Page 24 of Lucifer's Mirror
“Come on, Amber. What’s so hard?”
“Okay. Khaosti, the man who saved your life, is the same one who took me to Manchester last night. He came looking for me, which turned out to be a very good thing.”
“Yeah. Very timely. Maybe suspiciously timely. Did he give you a reason? Does he know who you are? Is he family?”
“No. At least, he says he doesn’t. But apparently, his brother knew me, and three years ago, he sent Khaosti a message asking him to keep me safe and take me to see someone who I presume will know who I am.”
“Where’s this brother?”
“He hasn’t been heard from since. Maybe he’s dead, which would go a little way to explaining why no one came looking for me. Anyway, I never turned up, and Khaosti has been looking for me ever since. Then somehow he found me. And don’t ask me how because I don’t know.”
“He’s going to take you to this person?”
“Yes, and you’re coming with us.”
“Why?”
“Because there might be side effects from the bite.”
He looks alarmed now, his eyes stretching wide. “What sort of side effects? I’m not going to turn into one of those things, am I?”
“No, you’re not. But the… doctor wasn’t sure if there’d be any complications. Just in case there are side effects, you need to be close to someone who knows how to deal with them. You’re going to be fine.”
“Have you got your fingers crossed?”
Yes.“No.” Luckily, at that moment, the door opens, and Brown appears. He enters and places the tray with food and a couple of beers on the table between us.
“Thanks, Brown.”
“My pleasure, my lady.”
“My lady?” Zayne asks as the door closes behind Brown. “Who the hell calls anyone my-fucking-lady?”
I grin. “Brown does.”
“Seriously fucking weird. Maybe I’m dreaming after all. Am I?”
He sounds so hopeful. But at least with the arrival of pizza and beer, it’s improved from a nightmare to a dream. “Maybe we both are.”
He picks up a slice of pizza and eats it slowly. Then another. If this is a dream, then it’s a dream with seriously good pizza. He’s on his third slice when the door opens, and this time Khaosti appears. He’s added a long black leather coat to his ensemble—it looks good.
Zayne’s eyes widen as he takes him in. He peers at me and raises a brow.
“This is Khaosti,” I say. “The guy I told you about.” Then I add, “He likes to be called Khaos.”
Zayne shrugs and continues eating.
Khaosti looks between the two of us. “Are you ready?”
Not really.I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to be ready for. Something churns in my belly. I don’t know what—fear or panic, maybe, tinged with a little excitement. I open my mouth to answer when the door opens again, and Brown appears.
“I noticed the young gentleman is in need of clean clothes.”
I snort. I don’t think anyone has ever referred to Zayne as a gentleman before. More weird. But he’s not wrong—Zayne smells of blood.
“If you would come with me, sir.”
For a second, Zayne looks confused, then he stuffs the last of the pizza in his mouth, washes it down with a gulp of beer, and pushes himself to his feet. He gives me a wide-eyed look over his shoulder as he trails out in Brown’s wake.
