Free Blood Eternal by Marie Treanor Page A

find your hunters. Tell them I’m here and I’ll call later to talk.” He kissed her again, hard, and slid out of her before fastening his trousers. He readjusted the sword, which she saw through his enchantment only because she knew it was there.
    “You’re leaving again?” she said, bewildered by the speed of this new change.
    “I’ll be back.” He pulled her jeans up over her hips, as if now, now , he was in a hurry. With sudden pique at being so casually treated, she brushed his fingers aside to refasten them herself. When she glanced up again, he’d gone.
     
    “Elizabeth!” Mihaela gripped her shoulders so hard they hurt. “Are you all right? We found your detector—”
    Elizabeth hugged her back, too briefly because of her own guilt, and yet she couldn’t help being touched by the show of friendship. “He threw it away,” Elizabeth blurted, and perhaps fortunately was misunderstood.
    “My God, he got that close?” Mihaela gasped. “Did you stake him?”
    Elizabeth drew a little away from Mihaela. The other hunters, Turks as well as her Hungarian friends, used flashlights now that seemed blinding after the all-but-impenetrable darkness. Everyone gazed at her with round, avid eyes.
    “He moved too fast. I knew in theory they could do that—I’ve seen Saloman run across cities.” And been with him while he did. “But I guess he never troubled in any fights with humans. . . . He was alone,” she added abruptly. “And he ran off back the way he’d come, far too fast to catch.” She drew in her breath. “I don’t think he’s got any idea what’s going on. He called me Tsigana, although I’m told I look nothing like her, and then he ran away as if genuinely distraught when I said Tsigana was dead.”
    “And when he came back?” Mihaela urged.
    “Ah. He didn’t come back. That was Saloman.” She forced herself to meet each gaze in turn. She just wished she didn’t feel so childishly defiant about it.
    “So he is here,” Konrad said flatly.
    “Apparently. I think he’s pursuing Luk, but he said he’d call later to discuss things.”
    “What things?” Mihaela demanded.
    “How the hell should I know?” Elizabeth snapped. “Ask him when he turns up. Trust me, I am not his bloody keeper!”
    She marched off in the direction of the car without looking back. After about five minutes of striding that probably looked more like stomping, István fell into silent step beside her.
    “Sorry,” she muttered at last. “I’ve had a trying day. Seems I can’t take the constant suspicion when I’m tired. I’ll get over it.”
    “She isn’t suspicious. She’s worried about you. We all are.”
    Elizabeth sighed. “Look, I don’t blame any of you for the suspicion, but I do know it’s there, whether you want it or not. It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry. I’m not walking out on you over a disagreement about Saloman.”
    “I know that. We all know that.” He pointed his key into the darkness and something chirped in response. He shone his flashlight on the car with a grunt of satisfaction and they made their way toward it.
    “Where are we going now?” Elizabeth asked.
    “To the house. To sleep. The Turkish hunters are going over to the commune. We’ll go tomorrow.”
    “What house?” Elizabeth asked, latching onto the first point.
    “It’s a holiday villa in one of the hill villages. Very nice. Modern. Fantastic views.”
    She regarded him with half-amused fascination. “Does nothing faze you, István?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean you go from vampires to villas with as much effort as breathing.”
    István shrugged. “All part of life.”
    You sound like Saloman. She bit her lips before the words tumbled out, but the thought remained.
     
    The villa was substantial and built in a traditional Turkish style, although it was too opulent to blend in with most of the other village houses. Guarded by a pair of tall wrought-iron gates, the surrounding garden boasted an