Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (The Three #1)(79)
Author: Kristen Ashley

What?

Why?

I held my breath.

“This can’t wait until morning?” Lucien returned.

“No.” Another accented voice, not uncomfortable but hostile, now sounded. “The Council waited for you to come to them. Now, matters have arisen and they will wait no longer.”

Lucien was silent, considering this.

“Please, Lucien, don’t make this difficult. It shouldn’t take long.” The first voice urged.

All amusement was gone when Lucien spoke again. “This does not make me happy, Rudolf.”

“Don’t tell us. Tell The Council,” the hostile voice retorted.

Lucien’s body changed like it did when Katrina came to visit. The muscles stood out, defined, deadly. I didn’t take this as a good sign.

“Marcello,” a third voice, also accented, said the name as a warning.

There seemed to be some kind of standoff happening. I could only see Lucien’s half of it but I felt it and it scared the freaking heck out of me.

Finally, Lucien’s body relaxed, he stepped back, opening the door wider, his voice now courteous. “Wait inside. I’ll be a moment.”

His eyes cut to me. I read his intent and moved to him. His arm curled around my waist, shifting us back so the three, large vampires could fill the foyer. Two were dark, both looking Latin or Italian or something. One was fair. All were gorgeous.

My heart skipped a beat.

The fair one closed the door then turned which meant all of them were staring at me. I pressed into Lucien’s side.

“Leah, this is Rudolf, Marcello and Cristiano,” Lucien introduced, indicating each with his hand. Rudolf was the fair one.

I nodded and gave a lame wave.

Cristiano and Rudolf smiled. Marcello scowled.

“It’s a long awaited pleasure, Leah,” Rudolf murmured, his eyes calm and gentle on me. I suspected his words held greater meaning because Marcello’s scowl deepened. At the same time Cristiano’s smile widened.

“Thank you.” My voice was soft and breathy and something changed in the room when I spoke. It was powerful, electric, weirdly both dangerous and seductive and it was emanating from all three.

“We won’t be a moment.” Lucien’s voice cut through the thickened air and he started to move us away.

“Leah’s to wait here,” Marcello announced, Lucien stopped and his eyes sliced to the vampire.

“Leah will come with me,” Lucien replied.

Marcello’s gaze moved to me, raking me from top-to-toe and something about the way he did this freaked me out. I didn’t know how but I sensed Rudolf and Cristiano tense and I felt Lucien’s body change to that freakishly scary alertness of moments before.

“Leah will stay,” Marcello declared.

Lucien didn’t reply; he moved us toward the stairs.

Before we even got close suddenly Lucien was gone from my side.

I knew why. I’d only caught a flash of it but I saw Marcello dart forward, his arm extended toward me. Then there was a blur of bodies and Marcello was against the wall in a poof of broken plaster (boy, Edwina was going to be ticked, she’d just had the damage from the last vampire fight in the foyer repaired).

Lucien held him like he did Katrina, at the throat but his body was close, pressing Marcello against the wall, his face not an inch from the other vampire’s. I could only see their profiles but the expression on Lucien’s was ferocious.

Cristiano got close to their sides as Rudolf circled.

“You’d touch what’s mine?” Lucien ground out in a voice so sinister, a chill raced up my spine.

“Marcello,” Cristiano murmured in soft reprimand and I found his accented voice beautiful even in this tense situation. “You know better, my friend.”

“He made no contact with Leah,” Rudolf pointed out quietly. “Let him go, Lucien.” It was a request, not a demand.

Lucien and Marcello glared at each other. Finally Lucien dropped his hand and stepped back.

He walked to me and again took my hand.

“If The Council wants this to go smoothly, control him,” Lucien warned Rudolf with a jerk of his head toward Marcello and Rudolf nodded.

Then Lucien turned us and guided me up the stairs.

As he did, he issued orders.

The minute I leave, call Stephanie, he told me.

Okay, I agreed promptly.

She’ll come immediately. You can trust her.

Okay, I repeated.

Don’t answer the phone. If it rings, Stephanie deals with it, he went on.

Okay, I repeated again

I don’t want you to be frightened, sweetheart. I’ll handle this.

I wanted to laugh. Not that it was funny just that I was scared out of my ever-loving mind and no order, even from the Mighty Lucien, was going to stop that.

What’s this about? I asked when we made it to the dressing room. Why are they here? Why are they taking you away?

I’ve broken the law, Lucien replied calmly, as if this wasn’t a scary-as-shit announcement. He took off his pajama bottoms and started to dress in one of his suits like he was doing nothing more important than preparing to go to work.

While he did this, I stared at him frozen in shock.

Then, my mind breathed to his, You’ve broken the law?

Yes.

What law?

I’ll explain later.

I didn’t want him to explain later.

What did it mean, he’d broken the law? Did that mean they were going to throw him in vampire jail? Did that mean he was going to have to hire a vampire attorney and stand vampire trial? He’d just admitted to doing it! Was he going to plead guilty?

I needed way more information.

Okay then at least tell me what kind of law? Was it like a jaywalking kind of law or a murder in the first degree kind of law?

Now dressed, he turned to me and lifted both hands to cup my face and bring me closer.

His eyes staring into mine, he repeated, I’ll explain later.

I felt my patience, already strained to the breaking point, snap.

Un-unh, my mind retorted, give me something to go on here.

He smiled like I was amusing.

Yes! Smiled!

I felt my eyes narrow.

He watched this, his eyes went that sexy-vampire-hooded I wished I didn’t like so much then he murmured, “Christ, you’re adorable.”

My temper flared and instead of shouting, out of necessity, I mumbled irately, “Boy, I wish I could kick your ass.”

His hands left my face, his arms blurring around me with vampire speed, caging me tight against his chest. He threw his head back and roared with laughter.

Usually, I liked his laughter. Okay, being honest with myself, usually, I loved it. And I hadn’t heard it in weeks. And, worse, even though I didn’t want to lament that loss, I did. Every day. For three stinking weeks.