“Julius?”
“Yeah. And there were two others with him, maybe more, because someone had Marissa and Kate. And this Julius guy, he called me by another name. Shabbit or Sabbit or something like that. It was definitely springtime; there were daffodils.”
“Sâbbat?” he said, shaking his head.
“What does it mean?”
“I can’t stay. Cece’s on her way back.” He was halfway out the window already. “But don’t worry, Vi. You’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ll explain it all later, over the holidays, okay?”
“Okay,” I mumbled.
“Close the window. I’m unlocking the door for Cece.”
Just as I pushed the window down, the door opened and Cece stepped inside. “Hey, whatcha doing?”
“I had to get some fresh air,” I lied.
Later, I promise. I heard his voice in my head, and then it was gone.
“It’s pretty cold out there.” Cece shivered.
“I know, sorry. But I feel much better now.”
“Good. You look better, actually. Less pale.”
“Do I really get pale when I have a vision?”
“You have no idea. Scares the crap out of me every time.”
“Oh, yeah?” I countered. “Well, you should see yourself when you’re off traveling. You look like a corpse.”
Cece laughed. “Hey, just be glad you don’t have to room with a shifter!”
“Or Jenna Holley,” I said, not wanting to talk about the shifters.
“Now that would be a nightmare.” Cece started getting ready for bed, and I climbed into my own bed and pulled up the covers.
Later, he’d said. Over the holidays. Three more days of school, and then the tournament on Friday night — that was it. The weekend couldn’t come fast enough. And in the meantime, I wasn’t supposed to worry?
Yeah, right.
That was so embarrassing,” I said, plopping down on the sofa in Aidan’s living room with a sigh. It was Christmas Eve, and we’d just had dinner at a swanky French restaurant on East 65th with Patsy.
Aidan just shrugged. “I had a nice time. I like your stepmother.”
“Yeah, she obviously likes you, too,” I muttered. Considering how much more time she was spending with me now than she did over Thanksgiving, when Aidan hadn’t been around. She still got all flustered and weird around him, though; she dropped her fork three times at dinner tonight. I’m pretty sure the waiter thought she was wasted.
“Hey, can I help it if I’m irresistible?” Aidan joked, and I just shook my head.
“Oh, pul-eeze,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It’s just the Aidan effect.”
“The what?”
I kicked off my shoes with a sigh, tucking my feet beneath myself. “Never mind. We’re all alone now. Are you going to tell me who this Julius dude is, or not?”
“Can’t it wait?” he asked, sitting down beside me and drawing me close.
“Why are you putting it off? C’mon, you promised you’d explain it to me. So explain.”
“I’m putting it off because it’s Christmastime, Vi, and I’d like you to enjoy your holiday. That’s why.”
I shook my head. “Not a good enough reason. Try again.”
“And because I’d like to do a bit more research first.”
“Research? About what?”
“Sâbbat, that’s what. What Julius called you.”
“So what does it mean?”
“Let’s start with Julius first. I guess you could call him an enemy, though I’ve no idea how he tracked me here. I haven’t seen him in, oh, forty or fifty years? Maybe more. My sources place him in Paris these days. We were turned about the same time, and for a while we were on friendly terms. I later found that I didn’t agree with his philosophies, and we parted ways.”
“So, you’re not friends. That doesn’t make you enemies.”
“Let me finish. I soon became known throughout our world for my work, my research. I made no secret of my goal — to cure vampirism. Julius, on the other hand, is what is known as a Propagator. From what I understand, he leads a sect of Propagators, now based in Paris. This makes us enemies, I suppose.”
I wrinkled my brow, totally lost. “Propagator?”
“Julius’s mission is to spread vampirism as far and wide as possible. He’s one of the odd males with a desire to do so, and his sect is mostly made up of females. Very aggressive females.”
I shuddered at the thought. “Why hasn’t anyone tried to stop him?”
“Like I said, he surrounds himself with very powerful female vampires, for one. And his sect moves around, never settling in one place for long.”
“Well, what difference does it make to him if you want to cure yourself? Why should he care if there’s one less vampire in the world?”
“I can only assume that Julius fears that, were I to succeed and develop a cure, it could be used against him and his kind without their consent.
Like a weapon, you might say.”
“Great. So you’re saying there’s a dangerous vampire coming after you, and he’s probably bringing a bunch of even more dangerous vampire chicks with him?”
He shook his head and reached for my hand. “Your vision aside, there’s no evidence to support that. Dr. Blackwell has extensive contacts among our kind, and he’s heard nothing about Julius—”
“That’s because it isn’t springtime yet,” I reminded him.