Suddenly, she was filled with a longing to be outside, to revel in her newfound freedom. “Yes, please.” Taking her hand, he led her from the room to the elevator and pressed the ground level. The doors opened straight on to an alley that ran alongside the building. They were silent for long minutes. The night was warm, and they headed toward the river.
They reached the river without saying a word and walked along the embankment, the salty smell of the water mingling with the fumes left over from the day. It reminded her of the other night when they had walked here. But everything had changed. A sense of peace stole over her. It was hard to believe that there were other beings, other dimensions. They had existed all these years while she had lived in ignorance. But that was what slavery was, keeping people in ignorance of their options.
Somewhere out there, she had a father. Had he abandoned them? Or had he somehow been prevented from coming to their aid? She wanted desperately to believe the latter, but at the same time, she was scared to let herself hope. She’d hated him for so long for letting them down.
And somewhere else, Andarta was plotting the downfall of the human race, and a few other races if she had her way. Roz shivered in the warm air.
“Are you okay?” Piers asked, squeezing her hand.
She halted, tugged free, and leaned against the wall staring out over the dark water. “Yeah, I reckon. Just a little overwhelmed.” She sighed. “I’ve got a dad, and he’s a bastard, and you hate him.”
“He doesn’t like me much either.”
“Great, just great.”
“Hey, but no worries. Andarta might just get us all first, and you’ll never have to meet him.”
“There’s something to aim for.”
Piers moved up behind her, resting his hands on the wall on either side of her head. Her back pressed lightly against his front, but he didn’t touch her anywhere else, and they stood in companionable silence. Only hours earlier, she had been facing certain death at her own hands. Now, the world seemed full of possibilities, which was strange when you considered that very soon they might all be dead. But maybe it was better to die free than to live a slave.
How different the world looked when you were five hundred to when you were seventeen. She had no wish to die. Whatever she had with Piers—it was too new to put a name on—she wanted to explore. And he felt something too. He could have left her to die, and the problem of Andarta and the Key would have been gone. Instead, he’d saved her. He hadn’t asked for anything in return, and no one had ever done anything close to that for her since her mother died. She was all sorts of warm and fuzzy. It probably wouldn’t last, but she’d make the most of it.
A small boat appeared from under the bridge and chugged past them.
“The city never really sleeps,” she murmured.
“I know. That’s why I like it here.”
“Me too. I love this place. I’ve lived all over the world, but I always come back to London when I can.”
“Will you stay?” he asked.
“Would you like me to?” She held her breath waiting for his answer.
He leaned down and nuzzled the side of her throat, nipped her ear lobe with his teeth and a ripple of remembered pleasure ran through her. “Yes.” His hands slid up her arms and he turned her to face him.
“I’ve been alone for so long, I’m not sure that I’ll be any good at anything else. But I’m willing to try.”
“Me too.”
“Of course, that’s presuming that any of us are still alive at the end of this. And I’ve got to admit, the last time I tried any sort of real relationship, it didn’t exactly have a happy ending.”
“Andarta?” she asked.
“Yeah, but I’d rather not talk about that bitch any more tonight. Tell me about your father. What do you remember?”
Roz thought back over the long years. She had memories of him, but she wasn’t sure they hadn’t been distorted through time.
“He was beautiful, like he glowed.” Closing her eyes, she pictured him. “Those early years, he was with us constantly. He used to teach me things.”
“What sort of things?”
“The door.”
“What door?”
Excitement was bubbling inside her. She’d forgotten that part. “There’s something inside me. A…difference. My father told me I must hide it away or bad people would find me, and they would kill my mother and me. He helped me build a wall with a door, and he taught me how to close the door, how to lock it tight.”
She glanced up to find Piers staring down into her face as though he could see into her soul and unlock her secrets. “Jonas will help you see if it’s safe to open your door.”
She shivered. “Maybe. Anyway, one day he was gone. My mother always swore he would be back, but he never came. Not even at the end.”
His grip tightened on her arms. “I’m glad you made that deal with Asmodai. I’m glad you stayed alive.”
She realized something and a surge of happiness flowed over her. “Me too. And I’m glad Jack turned you into a vampire.”