Gates of Paradise (a Blue Bloods Novel)

He sighed. “Well, that’s complicated. We’ll be in touch, of course, but I can’t imagine anything will come of it until after…everything.”


The sojourn back to the States had been a monumental one for Schuyler personally, but the problem at hand still remained. The Venators were meeting tonight, and while she had faith in Kingsley’s leadership, Schuyler knew she was the one destined to bring the vampires salvation. But all she felt was useless.

Remember who your father was, her mother had told her. Remember him when time stands still, when you stand at the crossroads, when the path opens before you.

What did it mean?

The flight to London was smooth and uneventful, made easier by the comforts of first class. They disembarked to find a driver holding a sign with Schuyler’s name on it. Kingsley had arranged for a limo to pick them up at Heathrow, Oliver explained. “How thoughtful,” Schuyler said. “And how unlike him.”

“People can change,” Oliver said pointedly.

“Noted,” she said.

They sank into the plush leather seats while the driver put their luggage in the trunk. With a low purr, the car exited the airport. Schuyler looked out the window as they moved onto the highway. It was always so hard getting used to the whole driving-on-the-other-side-of-the-road thing—she was glad she never had to do the driving herself.

“I don’t know my way around London all that well,” Oliver said, “but I feel like we’re going in the wrong direction. Kingsley said the safe house was in Islington, which is that way.”

Schuyler tapped on the glass window that separated them from the driver. “Excuse me? Are we going the right way? I don’t know if Kingsley gave you the proper address.…”

The driver didn’t appear to hear her, and he didn’t lower the glass.

“What’s going on here?” Oliver asked.

Schuyler started banging on the window. “Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?”

Still nothing.

“I’m starting to get a very bad feeling about this,” Oliver said.

“Is there any chance Kingsley didn’t send this car?”

“Come to think of it, he did mention he was sending a Venator team. Not just a driver. Damn it! What should we do? Should we try to jump out?” Oliver tested the door. “Locked.”

“We can force it,” Schuyler said. “I could take the door right off the hinges if I wanted to.”

“While the car is moving? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Just then, the car stopped. They’d pulled off the highway and were in a clearing. Schuyler heard a click and tested the door. Unlocked.

“As soon as I open it, we run,” she said.

But no sooner had she said the words than someone else opened the door for her.

Schuyler froze. The feeling she’d had all along—she’d been right after all—someone had been watching and waiting…and now the watching and the waiting had ended, and whoever it was had come for her. She knew, she felt it, and she hadn’t done anything, hadn’t told anybody—and now they were both in danger. She wanted to kick herself for being so stupid. She would never see Jack again, never get to know her newfound family. She’d failed in her task, and this was her punishment.

“This isn’t good,” Oliver said.

“Get out of the car,” a cold voice said. “Now.”

“Where are you taking us?” Schuyler screamed as her assailant pulled her out of the car.

“Not us,” he said. “You.”

Then Schuyler blacked out.

In a flash, she and her captor seemed to be somewhere else, somewhere familiar: falling, falling deep into the glom, and away from the light, though Schuyler felt like they were still moving.

They stopped. Schuyler tried to keep herself from throwing up; all that motion had made her nauseous. It was dark, but as her vision started to clear, she realized where she was.

Hell.





FORTYTHREE


Mimi


he Venators grabbed Mimi and brought her to a room on the second floor of the house, then left her alone. Really? Would it be that easy? She tried the handle. Locked. Enchanted-locked, too, not just regular-locked, which would be easy enough to pulverize. She looked around. They’d taken her to a library, the walls filled with books from floor to ceiling, ladders on wheels propped against every shelf so browsers could slide back and forth between the higher rows. Too bad she wasn’t much of a reader.

The Venators left her in the room for so long she actually started looking at some of the titles. She picked a book with a familiar-sounding title and settled into an enormous leather chair to read. She barely had time to process a word before she fell asleep.

She awoke to the sound of low male laughter. “Such a threatening figure, all curled up in a chair like a puppy.”

Kingsley.

Mimi yawned and stretched her arms over her head, well aware that he was watching.

“A kitten, then. A very, very sexy kitten.”