I felt my mouth catching flies while I stared. Everything about him was slow and smooth – his voice, his movement, his gaze. Idris wore thin wire spectacles, obviously because he liked the way they looked. He watched me through them in that way vampires are so adept in – like I was a specimen.
And he was the king from another state.
"What? Isn't that a big no-no?" I couldn't stop my mouth. Good job, Stackhouse.
"I have Felipe's agreement. I must transport the talent per my maker's request." He stretched one arm across the back of his side.
"Tupac?" I whispered across the table. "Is Viviane your maker?"
He nodded and sipped from his wine glass of blood.
I could understand why she'd turned him – he was beyond good looking and quietly powerful, and vampirism hadn't seemed to effect his skin tone. He'd be No. 2 in my ranking of sexiest vampires undead if I made one. Eric would always top it, no matter how angry I was with him at the moment.
"I know you have been with Viviane this evening." Well shit, I can't catch a break. "I also know you're not should not be running off unaccompanied, Miss Stackhouse."
"Your majesty, I am my own woman, and I can go where I please. And alone if I want. How do you know who I am?"
He sat in silence, watching the band, for some time. "You are Northman's bonded telepath." Great. Coast-to-coast notoriety. How many people knew about me? "What has she done to you?"
"Why would you ask that?"
"She is, how do they say, a piece of work; a woman wrapped up in herself to the detriment of others' feelings. She lacks a certain element at times. You would not likely go against the Northman's wishes had she not done something."
"Maybe it wasn't her."
A flicker of amusement crossed his once-again stoic face. "You will be a delight to work with in The Federation."
What the heck is The Federation? "What is that?"
Idris turned his head toward me, raking his dark eyes over me for a moment before answering. "A group. Do not concern yourself with it."
He must know I'm bullheaded. The Federation was a big old red flag wafting in a strong breeze in front of me.
He turned away before speaking again. "You have not answered me."
"I'd rather not say."
"I will not pry. I can put it together."
"Just what do you think you put together, Mr. Bell?" I knew I shouldn't be provoking a vampire I knew nothing about, but my anger at Eric, at Viviane, at the situation, boiled over.
"You discovered a past you'd not imagined. Perhaps not from whom you should have." He was spot on. He studied my reaction. "I am accurate."
"Yes. I came here to think."
"Would you like to know what I know, Miss Stackhouse?" Well, talk about a loaded question, but I nodded as I took a big drink. "You do not wish to deal with this tonight, yet you resign yourself to returning. Your Northman will seek you until dawn seeks him."
He was good, real good. Just then, my phone rang, playing the tone Eric put on for himself – "I'm Too Sexy." Idris met my eyes over where it danced across the table. I weighed answering it, apparently too long.
Idris snatched it off the table and flipped it open as my jaw dropped.
"Yo. Who dis be?" It came out in a perfect urban American accent. The king just smiled at me. I could hear Eric demanding to know how the boy came upon the phone. "Man, chill. You ain't gots to be up on me. It was in the cab, yo." Pause. "Shit, boy, I'll hook it up. Where you want it?" Another pause. "Malaga. I be gettin' it there when I gets it there." He snapped it shut, smiling. "Now, you have no need to answer it." The English accent was back.
"How will I explain having it back?"
"Options, Miss Stackhouse. Always options." I waited for him to enlighten me, but he stood. "I'll leave you to your thinking for now."
"Are you going to call her?" He knew who I meant.
"No." He placed the phone in front of me before he seemed to float across the room to a pair of vampires I didn't know.
I'd come here to get away and think, but now I had a whole new problem and a new mystery. Just what I've always wanted for my unwanted vacation.
A second gin and tonic appeared before me while I was deep into a fantasy where I yelled at Eric for not telling me himself. Then I pictured slapping the smile off Viviane's face. It seemed like hours passed without me moving – I just stared at the light dancing off the crystals on the table topper while I let my thoughts run wild. The way I felt the gin and tonic told me it couldn't have been more than 30 minutes.
Reality crashed back in when the king slid across from me.
"Miss Stackhouse, are you ready for your options?"
"Not really, but go on."
His eyes barely squinted at my abruptness. "You could go back to Malaga. You could stay out the rest of the night, not sleeping. You could go to the suite at the Palms and sleep until dawn."
"No." I didn't like any of those.
"And your plan is?"
"I don't know. I won't go to your suite with you. I don't want to go back. And I don't fancy staying out all night."
"What would you do, Miss Stackhouse? Find a seedy hotel on the outskirts of this area? Sleep on a bench? Do you court misfortune on purpose?"
"You don't know me. I don't know you."
"I offer you an olive branch, a token for future relations. Take it."
"Why would you do that? The Federation? Viviane? Why?"
"As a guest of this kingdom, I am obliged to not harm its assets. You are such a being. Leaving you to your bad judgment would be harming Felipe de Castro." He rose and took my hand, gently pulling me out of my seat.
"Stop. Let go." He jerked me a little.
"Make a choice." He held out a keycard with the Palms logo on it.
"Where will you go if I pick the suite?"
"Viviane. I can always sleep where she does."
I stared deep into his eyes. I knew a vampire could just as easily lie to me as eat me, but I saw a bit of kindness there. His cool grasp was firm but didn't hurt.
I did not want to go back to the room with Eric. I knew I would get a lecture about taking off, and I wanted the next time we talked to be about why I did it. However, I did not want to wander around Vegas alone just to stay awake; I had to meet Claude, and that promised more mystery than I had the energy to deal with now. Moreover, being a moving target seemed like a really bad idea.
His eyes met mine when I looked back up at him. Idris was calm as he watched me wrestle my decision into submission. He raised a brow as if to ask, "Well?" I flicked my eyes to the key, obviously the option he wanted me to choose. I'd already put myself out there for getting grabbed, so it was too late now to change my mind.
Then I felt the anger and hurt rage through the bond. Eric already knew I'd lost my phone. By now, he knew I'd walked off, and Pam had not found me. He had to know why I'd left by now.
I tamped down on my direct line to the Viking and meet Idris Bell's gaze.
I took the keycard.