“Did Christian say something to you? Because—”
“Nyet. He said nothing. I suspect he has acknowledged the debt he owes you for finding him, and that is a valuable reward. However, given the circumstances, I would like to offer you one favor. It cannot be for a position in my house, but if you ever need money or help, you can call on me for that favor.”
I swallowed hard in disbelief. “There’s nothing I can say to change your mind?”
He pressed his lips together tightly and shook his head.
I stood up quickly before the sting of tears caused me to blink in front of him. My life was spiraling down a long stairwell into the unknown. I’d thought Viktor would be impressed with what I’d done, especially since it was after he’d evicted me.
“I get it,” I said, nearing the door. “I just thought it couldn’t hurt to ask.”
He eased up behind me and patted my shoulder. “I wish you well, Raven Black. It is my desire that we remain allies; I would like to see you stay on the good side of the law. You understand there is nothing personal about my decision. I wanted this to work out, but my team always comes first.”
My lip quivered unexpectedly. Luckily, my back was to him, and I left the room and hurried into the bar. Each member of Keystone watched expectantly, and when their eyes darted behind me, they got their answer in Viktor’s expression. Even Niko must have sensed a change in the energy swirling around us.
Wyatt escaped to talk to a pretty blonde, and Blue followed Claude into the game room.
I hopped onto the barstool next to Niko. “Well, that was awkward.”
“I was certain he would invite you back in. I’m sorry.”
“No sweat off my back.”
Niko placed his hand over mine, his crystal eyes almost invisible beneath the colored lights. “You needn’t lie; I can read your energy.”
If that were true, I felt about as naked as a girl could get in front of him. It made me want to shield my light, even though it wouldn’t make a difference. I hadn’t expected how deeply the rejection would affect me, and it wasn’t until then that I realized how much I really wanted to be a part of Keystone.
I put my hands in my lap and pulled the ends of my sleeves down to cover them. “Will you still talk to me, or is that against the rules?”
“Apologies, Raven. I must go.”
Niko hopped out of his seat and stalked through the bar so fast that my jaw slackened. It was hard to pretend it didn’t hurt, because it did. Maybe I was outgrowing Cognito and needed to find a new place to call home. At least I had money in my pocket.
Which wasn’t a whole lot, especially after I’d wasted it on clothes that I’d never see again. The only items in my bag were the ones I’d taken to the mansion in the first place. A girl couldn’t exactly lug four trunks of clothes around the city.
Before leaving the club, I needed to find Christian. Viktor was going to have either him or someone else scrub my memory, and the idea terrified me. I didn’t trust Vampires, and what if he erased everything? There were too many good memories in my life that I didn’t want to risk losing.
Christian was the sort of man who could blend in with a crowd, but not so much tonight with his tight-fitting shirt and jeans. The casual ensemble somehow made his beard and dark eyes stand out all the more. After scanning the bar and finding no sign of him, I searched for someone who might know his whereabouts.
When I rounded the bar, Wyatt bumped into me, beer sloshing out of his glass and onto the floor.
“Where’s Christian?” I yelled over the music.
“Room seven,” he said, jerking his thumb toward the private rooms.
“How do you know?”
Wyatt licked some of the spilled beer off his hand. “Because that’s where he always goes when we come here. Hope we run into each other again, Nancy Drew.”
He waggled his eyebrows and rejoined the blonde, whose breasts were battling against a bra that was a size too small.
I entered the private hallways on the right of the restrooms and searched until I found the room. The door wasn’t locked, so that meant he wasn’t in an important Vampire meeting discussing their superiority over all other Breeds. Christian was probably brooding over the fact that I’d called in the cavalry to save him. Even though I’d done him a good turn, the man probably would have chosen to rot in that tomb for fifty years rather than have everyone on the team see him like that. Sometimes one stupid mistake can make you look like an incompetent fool.
God knows I was feeling some of that myself.
When I opened the door just a crack and peered into the room, I froze like a flower dipped in liquid nitrogen. Christian’s shirt hung around his neck like an afterthought, as if he’d attempted to take it off and lost all motivation.