“The arcenciel and the Anz? both came through the liminal thresholds, didn’t they?” I said. “That’s why there’s no real paleontological or archaeological evidence of either. That’s why there are so few of you. That’s why—”
“Stop. I may not bandy such information about.”
“We have a deal.”
“And I will contemplate how I might fulfill that deal without being forsworn to others no longer here.”
I stood. “Okay. Meanwhile, I have a . . . a friend, of sorts. She works for PsyLED, and her name is Soul. When there’s danger, she moves with a long, sinuous shape of light.” I leaned in. “Would she think you tasty too?”
Gee’s eyes went wide and he said, “I would speak to her.”
“Yeah? Well, I’ll pass along the request. Right now, she’s sleeping in my guest bedroom.” Gee’s eyes went wider and something like avarice crossed his face, too fast for me to interpret. “I’ll be doing some research on liminal lines and thresholds.” I stood, walking out of the library, leaving the birdseed on the table, and keeping my body bladed and my eyes on Gee DiMercy’s until the door closed between us. I broke out in a sweat, knowing he could have run me through with sword, beak, or talons before I had a chance to block. I was lucky he’d not made up his mind to kill me for my rudeness. I was betting that old beings who had been worshiped as “gods” were not totally hip to modern-day snark. I put the small blade away when I reached a place where other people were, feeling safe only when there were lots of witnesses around.
I paused in a hallway and thought about the “dark things” that Gee had said were hidden here at HQ, and the things that no one was saying. I pulled my clunky cell and dialed the Kid. “Yellowrock Secur—”
“You know that glitch we were talking about recently?” I interrupted. “The one that sent us all up and down?”
“Someone’s listening?” Alex caught on fast. “The, uh”—he paused, searching for a word that would communicate without giving anything away to any sharp-eared vamps nearby—“winches, gotcha. What can I do for you?”
“Send me there. Stop at the room with all the paintings and stuff, and then send me as far as you can.”
“Oh.” I could tell Alex was thinking that wasn’t such a good idea but he finally said, “Yeah. If you’re sure.”
“I’m in the mood to travel.”
“I can’t get past the security programs to override the system, without an insider’s handprint. At least not yet. I’m working on it, though.”
“I’ll find someone willing.”
“It’s your neck. You want me to stay on?”
He meant stay in contact, the HQ internal communication lines open. “Yeah.” I fumbled in the cover of the cell, pulled out the earpiece he had put there one rainy afternoon when he was playing Q to Eli’s and my James and Jane Bond. I synced the cell to the radio, putting the cell back into a pocket. I had never used the upmarket syncing service but it was handy. “You there?”
“Loud and clear,” Alex answered. And no one at HQ could overhear. Alex was big on back doors. He was a lot like Reach that way.
I walked into the public parts of fanghead HQ, snagging a vamp on my way. It was Mario Esposito, a dark-skinned Italian guy who thought he was way prettier and way more suave than he really was. In his low-heeled loafers, Mario was three inches shorter than me in my boots, and while that wasn’t uncommon, his interest in my chest was unusual. The twenty pounds I’d put on not so long ago had given me some kind of cleavage, and Mario looked like he wanted to get up close and personal with mine. I hooked my arm through his and led the way to the elevator, as Mario shot me his best lines.
“I knew we would one day be together, mio amore. I knew it the first time I gazed at your body, strong and sensual and . . .”
I pushed into the elevator and nuzzled Mario’s ear. “Mario, honey pie, would you swipe your palm and take me to heaven?”
Alex made a quiet gagging noise, one that faded into the background noises, even to a vamp’s sharp hearing. Mario laid his hand over the reader, and hit the button for the third floor.
“Now, please,” I said. “Make it so, Number Two.”
The elevator doors closed. Mario’s mouth descended to my neck. The vamp didn’t notice my disinterest while he pressed his fangs against my skin in invitation, but he did get the downward motion of the elevator. Down and down and down. He pulled his cold lips from my throat and looked up to my face. “We are going down.”
“Yes.”
“Into the dark.”
“Looks like it,” I said, maybe a bit too nonchalantly.