Лиза Смит - The Return - Midnight

Elena, smiling reassuringly at the bath girls, was already stripping as fast as she could. The tub, which was big enough for six to swim in, looked too luxurious to miss and, she reasoned, it made sense to be clean when you greeted your hostess.

“Go have fun,” she shouted to Stefan. “Is Damon here?” she added in a whispered aside to Bonnie, who nodded. “Damon’s here, too,” Elena caroled. “If you find Lady Ulma, tell her Elena’s coming, but she’s getting washed up first.” She didn’t actually dive into the pearl pink steaming water, but she got onto the second step down and let herself slide from there.

Instantly, she was immersed in delicious heat that seeped straight into her body, pulling some magic string that relaxed all her muscles at once. Perfumes suffused the air. She flung her wet hair back and saw Bonnie laughing at her.

“So you got out of your hole and you’ve been here wallowing in luxury while we’ve been worried sick?” Elena couldn’t help but hear the way her voice went up at the end, making it a question.

“No, I got picked up by some people, and—” Bonnie broke off. “Well…the first few days were tough, but never mind. Thank God we got to Lady Ulma’s in the end.

Want a bath brush? Some soap that smells just like roses?”

Elena was looking at Bonnie with slightly narrowed eyes. She knew that Bonnie would do just about anything for Damon. That included covering up for him.

Delicately, all the while enjoying the brushes and unguents and many kinds of soaps laid out on a shelf for easy reach, she began an inquisition.

Stefan got out of the steamy room before he was soaking wet. Bonnie was safe and Elena was happy. He found he had stepped into another room, in which were a number of couches made of some soft spongy material. For drying? Massage?

Who knew?

The next room he entered had gas lanterns that were turned high enough to rival electrical light. Here were three more couches — he had no idea what for — a fulllength silvered-glass mirror, and smaller mirrors in front of chairs. Obviously a place for makeup and beautifying.

This last room opened onto a hallway. Stefan stepped out and hesitated, spreading delicate tendrils of Power in different directions, hoping to find Damon before Damon noticed his presence in the estate. The Master Key had proved that it could overcome the fact that he hadn’t been invited here. That meant that maybe he could…

At that moment he got a hit, and withdrew his probe immediately, startled. He stared down the long corridor. He could actually see Damon, pacing in the room at the end, talking to someone Stefan couldn’t see behind the door.

Stefan crept very quietly down the hallway, stalking. He made it to the door without his brother even noticing, and there he saw that the person Damon was talking to was a woman wearing what looked like buckskin breeches and shirt, who had weathered skin, and a general aura of being more at home outside civilization than inside it. Damon was saying, “Make sure there are enough warm clothes for the girl. She’s not exactly hardy, you know—”

“Then where are you taking her — and why?” Stefan asked, leaning against the doorjamb.

He had the good fortune to once — just this once — take Damon unaware. His brother glanced up, and then jerked like a startled cat. It was priceless to watch Damon scrambling for a mask until he decided on the façade of absent amiability.

Stefan guessed that no one had ever put so much effort into walking over to a desk chair, sitting down, and forcing himself to lounge.

“Well, well! Little brother! You dropped in for a visit! How…nice. What a pity, though, that I’m practically running out the door on a journey, and there’s no room for you.”

At this point the weather-beaten woman who had been taking notes — and who had risen when Stefan entered the room — spoke up. “Oh, no, my lord. The thurgs won’t mind the extra weight of this gentleman. They probably won’t notice it. If his baggage can be ready by tomorrow you can start out in the early morning just as you planned.”

Damon gave her his best “shut up or die” glare. She shut up. Through clenched teeth, Damon managed to say, “This is Pelat. She’s the coordinator of our little expedition. Hello, Pelat. Good-bye, Pelat. You may go.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

Pelat bowed and left.

“Aren’t you taking this ‘my lord’ thing a bit too seriously?” Stefan asked. “And what is that costume you’re wearing?”

“It’s the uniform of the captain of the guard of Madame le Princess Jessalyn D’Aubigne,” Damon said coldly.

“You got a job?”

“It was a position.” Damon bared his teeth. “And it’s none of your business.”

“Got your canines back, too, I see.”

“And that’s none of your business either. But if you want me to knock you out and trample over your undead body, I’ll be delighted to oblige.”

Something was wrong, Stefan thought. Damon should be through the taunting phase and be actually trampling on him by now. It only made sense if…

“I’ve already spoken to Bonnie,” he said. And so he had, to ask where he was.

But to a guilty mind, apparent foreknowledge often worked wonders.

And Damon hastily said exactly what Stefan hoped he wouldn’t. “I can explain!”

“Oh, God,” Stefan said.

“If she’d just done as I told her—”

“While you were off becoming a princess’s captain of the guard? And she waswhere?”

“She was safe, at least! But, no, she had to go out into the street and then to that shop—”

“Shocking! She actually walked in the street?”

Damon ground his teeth. “You don’t know how it is around here — or how the slave trade works. Every day—” Stefan slammed both hands on the desk, now truly angry. “She was picked up by slavers? While you were sleazing around with a princess?”

“Princess Jessalyn does not sleaze,” Damon replied icily. “Nor do I. And anyway it all turned out to be a good thing because now we know where the Seven Kitsune Treasures are.”

“What treasures? And who cares about treasures when there’s a town being destroyed by kitsune?”

Damon opened his mouth, shut it, then looked narrowly at Stefan. “You said that you’d talked to Bonnie about all this.”

“I did talk to Bonnie,” Stefan said flatly. “I said hello.”

Damon’s dark eyes flared. For a moment Stefan thought he was going to snarl or start a fight. But then, through clenched teeth, he said, “It’s all for the damned town, don’t you see that? Those treasures include the largest star ball ever to be filled with Power. And that Power may be enough to save Fell’s Church. At least to stop its total annihilation. Maybe to even clear out every malach that exists and destroy Shinichi and Misao with a single blow. Is that noble enough for you, little brother? Is it reason enough?”

“But taking Bonnie—”

“You stay with her here if you like! Spend your lives here! I might mention that without her I would never have been able to set up an expedition, and that she’s determined to go. Besides, we’re not coming back this way. There has to be an easier route from the Gatehouse to Earth. We wouldn’t survive coming back, so you’d better hope like hell that there is one.”

Stefan was surprised. He had never heard his brother speak with such passion about anything that involved humans. He was about to reply, when behind him there came a scream of pure, unadulterated rage. It was frightening — and worrying, too, because Stefan would recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. It was Elena’s.

Stefan whirled around and saw Bonnie, with only a towel wrapped around her, trying to physically restrain Elena, who was similarly clad. Elena’s hair was wet and uncombed. Something had caused her to leap out of the bathing pool and run directly into the corridor.