Blacker than Black by Rhi Etzweiler Read Free Book Online

draw down, slowly. “Our parameters of employment will be identical.”
    Garthelle props his elbows on the table and folds his arms, laughs softly. I get the impression he’d much rather sit back into the bench, yet doesn’t want to suggest retreat even subliminally. “They are. Rest assured I have no desire to endanger Black’s well-being in any fashion.” His brows lift faintly as he says my name. He pauses, seeming to choose his next words with care as he looks at both of us. “Your safety is of the utmost import to me now. Thus, the offer of alternate residence.” His gaze wanders off across the interior of the shop. “A very quaint and comfortable spot, this, but the area is not at all secure.”
    “And why exactly is it that you’ve taken such an interest?” Jhez voices her query with an edge of uncertainty, hoping to draw more information from a vampire whose generosity has already been expansive.
    I kick her ankle under the table. Hard. She shows no sign of feeling it.
    Garthelle’s indulgent expression bleeds away like so much rainwater through a sewer grate. “That, I’m certain, is completely none of your concern.” He slides from the bench to stand. “A chauffeur will come to retrieve you both tomorrow morning. Any further questions you might have can wait until evening, after you’ve settled in.”
     

     
    Jhez stalks down the sidewalk away from the java house. Her gaze is focused on some indeterminate point, and the growing throng of pedestrians veers from her path without encouragement. Obviously they can sense her mood as easily as I.
    The one downfall to learning to manipulate your aura: sometimes you do it without conscious awareness. We walk in silence for a few blocks. I don’t want to disturb her. She seems to be thinking. Or maybe she’s simply fuming, since the notorious Le Gross is now her employer. Thanks to yours truly, no less. Well, not really, but I’ve no doubt she sees it that way. I know I would. It’s always easier when there’s someone else to blame.
    “Whatever you did, I hope it wears off really soon,” she snarls.
    “That makes three of us, I’m sure.” I keep my tone mild while perusing the random shop windows we pass. Not that the fading of this forged link will change the fact that apparently, in vampire circles, she and I are notorious criminals.
    Her pace slows to something more reasonable. “How strong is the pull?” She softens her tone, almost a whisper.
    I shrug. “It hasn’t weakened at all.”
    She mutters a string of colorful phrases under her breath. “And what do you intend to do if it doesn’t?” I stop walking and stare at her back until she turns to meet my gaze from a few paces away. “It logically follows, dear twin.” Even so, her blunt query makes the plausibility of such a situation all too real, and I don’t like it.
    I start walking again. “It will.”
    “Have you considered,” she whispers, “that he sought you out specifically so that this would happen? So that he could blackmail us into working for him?”
    My eyes widen but I resist the urge to look at her. “That would explain why he went through the trouble to ensure I wouldn’t recognize him.”
    “We don’t know half of what they’re capable of doing.”
    She’s all too correct. For all I know, whatever it is that’s going on between me and the vampire is not at all a result of my miscalculation. The whole situation reeks of entrapment. I’ve never before had any sort of connection like this with a john. And if Garthelle hadn’t been so ravenous, I might’ve not even bothered tapping into him.
    “Something’s rotten in Denmark,” I mutter, staring at the sidewalk as it scrolls past beneath my feet. The cracks are crammed with ragged little weeds and random chunks of trash.
    “It’s not the fish.” Beside me, Jhez resumes her intent study of nothing.

 
    The chauffeur is a mute presence on the drive to our new accommodations. It’s no different