our people? They are here to see a little magic, raise a little money, make the world a better place. Would you risk their lives for a man with so much blood on his?’

‘Nobody is planning a rescue. Cain might be here to gloat but I’m… I’m here to say goodbye. That’s all.’

She nodded, and gestured to a console tucked behind the podium, next to the drinks. It was clearly what controlled the lights, TV screens, etc. – or at least those they’d supplied themselves, as I imagined anything to do with the bridge itself would be off somewhere in a secure control room. It was so loaded with lights, bells and whistles it looked fake, like something out of a retro sci-fi movie like
War Games.
My suspicions about its purpose were confirmed by the fact that, slouched next to it, was a bloke who looked like a roadie from Black Sabbath, the only man here not wearing a suit – no matter how posh the gig, I’ve never seen the techie dress up, and suspected that was something even vampire compulsion couldn’t achieve. It took me a moment, though, to realise what else she was pointing at. Below the central console, suspended by a thick cable, hung a heavy-looking box. It looked like the kind of mechanism you see controlling a crane or a car-crusher in a scrapyard: basically, a box with a red button to push for stop and a green for go. Heavy duty equipment like that, they tended to not want you to make mistakes with what you were doing. It was this, then, that was the pneumatic control to whatever held Laclos’ prison in place.

‘One push of that button and the glass coffin will plunge 200 feet and shatter on the bridge below, with Laclos trapped inside it,’ she said, coolly. I frowned. Why was she telling me this?

‘A betting woman might say a vampire of Laclos’ age could survive such a fall,’ I ventured, equally calm.

‘True. Though perhaps not in any physical condition one such as Laclos would wish to exist in. Some damage it can take centuries to repair.’

OK, well, that put my ‘let’s just hope he can survive a splatting’ strategy on hold.

‘Besides, it would be a moot point. Anyone who pressed that button without our permission would be dead before the vampire hit the ground.’

‘In front of all these witnesses?’

‘A drunk guest, fainting? Who is to question that?’ She looked out of the window, as if she could see past the reflection of the lights in here to penetrate the darkness beyond. ‘And should anyone seek to sever the chains from out there, we have snipers on both sides of the river. This is a national monument, a high profile event. Armed police aren’t an unreasonable request, especially when one has… contacts in the service.’ Another glacial smile, but she still wasn’t looking at me. ‘You have been a friend to our kind, Cassandra Bick. I may not approve of some of your methods or your acquaintances, but I appreciate your motives. I would hate to see you suffer for your lover’s folly.’

I nodded, though, embarrassingly, I wasn’t entirely sure which lover she was talking about. Then she finally turned back to me, though her gaze slid over me to my little party of rebel infiltrators.

‘Well, I shall let you get back to Cain, since he clearly does not like to share your attentions.’ Then, with another slight incline of her head, she glided back into the crowd, greeting guests as she moved away. I stared after her, my head spinning. Josephine was one of the key figures behind Laclos’ imprisonment – she was his enemy. So why did I feel that while she was superficially warning me off, she was also giving me an escape plan?

As I walked back to Cain, I fired off a group text about the snipers – in a room of vamps, we’d decided this was the safest way of communicating anything too sensitive, and it meant Leon and Mariko could be kept abreast, too. Even Val, who presumably usually communicated through godly omniscience and war chants, had agreed to carry a cheap prepaid mobile. I wasn’t really sure what we would do with the information. We’d agreed that, if we did manage to get Laclos out of this, the best way to halt the spiral of violent reprisals – and escape the attention of any hunters – was to get him out of the country. A man with his resources could hole up for an awful long time in an awful lot of luxury, and I didn’t think the vampires would want to export a war. I tried not to think what this would mean for me. I wasn’t so selfish that I wanted him to risk his life here rather than be safe elsewhere, but he had become a major part of my life – more so, even, than Cain, whose presence was intense when he was here, but was pretty erratic. And whatever I felt for Cain, Laclos made me smile when no one else could. Things would be a lot duller, certainly, without him around.

But relocation wasn’t an option for me or Medea, and if we played a visible part in his rescue, there would be no one around to keep us from retribution: especially if Medea’s magic continued to be AWOL. And while I only had myself to worry about, Medea had Katie and her nursing career and a marriage to protect – at a push, I could run, but I couldn’t ask Medea to do the same, especially to save a man whose actions, whatever their root cause, she deplored. She was taking a big enough risk being here tonight: if things went south, I had to try and keep her out of it.

But the console had given me an idea, and I walked with a new determination back to Cain, sliding my arm around his waist. He looked calm – and suave, and hot, and extremely sexy – wait, where was I? Calm. But the strain of his little display earlier – on top of everything else – was starting to show in those startling green eyes. I just had to hope he still had some juice left.

‘Is there any way we can talk?’ I murmured into his neck, hiding my question in a display of affection. He nodded slightly, putting an arm around my waist.

‘They’re playing music. How about we dance?’

And, to my utter astonishment, he swept me into his arms and clear off my feet. The walkway was relatively narrow, but not cramped, and while a few couples were taking advantage of the music to sway together, the fact that we were actually, properly dancing (waltzing, maybe? Who knows?) garnered a murmur of appreciative laughter, a smattering of applause, and I felt myself blush, burying my head in his shoulder. Cain, it turns out, is a pretty amazing dancer. I, you will be shocked to learn, am not. But when your partner is so strong your feet literally barely touch the ground, apparently it doesn’t matter so much if you have the natural coordination of a partially sedated elephant. As we moved smoothly among the guests, I heard the kind of indulgent chuckles a handsome man in a well-cut suit will elicit when he sweeps a girl in a pretty dress into his arms, and we even inspired some other couples to follow our example. Of course, I’m fairly sure most of them weren’t determined to keep moving so that they weren’t in anyone’s earshot for too long. A vampire’s hearing is sharp, but it requires focus, otherwise you hear everything all of the time, and Cain was further adding to the confusion by sporadically quickening to a vampire’s speed – I couldn’t see it, but I felt the lurch in my stomach, though the movements were so subtle they’d be imperceptible to all but the most observant viewer. I’d bet even the oldest and most experienced vampire would have trouble eavesdropping on a target whose movements were not only unpredictable, but occasionally too fast for them to register.