We landed at Laguardia before sunset, and Colin arrived in the Escalade with Sylvie riding shotgun. She kept me busy answering questions about my grandmother, the gollum nun, and the showdown with Deidra in the Thai restaurant. Sylvie's only disappointed sigh came when I told her Deidra left with her face intact.

Since everyone needed to play catch-up, we walked to a pizza joint for dinner. On the way, I dragged them into Trinity Church to see if any hardcore employees had worked over the long weekend, in particular, a pair of artists who were lovingly restoring the fresco, but it turned out they hadn't disrupted their holiday. During our brief visit, I picked up Christoph's scent, although he didn't appear to be among the ten or so bodies inside the church. None of them had his build. 

"So, where's this hidden door?" Colin asked as we meandered past the fresco.

"I don't think now is a good time for show and tell," I said. "We're being tailed."

"What?" Both Vincent and Colin blurted as they glanced around.

"By whom?" Vincent asked incredulously.

"Christoph." The slight drop in my voice made it sound like I wasn't sure, but I had no doubt it was him. "I'm hungry. Let's get that pizza."

I tugged on Sylvie's arm, leading us out of the church and away from Vincent's incredulous face, but he easily caught up to us.

"How do you know it's Christoph? Did you see him?" he said.

"No."

"So, you know him from his scent?" Vincent growled the words, but I ignored his testosterone.

"Yes."

With the pungent smell of jealousy polluting the air, lips remained locked until we arrived at our dinner destination. As soon as the hostess showed us to our seats, I popped off a text to Christoph.

I'm back from Chicago, but you already knew that, right?

We perused our menus, and when the waitress left with our drink orders, a call rang through from Christoph, which meant Mr. Testosterone wasn't going to be happy. Why couldn't Christoph just text like a normal person?

"I'll call him back later," I said, sliding my phone toward Vincent so he could see the name.

Vincent pushed the phone back. "Answer it. Let's hear what he has to say."

I shrugged my apologies to my dinner companions and answered the call. "Hi, Christoph."

"Hi, Reese. How was the trip?"

"Enlightening and exhausting."

"Why are you exhausted? Wait... You don't have to answer that."

I snorted a chuckle. "Exhausting because I met nearly every gollum in the city."

"Including your grandmother?"

"Petula was the highlight. Have you ever met her?"

"No, but Willem talks about her like she's a saint."

"Well, a nun is close. She showed me a picture of my mother. It was surreal to see her in the flesh, so to speak."

"I bet. Did your visit bring back any memories?"

"Nothing specific, but the convent felt a little like home. I guess I was a rambunctious child, according to my grandmother."

"I don't doubt that. You still are. So... did Petula tell you anything about the amulet? Does she know where it is?"

"No. She said my mom had it when she escaped the convent that night. I took it to mean she never saw it again, just like her daughter."

"Oh, okay. That was probably an awkward conversation, huh?"

"Awkward fits."

"Did you talk about the discovery you made at Trinity Church? Did she tell you how to tap into your gifts?"

"We talked about both, but she can't help me with my gifts. She did say Cecile has the answers, though. Apparently, I need a mantra to keep the door open, but it's a heavily guarded secret and Cecile doesn't trust me with heavily-guarded secrets yet."

"I should have known that. It's probably why Cecile has asked you back. A short visit. Three hours, tops. Honeybuns will be served."

"Cecile wants to see me again?" I said this loud enough for Vincent to hear, triggering a severe eyebrow lift. "Does that mean another flight through the wild black yonder against my will?"

"No, we can drive. In fact, Vincent can drive. I know he'll want to escort you, but he'll have to wait outside the hive."

I stared at Vincent's unflinching face as he waited. I knew he couldn't hear Christoph, so his mind had the freedom to make up anything. "I'll need to get back to you on that, Christoph."

"Sure, I get it. I'll wait to hear from you."

Thankfully, for all of us, Vincent didn't hound me for details after I hung up, and we enjoyed a pleasant meal with entertaining conversation, provided mostly by Colin and Sylvie. It wasn't until we returned home and they excused themselves to screw each other's brains out, that Vincent brought the subject back up.

"Under normal circumstances, I would say no way in fresh hell are you going back to the hive..." he said as he sprawled out on the couch. I made a dash for his chest, curling against it, while the whippets claimed our feet. "I can't believe I'm even considering it now. It's insane. But, if Cecile needs to trust you before she imparts this great wisdom..." He paused, scrubbing his face with his palm. Then he shook his head violently. "No. Forget it. Cecile can have her damn amulet, but only if she promises to leave you alone, for good."

I lifted my head to look him in the eyes. "What are you saying? That you would go against the wishes of the domus and hand over the amulet to a demon queen?"

"There has been no formal domus vote, and I will do whatever I damn well please to protect my family."

I took his chiseled chin between my thumb and finger, leveling him in a gaze. "Justify it however you like, but your family would view that as sacrificing the greater good to protect the one."

After a few beats, he grudgingly nodded his surrender. "Love will be my ruin," he grumbled half-heartedly.

I stretched up to place a kiss on his chin. "You don't need to worry about my safety at the hive. As bitter as the pill is to take, you need to come to terms with your mate being friends with demons."

He sulked a bit longer before adding, "Cecile will question you about the amulet."

"That's a given. I just need to stay impenetrable to her rose-colored gaze."

"Her eyes are rose-colored?"

"She wears rose-tinted glasses, like Cara does."

"Cara? The female with the filthy mouth?"

"Hey, I have a filthy mouth, and so does Sylvie. You're railing on Cara because she's a demon."

"Her demon nature has nothing to do with it. She uses her curses as a weapon. You and Sylvie do not."

"Nice try, but I'm gonna give you a fail on that."

"I'm going to need you to take that back," Vincent said as he took hold of my waist and started tickling me. The dogs quickly abandoned their posts to escape my failing legs, and my giggling had them wagging their tails as they stared at our antics from the area rug.

"Forget it. No take backs." I spoke between gasps as I endured his playful torture. I knew I could end it with a simple submission, but I loved to encourage frisky Vincent. Even if it meant peeing my pants.

~ ~ ~

Six AM arrived before I was ready, but apparently Mr. Pearlman had been ready since five, and his charge nurse had me making promises in my half-coherent state. I felt terrible about ditching him at the VA over the weekend, but certain spontaneous activities had to be taken care of.

After visiting the bathroom for my post-nap pee, I went in search of Vincent, who did not appear to be in the apartment. I confirmed this when I found a note informing me of a situation he was handling and to expect him back by sevenish. The word sevenish had me giggling. Vincent never added 'ish' to anything.

As I reached for the coffee, my phone rang with an unknown number, and I hesitated a moment, suspicious of anything unknown at this point.

"Reese Kentwell."

"Reese, this is John at the security desk. There's a guy here to see you. His name is Dale. He says he's a friend of Christoph. Do you know him?"

"Ugh."

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?" John asked.

"Oh, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Well, Dale says he's sorry for being a jerk to you, and he understands if you want to... um... kick him in the gonads. He says he's only here because something happened to Christoph and he wanted to tell you in person."

"Shit!"

"So, should I tell him you'll be right down?"

"Yes."

Abandoning my initial plan for a morning fix, I grabbed my jeans and threw a jacket over my tee shirt. What the hell happened to Christoph? And why hadn't Josh contacted me? Was he injured too? Had Vincent been involved?

My mind continued to race like a mouse on Molly as I waited for the elevator to arrive. I didn't want to be discovered by a Valentino and have to explain why I was meeting a demon in the lobby. Minnie had been right about the ice skating metaphor, I was treading a mighty thin layer, but what else could I do? Christoph was my friend.

Dale stood with his back against the wall, looking intimidating in a leather jacket and torn jeans. Despite his second-hand apology, I wasn't going to pretend the shower incident never happened, so I felt no obligation to be nice to him. I glanced at John behind the security glass, offering him a relaxed wave. I didn't have much faith in John as a protector, but he was skilled at using a cellphone.

"Thanks for coming down to see me," Dale said. "I know we got off to a rough start."

I wanted to believe Dale's angsty expression came from the heart, but I'd already decided he didn't have one, so I wasn't letting my guard down for one second. "What happened to Christoph? Is he injured?"

He nodded soberly. "Pretty bad. He engaged with Vincent and shit escalated. Christoph managed to limp away, but his wounds turned out to be more than we can deal with."

"Where is he? Did he go to the hospital?"

"No. He's too proud for that. He went back to his hideout where he's been keeping an eye on you. He's lost a lot of blood and he's delirious. I was hoping you could talk some sense into him."

"Why me?"

"Because he'll do whatever you ask him to." Dale tried to shoot for sincerity, but on his face, it just looked smug. "C'mon, Reese. He's got it bad for you. Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"He's just doing his job."

"Which has given him plenty of time to fantasize about you. I can't say I blame him." Dale raised his eyebrows, which didn't help his case.

"How close is Christoph?"

"Five minutes away."

I gave the situation enough thought that I wouldn't kick myself later for not doing it. I knew Christoph wouldn't hesitate to help me if I was bleeding and delirious, and I had nothing to fear from the demons. Dale may have been a first-class douche, but he still had an allegiance to the queen.

"Okay."

With traffic already filling the pre-dawn streets, I surveyed my surroundings as we stepped outside. Mostly cabs and delivery trucks lined the sidewalk, with bodies moving quickly between them. Would we run into Vincent on his way back from battle? If he already pummeled Christoph like a meat pie, meeting him with Dale would probably play out like the Clash of the Titans. The smart thing to do was call him.

I unsheathed my phone as we stopped in front of an alley to wait for a limo, and I swiped to my call log. A large figure moved into my peripheral view, and I looked up as a man stepped off the curb to open the limo door. The next thing I knew, Dale strong-armed me and tossed my body into the backseat like a drunk party date. It seemed Vincent would not be getting that call.