chapter Four
Back at the Protector's HQ, we had gotten out of our wet things and were at what I learned was the briefing room. It didn't look much different from any regular conference room to me, but I figured that with the heavy TOP SECRET and the OUT OF BOUNDS stamped onto the door, the protectors took it very seriously.
I was handed a steaming cup of tea as soon as I sat down on one of the comfortable seats around the conference table with some other Protectors. I'd noticed as soon as I entered that Dylan seemed to be missing. He'd gone to his room as soon as he'd seen me to my room and though I'd tried to convince him to take a hot shower in my room; he simply shook his head and strode off.
As I sipped from my teacup, I glanced at the other protectors milling around. They were generally ignoring me and there was none of the warmth that had been directed at me by the other protectors in the United States. I noticed a particularly frosty stare coming from a stunning protector. She had wavy raven locks that seemed to spill down her back in sleek, shiny waves. I gauged her to be about four or five inches taller than I was and she looked like a combination of every model that had every walked the runway. Katrina was obsessed with fashion shows and had even dragged me to a few in New York and in Paris.
I lowered my gaze to my teacup but couldn't help looking at her again. She'd turned to speak to a huge protector guy that was seated next to her. She must have felt me looking at her because she turned and gave me a pointed stare before turning back to her companion. She said a few words and they both turned and looked at me with smirks on their faces. I was immediately conscious of the fact that while she was dressed in a black leather catsuit; I was more simply attired in a pair of skinny jeans and a light blue sweater. My hair was in a ponytail and I wished I'd taken the time to make it into a French braid. They had no right to smirk at me when none of them had bothered to even speak to me. I was not going to let a bunch of snobby protectors make me feel inferior. I lifted my chin and gave them a stare filled with disdain.
Just then the Top Secret door opened and Dylan walked in. He looked gorgeous in a pair of jeans. He had on a dark blue v-neck t-shirt and it made me feel better about my jeans and sweater. Our eyes met briefly as he walked into the room but he barely acknowledged me before moving to the other end of the room to sit down. It didn't escape my notice that he was seated right next to the raven-haired snob. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed because she turned and gave me a satisfied smile. My inner an alarm went instantly on alert. I just knew there was history between Dylan and the other woman. Feeling even more insecure, I looked at him but he refused to look back even though he must have felt me staring at him. Looking down at my teacup, I felt the painful sting of rejection.
“All right everyone, we need to run through what happened this evening.”
My attention was drawn by a curvy woman. I could see from her name tag that her name was Elona Bigsby. From the air of authority around her, I assumed she was in charge of the London HQ, or at least in charge of this operation, or whatever it was. She had light chocolate skin, lighter than my best friend, Claire's. Her hair was in short, black curls, tight curls which made me green with envy. She had golden brown eyes and at close to six feet tall, you didn't want to meet with her in a back alley. Her voice drew me away from my reflection.
“We scoured the area along the Serpentine and as we suspected, a bomb was detonated.” She paused and there was complete silence in the room as all eyes were focused on her. “I certainly don't need to tell you all how serious this is. It is a breach of our protocol to use explosives; we leave that for the humans. What this tells us is that whoever is after the Keeper is both dangerous and wild. Whoever it is has absolutely no regard for our protocol and our laws and this is a serious matter.”
She turned to look at me as she spoke and I felt all eyes on me. I kept my eyes trained on her and I got the feeling that I could completely trust her.
“To put it bluntly, Luanne's life is in danger. But that's not all that's in danger, people. If anything should happen to Luanne, our race as we know it ceases to exist.”
The silence in the room was profound. I noticed that the other Protectors were now looking at me with something akin to awe. Even raven locks no longer had disdain written all over her face as she turned to look at me. The only person who kept his gaze determinedly away from mine was Dylan. I looked at him briefly and then turned away. He wanted to be childish, that was fine with me.
As the briefing went on, I felt anger begin to build inside me. I had issues, I readily acknowledged that. But in comparison with his issues mine paled into insignificance. How were we supposed to build a relationship when he wouldn't speak to me? This was not the first time he'd retreated into a sulking silence because of something I'd supposedly done, and I had no idea what it was. I was not going to allow him humiliate me that way. I decided to focus on the briefing instead.
Back in my room, I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. I felt numb and I desperately wished my mind could be numb too as I went through the information I'd heard during the briefing. They'd profiled possible rogue vampires who could have made use of the explosive, and as they'd discussed strategies and dangers, I began to feel real fear for Katrina's safety. It occurred to me for the first time that she might not make it out alive.
Thinking about it now, I clenched my teeth together tightly to keep from hyperventilating. I wish I could have given up the stone to save Katrina and if I'd thought for one moment it would have made a difference, I would have done it, even if it had destroyed me in the process. But giving up the stone would mean the destruction of our race and that meant Katrina would still lose her life. It was a catch-22 situation.
I got up and began to pace. I felt so helpless. Elona had concluded that we were powerless to act at that moment until we heard from the kidnappers. In the meantime, they were investigating and doing whatever protector things they usually spent their time doing. I had no idea what they were talking about. As soon as they'd begun talking shop, I'd excused myself and made my way back to my room. Suddenly my phone beeped. Picking it up I saw it was a text from Claire, my best friend. I suddenly remembered she'd been trying to reach me for a couple of days.
Girl, where are you?
I quickly tapped back that I was fine but in London.
What are you doing there? Better get your ass back down here!
You know Katrina, up to her usual mischief so had to come keep an eye on her.
It wasn't strictly a lie. I had come to London because of Katrina even if it was not because of any mischief on her part. But I could hardly tell her the truth when she didn't even know I was a vampire.
You Aunt is a laugh a barrel. Have fun and bring something British for me.
I rolled my eyes at that, even as a reluctant smile formed on my lips. People like Claire gave me hope that the world was not all bad. She was one person who would always go to battle on my behalf and she stood up for me. I wondered briefly if she would still be my friend if she found out I was a vampire. Probably not. But I was not going to dwell upon that. Just like I wasn't going to dwell on the fact that as I'd left the Top Secret, Out of Bounds briefing room, raven locks and Dylan had been so engrossed in each other that he hadn't even noticed me leaving. Whatever. He knew where I was if ever he decided to be an adult.
I flopped back on the bed just as my phone beeped again. It was another text message but this time from a number I didn't recognize. The message was short and to the point.
The Serpentine was just a warning. Come back home tonight and no Protectors.
If felt my body freeze up. I reached up to touch the stone hanging from the chain around my neck and it was freezing cold. That had never happened before. Come to think of it, when I'd gotten angry with Dylan at the briefing room, the stone had warmed up. Suddenly it was as though it was not just acting as an alarm whenever I was in danger, but was picking up on my emotions as well.
I shook my head to clear it and went back to the text message on my phone. If I understood it correctly, I was supposed to go to Greenwich that night, specifically to the house I'd grown up in and I was not to go with Dylan or any of the protectors.
What do I do? I thought in consternation. Did I inform the Protectors or just sneak out and go by myself? I checked the time; it was already past ten p.m. I needed to make a decision and fast.