Part 24 (2/2)

Yes . . . this. It was so easy to forget what they really were, with flesh and bone and s.p.a.ce in the way, but beneath it all, in a place where pain and sorrow could never reach, they were one, a single soul that had chosen, for whatever reason, to spend this incarnation walking the earth in two bodies. Here in this place there was no separation, no names . . . but there was joy in duality sometimes, a beauty in moving from separation into unity then back again, the intensity building from a reverent give-and-take to something wild.

This time the tectonic s.h.i.+ft hit them both. They clung to each other, breathing in tandem, drenched in each other's sweat, tasting each other's blood.

There was no need to say she loved him-right now words would only force a limit on reality when the truth was simply there soaking into every cell. He laid his head on her shoulder, and she threaded her fingers through his damp hair, her other hand tracing the lines of ink on his back she had already memorized.

Finally, knowing that she wouldn't be comfortable with him asleep on top of her, he s.h.i.+fted off, landing with a grunt to her right.

She looked over at him, grinned, and said, ”Three.”

Thirteen.

”What do you know about the Firstborn?”

Faith peered quizzically down at David. ”It's an old vampire legend,” she said, handing him the wrench he indicated with his free hand. She had to speak a little loudly to be heard over the b.u.mp of the garage's stereo ba.s.s. ”Everybody's sire tells it-if you go back far enough in our history, you find references to the vampires who weren't sired, but born. Usually people say they're sp.a.w.n of Lucifer or Hades or some other dark G.o.d. They're like the bogeyman. Behave, or the Firstborn will get you. But it's a myth, like you told Volundr . . . right?”

”As far as I know,” David replied, sliding back under the car. ”I just thought it was odd that he brought it up, of all the things he could have said.”

”He was playing on the fact that vampire history is your pet cause,” Faith reasoned. ”I'm sure he'd heard that you've poked around for information over the years. A man like him hears everything, even living in the armpit of nowhere.”

”I suppose.” Faith heard clunking noises, and a moment later the Prime emerged again, handing her the wrench. ”Hand me the seven-sixteenths ratchet wrench, please.”

”Only if you'll turn the stereo down.”

David sighed. ”Philistine.”

”Sire . . . I hate to tell you this, but you're awfully white to be listening to Tupac.”

David rolled his eyes, then made a twisting motion with his hand, and the volume of the music dropped to a more reasonable level. ”Unless all you listen to are bamboo flutes, Second, you can f.u.c.k right off.”

Faith stared down at the row of s.h.i.+ny tools on the cart. ”Which one's a ratchet again?”

”The one that-never mind.”

Faith watched as one of the tools rose off the cart and flew over to the Prime's outstretched hand. She had long ago lost the ability to be shocked or mystified by his talent; now she merely said, ”Why didn't you just do that to begin with?”

He shrugged. ”You were standing right there.”

”And why aren't you having a mechanic do this?”

David made a dismissive noise. ”These cars are loaded with proprietary technology, Faith. I'm not letting anyone get their grubby hands on it unless they're vetted by security. Right now there's n.o.body in the Elite qualified to do it-let's put that on the list for the next batch of recruits, come to think of it. Someone with automotive repair experience as well as computer programming skills who I can train to do routine maintenance. Familiarity with solar power systems would be a plus.”

”Yes, that's a combination you often find in warriors,” Faith remarked wryly.

”Which is exactly why I'm doing this myself. Now, did you have an update for me?”

”Yes and no. Two of the four names on Volundr's list have alibis for all four attacks. One, Deven is still trying to track down for questioning.”

”And the fourth?”

”Dead,” Faith told him. ”Cut down in a gang skirmish in Seattle two years ago.”

”d.a.m.n,” David muttered; he started to push himself back under the car but paused and said, ”We're really s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the pooch on this one, aren't we?”

Faith laughed loudly enough to startle one of the servants, who, nearby, was waxing one of the other cars. ”Where on earth did you hear that phrase?” she asked.

”From Miranda. Where else?”

Faith wanted to ask how things were with the Queen, but she had learned to tread lightly there in the past month. She accompanied the Prime on his various forays into the city and on whatever mission he gave her, and tried to be as useful as possible, remembering what Jonathan had said. But neither of the Pair seemed inclined to open up to her. David simply wasn't the sharing type, but Miranda had become strangely quiet lately, which wasn't like her. Faith knew she'd talked to Jonathan a few times but wasn't spending as much time with Kat as before, and she seemed . . . a bit lost. The Pair were sleeping together again and working hard to put what had happened behind them, but still . . . there was something new and sad in the Queen's eyes, as if the first veil of illusion had been lifted and she found herself a tiny bit further from her mortal life than before.

Faith didn't envy her the next few years. That was the hardest part about becoming a vampire; in a lot of ways it just seemed like a new and different lifestyle, but if you had any ties left to humanity they were eventually severed one by one, either by time's incessant decay or by the hard reality that though the human world and the Shadow World might exist within the same cities, in truth they were a thousand miles apart.

Speak of the devil: The side door of the garage opened and Miranda's red head poked in. ”David?”

The Prime responded to the sound of her voice like Pavlov's dog, and Faith heard him drop his wrench on the concrete as he rolled out from under the car and sat up.

Miranda gave him an appreciative look; he was dirty and sweaty, had engine grease smeared on his face, and wore a snug, ratty T-s.h.i.+rt bearing the slogan Han Shot First. Even Faith, who tried very hard not to look at her boss that way, had to admire the sight. The biceps alone were worth staring at.

He smiled at Miranda. ”Yes, my Lady?”

She smiled back. For a second it almost seemed to Faith as if nothing had ever gone wrong. ”We got a call from Signet Air,” the Queen said. ”Janousek's flight landed in Newark thirty minutes ago. He's staying there for the morning. He'll arrive in Austin tomorrow evening at five fifty and be here at the Haven by eight.”

”Good, thank you,” the Prime replied. He looked up at Faith. ”Is everything ready?”

”Yes, Sire. I've got the usual detail to meet the plane, and his suite is prepared. We're not antic.i.p.ating any problems with this one.”

”That's exactly why we need to be ready for problems. The last thing we need is this a.s.sa.s.sin going after Janousek on his way from the airport.”

David returned his gaze to Miranda. ”What do you have planned for the rest of the evening? Are you going into town?”

”Not tonight. Grizzly and the producers are mixing this week-they're going to call me when they have something for me to listen to. I've got a gig Wednesday but until then I kept things clear for Janousek's visit. Tonight I've got yoga.”

”When did you take up yoga?” the Prime asked.

”Tonight, possibly. Lali has been giving Cora cla.s.ses, and she asked if I wanted to join in.” Miranda raised an eyebrow and smiled. ”I'm sure you wouldn't object to my being more flexible.”

”And on that note,” Faith said, ”I'm leaving.”

”Are you on duty all night?” Miranda asked, stopping the Second. ”You could come along-Lali says that it's a perfect complementary practice to all our fight training.”

”No, thank you,” Faith replied with a grin. ”I tried it once and ended up with my legs stuck behind my head. Lali actually had to come undo me. How about you, Sire?”

David was laughing, probably at the mental image Faith had given him. ”That's quite all right. I have two more cars to work on and then a conference call with Lieutenants Craig, Laveau, and Nguyen at eleven. After that it's back into the network upgrade. Oh-and I owe Novotny a call. He wants to run some additional tests on the hands.”

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