Building From Ashes
Page 64

“Now that is something I do know.” He sat across from her. “Are you enjoying your time here?”
“I am. Cathy’s been a wonderful teacher. As much as we… see things differently at times, I’m learning so much from her.”
“Well, I’ll admit that I was surprised when the news came.” Murphy poured her a cup of tea before he served one to himself. Brigid was already draining her first mug of blood. “Both that you’d turned and that you were sired to fire.” He studied her carefully masked face. No one outside the family knew that she hadn’t chosen to turn. As far as she was concerned, it could stay that way. It was family business.
“It was a surprise. But fire usually is.”
“I understand no one was hurt.”
“That’s correct. And I’ve become quite adept at handling my element. Cathy said my other training is going very well. I’m becoming very good at manipulating amnis for questioning. My physical reaction times are very good. My reflexes have adapted.” She gave him a rueful smile. “As much as I may have hated the PT that Tom forced on me, it appears to have been an excellent preparation for immortality.”
“So you said over the phone.” He took a sip of the tea. The delicate china might have made a less masculine man look dainty. Patrick Murphy did not have that problem. He was the picture of elegance with an edge of danger. “I’m sure Tom will be happy to hear it. But it doesn’t surprise me that you can wield fire effectively. In fact, if I could have predicted any person becoming a fire vampire, it would have been you.”
She almost choked on the mouthful of blood. “What, me? Why?” Was that a compliment? Insult?
“You have one of the most passionate personalities I’ve encountered in… well, hundreds of years. And yet, you keep such a tightly controlled exterior, Brigid. It’s really rather extraordinary. I don’t doubt you’ll wield your element effectively through sheer force of will, if nothing else.”
Brigid blinked and set down her mug. She swallowed, then picked up the tea he had poured her, drinking it black. “Um… thank you?”
Murphy laughed and the dimple made another appearance. “You’re welcome. It is a compliment. I admired you as a human,” his eyes darted over her face. “And I’m eager to know you in your immortal life as well. I’m very excited to have you in my organization. As is Tom. The whole team is ready to have you back home as soon as you’re able.”
“How is everyone?”
“Doing well.” He quickly steered the conversation away from Brigid and onto the other members of the security team, which was a relief.
As much gut-wrenching emotional work as she’d done in the previous three months, she was happy to have the focus off her. The intense counseling sessions with Anne were as exhausting as the elemental lessons with Cathy. But while Brigid was quickly gaining confidence with her new physical strength, she was still wrung dry by her talks about her past. The immortal psychologist had needed to return to her home for the summer months, but had encouraged Brigid to keep a journal while she was gone.
Murphy served her a small sandwich she’d been eyeing and helped himself to another cup of tea.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You’re very welcome. I’m trying to remember if we’ve ever shared a meal.”
“You interrupted Jack and me while he was feeding from a dealer once, but I’m not sure that counts.”
His rich laugh filled the room. “No, it doesn’t. Ah, Jack…” He shook his head. “A troublemaker to the bone. But a loyal one. He’s been making noises about dreading your arrival, but I’m fairly sure he’s counting the days. No one else gives him as much grief as you did.”
“I’ll have to call Angie and see if I can give her some tips.”
“Do. He gets more annoying without someone to keep him in check. He thinks he’s making headway with the local connection, though.” Their eyes met for a moment and held. “He met with me just after we spoke last week.”
“That’s good! It seemed like we kept running into dead ends before I left.” She leaned forward, her food forgotten. “What is it? What did he find?”
“He was looking around the warehouse where they’d been holding Ioan…” Brigid thanked the heavens that her color could no longer give her away. That was the place where she’d overdosed. The place Deirdre had fed her immortal blood, changing her irrevocably into what she had become. Would Jack have caught the scent? Did he know how it had happened?
She shook her head and focused on what Murphy was saying. It didn’t matter. For some reason, she doubted that Jack would say anything if he did know.
“…So it appears that someone is using the warehouse again. I know you heard about it at a party Lorenzo held while he was in town last. Declan said you’d called it a club of some sort. An after-hours place like mine on the riverfront?”
She searched her memories of the party where she had met the two vampires belonging to Carwyn’s old enemy who had killed Ioan in revenge. “Josh—the American one—he said that they just ‘hung out’ there. That it was kind of a club, but a private one. I had the feeling it would be where they would bring human girls to feed. Have sex. That kind of thing. But he also said that Emily had been there, too. She’s human, of course, but she was like me. Knew everything. She was dating one of your sort—” Brigid broke off as Murphy smiled. “Well, my sort now, I suppose. He was a friend of theirs, it sounded like.” She took another sip of tea, wondering how badly she’d stuck her foot in it. “Anyway, the American said Emily had been there. He invited me, too. I had no intention of going.”