Note: Please see Prologue for warning, copyright and disclaimer information.
Disclosures
Mac sat down on the couch and I sat beside him, the bookshelf to my left. I noticed that some of the books on the lower shelf were in English before I turned to look toward the table between Mac and Jax.
"Are there any magazines on that table over there?" I asked the man beside me.
He glanced to his right. "Yes."
"Are they in English?"
He reached over, gathered a hand full and tried to hand them to me.
"I didn't need all of them," I told him, holding my hands up to refuse them.
"You asked," he reminded me.
"I didn't say give them to me," I said wryly. "I said 'are there any in English'."
He put them back on the table with an exaggerated motion. "Yes there are."
I shook my head. "Would you hand me one magazine that is in English?" I asked with mock patience. He handed me a celebrity magazine and I flipped through it, making idle comments about some of the articles until Mac grabbed the periodical out of my hands and gave me a different one.
"God only knows why there's a tattoo magazine in English here," I commented as I turned the publication in my hands to better see one of the pictures.
"No, it's not a centerfold," Mac told me.
"The picture is this way," I explained, showing him. "No, it's not a centerfold. Didn't we do the centerfold thing last night? Without the paper?"
Mac exchanged a puzzled look with Jax.
I rolled my eyes. "Carnival? Naked people?"
"Ah," they said in unison.
"Damn, you'd think you'd remember something like that," I told them.
"I'm trying to forget it," Mac replied.
"You're good at that," I muttered, but I don't think he heard me.
"Why would you want to?" Jax asked with a frown.
"Which reminds me," Mac said, turning to me. "You were dreaming this evening when I woke you."
I lifted the magazine a bit higher trying to hide the blush I felt creeping into my cheeks. "Yeah, and?"
He snatched the magazine from my hands and I looked at him in amazement before turning away and leaning forward to look at the bookcase.
"Are you going to answer me?" he asked after a moment.
"Yeah, I was dreaming," I admitted.
"What were you dreaming of?" he inquired. "It seemed rather involved."
My face felt like it was on fire. "Yeah, it was," I answered slowly. "Rather."
"Yes, you can be more vague."
I turned to look past him at Jax. "And I think I'll keep it that way for the moment," I told him.
"You usually do," he replied irritably.
What, did he think I was going to tell all with a fucking puppy sitting here listening? "Well, if we had less company I might get more specific," I shot back at him.
"Jax," Mac said, still looking at me, "plug your ears."
To my surprise, Jax plugged his ears and began to hum softly.
Like that was good enough. "I don't think so."
Mac turned and waived a hand in Jax's direction. The ghoul dropped his hands and started to rise. "I'll just see if we couldn't get some—"
"It's fine, Jax," Mac interrupted him.
"Why are you so interested in what I'm dreaming about?" I demanded softly.
"Just wondering," he said lightly. "It took me a rather long time to awaken you fully."
Jax stood up and walked over to the doorway of the room, giving us a little privacy.
"So have you had any interesting dreams yourself?" I asked, watching the ghoul.
"Several."
Jax moved away from the door and I could hear him talking to someone in French in the hallway.
I took a book from the shelf and began to thumb through it. "Since we're doing dream theory now, what was yours about?"
"What was yours about?" he retorted.
"I asked first."
"No, actually I asked first," he said firmly. "Five minutes ago."
He had. "You tell me and I'll tell you."
"That's not the way it works," he told me.
If I wanted to know what he'd dreamed about, I had to share first. Fair was fair, right? "It was just an interesting dream involving a fireplace and—" And what? Sex? Feeding? Finally I settled on the least of which I was willing to admit. "Fangs."
Once more I wondered what it would be like to have Mac feed from me. I gripped the book tighter to suppress the slight tremor of my hands at the thought of his teeth in my flesh.
"Interesting," he murmured.
For a second I thought he'd read my mind, then I realized that he couldn't have. Or rather I hoped he couldn't have, I'd seen Kindred read minds before, but they'd been elders hundreds of years old. "So what was yours about?"
"I remembered the evening I attempted to teach you how to shoot," he said softly.
I smiled at the memory. "I told you I couldn't shoot a gun."
"I have some new ideas," he told me. "We'll work on it again."
Oh, would we? We'd see about that, although I couldn't resist asking, "Does it involve a fireplace and fangs?"
"No."
We heard Ignatius talking to Jax and the others in the hall, and I fell silent, looking down at the book in my hands. When Cormac stood and tapped me on the leg, I quickly put the book back and stood too.
"Ah, Cormac," Ignatius said in his accented English. "It is good to see you. I'm glad you were able to make it. I trust you ran into no troubles on the way."
"No," he replied, "not at all."
"Very good." The Kindred glanced disdainfully around the room and said, "Ah, this room is so small, let us move into one that is more spacious while we talk."
We followed him back toward the elevator, but instead of turning toward it, we went straight down the hall. We entered a much larger room with a fireplace and more places to sit. Ignatius stood near one particular sitting area and asked us to have a seat. Mac walked forward to sit on the end of a couch, and I followed to sit beside him.
"Can I get something for you?" Ignatius asked Cormac. "A refreshment of some kind?"
As I closed my eyes and wondered if I could watch him drink blood, he politely refused.
"Cocktail?" Ignatius said, looking at me. "Coffee?"
"Coffee, please," I replied.
"Espresso?"
I tried to hide a grimace. "No, thank you. Just regular plain coffee."
"Cream and sugar?" he asked.
Why did the French thing everything had to be smothered to be enjoyed? "No, thank you," I said aloud.
The vampire stepped into the hall and gave instructions to one of the ghouls in the hall. When he returned, he sat down in the chair near Cormac. "How is your information gathering going?"
"It has been slow starting," Mac admitted.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he replied sounding genuine. "Perhaps looking at Dougal's room, there will be something that has been overlooked."
"That is my hope, my lord," Mac told him as the ghoul returned with a tray holding a silver pot and one very old porcelain cup.
I took the cup carefully in my hands and sipped the liquid, very much afraid I would break the delicate thing.
"Remind me to buy you a thermos," Mac murmured to me as Ignatius thanked the ghoul. When we were alone again, he said to the primogen, "I would like to see his room."
"Of course." When he stood, I took one last drink from the cup and followed the men out of the room. Ignatius led us down several hallways, talking softly to Cormac about his sire the entire time. I tried my best to ignore it, not wanting to hear good things about the monster that'd stolen Mac's life from him.
Eventually we turned into a living room of sorts. Along one wall were four doors, each of which led to dormitory like bedrooms. We went into the third bedroom where there was a bed to our left, a desk and chair to our right, and dresser on the far wall. Beside the dresser was a door I assumed led to a bathroom.
"What are we looking for?" I asked Mac when Ignatius finally fell silent.
"You would have no idea," he told me offhandedly, looking around the room.
I tried not to get pissed at his words, but it was hard not to. Just because I hadn't known the vamp didn't mean I couldn't help find his damned spell book. Didn't Cormac realize that I had survived in the Society by knowing where and how to look for things?
Rather than stand next to Ignatius near the door, I moved further into the room to stand blindly looking up at a painting on the wall over the desk. I could hear Cormac behind me looking through things, but I did my best to ignore him until he spoke.
"Ignatius, could you translate this for me? I do not speak French." I turned to see him handing the other vampire an old letter.
After a moment, Ignatius looked up with an odd expression on his face. "I don't believe this has anything to do with your sire, Cormac."
"Would you read it anyway?" he asked.
Ignatius nodded. "'My dearest Helouise. The time I spent with you last eve was most enjoyable.'"
"That is enough, you are correct," Mac admitted. "It has nothing to do with me."
I could hear him opening drawers, and after a few minutes I heard the sound of tape lifting off a hard surface. I glanced over my shoulder to see him straightening with an envelope in his hand. He turned away and opened the envelope. I looked into the mirror on the wall above the dresser and saw him take out several folded pieces of paper, from the middle of which he pulled a charm bracelet.
He studied the charms for a moment before putting the bracelet back into the envelope, then I saw him take something smaller from out of it. When he slipped the item on his finger, I realized it was a man's wedding ring. I leaned back against the wall, not sure what to think. Mac had told me that he'd seen the rings in Dougal's possession, but I really hadn't thought we'd find them.
"I take it you've found something, Cormac?" Ignatius asked from the doorway.
"Yes," he replied.
"Very well then. Are you able to find your way back to the sitting room?"
"Yes, I believe so."
"Well, I have a few matters to see to," Ignatius told him. "If you have any further questions, make your way there and find someone to send for me."
"Thank you, my lord," he said as the primogen left, closing the door behind him.
Mac turned to me and held his hand out, a woman's wedding band in the tips of his fingers. I looked at it for a moment, then reached out and took it, brushing his fingers as I did so. His eyes were warm, but his face was hard, almost as if he wasn't sure how I was going to react.
I looked down at the ring; it matched the engagement ring I'd kept all these years. I lifted the chain from my neck and put the rings together. The chain between them was the only thing that stopped them from fitting perfectly, but I knew that they would. Engraved inside both rings was a single word: Forever.
I sighed; I'd never seen either of the wedding rings before. "Mac," I whispered softly, "they're beautiful."
"I thought so," he replied.
"Can I see yours?" I looked up, half expecting him to refuse.
He held out his hand and I took it gently in mine to study the band on his finger. His hand was cold and I wanted to hold it against my heart to warm it on my skin.
"I don't know what to say," I murmured, searching his face.
"There is nothing to say," he told me.
"There should be something," I said, my heart aching as I looked up at him.
"Perhaps in time." He pulled his hand from mine and turned away a little to start reading the letters he'd taken from the envelope.
Once more I sighed. Last night he'd told me he loved me, had the call from Glenn ruined that? I'd hoped… hell, I'd hoped for so many things, but it looked like I wouldn't get any of them. I turned to lean my forehead against the wall and felt tears slide down my cheeks. I clenched the rings in my hand and the metal dug into my skin.
I tried to hold back the sobs that shook me, but it seemed like the more I tried, the harder they came. Finally I put my hand over my mouth to hide the sound, but I knew that Mac would still hear me. The fact that he didn't say anything or make a move to touch me cut like a knife through the heart.
When I finally got a hold of myself, I turned my head to see him looking at me over his shoulder, still holding an open letter in his hand. I felt wicked stupid for not being able to control myself.
I wanted to say something witty or even cutting to make light of my tears, but I couldn't quite make myself do it. Last night I'd had the perfect opportunity to tell Mac how I'd felt and I'd blown it. Did I really want to spend the rest of my life regretting having been so close to him only to lose him again?
I hesitated so long that he went back to reading the letter in his hand, but that just made it easier for me to say what I knew I had to. I looked down at the floor and spoke in a low voice.
"In Baltimore I knew that if I ever let you get close to me, I'd never be able to live without you. Even back then I tried to stay away from you, but you were so damn persistent. You made me feel things I never wanted to feel. And then you died on me Mac, and I would have too if it hadn't been for Corrine." I glanced up to see if he was listening, and he turned his head to look back at me.
When he didn't say anything, I went on. "When I looked up at Guilty Pleasures and saw you there, it was exactly the same. I tried to stay away from you this time, too, but I couldn't do it. You've always been stronger than me."
"You always had a choice, Eliza," he told me. "Even then."
I shook my head, knowing that wasn't true. "When it comes to you I've never had a choice." I'd fallen in love with Mac the moment I saw him, and even with him being dead for almost twenty years I hadn't been able to get myself back out.
He stood there so close to me, but it felt like we were miles apart. His hands were filled with paper and all I could do was wish that I was in his arms. I wanted to reach out for him and had actually started to before I stopped myself. What if he didn't want me? Then he turned his body back toward me, his face tender. I took a little step forward, wanting, needing to be closer to him.
He put an arm out toward me and moved even closer. That was all I needed from him; in the next instant I was in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his waist and I felt my tears soak into the shoulder of his shirt but couldn't stop myself. I felt like I'd come home at long last.
I felt his lips on my temple. "Is this what you want luv?"
Closing my eyes, I breathed in the smell of his skin. "To be with you?"
"Is that a statement or a question?" he asked.
"Is that what you meant?" God, even now we were arguing. It was just like old times.
"Yes."
I forced myself not to clutch at him. "God, yes," I whispered. In the end, it didn't matter what he was. I would die loving him.
"Then why did you fight me so?"
"I think I fought myself more," I admitted. What would happen to me if he died on me now?
"You knew it was a loosing battle," he scolded me softly, "you just said so yourself."
"Didn't do me any good twenty years ago either," I murmured against his chest.
"Most people learn from their mistakes."
The fabric of his shirt hid my smile. "You should know by know I'm not like most people, am I?"
"No one I've ever met," he agreed.
"Not that you can remember," I said with a quiet laugh.
He chuckled a little as well, then his hands moved as if to let me go. I looked up at him, and for a heartbeat our faces were very close together. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temple against his chin. He leaned into the motion and I smiled again.
We held each other for a few more minutes and I soaked up every second of it. Being that close to him after so many years was like heaven. I wanted it to go on forever, but of course nothing good ever does.
His hands slid to my upper arms and he stepped back. I looked up at him, feeling more vulnerable than I'd ever felt before in my life. He stared at me intently for a moment, then cupped a hand on the side of my neck and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. It was nice, but not quite what I wanted.
I pulled him closer so I could reach up and kiss his lips. I closed my eyes, savoring the sensation. I remembered the last time he'd kissed me, really kissed me, on the floor of our apartment. I knew we couldn't recreate our lives, but I hoped we could rebuild something out of the ruins of our past.
We kissed tenderly for what felt like a lifetime, but when I placed the tip of my tongue on his lip, he pulled back abruptly and turned his head away from me.
"Mac?" I asked softly, confused by his reaction.
"Yes?" he replied without looking at me.
"What's wrong?" I didn't understand what had happened, unless I had gone too far when I'd kissed him. Silently I cursed myself.
"This is neither the time nor the place," he said softly, looking at me from the corner of his eye, still not turning to face me.
I nodded and looked away, wondering sadly if the time for us had passed in a city far from where we were. Moving back a little I felt the wall behind me. I stood there with my hands still on his waist and doubted my own judgement. Had I just handed my heart to a man who would leave me a second time to the darkness of my soul?
He sighed and when he let his hands slowly fall away from my arms, I let go too, but I couldn't stop my hands from lingering on his sides. If his being a vampire didn't matter to my heart, then the possibility of losing him again wouldn't stop me now.
I looked down for a moment at the rings still clutched in my hand, wondering what to do with them. Unclasping the chain, I started to put the wedding band on it, and then I stopped. If Mac was going to wear his ring, why couldn't I wear mine? I slipped both rings on my finger and slid the necklace into my pocket.
"I believe those are going to look, how did you put it? Wicked conspicuous when we return to Salem," he cautioned me.
I shot him a level look. "We're not in Salem."
He gave a slight nod. "Touché."
"Would you prefer I not wear them?" I asked softly, wondering why he had given me the wedding band in the first place if he didn't want me to wear it.
"I did not say that," he said firmly, finally turning to look at me. "I did not say that."
I looked down at the rings. "I won't be able to wear them in Salem," I admitted sadly. "There's just no way to explain." I was supposed to be hunting an embraced cousin, not off getting married. Not that wearing rings made us married or anything, but even so, Charity would definitely not approve of the potential bridegroom.
I didn't even want to think of St. Stephen's with the taste of Mac's lips still on my tongue. "Did you find what you were looking for?" I asked.
"I believe I may have," he replied, looking at the letters in his hand.
"So are we done here?" I hoped we were. I wanted the night air around me to cleanse the doubts and fears from my mind.
"I would like to finish reading if I may," he said softly.
I shrugged. "I guess I'll kind of hang looking stupid against the wall," I muttered.
"There are plenty of chairs, dear."
"There is one chair, dear," I said with a smile as he moved back to sit on the edge of the bed. He opened one of the letters and began to read. I sat at the desk and started opening drawers, trying to occupy my mind.
There wasn't a lot in the desk, just some stationery and a few pens. Then at the back of one drawer I found a pair of silver false eyelashes in a case. "Is there something about Dougal that you're not telling me?" I asked slowly.
"Oh," he said, not even looking up, "you found the eyelashes."
I didn't want to ask, but, "Was he like…?"
"No."
I fell silent and watched him from the corner of my eye while he went back to reading his letters. One was edged in black like the one he'd shown me on the plane, but he didn't offer to show this one to me and I didn't ask. A few minutes into reading it, he growled softly, and I looked at him in surprise, but he never glanced up. When he was done, he folded it slowly with deliberate care and picked up the final letter, this one folded a little different than the others ones had been.
As he read it, his face became more and more cold. At one point, he murmured something to himself and glanced up at me.
"Something interesting?" I asked, unnerved by the silence.
"Possibly," he replied as he continued to read. Near the end of the second page he chuckled a little, then looked at me with a slight smile on his face.
"Something funny?" I asked him.
"Even Dougal knew about Kate," he told me. He folded the letter and set it with the others beside him on the bed, then took the book with the secret compartment from his backpack. Within minutes he had the letters tucked safely inside with the ones he'd read on the plane.
"What about Kate?"
"That she changes her looks," he said. "He advises me to kill her the first chance I get."
"Yeah?" Mac would have to stand in line for that, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of saying so. "Well, you know she's not well liked."
"Yes, by anybody," he agreed. "Except Simon."
I shook my head. "Maybe she needs to give blood to get friends?"
"So it would appear."
"Are you done here?" I asked as he stood and looked around the room.
"Almost." He walked back to the dresser and felt under the remaining drawers, then moved to crouch the table by the bed. When he stood he had another manila envelope in his hand. He opened it and pulled out what looked like a locker key from a train or bus station. The oval tag read 'D67' and had something written on it in French.
He held the key for a long moment before pocketing it, looking much like he'd looked when he said he'd seen visions from my engagement ring. I wondered what visions he was getting from the key. At last he threw the envelope in the waste bin and walked over to stand in front of me.
"Shall we?" he asked, holding out his left hand.
I took his hand willingly. "Sure. Be good to get out of here."
He kept my hand while we walked out of the bedroom and through the sitting room into the hall where we could see Jax coming toward us. I thought Mac would let go when the ghoul got closer, but he didn't.
"Ah, there you are," Jax said as he turned to accompany us back toward the elevators. "Ignatius sent word that I could meet you here when you were finished."
Mac took out the key he'd found. "Can you read this for me?" He was all business, back to being Cormac for all that he still held my hand.
Jax looked at the key chain. "That's from the train station. Where did you get this?"
"Dougal left it, I believe for me to find."
The ghoul nodded. "Well, it's probably about a half hour, forty-five minute drive to the station. I'd have to check to make sure, but if I remember correctly it's across the city. Did you want to go there?"
"Yes, as soon as possible."
"Well, give me a couple of minutes so I can make sure that's the station I'm thinking of," he said. "It's been a while since I've been here. Ignatius said to have you go to the library if you needed to speak to him."
"We will go there."
"Okay, I'll meet you there then. You know how to get there?"
"I believe so, yes," Mac replied.
Jax turned off down a side hall and a few minutes later two men dressed like they were ready for a disco revival approached us. One of them was a vamp, and I figured the other one was his puppy. Their clothing was a bit loud, almost effeminate.
The Kindred smiled at Mac. "Cormac, it is good to see you again," he said pleasantly. "It has been some time since you've been in Paris."
"Yes, Lucien," he replied. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you." The vampire glanced at me significantly and added, "I see you've developed a different taste for traveling companions."
"Yes."
"How is your sire?"
"I'm afraid he is passed on these last five years," Mac told him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, he was a good man," Lucien said sadly. "I know that there are quite a few things that I've managed to squeak out of the old man while he was in town, things I hadn't known before."
"Really?" Cormac said, showing his first real interest in the conversation. "Care to share?"
"Perhaps," the other vamp drawled. "I'm sure you learned a secret or two from him as well."
"Secrets as to what?"
"Rituals, of course," Lucien said. "Manipulations of the blood?"
"What would you be interested in?" Cormac asked.
"Why, I'm always looking for information to help in my studies," he answered. "Are there any new developments over in the colonies?"
"None that I am aware of," Mac replied. "The elders tend to keep to themselves."
"Ah." Lucien studied my companion thoughtfully for a moment. "I've been hearing some interesting stories of people traveling to far off places and was wondering if you had heard anything about that."
"Alternate realities and such?"
"Why, yes," he replied, pleased.
"Why, yes I do."
"Ah. And how long did you stay you would be staying in Paris?"
"Not very long, I'm afraid."
"I'm going to have to pick your ear some before you leave." Lucien said firmly. "Do you have plans for this evening?"
Mac shook his head. "Nothing set in stone."
"Well, Yven and I had discussed going to the Pinnacle."
"I was thinking about going there myself."
"Ah, wonderful," Lucien said. "Have you been there?"
"No, I hadn't had occasion to yet," Mac admitted.
"It's only opened in the last few years," Lucien told him. "It's a nice little place. It has some nice quiet little areas, but it also has a nice dance floor too, if you want to release tension that way." At that he glanced at Yven and I looked away wondering exactly what way they normally released tension.
"We were thinking of heading there soon," Lucien added. "Would you like to meet us there later?"
"Yes, I believe we will," Mac replied. "We do have a few stops to make first, but we will join you there."
"Oh, good." The vamp looked too pleased for my comfort, but I was sure Mac knew what he was doing. "We'll see you there then?"
"Ah, what is the appropriate attire?"
Lucien looked down at his clothing, then over at Yven's. "You might want to change," he suggested.
"We will have to," he agreed.
Lucien held his hand out. "We'll see you there."
Mac shook his hand. "Of course."
When we had walked several steps in the opposite direction of the couple, Mac looked down at me. "It appears we will do a bit of shopping."
I glanced up in surprise. "What?"
He shot a look at my clothes. "If we wish to blend in, we need to find something a little more… clubby."
"Clubby?"
"Yes."
I shook my head. "We're not talking about going out and beating someone with a club."
"No, you have the wardrobe for that."
Well, I did. "Shopping. Didn't I just do that earlier this week?" Okay, so I'm not like most women. Shopping just doesn't do much for me; I have so many other responsibilities, people to hunt, things to kill.
"You need something more clubby if we wish to fit in, and not draw any more attention to ourselves," he told me.
Any more attention than we already did. "Okay. Shopping."
"I believe we need to find you a replacement pair of shoes as well," he added.
"Yeah, that would be a good idea," I said, thinking of the dress I'd worn in Berlin, "considering the last ones are still on the floor of an alley."
At that we reached the large doors of the library and went inside. There were a few people sitting at tables, but that wasn't what caught my eye. I stared in awe at the tall bookcases that lined the room. Many of the volumes looked very old, but there were new books among the stacks too.
When I was in grade school, I actually liked going with other kids my age to the library. It was neat to have all that information at your fingertips, even as young as I'd been. Then Linda decided it wasn't feminine for me to be smarter than the boys and wouldn't let me go. I don't remember what she did in the end to stop me from going, maybe I was too young then to do anything about it. Later when I did rebel, I found the boys much more interesting than the books.
I came to the present as we approached Ignatius and a female vampire sitting together near the edge of the seating area. They watched us come closer with interest and it made me very aware that Mac was still holding my hand.
"Cormac," Ignatius said softly. "Did you find everything okay?"
"Yes," he replied. "I found quite a bit of information."
"Good, good." He turned to his companion. "I don't know if you've met Isabel."
"Yes, I have."
She seemed a little confused. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't quite place you. Ignatius mentioned something about a clan member visiting the city. One of Dougal's childer?" When Mac nodded, she added, "Yes, I remember Dougal well."
"I am his middle childe, that I know of," Mac told her.
"Ah, yes," she said thoughtfully. "He did mention something many years ago of another gentleman he'd embraced. And there was a young girl that he spoke of on his last trip to Paris." She glanced at her companion. "Ignatius and I have been speaking of his disappearance. Do you have any idea what became of him?"
"I do not know for sure," Mac answered softly, "but I fear the worst."
No, actually the worst would be if Dougal were still alive and Mac tried to stop me from killing him. That would be so not good.
"I assume that you have performed the ritual?" Isabel asked, unaware of my hostility toward the subject of their conversation.
"Several times."
"Well, you have my condolences," she told him sympathetically. "As I said before, Dougal was a good man. To lose him is a great loss to our community."
Or not. Mac seemed to sense my thoughts and squeezed my hand gently, although whether he was trying to placate me or warn me not to say anything I couldn't tell. I looked up at him as innocently as I could manage. Did I mention that I hadn't been innocent in forty years?
"And who do we have here?" Isabelle asked, looking at me.
"This is my traveling companion, Eliza," Mac replied.
"Ah, Miss Harrow," she murmured. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
How in the hell did she know my name? "It's nice to meet you too," I lied with a smile.
"Is this your first trip to Paris?" she asked pleasantly.
"Yes."
"And how do you find our city?"
"Quite interesting." Quite intrusive, but still it wasn't boring.
"Very good," she told me, then looked past me. "Ah, Jax. It is good to see you again. You must give Elvira my regards when you return to Salem. I take it you're acting as interpreter?"
Jax stopped next to Mac and took Isabel's hand, bending to kiss it before replying. "Yes."
"I'm sure if you need anything, Ignatius has given you his number," she said to Cormac. "If there is anything that we here can do to help you find your sire, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Would either of you happen to know where Dougal journeyed when he left here?" Mac asked.
She turned to whisper with Ignatius in French for a moment, then nodded. "It seems to me that before he left he made mention of returning to the States, that he was looking for someone and he had information that was leading him back to…." She paused as if not sure of the word. "Tennessee?"
"Nashville," Ignatius added. "I believe was where he was heading."
"I thank you," Mac said sincerely. "We will take our leave now, thank you for your hospitality."
"Call us if you need anything," Ignatius told him once more.
It took us only a few minutes to find our way back to the elevator. We rode it up to the ground floor and walked across the campus to the car.