Radiance (Brotherhood of the Blade Trilogy #3) (4 page)

“
That’s not funny.”

We were going faster now, and the snowy landscape and trees whizzed by in almost a blur.

“How do I slow down?”

She easily came next to me. “At the bottom, when the ground levels out, somewhere around Italy.”

“Another joke?”

“
I’m scared of your smashed face and I have to make jokes so I won’t scream when I look at you.”

“
So don’t look.”

“
Did you watch the video about the wedge for slowing down?”

“
Um, probably,” I said, and swiveled my hips like Elvis.

“
Less exaggerated hip motion. You aren’t dancing rock and roll,” Ambra said.

“
Thanks. What do you think of my skiing?” A tree went between us, almost smacking me.

“
Look where you’re going. Don’t look at me unless I call you.”

“
Okay.”

When we skied closer again, she said, “Your skiing style is abysmal and too American. If you live through this, I’m officially killing you.”

I grinned at her, which hurt.

“
Oh, your poor face,” she said when she saw my grin turn into a grimace.

“
I should heal up just fine. Griff took me to the hospital in Zürich. My nose had to be operated on and set and he wanted a plastic surgeon to do it instead of him.”

“
That’s good. I’m fond of your face,” she said.

“
Me, too.”

“
Are you in horrible pain?”

“
Yes, but we’ve had this ski date for a week and I didn’t want to stand you up.”

“
You have a broken nose and two black eyes. I would have understood.”

“
I got kicked in the jewels, too, but I’m too stubborn to make excuses.”

“
I would expect no less of you.”

“
Ambra, I have a text. My cell phone is going off in my pocket and vibrating.”

“
Mine, too.”

“
It must be Lucas,” I said. “We better pull over and see what’s up.”

“
You don’t just ‘pull over.’ To slow down, make a wedge shape—like a slice of pizza—with your skis by making a triangle with the tips of your skis. The bigger the wedge in the back, as you move the tails apart, the slower you go.”

I tried it. “It works! Thanks!”

“Keep your knees apart. Always, like a basketball is between them.”

“
Yes, ma’am.”

“
Another thing. Plant your pole between the end of the last turn and the first step into a new turn. The pole gets you in position. When you plant the pole and you are in position, align your body over your feet and lift the pole. That gets you set up for carving on the edges of your skis. Keep your ankles flexed and have an uphill ski and a downhill ski—one ski tip is a little ahead of the other one—and change off.”

“
Lean forward, I know. Do everything you tell me without question.”

“
Keep pressure on the front of your ski boots, not on your quads or you will tire quickly. Keep your hips up and drive the knees forward so you ski, not skid. Finish the turn, extend your pole, plant it, turn toward the new direction, release. Repeat. Soon, it all becomes automatic, like steering a car.”

I did what she said. “Pole planting. I’m doing it, Ambra!”

She smiled. “Yes, you are. Don’t get crazy. Just carve, carve, carve. Pole and pump. Pole and pump. Keep your body aligned over your skis and your feet parallel for good balance and top speed. If you’re doing it right, your shins will hurt later.”

“
Woohoo! They’re already hurting.”

She laughed. “Slow down with the wedge technique. I see a flat area. Let’s stop and read our text message.”

Ambra found a level outcropping and stopped. I was right behind her. My water skiing experience helped me, but snow skiing was much more challenging. We caught our breath as we got out our cell phones.

“
Holy cow, skiing is fun.”

“
I told you to come with me months ago, surfer boy.”

She got to her phone first. “The text says that training is canceled—”

“And we’re going on a vampire hunt. Tonight!” I said as I looked at the same text.

“
Lucas said ASAP. Let’s get back to the castle,” she said. “Text him back that we are on our way.”

“
Okay.” I did so.

“
We’re taking a short cut. Follow me to the
super
-
advanced
trail. Don’t pass me or get next to me. We have to go through narrow passes of rocks. Only one person can pass through at a time. Just do what I do and no showing off. Keep your skis parallel and don’t let your knees touch. We’ll eventually be going about ninety-six kilometers per hour, maybe faster after we get through the rocks. Pay attention and copy my style and movements. Got it?”

“
I’ll ski right in your tracks,” I said earnestly. “I’ll keep back a ways, so I can get ready for the turns and obstacles.”

“
Idéal
,” she replied, and took off.

“
What’s 96 kilometers per hour converted to miles per hour?”

“
Sixty!” she yelled back. “Try not to fall! Lean forward!”

“
Woohoo!” I counted to ten and followed at a safe distance. I kept my skis exactly in her carved grooves as we whizzed through the snow at a terrifying speed that both thrilled and scared me.

I got into the rhythm of it. My adrenaline spiked as she went off a large outcropping and did a midair flip, landed on her skis and kept going.

“Spot your landing!” she screamed. “Reach out with your legs!”

A little way behind her, I did the same flip, or I would have crashed.

“I forgot about that part,” she called back to me, apologetically. “There aren’t any more like that.”

“
I wish there were. That was kick-ass!” I yelled, finding my groove again, right in her carved tracks. I was planting my poles and pumping, imitating her movements with my uphill ski and my downhill ski that I changed off, just like she did. It was magic. A former Olympian was teaching me to ski. And I had watched most of the videos she had sent me, too. “Am I any good?”

She looked back for a few moments. If you live to the bottom of this mountain, you have earned the slot as my regular ski partner,” she called back.

I grinned so hard that my busted-up face hurt like a mutha.

Chapter Four

Just after sunset, Ambra and I went to our respective rooms to hurriedly change into our vampire hunting clothes and get our silver weapons. We ran downstairs and sat in the great hall to eat a fast breakfast with the rest of the gang. I was super hungry from skiing and loaded up my plate with eggs, ham and Swiss pastries. I also had a lot of orange juice.

“Four of us are going into Zürich tonight on a vampire hunt. Me, Daphne, Ambra and Rand. In fact, we leave as soon as this meeting is over.” Lucas looked at my face. “I briefly heard what happened last night from Griff. Are you good for this mission?”

“
Yeah, I’m fine. I just came off a terrific ski lesson. No sweat.”

“
You on any pain pills for that broken nose and black eyes?”

“
No, I hoard those for bullet wounds.”

“
Okay, tough guy.” Lucas paused. “So, this is a very dangerous mission because I have had only a couple of hours to plan it. We can’t all go. It’s too conspicuous to load up the whole crew and cruise around in an urban area. However, this one should be easy. It’s going to be a quick, tight slaying. We get in. We find the guy. We do the hit. We get out fast. We come home.”

“
A Zürich vampire hunt?” Ambra asked.

“
Yes. Jade was monitoring the police frequencies, and she heard something unusual. Two hours ago, she alerted me to a police call where a woman had been found murdered.” Lucas looked at Ambra. “I’m sorry to tell you like this, but the murder was at your old home address. That’s what got Jade’s attention. She’s got a database in her head, I swear.”

Ambra swallowed and looked at Jade. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m so sorry. The person renting your old house from you was killed.”

“
My cousin Nina is dead? How can this be?”

Lucas said, “I know murders don’t happen very often in Zürich. In fact, it’s quite rare. But we’re going to get him. The key thing is, the trail is hot tonight.”

Ambra placed her hands flat on the table and steadied her voice. “What makes you so sure that a vampire did it?”

“
The m.o. is so close to Pieter’s that Jade believes that he’s the very same vampire. I think so, too.”

“
How did she die?” Ambra managed.

“
First, she was electrocuted by a device on her doorknob. She also had bite wounds to her neck artery, probably after she fell when she got stunned from the electric shock. Same as your husband.”

“
Where is that information from?” Ambra closed her hands into fists.

“
Jade has a way of looking at the police computers,” Lucas said.

“
Oh,” I said, impressed. “Hacker?”

Jade shrugged. “I rarely do it. And only for good.”

“Just give me a minute.” Ambra steepled her fingers in front of her. “I have to think.”

“
The neighborhood will be swarming with police. We won’t be able to get close to the crime scene,” I said.

Lucas frowned. “He’s not there. A witness described someone leaving the scene as well over six feet tall, maybe even seven feet. Black hair. Brown eyes. Slender. Covered in a wide-brimmed bowler hat, Burberry coat and scarf and here’s the big clue—sunscreen all over his face. The witness jumped in his car and tailed the guy’s vintage orange Corvette to the suburbs where he lost him. Does this man sound familiar?”

“Linus Ankeny, her boyfriend, is a vampire?” Ambra said.

“
You even know who he is?”

“
Yes.”

“
Have you met him?”

“
No, but Nina recently described him to me and his car in an email, a few weeks ago at most. She said they were engaged. She emailed to tell me that she wanted to put him on the lease. I asked for his address, things like that. I told her I’d get back to her.”

“
Where does he live?” Lucas asked.

“
In Dübendorf, a village in the canton of Zürich.”

“
Dübendorf is where the witness who pursued the perp lost the trail. That pretty much clinches it that the murderer is Linus Ankeny,” Lucas said. “It’s just a matter of time before the police are also looking for him. We have to beat them to Linus.”

“
I want to talk to that witness,” Ambra said.

“
We can’t directly contact that person, you know that.”

“
Nina was my distant cousin. We didn’t speak much, but she was there for me when Pieter died. My only blood family and now, she, too, is gone.” She huffed out a breath, got out her tablet computer and turned it on.

The vampire hunters murmured their condolences.

“Thank you, everyone.” Her voice trembled as she spoke. “Let me get the email from Nina. I ran a basic background check on Linus Ankeny. He’s an engineering consultant and has a clean criminal background. He’s quite old, much too old for her, but I didn’t want to be rude and ask my thirtyish cousin what she was doing with a seventy-year-old man. Now, I know. He’s a vampire and probably looks young and handsome, which is the way she described him. She said he was forty and almost seven feet tall. A sharp dresser. A sparkling conversationalist. Romantic, too.”

Ambra was remarkably calm, though her voice was choked up and she was breathing fast. I knew she was trying not to break down. In less than a minute, she had forwarded the pertinent information to all of us.

“I sent you all I know of Linus, just Nina’s one email and then the background check. I had only given it a cursory glance. He seemed okay, and not after her money, which is what I feared when she told me that she wanted to marry him. He’s pretty well-off himself.”

“
We’ll look it all over on the way to Dübendorf. He’s probably at his house, hiding from what he’s done,” Lucas said.

“
I agree,” said Daphne.

“
I want the kill shot on Linus,” Ambra said, her voice firm.

“
You’ll have it,” Lucas promised. “Let’s go.”