Part 14 (1/2)
”I won the contest and sent the human woman away to be looked after until she was well again,” Gideon replied. ”As for Faulkner's sword, I wish I'd left it where it lay that night, next to his corpse.”
Understanding dawned in Savannah's tender eyes. ”The twin boys I saw playing with the sword before they were attacked in the stable by Rogues...”
”My brothers,” he confirmed. ”Simon and Roderick.”
”Gideon,” she whispered solemnly. ”I'm sorry for your loss.”
”A long time ago,” he said.
”But you still feel it. Don't you?”
He released a heavy sigh. ”I was to blame for not protecting them. Our parents were dead. The boys were my responsibility. Several weeks after the confrontation with Faulkner, I was out carousing in the city. Simon and Roddy were young, not even ten years old, but old enough to hunt on their own as Breed youths. I took it for granted that they'd be safe enough on their own for a few hours that night.”
Savannah reached over and pulled his fisted hand up to her lips, kissed the tightly clenched knuckles with sweet compa.s.sion. He relaxed his fingers to twine them with hers. ”My brothers were the reason I came to Boston. I joined the Order t hunt Rogues, after killing the three who murdered the boys, as well as dozens more for good measure.”
”Hundreds more,” Savannah reminded him.
He grunted. ”I thought killing Rogues would make the guilt about my brothers lessen, but it hasn't.”
”How long have you been trying to make it better, Gideon?”
He exhaled a low oath. ”Simon and Roddy were killed three centuries ago.”
She lifted her head up and stared at him. Gaped at him. ”Exactly how old are you?”
”Three-hundred and seventy-two,” he drawled. ”Give or take a few months.”
”Oh, my G.o.d.” She dropped her head back down on his chest and laughed. Then laughed again. ”I thought Rachel was nuts for l.u.s.ting after Professor Keaton, and he was only in his forties. I'm falling in love with a total relic.”
Gideon stilled. ”Falling in love?”
”Yes,” she replied quietly, but without hesitation. She glanced up at him. One slender black brow arched wryly. ”Don't tell me that's all it takes to scare a three-hundred and seventy-two-year-old vampire.”
”No,” he said, but he did feel a sudden wariness.
Not because of her sweet confession; he would come back to that tempting p.r.o.nouncement another time.
Right now, his warrior instincts were buzzing with cold alarm. He sat up in the tub, frowning.
”Keaton,” he said flatly. ”When is he due out of the hospital?”
”He is out,” Savannah replied. ”I saw him yesterday on campus. He looked awful, but he said he'd made a full recovery and the hospital released him earlier than expected. He was acting kind of odd--”
Gideon tensed. ”Odd in what way?”
”I don't know. Weird. Creepy. And he lied to me when I asked him about the attack.”
”Tell me.”
She shrugged. ”He told me he saw who killed Rachel and attacked him that night. Keaton said it was a vagrant, but the glimpse I got from Rachel's bracelet showed me a man in a very expensive suit. A man with amber eyes and fangs.”
”Holy s.h.i.+t.” Why he didn't see it before, Gideon had no idea. The attacker killed Savannah's roommate, but left the professor alive. That was no accident. ”What else did Keaton say to you?”
”Nothing much. Like I said, he was just acting strangely, not like himself. I didn't feel safe around him.”
”Did Keaton know you were going to the bus station last night?”
She paused, thinking. ”I told him I was going home to Louisiana. I might have mentioned I was taking the bus--”
Gideon snarled and got out of the tub. Water sluiced off his naked limbs and torso. ”I need to see Keaton for myself. It's the only way I can be certain.” He thought about the hour of the day--probably just past noon--and cursed roundly.
Savannah climbed out too, and stood beside him. She put her hand on his shoulder. ”Gideon, what do you need to be certain of?”
”Keaton's injuries the night of the attack,” he said. ”I need to know if he was bitten.”
”I don't know. I didn't see that much when I touched Rachel's bracelet.” She stared at him in confusion. ”Why? What will it tell you if Keaton was bitten?”
”If I see him, I'll know right away if he's still human or if he's been bitten and bled by his attacker. I need to know if he's been made a Minion to the vampire who took that sword from the university.”
”A Minion.” Savannah went quiet now. ”If Keaton was bitten, that will tell you what you need to know?”
”Yes.” He raked a hand over his scalp. ”The problem with that is, I'm trapped indoors until sundown.”
”Gideon,” she said. ”What if I see Keaton now?”
”What do you mean?” He bristled at the thought of her getting anywhere near the man. ”You're not going anywhere without me. I won't risk that.”
She shook her head. ”I mean, maybe I can tell you if Keaton was bitten during the attack.” At his answering scowl, she said, ”I still have Rachel's bracelet.”
”Where?”
”Here, with me. It's in my purse in the other room.”
”I need you to go get it, Savannah. Now.”
CHAPTER 13.
Savannah woke up from an unusually heavy doze, in bed alone.
How long had she been asleep? Her head felt thick, like she was coming out of a light anesthesia.
Where was Gideon?
She called out to him, but the empty house was silent. Pus.h.i.+ng herself up from the mattress, she made a bleary-eyed scan of the dark bedroom. ”Gideon?”
No response.