Triton will meet with you soon, but he sends a warning and a talisman.
Aha! Triton was nearby, probably in town, just as I’d suspected. After one hundred and fifty-six years of telepathic silence, he’d appeared a few months ago just long enough for me to get a glimpse of him standing on a sand dune. He’d left a golden dolphin charm in the sand, one like he’d worn during our childhood. Then he’d vanished. I’d mentally searched for and found a shadow of him, but he blocked me.
Yes, he is blocking your telepathy, Princess Vampire, for both of your sakes. There is great evil rising. You must beware of betrayal, of treachery.
I shivered. “Betrayal from whom?”
Triton did not say. You are to be on your guard.
“That’s all? Does Triton need help?”
He needs only for you to be safe.
Okay, I could do that, but questions whirled. “Um, are you Triton’s panther?”
Pandora looked affronted, and I rephrased the question.
“What I mean is, who takes care of you? Do you live with someone?”
Pandora tilted her regal head as if considering whether to answer. Old Wizard is my closest companion.
“I see.” And I did as I received a vague mental picture of a bearded man from Pandora. “Where is Old Wizard? Does he know you’re here?”
While the Council of Ancients meets, I am charged to watch over you.
I didn’t know what or who the Council of Ancients was, but hearing the phrase gave me goose bumps the size of hives. What did my body know that my brain didn’t? How was Triton involved with this wizard and Pandora? Would Pandora tell me if I offered to pet sit while the wizard was gone?
Pandora read my thoughts and shook her head. I live wild. I will patrol and keep watch from a distance, but you must be alert to danger.
“You won’t answer questions about Triton?”
I cannot. It is for him to tell you.
“The way things are going, it’ll be another century before he does that,” I groused. “All right, Pandora, I’ll be careful, and um, thank you for your help.”
You are polite for a vampire. Pandora rose, padded the few steps to my barstool, and thrust her head into my lap. You must remove the chain now.
I hesitated. My nose didn’t itch—my usual reaction to silver—but then a necklace or ring here and there didn’t always set off the reaction. Now the one tourist who’d been draped with enough Native American rings and necklaces and bangles to be a walking jewelry store had worn just the amount to make my allergy go bonkers.
Pandora must’ve read my thoughts again. She nudged me with her nose. The talisman is pewter and the chain is steel. Neither will burn you, but there is no clasp on the chain. You must slip it over my head.
“Okay, but no biting if this hurts.”
It will not hurt.
And it didn’t because, as I sank my fingers into Pandora’s richly furred neck, she shrank herself just enough for me to lift the chain off before she returned to full size.
Weird to watch, freakier to be touching her while she changed sizes.
“Cesca, don’t move.”
I flinched at the sound of Saber’s voice. Well, what did he expect when he startled me? Pandora merely backed up, sat, and stared at him.
So did I, but not so much with the usual lust as with concern. He pointed the business end of his matte-black semiautomatic at Pandora.
“It’s okay, Saber,” I said, smiling my assurance. “Pandora is giving me a message.”
“Pandora?” Saber shifted his weight. “Is this the same cat that had our French Bride killer by the neck a few months ago?”
“Yes.”
“And why was his head in your lap?”
“Pandora’s a female, and she was giving me this.” I held up the chain with the charm dangling from it.
“So you’re good here?”
“I’m fine, Saber. Better than fine. I can communicate with Pandora telepathically.”
Saber relaxed but didn’t holster his weapon. He held the Glock at his side, and I couldn’t blame him. He and other slayers had hunted werecreatures until they were extinct. Last time we’d seen Pandora, I’d explained that she was a magical shifter, not a were. Weres, real lycanthropes, had an earthier smell and an energy signature that lacked a spark of magick. I met Pandora’s amber-eyed gaze as she rose.
I will be on guard. Remember to do the same.
With that, Pandora loped across the yard past Saber and sailed over the fence gate. I hopped off the barstool and went to Saber as he holstered his gun.
“How did the stakeout go at Hot Blooded?”
“Slow,” he said, sliding an arm around my waist. He dropped a kiss on my nose, then on my waiting mouth. “Did I hear right? That the cat—”
“Pandora.”
“—brought you a message you heard telepathically?”
“You did. Isn’t that cool?”
“It’s different. What was the message?”
“To beware of betrayal and treachery.”
“That’s succinct. Are the chain and charm part of the message?”
“It’s supposed to be a talisman.”